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Two Steps does not equal a Travel



I can't put into words how pathetic that call was.
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The Sports Toad College Football Preview for Saturday October 2nd

Part 1

Texas Tech at (2) Oklahoma

Jason White and Adrian Peterson led Oklahoma (3-0) against Texas Tech (3-1) in a key Big 12 match-up. Oklahoma has had 14 days off since their victory over the Oregon Ducks, so they should be well rested for the game. Adrian Peterson is coming off of a 183 rushing yards and two touchdowns in his third career game. He has started his career with three 100-yard games.

Texas Tech is coming off a thrilling 31-30 victory over Kansas last weekend. Texas Tech is a team that is led by their potent offense and susceptible defense, which OU should have no problem scoring on. The real question in this game will be whether or not the defense of OU can stop Texas Tech. I believe they can so The Sports Toad believes that Oklahoma beats Texas Tech by a score of 45-17.

(6) West Virginia at Virginia Tech
West Virginia (4-0) is heading into Virginia Tech (2-2) in this battle of former Big East foes.
“``We'll have to play better than we have in the last four games to win it,'' West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. ``That part, I guarantee.'' against this Virginia Tech team who hung in their against a very good USC and a solid NC State team. All-American candidate Kay-Jay Harris who has been battling injuries the last few weeks leads West Virginia. Kay-Jay only had 63 yards rushing on 22 carries against the Dukes of James Madison last week.

Virginia Tech comes into this game with a 2-2 record and facing their worst start since the 1995 season. The Virginia Tech offense this season has been non-existent with last week’s dreadful performance against NC State. Virginia Tech rushed for 36 yards and only gained 192 yards in the entire game. VA Tech fans expect those type numbers in a half not a whole game. The Sports Toad believes that VA Tech beats West Virginia in a squeaker 21-17.

(4) Miami FL at Georgia Tech

Miami (3-0) comes into this game after a solid victory 38-13 over the Houston Cougars last week. Georgia Tech(2-1) on the other hand comes into the game after a week off after their loss to UNC by a score of 34-13. This was after beating then number 20 in the nation Clemson by a score of 28-24 on a last second touchdown.

There is some controversy in Miami with the quarterback position. Brock Berlin is not getting the job done in Larry Coker’s mind, thus Derrick Crudup and Kyle Wright better be ready to play. Brock Berlin has the following stats for the season 43 of 73 passes for 476 yards and two touchdowns. In his career, he has 14 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions since coming to Miami from University of Florida.

Reggie Ball who rushed for 80 yards and threw for 164 yards against University of North Carolina leads Georgia Tech. P.J. Daniels; the starting running back for Georgia Tech is questionable to play. The good news for Georgia Tech is that Eric Henderson returns to the defensive line after missing the first three games with an injury. The Sports Toad believes that Miami will pull out a 28-10 victory over Georgia Tech with very little help from Brock Berlin who tends to make bad decisions at the wrong time.

(13) LSU at (3) Georgia

LSU (3-1) heads to Athens to play the University of Georgia (3-0) in a rematch of the SEC championship game last year. LSU is coming off a victory over a very weak Mississippi State team 51-0 and Georgia is coming in off a bye week after a victory over Marshall 13-3.

The question at LSU is “Who is going to be the QB?” Did Marcus Randle set himself up for the starting job in the victory over Mississippi State with a seven completion in seven attempts with 103 yards in a little over a half of football? I don’t think so. The running game at LSU is not in trouble at all with Alley Broussard having a break out season. In the game against MSU, he had 13 rushes for 75 yards and three touchdowns with about a half of work also. The star of the MSU game was the defense by creating 5 turnovers and scoring a defensive touchdown.

Georgia is coming into this game off of a bye week after a squeaker against a very good Marshall team. Their All-American candidate in David Greene leads Georgia. He has been lackluster this season with 194.3 yards a game and only completing 54.9% of his passes. It seems to be a down year for the senior quarterback or the defenses are figuring out how to defend him and the bulldogs. I just don’t know about this Georgia team there was high expectations for this team and I just have not seen them get it done on the field this season. The Sports Toad predicts Georgia to lose to LSU by a score of 31-28.


