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Georgetown is 1-1 so far in the Old Spice Classic with a game against Maryland on Sunday night. There were good things and bad things in both games one a 58-50 win over Wichita State and the other a 90-78 loss to a very talented Tennessee team. Ultimately though, this is going to turn out being a great experience for this young Hoyas team and should serve them well as the season progresses.

Wichita State played Georgetown really tough as a mid-major, but Georgetown really let them hang around by turning the ball over, shooting poorly and not rebounding the ball very well. The Hoyas got a great first half from Greg Monroe (who really continues to impress me especially on the defensive end of the floor; he is just very active), a great second half from DaJuan Summers (who seems to be coming alive on both ends of the floor) and a great overall game from Austin Freeman (whose scoring touch is an absolute must for the Hoyas). Jessie Sapp continues to come up with big plays at the right moment and Chris Wright gets ever more comfortable running the offense and driving to the hoop.

Georgetown will overcome the shooting deficiencies they had in this game (and in fact they did against Tennessee, shooting very well for the most part), buth the turnovers and rebounding are definitely things they need to work on. Wichita State played good defense on the Hoyas, but overall they just did not take care of the basketball the way they need to and they were killed on the defensive glass. The Shockers got a lot of second chance points and although they only shot something like 23% from the field, they should have been held to an even lower shooting percentage given the number of offensive rebounds they were able to grab. I don’t think it is lack of hustle, I just don’t think they have gotten good position, which is something they should improve on throughout the season. The turnovers thus far have mostly appeared to be lazy passes and not coming to the ball, both things I expect this team to become sharper with as the season progresses. They are worrisome however and the Hoyas do need to fix them before Memphis comes to town or they travel to Durham to take on Duke if they are going to have any chance winning either of those games.

As for the Tennessee game, the problems were much the same as above. Since I have already spent a great deal of time writing about the turnovers and the rebounding, I will just mention two more quick instances from this game. In terms of rebounding, the Hoyas were solid for most ofthe game, but it killed them at a crucial point in the game when Tennessee, via a couple fouls and some poor rebounding by Georgetown, was able to cut an eight point Georgetown lead to a two point Georgetown lead in one possession. This was a major turning point in the basketball game.

As for turnovers, they were again of the lazy variety. Four plays in particular by unlikely people really worried me. Three of them were just awful, lazy passes by Austin Freeman. Freeman generally looked sluggish in this game and his outside shot wasn’t falling at all, but that will usually be falling and he still managed to get into double digits on the offensive end so that wasn’t at all what woried me about him. It was his general laziness on the offensive end which led to some truly awful passes which led to turnovers and fast break points the other way by Tennessee. The fourth turnover that bothered me was another lazy pass, this time on an inbounds play by Jessie Sapp. Jessie played a great game overall, except for this pass. It was just awful and to come from a senior leader late in the game is just unacceptable. I am confident that it won’t happen againand that Sapp will fix it. I really think he has developed into exactly what this team needs from him. He just can’t make passes like that anymore.

Despite these problems (along with the continuing struggles from Henry Sims and the lack of real contribution from Julian Vaughn, who really has not been any help in the rebounding department) I thought the Tennessee game showed us some good things and paved the way for this team to get a lot better as the season rolls on. This game showed them that they are talented enough to play with elite teams and versatile enough to hang in any type of game. They can certainly play the slow grind it out Big East style, but they have the legs and the skill to play a run and gun game too. I don’t want to say they should have won this game, but they very well could have. The kids are really talented and once they learn to protect the ball better, they are going to be able to hang with some really good teams and can probably even win a couple of surprising games.

The bottom line is that without Cameron Tatum having the game of his life, Georgetown may just be able to win that game despite having those turnovers and rebounding struggles. Once they sharpen their game, this team should be able to push the Big East and compete with just about anyone in the country. Maybe they won’t win a whole lot of those games, but they will only get better in them as the season progresses.

