The Michigan State University (MSU), located at East Lansing, Michigan, was founded in 1855. The school was first called Agricultural College of the State of Michigan. After a series of name changes, this university, which is the first college in the US to teach agriculture as a science, eventually got its present name in January 1, 1964. At present, MSU, which spearheaded the studies on telecommunications, hospitality business, packaging and music therapy, boasts of five Pulitzer Prize winning alumni. Aside from being one of the best universities not only in the United States but also in the world, this university is also popular for athletics. All sports teams of MSU take part in the Big Ten except for the ice hockey varsity, which participates in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

 

Since agriculture was ingrained in MSU’s roots (it was once known as the Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences), the university sports teams used to be referred to as the Aggies. But as the years went on, MSU began to excel in other fields aside from agriculture, so a contest for a new MSU nickname was held. At first, they settled for Michigan Staters but the new nickname did not really become popular. Besides, the students of MSU back then wanted a name that would be historic and heroic as well. Finally, the sports news writers of the Capital News and the Lansing State Journal found “Spartans” as one of the entries. Incidentally, Justin Morrill once linked the Land Grant Colleges, such as MSU, to the ancient Spartan schools. This new nickname was accepted by fans and students alike. And after a few years, the traditional “Fight Song” of the school was altered to accommodate the new moniker.

 

In line with the new name of Michigan State varsity teams, the university adopted Sparty as its official mascot. Sparty, which is made of fiberglass molds, vinyl chest plate and other hi-tech materials, is seven foot high and weighs approximately 40 pounds. And did you know that the present mascot uniform of MSU costs USD 12,000 to make? It is not really surprising because the high-quality materials used in the uniform can be really expensive. Anyway, at present, the identity of the person wearing Sparty is kept undisclosed. However, you can be sure that the student underneath the seven-foot mascot is at least 5’10 in height and physically fit to carry a very heavy costume. Interviews and tryouts are even conducted to find the perfect candidate for Sparty.

 

Also part of the Michigan State school traditions is the green and white official school colors, which were worn by MSU teams for the first time in 1903. However, the institution adopted the green monogram on April 11, 1899. Another school tradition is the Spartan Marching Band, which is composed of 300 band members. MSU’s marching band is actually considered as the oldest university marching band in the history of the United States. Founded in 1870, the band was composed of only 10 members, which were all veterans of the Civil War.

Wake Forest beat Vanderbilt Saturday. That kept Vanderbilt from being guaranteed a bowl game. Six wins is the minimum a team needs to be eligible for a bowl game. With seven wins or more, a team is guaranteed one.
Alphonso Smith’s interception set up Wake Forest’s game clinching touchdown run. Smith tied a record 20th interception when he picked the ball off. Rich Belton of Wake Forest was the one who put the game out of reach from Vanderbilt.
Wake Forest boosted their bowl prospects after winning their last game.
Kevin Harris and Brandon Pendergrass had rushing touchdowns for their Wake Forest Demon
Deacons. They closed the football season with a win that will give them a school-record 3 straight bowl trips.
Larry Smith, a redshirt freshman, debuted for the first time in college for Vanderbilt. He came out after halftime and threw a five yard touchdown to Brandon Barden. That pass was significant because it was on fourth down. Also, it was the first play in the fourth quarter. That touchdown pass cut Wake Forest’s lead down to 7.
Smith threw the ball from within his own end zone. It was picked off by Alphonso Smith with about 4 minutes left in the game. This was Smith’s last home game and he had something else to be proud of after it was over. He tied former North Carolina’s Dre’ Bly, CB, for the career interception record in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Two plays later, Belton ran for four yards. That sent the Commodores packing after their sixth loss in seventh games. They started the season at 5-0 before falling at Mississippi State in a close game.
Chip Vaughn intercepted the ball and recovered a fumble. The Commodores were held to 249 yards.
This game would probably have been high scoring if the weather hadn’t been a factor. The rain persisted. The wind was blowing hard and the weather was cold. The temperature was in the upper 30’s. Had it not been raining, then there would have been more than half of the stadium being filled.
Harris scored a touchdown after an 8 yard run. This made the score 17-3. Mackenzi Adams came in after Chris Nickson got injured on the fourth offensive play.
Both teams seemed to play bad football late in the year.
Vanderbilt will more than likely be playing in their first bowl game since 1982. That was their second straight loss. Wake Forest came into this game in a better situation. Clemson and North Carolina State won their respective games and that helped the other Atlantic Coast Conference teams out. Now, there are nine guaranteed spots for ten bowl-eligible teams. Wake Forest had some concerns before this game. They were on a two game losing streak. Also, they have a small fan base. Teams are selected to play in a specific bowl games are mainly chosen because of their fanbase. The bigger the fan base you have, the more likely you are to get into a better bowl.
Vanderbilt ended the season 6-6. There was a Chick-Fil-A Bowl representative at the game, but he was looking at Vanderbilt, as a SEC possibility in the Atlanta Bowl. The SEC had problems because LSU, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt lost the same weekend. The Commodores could end up playing in the Liberty Bowl.

