More BYU football hype (2)

Boy, going 11-2 two years running certainly gets the attention of the media. Rivals.com, a recruiting website, posted thoughts from several sports writers about which non-BCS conference race will be the most intriguing.

BYU got a lot of love.

BYU already is the quasi-media darling when it comes to possible BCS "interlopers." Quarterback Max Hall guides what should be a powerful offense, though the defense has some questions. The Cougars haven't lost a conference game in two seasons and play two Pac-10 teams in September. If they win their games against UCLA and Washington, be prepared for more "BYU in the BCS" talk.

I'm getting excited. Less than 100 days to kickoff.

Last-second Finals preview

Yikes, Game 1 of the Finals starts in two hours and I have hardly mentioned the Lakers/Celtics matchup.

Quick rundown of position winners and losers:

Point guard: Fisher has experience, Rondo has athleticism. Rondo has surprised me with his nerves this postseason, so I don't think the jitters will get the best of him in the Finals. He's quick and long, and I see him causing big trouble for Fisher on both ends of the floor. That said, Fisher is crafty. He knows how to draw fouls and sneak around screens and stuff like that. I've got to call this a draw.

Shooting guard: Kobe is the best player in the league. Lakers win this one hands-down. That said, Allen is a major key for the Celtics this series. If he's hitting 3-pointers at a 40% clip, I really really like Boston's chances in this series. If he's terrible (like he was for most of the playoffs), the Celtics are in deep trouble.

Small forward: Vlad vs. Pierce. Radmanovic has been a major head-scratcher for me all playoffs. It seems he'll come out incredibly hot at the start of games, hit three or four shots in the first quarter, then disappear for the final three quarters. Pierce has sort of been the same way. He's taken over at times (41 points in Game 7 against Cleveland, 27 versus Detroit in Game 6), and other times has hardly shown up at all. However, Pierce carried a bad Celtics team for years... Vlad has never been anything but a fourth or fifth option on a team. Edge Celtics.

Frontcourt: Odom/Gasol vs. Garnett/Perkins. This is a tough one. Garnett is the most talented of everyone involved here, but I worry about his penchant for taking fadeaway 15-footers when he can destroy people down low. If KG comes out hungry and wanting to dominate Odom and Gasol, he will. But unfortunately for Celtics fans, KG doesn't seem have this killer instinct.

Perkins is surprisingly good on the block, but Odom and Gasol both outclass him. KG decides who wins in the frontcourt; if he's insane killer KG, Boston gets the edge. Otherwise, it goes to the Lakers. Edge: Even.

Bench: Walton, Farmar, Turiaf and The Machine vs. Powe, Brown, ET, Big Baby and Eddie House. Sasha has been pretty darn good for L.A., and P.J. has gotten some good minutes for Boston. Otherwise, neither team seems to have an edge on the other.

Finally tally: Celtics 1, Lakers 1, four draws.

Apparently I think the series will not be Lakers in five, like many sports columnists are saying.

Also, the game schedule doesn't help L.A., in my opinion. Two away, three home, two away is tough. If they can't put the Celtics away in five, which would require them to win one of the first two in Boston (where the Celtics have been nigh unbeatable), going back to Boston for Games 6 and 7 is fairly daunting.

My final call? Boston in seven.

Of course, I was dead wrong about the conference finals, so please do not gamble based on this pick.

Thank you.

The Jazz love Hibbert?

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that former Georgetown center Roy Hibbert worked out for the Jazz Wednesday.

And apparently they're pretty high on him.

I'm going to preface my comments by saying I haven't watched many of Hibbert's games. But from what I did see, I wasn't impressed.

Sure, he's 7'2". Sure the Hoyas went 100-36 while he was there. Sure he averaged over two blocks a game this past season.

But darn it, Hibbert's slow. And as a senior he only averaged 13.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. I know Georgetown played a very slow style of ball, but still. Six rebounds?

Not to mention how he completely disappeared against Davidson in the NCAA tournament last March.

Though to be fair, the Jazz don't need scoring as much as they need an interior presence on defense. If Hibbert can affect shots and stop the constant parade to the hoop Jazz opponents enjoy, maybe I'd be fine with him.

But if Fesenko can be that guy, why roll the dice on Hibbert? I guess if the Jazz do draft Hibbert, we'll know how they feel about the Fes.

Obama's victory speech

Well, Hillary's done and Obama's pretty much got the Democratic nomination for president sewn up. Some highlights from Obama's victory speech last night:

...generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth.

