Rex Hudler

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Oct 31, 2009 -> 08:57 PM) Wow, USC really s*** the bed. Now I get to watch them play in a game like the Capital One Bowl. Joy. People love to hate Taylor Mays, but he stayed while his whole defense went pro, and now he suffers because of the lack of talent. He looks bad but it's the result of his teammates, similar to Forte/Cutler because of their OL. Holiday Bowl for USC. San Diego can't be too bad a place to visit in December, can it?

QUOTE (zenryan @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 08:39 PM) Clausen may be the better QB now but he's also started 30+ games while Mallet is around 10 career starts. Wouldnt be surprised to see Mallet as the better QB once his college career ends. I agree with that statement, with one caveat. Mallett is a bit of a renegade. Kind of a 5-cent head kind of guy in terms of demeanor/maturity. Two years removed from his frosh year at Michigan might have changed that some, but I kind of compare him to a Jim Harbaugh when he was in the NFL in terms of being a bit of a renegade. Kids sometimes grow out of that. For some, it actually becomes a strength and makes them great. Others, it keeps them from ever reaching their potential. We shall see where Mallett ends up, but there is no doubt he was talented. Part of me wishes he would have stayed at Michigan to see what Rodriguez would have done with him. Rodriguez said all along, he could adapt his offense for a pure passer. In his early days, his offense put up huge #'s passing ball. Then again, I'm not sure Mallett would have wanted to put in the hard work Rodriguez would have required. I'll stop rambling now.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 08:39 PM) Clausen may be the better QB now but he's also started 30+ games while Mallet is around 10 career starts. Wouldnt be surprised to see Mallet as the better QB once his college career ends. All because Stanzi has better stats doesnt mean he's a better passer. Stanzi is a 57% passer compared to Tebow who is 63% passer. Tebow has been plagued by recievers who cant catch this year. Even Alabama's QB McElroy is completing 60% of his passes and he and Tebow both have better TD-INT ratio's. I dont know if I'd rate McElroy as a better QB but I dont wouldnt say Stanzi is better either. I'd say Tebow is the better passer than either of those two though. Also I dont know how you can say OSU has gotten much better following the Purdue game. They've played one game against a average at best team. LSU will have their chance this weekend vs Alabama but I dont think they are that good. They were lucky to beat both Georgia who is average and Miss St who is average at best. I wouldnt be surprised to see them lose 3 more games this year (at Alabama, at Ole Miss, Arkansas). Just an FYI, Alabama - LSU is next weekend. Bama is off this weekend. Jason, to claim Stanzi has a better passing game than Florida or Bama doesn't wash unless you isolate the last two games. McElroy, from the 2nd half of the Va Tech game and two weeks ago, had been very good. Not doing an impression of Dan Marino, but still very solid, beating teams deep and spreading it out to several receivers. Bama's problems are rooted in the fact they can't get Julio Jones the ball consistently and last week they werehurt by a pre-game injury to Colin Peek a solid TE that had become somewhat of a security blanket for McElroy. I think Bama's offense will get back on track, but they will never be world beaters this year. But their defense will help by giving them good field position and the running game will help open things back up once McElroy regains his rhythm. (assuming he does) Florida has struggled the past few weeks, but let's not discount the fact that those have been the first two weeks back after Tebow's concussion. In reality, I believe that has hurt him, if not physically, then in rhythm and timing. LSU has a very good defense, so struggling against the Tigers in Baton Rouge when Tebow had not practice for almost two straight weeks was no surprise. No, they aren't as good this year without Harvin and Murphy, but what team would be? The depth of the SEC is what makes them better than other conferences. I don't think top to bottom, even with the SEC being down some this year, the PAC 10 really can compare. Isolate the top 5-6 teams, gives you a different viewpoint. The question is, do you evaluate a conference's strength by how good it's top tier teams are or by the depth from top to bottom?

