The Times Dispatch Blogs

So who do y’all think will be the Hogs’ coach next season?

On to this week’s games:

1. Walnut Ridge at Rector (Game of the Week). This might be the Bobcats best chance for a win this season. Walnut Ridge by 8.
2. North Texas at Arkansas. Just what the doctor ordered for the Hogs. Back-to-back SEC losses for the Hogs have some fans screaming for Houston Nutt’s scalp. A win over a patsy like North Texas won’t silence the critics, but at least it will get the Hogs back in the win column.
3. Barton at Hoxie. Game canceled.
4. Alabama at Florida State. Florida State isn’t the elite program it was a few years ago. Alabama in a mild upset.
5. Westside at Trumann. Trumann will roll over the Warriors.
6. Auburn at Florida. Florida is a serious threat to defend their national championship, just as the Gators did in basketball. Auburn appears to be down this year. Florida wins convincingly.
7. Rivercrest at Pocahontas. Redskins scalp Rivercrest.
8. LSU at Tulane. LSU will blow through Tulane like a hurri — okay, that’s a bad analogy. Let me try again. LSU will win by many points.
9. Marked Tree at Cross County. Should be a close game. I normally pick the home team in these situations, but this time I’m going with Marked Tree.
10. Notre Dame at Purdue. Many teams would love to give Notre Dame a swift kick while the Irish are down. This week, it’s in-state rival Purdue’s turn.
11. Corning at Piggott. Uncharacteristically, I’m picking another high school road team. Corning manhandles the Mohawks.
12. Ole Miss at Georgia. Ole Miss played Florida tough last week, while Georgia is coming off a big overtime win at Alabama. I’m tempted to pick the Rebels in an upset, but I’ll play it safe and take Georgia.
13. East Poinsett County at Brinkley. EPC keeps Brinkley winless. (Wow, I’m picking a fourth HS road team).
14. Michigan at Northwestern. Michigan seems to have gotten on track after an 0-2 start. Northwestern is just plain awful. Last week, Ohio State drilled the Wildcats 58-7. Expect a similar result this week.
15. Gosnell at Valley View. Another good high school match-up. Valley View wins at home.

Last week’ score was 10 correct and three wrong. My season tally stands at 43-13.
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Last week was a good week, correctly picking 13 games and missing on only two. My season tally now stands at 33-10.
On to this week’s guesses:
1. Kentucky at Arkansas (Game of the Week). If their secondary doesn’t perform better this week, the Hogs will start 0-2 in SEC play. My guess is that Arkansas will find a way to pull out a close win at home. Hogs by three.
2. Chaffee, Mo., at Walnut Ridge. I know absolutely nothing about Chaffee. Walnut Ridge is off to an 0-3 start, but they’ve been competitive in each game. I’m picking the Bobcats to break into the win column in front of a homecoming crowd.
3. Georgia at Alabama. Alabama won’t get lucky this week. Georgia by a touchdown.
4. Hoxie at Harrisburg. Maybe the best high school contest in the area this week. I pick Harrisburg, but only because they’re at home.
5. New Mexico State at Auburn. Who knows what’s going on with Auburn. They eke out a narrow, come-from-behind win against Kansas State to open the season, and then lose back-to-back home games to South Florida and Mississippi State. Whatever the problem is, I look for them to get it corrected and roll over the Aggies.
6. Gosnell at Westside. Gosnell easily.
7. Arkansas State at Tennessee. The Indians may be catching the Vols at a bad time, after Tennessee was blown out by archrival Florida last week. I look for the Vols to lay a hurtin’ on the Tribe.
8. Manila at Rector. It’s hard to pick Rector to beat anybody, so I’ll take Manila.
9. Michigan State at Notre Dame. It looks like it’s going to be a long year for Notre Dame. MSU keeps the Irish winless.
10. Piggott at East Poinsett County. Another good high school match-up. Again, I’ll go with the home team.
11. Florida at Ole Miss. Gators chomp the Rebels.
12. Hughes at Corning. Corning.
13. South Carolina at LSU. LSU will win, but Spurrier and the Gamecocks could keep it interesting.
14. Rivercrest at Highland. Highland.
15. Mississippi State at Jacksonville State. MSU should roll.

