Picture of the week.

This is the X-ray of the Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro after surgery to repair his broken ankle.

Quincy Carter released by Montreal Alouettes

Former Georgia and Dallas Cowboys QB Quincy Carter was released by Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. This is yet another set back, well rather, another failure to his pro football career.

Quincy played 4 years at Georgia and was drafted by the Cowboys in the 2nd round of the 2001 draft. They hoped he could replace recently retired Troy Aikman. He played for the Cowboys for 3 seasons before he was released prior to the end of spring training in 2004. He was released because of speculation of a second failed drug test. He then signed w/the NY Jets and played in 7 games in 2004 but was released after that season for of all things, failed another drug test. His last game in the NFL was in week 12 of the 2004 season. He officially retired from the NFL in September of 2005.

Quincy signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League back this past April hoping to earn the starting QB job. But he was released based on his poor performance. Alouettes Head Coach said "Someone had to go and he was the obvious choice. He had the lowest grades". The release of Carter leaves the team with former Clemson QB, Nealon Greene, Marcus Brady and rookie Scott McBrien.

Quincy had this to say upon learning of his release, "This is a joke ... an insult".

Good luck with your future Quincy, if only you could've stayed off the blow you could still be playing between the white lines.

Thursday's betting action.

Here's the breakdown for games on Thursday. There's only 6 games tomorrow so it's going to be slim pickings.

MLB

AL My Winners

Detroit at Kansas City 2:10 Detroit Money pick
Baltimore at Seattle 4:35 Seattle
Tampa Bay at Boston 7:05 Boston Money pick
Oakland at Texas 8:05 Texas Toss up

NL

Houston at Washington 1:05 Houston
Philadelphia at NY Mets 1:10 NY Mets

So by the looks of this weak Thursday schedule, I'll probably just do two single bets, one on Detroit and one on Boston. $40 on Detroit and maybe more that $40 on Boston if Detroit wins.

NBA

The Eastern Conference Championship resumes with Game 2 at 8pm, Miami at Detroit. Miami won the first game, taking the home court advantage away from Detroit. No telling how this game will go or series right now, so I'll be laying off making a bet on this game.

My money is on Detroit !!!!!

Never thought I'd be saying that but today I am. I've got some money in Sports Interaction, the site I use for my sports betting. Well the last few days I've been making some pretty good picks and been cashing in. I'm riding the Detroit Tiger wave right now.

Today I put $100 on Cleveland w/CC Sabathia to beat Minnesota. Well I won that bet which i pocketed $55.56.

Tonights games I've got Detroit w/Bonderman over Stone Cold KC Royals in a combo bet w/the White Sox w/Beuhrle over Oakland. I put $40 on this combo so if both win I'll pocket $52.31 which would bring my balance to $253.15. Wish me luck.

But how long do you ride the Sizzling Tigers for? After this series w/Kansas City I may lay off for little bit.

Fyi, I started off w/just $25 and slowly built my balance to $150. I'd like to make at least $50 a day. Trying to make smart bets instead of reaching for things like I've done in the past.

Maybe by end next week, I'll be close to $500.

South Carolina Football...A History lesson...good read

This is a great article about South Carolina Football. I haven't seen a better written article ever.


This is South Carolina Football:

On December 24 1892, The University of South Carolina began a storied football tradition by losing to instate rival Furman 44-0 in Charleston. The Gamecocks compiled a 0-3 record in their first two seasons and did not score an offensive point those two seasons. South Carolina football was born, as was a losing tradition that would continue over the next 111 seasons.

