2010 College Football Preseason Rankings

The ESPN/USA Today college football rankings will be finally released tomorrow, so I decided I would come up with my own rankings for the much anticipated upcoming college football season. The AP poll will get released later this month.

TOP 25
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
3. Boise State Broncos
4. TCU Horned Frogs
5. Texas Longhorns
6. Florida Gators
7. Virginia Tech Hokies
8. Nebraska Cornhuskers
9. Oregon Ducks
10. Iowa Hawkeyes
11. Miami Hurricanes
12. Wisconsin Badgers
13. Oklahoma Sooners
14. Pittsburgh Panthers
15. Arkansas Razorbacks
16. USC Trojans
17. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
18. Florida State Seminoles
19. LSU Tigers
20. North Carolina Tar Heels
21. West Virginia Mountaineers
22. Oregon State Beavers
23. Penn State Nittany Lions
24. Georgia Bulldogs
25. Utah Utes

Just Missed
Cincinnati Bearcats
Navy Midshipmen
UConn Huskies
Houston Cougars
Texas A&M Aggies
Stanford Cardinal
California Bears
Washington Huskies
Temple Owls
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

Carlos Ruiz is a Baller

Carlos Ruiz is the catcher on the Philadelphia Phillies, and is quickly becoming a fan favorite this year as he continues to play solid baseball, and pick up the slack for the Phillies while some of their stars are on the DL.

But beyond that, Ruiz has basically always been the man. Even in previous years, when his offensive numbers were not great, he is a great defensive catcher. He has a cannon arm, and all the pitchers like pitching to him. He controls every pitcher on the staff well, and knows which pitches to call in which situations. Also, combine that with the fact that Ruiz has been one of the best Phillies offensively the past 2 seasons in the playoffs; and it all adds up to Ruiz being an official baller.

Even though we don't get to hear Ruiz too much in interviews since he barely speaks English and is not seen as the star of the team, I am picturing something along the lines of a combination of Dave Chappelle's version of Rick James, and the Dos Equis most interesting man in the world.

You know when Ruiz goes back to his native Panama, he is an absolute baller. He probably parties harder than Pacman Jones and Michael Vick combined. He definitely has his choice of any chick he wants when he is out, and treats them however he wants as well, as his pimp hand is extremely strong. Making it rain pesos is a common occurrence for Carlos when he is out. Chooch, you are the man.

Phillies Lose 2 of 3 to Nationals

The Phillies closed out their series at Washington, and even though they snapped their 8 game winning streak with Roy Oswalt on the mound, they did salvage 1 game yesterday of the 3 game series.

Roy Oswalt made his Phillies debut on Friday to try to extend the Phillies winning streak to 9 games, but didn't fare too well in his debut. The offense didn't do anything either, and the Phillies lost the game by a large margin.

On Saturday, the Phillies didn't get off to a good start, and Ryan Howard got the night off after slumping the past few days. Joe Blanton continued his usual 1st inning performance and allowed 3 runs in the first inning. A Carlos Ruiz solo home run, and a Raul Ibanez 2 run home run made the game tied at 4 going into the 9th inning. Carlos Ruiz then had a 2 out, RBI single, which gave the Phillies the lead going into the bottom of the 9th. On came Brad Lidge. A single, out, walk, and Ryan Zimmerman bomb ended the game, and another blown save for Lidge.

Yesterday, the Phillies were able to salvage a game in the series, and won the game in the 11th inning. Brad Lidge worked a scoreless 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th this time, including putting out Ryan Zimmerman. This game also saw Ryan Howard go down awkwardly, as he rolled his ankle trying to slide back into 2nd base. It doesn't seem to be as bad as it looked, but he might miss a few games with a sprained ankle.

After the series, the Phillies sat exactly where they were before; 2.5 games back of the first place Atlanta Braves. Even though the Phillies lost 2 of 3, they have still won 9 of 11 overall, and travel to Miami for a 3 game series against the Marlins, which will start off with Roy Halladay on the bump.

Unfortunately, Brad Lidge cannot be trusted anymore. He has absolutely no command of any pitch he throws. He can't throw his fastball by anyone anymore, and has to rely on his slider. When Ruiz sets up outside, the pitch may come inside, when he sets up high, the pitch may come low; the point is, Lidge has no command, and his pitches really could go anywhere at this point.

The problem is there really isn't any other option. Ruben Amaro was too busy patting himself on the back and doing any interview possible talking about how amazing he has been to acquire Lee, Halladay, and Oswalt in about a year's time to address the bullpen issue that the Phillies currently have, and have had all season long.

Ryan Madson has not pitched very well this year, and even when he does pitch well, he has struggled in save situations when given the chance. I still think his still is better than Lidge's though. Jose Contreras has been good this season, and seems to have really good stuff, but not sure if he would be able to be the closer. J.C. Romero has also been very good, and while he can go up against righties, he is more in there to get lefties out, and has never closed before. David Herndon and Danys Baez have no business still being on this roster.

