Saturday's Big 3

Are you ready? It's the first Saturday of the college football season. Every week, I'll be taking a look at the 3 biggest games on the schedule and telling you who I like and why. So without further ado, Week 1's Big 3:

#3USC at Virgina

With the top two teams getting having cupcakes week one (Georgia v Georgia Southern, Ohio State v Youngstown State), USC has what seems to be the hardest game of the top three teams in the country. SC Quarterback Mark Sanchez, who had an injured knee, has been cleared to play in this game. Though the home fans will be charged up, and Sanchez and RB Joe McKnight will run over Virgina in this one.


#24Alabama at #9Clemson

Though this is a home game for Clemson, the game will be taking place in the Georgia dome. This will be a great SEC-ACC match up with two great head coaches going against each other. I'll be excited to see how Nick Sabin uses top wide out recruit Julio Jones, but Clemson has too much offensive firepower with a very underrated quarterback in Cullen Harper and two amazing running backs, James Davis and C.J. Spiller. I'll Take the Tigers over the Tide.


#20Illinois at #6Missouri

In what looks to be the most enticing game of Week One, Juice Williams and Illinois take on Heisman Hopefuls QB Chase Daniel and RB/WR/KR speedster Jeremy Maclin of Missouri. The Illini made a surprising run in to the BCS last year, getting beat by USC, and Missouri just missing out with a loss to Kansas. In a game that looks to be a barn-burner, I look to Missouri's defense to shut down Juice and Co. and get the win.

"Pac-man" Reinstated

The National Football League announced Thursday that Dallas Cowboys' speedy cornerback/kick returner Adam "Pac-man" Jones has been reinstated. Jones, who had been suspended for the past 17 months by the league following a series of arrests, will now be eligible to play in the Cowboys' first regular season game against the Cleveland Browns.

The Cowboys acquired Jones in an April trade from the Tennessee Titans for a fourth round draft pick. Assuming he can live up to all of the hype and stay out of trouble off the field this could be a real steal for Dallas. Jones, who was permitted to participate in training camp and pre-season games, has shown flashes of brilliance as a return man during training camp. His defense however has been suspect, but there is still time to improve before the season opener.

College Football Is Back!

August 28th and December 25th don't have anything in common. But for college football fans, today is very much like Christmas day, it is the beginning of the 2008-2009 college football season. Students, alumni, and fans of the game can brush their tailgating equipment off and get ready to enjoy another season.

There will be debates and hatred about the BCS and there is a Heisman Trophy that needs to be defended. There will be rivalries games that are really more then just a game, but give you the right to make fun of your rival school for an entire year. There is the option offense that's only seen in the college game, and so much more then the NFL can offer.

From the ACC to the SEC, the Big 10 to the Pac 10, the Big 12 to the MAC and everywhere else, we're all happy to see that first kickoff of the season. So no matter which side of the Florida v Miami, USC v UCLA or Michigan v Ohio State rivalries you're on, every college football fan can look at today as the day where national championship dreams start.

Kotsay Heading to Beantown

The Boston Red Sox have acquired outfielder Mark Kotsay from the Atlanta Braves for minor leaguer Luis Sumoza.

The move adds depth to a position that desperately needs it for the Sox as they placed all star right fielder JD Drew on the disabled list Tuesday.

The 32 year old Kotsay is hitting .289 with six home runs and 37 runs batted in 88 games this season.

Replay To Start Thursday

Bud Selig and Major League Baseball have agreed to start the use instant replay for home run and fair and foul calls for series that start Thursday the 28th. If the umpire crew agrees that a call needs to be looked at again, they will leave the field and get the replay from the office of Major League Baseball Advanced Media in New York, and it's up to the crew chief to make the call.

From here on out, instant replay will become a new and somewhat controversial part of baseball history. There are the purists who will not like the use of replay and will make the game longer, and those who will say 'it's about time'. Where do you stand? Waybackemail@gmail.com

Bonds Was Confused?

Major League Baseball slugger Barry Bonds, who to date has been charged with 14 counts of providing false declarations to a grand jury and one count of obstruction of justice, has asked a U.S. District Court in San Fransisco to drop 10 of the charges made against him. According to TSN.ca, Bonds' lawyers argue that,

"the questions posed to Mr. Bonds by two different prosecutors at his grand jury appearance were imprecise, redundant, overlapping and frequently compound."

Simply put, Barry Bonds was unable to answer the questions accurately because the federal grand jury posed them in a misleading manner. Apparently asking Barry Bonds if he had used steroids is simply to complex of a question to answer. However, he did respond by saying that he didn't use steroids...How unclear could the question have been if Barry Bonds was able to provide an answer so clear? My guess is the question was pretty clear. Bonds and company, better luck next time.

Its That Time Of Year!

Well everyone, after seven long months football season is finally back upon us once again! That can only mean one thing! You guessed it, time for the WAY Back Sports 2008 NFL Predictions. We will see which one of our not so expert staff can correctly predict the outcome of the NFL season.