South Carolina has an all-time winning percentage under .500, which ranks 90th all-time in Div-1A football history... only 27 of the 117 programs who are currently competing at the Div-1A level have been worse. A few of the notable football programs who have been better than the Gamecocks include such powerhouses as: Rutgers, UNLV, Central Florida, Western Michigan, North Texas, San Diego State, Tulsa, Toledo, Navy, Ball State, Northern Illinois, Duke, East Carolina, Akron, Baylor, Utah State, Troy, San Jose State, Vanderbilt, Kansas, and Kentucky, just to name a few. Of the 62 teams in the history of Div-1A football who have played 980 or more games, only 7 programs have won fewer games than South Carolina. That’s right, more than 87% of those 62 schools have been better. Forty-six teams have played 1,050 games in their schools history and only two of them have yet to win 500 games…Northwestern and South Carolina. On November 6th 2004, South Carolina won their 495th football game by defeating Arkansas 35-32 in Columbia. It was the Gamecocks 1049th contest in schools history. Of the 62 programs that have won 495 or more games, only one took more games to achieve this milestone than South Carolina…that’s correct, only 1 out of 61…Cincinnati accomplished this feat in their 1064th game. This is South Carolina football.

Since the Associated Press began ranking football teams in 1936, the Cocks have finished in the Top 20 of the rankings only five times in the 69 years. Of the schools who have played Div-1A football for more than half of those 69 seasons, only 17 of them have finished in the Top 20 fewer times than the Gamecocks. South Carolina has never finished in the Top 10 of a major recognized poll... NEVER Only 27 other current Div-1A teams who have played at least thirty seasons at the Div-1A level have never had a Top 10 finish. This is South Carolina football.

The first year of Gamecock football was in 1892, Carolina won its first bowl game 103 years later. In 111 seasons of football, Carolina has yet to participate in one of the “Big 5” Bowls (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta, Cotton). Of the 100 Div-1A teams who have participated in a bowl game, Carolina’s 11 appearances are tied with four other teams for 58th all-time, Carolina’s 3 wins are 87th all-time. Seventy-two schools have been to 9 or more bowl games, and of those 72 schools, South Carolina’s .273 bowl winning percentage ranks 72nd…that’s correct, LAST.

As Carolina is set to begin its 112th season of collegiate football, they have won 10 or more games in a single season once. South Carolina has won more games than it lost only 51 times. South Carolina has won 6 or more games in a season 34 times, and lost 6 or more 35 times. This is South Carolina football.

In conference play, Carolina has been even more unsuccessful. In the 61 seasons South Carolina has been affiliated with a conference, they have won that conference only once... the ACC in 1969, with a 7-4 record. South Carolina’s overall all-time winning percentage of .492 ranks 11th out of the 12 current SEC schools, only Mississippi State has been worse. Since joining the SEC in 1992, Carolina has had a winning record in the conference twice. In the thirteen seasons as a member of the SEC, Carolina boasts an overall conference record of 37-66-1…only two teams have been worse: Kentucky has 27 wins, Vanderbilt 13. Although Carolina has yet to finish in the top two of the Eastern division, they have finished last twice. Carolina has yet to win six conference games in a season, something only Kentucky and Vanderbilt have done over the past 12 seasons. Since 1992, only once has a conference member failed to win a game overall in a single season…you guessed it, South Carolina. In fact, the Gamecocks went two consecutive seasons without winning one conference game, not one. Since 1992, only three times has any non-probation member of the conference failed to win two or more games overall in a season…South Carolina has accomplished this feat twice, Kentucky once. South Carolina’s all-time record versus other current conference members is even more unimpressive: 3-9 vs Alabama, 5-8 vs Arkansas, 1-4-1 vs Auburn, 3-19-3 vs Florida, 13-42-2 vs Georgia, 9-6-1 vs Kentucky, 2-14-1 vs LSU, 5-8 vs Ole Miss, 5-6 vs Mississippi St., 2-19-2 Vs Tennessee, and 12-2 Vs Vanderbilt. That’s correct, Carolina leads the all-time series against 2 SEC teams... Kentucky and Vanderbilt. South Carolina boasts an all time record of 60-137-8 against current SEC teams, a .2926 winning percentage…good enough for 12th out of the current 12 SEC members…that’s correct, LAST. This is South Carolina football.

But, the comparison of only 13 seasons in one conference does no justice to the tradition of South Carolina football. So lets compare the Cocks record versus Div-1A schools they have played 20 or more times: 36-62-4 Vs Clemson, 17-24-3 Vs Duke, 3-19-3 Vs Florida, 13-42-2 Vs Georgia, 9-12 Vs Georgia Tech,11-17 Vs Maryland, 16-34-4 Vs North Carolina, 25-26-4 Vs North Carolina State, 2-19-2 Vs Tennessee, 21-12-1 Vs Virginia, and 33-21-2 Vs Wake Forest. That’s correct, Carolina leads the all-time series against 2 of these 11 teams... Virginia and Wake Forest. This is South Carolina football.