SEC Roundup

May 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Alabama
Alabama has a good special teams unit and it didn’t disappoint Saturday against Mississippi State. That 32-7 win was the first in three years for the Crimson Tide. Javier Arenas fielded a punt and ran it 80 yard for a TD. He set up another TD with a 46 yard punt return.
Arkansas
Nathan Dick, Arkansas QB, was the starter for the Razorbacks. This was the first game of his career. He completed 25 of his 43 passes. He had three touchdowns and an interception. That’s not bad for a player who is new to the college field.  Lucas Miller, the Arkansas WR, caught ten passes for about 200 yards.
Auburn
Auburn was expected to be a great team this year but they have not lived up to expectations. However, they have forced their opponents to not even score an offensive touchdown during the first quarter this year. They have scored first in most of their games this year. 19 Auburn players have caught passes this year.  
Florida
Florida is used to winning. They have a record of 10-1 for the second time in three years. They have had that record for the sixth time in school history. Florida has scored 42 or more points in six consecutive games, which is currently the nation’s longest streak of doing so.
Georgia
Mark Richt is a good coach, especially under pressure. He has coached the Bulldogs to 16 wins when his team was tied or trailing in the last quarter. They have a good road record too. They have an impressive 30-4 record on the road while Richt is coaching.
Kentucky
Kentucky is not one of the best teams in the SEC but they do have a good statistic. They lead the SEC when it comes to giving up the fewest number of sacks (11). Also, they are tied with Florida when it comes to the most sacks they have put on the other team (27).
LSU
LSU had won 31 games in a row in which they scored 21 or more points. Good things must come to an end and that was no exception. I’m sure they would have much rather seen that scoring streak come to an end against almost any other SEC team and not such a big rival as Ole Miss.
Ole Miss
Jevan Snead, QB at Ole Miss, completed his seventh game with more than one TD pass against LSU. Also, this was his fifth game in which he completed 200 or more passing yards. Snead hasn’t been picked off in the last three contests. Mike Wallace, Ole Miss WR, caught five balls for 99 yards. He also caught two passes for touchdowns.
MSU
Even though State’s season is virtually in the basement, they have something to be proud of. They amassed a total of 445 yards against Arkansas, which is the most they have had against any team this season. Anthony Dixon was a big part of the win against Arkansas. The team is 10-3 when Dixon carries the ball more than 20 times. State also rushed the ball for over 226 yards, which is the most of the season too.
South Carolina
Kenny McKinley, WR of the Gamecocks, caught the ball six times against Florida. With 194 catches, he is now tied for seventh in the SEC. He also has a totat of 2,637 receiving yards. That’s a school record.
Tennessee
Eric Berry has been an integral part to the Vols. He picked off his 12th ball. With that pick was his third time he returned one of those interceptions. Berry played quarterback for the Vols during their second possession and ran for 11 yards on four rushes.
Vanderbilt
Ryan Hamilton had sixteen tackles against Tennessee. Chris Marve had a sack and nine tackles. Reshard Langford picked off three balls.