First off, last I checked we provide dang good medical care for the sick in America. Is it "free"? No. But if I need medical attention, I can get it. And so can you.

Jobs for the jobless? Unemployment in America is at 5%. You can't get much lower than that, as this statistic includes those who choose not to work.

And if it does get lower? The AP complains.

Call me a narrow-minded Republican apologist, but I believe any American citizen who wants to work, can find work. But good luck improving on that unemployment number while pursuing wacko environmentalist policies, Obama. Such policies put a major hurt on factory workers, people you've claimed to support while campaigning in places like Detroit.

And then there's my favorite statement from Obama. "...when the rise of the oceans began to slow." In informing friends and family about this statement, I mistakenly recalled him saying "when the oceans began to recede," which isn't exactly what he said, but still the general idea.

Now look, the science behind global warming is far from solid. As my friend Stuart said, it's certainly new, and all new science is shaky.

That said, this stuff is accepted as gospel by a lot of people, Congress included.

Okay, so let's pretend for a second that there was a 100% clear-cut connection between humanity and the earth warming. The government does things like restrict pollutants from American companies and fine people for using too much electricty. America's emissions go down 50%.

Guess what? China and India are still doing whatever they want in regards to industry and their economy. They're the biggest emissions offenders in the world, and even if the U.S. went back to the Stone Age, it wouldn't make much of a dent in the overall picture.

So good luck with that whole making the oceans recede thing, Senator Obama.

Finally, Obama essentially pledges to end the Iraq war, if I understood him right.

How? No idea. Maybe he will immediately initiate a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country if elected. I suppose that would "end the war," but if we leave behind a giant mess, how will that improve our standing in the international community?

Besides, things are improving in Iraq. May had the lowest number of American soldier deaths since the war began. Things are stabilizing. Here's a good read from the Wall Street Journal about why we went to Iraq and the current situation there.

In all, impressive speech, Barack. More rhetoric entirely void of factual statements, but what else is new? The man excels at the political game. Whether he can actually get anything (productive) done if elected is another thing entirely.

In a related note, I really don't like McCain. And I'm not alone in this. From what I read and listen to, even those accused of being Republican shills (Rush, Hannity, Beck, Ingraham) don't like McCain. Odd. I thought these guys would vote for anyone with an elephant by their name.

Anyway, it looks like I'll be voting for an Independent this November. I'd better start researching candidates.

Your daily reminder the Gasol trade was horrible (Day 2)

Michael Heisley, owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, has recently voiced concerns that maybe the Gasol-for-Brown trade wasn't the best value he could get for his All-Star forward.

I really don't have any commentary here. Just read the story.

Radical Islam is radical

It's been two years since the uproar over those Danish political cartoonists taking on radical Islam by drawing Muhammad.

Problem is that for Muslims, portraying Muhammad in any way, whether it be through paper, film, or even audio, is big-time offensive.

I'm taking a Middle East History class, and we watched a film on early Islam. Muhammad never appeared on screen. And if Muhammad said something in a particular situation, the camera viewpoint would switch to first-person for him and music would play while he "spoke."

So Muslims take this pretty seriously.

Seriously enough that some of the more hardcore followers of Islam decided that these Danish political cartoonists drawing Muhammad a few times was an offense deserving of a severe response.

And by "severe reponse," I mean "death threats and bombings."

Eventually the furor died down, I think there were some apologies, everyone forgot about the whole thing.

Now, I can understand why devout Muslims would be upset about these cartoons. The image of Muhammad is sacred to them, as there are certain aspects of my religion that are sacred to me. When these aspects of my faith become the object of mockery, I get upset.

And on another level, I can see how these cartoons blaming the prophet Muhammad for the violence in Islam is also offensive. While Muhammad did battle in his day, this was more a product of his environment and culture than anything that was part of what being a Muslim is, in my opinion. He would never condone suicide bombers targeting civilians or the actions taken by other terrorists today.

But enough is enough.

Apparently Muslim terrorists bombed the Danish embassy in Pakistan earlier today, killing at least eight people.

Killing innocent people in response to cartoons was ridiculous three years ago.

Killing innocent people in response to those same cartoons today? Insane.

Man, I know these guys aren't mainstream examples of Islam, but it would be nice to hear some outrage from those who are mainstream Muslims. And maybe some action? Maybe?

This could be happening, but I've done some digging and haven't found any evidence of disapproval from the Middle East.

Your daily reminder the Gasol trade was horrible