Erickson compares Vontaze Burfict to Ray Lewis, tells him to chill out

If he had a fanclub, we'd be the President...We have been creaming over Vontaze Burfict since signing day when we watched his high school film on rivals.com.  This dude is a complete, 100% badass mofo, and he very easily could go down as the greatest linebacker to ever play at ASU.   I know that is a bold statement, but for those who aren't familiar yet, Vontaze was a 5-Star signee from L.A., and he is wreaking havoc at middle linebacker as a true freshman.  Sound familiar? Like a certain future 1st ballot Hall of Famer Ray Lewis?  Well Coach Erickson certainly thinks so.  Below is the article in the AZ Republic:


     For one half last week, fans couldn't help but notice Vontaze Burfict. The Arizona State freshman linebacker was everywhere, blasting through the offensive line, chasing down ball carriers, disrupting Washington's offensive rhythm.

    In doing so, Burfict was flagged three times for personal fouls.
ASU coach Dennis Erickson said after Tuesday's practice that he had talked with Burfict about the penalties. But it was clear he wasn't too harsh. The last thing Erickson wants is to water down Burfict's passion.
     "He got carried away," Erickson said. "That's how he is, but he's got to control it. I love his intensity. I don't want to slow his intensity down because it's contagious for the rest of the players, for the fans and for everybody involved in the program. But he's got to be smart, and I know he will."
Part of it goes with the territory. Ray Lewis picked up a few personal fouls during his college days at Miami. Most great defensive players are like that, Erickson said. He just wants to halt the stupid penalties, such as late hits or actions that have nothing to do with the play.
     "He's going to play, man," Erickson said. "He's going to get a penalty occasionally. That's just how he is. But the dumb ones, you can't have."
     Erickson said Burfict has improved over the past month, mostly because he better understands the defense.
     "Sometimes he goes the wrong gap, and he still makes plays," Erickson said. "The biggest strides that he's made is just understanding what we're doing."

ASU-Stanford Preview

         Ah, Arizona State and Stanford…I know when I think of traditional colleges, these are the two schools that come to my mind. We are talking about two elite educational institutions known for producing some of our Globe’s premier minds, who have farmed and cultivated many of our leading contributors in medicine, astronomy, physics, and politics. When their respective libraries and lecture halls aren’t instilling knowledge, students of both institutions enjoy spending their autumn Saturdays performing contests involving a football. This Saturday, it just so happens ASU will be travelling to Palo Alto, CA to battle the Stanford Cardinal.

         Both teams had emotional contests last week, and the positive mojo would certainly have to be on the side of the Devils. Stanford lost in somewhat heartbreaking fashion to U of A last week when Nick Foles threw for like 700 yards against the porous Stanford defense. Stanford has failed to beat ASU since 2005, and to break that down even deeper, ASU has outscored Stanford 120-23 over the past 3 games. That was then and this is now however, and this is the new and much improved Stanford Cardinal.
        The two major players from the Cardinals that really need to be contained are RB Toby Gerhart, who is a tough runner who seems extremely difficult to wrap up. According to ESPN, Gerhart is the 5th leading RB in the Nation. ASU had been great versus the run this week, so this is certainly a matchup to watch. Andrew Luck is the freshman QB leading the way for Stanford, and what I saw from him last week in Tucson was pretty impressive play. His 423 yards he passed for last week was the 3 highest in Stanford history, and some dudes named Elway, Plunkett, and Trent Edwards played there, so obviously we’re talking elite company.
     Other than that, the Cardinals have two decent sized targets at receiver in Ryan Whalen and Chris Owusu, both listed at 6’2, and whom I am sure have contributed somewhat in Luck’s freshman success. The defense for Stanford is abysmal, and we expect to see a similar offensive attack that Arizona used.
     One thing is certain with regards to Stanford, and that is that Jim Harbaugh will have this football team prepared and ready to kick the ever living shit out of a football team from the state of Arizona after last Saturday’s heartbreaker.

WWBD Predicts: ASU 27 - Stanford 24

Rattay puts new team on Probation

A dude with a patch and some high school kids...What could possibly go wrong?

