Happy Thanksgiving!!

In response to Connor’s post:

Ten Things I Am Thankful For:

1) Police video recordings.

2) My good friend, Jim.

3) My good friend, Steve (on the right).

4) Carolina rednecks.

5) Living in Jersey.

6) Dairy Products.

7) Tampa.

8) People with too much time on their hands.

9) People that spent more time in Sunday school than elementary school.

10) Saturday.

Oh, P.S.

Apparently, Ryan Succop has been leading the SEC in touchbacks whilst suffering from a sports hernia.

I have somehow been unaware of this until now. I hadn't heard anything since it was thought to be an abdominal strain. What a badass.

Ten things for which I am unthankful

1) Twilight and anyone who went to see it on opening night

2) Autotone
Seriously, Kanye? You're better than this.

3) Nikon commercials
Attention ad executives: No one thinks Asthon Kutcher is the essence of cool.

4) Hank Paulson

5) Mowgli Wentz
The only thing worse than Fall Out Boy? Members of Fall Out Boy having children... with Ashlee Simpson.

6) The Harper Valley PTA wing of the GOP

7) The new "At the Movies".
Ben Lyons plays a man-child easily distracted by whichever movie has the brightest lights and shiniest objects. Ben Mankiewicz delivers a more subtle performance as the former's babysitter, but in the end the audience is left wondering, "Why am I watching this?"

8) Jeff Francoeur

9) Commercials suggesting you buy your loved ones Illinois State Lotto tickets for Christmas
Here, enjoy this present that quite probably has no value

10) The Jonas Brothers
Proof that little kids will like whatever people on TV tell them to like

SEC v. Big East

I am trying to straighten out my thoughts on this one, so I thought I'd give my not well thought out two cents and then see what everyone else has to say.

Right now, which conference is better: SEC football or Big East basketball? In the coaches' poll for basketball, the Big East has #2, #3, and #4. In the AP poll for football, the SEC has #1 and #2. Both conferences are unarguably the best in their sport.

My initial reaction is that the Big East in basketball is superior. The Big East has 4 more teams than the SEC, yet is still strong from top to bottom. Last year, South Florida continually gave top teams such as UConn a serious run for their money. The SEC is also strong top to bottom, but Arkansas could play Florida 20 times and not win a single time. There are no such match-ups in the Big East.

Tigerburn is back!

A glorious tradition returns one year after it was cancelled because a vocal group of nit-wits unilaterally deemed feline combustion to be too offensive...

Rumors seem to indicate that Emmanuel Cook (S) and Jared Cook (TE) will enter the NFL Draft, forfeiting thier senior seasons. Captain Munnerlyn and Eric Norwood are also looking at the NFL, but seem more inclined to return for their final season at this point.

Giants First In League, Last In Humor

I opened this Michael Silver column on the Giants offensive linemen pranking Eli's wife, expecting a HILARIOUS account of the big uglies up front getting some laughs at that douchebag's expense. Turns out, this is the extent of it:

“It was family day at the facility, where guys have their wives and kids come out to visit, and we got ahold of Eli’s phone and sent a couple of texts,” Giants guard Rich Seubert explained. “We said, ‘Please come. It would really mean a lot to me.’ So she showed up, which was a total surprise to Eli. She had some stuff to do and didn’t really want to be there, so needless to say she wasn’t thrilled.”

Ok let me get this straight. You texted his wife telling her to be there, and she didn't really have to be there?

HAHAHA...LOL...OMG! You guys are totes funny!

FALSE...Try a real practical joke on Eli's wife...like telling her that she has to sleep with ELI MANNING for the rest of her life. Now THAT'S funny.

Gamecock Notes

The USC-Clemson game will begin at Noon ET. It will be televised on ESPN2...

I've had two dreams in the past week in which we lost. The first was a 6-3 defeat on a game-winning field goal following a goal line fumble that would have put the Cocks up 10-3... The second was a beating...

Chris Smelley will get the start at QB this weekend for the Gamecocks...

Win or lose, the Cocks look a good bet for the Outback Bowl...

Over the weekend, the Gamecocks lost an offensive line commitment to North Carolina while picking up two in-state defensive prospects (one for '09 and one for '10).

