Another Peek

Posts Tagged ‘Football’

8. Ole Miss to compete for the SEC. I really like this team this season because of a relatively weak division (save for Florida), and the fact that I do think they can actually beat the Gators, though not every time out. Snead seems to have Tebow’s number and I see this team making the Sugar Bowl.

7. Virginia Tech. A bit under the radar this year after a letdown in 2008, as the team lost four games. However, there’s really not much competition in the ACC and the Hokies should start out at number seven for that reason. A tough schedule may force them to sink in the rankings.

6. Ohio State Buckeyes. This is a team that could definitely compete for the national title if things fall the right way. They have a pretty tough schedule, but some easy match-ups to go with them and Terrell Pryor should be a major force this season. I see this team making the Rose Bowl at worst.

5. Alabama. It looks like Alabama has a good shot at the national title game this season. The only real things that stand in the way are LSU, Tennessee, and Ole Miss. Still, this team could easily finish with two losses or less.

4. USC. A very young team, but possibly the most talented one in football. The inexperience makes it difficult to believe they’ll go all the way, but an early match-up against Ohio State will set the tone for the season. I expect good things either way.

3. Big 12′s – Oklahoma. Oklahoma Sooners are a big favorite to upset Texas and represent the Big 12 in the Championship game. With returning Heisman winner Bradford and a returning receiver lineup that put up record numbers last year. Oklahoma has a tough schedule including BYU, Miami, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, and Oklahoma St, whom allthey should defeat.Oklahoma’s only speed bump and possible detour will be Texas in week 6. The winner of that game will represent 1 half of the BCS title game. If they miss the Title game they will more than likely play in theFiesta Bowl against the ACC or Undefeated WAC/MAC team.

2. Big 12′s – Texas. Texas Longhorns are the other big favorite to represent the Big 12 in the title game. They have essentially the same schedule as Oklahoma and are returning most of their starters on offense, including standout QB Colt McCoy,and defense. Week 6 against Oklahoma will determine which bowl game they will reserve in January, the Orangeor BCS title game. Likely to lose one game in an upset.

1. Florida. Tim Tebow is back yet again, and Florida will be a favorite to win with his presence. Additionally, most of their defensive core from last year remains in place, as well as their offense. The biggest loss is Percy Harvin, but this team should be just fine – especially with an easy schedule.

Brett Favre has done it again. Tricking the football world into believing he was truly retired this time around, he signed a last minute contract with the Vikings, worth a reported $25 million over two seasons. It sounds like those in the know already knew that Favre was coming back this whole time. While this will receive much hype, I don’t think it’ll improve the Vikings.

Favre will be 40 in October. How many quarterbacks lead their teams to Super Bowls at 40. He’s as durable as they come and he’s showed great longevity through his career, but still…

…he’s already coming off major bicep surgery! Plus, he still has a slight tear in his rotator cuff, which could become much worse. So, we’ve got a 40-year old QB who’s coming off major surgery and is technically still injured. That’s got to instill lots of confidence in your team! But people will say, “but Josh, he’s 3x MVP, 10x Pro Bowler, and a sure-fire Hall of Famer. He’d be a great addition to any team.” While there is no denying that Favre is undoubtedly a HOF QB, there’s just one problem…the Vikings aren’t getting that HOF QB! You can’t possibly believe Favre will be able to come back and produce as he did in his prime, especially not after coming off bicep surgery. The only thing he could possibly bring is leadership, which I’ll admit is valuable, but not if your play doesn’t help the club. Heck, look at John Smoltz. He’s a fantastic leader, but if you can’t pitch (2-5, 8.32 ERA), you won’t have a job. Leadership can’t replace production. Similarly, if Favre throws 22 INT’s like he did last year, he probably won’t have a job, either.

Look at the way that Favre looked during the second half of 2008 with the Jets. So many picks, his injuries, and everything led the team to implosion. He threw 9 interceptions during the last five games of the season. While he’ll obviously play over Tarvaris Jackson in Minnesota, I have to say that Jackson’s last four games consisted of just one interception.

Jackson’s success also had to do with a growing rapport between himself and his receivers. As they became more comfortable with each other (on and off the field), their chemistry led to more success during games. Favre has no experience with any of these receivers.

As far as the rest of the team goes, Favre doesn’t seem to get along with his teammates these days either. Look at all of the incidents in New York, with Thomas Jones and Favre not having dressed with the team, traveled with the team, or anything else. He sees himself as better than his teammates and this won’t bode well in Minnesota.

The Vikings will surely generate a lot of buzz with this move, and it may be good for them as far as publicity goes. As far as their success, though, I can’t say that I think they’ll have a better record in 2009.