The San Jose Sharks are located in San Jose, California. They are a pro ice hockey team in the Pacific Division of the NHL’s Western Conference. The Sharks play their home games in the HP Pavilion at San Jose.
San Jose had to go through a lot to get a hockey team in the Bay Area. Many people do not consider Northern California to be a good hockey area in America but that area once had two hockey teams. After nine straight losing seasons and meager attendance, the California Golden Seals were moved to Cleveland, OH and became the Barons. 
George and Gordon Gund had wanted for a while to bring hockey back to the area but the NHL vetoed the move. Howard Baldwin and others also wanted to bring a hockey franchise to the Bay Area where a new arena was getting constructed. The NHL struck a compromise. In the compromise, the Gunds would have to sell their share of the North Stars team to Baldwin’s group, and the Gunds would receive an expansion team in the Bay Area and begin playing in the 1991 season. They could take a specific number of players from the North Stars to start their new team. The North Stars would participate in an expansion draft with the new team.
In May 1990, the Guns sold their portion of the North Stars. They were given their new team in San Jose. They received thousands of entries on what to name the new team. The winner by mail was “Blades” but they didn’t like the connotation of the word. The runner up was “Sharks” and that’s the name they chose.
From 1991-1993, the Sharks played their home games at the Cow Palace which is right outside of San Francisco. Doug Wilson was named the Sharks’ first All-Star representative and captain. As with all new franchises, the Sharks were one of the worst teams in the NHL in their first few years. In the 1992-93 season, the team lost 71 times, which is an NHL record. Also, they had a 17-game losing streak during that time. They earned an unimpressive 24 points all year and won 11 games. Coach Kingston was fired after the 1992-93 year.
The Sharks moved to their new home during their third season. They impressed many of the critics by turning around a new franchise and making it as the 8th seed into the playoffs. They finished the 1993-94 season with a 33-35-16 record and 82 points. That’s a 58 point differential from the previous season.  The Sharks pulled off one of the greatest upsets in NHL history as they beat the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings in seven games. It looked like they were going to pull off another upset in the second round as they were just one win away from advancing to the third round. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the last two games and sent the Sharks home.
The Sharks ended the 1999-2000 with their first winning record in franchise history and was due in large part to Darryl Sutter being the coach.
Ron Wilson was the coach from the 2003-2007 seasons. During the 2005-06 season, the Sharks fell to last place in their division. Many people blamed their struggles on the team not adding any players during the previous off-season. The Sharks proved they are tough and bounced back from last place in the division to fifth in the conference as the playoffs started. Todd McLellan, previously an assistant coach to the Detroit Red Wings, was hired for this 2008-09 season.

Rutgers

May 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Rutgers had something else to celebrate after the game was over against Army. Mike Teel, senior QB, became the Rutgers Scarlet Knight’s leading passer. He passed for 359 yards in the game against the Army Black Knights. Since Rutgers won against Army, they became bowl eligible for the fourth straight season. They had to win five games in a row in order to become bowl eligible.
Teel has just over 8,600 yards in passing for his career. Kenny Britt, a junior WR, had just under 200 yards receiving in the game against Army. This was his career-high.
Rutgers scored their first touchdown, not by the offense, but by the defense. Army had the opening possession and Zaire Kitchen, a junior DB, caused Army’s quarterback Chip Bowden to fumble the ball. Joe Lefeged, a sophomore DB, recovered the ball and ran it back the other way 58 yards for Rutger’s first TD of the game. That touchdown came within the game’s first 2 minutes. That seemed to set the tone for the game.
Kitchen had fumbled the ball three times in the last four games. Each of the miscues resulted in a touchdown for Rutgers.
Rutgers kicked a field goal two possession later. The 32 yard field goal was made after his 40 yard attempt the possession before was missed. It probably had something to do with the wind because it was swirling and picking up as he attempted the first field goal.
The Scarlet Knights marched down field on six plays for 71 yards and another touchdown. With that touchdown, they led 17-0. Britt ran for 16 yards to start that drive. He later caught two passes. Teel threw passes to Shamar Graves, a sophomore TE, for 26 yards. That was Graves’ second touchdown.
Rutgers went into halftime 23 to 0. Prior to the half, Te kicked a 39 yard field goal as well as a 27 yard field goal. That lead appeared insurmountable and it proved to be true. Rutgers didn’t need to score any more points in the second half.
Rutgers continued scoring though in the second half. They went 82 yards on seven plays after halftime. The drive was capped off by a 19 yard touchdown run. Tim Brown, a junior WR, was the one who ran it in and gave the Scarlet Knights a bigger lead. During the drive, Teel made four passes for 60 yards. This led Rutgers into the red zone. Brown made it 30-0 as he scored his first ever rushing TD.
Army scored their first points of the game (a field goal) late in the third quarter. Matthew Campbell made a 24 yard field goal with just under 3 minutes left in the quarter to make the score 30-3. Rutgers’ defense held up and didn’t allow Army any more points on the scoreboard. Army couldn’t move the ball on their final three possessions.
Rutgers will play their final game on Thursday, December 4 as they host rival Louisville. This is a nationally-televised game on ESPN. Rutgers improved to 6-5 on the year. They pretty much needed that win because there’s no guarantee they will beat Louisville. Even though it’s senior night, it’s better to have become bowl eligible rather than needing the final win to do so.
Rutgers has won eight straight games against New York teams. During that eight game winning streak, they have outscored those New York teams 268-62.

