2010 College Football Predictions

Your Champ: Oklahoma!!

Here we go people....it's time for my (locks) predictions for the upcoming season....

1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. Penn State
4. Oregon
5. Ohio State
6. Georgia Tech
7. TCU
8. Cal
9. Arkansas
10. Boise State

* Sleeper team: Florida State & Utah
* Bust: Nebraska & Virginia Tech
* Suprise team: BYU

*Sitting on the outside looking in: Florida & Georgia

Heisman winner: Jake Locker upsets Terrell Pryor
(Mark Ingram will be splitting carries with Richardson, so he's a no-go this year)

National Champions: Oklahoma over Alabama
Rose Bowl: Penn State over Oregon
Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State over Georgia Tech
Orange Bowl: Boise State over TCU
Sugar Bowl: Arkansas over Cal

HERE are my picks from last year, see how the faired....HERE

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BIG 10 (err...11)
1. Penn State
1. Ohio State
2. Iowa
3. Wisconsin
3. Northwestern
4. Michigan State
5. Purdue
6. Michigan
7. Indiana
8. Illinois
9. Minnesota

48-57: Brewers look horrible, skid hits 5 straight losses.

Unreal. What a horrible weekend of baseball. It's like the Crew isn't even trying.

Either is the front office, evidentally. Instead of doing the smart thing, the Brewers brass did a dumb thing. Instead of dealing Hart for some pitching prospects who were a year away...they decide to keep him and even re-up him through 2013 for a deal said to be worth near 25MM.
Yes, the man is having a phenominal year SO FAR. I was glad to see him hit his HR yesterday and get a hit the night before, it shows that he's hopefully not going to do a repeat of his 2008 campaign (voted to All Star game and then sucked the rest of the season).

One thing I will note with Hart is that most cities would love to have a player this committed to the club and state. I mean, from the very-start Hart has said that he wants to be a Brewer and he wants to sign an extension. Of course, he would see more money...but only for a short time until his new team would re-up him.

So, this means that the Crew has Rickie Weeks left to sign an extension. I would imagine that would take similar money, which is nice because the Crew does have a lot of wastefull contracts coming off the books.

This all positions the Crew to have an active winter. Doug Melvin will have to pull off the trade of his GM career in order to save face. The fan base is really upset with the Crew and the ticket sales will be down when the Crew returns next Spring. He better hope to God that he can bring in 2 solid starters for Prince Fielder, plus pick up a 3rd starter on the FA market.

-Interesting little tid bit on Brett Lawrie. The Huntsville Stars prospect is learning 3B and OF in addition to his normal 2B position. I could see him as a 3B, especially if Casey McGehee's knees don't hold up. I could also picture him in RF, once Corey Hart gets switched to CF. Plus, the man could always catch, but Jonathon Lucroy has that wrapped up.

-Nice to see Ned Yost get a 2-year extension to manage the Royals.

48-56: Brewers blow hard

48-55: Brewers suck it up

48-54: Yovanni gets slapped around

One would think that the Crew would show up last night and give it everything they had to gain a whole game on the Reds and a 1/2 game on the Cardinals. I mean, they're on a hot streak as of late and in a position to close the gap even more. Instead, Yovanni Gallardo might have been thinking too much about his planned boycott of Arizona next year (if he is an All Star) and not on the task-at-hand. Gallard (9-5) got shellacked last night by a pesky Reds line-up.

Right out of the gates Yo clearly didn't bring his "A" game to the park....especially when the Crew needed him most. Brandon Phillips rocked a double that almost ended up as a triple had Rickie Weeks not fire-armed a rocket relay throw to 3B Casey McGehee. I felt good after that....I felt like this should throw-out should set the momentum of the game. Umm...no.
Instead, the Reds walloped Yovanni left and right through his 2.2 innings. The bullpen didn't fair any better when the two Tommy John revitalization projects (Capy & Riske) gave up runs that only added to the stockpile beating. Capuano allowed 4 earned runs while Riske gave up a run. At least Joe Inglett did his part....he pitched a perfect 9th inning. This was the first time Ken Macha has EVER used a position player in a relief role, even in the minors.

Rickie Weeks is on a tear....he collected his 22nd HR of the season and also added a hit. Meanwhile, Ryan Braun went o'fer.....AGAIN, while Prince Fielder finally hit a double.

Casey McGehee is starting to heat up again, thankfully. Only 2 games after he hit a HR and a Double, he recorded two more much-needed hits.

It's getting to the point where I can't handle Jerry Augustine. I mean, the guy is probably very nice and means well....but he's not made for TV. I actually stomached the pre-game show and watched him taste-test a hotdog with some Wisconsin made Mustard (that the Reds love) and the Special Stadium Sauce. He looked lost, until he found the wiener in his mouth.

Rickie Weeks will also become a free agent after next season; so it seems that he's the only one who's "untouchable" in trades. That term used to be used for Prince and Corey. Well, not anymore. Milwaukee's #1 goal should be to lock him up in a contract. Despite the fact that it took 6 seasons for him to "get it", he's got it. Now if only there was a crystal ball that could ensure that he'll stay healthy.
*LaTroy Hawkins is coming back for the Houston series this weekend. Nice timing, going up against his old team.

Imagine if you will Milwaukee fans, a life with out Prince Fielder....if he was traded at the end of the week.....all those jerseys at Kohls would just sit there and collect dust.