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Oct 27, 2009 -> 11:51 PM) Judging by the officiating in the SEC this year, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to have a "penalty" against UT. The officials have been horrendous this year and not just the crew that got suspended. For being a great conference, the Slive and the SEC need to do something about the refs. They're bad. Well, I love him as does Vol Nation, and that's all that matters, isn't it? I mean, honestly, Kiffin is a good guy and a hardass. He said those things early on to get the fanbase riled up and the Vols some national publicity. He has since stated he did most of that stuff on purpose. The Pahokee comment was made when he didn't know there were cameras in the room (mistake by a young coach; he's obviously learned from it). How many SEC teams (not Florida or Bama for sure) can say they haven't had at least 1 player on their roster get in trouble with the law since last December? Tennessee can. Also, if you haven't noticed, Lane is 1 of 4 SEC coaches so far this year that have been reprimanded for calling out the officials for poorly refereed games. When you start to see a trend like that, I don't think it's just Lane being "a tool." If so, Bobby Johnson at Vandy, Dan Mullen, and Bobby Petrino (okay, i'll give you Petrino... he really is a jackass) are all tools then too for calling out SEC refs for a bad job. It's not that he got reprimanded, it's what he says. He comes across as whiney as hell. Whether he did/said the stuff earlier this year on purpose or not, combine it with everything and to everyone not from Tennessee he comes across as a first class buffoon.

Anyone know why Notre Dame is playing Washington St. in San Antonio???

As far as Bama goes, I do follow them because of proximity and have been to a grand total of 3 games in 12+ years I have lived here, including the S. Carolina game this year. I also follow Auburn, but I am not a fan of either. That said, Bama's defense is very, very good. Offensively, they are struggling big time right now, but their defense keeps them in games. The running game is strong, but McElroy is really confused and alternately tries to force the ball to Julio Jones or forgets him. Strangely enough, they beat Ole Miss and South Carolina without giving up a TD and didn't give one up to Tennessee until the 4th quarter. I'm not sure they will beat Florida (or even LSU), but if they do, it won't surprise me. Their defense is good enough to keep them in the game against anyone.

Rex lives in Bama, but is not a Bama fan. I'm a Big Ten guy, but I do like watching SEC football. I have no reason to be scared of Tennessee. Lane Kiffin is simply an idiot who should learn to keep his mouth shut. He sounds like a freakin baby everytime he opens it. First he accuses Urban Meyer of cheating publicly, only to be found out it was he that didn't know the rules. Then he is guilty of minor recruiting violations. He pissed off the whole town of Pahokee, FL and had to apologize so his coaches would be allowed back into town (or into the HS, at least). There hae been other idiotic comments, but I'll fastforward to Sunday.... Ummm, because the game was over and it wouldn't have mattered? Even if they throw a flag, it is still Alabama's ball, with no time on the clock. Some people should think before they open their mouth. How stupid a comment is this? How bad of a coach is he if this were actually true? You're going to not run another play because the referree "might" throw a flag on your team for something they did not commit? The guy is a tool, period.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 11:59 AM) Don't remind me. That was our most embarrassing loss of the season. We play Florida to within 10 (2 missed TDs in that game could have been a huge difference for us, but oh well...) and should have beat Bama (thanks to 3 missed FGs), but we lose to UCLA when they stop us 3 straight times from the 3 yards line and in. 3 runs up the middle was bad by Kiffin though, especially when we had 2 new o-lineman that game, both of which were former walk-ons. He said so and has learned from it. I must say, however, our coaching staff sure has these guys ready to play. The previous staff left the cupboard fairly bare (especially for Tenn standards), particularly on both lines. We have 2 former walk-ons starting at Guard and Center (they're actually identical twins). And our d-line has 2 true freshman getting lots of playing time at DT, which is extremely rare in college football, but those guys are holding there own. We had a lot of attrition when Lane took over, but I love it. He said "if you can't handle it, get the heck out." So far we've had no arrests or anything law related from any player in the almost 11 months he's been here. That's pretty impressive. I have really enjoyed Lane's play-calling on offense improve as the year has gone on. You can see him learning still as a coach, which is good since he's so young. The staff he has surrounded him with is really going to pay off for him as a coach as well as being in a conference like the SEC. Makes me very excited for the future. I can't wait to see what this staff can do once they get their own players in the program. Next year might actually be worse, though, for Tennessee b/c we do lose a lot of seniors on the O-line. We might have to start a freshman and a JUCO next year on the line. That's how barren the cupboard is. And we might have a true frosh at QB, which is never a good recipe for success (unless you have Peyton Manning as a freshman and he was only 8-4, haha). I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to miss Crompton. It may have taken him 4 years, but he's finally showing why he was a Top 5 QB out of high school. He's always had the tools, but not the mental side of things. I think Lane has really helped him in regards to that this year, sticking with him even after a rough UCLA game and 1st half of the Auburn game. Not having to worry about getting pulled after every series can do wonders for a QB apparently. And the D should be great again next year, though it will definitely hurt losing Berry (no way he stays his Senior year). If only your coach wasn't such a whiney tool!