The Philadelphia Phillies can be found in Philadelphia, PA. They are the World Series champions until somebody else wins it. The Phillies play baseball in the Eastern Division on the National League. The Phillies play their home games at Citizens Bank Park, which has been their home since 2004. With their World Series crown this year, the Phillies now have another championship to go beside the one they won back in 1980. In 1980, Philadelphia beat the Kansas City Royals. In 2008, they won against the Tampa Bay Rays. They have won a total of six pennants while playing in the National League. The Phillies are not World Champs, but they have had struggles too. In their history, they have lost the most games out of all MLB teams. The Phillies have never moved to or from another city. They have only had one name since their birth. That is a distinction because no other franchise in American professional sports can claim that.
In 1883, the Phillies were founded as the “Philadelphias” and that was shortened to the “Phillies”.  They also used the name “Quakers”. They were interchangeably used until 1890 when the team was known only as the “Phillies”.
The Phillies had many average teams and some were promising. The Phillies had a 6.5 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals with ten games left. They collapsed and lost all ten of their remaining games. That collapse was known as the “phold of ‘64”.  The Phillies’ had several players who had some pretty good performances in the 1970. It didn’t help out the team as they held onto the last place spot in the National League. In 1974, they collapsed once again. This minor collapse happened over August and September 1974. Because of the collapse, they missed the playoffs once again. 
The Phillies were on their way to competing in the playoffs behind pitcher Steve Carlton, infielders Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt, and Pete Rose, and outfielder Greg Luzinksi. The Phillies had to fight in order to make it to the World Series. In the NLCS, four of the five games needed extra innings. They were down 2-1 in the NLCS game 5 but won in the tenth-inning to advance to the World Series.
The Phillies won the 1980 World Series in six games primarily because of Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose’s timely hitting. The Phillies were the last out of the 16 teams in MLB from 1901 to 1961 to get a World Series title. The Phillies advanced to the playoffs twice since their 1980 win but fell in 1981 and 1983 to the Baltimore Orioles. It hurt them to make it to the World Series two of the next three years after winning it all in 1980 but only to fall to the same team. The Phillies fell back to mediocrity after 1983 for many years.    
In 1993, the Philadelphia Phillies began and finished the year impressively. They made it to the World Series but lost to reigning Toronto Blue Jays in six games. The Phillies performance as well as attendance suffered in1994.
The Phillies colors are red and white. They have a little blue in their jersey. In 2008, the team wore cream-colored jerseys during day home games in celebrating the team’s 125th anniversary.
The Phillies are the only MLB team to wear their respective numbers on the sleeve as well as the back of their jerseys.
The Phillies joined the Environmental Protection Agency and bought 20 million kilowatt-hours worth of green energy for their stadium.
Phillies fans have had good teams as well as bad ones. The Phillies earned a reputation for their rowdy behavior. Fights broke out during and after games.
Just like all teams, the Phillies have used promotions to get more fans to come to the games. They have used Hot Pants Patrol, which was a group of young, beautiful ladies that would attract males. The Phillies have what many call baseball’s best mascot, the Phillie Phanatic.

Winter is almost here and the Yankees’ stadium is almost completed. They will use their new home in a few months to host the Chicago Cubs for spring preseason games.

