A November To Forget

First, on November 11th, a butt whooping at the hands of Kansas State dashed any hopes Texas had for a repeat at the National Championship. Oh, and their prized QB got knocked out of the game. Then last Friday, the Longhorns got beat by Texas A&M and lost their opportunity to play for a Big XII championship. Oh, and Colt McCoy was knocked out of the game again. Then last Monday came word that the Longhorns prized defensive coordinator was leaving to accept a head coaching position. And not just any head coaching position, but a position with a conference rival in Iowa State. Finally, just the other day, the rumors began flying that backup quarterback Jevan Snead was looking to leave Texas also (see below). What could go wrong for Texas next? Well, not all is doom and gloom in Austin. First, it’s been rumored that Alabama defensive coordinator and now Crimson Tide interim head coach Joe Kines, Miami defensive coordinator Randy Shannon and Washington Redskins secondary coach Jerry Gray are possible candidates to replace Chizik. Texas co-defensive coordinator Duane Akina could also be considered. I have also heard that Texas would be headed to either the Gator or Alamo bowls because the Cotton had settled on the loser of the Big 12 title game – Oklahoma or Nebraska. It will be the Gator Bowl if West Virginia loses at home to Rutgers on Saturday. It will be the Alamo if West Virginia wins. The ACC opponent in the Gator would probably be Clemson, which lost three of its last four. The opponent in the Alamo is a 6-6 Iowa team. Neither opponent seems too great, and either way Texas should be the heavy favorite. Finally, it should be noted that as of today, Texas has an extremely talented recruiting class coming in next year. Although official signing day is still months away, the Longhorns have several verbal commitments including Trey Allen, John Brantley, Curtis Brown, John Chiles, Michael Huey, Andre Jones, Aundre McGaskey, Jerrod Gooch, Malcolm Williams, and Keenan Robinson just to name a few. You can read the entire commitment list here. So Longhorn fans, although November was definitely a month to forget, the future looks bright. As the saying goes, at Texas they don’t rebuild, they reload!

Snead Out At Texas Part II

Pete already broke the story below, but since I had a piece written, I may as well post also so as not to waste. So to add to Pete's original story...

It has been rumored that Texas quarterback Jevan Snead has asked out of his scholarship at Texas. It seems that Snead is looking at transferring to another school to play ball. No official word as of yet as to where Snead could be looking at transferring, although I have heard he is strongly considering TCU. Houston and Louisville are also options. Personally, I had a feeling that this issue might arise with Colt McCoy playing as well as he did this season. Snead enrolled at Texas believing that he had an honest shot at winning the starting quarterback job, and he did. Unfortunately for Snead, once McCoy got the job, he never looked back (unless you count the times this year he has died in games the last two weeks). So at this point McCoy looks the be the starter from here on out and since Snead and McCoy both would have three years of eligibility left, Snead will be relegated to career back-up by staying at Texas. There is the chance that McCoy could do so well at UT that he leaves school early for the pros, but even then that would only give Snead one year at the helm. And there isn’t any guarantee that Snead will even remain the number two guy in the future. The Longhorns have a strong verbal commitment from Trinity Catholic high school senior John Brantley. Brantley is the number two ranked, pro-style quarterback in the nation according to Rivals.com and he should be in Austin next fall. In fact Brantley will for sure be in Austin next week, as he has an official visit scheduled and you can be sure Snead’s decision will have an effect on Brantley’s final choice of school. So although this rumor of Snead’s departure from the Longhorns hasn’t been confirmed yet, this move makes sense to me, as I have previously mentioned. Snead is a far too talented quarterback to spend time on the bench. It should be noted that Coach Mack Brown met with the freshman earlier this week. Snead talked to Brown about the possibility of transferring, and the coach told him to think about it more before making a decision. As of Friday early morning, Snead had yet to ask for the official paperwork for release from the team. Depending on when or if Snead files for transfer, his eligibility for the bowl game could be in doubt. I will attempt to contact Snead to get more info, so check back at Silva Sportz for the latest news regarding this breaking story.

Homo For Romo

Just in case you didn't know, Tony Romo leads the NFL with a passer rating of 110.8. Second is Peyton Manning who is a full 10 points behind Romo. Since Romo has taken the reigns as starter, the Cowboys are 4-1 and the 'Skins got suuuper lucky. As you can see, Romo is the Cowboys savior. I think this video pretty much sums up Cowboys fans feelings for our guy.



Go vote for him for Pro Bowl here.