Day-Lewis preparing for another 'stache-heavy role

Academy Award-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who donned a mustache in Gangs of New York (2002) and There Will Be Blood (2007), is preparing for his third consecutive role as a heavily-mustached villain. Though we were unable to obtain a script for the new film, whose working title is There Will Be Moustaches, the screenwriter confirmed that Day-Lewis' character would win over audiences with his irresistible charisma and breathtaking 'stache despite being ruthlessly evil, leaving the audience internally conflicted when his character ultimately meets his demise.

A quick poll of several members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences confirmed that the Academy is considering giving Day-Lewis the first ever pre-emptive Oscar for Best Actor. The move would free up valuable air time for advertisements and would allow viewers to see Michael Moore's inevitable anti-capitalist rant in its entirety.

Startling evidence that Japanese stat translations should be revised downward

Obama set to name White House maid

According to sources close to the Obama transition team, the President-elect is planning to name the first-ever white person as the head of the presidential housekeeping staff. The position has traditionally been held by black slaves and, more recently, Hispanics.

"We're going to do the dusting a little differently from the way the Bush administration approached it," said the source, paraphrasing Obama. "The Bush housekeeping staff would constantly get backed into corners while mopping. They had no exit strategy."

NOT COCO

Just when he was playing well, the Red Sox DEMOTE Coco "Muhammed Ali" Crisp...for a guy named RAMIREZ no less...

On second thought, this guy's pretty good. Will make a nice little addition to the bullpen band...

It's Official: The Neo-Liberal Sports Media

Dustin Pedroia's recognition by the press as the American League's Most Valuable Player proves that the repugnant stench of neo-liberalism (the philosophy of the Democrats, not to be confused with Liberalism) has wafted its way into the Sports Desk. Perhaps this has happened because the stench had filled the hallways of most major newspapers in the country and just now finally broke down the door into the sports room. More likely, this is a result of downsizing in the newspaper industry that is throwing sportswriters into the same room as the news desk from which the stench emanates.

Regardless of how we got here, it is now fact that the sports media is buried in neo-liberal philosophy. Sportswriters gave the most significant award, the currency of media-player relations, to the little guy. Just as one would expect out of the President-Elect's excuse for a policy initiative, this award was given to a player smaller in stature and less productive than others upon whom this currency could have been spent. Below is a table of Adjusted *OPS+ results for a list of all AL hitters who received votes:

Player	Adj. *OPS+
Bradley	162
Teixeira	146
Mauer	145
A. Rodriguez	140
Quentin	139
Youkilis	134
Morneau	133
Kinsler	129
Hamilton	129
Pena	124
Sizemore	124
Huff	124
Guerrero	122
Ibanez	120
Pedroia	120
Cabrera	118
Longoria	114
Dye	113
Suzuki	110
Bartlett	88

Even if we discard Teixeira’s numbers since they include time with the Braves and Longoria’s numbers since he did not quite play a complete season, Pedroia still finishes low on this list. In fact, Pedroia was not even the best hitter among AL second baseman. As it turns out, the Rangers were snubbed. Even though A-Rod won the MVP playing for a lousy Rangers team in 2003, Kinsler finished well below Pedroia and Bradley did not even come close to winning the award, despite having a higher Adj. *OPS+ than Manny Ramirez.

Of course, we all love Pedroia’s feel-good story. What neo-liberal wouldn’t love a guy who brings his lunch pail to work every day and just puts his head down and works. Further, what union (or neo-liberal Democrat) wouldn’t do everything in its power to ensure that his pay matches that of his more competent peers in other industries?

Unfortunately, meaningful awards like MVP are left to be voted on by people who are largely uneducated about how to adequately assess a player’s value. On the bright side, at least this is just baseball. Could you imagine how messed up this country would be as a whole if its decisions were left to be voted on by people who have no idea how to adequately assess the economic effects of broad policy proposals but found a solution that made everyone feel good? Thank God at least that’s never happened….

Obama's Not the Only One Making Appointments

Umm... excuse me?!

I am speechless.

MostValuablePetey!

Pedroia becomes first AL second baseman since Nellie Fox (1959) to win the award, and the first midget at any position to take home this coveted hardware. CONGRATS!

You Rike Knuckre Barr?

Theo has got to stop the Kobe 9 Cruise from beating him to top talent. I'm a little skeptical, thought, with no video available. Remember the gyro ball? Whatever happened to that?

But in any case, I think that the Sox should spend at least 51 mil to speak to this phenom.

DISCLAIMER: This post does not reflect the opinions of anyone else that writes for this blog. But it does reflect the opinion of its author, who loves all things Asian, including their hilarious English pronunciations.