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That is what I call Rain


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Down goes Jones Again!


Roy Jones Jr. lost to Glen Johnson last night in Memphis Tennessee. Jones was hit by an overheard right which sent him to the canvas where he lived nearly motionless for 4 minutes and had to be helped out of the arena and into an ambulance by his trainers.

Glen Johnson said about Roy Jones Jr.

``Listen, I'm not claiming I'm the best this or the best that. I'm the guy who is willing to fight the self-claimed best,''

Antonio Tarver said about Roy Jones Jr. after this fight

``I want to see the man go on and enjoy his life after boxing,'' Tarver said. ``We don't need to see Roy Jones go through the things he went through tonight, the things he went through on May 15. Let the man ride off into the sunset.''

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College Football Preview for 9/25



Here is the SportsToad's preview of the upcoming weekend's college football games.

The games Zlax45 will be watching
Boston College at Wake Forest noon on ESPN 2
BC is coming in with a 3-0 record and are trying to avenge last year's opening day defeat by the Demon Deacons in Chestnut Hill. BC is lead by Paul Peterson who has been the key figure in the offense in this young season. He is able to move the pocket, throw the ball on the run, or even pull it down to get the extra yards. Wake Forest is one of the worst teams in the ACC so BC should be able to take them this week in Winston Salem.

Iowa at Michigan 3:30 on ABC

This was suppose to be a HUGE game for both teams but has turned into an elimnation game for both teams. Michigan has shown very little abilty on the offensive side of the ball by struggling against San Diego State and losing to Notre Dame. Iowa is coming off of a 44-7 drubbing by Arizona State. Both teams are going nowhere and Michigan pulls it out in the big house.

Northwestern vs Minnesota 9pm on ESPN2

Minnesota has been my pick all year to win the Big Ten because of their returning tallent and because of their underrated coach in Glen Mason. Northwestern has not had a good season since Gary Barnett was the head coach. I predict Minnesota 35-7.


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Is Vijay going to break the Money record?



Vijay Singh is within $489,000 of breaking Tiger Woods record for most money in a season. Vijay has 5 tournaments left in the season to break the record. He could break the record this week if he finishes in second place or better. Do the toad readers think He will break the record?

Click here for the link.
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World Golf Rankings



The World Golf Rankings are skewed to the United States players instead of looking at all the other tours around the world liek the European Tour. Miguel Angel Jimenez has won 4 tournaments in Europe during this season and he is only 20th. Come on! Do I smell conspiracy?

Even Tiger Woods agrees with me.

Paraphasing here on ESPN Sportscenter on 9/22

I think the World Golf Rankings are skewed because the Europeans are not getting enough credit. Look at Miguel Angel Jimenez he has won 4 tournaments this year and is not getting any credit in the rankings.

The World Golf Rankings were set up by International Management Group also known as IMG. Mark McCormack set up these rankings to make his players have stronger STAR power.


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Maine knocks off Mississippi State



For the second straight week a team from the A-10 has knocked off a BCS team. The University of Maine-Orono knocked off Sylvester Croom's Mississippi State team today by a score of 9-7. I guess Mississippi State is in for a rebuilding year after this.
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USA IN A HUGE HOLE AT RYDER CUP




The United States Ryder Cup team is losing to the European team heading into Sunday by a score of 11-5. Europe only needs 3 points out of the 12 up for grab on Sunday to get the Ryder Cup. Will the USA team be able to get the necessary 9.5 points to win the Ryder Cup? I do not think it is possible because that is a HUGE deficit like being down 9-0 after 2 innings of baseball. I blame some of this loss on Tiger Woods and some of his teammates taking a least then stellar attitude to these matches. Tiger has shown very little life when he has been on the course and it has shown on his record. There is no way Tiger Woods and Davis Love III should lose to Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington 4 and 3 after being up two holes on the front nine. I guess I am being a little harsh but I think it is a major problem.
Click here to read the British view of these matches

Click here for the USA's view of these matches
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Zlax45's College Football Random Thoughts



I am heading to the BC-Uconn game which is the only New England matchup in Division 1-A this year. BC should be able to take this team by at least 21 points because BC is bigger, stronger, and all around a better team. BC could come out and get caught in a battle and overlooking this game too much after the victory of Penn State last week and Wake Forest next week. We should see what happens on ESPN 2 Friday night.