Bye-Bye Vanderjagt, We Won't Miss You

The good news: Vanderjagt is "out" in Dallas. The bad news: Martin Grammatica is "in". The Cowboys fire one crappy kicker and pick up another crappy one in his place. I do believe this is a good move because at least the Cowboys will save a lot of money by letting Vandy go. Also Grammatica can kick off. Most importantly, I don't want Vanderjagt getting a ring when the Cowboys win the Super Bowl after all the misses he's had. So how did the most accurate kicker in NFL history become so craptastic? Well many people would point to his key miss against the Steelers in last year's playoffs. That miss is second only to Scott Norwood for biggest choke in NFL kicking history and I don't think Vanderjagt ever recovered. Some people would also point to Vandy's downfall being when he started to highlight his hair, which is pretty gay. I would however point to when Vanderjagt made a trip to Texas a few years back as a guest at Indianapolis Colts longsnapper Justin Snow's football camp in Abilene, TX. After spending the day in Texas' August 100+ degree heat, Vanderjagt remarked "It's too ____ hot here, I'm leaving!" and he then proceeded to go get in his Escalade. The Silva boys knew right then and there that Vanderjagt was soft and wouldn't cut it here in the great state of Tejas. So, here's the plan from here on out: Romo just throws touchdowns and we trust Marteen to make EP's. Got it? Good.

A Defense of Mr. Michael Vick

Many people are ripping Mike Vick today saying that he is incapable of being a quality NFL quarterback. I still disagree with those people. First of all, Vick has shown that he is capable of being a “passing “ QB. Just look at his stats from weeks 6 & 7 of this year. In week 6 against the Steelers, Vick was 18 of 30 for 232 yds and 4 TD’s. He finished that day with a 96.1 QB rating, which is quality. He also still rushed for 40 yds. Then next week against the Bengals, Vick was 19 of 27 for 291 yards and 3 TD’s and a 142.7 rating which is excellent. Of course many people would say those are the exceptions for Vick and not the norm. That may be true, but the goal of NFL franchises is to win games and ultimately championships. Vick has already led the Falcons to a Conference championship. Also Vick seems to receive the brunt of the blame when Atlanta is struggling. What about their defense? The Saints put 31 points of the board Sunday against this Falcon D. That means even if Vick had thrown 4 touchdowns, his team would have still come up short. Atlanta’s defense is 22nd in league giving up 340 yds a game. They were supposed to be a “rebuilt” defense with new, key additions. Instead the defense has been a disappointment, with new, key additions such as John Abraham only playing in 3 games this year. Finally, with the exception of Alge Crumpler, the Falcons have hands-down the worst receiving corps in the NFL. Roddy White, Michael Jenkins, Ashley Lelie, and Adam Jennings could not even start as a third WR for most teams. White, Lelie, and Jenkins are all former first rounders but what many people overlook is that this simply means these players were drafted in the 1st round, not that they actually have 1st round receiver talent. (see Charles Rodgers and Mike Williams). No group of wide-outs has worse hands or are worse route runners in the NFL than Atlanta’s group. If you watched the Falcons game against the Saints this past Sunday you know exactly what I mean. There were at least 5 dropped balls, possibly more. Also one of the drops was a sure TD. Just how bad were the Falcon receivers yesterday? Here is what Joe Horn had to say about them, and he plays for the opposing team!

“This is a league where if you don't do your job, they run your ass off. Those guys better wake up and smell the coffee and start catching the damned football. I can't blame [Vick] for, you know, being upset at them sometimes."

If you know anything about football, then you know how much it helps a quarterback when his receivers get open. So how do receivers beat the coverage? By running precise routes and using proper technique. The Falcons receivers seem to only know how to run 1 routes and even then they cannot be counted on to haul in the deep ball even when it hits them in their hands. As for Vick flipping off the crowd after the loss, he pretty much summed it up himself. Vick said

"First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my inappropriate actions with fans today. I was frustrated and upset at how the game was going for my team, and that frustration came out the wrong way."

He knows he was wrong and many a people have done many a stupid thing in the face of frustration (see Albert Haynesworth and Tyler Brayton). What do think? I am giving Vick too much credit? Would you want him to start for your team? Is the Falcon’s answer to their woes Matt Schaub?

Fan Appreciation? (AHN All Headline News)

Vick makes obscene gesture to home crowd (Fox Sports)

Coach Tressel Has His Priorities

If you have spent any time looking at MySpaces, you know that many celebrities have legitimate pages. You also know that many of the pages are fake and super lame. Many times you can tell if the space is real or fake by the pictures posted, the bios written etc. Then there are other times when you wonder if you are really looking at the page of a famous, well-known person or some 15 year old with lots of free time. Here is one myspace that has been debated as to whether it was real or not. As you can see the Jim Tressel page is put together well and looks quality but at the same time doesn't the coach of the #1 ranked team in college football have better ways to spend his time than adding you to his friend list? Well today the controversy was settled and Silva Sportz can confirm that the Jim Tressell MySpace page is officially bogus. How do I know that? Well because at exactly 6:07 PM central time, Coach Tressel's page showed he was "online now". Interesting because at that same time Coach Tressel was coaching his Buckeyes in a hard fought battle against Michigan with about 3 minutes left in the game. Conclusion: Unless coach was working one of these under the sweater vest, somebody is busted!

