Hip-Hop du Deutscheland??

I think I've seen it all now. Here's an example of how the rest of the world is becoming Americanized.



Maybe this is why the rest of the world hates us? Could it be that Rammstein was right when they sang about "We're all living in Amerika"?



You be the judge.

Football: Fantasy and Reality

First the good news...

My Fantasy Football Team didn't do too bad in this first weekend of play. I was actually impressed. Although we lost our head-to-head match up, we posted a very respectable 108 points. The rest of the league teams posted scores only in the 60's and 70's (so far). I'm sure some will add a few more points once tonight's CHI vs GB game and then the two Monday night games are completed, but all in all I think 108 points is a pretty good showing.

Now for the bad news....

Although the WKU Hilltoppers fared much better this past Saturday against the South Florida Bulls than they did against UT last week, they still have much work to do.  A slew of penalties (13 for 124 yrds) killed several drives, and at least one touchdown. Without the penalties the Toppers very well could have won this one; USF is not a powerhouse like UT and the Bulls were a much closer match to the Topps than were the Vols.

In a lot of ways, this game seemed very similar to last year's game against Ball State. IN that one the Hilltoppers played very competitively against Ball State and had a decent chance at winning that one too, except for some unfortunate penalties and miscues.

Next week brings the University of Central Arkansas to Smith Stadium. UCA is an FCS (Div II) team, the only one Western faces this season. The Toppers really need to rise up and win this one to prove to the naysayers that they were ready to move up to FBS (Div I) Football and that the days of playing at the Div II level are behind them. As I mentioned in a previous post, it will be a few years before Western has a Bowl caliber team but it will come eventually and when it does, no one will remember these lean times.

My Fantasy Football Team

OK, I've drafted my first ever Fantasy Football Team tonight, here's the line up:

Starters
QB - Eli Manning, NYG
WR - Roddy White, Atl
WR - Antonio Bryant, TB
RB - Brian Westbrook, Phi
RB - Frank Gore, SF
TE - Visanthe Shiancoe, Min
W/R/T - Marion Barber, Dal
K - Ryan Longwell, Min
DST - Philadelphia

Bench
QB - Matt Cassel, KC
RB - Le'Ron McClain, Bal
TE - John Carlson, Sea
DST - NY Jets

Transactions
- Dropping bench K, Kris Brown (Hou) in order to pick up WR Muhsin Muhammad (Car)
- Dropping bench QB, Matt Cassel (Hou) in order to pick up QB David Garrard (Jac)

Notes
After the draft I realized I had a hole at WR on two bye weeks, so reasoned that it was better to drop my bench kicker and have only one week with no kicker than to have two weeks with only one WR, based on the scoring system. I also decided to drop Matt Cassel and pick up a different bench QB based on Cassel has an injured knee and has seen only light practice. I figured it was better to have a definite starting QB than a questionable one.

Anyway, that's my team. Let me know what you think or offer any suggestions you may have. I'll post my results here at the end of week 1.

Better Luck Next Time Toppers

Well, the score was a little one-sided (Hilltoppers 7, Volunteers 63) but they stayed in it and gave it a good effort. Hopefully they'll be watching the tapes on this one to figure out what went wrong.

On several occasions when the Hilltoppers' Senior QB Brandon Smith did have time to throw a pass, apparently no one could get open. When he did find a receiver open it was usually for only a few yards.

If it hadn't been for several Tennessee turnovers, the Vols halftime lead of 28 - 0 would have been a lot worse. One example - an early first quarter interception that gave the Hilltoppers possession of the ball with decent field position. However, their attempt at some kind of first-down-reverse-flea-flicker ended up putting them back 10 yards where they promptly went four and out.

In fact, for much of the game the Toppers were posting negative offensive yardage.

The Hilltoppers did finally find the goal line in their only real drive of the game late in the 3rd quarter, no doubt when the Vols were resting their starters. It wasn't long though before the Vols' starters were back in the game where, in the 4th quarter, they scored another 35 points!

It's going to be a few years before the Hilltoppers even have a chance of knocking-off one of these Top Tier teams, but I have faith in them and fully support the schools decision to move up to the FBS.

Hang in there Topps and better luck next week in the home opener in Bowling Green against the University of South Florida!!

Division I Football Comes to WKU

This Saturday September 5, 2009 marks the official entry into the Football Bowl Subdivision of my alma mater, Western Kentucky University. The Hilltoppers will be taking on the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee at 12 Noon E.T. on the Vols home turf. This is the first ever meeting of these two programs and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.

The 120th FBS school, WKU is the latest member of the Sun Belt Conference to make the move up to Div I Football. WKU has been in transition to the FBS for the past two years, this year being the first year of Bowl eligibility for the Hilltoppers. Although they may not make it to a bowl game this year or even next, it won't be long before we see Hilltopper Football in the national spotlight.