South Carolina’s futility is not limited to their pitiable record of wins and losses, several other factors contribute to South Carolina’s storied custom of failures. They include…
**Unsuccessful coaches: South Carolina has had 32 different head coaches in its storied tradition... only six of them stayed longer than 5 seasons, 22 of them have losing records.
**Players drafted by the NFL: Since the NFL Draft began in 1967, SEC institutions have an illustrious history of players selected in the first round…well not all SEC schools. Only four teams have failed to have at least nine players selected in the first round…Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and of course South Carolina.
**Home field advantage: Since joining the SEC, the Cocks are 62-80-1 overall at home and 21-34-1 in conference play.
**Offensive Production: It’s another Carolina Touchdown!?…not quite. Although the inaugural shutout loss to Furman in 1894 was the Gamecocks first scoreless game, it wasn't’t their last. The Gamecocks have failed to score a single point in 160 games, over 15% of their contests. They have scored in single digits in 395 of their 1051 games, a staggering mark of 37.5%. Of the 46 programs, which have played more than 1050 games all-time, only one (Northwestern) has scored fewer points than South Carolina in their schools history. Of the 62 programs that have played in 980 or more games, only five have scored fewer points than South Carolina. South Carolina’s 7.8 points per game in 1999 is the fewest in SEC play since the conference expanded to 12 members in 1992. That season, South Carolina scored more than 10 points in three of their eleven games, and scored more than 14 points only once.
**Fan traditions: South Carolina fans began a practice of tearing down goalposts following “big” victories. In 2000, after beating New Mexico State at home to snap a 21 game losing streak the goalposts were torn down in Williams-Brice Stadium. It was a monumental win for the Gamecocks, beating a team who had enjoyed as much success as New Mexico State. The Aggies entered the game with 3 winning seasons over the previous 33 years, and an overall record of 40-136 during the previous 16 seasons.
**Rivalries: Another important component of football tradition are rivalries. According to South Carolina fans, their biggest two rivalries are Clemson and Georgia. The Gamecocks have compiled a 48-105-6 record against these two schools. Over the past 47 seasons, South Carolina has played both Georgia and Clemson in the same season 42 times. The Gamecocks have beaten both teams in the same season five times since 1958, and have lost to both teams in the same season 21 times over that span. Gamecock fans believe the next most important games are against Eastern Division opponents Florida and Tennessee. Carolina has a combined record of 5-38-5 against these two teams. Of the 5 wins against the two schools, only one has come since 1936, a one-point victory 13 seasons ago. The Citadel and Davidson College have each defeated Carolina more times (The Citadel – 8; Davidson - 14) than the Gamecocks have beaten these two Eastern Division teams combined (5). To put South Carolina’s lack of success against these four “rivalries” into perspective, the Gamecocks combined .2514 winning percentage against these four programs is lower than the combined winning percentage of The Citadel, East Carolina, Davidson and Presbyterian have against South Carolina (.3030).
This is South Carolina football.

But all this tradition and past records are meaningless. What is more important is the recent history. Only losers live in the past. We are in the best years of Carolina Gamecock football, and the future has never been brighter... or has it? After leading South Carolina to their most successful two-year run in the programs history, many Cocks believed Lou Holtz had brought his winning ways to Columbia…he failed like twenty-one coaches who preceded him. Lou Holtz retired after the 2004 season, with a 33-37 record. South Carolina failed to make the post-season for the 8th time in the past 10 seasons. Holtz’ tenure was just another in a long line of recent Gamecock failures. South Carolina’s record since 1995: 49-64-1, which is 82nd among 117 Div-1A teams over the same period. Since Joining the SEC: 66-81-1, which is 74th among Div-1A teams over the same period. Since 1990: 75-92-3, which is 71st among Div-1A teams over the same span. Carolina has finished in the Top 15 once in the past 16 seasons, and been to three bowl games in that span. This is South Carolina football.