OK, what else is new right?  Just another team and some more controversy for Arizona High School “legend” coach Jim Rattay.  Turns out Rattay has been coaching some school in the Valley named Laveen Cesar Chavez or some shit, and are you ready for this? He has put the team on freaking probation! I know, I know this is a shock to all, but yes the AIA is alleging that Rattay had some illegal contact (not sexual) with some kids from North High School, allegedly trying to get them to transfer to Laveen.This is the same guy who told his students in a friendly game of Capture the Flag, where the object of the game is to capture the flag so you can be freed, "You Black players can't be freed because Black people haven't been freed yet."   This is also the same guy who was so pissed off after his team lost a game (High School mind you), he thought since it can be really nice and cool in the evenings on an October night in Phoenix, he was gona hold a practice after the loss.  Well I’m sure you can guess what happened next, dudes were puking, and one kid collapsed causing a huge bruhaha, which led Rattay to resign.

Well, I know what you're thinking, and I know that you know what needed to happen at this point: We need to let Coach Rattay interact with the ladies right?  So in 2005, while at school he was teaching PE and according to the Republic:

One girl claims that Rattay handed her a pamphlet to read about teenage pregnancy and abstinence, telling her, "I give it to all my promiscuous teens." When Rattay asks the girl to read a brochure on the subject in front of the P.E. class, the student says she mispronounced the word "herpes." She claims Rattay then asked her, "What's that white stuff on your lips?" implying that she had herpes, according to the Tempe district's report. Another student claims Rattay called her "ugly" and hit her...

Since dude, is pretty legendary round these parts of the US of A,  and because WWBD strives to be fair and balanced in our news reporting, we feel it is necessary to point out Rattay’s positives:

1985: Jim Rattay, having won two state championships in Ohio, takes over at Mesa High's football coach, finishing 1-9 in his first season.

1986: Mesa reaches the state semifinals in his second season as the school's coach.

1990: Rattay helps Mesa win its first football title since 1963, as Mesa beats Tucson Amphitheater 21-7 in the championship.

October 1991: Mesa becomes the first Arizona high school and 10th in the nation to win 500 football games. "We're just a small chapter in a great book," Rattay says after his team beats Mesa Dobson 30-8. "It's nice to be part of winning that 500th victory."

November 1992: During the playoffs Rattay's right eye is surgically removed because of a chronic sinus infection, causing Rattay to miss his first game as coach in 21 years. Rattay undergoes numerous surgeries to fix the problem. Rattay's son, Chris and Tim, are members of Mesa's football team. Mesa dedicated the rest of the season to Rattay, who watched from the press box as his team beat Mesa Mountain View 14-8 in the Class 5A final. Chris scores the touchdown that put Mesa up 14-0 in the first half. "I'm floating with the clouds," Rattay says after the game.

1998: With the school's first class of seniors, Desert Vista wins the Class 5A championship with a 38-31 victory over Phoenix Brophy to cap a 14-0 season. Rattay's son, John, throws for 224 yards and two touchdowns for Desert Vista in the final. Desert Vista's Bobby Wade becomes the Class 5A-4A Player of the Year.

Courtesy of the AZ Republic

ASU guard Abbott to miss at least a month

This isn't the best news to start the year, and the AZRepub is estimating about 4 games will be missed do to arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. The Devil's are forced to rely on Abbott to assist in filling the void of Harden's departure. WWBD was high on Abbott coming in to last year, but dude was totally brick city....I mean like one wondered from afar why in God's name would Herb Sendek keep letting him shoot the goddamn fucking ball!!! Then, just when you think all is lost, he homeboy finds his rhythm and actually turned out to be a key factor in ASU's run last season to get into the tourney, and put up a season's best 20 spot on Syracuse in the Tourney.


