Since everyone seemed to enjoy the Tournament Pick'em that we did for College Basketball, we at Durty Butter have created a group for ESPN's streak for the cash. It is fun and free. Here is where you need to go to sign up for our league
It always bothered me that Jerrance Howard is getting all of the credit for getting all of Illinois' 2009 class to commit. I love Jerrance, and I think that he is better at recruiting than anyone else on the Illinois staff, but at the same time, it is a little ridiculous to assume that he was the reason all of these kids committed. If this was true, than Kentucky would have had the best recruiting classes ever while he was there. Considering that Kentucky is a top 5 program and Illinois is seen as second tier, it proves that their is more to recruiting than "Snacks" coming to visit you.
That being said here is another article about Jerrence by Supinie:
I just found this website, and had to share it with all 6 of you faithful followers. This website has brought me to 3 realizations about life: 1) I really miss college! (Going to a University, not City College) 2) When guys get drunk, they either end up in Jail, or cook anything that is in their fridge. When girls get drunk, they hook up with any guy they see. 3) Parents learning to text is probably the greatest thing alive. (You have to scroll down to read the text about t-bags)
Most of my texts to friends consist of finding out what bar people are at, or discussing the sporting event I am currently watching. However, now I am going to send out texts while things are happening. Such as the time I drank out of the Stanley Cup with Chris Chelios pouring, or the time I saw 2 homeless guys debating whether or not Barack Obama was a socialist.
So it has been a really long time since I have posted, and now I have a long list of things to talk about so strap in. We are going to touch on all kinds of subjects so enjoy.
First we will start with sports. The NBA pre-season is finally over and the real season has begun. It is pretty much a forgone conclusion that the Lakers and Cavs will be in the finals, and we are going to have to hear about LeBron vs. Kobe for 6 weeks, because that is how long the Finals take to play. However, the rest of the playoffs have been pretty entertaining so far.
Derrick Rose went off in game 1, and that is a flash of what he will hopefully do for the rest of his career, but I don't expect it for the rest of the playoffs. In game 2 though, I wondered out loud when Rajon Rondo became Jordan. The calls against Kirk and Derrick were absolutely ridiculous. 5 fouls in 9 minutes was atrocious. I feel like the refs feel that KG is gone, Pierce is gonna get his, and Jesus Shuttlesworth can no longer drive past an infant on meth, so Rajon has to be the next guy to get calls. Bullshit!
Deron Williams had a great game 2, and the Lakers still had the game in the bag as soon as they walked into the Arena. If you look at the talent that the Jazz have, you have to be really impressed with Jerry Sloan. Carlos Boozer is f-ing terrible, Okur is a poor mans Arvydas Sabonis. Except Okur is 25 years younger than Sabonis was when he played for the Blazers. Kirelenko was good for one season, and the rest of the team is role players. This isn't the NBA of the 90's where all you needed was 2 really good players on your team, and other people who just do one thing well. It's bad enough that Deron has to live in Utah for have the year, but then he has to play with a bunch of scrubs. Put him on Dallas, and the Mavs are in the Finals.
As a Jordan fan, I have a question for the rest of you. What would you least like to see? Kobe winning another championship and the stupid debate to begin, or Lebron winning a championship and that stupid debate to begin? I personally gotta go with Kobe. For some reason everything that Lebron says drives me crazy. He is an idiot who likes to speak like he is smart. In his post game interview, he was asked if his team got "complacent" Here is the video.
One of 3 things needs to happen: 1) Somebody gets him a dictionary 2) He needs to go to Junior College for a Semester 3) He cannot be asked questions that include words that are longer than 6 letters
I will have more after the games on Thursday
Now on to baseball
As a Cubs fan I feel like I can say this with a bit of legitimacy...... I f-ing hate Cubs fans!!! Every person between the ages of 18-35 feels like it is their god given right to be a complete asshole during and 4 hours after a cubs game. I am starting to jump on the Cardinals/Sox bandwagon in that these douchbags need to realize that the Cubs haven't won shit in over a century. Hell I think even France has won a war in that time period. And riddle me this. How do people get so damn drunk at a game? If you have a beer an inning, that is 9 beers, spread over 3 hours. It makes no sense. I think the actual reason that our economy is so terrible right now is because of irresponsible Cubs fans spending 150 dollars on beer during a game, and then defaulting on their mortgage.