After consecutive bowl appearances in 2000 and 2001, South Carolina was coming off of their most successful two year run in the programs history. The Gamecocks 17 wins during that period was the most by any South Carolina team over a two-year span. Only 17 other current Div-1A schools that have fielded a team 15 or more seasons have failed to win 18 or more games in consecutive seasons. Carolina was going to keep the momentum and 2002 was the season that the Cocks would breakthrough and finally surpass Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. They would finally get over ‘the hump’ to capture the Eastern Division Championship. You had two Heisman candidates in the same backfield, Pinnock and Jenkins. You mixed up all the ingredients to produce another sub .500 record, and another 0-for against the Big 3 from the East, and another loss to instate rival Clemson. The Carolina Heisman candidate at RB finished with less than 50 yards per game rushing, and the Heisman candidate at QB finished the season at DB. But, wait there is always next year.

2003 would be the year that Holtz previous recruiting seasons would begin to pay dividends. The team no longer had any ‘cancers’ and was again united. Team unity, young stars, and maturity at QB would get South Carolina back to a New Years Day Bowl game. Your most hated rival would be down and a Carolina victory at home on the seasons last game would likely lead to the departure of the rival coaching staff. The best High School Running Back to ever step on a field made a pledge in February to attend South Carolina, and bring glory to Columbia. That Running Back ended the season by leading the team with 58 yards per game rushing in his first season in Columbia…3 Freshmen Running Backs in the conference were better. Your QB who had matured, and finally had a grasp of the offense? He finished with the lowest completion percentage in the conference, as well as the fewest yards. Again, it was a sub .500 record overall, 2-6 in the conference, another 0-for against the Big 3 from the East. And the season finale that would send your instate rival back to the drawing board and end the coaching career of Tommy Bowden instead ended in a 46-point home loss.

Seventeen of Twenty-two starters returned for 2004, and with it came high expectations. Returning was your entire offensive backfield. You brought in a new defensive coordinator who was going to implement a new scheme that would be a better fit for your young defensive talent. On offense, Lou took over play calling duties and was supposed take Carolina to the top by grinding it out on the ground. And when your Senior QB would be presented with the situation when he must throw, Coach Holtz said he was going to “shock the conference”. The season began with a blowout win over Vanderbilt, and a 16-point lead midway through the second quarter over highly touted Georgia. But, then the reality of what the true description of South Carolina football is occurred, South Carolina wouldn't’t score again until the South Florida game. When the season ended, this group of Gamecocks etched their name next to failures of the past. Once again South Carolina failed to reach the post-season Once again, they ended conference play without a winning record. For the third season in a row they went 0-4 against the big three from the East and in state rival Clemson. The lopsided defeats in the 2004 contests against these four teams brought the total point differential margin to 191 points that Carolina has been outscored by in those four “rivalry” games over the last three seasons. South Carolina has allowed 23 or more points in nine of those games, and scored 23 or more only once. The Quarterback who was going to “shock the conference” didn't’t make it to the third game of the season. Gamecock players gave Coach Holtz an early retirement gift during the final contest of the season in a 22-point loss to Clemson by delaying the game nearly ten minutes midway through the fourth quarter. The reason for the delay was frustrated South Carolina players started an ugly on-field altercation. The actions led to a post-season ban by the University. A team that had positioned itself to accomplish what only 11 teams before them had accomplished, instead took their place in Gamecock history as the 100th team that failed to reach post-season Coach Holtz called the scene, his “biggest disappointment.” For many it was just another chapter of “This is South Carolina football.”

