Archive for December, 2011
College Bowl mess
by Tim Koelble on Dec.05, 2011, under College Football, College Sports
Starting December 17 we begin the glut of 34 college bowl games. Don’t get me wrong, I love college football, but at this time of year the reward of playing in a postseason game becomes a little ridiculous.
That means 68 teams are playing and of that number, 29 teams were rewarded for a season in which they did no better than a 7-5 season.
There were 16 teams at 7-5, another 12 that hit the jackpot with a 6-6 record and even one school — UCLA — that gets a bowl game at 6-7. Unreal!
What powerful matchups there are ahead. Such as 7-5 Western Michigan vs. 6-6 Purdue; there will be 6-6 Mississippi State vs. 6-6 Wake Forest; 6-6 Texas A & M vs. 6-6 Northwestern and yes, even the real big boys fall into this category when 6-6 Florida plays 6-6 Ohio State on Jan. 2 in the Gator Bowl. The real winner is 6-6 Illinois vs. 6-7 UCLA.
And as a prelude to the National Championship game when LSU meets Alabama, our lips are moistened by the GoDaddy.com Bowl between Arkansas State and Northern Illinois.
Remember the old days … Jan. 1 truly was the granddaddy … What a mess.
December means preps hoops
by Tim Koelble on Dec.05, 2011, under Prep Basketball, Prep Sports
Here we go … the first full week of December and that means the high school winter sports season is about to begin its fast and furious run. Where it takes anyone specifically is to be determined.
Washington County’s public schools finally get into the act this week. Can South Hagerstown’s boys make a return visit to the 3A championship? Williamsport, after a trip to the 1A championship game last year, moves up to 2A this year but was hit hard by graduation.
Here is a gutshot prediction on preseason ranking of all the boys teams in Washington County: 1. South, 2. North, 3. Williamsport, 4. St. Maria Goretti, 5. Smithsburg, 6. Saint James, 7, Clear Spring, 8. Boonsboro, 9. Broadfording, 10. Hancock, 11. Heritage, 12. Grace Academy. Don’t hold any guns to my head.
Top Washington County player of the year candidates? Right now on paper I would say, Devon King of South Hagerstown, Avery Wilmore of Saint James to name a couple but we all know, so much is to be played out. We’ll see.