So everyone is back on the Kosuke Fukudome bandwagon. I am starting to as well, but I unlike everyone else on the north side have a memory that stretches longer than 3 months. He had a great April last year too, only to shit the bed when we needed him most. Every time he swings at a low and away slider worse than I would, I forget everything great he has done so far and immediately search for something cheap and replaceable to break.
Derrek Lee is garbage. That's right I said it. If there was ever a player made to play at US Cellular field it is Derrek Lee. No one hits a ball 340 feet like Derrek. I had a conversation with a buddy the other day about my ideal Cubs line-up, based solely on being ideal, and here it is.
1. The Riot 2. Fukudome 3. Soriano 4. Aramis 5. Bradley 6. Soto 7. Lee 8. Fontenot
Last year Lee was 17th in at bats and hits. He was 23rd in doubles, 84th in Home Runs and 41st in RBIs and 30th in total bases. Some notable names ahead of him in RBI's who also play first base. A steroid free Jason Giambi, Mike Jacobs, and Ryan Garko. And they all did it in 100 less at bats. He needs to be moved down in the line up soon. We can move him back in June when he catches fire to make his numbers respectable for the season.
Maybe Sox fans can explain to me how Neal Cotts still has a major league job? I'm sure all of you remember when Albert Pujols absolutely crushed Brad Lidge's fastball, soul and confidence with one swing in the playoffs a few years ago. Well 3 seconds after that ball landed in Oklahoma and Lidge blew the save, I still had more faith in him than I do right now in Neal Cotts. Fans boo, nuns weep, and infants wail as soon as Neal starts warming up in the bullpen.
If you are not a fan an NL central team, would you be able to name anyone other than Albert Pujols for the Cardinals? And yet, they are really good as always, and have a more impressive and intimidating outfield than most of baseball. If you are a Cubs fan, you can breath a sigh of relief that Chris Carpenter got hurt because he looked real good. And if you are a Cardinals fan, I feel bad for you, but at the same time, you have won without him.
Does anyone think that in our lifetime we will see the Texas Rangers have a good pitching staff to go along with their amazing lineup? How hard is this to figure out? Every year, Texas has hitters putting up monster numbers, and their ERA is higher than the unemployment rate.
And the only thing that I have about the NFL Draft is this: The thing I love most about the draft is that it gives me new ideas for nicknames for friends. Hence the reason Cronin is Pac-Man. I have a few people that I want to mention on here more often, but I haven't because we don't have a good name for them. Well my friends look no further than Chris Berman during the draft. I feel that Chris Berman is that Carrot Top of sports broadcasting now. His shtick was never that good, yet for some reason he is still around, and they both are getting bigger as they get older. Anyways, by about the middle of the 3rd round when nobody other than Todd McShay has any clue who is getting drafted, Berman steps up to the plate like the aforementioned Albert Pujols vs. Brad Lidge. This is the best of the worst that ESPN has to offer. Take a drink every time Berman says a nickname and see if you can make it to the Bears first pick at #49 without having to have your stomach pumped.
Now on to television
My television watching pretty much revolves around these shows: The Office, 30 Rock, South Park, Scrubs, Fantasy Factory, Nitro Circus and whatever is great on HBO at the time.
Lets start with Fantasy Factory and Nitro Circus. Both of these shows are on MTV on Sunday nights, and both are amazing. Nitro Circus is the better of the two just because 10 people do ridiculous stunts that no one in their right mind would ever even think of doing. It is basically like Jackass but without the attempt at humor, and with much more physical talent. Backflipping tricycles doesn't sound that entertaining until you watch 5 people about break their necks trying it.
30 Rock just keeps on getting better. Shows like this have staying power though, because you can have complete episodes that have nothing to do with the overall plot and storyline of the show. For the last 2 plus seasons, the only recurring story line is that Jack was trying to become the head of GE, Liz wanted to have a baby, and Tracy is batshit crazy. Yet every week , they come up with amazing stories. I think my favorite so far was when they Jack hired interns that got fired for Merrill Lynch and Tracy was partying with them. Subtle, yet absolutely hysterical because we all know douche bags like these guys. If you are not watching this show, you need to start soon. There is a reason why it wins best comedy every year.