The newly built stadium north of 161st will open in March. The old stadium, located south of 161st will likely be demolished after the Yankees start the new season. By then, the team will turn over the stadium to the city. Then, it will be goodbye Yankee Stadium and all the wonderful, record-breaking memories that took place there.

The team should have access to the new facility by mid February. That will be plenty of time for the workers to get finished constructing it. The twelve weeks that are remaining will be enough time for final touches to be made. Everybody wants the opening of the new ballpark to be amazing and I am sure it will be. I can’t wait to see the upgrades from the other stadium. I can’t wait to see the new features of the ballpark. I can’t wait to see the increased seating.

“That’s the way it always is in these big projects,” says Harry Olsen, the project manager from the site from the beginning. “You scramble right up to the end, but it gets done.”

Yankee fans will get to see the Chicago Cubs in town on April 3rd and 4th for the first time in a few years. The Yankees home opener is versus the Indians a couple weeks later on April 16. I’m sure that game will be televised because there’s no way the league could go without showing off the Yankee’s new stadium to the world and there will be many people watching.

Plaques and monuments were taken away from the old Yankee Stadium. Those plaques and monuments are stored safely in a truck. They will be placed in the new stadium as soon as everything is finished.

Monument Park will be put behind but in the center of the fence in the outfield.

There are a few reasons why those treasures taken from the old Yankee Stadium will be the last to be moved into the new stadium. There are safety and security concerns. People have tried stealing treasures in the past.

Most of the blue seats have been put in. The construction effort seems to be on schedule and if there are no delays, then the grand opening should happen as scheduled. The construction was privately funded by George Steinbrenner, the Yankees chairman. The $1.3 billion stadium will be top-notch.

The first stadium only cost $2.5 million. This one costs $1.3 billion. That shows you how things have changed in the world of baseball.

There likely will be a sale of memorabilia and other objects like seats that remains from the old stadium. The toilets and fixtures may be used throughout the city in parks.

The new stadium is more spacious than the older one. You have a good view of the field from every concession stand, no matter which you are on.

The new stadium scoreboards will be hand-operated. Every one of the seats provides a good view of home plate. Many of the seats are closer to the field. The new stadium’s dimensions are the same.

The concession stands are now in. In a few short months, the concession stands will be booming with business and the fans will be cheering in their new blue seats as the Yankees cheer their team on.

This was not the best way the Memphis Tigers could have asked to become bowl eligible but they will take it however they can get it. Without the win, the Tigers would not be playing in a bowl game. Memphis has taken an easier road to a bowl game in previous years. This might be a blessing in disguise because it caused the teams to build character. This is the fifth bowl season the Tigers have had in the past six seasons.

Memphis is one of six Conference USA teams to play for one of the conference’s possible bowl games. They whooped Tulane 45-6. There were 25 seniors on the team and they will get a curtain call since they have played their final home game. The Tigers finished 6-6 overall and   4-4 in the conference. Tulane was 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the conference.
“Don’t really care where we might be going now,” said Tigers’ coach Tommy West, whose team won its season finale for the fifth straight year. “It’s good that this group of seniors gets to go out on a good note … and the bowl game means we get to go back to work in a week, continue to get better and build for the future to replace those seniors.”
Memphis at one point was 0-3 and they knew they had to win some games if they were to become bowl eligible. They won three games in a row and had a 3-3 record with 6 games remaining. They in dramatic fashion to Louisville, a long-time rival, so you know that had to hurt even worse. They also lost three of their four top quarterbacks via injuries. Arkelon Hall had an injured thumb. Will Hudgens had an injured knee. Tyler Bass had an injured knee too. Hall and Hudgens got injured in the first quarter in a game they ended up losing at East Carolina. They knew if they were going to be playing in a bowl game, they would have to win despite their more than fair share of injuries.
“We had to get really creative,” said West, whose offense still managed to rack up 10 games of 400 or more yards but started getting the yards on the ground.
The Tigers had a good running attack, running for 379 yards on the ground. They had 109 yards via the pass. That was a total of 488 yards and those yards were reflected in their blowout win. Curtis Steele, a junior, scored a touchdown and had 135 yards. He ended the year with 1,175 yards which is the fourth best season in Memphis Tigers history. Steele ran for 100 yards in all six of Memphis’s wins.
“He opened a lot of things with the way he could get the tough yards,” said West.
The Tigers used the “wild” formation in the Tulane game. The Tigers used the “wild” formation to snap the ball to Steele or other wide receivers on the team like seniors Maurice Jones and Steven Black. Jones and Black had a total of four touchdowns and 59 yards. Black scored three of the touchdowns.
Brandon Washington, a junior, had 77 yards. Brandon Ross, a freshman, had 57 yards and the Tigers’ last touchdown.
“We had to get creative after losing the quarterbacks, but we’ve also become a good running team again,” West said. “We’ve always been a team that can throw, but to win consistently, you have to run the ball.”
Hall just got back from a thumb injury. He threw 12 passes, completing 10 of them for 109 yards.
The Tigers had their best defensive outing of the year. In the game, they allowed 222 yards and forced 3 turnovers.