Silver Lining

Five-star safety (Scout) Devonte Holloman of Rock Hill informed Defense Cooridnator Ellis Johnson and DB Coach Ron Cooper of his decision to commit to the Gamecocks on Friday.

When asked whether a night of celebratory drinking led to the decision to call a lateral pass on a kickoff and to allow Chris Smelley to remain in the game despite being remarkably ineffective, Spurrier responded with the expected, "No comment." However, sources in Gainesville claim to have seen an empty bottle of Cock 'N Fire in Spurrier's hotel room.

The Holloman commitment moves the Gamecocks up to 11th nationally (5th in the SEC) according to Rivals. Much of Carolina's recruiting surge has come on the strength of picking off former Clemson and Tennessee commitments.

...A couple of days after speaking in eager tones that seemed to foretell a commitment to South Carolina, RB Jarvis Giles now claims to not have a favorite.

Hey Steve, You Forgot Your Percy

Harvin rolls up 167 yards and two TDs as Gators neuter the Gamecocks...

Spurrier no longer welcome in Urban areas...

Risky Business may have paid off for Tom Cruise, not so much for Steve Spurrier though.

Clemson beats I-AA Duke...

It's Official: Holliday to A's

The A's shipped Huston Street, Greg Smith, and Carlos Gonzalez to the Rockies for Matt Holliday.

"I think that this is something that everyone else in the league is going to be very excited about," said Connor Tapp, owner of Velocirocktors of the USC/Granby Keeper League. "Holliday moving from Coors to the Oakland Coliseum? Yeah, Zach's not going to like that," Tapp continued. "Oh yeah, and the Rockies are stupid."

Gamecock Notes

Akeem Auguste (ankle) is questionable for Saturday's game at Florida, leaving the Gamecocks thin in the secondary with Chris Culliver's first-half suspension. As a result, former WR Dion LeCorn could see time at Safety...

Moe Brown (knee) was injured in a collision with another player during Wednesday's practice...

Basketball Coach Darrin Horn signs two on early signing day.

Red Sox Conclude That Economy Sucks

In a humanitarian effort, the Red Sox organization has decided to freeze all ticket prices this season, keeping them at the same price across the board as last season. So now a family of four will still not be able to afford seats at Fenway, but at least they can't blame jacked prices, right?

BOSTON, MA -- The Boston Red Sox today announced the team is holding prices at 2008 levels for all existing seats and standing room tickets available to the public at Fenway Park for the 2009 season. The team will also hold prices for all tickets available to the public for 2009 Spring Training games at City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers, FL.

“We have been listening to fans, friends, and family about the challenges they are facing in light of the current adverse economic conditions,” said Larry Lucchino, Red Sox President/CEO. “We are also grateful for the unwavering faith and support our fans have shown us year after year and we hope our ownership’s decision to hold prices for the upcoming season will in some way help ease the burden on Red Sox Nation.”

The move marks the first time in 14 years, since 1995, that the team has held ticket prices across the board. Ticket prices have been held in several categories in recent years, including 70% that remained the same in 2006 and 81.5% in 2007.

“John Henry, Tom Werner, and our ownership always try to look at our business through the prism of the Red Sox fans who have stepped up to higher prices each year for several years,” said Lucchino. “We are taking this step to arrest the growth of season ticket and individual game ticket prices to ensure the great and distinctive Fenway Park experience is a viable option in 2009 for as many citizens of Red Sox Nation as possible.”

(In addition to maintaining 2008 ticket price levels on all existing seats and standing room ticket areas, the Red Sox special discount programs for Active Duty Military and Clergy will continue in 2009. Premium seat contractual ticketholders are also being given the option to freeze their tickets at 2008 prices for 2009. For those choosing to stay at the same 2008 price level, contractual agreements would be extended for one additional season.)

This announcement to freeze ticket prices at 2008 levels follows a tremendously successful season when the Red Sox organization and the citizens of Red Sox Nation together achieved several significant milestones. In addition to the team reaching the postseason for the fifth time in six years and Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS, the fans set a new all-time Major League sellout streak record on September 8th and ended the season at the 469 consecutive game mark (going back to May 15, 2003). A new Fenway Park attendance record was also set, with 3,048,248 fans coming through the turnstiles during the regular season.

“As stewards of this great franchise, John, Larry and I hold our positions as a kind of public trust, and from that perspective, a freeze in ticket prices for the 2009 season is both fair and appropriate for the times and economic conditions,” said Tom Werner, Red Sox Chairman.