I still am wondering how UNH went down to Delaware and beat the Fighting Blue Hens.(Michigan JV Team). They follow up the win over Delaware by going down to Rutgers and beating them. They won both of these games under the direction of 3rd string QB Ricky Santos from Massachusetts. Some people get under center and have the "IT" factor. I hope my alma mater can pull off a victory over the William and Mary Tribe this weekend in the remnants of Ivan. We will see what will happen....


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Controversy over Tiger Woods' High School Visit

"PGA superstar Tiger Woods is speaking at a luncheon at Detroit Country Day School on Monday, but not without some controversy, Local 4 reported. Some female high school students are reportedly upset because they will not be allowed to attend the annual father-son event.

The school invites guest speakers to the luncheon each year, but when word got out that Tiger Woods would be attending, many of the girls at the school requested that the event be open to the entire student body, the station reported.

The school also holds an annual mother-daughter luncheon in the spring. Cindy Obermeyer, a parent, said she's OK with the girls- and boys-only events. "It's an annual event that they have every year and it's always a father-son thing, just like the one in the spring is mother-daughter," she said." - Channel 4

As I've posted in a previous entry, I attend the high school mentioned above. Tiger Woods did, in fact, attend my school today. He came to speak at our father-son banquet, which every year has high-profile speakers (GM CEO, Diamler Chrysler CEO, Mitch Albolm have been the last three). He discussed his close relationship with his father and the impact it had on his golf career. However, since I am a girl, we had to sit in our auditorium and watch him speak on a close circuit tv. Many girls were in fact upset because for our mother-daughter banquet, we get no speaker, which is totally unfair.

But anyways, I just found the article amusing and thought you might too. And just so you know, he isn't a fantastic speaker and his favorite words seemed to be "cool" and "neat." My headmaster introduced him as the best golfer in the world, and Tiger corrected him. That provided plenty of amusement and when it was question & answer session, someone asked about what he thought about being ranked 2nd now and he responded with something like "I think I have another level and I'm currently working on a new style of play that seems to be working." I also hear (not from his speech) that he broke up with his fiance.


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Federer Wins the US Open

Roger Federer beat Lleyton Hewitt in the US Open final by a score of 6-0,7-6,6-0. I think we are in the beginning of witnessing one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. This guy holds three out of the four grand slams and will be a force to be reckon with for years to come. Any thought Toad readers?
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USA BEATS RUSSIA

The USA hockey team beat Russia tonight 5-3 in a World Cup quarterfinal matchup. They were lead by Boston area legend Keith Tkachuk who scored 4 goals in the victory. The next game for the USA Team is against either Finland or Czech Republic dependent on what happens in the Slovakia-Canada matchup tomorrow. Stay tuned to the Toad for more World Cup of Hockey action.
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A Note to readers: "CONCRETE DOES NOT GIVE"


Kevin Brown broke his left hand tonight in the clubhouse by punching a wall. How stupid do you have to be to know that punching a wall will break your hand?

``You just can't do this, there's no doubt about it. You've got to keep your emotions in check,'' general manager Brian Cashman said. ``It's a major issue that we shouldn't be dealing with. It's a problem.''

Cashman and Yankees manger Joe Torre were visibly annoyed. Cashman said Brown could be disciplined or fined. Torre said he spoke to Brown and expressed his disappointment.

``Certainly uncalled for and unnecessary,'' Torre said. ``There's more to this game than one person. We rely on him a great deal. It's not something that's helping the team, obviously.''

The Yanks lead is now down to 2.5 games and there is some major chemistry issues with the Yankees right now.

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