Look-A-Likes - "Beanie" and Jayceon Taylor

Ohio St. super freshman Chris Wells



and




West Coast representa The Game

Situ’s NFL Mid-Season Round-Up

Most memorable moment of the year so far: seeing Trent Green knocked out cold, which was one of the hardest hits of all time and I saw it live and Al Haynesworth stomp on Andre Gurode which I also saw live. Also the ridiculously bad production of the once great Monday Night Football.

NFL MVP: Peyton Manning. If you get a chance at all to watch Manning play this year, don’t miss it. You may be watching history in the greatest quarterback of all time having possibly his best season.

Offensive Player of the Year (different from MVP): LaDainian Tomlinson

Defensive Player of the Year: Champ Bailey. Julius Peppers was an early favorite but his production has dropped some. Also Urlacher’s unfortunate injury sets him back too, but either of these could make a comeback to claim it.

Rookie of the Year: Marques Colston is probably most productive, but as far as who will become the best player in the long run, Laurence Maroney.

Rookie Bust: Reggie Bush, Bobby Carpenter is not far behind, but Bush had such higher expectations that he is not living up to.

Surprise player of the year (good): Tony Romo. Before the pre-season, most people didn’t even know he existed.

Biggest disappointment of the year: Terrell Owens, too many dropped passes on big plays.

Surprise team of the year (good): New Orleans Saints. I seriously expected them to contend for next years first draft pick and now they should win their division.

Surprise team of the year (bad): Pittsburgh Steelers. Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dolphins were also considered but I think they were just overhyped. The Bucs had actually made the playoffs last year but the Steelers are the freakin’ defending world champs! Now they’ll be lucky to not finish last in their division.

Coach of the year: Sean Payton, see surprise team of year above.

First pick in next year’s NFL draft: It’s hard to see any team being worse than the Raiders are right now. Then again, the Raiders beat the Cardinals! So the Arizona Cardinals are on the clock…

AFC Champ: Indianapolis Colts. This will be the year that the Colts finally get the job done.

NFC Champ: Whoever wins home field advantage throughout the playoffs including Giants, Bears, Seahawks. So as not to wuss out, I’ll go with the Bears.

The Count is Out For TUF 4 Finale

This Saturday is the Ultimate Fighter 4 finale. In the welterweight final it’s Chris Lytle vs. Matt Serra. In the middleweight final Patrick Cote will be facing Travis Lutter. There are a few other matches scheduled for that evening, mostly other fighter from TUF 4. However one match that was highly anticipated was recently cancelled. The great Michael Bisping was scheduled to fight in his first fight since knocking out Josh Haynes on the TUF 3 finale. Bisping is currently 11-0, but he will have to wait a while to run his undefeated streak to 12. The Count is from Liverpool, England and he could not get a visa to travel to the U.S. for the fight. When the UFC President told Bisping the bad news, he reportedly said "Dana, no" in his classic voice. First we won’t let Mexicans into the country and now we won’t let the great Bisping in. U.S. lost some fame for that one. Seriously, though I hope Bisping and the UFC get the issues with the visa worked out because the fans definitely want to see the Count back in the octagon soon. You can view the complete fight card for TUF 4 finale here. Also, if you have missed any episodes of season 4, I saw a commercial advertising that Spike TV will be airing a marathon of the entire season all day Saturday leading up to the finale that evening.

I Didn't Even Know Gnats Had Groins

What is the big deal about Tyler Brayton kneeing gay Jerramy Stevens in the crotch Monday Night? No seriously, everyone is making a way bigger deal out of this than it really is. First of all, the majority of people commenting on it have never even played football, so they have no idea about what types of things go on in games or the emotions and passions that are on display. Unless you have played quality football for a length of time, no one cares what you think about the incident. Also, if you watch closely, you will see that Stevens is the first one to take a swing, or kick, at the crotch. He tries to kick Brayton with his whole leg. If you watch the video you can see Steven’s leg swing up between’s Brayton’s legs. If anyone tries to kick you in the groin, you have a free pass to kick or knee them back in theirs. I mean the better thing would have been to punch Jerramy Steven’s in the face, but he had a helmet on. Also Warren Sapp is correct with his comments in saying that Stevens is a punk. I think a better word would have been that he is a pussy but you get the picture. No one in the league runs their mouth more without backing it up than Stevens. You can hear the crappy MNF announcers weigh in with their two cents, but their credibility was thrown out long ago. Mike Greenberg said regarding the incident that it was “one of the worst things I have ever seen an athlete do on the field” and I have also heard several other comments regarding the incident that said that Brayton should be suspended anywhere from 1 to 3 games and be fined at least 5 figures. I don’t agree with that. While I do assume that the league will punish Brayton and I would say he deserves it for breaking the rules, I would say that Brayton should be fined around $7,500 and receive no suspension. Also after reviewing the tape, I believe Stevens should be fined about $5,000. Also, this was caught on Monday Night Football so that is the only reason that a big deal is being made out of it. Obviously Jerramy Stevens didn’t think it was a big deal as he didn’t even double over or anything. Either that or it just confirms my suspicions that Stevens’ has had a vagina all along.