Consistent with efforts undertaken by Red Sox ownership since 2002, the club will remain true to its pledge “to field a team worthy of the fans’ support” by investing in its formidable roster of uniformed personnel at both the major and minor league levels. During the off-season the organization will also continue its ongoing efforts to preserve, protect and enhance Fenway Park, “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark”, through the Year VIII Improvement plan currently underway.

Fans’ first opportunity to purchase tickets for the 2009 season will be the annual “Christmas at Fenway” celebration on Saturday, December 13. Additional details will be released in the near future.

QB Pressure Yards Through Week 11

We leap-frogged LSU after a strong showing by our defensive line against Arkansas.

It's interesting to note how little pressure Florida puts on the quarterback (Sure sounds like a Charlie Strong defense to me). Given our O-line deficiency, this might mean we match up somewhat favorably against Florida's scheme even if their talent is superior.

Also, their offense is among the best at preventing QB pressure, so it'll be interesting to see if our great defensive line is able to turn up the heat on Tebow.

Again, the way to think about these "yards" is in terms of "opposing offense yards prevented". If you're interested to see how I derived this, you can look at this spreadsheet. Suggestions are welcome.

Law School Meets NCAA Football

In my Torts class today, we were discussing the idea that some personal injuries, though "caused" by another, won't stand up in court because the plaintiff (the injured party) has assumed the risk. To illustrate, he showed us clips from two different YouTube videos. The first was to determine what risks athletes "assume" in the course of the game, and the second was in regards to the assumption of the risk of animal attack while hunting. Enjoy!



Is it so wrong that I got quite a bit of joy from seeing that UGAly player face down on the ground?



Just more proof that stupidity is abound.

On an unrelated note, my new Facebook note (which some of you may have already seen) got posted to the front page of Feministing.com today! Feministing is one of the largest and most well-respected feminist blogs out there, so I am quite honored. You might have to scroll down a post or two to find it... but you should definitely go check it out!

Athletics and Rockies agree to terms on Holliday

The particulars haven't been ironed out yet, but if Olney is guessing right about which players are involved, it looks like a big win for the A's.

An interesting implicit story embedded in this one is that Billy Beane apparently thinks he can win in '09. If Teixeira leaves Anaheim, he might be onto something.

Gamecock Notes

Since two of Clemson's wins have come against FCS teams, Clemson (4-5) must run the gauntlet against Duke, Virginia, and South Carolina in their final three games in order to become bowl-eligible...

Chris Culliver will have to sit out the first half of the Florida game after being ejected for fighting in the final moments of the Arkansas game. Culliver issued a public apology on Monday...

Former Tennessee commit Jarvis Giles (RB) says at conclusion of official visit, "I'll probably commit to South Carolina. I don't think anything will change my mind" ... Another Vol de-commit is looking at USC... And Spurrier snags his first commitment of the 2010 class...

The USC/Florida tilt this Saturday was picked up by CBS and is set for a 3:30 PM Eastern start. The Gamecocks are 0-10 on CBS since winning the 1995 CarQuest Bowl on the network of choice for the elderly.

The Dabo Song

A must-see if you haven't yet...

Farrell Decides He Hates Seattle Too

Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell released a statement today saying that he has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Seattle Mariners managerial position.

“I have withdrawn my name for consideration by the Seattle Mariners as they search for a new manager. I wish them well as they move forward. My decision is based on family reasons and being committed to the Red Sox Organization. The working relationship shared with Theo and Tito and the resources provided by John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino create a situation that is both challenging and rewarding.”

In even more incredible news, soxandcocks.blogspot.com was likely the first to report this happening.

.312 + 29 HR + 115 RBI + Hot Wife = MVP

Congrats to our man Kevin Youkilis, who got a ring on Sunday, albeit the wrong kind, when he married super hottie Enza Sambataro. If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, such as looking like a Scandanavian slave driver, and still scoring a major biddy...YES WE CAN. Provided that you're a stud Major League first baseman that is.

SOX NOTES

The Sox are likely out of the race for Matt Holliday. The Rocky Mountain Railer is probably heading to Oakland, where he'll play for two years and then sign with a legitimate team.

Tampa Bay Angel Ray Evan "Don't Call Me Eva" Longoria won the AL Rookie of the Year award even though he bombed in the World Series. He's married to Tony Parker, right?