Here is your most completely random, this means nothing post of the day: I coached Joey Elliott in fall baseball when he was 10 or 11. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

Went to the Alabama - South Carolina game last night. what a boring assed game! Damn cold too. It's not supposed to be in the 40's in Alabama during football season! This game was ugly. -- Mark Ingram carried Bama on his back last night. -- Bama had over 100 yards in penalties, mostly on kick returns and offense. -- Greg McElroy was terrible last night. He forced passed into coverage, failed to throw to open receivers and looked like he had no clue. -- South Carolina, known for having a solid defense, knew Bama was going to run, yet couldn't stop it. After McElroy's 2nd turnover, Bama completely took the ball out of his hands for the 2nd quarter. It was run right, run left, yet SC still couldn't stop Ingram. -- South Carolina was terrible offensively until middle to late in the 3rd quarter. Then they started to get some rhythm but Bama came up with some big plays. -- As good as Bama's defense is, and they are very good, Carolina missed a few open receivers that could have given them big plays. -- If Alabama wants to compete for a NC, they better figure out how to be better than that offensively. McElroy has had better games, but performances like last night will not win big games, no disrespect meant to SCar.

As many of you know, I dropped a bunch of weight in 2008 but have been stuck in the same neighborhood the 9-10 months. Total weight loss fluctuates between 110-115 lbs. I have been training for a half marathon and it finally came and went on Sunday. I ran in Evansville, IN. It was 41 deg. at the start of the race, which wasn't too bad, but I'd have rather it been about 10 degrees warmer. My goal going in what to finish at 2:37:00, a 12-minute mile pace, knowing I was going to do some walking. I started fast and was at a 9:54 pace at the 5k mark. Slowed to 10:47 at 10k and 11:07 at 15k. Ultimately, I finished at 2:31:30, an 11:34/mile pace. To boot, several GPS watches had the race measured long between 13.2 and 13.32 miles. I was happy with my time, but the last 4 miles really kicked my ass. The hips started tightening up and my thighs felt like I was carrying an extra 20lbs on each around mile 10. For a first go around, it was a good experience. Here are three pics, two from the race and one from Dec. 2007 before this journey started.

Michigan looking like s***. Can't get any kind of rythm on offense and their defense is just not good. Fortunately, they are still only one big play from tying the game. But the seven point lead looks much bigger to me right now.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 29, 2009 -> 08:44 PM) MSU does have a defensive minded head coach however. I envision it being close like the ND game. I see your vision and can't argue with it a bit. The only wrinkle I could see is if Forcier is hurt worse than they are saying or if he takes a hit and his shoulder can't hold up. At that point who knows what would happen.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 29, 2009 -> 05:40 PM) And they havent played a team with an actual defense yet. Very true. That won't change this Sat., however. If they can outscore MSU, their real test will be the following week on the road at Iowa.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Sep 27, 2009 -> 11:52 AM) For the rest of the season, I'll be betting on Michigan OVERS if its around 60 points. Michigan will have to outscore teams to win, no doubt. They have good athletes on D, but zero depth and are undersized. The basically have the wrong personnel when factoring in depth to play a true 4-3 or 3-4. On offense, the can strike at any time. All that said don't overlook the fact they've played all 4 games at home so far & 89 out of their 120 man roster (walk-ons included) are frosh or sophs.