Scrubs should have never come back. They did an entire episode without Dr. Cox, Dr. Kelso, the janitor, and JD and it was the most worthless 30 minutes of television I have ever seen. Also the women on the show are worthless except for Jordan. Elliot is so annoying it sickens me, plus they have her play a bitch sometimes, so basically she is the unstable girlfriend that everyone hates and begs their buddy to break up with. Carla is only a bitch, bossy, and whinny at times. In the 7 seasons that the show has been on, I cannot remember ever laughing at anything she says. The best part about this season was the Indian guy who everyone says I look like. Which brings me to..
Parks and Recreation. This show is also terrible, except for the Indian guy. You can't rip off the character of Michael in The Office and make another show just like it. It is the exact same show, except Amy Pholer can't pull it off. It's sad because this show had so much potential. What they should have done was have the main character be like Dwight from The Office, but he is in charge instead of being a subordinate. That would have at least been different enough to be interesting.
And Finally South Park. This show is still amazing, and seems like it has actually gotten better in the last 3 years. The pirates episode was great tonight, and I feel like half the time I only go to CNN.com to see what is in the news to figure out what the next episode will be. While the Simpsons and Family Guy have pretty much run out of things to do episodes on, South Park probably never will. If you have never seen the 2 episodes where South Park makes fun of Family Guy, I highly recommend them. They are absolutely amazing, and you will probably never be able to laugh at Family guy again. Here is a link to them:
Pretty much all of you who read our little site are just as addicted to sports as we are. Also many of you like to gamble on sports. Well since most of us don't have the resources or balls to use a bookie, and since George Bush not only destroyed the economy, placed us in two wars, but he also outlawed online gambling sites, our options are slim. Well our buddy Jack has turned us on to a new site. It is called centsports.com. Basically they give you 10 cents to bet with, and then if you watch a commercial, you can get 10 more cents. If you actually build up your bankroll to 20 dollars, you will get paid out that money. Its fun, and risk free. If you wanna check it out, here is the link for you to sign up. The other cool thing about it is that you can see what your friends have bet on, and how they are doing. If you get the time, check it out.
So this website NFLDraftbible.com is the website that not only broke the story about Vontae, but it also accused the USC guys of failing steriods tests. It looks like this website will not be around for long, and also they will probably get the hell sued out of them.
Here is a video of Justin Timberlake and Andy Samburg mocking a video of Beyonce with Beyonce. Panks told me about this, and it is pretty funny. Timberlake is going to host SNL in 2 weeks, and as much as it pains me to say this, he is really amazing. Him and Samburg have done he Dick in a box and Jiz in my pants videos, and those are 2 of the best videos that SNL has produced.
Here are a few things to help you get through the dead time where College Basketball is over, the real NBA season is about to start, and Opening Day for baseball is still a few days away.
Looking forward to Illinois Football here is an article about Jarred Fayson. He is a transfer from Florida who was considered the #3 high school receiver in the Nation when he signed with the Gators.
Also just to let you know, Coach Zook is on twitter now, so if any of our readers are under the age of 18 and have a twitter account, you can follow him. In the coming weeks I will actually try to explain what the shit Twitter is once I consult with a local High School student.
Also from Ron Zook, it looks like Patrick Nixon has finally gotten his eligibility for football. Nixon is a cornerback who has the ability to come in and start right away. His chances have increased since Miami Thomas will not practice in the spring because of shoulder surgery. Miami tore his ACL in the Eastern Illinois game while blocking on a punt. I was at that game and it happened right in front of me. It looked terrible. You should remember Miami as the true Freshman who had a great pick in the upset win over Ohio State. He played a lot in that game because Vontae concussed himself trying to knock out Beanie Wells.
Speaking of Vontae Davis, it looks like his draft stock might take a hit because he failed a drug test. Although in his defense, everyone at the combine fails a drug test.