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1. Hoxie at Westside (Game of the Week). Westside ended a 15-game losing streak with last week’s win over Salem. Hoxie gets them started on another one this week. Mustangs by 20.
2. Arkansas at Alabama. Without receiver Marcus Monk, the Hog’s offense will be even more one-dimensional than usual. As good as Arkansas’ ground game is, I don’t think it will be enough to stem the Tide. Bama by 3.
3. Walnut Ridge at East Poinsett County. The Warriors got a big win on the road at Cross County last week. They should keep the Bobcats winless.
4. Mississippi State at Auburn. The Tigers will be looking to make someone pay after last week’s upset loss to South Florida. MSU gets to be the unfortunate victim.
5. Rector at Piggott. Not sure why anyone would care, but go with Piggott.
6. SMU at ASU. SMU embarrassed the Indians last year 55-9. Steve Roberts will have the Tribe motivated for a little payback this year. Indians ambush the Ponies.
7. Mountain View at Cave City. Cavemen club the Yellowjackets.
8. Ole Miss at Vanderbilt. I’ll take Vandy in this SEC pillow fight.
9. Cross County at Corning. Could be a good one. I’ll go with Corning.
10. Tennessee at Florida. Gators hang a second early-season loss on the Vols.
11. Harrisburg at Marked Tree. Another good high school match-up. I take the Hornets on the road.
12. Notre Dame at Michigan. One of these teams will have to win its first game this weekend. I’ll go with Michigan.
13. Pocahontas at Greene County Tech. Pokey wins its second straight against the city of Paragould after hammering the Rams last week.
14. Middle Tennessee at LSU. MTSU’s offense looked pretty impressive in a 58-42 loss to ninth-ranked Louisville a couple of weeks ago. LSU, however, is a lot better than Louisville. Tigers roll in Death Valley.
15. Highland at Bald Knob. Highland easily.

Last week: 10-4 again.
Season: 20-8
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Last week’s record was 10 correct out of 14 picks (the Trumann game was cancelled). Normally I’d say that’s pretty decent, but it wouldn’t have even come close to winning The TD’s Football Forecast. Several entrants picked all 14 games correctly and several more only missed one. I guess I need to get my crystal ball fine-tuned if I’m going to compete with you guys.
Nonetheless, here we go again with this week’s picks.

1. Memphis at Arkansas State (Game of the Week). ASU won’t need a miracle to beat the Tigers this year. Indians by 7.
2. Walnut Ridge at Piggott. Piggott won a thriller at Sexton Field last year. I’m going with the Mohawks at home.
3. Alabama at Vanderbilt. Alabama.
4. Mountain View at Hoxie. Hoxie goes to 2-0.
5. South Florida at Auburn. South Florida won nine games last year, including a late-season upset at West Virginia. Last week, Auburn had to score late to pull out the game against Kansas State. I’m picking Auburn to win another close one.
6. West Side at Salem. Salem.
7. Virginia Tech at LSU. LSU should win this battle of Top 10 teams.
8. Earle at Marvell. Earle is ranked in the Top 5 in Class 2A. That’s good enough for me to pick them over Marvell.
9. Notre Dame at Penn St. Notre Dame lost at home to Georgia Tech by 30 last week. I’m not sure if Penn State is as good as Tech, but they should beat the Irish at home.
10. Rector at Valley View. The Blazers will make a wreck of Rector.
11. Missouri at Ole Miss. Missouri has too much firepower on offense. They should beat the Rebels.
12. EPC at Cross County. Cross County.
13. Southern Miss at Tennessee. Tennessee.
14. Harrisburg at Highland. This could be the best high school game in the area. I’m picking Highland at home.
15. Kent State at Kentucky. Kentucky will roll over another cupcake.

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Football season is here again, so that means it’s time to put on the prognosticating caps and take part in The TD’s annual Football Forecast. Here’s one man’s opinions.
1. Hoxie at Walnut Ridge. The Mustangs have dominated the series in the last few years, but the Bobcats pulled of an incredible fourth-quarter rally to earn a tie last year. I’m going with the 3A Mustangs over the 2A Bobcats in another close one.
2. Troy at Arkansas. Troy won’t be a pushover, but the Hogs should win by a couple of touchdowns.
3. Southside Batesville at Westside. Other than the two local schools, I really don’t follow high school football that closely. When in doubt, go with the home team.
4. Arkansas State at Texas. Steve Roberts has done a terrific job at ASU. He has the Indians competing for the Sun Belt title each year and even took the Indians to a bowl game a couple of years ago. ASU will play hard and represent themselves well at Austin, but the Longhorns will win by a bunch.
5. Corning at Rector. Corning should win this Clay County showdown.
6. Western Carolina at Alabama. Bama by a bunch.
7. East Poinsett County at Marked Tree. Marked Tree.
8. Kansas State at Auburn. Auburn easily.
9. Marshall at Mountain View. See No. 3 above.
10. Ole Miss at Memphis. This is usually a close game that goes down to the wire. I pick Ole Miss in a squeaker.
11. Trumann at Hughes. Trumann easily.
12. Georgia Tech at Notre Dame. It’s always tough to pick against the Irish at home.
13. Palestine-Wheatley at Barton. Barton, I guess.
14. Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky. Kentucky will roll.
15. Valley View at McCrory. Goin’ with the home team.