Update on the questionable call on the interception in the IU-Michigan game. Per the head of officials for the Big Ten... The call on the field was an interception. The replay booth could only rule whether a catch was made or if it was incomplete, not caught by whom. The replay booth cannot rule it a simultaneous catch, so that was not an option. If the call was ruled a catch by the receiver on the field, it would have likely been upheld as well. The bottom line is the officials on the field don't have the luxury of multiple angle replays and are often partially blocked by players. They made a judement call. Saying that call cost IU the game is not realistic. Saying that call cost IU an opportunity to win is fair, yet the call itself may or may not have been wrong depending on one's point of view.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Sep 26, 2009 -> 01:27 PM) I really hate when refs decide a game. By the way congrats Michigan, Signed, The Refs Whatever. the refs decided the game on a call 70 yards from the end zone? How stupid is that? The call was questionable yes. But it's a judgement call. The referees on the field don't have the luxury of seeing it 14 times in slow motion like you do watching tv. Obviously the replay referee didn't see enough to overturn it and quite frankly I understand that. The first time you could actually see the ball in the replay was after they hit the ground and Donovan Warren definitely had possession even before he ripped it out. As they caught the ball and hit the ground, the replays did not allow you to actually see the positioning of the ball. But either way, saying the referees decided a game on a call like that is ridiculous.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 11:03 AM) Teams like OU and Alabama had no interest in their games against Boise/Utah. Playing those teams are major letdowns in their minds. The mental aspect is huge in college sports. You think Alabama wanted to play some "mid major" team a month after losing their chance to play for a title? So of course there's a good chance you'll get a close game when one team is playing their Super Bowl and the other team is just there to get a free PS3. Sure Boise stands a small chance to upset a Florida/Texas/Alabama when neither team has played for 50 days. But winning one game a season (Oregon game) shouldnt give you the chance to play a school that has to go through a good conference for 8-9 games for a title. If Boise St wants that kind of respect then they need to atleast get in the Mountain West Conference. I just dont want to hear their fans crying when they go undefeated and 2-one loss teams are playing for the title. If teams like OU and Alabama can't get up for Boise St in a NC game, then THEY have no business being there. Your argument has more holes than swiss cheese!

QUOTE (zenryan @ Sep 23, 2009 -> 04:36 PM) Winning by a fluke doesnt mean they deserved to be there. First of all, how often are games won on a fluke? Rarely. But to play your game, if Boise St is in the NC game and they are close enough to win on a fluke, there there is NO doubt they deserved to be there. You don't win by a fluke if you had no business being in the game in the first place. There mere fact they would be close enough at the end, kills your theory.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Sep 20, 2009 -> 11:49 AM) I would never want to ruin a title game just to expose Boise. Who would want to see a Florida/Texas vs Boise title game? And god forbid Boise somehow flukes out a victory. So if Boise were to make the title game and win, that would bad because? Seems to me it would mean they would have earned the National Championship and deserved to be there. But hey, that's just me!

QUOTE (Sonik22 @ Sep 22, 2009 -> 05:56 PM) It's not going to be a problem for me, I'm so motivated to never be that way again. I'm happy now. I also keep losing weight, cuz there's still weight to lose. Down to 168. I work out pretty hard every M-F, and try to relax on the weekends, but even then I still feel like i need to do something. The motivation is high. But keep in mind that will wane over time as you get comfortable with what you have accomplished. Your discipline will succomb to some of your favorite foods, sometimes too often. Lifestyle changes all tend to have a negative effect on your accomplishments. A new job, marriage, having kids, etc. Many things can change your schedule and make it harder to get to the gym or workout. All that said, acknowledge those potential potholes and you'll be okay. If you slip a little, and most likely you will, recognize it and get back at it. That's the key to long term success.

Not sure what days you will be there, but Pearl Jam is playing at the E-Center on Mon 9/28 and Creed is there on Friday 10/2. The E-Center is a top notch facility that hosted Olympic hockey. Those are the only two events I could find next week at the E-Center. I can assure you they sell beer at the E-Center. I didn't experience nightlife so much when I visited, but I enjoyed the area. I thought the mountain views were gorgeous and the air felt clean and refreshing. It seemed like a nice city. Can't remember the restaurant we went to.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Sep 8, 2009 -> 05:37 PM) To the winner of that game goes the spoils of massive overreaction and overhype. I only agree to a point. If Michigan wins, then UM fans (realistic ones anyway) will be hoping for 9-3 or 8-4, instead of 6-6 or 7-5. It simply will tell you whether there are automatic losses on Michigan's schedule or games they may win that were not expected. They won't win all of those either way, but kick a couple of games from the "will probably or definitely lose" to "we've got a chance" column and the season becomes much more fun. For ND, it is a must win if they have any hopes of having a great season. In my mind, 9-3 would still be a solid season for them, 10-2 and they should be dancing a jig. Lose to Michigan, those hopes are likely dashed.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 8, 2009 -> 04:20 PM) My ND fan friends are talking crap to me already. They can't understand that I am cautious based on our Week 1 opponent and they believe the Irish are meant for the national title game already. I will continue to keep my mouth shut and if Michigan wins, Monday will be fun. I like that strategy. I do think this week's game will tell a lot about both teams.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 7, 2009 -> 06:59 PM) NIce to see the hot ass FSU women are ready for this game. Gotta love the south. There is nothing like women and football in the South. The talent is unparalleled anywhere!