ASU guard Abbott to miss at least a month

Coyotes' Bryzgalov honored by NHL

Coyotes' Bryzgalov honored by NHL

Can it possibly get any more dominating than Ilya's weekly performance last week?  Really anytime you out skate (do Goalies outskate?) Alex Ovechkin, you know you are doing something right.  3-0 with a shutout, and a 0.95 Goals Against was enough to earn NHL Star of the Week, and maybe some of our fans can correct me on this, but I seriously cannot remember many Yotes winning this accolade last season. 

Nice work & it's up against the Red Wings on Thursday!!

Daily Giants Report

It's getting close to Award time, and we can pretty much be certain that the only Giant with a snowball's chance for some silverware this post-season will be Tim Lincecum.  We wrote about his mastery quite a bit over at National Pastime Monthly, and we will once again once we get closer to Spring.  For those of you new to the blog, we flat out love Lincecum, as a matter of fact, we would even consider naming one of our future children after him if allowed.

Here is a snippet from one of our most trusted blog sites, Baseball Daily Digest:

National League Cy Young Prediction:

Make it back-to-back Cy Young awards for Tim Lincecum. The last pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Young awards would be Timmy’s teammate Randy Johnson, then of the Arizona Diamondbacks circa 1999-2002 (he actually won four in a row). Who knew the San Francisco Giants would have such royalty in their starting rotation?

It seemed a daunting task to improve on what Lincecum did last season, but he did it. His ERA+ went from 167 to 173 and he walked 16 fewer batters than he did last season. Perfecting perfection? You betcha.

In terms of WAR, Lincecum led the way at 8.2 with Javier Vazquez lagging far behind at 6.6 — even more of a landslide than the AL Cy Young race.

• Second Place: Javier Vazquez, Atlanta Braves
• Third Place: Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

Monday Morning Discussion

• Record: Even….Both Teams have the same record


• Schedule: Even….Both teams have played weak opponents

• Defense: ASU hands down…UA doesn’t even have a defense

• Offense: UA barely, but only because ASU QB Danny Sullivan has failed to properly control and manage the game. ASU has the edge with regards to receivers, and WWBD will give UA the slight edge at RB.

• Bottom Line: Defense wins 9 times out of 10, so without even an ounce of doubt, ASU has the edge.

Cards-Seahawks Recap

Some key points from the Cards-Seahawks Game:

·      The Cards were relentless with the Pass Rush.  Yes I am aware that the Hawks were without 3 Offensive Linemen, but Bill Davis exploited that big time, and it was a blast to watch Hasslehoff in all of his glory get zero time and constantly pressured.

·      The Seahawks were only able to muster 14 freaking yards on the ground against the Cards? Don’t look now, but the Cardinals are the #1 Ranked Rushing Defense in the entire NFL.

·      It was nice to see Beanie and Hightower get the ball a little more than usual when the Cards were up big.  We aren’t talking huge increases here, but Beanie got the ball 12 times, which is nearly twice his per game average, and Tim’s 13 carries were more than his 9 Carry Per Game average.

·      Warner and Fitzgerakd were really clicking.  Warner was on fire until Boldin left the game.  Speaking of which, cbssportsline reports that Anquan tweaked his ankle and is listed as Probable against the Giants next Sunday night in NYC.

·      Breaston absolutely positively brought his A-Game both offensively and on Special Teams.

·      The Cardinal’s Secondary was outstanding, allowing 154 yards through the air, and not allowing a passing TD.  Adrian Wilson was unstoppable at times and just wreaking havoc.

Cardinals totally dominate Seahawks

Cardinals totally dominate Seahawks
by Kent Somers - Oct. 18, 2009 06:01 PM
The Arizona Republic