Every city has one team that people be dying to get tickets to. Every city has one team that nobody cares anything about it even when the team is on a win streak. This article is written about the major cities and the franchises that each city would keep and the ones that they would vote out in a heartbeat (just playing), but you get the point.
Atlanta
This is sort of a tough one to some people but to others it’s a fairly easy choice. Some people would say to keep the Braves. Why? That makes no sense to me. The Braves can’t even sell out playoff games. Many people don’t even know there is even a hockey team in town. I think people would vote to keep Georgia football. It seems as if everybody is literally fighting to get a job and tickets for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Baltimore
This one is easy when you are just thinking about the teams B-More has. I say the Ravens win in a landslide. When you include Michael Phelps, the Olympics swimming superstar, then the Ravens win in a nailbiter.
Boston
Boston fans would probably vote to keep the Red Sox. Now some people may think I’m not looking at the overall situation. Even when Bill Russell and Larry Bird were the kings of the Celtics, they still didn’t get as much attention as the Red Sox do now. It probably had something to do with the racism that existed then when the Celtics were winning a lot of championships. The Patriots are not in Boston; they are in Foxboro, MA. Boston was once a hockey town and the Bruins were king. Not anymore. The Red Sox sell out every game before the season even starts. Now that’s having faith in your team.
Charlotte
This one is VERY easy. This is a NASCAR town. They could give away free prizes to everyone who comes to the Bobcat games and they still wouldn’t get a sellout.
Chicago
There are many good teams to choose from in this Second City. Chicagoans would probably choose to keep the Bears. Even though the White Sox has had more success than the Cubs, Chicagoans prefer the Cubs over the White Sox. Also, the Bulls were the talk when MJ was playing. Not anymore. They still get consecutive sellouts but it’s mainly because they’re a huge city and it’s not hard to get 22,000 people to come on any given night. The Blackhawks have just as big of a crowd as the Bulls do—a sellout. They pack the house 22,000 every game night, the best in NHL. With all that said, the Bears are still Kings.
Cleveland
This one is sort of tough. Can you name one city that lost a team and had the NFL give it back? That’s what happened with the Browns. The Cavaliers are the talk of the town because of LeBron James. I think the Browns barely edge the Cavaliers out. The Cavs are better than the Browns and the Browns still have better than expected attendance.
Dallas
The Cowboys win this one in a landslide. They aren’t called “America’s Team” for nothing!
Denver
The Broncos have a long waiting list for people who want to buy season tickets. The Nuggets, Rockets, and Avalanche can’t say the same thing.
Detroit
This town is not a Pistons town, a Tigers town, or even a Lions team. They are a Red Wings town. The town is known as Hockeytown.
Indianapolis
The Colts, led by Peyton Manning, is this city’s team. Four years ago, they couldn’t even sell out the RCA Dome, which was the smallest NFL venue. Now, they have moved into Lucas Oil Stadium.
Los Angeles
This is a no brainer. The Lakers!!! The Lakers know how to sell-out games. The Clippers play in the same building but get nowhere the same attendance as their brother team. The Dodgers can’t get a sellout unless they are playing their rivals or other big games.
Miami
It sure is not the Heat. The Dolphins own this town. The Marlins built a new stadium in that past several years, but I didn’t see a need. You see virtually the whole orange stadium. The Marlins team often say that it feels like they are playing on the road because when teams like the Cubs play there, they hear the Cubs more than their own fans, and that’s even when they are winning.
Minnneapolis
The Vikings are the kings here. People don’t really care about the Twins in this town. They play divisional rivals and they don’t even sell out a lot of the time.
New York
With twenty-six championships, the Yankees are the unanimous favorite. You see more Yankees merchandise in this town like hats and jerseys, than you do of the Mets, Giants, Knicks, Jets, Islanders, and Rangers combined.
Philadelphia
People used to have Eagles-mania here but now it’s Phillies-mania. After the comeback last year against the Mets and the same this year, that’s enough to make any fan base take a turn for the better.
Phoenix
The Suns barely hold this title. Arizona State is a close second.
San Francisco
The 49ers wins this in a blowout. The Giants were only big when Barry Bonds was playing to break the home run record here. Now, the Giants don’t care about their team. 
Seattle
The Seahawks and their “twelfth man” have earned this title. The Mariners, even when they won 116 games back in 2001, and the Supersonics before they moved to Oklahoma City, couldn’t get the attention like the Seahawks do.
St. Louis
This is a Cards town, even in a losing year. The Rams are not even an afterthought.
Tampa
The mediocre Bucs are the kings in the town. The Rays made it to the playoffs for the first time in their existence and they still had trouble selling out some games. Make it even worse for them, the Rays beat the Red Sox and the Yankees for the division. You would have thought that would have been an instant ticket seller, but it wasn’t.