On November 23, 2004, South Carolina named Steve Spurrier as the schools Head Football Coach. Spurrier brings to South Carolina a .777 college winning percentage. His resume includes six SEC titles, one ACC title, and one national championship. Coach Spurrier holds the mark with the all-time highest winning percentage in SEC play. Spurrier will also bring to Columbia the highest expectations in the schools history. Spurrier finished in the Final AP Top 15 twelve consecutive seasons at Florida, so that is what we should expect at South Carolina. Spurrier had a career record of 11-1 against Georgia while at the Gator helm, so that is what we should expect at South Carolina. Gamecock players have greeted Coach Spurrier’s arrival in emblematic Carolina fashion with an abundance of team rules violations and felony arrests. In January, six players were charged after a total of $18,000 worth of computer and video equipment and framed photographs were taken from South Carolina's stadium in late November. The incident resulted in Offensive Lineman Woody Telfort being charged with a felony count of grand larceny, and numerous other charges against players. On March 1st leading rusher Demetris Summers was dismissed from the team. A day later, Tackle Kevin Mainord was arrested for stealing televisions from dorm rooms. Defensive End Moe Thompson was also arrested on similar charges six days later. On April 16th, two more Gamecock players, Josh Johnson and Ty Erving, were arrested and charged with simple marijuana possession. Less than two weeks later, WR David Smith pled guilty to third degree burglary. In late May, Linebacker Dustin Lindsey was charged with DUI. On June 23rd, Cory Boyd was dismissed from the team. In all, twelve players have been arrested in the 2005 calendar year. It’s been a typical Gamecock off-season But, all will be suppressed in less than two months, when 111 years of South Carolina’s losing tradition will be changed. The man who will single-handedly change the program has arrived in Columbia…sounds similar to what we were told before Holtz’ arrival. When Spurrier accepted the job to lead the Gamecocks, he commented, “they really haven’t ever done much here.” No kidding Steve, welcome to South Carolina football.

Former Little League World Series pitcher Danny Almonte marries 30 year old Woman

Remember Danny Almonte, the former Little League world series pitcher who lied about his age a few years back. It was discovered that he was actually 2 years older than the require age and removed from the team. Well he's now a high school senior and he'll be taking his 30 year old WIFE to the prom. Well you already know what he'll be doing after the dance. I'm sure there are thousands of 19 year old out there jealous of him bagging a 30 year old.

Here's the really weird part. The new bride has known him since he was about 15 but says she wouldn't do anything because he was a minor and didn't want to get in trouble.

Almonte is expected to be drafted in MLB's June draft, if not he's got a scholarship waiting for him at New Mexico Junior College.

Clemson clinches ACC Regular Season Title

Clemson's Baseball team clinched the ACC Regular Season Title this weekend while sweeping, excuse me, dominating #22 ranked Wake Forest.

In the first game of the three game set, Clemson (enter any adjective you want here) destroyed Wake Forest by a score of 26-1. The game included 7 Home runs, that's right, 7, one short of the school record 8 set against the hated Gamecocks. Clemson also had 25 hits, 13 of which went for extra bases including the 7 HR's. Clemson scored in every inning but the second and they score 7 in the 4th, 6 in the 7th, and 5 in the 8th.

Clemson won game 2 6-0 on the strength of Josh Cribb's pitching performance, working 7 strong giving up only 6 hits, no walks with 4 K's. Clemson won game 3 7-4.

If you're not keeping track at home, that's an aggregate score of 39-4 and Wake Forest came in ranked #22 in the nation. That's how good this Clemson baseball team has been lately. With the sweep, Clemson has won 15 straight games, including 13 straight conference games.

Clemson is now 45-13, 24-6 ACC. Clemson will face Wake Forest again on Wednesday in the opening round of the ACC Tournament.

Congrats Clemson, good luck in the ACC Tourny.

Barry "I'm juiced" Bonds has tied The Babe at 714

Just in, one of the most anti-climatic moments in MLB has just occurred as Barry Bonds hit career HR 714 to tie the Great Babe Ruth. The Pitcher who gave up this record HR was Brad Halsey. He becomes the 420th pitcher to give up a HR to Bonds. Before his HR today Bonds had gone homerless in 9 games.

I wish I could be more excited about this accomplishment, since I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime, but I just can't. You just can't get excited for him, not knowing that he's been on some type of steroid for who knows how long. I'm just holding out hope that he breaks a leg or tears his ACL so he won't get close to Hammerin Hanks 755.

Break a leg Barry. Really!!!!!!!