We all know that Jay Cutler is now a Bear, and after a long conversation with Yerk and My brother-in-law, I am starting to talk myself into liking this trade. My brother-in-law is a Vikings fan, so we were talking about Cutler for a while. We were actually joking about how we could help out our respective teams because the Bronco's GM is my parents next door neighbor. We were concocting a plan that would involve a good bottle of scotch, our ridiculous ability to convince people that players on the Bears and Vikings are much better than they really are, and somehow ending in a Brad Maynard and 6th round pick for Champ Bailey trade. I would like to think that had I been at my parent's house, I could have turned Kyle Orton into Brett Basanez. Here is what I feel about the Cutler Trade:
1) we still don't have any receivers for him to throw to. 2) The Bears have always been a running team, so adding Culter isn't going to turn us in the Colt's all of the sudden 3) I am praying that if Cutler has a couple of bad games, the Chicago media doesn't crucify him, because if you think Rex couldn't handle the criticism, then you are in for a reality check with Cutler. This guy couldn't handle the media in Denver, the home of Woody Paige. 4) The Bears adding Orlando Pace is huge. An injured, 45 year old Pace is still light years better than any option we have at tackle in the last 5 years. 5) Cutler's great numbers last year were impressive considering he had no running game, but the Bronco's had to throw so damn much because their defense was terrible. In Chicago all he has to do is manage the game, and hopefully our defense wakes up and plays better. 6) Obviously Cutler has a much better team around him right now than he did in Denver so hopefully there isn't as much pressure on him as their was on the previous QB's who didn't have as much talent or starting experience. 7) In 20 years Cutler will look like Don Vito from Viva La Bam. Write it down and just wait. Jay Cutler Don Vito
The Bulls are still hanging in for a playoff spot. They are a game and a half in front of the Charlotte Jordan's. This team is still fun to watch, and I am now going on record by saying that I was wrong about John Salmons. He has done a great job of filling in for Loul Deng to the point where most people don't even realize that Deng is not playing. Rose was hurt for a while, and Hinrich stepped in and played well. Also Noah and Tyrus are only making 4-5 stupid mistakes a game. I just wish that this team could play a lick of defense. Derrick Rose is a horrible defender, but that should get better as he gets older because he is a freak of nature athletically.
I want to end on something that I thought would be resolved after last baseball season. Why the shit does the MLB still schedule games in the Northern half of the country for April? I am going to the home opener for the Sox on Monday, and the high for the day is supposed to be 38 degrees! I think that even without the advancements in Meteorology in our time, the MLB would realize that the odds on the weather being shitty as hell in the Northern part of the country are pretty good. Here are the series that make no goddamn sense!!
Tampa Bay at Boston Kansas City at Chicago Atlanta at Philadelphia
Really!? You can't switch these series? Not only are the games gonna be played in less than 50 degree weather, but I doubt that the entire series is played. How hard is it to flip these games? This wouldn't aggravate me so much if it didn't HAPPEN EVERY DAMN YEAR!! It annoys me, and it always screws up the first 2 weeks of my fantasy teams! Damn you MLB!
Throw in the fact that you have the Mets at Cincinnati and Los Angles at San Diego. Why? You also have the Yankees at Baltimore and Oakland and the Angels. You couldn't have the Northern teams play these teams in the West for a week? Each team plays what seems like 600 games a year, so does 2 series really matter at the beginning of the season. The MLB is the dumbest of all major sports. They schedule stupid, allow their teams to pay Jason Giambi 25 million a year, and had such a lack of monitoring their players that CONGRESS had to step in. Also add to this that it cost at least $50 dollars to go to a game and sit in seats that would have a better view if they were across the street. It wouldn't be too bad if I didn't have to take out a loan to get a hot dog and 4 beers. I hate baseball, the league is run by idiots, and it is by far the most boring major sport.
You know what saved the MLB? It wasn't the home run chase, it was fantasy baseball. This is the only reason the 75% of fans even give a shit. If it wasn't for fantasy baseball, then fans wouldn't care at all until the playoff chase started, just like the NBA.
Finally here is a couple of links to kill about 75 seconds of your day. Create your own brute and fight! And make your own players, join a team, and build their skill. Goal Line Blitz is actually pretty fun.
