Before anything else, let me just say how fun it was, and how much I enjoyed watching the Cougar football team play this season. That being said, I was saddened after the state championship game where Kennedy lost their first game of the year to Dowling Catholic. Dowling, a private school that can recruit their athletes, were just full a big, strong, fast players. I guess I really have to give it up to Dowling....or at least their recruiting. No, but seriously, they do a great job over there at Dowling....great job of recruiting! It's easy to win football games when you play against public high schools that can't recruit their players and you can. I mean you know something is screwed up when a team doesn't ever lose for like 3 straight years. Anyways, it was fun to watch the Cougars this season.
Kennedy finished the year with only one loss, and also had the best record in school history at 7 and 0. Additionally, the Cougs were a fun team to watch. It wasn't like way back when they used to run the ball two times, pass one more, and then punt it away on fourth down. It was a real pound and fly offense which utilized Shaun Beyer, Tyler Dralle, and the ginormous Kennedy O-Line. This system proved to be the second best offense in the state (to Dowling), and the best rushing attack in the state. This combined with Kennedy's stellar defense carried them the entire year to victory after victory.
It was a fun season for all Cougar players and fans. I hope that is what is taken away from this season. Not a loss in the championship game, but the best season by far in school history. I know that's what I'll take away from this season. Forever roll cougs.
During the past week the Cubs have gone three for three on regular season awards. Manager Joe Maddon won "Manager of the Year", Kris Bryant won "Rookie of the Year", and Jake Arrieta won the "Cy Young Award". Sure the awards themselves don't earn you anything, but it is still nice to acknowledge the triumphs that these guys had this season.
The Cubs winning all of these awards is certainly a good thing for Cubs fans not only because it shows how good they did this season, but it also shows their capability to have a good team next year. Hopefully their success will carry on from season to season. If it does, you can expect the Cubs to be a force in the NL Central this upcoming season.
The Cubs have been riding on this hope that their young talented prospects will be able to bring success to Chicago's north side. Many, including myself, believe that this will be the Cubs best chance to win a World Series championship since 2003. The Cubs have put themselves in prime position to win it all in the upcoming years. In fact they will probably be one of the two favorites to go all the way this coming year. If there was ever a time to be a Cubs fan, it would be now. I guess that's nice for me.
The Kennedy Cougars are going to be playing for a state title! Following their impressive win over Bettendorf, the Cougs will play Dowling Catholic in the championship game. Dowling is a very, very good team. They haven't lost a game in over three years and are looking to keep that streak going into their game vs. Kennedy at the Dome.
Both teams are obviously very good, or else they wouldn't even be here. However, Dowling takes good, makes it look better, and then makes it look perfect. This isn't to say that they are unbeatable, they are. However, when your program doesn't lose for three years, you must be doing something right.
On the other side, Kennedy has had their best season in school history. They have won every single one of their games to this point but, will be facing their toughest opponent on Friday night in the Dome. Kennedy will be without their biggest offensive lineman, and their fastest wide receiver is also questionable with a concussion. That being said, Kennedy have the best skill position play in the state in Shaun Beyer, and also have the number two rushing attack in the state behind runningback Tyler Dralle.
This game is a tough one to call. Kennedy has the best defense in the state, but Dowling has the best offense in the state. However, since this is a blog, I suppose that I should give a prediction. I have Kennedy winning 24-21 over Dowling.
It is said that the 1992 Dream Team is the best basketball team to ever step onto a basketball court. However, I and many others, disagree. The old guys of the 90's were good, but they would not be able to beat this year's Olympic team.
Old people have big googly eyes for the guys who played on the dream team. This blocks them from seeing the far superior players of today's generation. The game is so much faster and more athletically demanding then the game of the 90's. However, the old guys can boast that their generation played in a much more physical league.
During the later half of the the 20th century, the NBA was quite a physical game. Guys were constantly being knocked down to the ground every time that they would come through the lane. If you were a big man back in that day, then your main job, pretty much your only job would be to protect that rim. A great example of this would be the Bad Boy Pistons of the early 90's. The Bad Boys exemplified this era in the sense that they were always, always knocking guys down, throwing elbows, or even throwing punches. You really had to be strong in order to play in the league during that era.
The old geezers grew up watching the most physical era of the NBA. The best of the best from this era went on to play for the Dream Team. However, the debate remains, was that Dream Team and their era of basketball, better than the present day Olympic team and their style of play.
The current era of the NBA is friendly to shooters and ball handlers. Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving are great examples of this. Both combine their abilities to shoot, with their skill while handling the ball, to dominate their opposition. Both players will be on the upcoming Olympic team however, only Curry will start. Even though Kyrie is a very talented player, Curry will be the star point guard on the Olympic team.
Steph Curry is an amazing human being. Some of the things that he does on the basketball court is incredible. Personally, I think that Curry is the best point guard to play for a long time, and maybe, if he keeps this pace up, ever. Curry is virtually impossible to guard one on one. Because of his great ball handling skills, he would be one of many very tough matchups for the Dream Team. I believe that his counterpart, Magic Johnson, would have a very tough time guarding a lot of different point guards, let alone Steph Curry. If you don't believe me in my amazement of Curry, then you need to watch one of his highlight videos.
