StrasMas Part 2

Its the second coming. Stephen Strasburg of Washington Nationals set to return to majors on Sept. 6. This is the best news Nationals fans have had since they signed their four top picks in this years draft.

We have been on the Jimmer Train since last season

Today everyone is talking about Jimmer Fredette and his performance against San Diego State last night. It sounds like everyone has just heard of how fun to watch guard out of BYU is, everyone but OTWT. OTWT was riding the Jimmer train last year and here is the proof.  So this is an I told you type of post, So I told ya so.

Everyone hates CBS College Sports

Last night was CBS College Sports time to shine with them showing BYU and San Diego State in the game of the year in the Mountain West Conference, but instead of shining the network laid a huge egg. All over twitter last night college basketball fans were throwing a fit about the telecast.

Here are sampling of some of the hate that was being thrown around CBS College Sports and color guy Steve Lappas last night on Twitter:

• sportsguy33, Bill Simmons: "Szezcerbiak! Abdelnaby! It's the Not Quite March Madness Halftime show on Not Quite CBS!"
• mz734, Andrew: "RT @sharapovasthigh: RT @sportspickle: CBS College Sports is trending. The Internet has reached the peak of its potential."
• TheCoolSub,Jonathan Gold: "This is just marvelous. RT @doctorgc: Steve Lappas increasingly sounds like Lorraine Bracco in Goodfellas #SteveLappas"
• EdwardFLewis, Edward Lewis: "OK we're midway through the first half and the only thing Ive learned is CBS College Sports' color commentator is awful. 15-15 tie in Provo."
• AubreyBloom247, Aubrey Bloom: "If Gus Johnson were doing this game the "rise and fire" count would be at about 20 already. Also, terrible job mic'ing up the crowd CBS.''

So in there moment to show the country that they are a legit college sports station, CBS College Sports dropped the ball and ended up being a laughing stock.

Its almost here

I was looking at the preseason USA Today men's basketball and I saw that the season tips off in a little less then three weeks and for one I can not wait. Here are my thoughts on the USA Today Preseason Top 25:

• I never thought that I would see Kansas State above Kansas in the preseason rankings. Will the Big 12 be colored purple this year, maybe.
• Two teams outside of the preseason Top 25 that are going to make noise are: San Diego State Minnesota.
• With Hummel gone to another knee injury there is no way Purdue is going to be a top 10 team.
• Texas forward Thirstan Thompson will be this season breakout player. He is too skilled not to be a star. 
• With one of the top recruiting classes in America, Memphis is going to be a fun to watch. Can a Josh Pastner lead his tiger cubs back to the NCAA Tournament.  

27 Pitches of Hope

So 27 pitches and I'm off my rocker all ready. Stephen Strasburg made his much awaited debut in spring training yesterday and I could not be happier. Two scoreless innings in spring training is not the stuff of stars but for Nationals this might have been the two must important innings in the history of the franchise. Strasburg threw 15 of his 27 pitches for strikes and allowed two hits, successive two-out singles by Don Kelly and Alex Avila in the second. But the right-hander finished off Brent Dlugach with a bending, 81 mph breaking ball for an inning-ending strikeout.

Strasburg gives us hope and with a team that has had back to back 100 loss season. He makes watching a spring training game on a nice March day appointment TV. He does one thing that Nick Johnson could never do give National fans a sense of excitement.

The thing that was weird was about the game yesterday was the guy pitching for the Tigers, Rick Porcello. Porcello is what I want Strasburg to be and what he could be. If Strasburg turned out to be as good as the former Seton Hall Prep star, I would be through the moon.

Could things be turning for the Aztecs

For the first time in a while, San Diego State appears to be taking college football seriously. I know what people are thinking, San Diego State, why the hell is are you writing about that. Over the last couple of weeks the Aztec Nation has been getting really excited.

First the administration goes and hire Ball State head coach Brady Hoke (right) to lead the football program. Last year Hoke was talked about as the possible head coach at Michigan. Sure the school paid a lot for Hoke, but it shows the commitment that the school is making to improve its terrible football program. Hey if you can win at Ball State, San Diego State might seem like a breeze.

The second reason why things at SDSU are looking up is because Hoke then went and hired Al Borges as the his offensive coordinator. Borges, who took last season off, last was the offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2007. Borges joined the Auburn staff in 2004. Auburn was 33-5 in the three seasons Borges was the offensive coordinator. Borges was one of the guiding lights behind Jason Campbell's development as a quarterback on the plains. He was was the leader of the 2004 Auburn offense that featured running backs Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams. Borges is from the Bill Walsh School of Offense and likes to run a balanced offense.

So with a commitment from the administration the Aztec football might start to turn the corner of the next couple of years.