The Big East is going to be unbelievable in basketball this year. There is no clever way to start this post. It is just that simple. People say it every year and my little two bit analysis will mean very little, but this year the Big East is going to be even tougher than most years.

Every single team is going to be good (well, not St. John’s, but you get the idea) and just about every team is improved from last year (outside of probably Georgetown, unfortunately, but the Hoyas are still going to be tough and only get better throughout the year). They basically all play the same physical, defensive style and all of the Big East teams (even more than most conferences) are extremely well coached as much as it pains me to say that Mike Brey and Bob Huggins are good coaches.

Kansas is admittedly not the same team they were last year and Florida is by no means the same super power that one back to back championships before that, but both are still very good and both were ranked going into their respecitve games against Syracuse. Syracuse was unranked and the jury remained out on whether they had gotten any better from last year. Syracuse beat both of them. Neither game was a blowout, but both were statements by the Orange. Johnny Flynn may very well win the Big East Player of the Year. (Say what you will about Luke Harangody, he got shut down by the seive that is Roy Hibbert’s defense last year, so I’ll stand by my pick of Johnny Flynn thank you very much.) Onuaku is going to cause major problems for Big East big men all year because he will only get better and is easily thestrongest player on the floor at any given time. Eric Devendorf is back from injury and he has brought his most ugly, but most effective game back with him and Paul Harris is probably the best athlete in the Big East.

And this is an UNRANKED Big East team, at least right now. They won’t be unranked for long. Three out of the top four teams in the country (basically the three best teams in the country that don’t have the returning National Player of the Year) are from the Big East. The #8 team (who beat #7 last night), the #15 team, the #16 and the #22 team in the country are all also from the Big East. That’s SEVEN ranked teams, with two most likely on the way in Syracuse and West Virginia. (All of these rankings are from the ESPN/USA Today Poll; in the AP Poll even Seton Hall received votes.) This may be the best Big East we’ve ever seen and that is saying something. There simply will not be easy games in the Big East this year.

So we are nearing the end of November and that means two things: Thanksgiving and BCS debates. I actually enjoy both of these things. Thanksgiving is pretty obvious, but most people don’t like BCS debates. Well, I don’t particularly care for the BCS in general, but I do like talking about it; about who should be in the Championship Game, who should be the at large teams and how we should fix the system for next year. All of these things are fun.

This year the scene is particularly cloudy because everyone in major conferences except for Alabama has lost at least one game and in the Big 12, the top 3 teams have rotated losses, which only complicates things further. Alabama has two games left (one of which will most likely come against Florida and the other is their rivalry game against Auburn) and there is a good chance that they will lose at least one of them then giving all major conference teams at least one loss and leaving Utah (currently number 6 in the BCS), Boise State (#9) and Ball State (#15) as the only unbeaten teams and completely muddying up the Championship picture.

Should Utah (the only non-BCS Conference team with a real shot at the thing) get a chance to play for the BCS Championship given the schedule that they’ve played and the fact that they’ve beaten everyone they were supposed to? Should USC get a chance to play for the Championship since the only team they lost to (Oregon State) also appears to be headed for a BCS bowl game? Should Oklahoma go to the Championship and jump over Texas (even though Texas beat Oklahoma) because they thumped Texas Tech (the only team to beat Texas)? What about Penn State, who dominated a weak Big Ten except for a last second loss in unbearable conditions on the road? Are all of these points made moot because whoever gets there is going to get beaten by whoever comes out of the SEC (Florida or Alabama, most likely)? All of these questions are what make debating about the BCS fun.

Personally, I hope that Florida and USC are the two teams that end up playing for it all. Texas and Oklahoma are both really good football teams, but I think that Florida and USC are the two best football teams in the country. They’re both highly athletic, have extremely potent offenses and crazy good defenses. Not to mention, they are both exceedingly well coached.