Curry isn't the only favorable matchup for the young guys. Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and most of all, LeBron James all pose difficulties for the Dream Team. One only position that I truly think would win their matchup for the Dream Team would be the goat, Michael Jordan. Jordan is, in my opinion, the best to ever play the game. When he wanted to score, like really wanted to, there was no stopping him. Sure you could foul him, but then you are putting an 84% free throw shooter on the line without him even having to work for his shot. The youth squad would have to put someone like LeBron or Jimmy Butler on Jordan to even hope that he doesn't put up 30 plus points. But honestly, Jordan really might be the only way that the Dream Team could consistently score. It would be tough, but I think Jordan could almost, almost carry his team to a victory over the upset minded kids.
In the end, even though the game would never be possible to play, I think that the Dream Team would, with most of their players out of their primes, lose to the current Olympic team. Curry, LeBron, and Davis would just be to much to handle. I would say that the old men's ankles would crumble on their way a 108-96 loss to the superior young boys. Let's just hope someday that technology will allow us to at least simulate this game and end the debate.
The Hawks win again! Following a 35-27 win over the Indiana Hoosiers the Hawkeyes are undefeated at 9-0. They are first place in the big ten west and have their eyes on the big ten title game. Despite the fact that they are undefeated, the college football polls have not been favorable to the black and gold.
The college football board has not been very approving of Iowa this year. Their big problem with Iowa is their strength of schedule. However, the good teams that they have played, Pitt at home and Northwestern on the road, have been victories for the Hawks. Meanwhile, there are teams rated above Iowa who have lost games already this year. For instance, Notre Dame is a very good team. However, they have lost a game already whereas Iowa is an undefeated team in a power five conference with a respectable out of conference schedule. That is not to take anything away from the Irish, but I just don't understand how you could argue that an undefeated power five conference team is barely in the top ten behind other unproven teams.
What's even worse is that teams like Stanford are considered to be better than Iowa even though Iowa spanked a Northwestern team by 30. The same Wildcat team that beat Stanford. Additionally, Iowa won the Northwestern game with their third string running-back! It has to be seen as impressive when your two top running-backs are out for the week, and you can hand the ball off to your third string back for four touchdowns against a stout defense.
We'll have to see how the remaining regular season games play out, but if Iowa goes undefeated, and then wins the big ten title game, I don't know how you could keep the Hawkeyes out of the college football playoff.
This year's World Series was over pretty quick. Following their impressive sweep of the Cubs in the NLCS, the Mets went down to the Royals in just 5 quick games. The Royals had success all year by putting the ball into play. This carried into the postseason where they put up a total of 90 runs. Their dominating pitching and great hitting were enough for a World Series trophy.
The Royals had complete control of this series. It seemed as if the Met's hitting ran out of gas, and the Met's pitching was no match for the high powered Royals offense. In games two, four, and five, the Royals were dominant. However, in game one specifically, the Mets had a great chance at winning. They were down to one final out in the ninth innings. The Mets had the lead, and the Royals had Alex Gordon at the plate. Gordon came in clutch with a deep solo home run to straight away center field. It must have been somewhat disappointing to lose a game when you were that close to bringing a home field advantage back to New York, and going into game two with a lead.
After the game one loss, the Mets really didn't have any more luck. They put up a total of six runs in their next three losses. Once the series was over, it was evident that the Mets ran out of the energy necessary to take down the powerhouse Royals.
The Royals began the year as one of the many favorites to win the World Series. Following their World Series loss last year to the Giants, the Royals came back to the postseason with more experience and better pitching, despite how hard that is to believe. By season's end, the Royals were the team to watch and they capped off the year with champagne all around.
This year's World Series is going to include a team that everyone expected to be there, and a team that no one expected. The Royals dominated all year and deserve to be there. On the other hand, the Mets had a very average season, scrambled into the playoffs, and now find themselves playing in the World Series.
Both of these teams have hot offenses, good starting pitching, and fantastic bullpens. It is clear to see why both of these teams have made it this far. When a team's hitters catch fire at the right time and they have pitching to back them up, they are almost unstoppable. This was shown in the Cubs and Mets series. The Mets, who have their hottest streak of hitting that they've had all year, completely steamrolled the Cubs. On the other side of the league, the Royals won in six games with the Blue Jays, and the only reason that the series went that long is because the Blue Jays had crazy offensive outputs in their two wins. It wouldn't be far fetched to say that they two best offenses of the playoffs are the two that will be playing for the big one.
Both teams have fantastic home field advantages. The Mets' will come back home in games 2, 3, and 4 at City Field in New York, while the Royals' are hoping their advantage will be the fans at Kauffman stadium in Kansas City
Speaking from experience of going to Kauffman stadium for the World Series last year, all i can say is that the atmosphere is just crazy electric. Everyone should have a point in their life where they can be a part of something that intense and fun. It was by far my favorite sporting event that I have ever been to.