Here is a second, shorter clip so you can review Stevens' first kick without having to watch the whole clip again.

How Good Is Colt McCoy?

Colt McCoy for Heisman? Sounds ridiculous right? You think I am just being a fan, right? Well since you won’t believe Fan Situ, I will have to make my case as Reporter Situ. First off, who are the leading candidates for the Heisman at the quarterback position? Well many people would say this is debatable, so I will pull from credible sources. According to HeismanPundit.com, the top three quarterback candidates are in order Troy Smith, Brady Quinn, and Erik Ainge. According to ESPN‘s Heisman page, the top three QB candidates are Smith, Quinn, and Pat White. Finally according to Fox Sports, their top three QB candidates are Smith, Quinn, and White. So let’s take a look at how these four quarterbacks stack up against each other and as Los would say, “how’s Colt McCoy?” so we will throw him into the mix also. (These stats are current as of today, November 5th.)

Smith - 158-of-237 for 2,006 yds, 22 TDs, 3 INTs, 66.7% comp rate and 165.9 rating.
Quinn -216-of-338 for 2,579 yds, 25 TDs, 4 INTs, 63.9% comp rate and 150.04 rating.
White - 77-of-113 for 1,044 yds, 6 TDs, 5 INTs, 68.1% comp rate and 154.4 rating.
Ainge - 168-of-252 for 2,216 yds, 16 TDs, 8 INTs, 66.7% comp rate and 155.1 rating.
McCoy - 170-of-246 for 2,051 yds, 27 TDs, 4 INTs, 69.1% comp rate and 172.1 rating.

Smith - 53 rushes for 206 yds, 1 TD
Quinn – 59 rushes for (negative) -37 yds, 2 TD’s
White – 96 rushes for 744 yds, 13 TD’s
Ainge – 19 rushes for (negative) -58 yds, 1 TD
McCoy – 62 rushes for 180 yds, 1 TD

Colt leads in touchdowns, completion percentage, and passer rating. The numbers don’t lie, you can see McCoy is clearly one of, if not the best, quarterbacks in the NCAA right now. I know that is extremely rare for a freshman to win the Heisman, but I believe McCoy should at least be invited to the ceremony in New York. If not that, then let me be the first to begin the official campaign of McCoy for Heisman in ’07. Actually I think this guy was first but you get the point. McCoy is close to having people say, “Vince who?” Okay maybe not because V.Y. was a king, but then surely McCoy is the successor to the throne.

McCoy deserves to be part of Heisman conversation (Austin American Statesman)

Here is another nice Colt McCoy site I came across. GoColtGo.com

Look-A-Likes - Chris Henry And An Alien

Bengals WR Chris Henry

and

An alien from "Signs"

Joe Paterno And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I bet when Coach Paterno woke up this morning, he had gum in his hair. I don’t know that for sure but I do know three reasons why today was not a good day for Joe Pa.
1) His squad lost to Wisconsin 13 to 3 Saturday.
2) He was blown up big time on the sideline. (watch the clip repeatedly on any sports highlight show) Too sad!
3) Craig James called him an “old fart” on national TV. I officially hate Craig James.
This picture pretty much sums up his day. The only thing left that could have happened to him would be if he got plain sneakers when his assistants got the ones with the stripe. Maybe he should move to Australia.

Another Athlete Busted For 'Roids

We all know about the baseball players (too many to list) and then there's Floyd Landis and Tim Montgomery and most recently Shawne Merriman. Now add to the list the name of Stephan Bonnar of UFC fame. Bonnar is most known for being the first winner of UFC's Ultimate Fighter reality show. That won him a contract with the UFC after a classic fight with Forrest Griffin. Apparently Bonnar knew Griffin was a lot to handle and he wanted a little extra "edge" for the second fight. Of course by edge I mean anabolic steroids. Bonnar tested positive for anabolic steroids after his UFC 62 loss to Griffin. Bonnar was fined $5,000 and suspended for nine months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission Friday for the positive test. He will be eligible to fight again in May 2007. I can only imagine this picture is what it must have felt like after Bonnar found out he was busted. (If you don't follow UFC, that if Bonnar getting punched in the mizouth by Griffin from their last match.)

Bonnar fined, suspended (UFC.com)