Chicago catcher Geovany Soto won the NL variety, which will hopefully compensate for the fact that he plays for the Cubs.

Sox coaches DeMarlo Hale and Brad Mills are both candidates for the Seattle job. This is sort of like two corporate vice presidents interviewing for a shift manager's position at Starbucks. And no that was not a geographic joke. I made that quip to signify that the Mariners are a sinking ship, just like the worst coffee maker ever, that also happens to reside in the same town.

Looks like the yuppies will be crying in their double mocha latte expresso chais as the chain took a big (vienti) hit today.

The Herald's Michael Silverman wrote a long, big-worded column today that basically said what we all knew...Julio Lugo sucks.

And in case you missed it, Mo Vaughn was inducted to the Red Sox Hall of Fame this weekend. I think they should name part of the stadium for him a-la Pesky, Fisk and Conigliaro. How about Mo's Munchies, an all-you-can eat buffet filled with all of the donuts, french fries and terrible career choices a fan could ask for?

Obama to continue shameful Progressive tradition

According to some of his top aides, Obama is preparing a series of executive orders:

"There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said. "I think that he feels like he has a real mandate for change. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set."

Executive orders "have the power of law and they can cover just about anything," Tobias said in a telephone interview.

-Carl Tobias, Law Professor at University of Richmond

That's a rather shocking claim. I'm quite certain that the entirety of federal legislative power is given to the Congress:

All legislative powers herein shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives

-Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States

I don't mean to single Obama out. Every president since Teddy Roosevelt has used executive orders... but it's never too late to go back on a precedent that violates the Constitution.

I don't really know why I was hoping that Obama might reverse this shameful Progressive legacy, but it appears as though he won't. It's precisely during times when a President is wildly popular with the public that we must keep the closest of eyes on him (need we look any further back than Bush circa 2003?).

If I can ever find the book I want to use a source, I'm working on a piece entitled: "The Bush Presidency and the Failure of the Theodore Roosevelt Legacy". I hope it will shed some more light on the dangers of the expansionist presidency.

Shameless Self-Promotion

No, I'm not having a $2 million party for myself in Grant Park.

But I am asking you to check out this article I wrote, published in the Chicago Sports Review. It's on page 2.

UPDATE: Pressure Points

OK, the spreadsheet link from my Friday post should be working now.

The "Pressure Points" number was yards per 100 passing attempts. I didn't think it made much sense to think about yards prevented in this way, so I adjusted it to yards prevented per 31 attempts (the SEC average passing attempts per game).

Again, these numbers are through November 1st. I'll try to get them updated for this weekend's action and make them easier to update in the future.

Hey Hey Hey! WHAT is going on here?!

You're damn right that's him...Dennis Haskins...aka Mr. Belding

Adjusted *OPS+

I introduce a new statistic: Adjusted *OPS+. This statistic is a slight variation of Baseball-Reference's *OPS+. *OPS+ works out such that if a player has the league average *OPS, then his *OPS+ will equal 100. Anything higher than 100 represents above average performance compared to the league. However, *OPS makes the mistake of weighing Slugging Percentage and On-Base Percentage equally. According to Moneyball, a single point of OBP is approximately three times more important than a single point of SLG. Thus, my new Adjusted *OPS+ weights OBP three times as much as SLG. The asterisk in all of these stats represents the fact that they are adjusted for the park a player plays in and the lineup that surrounds him.

Below is a list of Sox players and potential off-season targets and their 2008 Adj. *OPS+ (again, above 100 means above the league average).

Position	Player	Adj. *OPS+
c	Saltalamacchia	100
c	Varitek	77
1b	Teixeira	146
2b	Pedroia	120
3b	Youkilis	134
3b	Lowell	99
ss	Cora	101
ss	Lowrie	93
ss	Lugo	92
lf	Ramirez	157
lf	Holliday	138
lf	Bay	128
cf	Crisp	96
cf	Ellsbury	91
rf	Drew	138
dh	Ortiz	118

The biggest surprise here, albeit subject to small sample size, is that Alex Cora outperforms both Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo. Also interesting is that Coco Crisp over the course of the entire season outperforms Ellsbury. Manny Ramirez is simply on another planet with his Adj. *OPS+, but Teixeira and J.D. Drew are both fairly impressive themselves.