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The 2007 edition of Hooten’s Arkansas Football is out now. The magazine is loaded with lots of coverage of the Razorbacks and the SEC, as well as ASU and other Arkansas colleges, but Hooten’s is probably best known for its in-depth coverage of Arkansas high school football.

Of local interest, the Hoxie Mustangs were predicted to finish third in Conference 3A-3, behind Harrisburg and Corning. The conference was named as the second toughest in Class 3A.

Mustang running back Alex Ward was selected to the Sonic Class 3A Super Team.

The Walnut Ridge Bobcats were picked to finish fourth in Conference 2A-3. Bobcat quarterback Tyler Meadors was listed in the Unheralded Stars section for Class 2A.

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As the baseball season approaches the All-Star break, last year’s World Series champs, the St. Louis Cardinals, are struggling to stay within shouting distance of the National League Central Division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Longtime Cardinals fans should not be surprised. Following great seasons with disappointing seasons is a part of the team’s recent history.

After winning the World Series in 1982, the Cards finished 11 games behind Philadelphia in 1983. After coming within one out of the championship before losing to the Kansas City Royals in 1985, St. Louis stumbled through 1986, finishing 28-1/2 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East. After losing another seven-game series to the Minnesota Twins in 1987, the Cardinals finished 25 games behind the Mets in 1988.

Going back even farther: A World Series appearance in ’28 — 20 games out in ’29. A championship in ’64 — 18 games out in ’65.

To be fair, the Cardinals have made back-to-back World Series appearances on at least two occasions. After losing the World Series to the Philadelphia A’s in 1930, the Redbirds came back the following year and defeated the A’s in a seven-game Series rematch. St. Louis beat the Boston Red Sox in the 1967 World Series and returned to the Series a year later, only to lose to the Detroit Tigers in seven games.
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An annual debate among college football fans is which conference is strongest. The final Associated Press Top 25 poll of the season was released earlier this week and provides fans of the Southeastern Conference with some solid arguments.

The SEC has six teams in the Top 25, more than any other conference. Plus, SEC champion Florida whipped Big 10 champion Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS Championship game. LSU finished third, giving the SEC two of the top three. Other SEC teams ranked in the final poll are Auburn at ninth, Arkansas at 15th, Georgia at 23rd and Tennessee at 25th.

The Big 10 had four teams in the final Top 25, including three in the top eight.

The Pac 10, Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference each had three teams ranked. The three Big East teams were all ranked in the top 12. The highest ranked ACC team was Wake Forest at 18th.

Oklahoma and Texas were the only Big 12 teams ranked. Three conferences, the Mountain West, Big West and Conference USA, each had a single team ranked. Notre Dame, an independent, was ranked 17th.

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It’s a great time of the year for college sports fans. Football season is winding down, but there are still several big games to come. Several conference championship games took place this past weekend and the bowl season is just around the corner.

Meanwhile, the college basketball season is in full swing. Hardly a night goes by without an enticing matchup on television. Several highly ranked teams have already suffered defeats this season, so we should be in store for an exciting, unpredictable season to come.

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Dan Marino. Karl Malone. Tony Gwynn. All were undeniably great players in their respective sports. However, they also share something else in common. They are all members of what could be called the “Yes, but...” Club. As in “Yes, he was a great player, but he never won a championship.” The club’s membership includes many great players in all sports.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ made an improbable run to a World Series championship, even though their star player, Albert Pujols, wasn’t really that much of a factor. Still in his mid-twenties, Albert is generally considered the best all-around player in baseball. He won the National League’s Most Valuable Player award in 2005, and may win it again this year. Despite all the acclaim he has received, he still seems like a genuinely humble and team-oriented player. And best of all for Cardinals’ fans, he’ll never be a member of the “Yes, but...” Club.

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