SEATTLE - The Cardinals once were as lost away from home as a tourist without a passport, map or money.
No longer
They saved their best for Qwest on Sunday, dialing up their best game of the season and beating the Seahawks 27-3 at Qwest Field.
As they've done in two earlier games, the Cardinals played well early and led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. In a new twist, they kept an
opponent down in the second half, refusing to let the Seahawks make things interesting.
"When you got your foot on someone's throat, you leave it there," outside linebacker Chike Okeafor said. "You push it in a little bit more."
The victory is the Cardinals' second in a row on the road this season and at 3-2, they are tied with the 49ers for the lead in the NFC West.
The 24-point victory margin doesn't begin to describe how the Cardinals dominated. The Seahawks gained just 14 yards rushing, the fewest in
franchise history. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who threw four touchdown passes last week, was 10 of 29 for 112 yards and was sacked five
times.
"It was tough out there offensively," Seahawks coach Jim Mora said. "I think that is probably the understatement of the world right there."
The Seahawks (2-4) didn't convert on third down (0 for 11) and had the ball for nearly 26 minutes fewer than Arizona. The Seahawks had the ball
for more than five plays just once in 13 possessions, and their longest gain of the day was a 42-yard pass on a fake punt.
"To come up here and win two years in a row is saying something," Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said. "We're by no means there yet. I think
we know even after that game and how lopsided it was, that there was a whole bunch of stuff we could have done better."
The Cardinals couldn't have played much better in the first quarter. At the end of it, they led 14-0, and possessed the ball all but 43 seconds.
They opened the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive that deftly used both the run and the pass. Warner completed all nine of his passes on the
drive, and was 32 of 41 for 276 yards and two touchdowns for the game. His only interception came on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half
After a 2-yard touchdown pass to receiver Larry Fitzgerald gave the Cardinals the lead, they surprised Seattle with a pooch kick on the kickoff. It
sailed over the front line of the Seahawks, and rookie cornerback Greg Toler recovered at the Seattle 23.
A 2-yard run by Hightower gave the Cardinals a 14-0 lead, and a field goal in the second quarter made it 17-0.
"They played great and got us what we needed - 14 quick points," defensive end Calais Campbell said of the offense. "And that was all she wrote."
No one knew that at the time, because whomever "she" is, she's been writing much more than that this season. The Cardinals blew a 21-point lead
last week and squeaked out a victory over the Texans. They also won at Jacksonville after letting the Jaguars back in the game.
"At halftime, the first thing everybody was saying was, 'hey, man, we done been here before. Let's finish the game,' " cornerback Dominique
Rodgers-Cromartie said.
The Cardinals offense muddled around a bit in the third quarter, finally scoring a touchdown on the third possession. Receiver Steve Breaston set it
up with a 36-yard punt return that gave the Cardinals the ball at the Seahawks 41.
Five plays later, Breaston made a leaping catch for a 16-yard touchdown, giving the Cardinals a 24-3 lead.
The Seahawks never responded. Minus three starters on the offensive line because of injuries, Hasselbeck had no time to find receivers.
"I know Matt Hasselbeck is going to be soaking in an ice tub," Okeafor said. With an off week, Hasselbeck can do it all week. The Cardinals, meanwhile, travel to face the Giants, who can make an ice tub look pretty
inviting, even though they lost to the Saints on Sunday.
"I don't want to get too wrapped up," coach Ken Whisenhunt said of the victory. "It's only five games into the season. What I am excited about is
that we are playing better football. What's important is for us to continue to build off of that."


Box Score

The Dumbest Game of All Time

Robert Sarver: Howdily Hoedily?

David Stern: Hey Bob, Commissioner Stern here.

Sarver: Hey Sterny!! Whats happening?

Stern: Well Bob, it’s that time of year again…We are really hoping that the NBA can expand our global presence even further and I was really hoping the NBA and the Phoenix Suns could enhance and strengthen our partnership with each other.

Sarver: Man Dave, you know I’m always down!!  Where are we going? London? Barcelona? Paris? No, no, no it’s Milan isn’t it?

Stern:  Actually, how does Mexico sound?

Sarver: Oh Yes!!! Viva Mexico!!! Wait….Dave, isn’t there like a Swine Flu or something in Mexico?

Stern: Sure there is, but as long as you don’t hang out with Mexican people, you guys are good to go

Sarver: Well, let me run it past Steve Kerr…STEVE!!! STEVE!!!

Kerr: Yea Bob??

Sarver: Sterny’s on the phone, how does Mexico sound for a preseason game?

Kerr: Who we playing?

Sarver: Dave, who are we playing?

Stern: 76ers

Sarver: 76ers!!!