From these numbers, it appears that the Red Sox were correct in not trading Youkilis for Billy Beane and that they were also right to sign J.D. Drew. Further, while Crisp's trade value is as high as ever, it would be wrong to blindly assume that Ellsbury is the better hitter. If Saltalamacchia performed at the league average as a 23-year-old in an off-year, I can't wait to see what good years in his prime will look like.

Finally, it should come as no surprise that Varitek was by far the worst regular player on the team in terms of hitting.

The primary shortcomings of this statistic is that it does not measure fielding performance or baserunning (other than the ability to stretch a single into a double, etc.).

The formula, for those interested, is

Adj. *OPS+ = 100 * (1.5 * OBP/*lgOBP + 0.5 * SLG/*lgSLG - 1)

where *lgOBP is the park- and lineup-adjusted league average OBP, and *lgSLG is the same for SLG.

At some point in the future, I would like to compile a similar stat that compares to the league average for a particular position instead of for all hitters.

MONEY BALL

Globe columnist Tony Massarotti says Mark Teixeira is high on the Red Sox list.

Pros: Excellent all-around player. Sound defensively. Can hit for average and power. Future Hall of Famer, and still young. Sox can afford it.

Cons: The Red Sox don't NEED him. Kevin Youkilis had an MVP season, and played very well at first base again. You've still got Lowell coming back, and he's signed through 2011. The Sox just made that transaction before 2008, and Lowell's still got some left in the tank. You don't want to eat that deal, and you'd have to move Youkilis to 3B if you got Teixeira. Or to LF, where Jason Bay is a solid player with one year left. The Sox are going to want to sign him long term in 2010. And anyway, that is A LOT of money for one player. Didn't help the Yankees, did it? Teams are finding ways to win withoug superstars. The Sox have been no different, building the franchise up with role players and cheap, cheap, cheap homegrown talent. Why change it up?

Solution: The Sox should concentrate on pitching. C.C. Sabathia is an obvious choice. A.J. Burnett is risky, but talented. Same with Ben Sheets. Shoring up the bullpen should be another focus.

Saltalamaci...Saltallamac...Screw It...Just Read

Super agent Scott Boras trying to get Jason Varitek a four-year deal is like a used car salesman trying to sell Steve's Grand Marquis for more than a sack of potatoes and a pat on the back. That said, the Sox are exploring their (limited) options. They've landed on the best potential prospect out there. A guy named...whatever...just read.

Now Salta...damn it. This guy is supposed to be pretty good. He didn't have a great season, splitting time behind the dish with Gerald Laird. But he's 23 and has a great upside. Not that great defensively though. His numbers through 61 games were:

BA: .253

HR: 3

RBI: 26

OBP: .352

SLG: .364

OPS+: 91

Not great, but his most important stat is at home. This guy married his high school sweetheart. She was also his GYM TEACHER. Good for you Mr. Saltalala...aw hell...Jarrod.

Razorbacks come up a couple of penetrations short despite using 2 Dicks

That's right. Both Casey and Nathan Dick played quarteback for Arkansas in their 34-21 Cock-pounding.

Gamecock Chris Culliver was ejected after some complained about the number of Cocks and Dicks on the field.

Thinking In Public: Measuring QB Pressure

So I wanted to try to come up with a way to think about QB pressure in terms of the impact on yardage per passing attempt. The underlying logic being that the more pressure a team is able to put on a quarterback, the more likely his passes are to fall incomplete or worse.



I weighted Hurries and Sacks based on their average net effect on yardage, using SEC stats to find yards per clean pass attempt (i.e., unhurried) and average yards per sack. A major shortcoming of what I have right now is that I have no way to account for the value of interceptions caused by pressure on QBs and no way to measure their impact on yardage (for that matter, fumbles caused by sacks should probably be included). Also, if I had more time, I'd probably only include stats from SEC vs. SEC match-ups since there's so much variability in the quality of out-of-conference opponents.

Again, it's crude but I wanted to get this up before the game tomorrow renders my calculations irrelevant and hopefully generate some discussion. Any suggestions for making this a more accurate reflection of the value and quality of QB pressure?

The House That John Henry Built...Again

The Red Sox are like that annoying rich neighbor who keeps adding on to his amazing house instead of moving to a nicer neighborhood.

COCK AND FIRE?

What you didn't know about Blake Mitchell

RYAN LEAF STILL A DUMBASS

In not-so surprising news Ryan Leaf, former Chargers quarterback and probable relative of Blake Mitchell, was relieved from his college coaching position.