Austen Arnaud, Iowa State’s quarterback, set a school record Saturday. He threw 3 touchdowns and a school record of 440 yards on Saturday. The Iowa State Cyclone’s offense had a total of 626 yards. This was Iowa’s third best yardage in a single game ever. It was the most yards ever against a team in the same conference as them. A total of thirteen Cyclones caught a pass in the game. Iowa State scored on the last play on the game but it wasn’t enough to keep them from losing to a conference foe. Iowa State had about 150 yards more than Kansas State but it’s strange they didn’t get the win. The Kansas State Wildcats won 38-30 over visiting Iowa State.
ISU was hurt because they turned the ball over three times. Two of the three turnovers were interceptions. One of the turnovers was a pass that was muffed in the fourth quarter. That play came at the 3 yard line. Iowa State ended the year with a dismal 2-10 record. Kansas State ended with a better, but unimpressive 5-7 record.
“Personal stats mean nothing,” Arnaud said. “We have a lot of people coming back next year and we are committed to getting better. My heart goes out to the seniors who gave us everything they had.”
Ron Price, head coach of Kansas State, applauded Arnaud. “I had a few words for him after the game,” Price said. “I think he and the quarterback from Texas A&M are going to be stars in this league.”
Iowa State was trying to end the season on a winning note and held nothing back. It didn’t work out that way. They used a fake punt that went for about 22 yards. It also was one of their many first downs in the game. They ran 2 flea flicker plays. R.J. Sumrall caught a pass from Arnaud as time ran off the clock. They proved that even in the last few seconds with the game out of reach that they were not going to give up. They scored with a 5 yard touchdown pass as the game ended.
The Iowa State coach said after the game that he was proud of his team’s final drive of the game. He talked about the mistakes their offense made and how they will kill any team if they don’t overcome them. He stresses to his team the importance of taking care of the football. Well, that’s something that every coach stresses to their team.
Sumrall ends his career with 156 catches and 1,805 reception yards. The receptions are 3rd all time at ISU and the reception yards are 5th all time there.
Both teams had big numbers. Josh Freeman, Kansas State quarterback, completed 17 of his 30 passes. He passed for four touchdowns and a total of 270 yards.
The two teams combined for 45 points and 616 yards of total offense in the first half.
Kansas State was leading 35-17 in the third quarter on Freeman’s 5 yard pass. At that time, there was about 6 minutes and a half left in the third quarter.
Iowa State ran for 82 yards and a touchdown but it was nullified because they were holding. They overcame that holding penalty and moved the ball efficiently down the field. They turned the ball over at the Kansas State 3 yard line when Arnaud’s toss was mishandled with just under 13 minutes left in the game.
Iowa State scored a touchdown on the last play of the game but it wasn’t enough to beat Kansas State.

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