We all know it's going to happen....Corey Hart will try to return to the batters box this weekend to show the league that he's worth it in a trade. But no team will fall for it. Hart's injury is serious...don't let the propaganda fool you. Most, if not all teams are uninterested at this point. That means one thing, he will return to the line-up in August (full-time) and start his downward slide. Any team that is stupid enough to trade a young prospect for Hart...is risking the idea of Hart failing a physical and having the deal blow up. So they could decide to do the deal hush-hush and not let the press know until (if) he passes the physical. So we may not even know if a a preliminary trade was worked out at all if he fails the physical.

48-53: Brewers turn on the heat

Last night 3-2 victory over the 2nd place Reds should provide a boost of confidence for the team and their fan base. Of course, we have been down this road before. Remember the tear the Crew went on a tear in June and won 5 straight, 3 of which were a result of sweeping the Twins? Well, we're seeing a similar glimpse of what this team is capable of right now. Milwaukee has a good shot of winning the series tonight when Yovanni Gallardo takes to the mound against Edison Velquez (1-1). It should be a good pitchers duel, much like we saw last night when Bronson Arroyo (10-6) lost out to Randy Wolf (no decision, Villanueva earned the win). Arroyo lasted 8 innings, giving up 3 earned runs on only 3 hits....2 of those were homers by Rickie Weeks (21) and Jim Edmonds (8).

Jimmy Edmonds has been on a tear as of late, especially on this current home stand. Meanwhile, Prince & Braun have been hitless in their last two games. Randy Wolf added the only other hit last night.

John Axford killed it last night as well, recording his 15th save (15 for 16 attempts).

-On paper, Milwaukee has a favorable schedule until August 13th when Milwaukee travels to Denver. The Crew travels to Houston this weekend and then up to Chicago, then a home stand that pits them against Houston (again) and a 4-game series with Arizona (who they swept the last time playing). They need to win while they can, because their September schedule is brutal.

-It's going to be a long shot for the Crew to hit 3 million in attendance this season. There are ticket-deals galore out there on Stub Hub right now. Their tv ratings are taking a significant hit as well. Keep in mind though....

Mike Dimond, Fox Sports' senior vice president and general manager, said the Brewers still ranked eighth in Major League Baseball for local broadcast ratings. Last year, the team was sixth.
"I'm encouraged by the ratings," Dimond said. "This is a baseball town, and on many nights we are the highest-rated show."

If you ask me, now is the best time to go to a game. You don't have to deal with moronic girlfriends who wear their slutty outfits to the game and yap on their cell phones and take obnoxious photos of themselves dry humping the Henry Aaron statue....nor do you have the tools with the straight brim caps and wife beaters getting loaded off of Mike Hard Lemonades...or better yet....you don't have the 43 year-old single males who make signs for the Crew to "WIN". No sir, you actually have the the real, die hard fans. One last thing, you should never bring a ball glove to a game unless you're with your son, grandson, or little nephew. There is no excuse for someone over 18 to bring a mit to the park to catch fly balls at batting practise.

-The Rays' Matt Garza had a no-no last night! Quite impressive, considering he came 1 walk shy of a perfect game.
Seriously, the Crew is long overdue for a no-hitter. Honestly, new teams like the Rays and D-Backs are getting them....it's time for Yovanni to do work, son.

-According to my Yahoo fantasy baseball team, Corey Hart isn't close to taking batting practise yet. He's still hoping to play in this series, but I think that's all propaganda in the event that they trade him. I am starting to think the Brewers will become buyers if they sweep the Reds. You could look for the Crew to add an outfielder or even an average starting pitcher.

47-53: Crew sweeps Nationals, like they should

Well, Milwaukee decided to make this up-coming trade deadline much more interesting. The Brewers are now positioned 6 games under .500, the closest they have been to .500 since mid-May. With the second place Reds coming to town you can't help but think "what if". Milwaukee could gain some ground against the Reds while trying to regain being .500 shortly after the trade deadline. Even if Milwaukee sweeps the Reds, which they won't, they will be 3 games under at the trade deadline. What do you do if you're Doug Melvin? Do you buy or sell?

Milwaukee is 8.5 games out of first place.
The Reds & Cardinals have been sporadic, at best. Both could easily go in to a week-long slump and the Crew could gain on them. Far shot? Yes. That's why the Crew needs to stick to their guns and deal Hart. They better hope to God that Cory can play in the Reds series in order to quell any fears that he is seriously injured and thwarts any hopes of being traded. They need to trade him by weeks end.

Yesterday, Rickie Weeks and Casey McGehee led the Brewers offense that accounted for 5 unearned runs. Both homered (20th & 14th, respectively) while Dave Bush had a solid outing on the mound, thus making up for his horrific start in Pittsburgh earlier in the week. Bush went 6 complete while giving up 2 earned runs on 6 hits and 7 strike outs. Thanks to scoreless frames in the 7-8th inning by Cameron Loe and the 9th by Hoffman, the Crew's bullpen continued their turn-around.

Jonathon Lucroy is now hitting .293 on the season, as he added two more hits yesterday.

I was unaware of this, but Adam Dunn went on AM620 during Saturday's game and chatted with Uecker! How cool is that? He wasn't in the line-up so he was able to make his way up to the press box and he chatted with Ueck for a short while, on the air. Adam Dunn is good-to-go in my book. In fact, it would be nice to see him with Milwaukee, if he would play RF better.

Speaking of.....Welcome back Mr. Baseball. I know Bob Uecker reads my blog on a bi-weekly basis (talking out of my ass). I should also note that Davey Nelson didn't do too bad of a job. Now if only they would get rid of Jerry Augustine....he is horrible. His post-game show with Craig Coushawn (sp?) was horrible. He looked like an alien who didn't know where to point his eyes to.