Another option to close is the Phillies triple A closer, Scott Mathieson. Mathieson has played with the big club before, but the Phillies seem retisant to bring him up for a long period of time for some reason. Mathieson has closer stuff, and an overpowering fastball, and could be the closer of the future for the Phillies.

For more bullpen help, the Yankees just designated Chan Ho Park for assignment, and I don't think there is any reason the Phillies should not go after him, because he would obviously be more welcome on the roster than Baez. Also, along with Mathieson, the Phillies have 2 other triple A bullpen pitchers currently that I think would be much better on the roster than Baez or Herndon. Antonio Bastardo would be that 2nd lefty in the bullpen, and was actually on the playoff roster last season, and I think would be very good as a guy who can get lefties out in big situations. Vance Worley is another guy who I feel like should be in the Phillies bullpen currently, as he can get the job done.

The Phillies will probably wait to waivers to address the bullpen situation, but they will need to not only add a body to the bullpen, but also possibly figure out what they want to do in the 9th inning with a 1 run lead; or there will be more and more heart attacks in the Philadelphia area the more Brad Lidge comes running out of the bullpen.

Eagles Acquire J.J. Arrington from Broncos

The Eagles made a trade yesterday acquiring J.J. Arrington from the denver Broncos, while giving up linebacker Joe Mays. Arrington did not play last season at all with knee problems, and will still need to pass a physical today.

Arrington was a 2nd round draft pick by the Arizona Cardinals in 2005, but never really had abreakout season. Arrington's career high in yards was his rookie year when he ran for 370 yards and 3 TD's.

Joe Mays was a 6th round draft pick by the Eagles in 2008 out of North Dakota State. The Eagles had high hopes for Mays, and made him a starter last season at the middle linebacker position at one point in place of Stewart Bradley, but Mays struggled as a starter, and never ended up getting into games very much. It was tough to imagine a spot for Mays getting much time this season at the linebacker spot with a crowded situation.

If J.J. Arrington does not make the team, the Eagles will receive a 6th round draft pick in 2012, which might end up being the case.

Phillies Win 8th Straight

The Phillies have been on a tear lately, and a lot has been going on down at Citizens Bank Park, as the Phillies try to catch up to the Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies gained another game on the Braves today with their 8th win in a row tonight. They did it in walk off style to sweep the Diamondbacks, on an 11th inning RBI single from Wilson Valdez. How many people when the season started would have thought the Phillies would be winning a big game in late July on a walk off hit by Wilson Valdez, scoring Cody Ransom. Well tonight, the 6-7-8 hitters were huge, as Ransom, Ruiz, and Valdez all had good games. Ruiz has been ripping the cover off the ball the past few games.

This all comes the day after yesterday's 7-1 win... also known as the debut of Domonic Brown. Brown had a huge debut, going 2-3 with a double, a single, 2 RBI's, and 2 runs scored. Brown took his first at bat and almost went deep, taking a pitch and going off the top of the fence in right field. Brown is a 5 tool player who looks like he is the real deal. Roy Halladay's starts rarely go unnoticed, but when Domonic Brown was doing what he was doing, not many people noticed Halladay quietly dominating, as he has basically done all year long.

This is all being done as the Phillies are still missing key players in the lineup. Chase Utley remains out of the lineup, and will probably be out for another 3 weeks or so. Jimmy Rollins fouled a ball off his foot, and missed the last 3 games, but hopefully will return to the lineup. Shane Victorino strained his oblique in Tuesday night's game, which is why Domonic Brown is in the lineup. As much as I rip of Victorino, I don't like both him and Rollins being out of the lineup, as they are our 2 fastest players on the team.

With all the injuries, Ryan Howard has been a rock in the lineup. I believe there should start being some Ryan Howard MVP talk. Howard has struggled the past 2 days, but is batting .295 currently, and has been above .300 a lot of the season. He has 23 home runs, and leads the NL in RBI's by a long shot. Howard is probably around 2nd or 3rd in the current NL MVP pecking order but if the Phillies make the playoffs, Ryan Howard has to be strongly considered to win the award. Guys like Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, and Albert Pujols are probably also in the mix.

Not only has Howard put up solid numbers all year long, he has been the guy who has stayed healthy. I am not blaming the guys who have been injured, but at any point if we lost Howard along with a Rollins, or Victorino, or especially Utley, the lineup would struggle big time. Howard has been the rock in the lineup, and there is no replacing him as the clean up hitter. Placido Polanco has been the only other guy who has been healthy and not gone into any type of slump.

Any way you look at it, the Phillies are playing great baseball right now, and hopefully will keep it up with Roy Oswalt joining the squad. The Phillies go on the road now, and start with a 3 game series in Washington. Roy Oswalt will be on the bump tomorrow night for the Phillies. The Phillies currently sit 2.5 games back of the first place Atlanta Braves, and it feels like they were about 7 games back a week ago.

Even though we were very frustrated as of recently, it is nice to have an enjoyable Phillies team to watch, and have a team to root for going into August and September, and then hopefully into the playoffs.