Braves closer/blower is officially on my Shit list

I sat through the first half of the Braves season last year watching the inept Dan Kolb blow save after save as if he's giving money to charity. Well this season it seems to be Chris Reitsma's turn. Once again he blew a save opportunity tonight for the Braves. We had a hard fought 9-8 lead entering the bottom 9th when he took the mound. But as with last year, you just knew Reitsma would blow it. I get that feeling every time he takes the mound w/a lead nowadays.

This was his 10th save opportunity and he's only coverted 7 of them, that's not a good percentage. His ERA before this blown save was a mind numbing 5.71. Here's his season stat line, again tonight not included.

17.1 Innings pitched....22 Hits......11 Runs, 11 Earned Runs....4 HR...4BB and only 8K's

Where is John Smoltz when you need him, oh yeah, he's a starter again.

Interleague play begins today in MLB

This is intercity/interstate rival weekend for Major League Baseball, the first weekend of interleague play. Highlighting play this weekend are NY Yankees at Mets, Cubs at White Sox, Angels at Dodgers, San Francisco Giants at Oakland A's. And for the first time since 1971, the Baltimore Orioles will be playing a team from Washington (Nationals) since the Senators left town.

Here are the match ups and times.

Chicago Cubs at White Sox 4pm
Baltimore at Washington 7pm
Pittsburgh at Cleveland 7pm
Boston at Philadelphia 7pm
Cincinnati at Detroit 7pm
NY Yankees at Mets 7pm
Florida at Tampa Bay 7:15pm
Minnesota at Milwaukee 8:05pm
St. Louis at Kansas City 8:10pm
Texas at Houston 8:05
Toronto at Colorado 9pm
San Fran at Oakland 10pm
San Diego at Seattle 10pm
LA Angels at Dodgers 10:40pm

Braves play the Diamondbacks in the only National League play due to 14 teams in AL and 16 in NL.

Since the inception of Interleague play in 1997 the National league has 8 more wins than the AL. NL record is 1104-1096, AL of course is 1096-1104. The Evil Empire that is the Yankees own the best record of 93-63. For those wondering the Braves are 86-65.

Happy NASCAR Day!!!!!!!!!

Yes you heard me right, Happy NASCAR Day. So feel free to wear that Dale Jr jacket or Tony Stewart shirt to work on casual Friday. Until today I wasn't aware of this redneck holiday.

I looked it up and this is what NASCAR.com gives as the explanation for the celebration:
"NASCAR Day is a one-day celebration of the NASCAR spirit and its fans. In exchange for a donation, participants will receive a commemorative NASCAR Day lapel pin."

Now if you want to get one of this pins that you will in turn sell on eBay, you can visit your local SunTrust bank and make a donation.

With his movie Talladega Nights coming this August, Will Ferrell is the official spokesman for NASCAR Day.

Dolphins sign VTech QB Marcus Vick

The Dolphins have signed undrafted free agent QB Marcus Vick. Vick of course is the younger brother of the Falcons QB Michael Vick. Marcus was to be the second coming of Michael when he became the starting QB at VTech but he couldn't keep himself out of trouble. He was suspended from the team for one year after he game a 14 year old girl alcohol. His troubles started again in this years Gator Bowl when he was caught on tape stomping on Louisville's Elvis Dumervil on Jan 2. Two weeks later he was dismissed by team officials after they learned that he had been cited on Dec 17 for driving with a suspended or revoked license and for speeding. It was the eight and ninth traffic offense for Vick since he enrolled at V Tech in 2002.

Vick again found himself in trouble again one day after he declared his intentions to enter the NFL Draft. He was accused of waving a firearm at three teenagers during an altercation in a McDonald's parking lot. He claims the teenagers were taunting him and he showed the gun to scare the kids.

Vick played in 11 games as a freshman backup in 2003, was suspended the next season after he was charged with crimes in two incidents, then started all 13 games this past season. He threw for 2,393 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and ran for 380 yards and six scores, but struggled in Virginia Tech's biggest games, a 27-7 loss to Miami on Nov. 5 and 27-22 loss to unranked Florida State in the inaugural ACC championship game on Dec. 3.

Somehow I don't think the off-field issues are over for Vick, with money now in hand and big city of Miami, the fun is just beginning for Marcus Vick.