Now, Oklahoma showed a lot in absolutely dismantling Texas Tech on Saturday especially on the defensive side of the football. We all knew they could put up points, but they’re defense had given up almost as many and let some bad teams hang around with the Sooners late in games. Saturday, though, they kept the nation’s second best offense down for most of the game (especially the early part) and helped put the Red Raiders away for good.

This is to say nothing of Texas, the only team to beat Oklahoma. The Longhorns have also been great this year and Colt McCoy has been especially awesome. Despite losing to Texas Tech, McCoy should probably win the Heisman Trophy. Without him, Texas simply would not compete and he adds so much to that team. This is before we even mention the fact that he has put up some ridiculous numbers this season (30 passing touchdowns and 8 rushing touchdowns and only 7 INTs).

All that said, I still think that Florida and USC are the two best teams in the country and since I have no strong college football allegiance I would like to see the two best teams go head to head in the Championship game. This scenario probably won’t happen, however. Florida still has to beat Florida State on Saturday (which is probably a little harder than in year’s past) and get past Alabama in the SEC Championship game (and Alabama has passed every test so far this year so they could very well beat Florida). And USC, sadly, needs help. They need either Oklahoma, Texas or both to lose their regular season finales (against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M respectively) and they need whoever emerges from the Big 12 South to lose to Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game. Otherwise, I can’t see USC leaping the both of them and into the Championship.

(Quick side note: has there ever been a more unheralded #1 than Alabama this year? Everyone - including me - expects them to lose at least one of their remaining games depsite the fact that they are unbeaten in the SEC, have beaten Georgia and LSU on the road, and seem to be able to win just about any type of game. There is no doubt that if they beat Auburn and Florida in the next two weeks, they should be a big favorite in the Championship game. I still hat Nick Saban, but the guy is doing a helluva job down there in Tuscaloosa.)

It would seem like whoever comes out of the Big 12 (assuming it is Oklahoma, Texas or maybe Texas Tech - although if it is Tech, I think USC goes to the Championship instead) and whoever comes out of the SEC (assuming it is Florida or Alabama) will be the two playing for the Championship. Unless, of course everyone loses another game and then it is Penn State and Utah playing for the Championship (both are finished with their seasons). Although, I’d prefer Florida-USC we really can’t go wrong with any of the top 5 playing one another. It is bound to be a great game, which is about all we can ask for, especially those of us without any real alliances.

I do think the BCS is a flawed system and I would love to see a playoff, but we cannot say that we haven’t had good Championship games (even the ones with Ohio State have been somewhat entertaining; you know, the Jim Tressel face) or that the debates haven’t been fun. The playoff would seriously add to the fun of the college football season. I don’t think we’ll ever see it happen because in reality the BCS works despite the fact that no one really likes it, but here’s my pitch to add to those already out there. Make it a 12 team playoff with the top 4 teams getting a bye and use the BCS standings for the seedings. I am completely opposed to allowing Cincinnati or whoever ends up being the tallest dwarf in the ACC play in a BCS bowl because their conference has an agreement to play in one. We need to end that practice and go strictly by the rankings. All of the teams who lose in the playoffs would be put into lesser bowl games (the top 8 would go to the other BCS bowls) and the Championship game would remain exactly the same way it is now. This gives us real, meaningful college football in December and gives more teams a shot at the Championship. If nothing else, it would be fun to watch. It will never happen, but hell, can’t hurt to hope for it, right?

I love sports because without them we wouldn’t YouTube videos like this:

Even if you aren’t a Philadelphia fan, there is a similar video for your teams I am sure.

So the Eagles got demolished yesterday. It happens. When you’re favorite baseball team, just won the World Series, it is hard to get worked up about a perennially underachieving team that is again underachieving.

The media is frenzied that McNabb got benched and to be honest, it did seem a strange time to bench him. The game was still close at that point and the Eagles desperately needed that win. But, the guy had it coming. 6 turnovers in the previous 6 quarters of football ain’t good. (Kevin Kolb kept up the pace by the way with 2 INTs in his 2 quarters of play, Go Eagles.) It seemed to be only a matter of time before he was benched and the Eagles started from scratch. It just seemed like an odd time to do it.