Dano Dub Goose Mac
AFC East Patriots Patriots Patriots Patriots
AFC North Steelers Bengals Browns Steelers
AFC South Colts Colts Colts Colts
AFC West Chargers Chargers Chargers Chargers
AFC WC 1 Jaguars Titans Jaguars Browns
AFC WC 2 Browns Jets Jets Jaguars
AFC Champ Patriots Chargers Colts Patriots


NFC East Cowboys Giants Cowboys Cowboys
NFC North Packers Vikings Vikings Vikings
NFC South Bucccaneers Panthers Saints Saints
NFC West Seahawks 49ers Seahawks Seahawks
NFC WC 1 Giants Cowboys Buccaneers Redskins
NFC WC 2 Vikings Seahawks Redskins Packers
NFC Champ Cowboys Vikings Cowboys Vikings

Superbowl Predictions:

Dano: Two very strong offensive teams. I like the Cowboys' defense to be the deciding factor. Cowboys over Patriots 27-24

Dub: LT will lead the way as the Chargers roll to victory! Chargers over Vikings 24-17.

Goose: A showdown of two of the game's premiere offenses. While the Colts defense is better than it use to be, the Cowboys are just too strong all around. Cowboys over Colts 34-24.

Mac: Coming off a near perfect season, we will see how much one loss can motivate a team. A record breaking offense + a veteran defense = another ring for New England. Patriots over Vikings 33-17.


Sleeper Teams to Watch:

Dano: AFC Surprise: Watch out for the Cleveland Browns, they have potential to make it interesting down the stretch. With six returning pro-bowlers on the roster and a hungry coach in Romeo Crennel, this could very well be the breakout year for the Browns.

Dub: 49ers: The last time Mike Martz took over an offense struggling at the quarterback position ('99 Rams) he brought in an unknown veteran named Kurt Warner who led them to the Subperbowl. Now Martz takes over a struggling 49ers offense and brings in unknown veteran quarterback JT O'Sullivan. May not be a Superbowl team just yet, but playoffs are a strong possibility.

Goose: No team lost more man games to injury last season than the Bill did. At season's end the injured reserve list was 17 players deep. With a strong running game and an underrated defense the Bills could surprise some people. Playoffs in the AFC is a stretch, but it would not surprise me at all to see them knock off a team like the New England Patriots or New York Jets somewhere along the way. With games against the Jets, Broncos and Patriots to close the season, the Bills could be the real spoilers in the AFC.

Mac: Oakland Raiders. A solid defense will keep them in most games. Watch out for 2008 first round pick Darren McFadden. The speedy running back could be this year's Adrian Petterson.

There you have it, the 2008 NFL season as our writers see it. Agree? Disagree? Let us know at waybackemail@gmail.com.

Falcons Go With Ryan

For the Atlanta Falcons, a team struggling to creep out of the Michael Vick shadow, naming a rookie as the starting quarterback may be a risky move, but it is also the right move.

Atlanta, coming off a 4-12 season and well over a year of the Vick saga, desperately needs a new face to the franchise and they have it in Matt Ryan, who was named the starting quarterback on Monday.

Traditionally when a team drafts a quarterback (first round, third overall) they let him sit out a year or at least the first part of the season to let them adjust to the NFL game. The Falcons instead are throwing Ryan right into the fire. On a team that likely isn't going to make any noise in terms of a playoff chase this season this move makes some sense. Why not let him learn on the job first hand? The Falcons, as a whole, are a relatively young team. By allowing Ryan to start out with them right away it will allow the offense to form a chemistry that they can build off of in future years.

The Falcons may not be a team that makes noise this year, but with a big strong franchise quarterback to build around I like their chances in the years to come. Mark my words, the falcons will be a team to contend with in 2010!

Everyday Eddie is Back!

The Minnesota Twins made a minor trade today reacquiring left handed relief pitcher Eddie Guardado from the Texas Rangers in exchange for a minor leaguer.

Guardado, who spent ten seasons in Minnesota from 1993-2003, has a 3-3 record with four saves and a 3.65 ERA in 49 1/3 innings pitched this season. He is expected to serve as the set up man for closer Joe Nathan.

This is a useful move for the Twins who are without previous set up man Pat Neshek who is on the disabled list with an elbow injury. The Twins are just one back behind the Boston Red Sox in the wild card in the AL and very much still in the hunt.

100 And Counting!

Dear WAY Back Sports Readers:

WAY Back Sports is now 100 posts and counting! A big thanks goes out to all our readers so far. We hope you have enjoyed what you have read and we look forward to hearing from you in the future. We encourage you to tell your friends to give us a try!

Over the next few weeks Way Back Sports will be changing a bit. We will be changing the layout to enhance the look of our site. We will also be adding a predictions page as well as a few other fun weekly posts and games pages.

Perhaps the biggest news will be our move to .com which we are hoping to have done sometime in September.

Through all this, WAY Back Sports will continue to bring you the latest news in the sports world as well as opinions from our staff.

Once again we thank all of you for the success we have had so far! Here's to another 100 and many more!


Sincerely,

WAY Back Sports Staff