DIRT DEVIL

SOX NOTES

The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo thinks that the sure-handed second baseman is a front-runner for a gold glove. The little guy should also get some heavy consideration for the MVP...

Think Jason Varitek isn't worth squat (get it)? Scott Boras calls your bluff...

Can't get enough Japelbon these days? Looks like the Sox are "so hoooorny" for more Asian talent...

Though he looks exhausted and uninterested, apparently Theo Epstein is still the GM...

A few teams are hungry for sugary cereal this offseason. Nine-million dollar short stops who can't hit or field? Not so much...

You would think Manny would want to come back to Massachussetts after the state decriminalized marijuana. The Dodgers remind him that people smoke weed in California too.

Tuesday Recruiting Roundup

Phil Fulmer might not be the only one leaving Tennessee. UT commit Jarvis Giles, a four-star running back (Scout) out of Tampa, is reopening his recruitment. Though still committed to UT, Giles has set an official visit with USC and plans to set two others.

Also, four star LB/DB Jonathan Davis says he's close to committing.

11/5 UPDATE: #2 safety prospect in the country, Devonte Holloman has narrowed his choice down to LSU and USC. Holloman, a former Clemson committment, was in attendance for the LSU/USC game (there was no word on whether or not he left at halftime).

Thank you, Steelers!!

How's this article work for the ability to tie sports to politics?

Redskins Lost, So Obama Will Be President
Posted Nov 4th 2008 1:00AM by Sportz Assassin

One of the great/stupid things about sports is how numbers can be worked and re-worked into something that are supposed to have meaning. The fact that the fate of the Presidency and the election of the next leader of the free world hinges on an NFL game goes right up to the top of those silly numbers.Since the Redskins have arrived in Washington, how they perform in their final home game determines the presidential election. It's true.

It's called the Redskins Rule, and it has an accuracy rate of either 94 or
100 percent depending on how it's applied. Every time the Redskins win their
final home game before a presidential election, the candidate representing the
incumbent party remains in office. Every time they lose, the incumbent party's
candidate loses as well. It's a predictor that has worked in 16 of 17
presidential elections since the Redskins arrived in Washington. (Some argue the
rule is 17-for-17; more on that in a second.)

In 2004, the Redskins lost to the Packers 28-14, suggesting Bush should
have lost to John Kerry. Hirdt changed the way the rule is applied to have it
refer to the previous winner of the popular vote, not the electoral vote.

That's good news for Barack Obama and the Democrats.

The Redskins lost to the Steelers, 23-6, which means the incumbent Republicans are looking at a bad day. Why even hold the election? Just crown Obama the President at FedEx Field.

Monday news and notes

Despite hyperextending his right knee in Saturday's victory, team doctors told Coach Spurrier that Garcia could have re-entered the game had the outcome been in doubt. He should be good to go against Arkansas.

More bad news for the offensive line, as guard Heath Batchelor is dropping out of school, for now. On the upside, there may be something to be said for diminishing marginal ineptitude as the offensive line continues to get thinner and less talented.

After much controversy involving the Arkansas game not being picked up on pay-per-view and whether or not this had been caused by a swarm of elderly fans calling the athletics department and convincing them to change kickoff from 7 PM to an early bird start at 1 PM, it has now been announced that the game will be carried on ESPN Gameplan and ESPN360.

Run, nay, pass for your life

USC averaged 4.0 yards per play in their 27-6 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers, bringing down their season average to 4.9, good for 93rd in the country. That's not bad, that's terrible. The reason that number is so low is because USC averages 2.84 yards per rushing attempt (good for 110th nationally). Despite breaking the 100-yard barrier in rushing against Tennessee, the Gamecocks averaged a paltry 2.3 yards per rushing attempt.

Through the air, the Garcia / Smelley tandem averaged 7.7 yards per passing attempt to keep the season average at 7.2 yards per passing attempt (47th nationally). With the differential between yards per pass and yards per rush so large, don't you have to wonder if it's time to abandon the running game almost entirely? Presumably, the decision to run the ball at all is a strategic one to keep the opposing defenses "honest", but when we're that bad at running the football are there really very many downs where opponents are committing resources to run defense at the expense of pass defense to begin with? Even if they did completely commit to stopping our passing game, they would have to shave 2.3 yards per pass (32% of our current yards/pass) from our average for this strategy to lead to a break-even result for opposing defenses (7.2 - 4.9 = 2.3), an outcome that I would think to be highly unlikely. It might even be the case that running the ball much less will lead to better results when we do run the football (e.g., the occasional draw or trap play, which we seem to do well).