Reid said today that McNabb will be the starter on Thursday night when the Eagles play the Cardinals. This too seems like a strange move. Why take him out during a winnable game only to go right back to him now that making the playoffs is seemingly out of reach? I think McNabb is currently the Eagles’ quarterback on a game to game basis. If they lose another game they will be essentially eliminated from the playoffs and at that point, Reid will be hard-pressed not to go back to Kolb to see if he can be ready for next year, especially given that he has already shown a willingness to remove McNabb in big games.

I really don’t see (especially given McNabb’s painfully soft psyche) this being repaired and the Eagles bringing him back next year. It is really sad to think that after all these years, McNabb’s time in Philadelphia seems to really be nearing a close. He is the best quarterback (or pretty close) in franchise history and has been through a lot with this team and city so it is weird to think of this team without him. There comes an end to all eras (even Cal Ripken with the Orioles and Michael Jordan with the Bulls, neither of which McNabb with the Eagles comes anywhere near), but it will still be weird to see Kevin Kolb run out there and take the snaps next year (assuming McNabb really is gone and Kolb manages to win the job).

Georgetown dismantled Drexel 81-53 on Saturday afternoon in much more convincing fashion than their win over Jacksonville a week ago. There are still things to improve upon, but really I couldn’t have been happier about the outcome.

Greg Monroe was absolutely DOMINANT. He got up and down the floor, played great defense and was an absolute FORCE on offense. His understanding of and adaption to the college game is simply unbelievable two games into his college career. He looks comfortable at all times on the floor and knows where to be and what to do when he gets there. He just had a phenomenal game. And, on top of everything, he was perfect from the line. He still needs to crash the boards a little better and he will have his bumps this year I am sure, but he will definitely adapt to them and be a big part of Georgetown’s attack this year.

Austin Freeman was exactly what I thought he would be in this game. He has evidently gotten over his flu and was a man among boys out there. His shot was falling, he got into the lane and played great defense. Freeman should be the leading scorer on this team as he is easily the most skilled offensive player on the team (although Monroe is close on his heels) and he really looked like it on Saturday.They will really depend on steady production like that from Austin.

Jason Clark was awesome as well. He looked more sure of himself on Saturday than last week. He showed off his shot, his defense (which was really good, much better than I would have expected) and his ball handling (very in-control). He also showed off his fantastic hops on an awesome alley-oop dunk from Chris Wright that brought the house down. Clark is going to be very important to this team all year and he showed that he can be a major contributor for the Hoyas.

Chris Wright and Jessie Sapp had exactly the game that the Hoyas needed from them. Wright’s quickness opens all sorts of things up for the Hoyas on offense and Sapp has really become the steady hand for the Hoyas. Wright had two great feeds on alley-oops and Sapp hit a couple big three pointers. Most importantly for Wright, he had 7 assists and only 1 turnover. If these two can play together like this throughout the season, we can expect some great things from Georgetown.

Henry Sims looked better than last week, but still has to grow into the college game. He’s just a little lost on both ends of the floor. Once he gets comfotable out there, he will help this team. Same thing goes for Omar Wattad and Nikita. Both struggled again, but Omar is going to get minutes because he appears to be the Hoyas best on-the-ball defender. Once his shot starts falling and I do think it will once he gets comfortable, he will be a good fit on this team. Nikita has to find his niche. I think he could be a great asset from the outside because he can shoot the three (even though he missed his only attempt). I’m not sure he will ever get huge minutes, but if he can work himself into Kyle Korver-esque shooting specialist, he could provide some important points off the bench (even if it is only 2-3 points per game).