Kerr: Oh sweet Igoudala, he went to UA, remember he’s on our radar?  But what about the Swine Flu?

Sarver: Stern says not to hang around Mexican people then we’re good!!

Kerr: Cool!!! Viva Mexico!!!!

Stern & Sarver: Viva Mexico!!!

Gay...

  

Oh the BCS!! It is in large part why the staff at WWBD at times finds NCAA Footbal brutal and difficult to follow.  In a completely erroneous display of data entry, the BCS has somehow someway found that the University of Arizona Wildcats are the 22 Ranked team in Division One College Football.

It seems pretty obvious that whatever statistical data that is used to devise the rankings has never watched U of A play a game, nor could it possibly take into account the simple, impossible fact that U of A cannot under any circumstances stop an offensive threat.  Looking forward at their schedule, U of A can realistically finish 2009 1-5 or 2-4.  We all know the rufies are being slipped on 4^th Ave tonight, and boy oh boy will the water coolers here in the Old Pueblo be a buzzing with the possibilities and probabilities of how the Cats close out the campaign.  Here we break it down:

UCLA:  Loss
WSU: Win
Cal: Loss
Oregon: Loss
Devils: Loss
USC: Loss

Now one can only assume that this will be it for Stoops and AirZona right?  I mean recruiting in Tucson is non-existent, and UA continues to lose top recruits to Erickson and the Devil’s.  Why?  Facilities could be one major contributing factor of coarse, I mean people live in the freaking stadium!!!  Then having the campus flanked by crack houses and crystal meth labs surely doesn’t help matters much.

Sunday's Devil Corner

Last night’s Devil victory over the Huskies will prove to be the turning point of the Devil season for a couple of reasons.

A.     Danny Sullivan is the QB…A pretty elementary statement I know, but think about what the repercussions could have been if Erickson didn’t have faith in the young QB and made the change for freshman QB Brock Osweiler.  We would be at “square one” entering a grueling stretch of Pac-10 opposition.  Include me with the million or so other Devil faithful that wished Erickson would get his head out of his ass and make the change, but I believe now making said move mid-October would of kinked the cohesiveness of the Devil offense, and the squad is better off with Sullivan.

B.     Wildcat fans were ready to anoint the Huskies the second coming of the 1990-1991 National Champion Huskies following the whole heartbreaking-shoe-standard definition replay fiasco up in Seattle the prior week.  Jake Locker was the best QB to face UA since John Elway, and just looking at the Husky schedule:

a) Lost to SEC powerhouse LSU by 8 points, you know they should have beat #1 Florida.

b) Lost to future Pac-10 Champs, and the undisputed, newly anointed (by Cat fans) greatest team (besides U of A) on the West Coast Stanford Cardinal. 

c) Lost to the most underrated team in the country and a mid-west powerhouse filled with tradition Notre Dame.

d) Got a “champion’s ruling” on a play that was blatantly wrong to a University of Arizona football team.

                        e) Beat the greatest team of all-time hands down end of discussion USC Trojans...


Now Cat fans, you have dick!!

Villa downs Chelsea!!

Birmingham Post - Sport - Midlands Sports - Aston Villa FC - Aston Villa 2 Chelsea 1 - full time report

Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch the game live, and I do admit that I had to read the score from 2 separate places just to convince myself that was I was reading was true.  This season has a frighteningly similar feel to the 08-09 Season.  I know that we are waaaay early into this, but because I don't want to jinx anything, I am just going to whisper this: "Champions League"

Sun Devils Stun Huskies On Late Pass, 24-17

Sun Devils Stun Huskies On Late Pass, 24-17 - ARIZONA STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE:



  Crazy retarded!!! Pure ecstasy as a Devil fan. I've been chatting with a couple UA Cats fans, and I can sense the fear in their voices when the name Vontaze Burfict is uttered.

Nice win Devils!!

Coyotes stay hot; defeat Bruins

Coyotes stay hot; defeat Bruins

Trying to get psyched about Hockey, but it is tough not knowing what the future has in store for the Yotes.

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