Despite being terrible at running the football, Spurrier (known for his pass-happy offenses) has called a shockingly run-heavy game this year: the Gamecocks have run the ball 318 times while passing just 288 times (I tried to find a national ranking of run/pass ratio, but I couldn't find anything). Last year, we threw 443 times against 382 rushes while gaining 3.57 yards/rush, a mark .73 yards/rush better than this season. So why my question to Steve Spurrier or little Spurrier or whomever is calling the plays: why not pass more?

Bye, Bye Phat Phil!

I like to think that we, as Carolina fans, can take partial credit for this.

It is a good day for the SEC East.

Nearly Fatal Fall Caught on Tape @ the Other USC

A tragic accident almost occurred during a Southern California football practice this week.

Bowl Projections

CBS currently has South Carolina playing Texas in the Cotton Bowl. As much as I would love to go to Dallas, this game would be a blowout.

Left guard Lemuel Jeanpierre out for season

Bad news for our thin, incompetent, and banged up offensive line.

According to Spurrier's post-game news conference, the decision to keep Garcia out after being injured on the same play as Jeanpierre was merely precautionary.

In addition, millions of television owners across the country are complaining of headaches after listening to Bob Davey butcher the English language during the Gamecocks' 27-6 victory.

Gamecock Victory Signals Realignment of SEC East Power

South Carolina's 27-6 defensive smothering of Tennessee may have been an important turning point in the recent history of the program. The victory over Tennesse and the Vols' own internal problems may signal a re-shuffling of the pecking order in the ultra-competitive SEC East.

Since 1992 when the SEC added Arkansas and South Carolina and split into the SEC East and SEC West, the top team in the East has finished with a mean ranking in the ESPN / USA Today Coaches' Poll of 5.19. The team with the second-highest ranking has finished at 13.31. At least 2 teams from the East have finished the season ranked from 1992-2007. In eight of those years, at least three teams have finished ranked (Note: Since the third team didn't always have a ranking and I could only find "Also Receiving Votes" back to 2003, I couldn't come up with a mean ranking for the third-place finisher). And in 2001, the East finished the season with four ranked teams.

Though I have no inclinantion to generate these statistics for all of the major conferences, I have no problem saying that these numbers are probably among the best of the major conferences, to say nothing of the divisions within those conferences. As good as the SEC East is relative to the rest of college football, its ability to produce Top 25 teams is obviously limited by the fact that they must all play each other.

It's difficult to imagine that the fourth team in the East has any realistic shot at ending the season ranked (again, it's only happened once). Presumably, the fourth team will have at least 3 and probably 4 SEC losses, to say nothing of it's out-of-conference schedule and a possible bowl game. Since 2002, only 6 teams have finished the season both ranked and with five losses (Florida did it 3 times, from 2002-2004).

From looking at past finishes since 1992, it seems as though finishing #1 or #2 in the East makes it highly likely that you will finish in the Top 15. The #3 team often finds itself on the bubble of the top 25, finishing the year ranked about once every other season. So it would seem that there is a lot of value to being in this top three.

Traditionally, these three spots have been dominated by three teams. The only teams to represent the East in the SEC Championship game have been Georgia (3 times), Tennessee (5 times), and Florida (7 times).

It has become well-known that the Vols are in danger of dropping out of this top three, as Phil Fulmer stumbles through another season of disappointing the Vols' boosters while the real brains behind Tennessee's success is making the hapless Blue Devils competitive in the ACC (for whatever that's worth). In a state relatively bereft of high school football talent, UT has typically relied on raiding the nearby states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. This isn't happening anymore. The arrival of Mark Richt at Georgia, Butch Davis at North Carolina, and the success of Steve Spurrier and (formerly) Tommy Bowden at keeping their top talent in-state has cut off much of Tennessee's recruiting pipeline. Combine that with their record of 3-6 (1-5 SEC) in 2008, and UT is suddenly in a precarious position just one season after going to the SEC Championship Game.

But for the Gamecocks to take advantage, they need to win two of the next three (beating Florida would be gravy, but even I am willing to acknowledge just how unlikely that is), leaving them at 8-4 for the regular season. With most of their players returning in '09 (unless Emmanuel Cook or Cap Munnerlyn make early departures), such a finish would leave them primed to make a permanent claim for that #3 spot.