The disappearance of DaJuan Summers in this game is concerning. The Hoyas didn’t need him to really contribute to win this game, but this wa a team that he could have dominated and instead he spent much of the game trying to find his long range shot and in foul trouble. He was strong from the line and I think this is just an abberation, but the Hoyas will need DaJuan to be what we all think he can be come the Big East schedule (hell, come the Old Spice Classic this week). He is as versatile as they come and he’ll need his full arsenal to be the weapon Georgetown needs him to be.

Things to keep in mind: this was only Drexel and the schedule does get a lot tougher (Old Spice Classic, Memphis, Duke) so there are tough tests ahead. This was a building block game and gives Georgetown some momentum going into their game against Wichita State on Thursday, but Wichita State is a good team and there some other really good teams in the Classic so they have to remain prepared and focused.

I saw this picture and couldn’t resist. There is a caption contest going on over on Bleeding Green Nation for this picture. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: the Andy Reid Face!

Holy crap, what a face. Terrified, confused, angry and constipated all at the same time. Beautiful. (Picture courtesy of espn.com).

This is another new recurring subject that I will update any time I get the urge or see anything that particularly triggers my love for sports.

I love sports because of a guy like J.P. Hayes. J.P. Hayes is a 43 year-old professional golfer. He is even a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR. He is by no means an established pro, despite turning pro almost 20 years ago and just this week Hayes was back in Q School to get his TOUR card for the 2009 season. On the 12th hole of his first round he accidentally played a different model of ball than he had been playing the round with. Upon realizing this, he called an official over and called a two-stroke penalty on himself. He went on to shoot a 74 that day and a 71 the next, leaving him in a great position to finish in the top 20, which he needed to advance to the next and final stage of Q School.

This is where he took the long held tradition of golf to another level. He realized after his round on Friday (at LEAST 24 hours after the ball-switching incident) that the ball he played may not have been approved for use on the PGA TOUR and infraction that would disqualify him from Qualifying School (something he needed to get a full exemption for 2009). He could have just ignored it and finished out the tournament, because no one else noticed. But, he chose to call an official and disqualify himself. (He in fact was disqualified and will have to rely on his past champions/veteran player status and sponsor exemptions to play in 2009, something he will have little problem with.) In a world where the Barry Bondses and Roger Clemenses maintain their innocence despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, the J.P. Hayeses are a refreshing change of pace and a great reminder of the power of sports. I really hope that something good comes from this for Hayes. We need more people with his level of honesty in the sports world.

You might remember my mentioning my Pantheon of athletes in an older post. Well, I have a name to add to the Pantheon list that I started back then and I will try to add names to the Pantheon on a more regular basis going forward.

Today’s addition might be a cliched entry, but he deserves it nonetheless: LeBron James. Yeah, hes kind of goofy and this global icon stuff is kind of annoying, but there is little question about what he can do on a basketball court. It is just plain silly. When was the last time that he wasn’t included in the SportsCenter Top 10 on a day after the Cavs had a game? Seriously. He was in there twice the other day. He absolutely cemented his Pantheon status with his ridiculous peformance in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons, but he has actually gotten even BETTER since then.He can take over a basketball game at just about any point and has basketball IQ (a term I hate, but works for this) gets better each game.

I had my doubts earlier in his career that he was actually going to live up to expectations (like the first 2 games of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals), but it is safe to say that the ceiling has been completely removed from this guys career. His team is as good this year as it has ever been and I think this just may be the year that he does it. Suffice it to say that if LeBron James is on TV, I will definitely be watching and that remote won’t be used while he’s on.

One more recurring subject for today that I will revisit as often as I can: hilarious faces that people give during games. This is something that Bill Simmons has made popular and I am just going to build on that.

Today’s face was inspired by UNC’s thumping of UK last night, a game in which Billy Gillespie often looked lost or confused or simply like he had just dumped his pants and didn’t want anyone to know: that’s right the Billy Gillespie Face!

This isn’t as good as some of the cases last night, but you get the idea. I can’t wait for more nationally televised UK games. (Photo courtesy of Sports Lounge Blog.)