He’s old. He’s worn down. He thinks he’s better than the rest of his team. He’ll be rusty. There’s just a lot working against him, despite his incredible talent. I’m not sure I agree with this move.

There is no more important a position in football than the quarterback, this is true at all levels of the game. The quarterback is arguably the most important player on any sports team. Therefore it is of the utmost importance that you keep your quarterbacks playing to the best of their ability, and you can do this by using drills to improve their skills.

Especially at the high school level, the skills and habits learned here will be the foundation that every quarterback works from. These are skills that need to be ingrained deeply, and they’re fairly straightforward to teach.

The first is ball handling. Have your passer take a football in his hand, and move it in a circle over his head; the goal here is to build muscle memory for how the football moves with your player’s body. Have him move it around his shoulders, around his back, and between his knees and legs. Have an assistant watch the quarterback and call for change ups, to simulate the trick of keeping ahold of the ball when circumstances change, like when a defender is rushing straight at him.

You can make this more challenging by having another player or a coach walking around the player or running at the player and trying to swipe the ball out of his hands. The purpose of this drill is to instill ball control and comfort with handling the ball.

Another basic drill you can use to teach your quarterback is the essential handoff drill. This basic skill is of huge importance but is often overlooked and therefore never learned properly. Stand behind your quarterback as a running back would and have your quarterback practice turning around and hanging you the ball. The ball should be placed firmly into your stomach where your arms are ready to hold it.

After practicing the hand off, the quarterback practices a reverse and sweep toss to the running back. This pair of drills is good for multiple quarterbacks; as each one completes it, they fall out and watch the next player do it. As with everything building muscle memory, it’s the number of repetitions that matter – everyone should be doing this drill at least ten times.

Another great drill for your quarterbacks will help improve their core body strength and flexibility, while teaching throwing mechanics and form. You can have two of your quarterbacks work on this together, or you can have a quarterback work with a coach. Facing each other at a distance of about ten yards, each player is on one knee with a ball at their opposite foot. The player has to pick up the ball and complete a full throwing motion to accurately complete a pass to the other player.

After completing maybe 20 passes each, the players then switch the knees they were on and do it again. Having to throw without the use of their legs and hips will build core strength and stamina. After several practices doing this drill, have the quarterbacks perform it with both knees on the ground. The goal is to maintain solid form and be accurate with all of your throws.

Men are you tired of hearing about how flat your stomach used to be and how the heaviest thing you lift now is your gut over your belt? If so, thats about to change, as I (drum roll please) am about to show you How to Get Rid of the Beer Belly without Giving Up Beer! Now let’s get down to defining what a beer belly really is and determine if it is really caused by beer.

What is a beer belly? A beer belly is by definition a section of fat that has begun to live somewhere between your chest and the area you used to call your waistline. But is it cause by beer? The answer is no. Science and medicine has proven that beer bellies are actually caused by a build up in calories resulting from unhealthy eating habits and lifestyles. The stomach area is the region of the body where men have the greatest deposit of fat cells so, when the body intakes a lot of calories and doesn’t burn them up throughout the day, the body send the fat to that specific area right in your stomach.

Okay, now that we’ve discussed where that belly comes from, (probably those mashed potatoes you like to eat) we can now discuss what you can do to get rid of it. You should start by working on those fat cells that are spreading across your stomach. While I have already stated that beer is not the cause, it can contribute to your rotund stomach. Alcohol can make you hungrier (remember beer and pizza with the guys on Sunday night?). But if you stopped drinkg as much, you’d probably stop eating as much which would be one step on your journey to flat abs.

Cut the beer and you cut the increased appetite, but since this article is about How to Get Rid of the Beer Belly without Giving Up Beer, I wont try to convince you to stop. But you need to switch to either a beer with fewer calories or exercise more than you drink to balance out the increased calories. Exercising more than you drink sounds too much like hard work, so well skip that too and just focus on reducing the amount of calories taken in by looking at the best beers for your waist.

The first thought that probably comes to your mind when somebody says low calorie beer is those light beers that taste terrible. This article is not going to try to convince you of those beers, because we all know that real men don’t drink such girly drinks.

First we have the nice and dark Guiness Draught; this beer is not light and with only 125 calories and 10 carbs, you don’t have to worry about your belly. It’s also full of flavor so you don’t have to drink tons to make up for a bad taste. Second we have Beamish Irish Stout; it’s light on calories with only 131. Finally, we have Busch which only has about 133 calories and around 10 carbs. So drink responsibly and get rid of that gut!

So now you have the key to getting rid of your beer belly without having to but down the bottle. So the next time your wife or girlfriend tells you to get off the couch and lose some weight, go grab yourself another cold one, pop the bottle open and tell her you’re working on it now!