If you don’t know this guy’s name, you must have never been to ESPN.com.

Well, I guess I have a few months to elaborate on my bitterness against Pete Carroll’s crew. I’ll be back next Thursday with my predictions through Sunday. Don’t lose heart; just one week left!

Los Bravos enter today tired with the Mets for first in the NL East. I’ll hit you with some notes:

• So how about that Jeff Francoeur? If you know me, I’ve made no secret of the fact over the past two seasons I thought he was very overrated – most people got excited after his first month in the majors. Through his first 25 games, he had 8 HR, was batting .400 and had a 1174 OPS. In his remaining 45 games in 2005, though, he hit .246, had 6 HR, 731 OPS and struck out 41 times.
  2006 wasn’t very good for him, as this numbers continued on the same trend – 132 strikeouts, .260 average, 742 OPS. His home rate rate also dipped slightly – in 70 games in 2005 he hit 14, in 162 in 2006 he hit 29.
  2007 is a different story, though. Since he struck out 132 times and didn’t draw very many walks (23) and thus had an abysmal OBP in 2005 (.293). This year, in 30 games he’s drawn 11 walks, equaling the total he drew in 70 games his rookie year. He’s also hitting for a higher average (.299), both of which improve his OBP to a pretty good .362 (21st in the league). He’s got a 866 OPS, good 13th in the NL (one spot ahead of Andruw as a matter of fact, who I’ll get to in a minute). Not bad. Subjectively, it seems like he’s using the opposite field a lot more (as in, he’s actually hitting over there) and in 2-strike counters is swinging smarter, not harder (though he still takes more cuts than I’d like).
• Kelly Johnson leads all MLB second basemen in on-base percentage, and is second in OPS (1021) only to B.J. Upton (1084). His .459 OBP also blows away anything Furcal managed to do (provided he keeps it up over the next 132 games, of course….).
• Only one third baseman has managed to hit more HR (10) and have a higher OPS (1070) than Chipper Jones – Alex Rodriguez (14/1210).
  Something that mildly upset me a while ago was the question of whether Chipper is in the Hall of Fame. I’d say easily – until A-Rod retires, he’ll have been one of (if not the) best hitting third baseman of all time. If you look at the other 3B in the hall, this shouldn’t be a hard decision.
• It’s been harped on enough, but the back end of the starting rotation has been really terrible. Davies pitched a pretty mediocre game yesterday. Redman suddenly decided to have an ingrown toenail fixed last week – though those pretty painful (I know the hard way), so I’m willing to cut him a tiny bit of slack.
• Andruw Jones is not having the prototypical contract year so far. An 833 OPS is low for him, and while he’s probably never going to be a .300 hitter, his .229 average is low (usually hits in the .260’s). He’s also struck out 33 times in 30 games, which is alarming to say the least. Subjectively, he looks lost at the plate and needs to trim down his swing – he’s like the kid who tries to hit HRs all the time. (Like, say, Jeff Francoeur before this year.)
• Based on that, I wonder if the Braves would be better served by hitting Andruw 5th and moving McCann up to 4th – certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Andruw has been moved down to regain his swing. (EDIT: Today’s AJC “Blog” wonders the same thing.)
• Losing your closer to injury isn’t as big of a deal when your set-up men are essentially back-up closers.

That’s about it from me for now. Later.

Hey kids.

I’m getting back on my feet here in California. Meanwhile, back on the east coast things haven’t been going terribly peachy for the ole college team.

I was so depressed after our bowl loss I didn’t even post about how Tito, Ehren, and I did on the bowl predictions. I didn’t end terribly well, though. Checking the ESPN league for this site, and Ehren finished first with 349 points, then Tito with 339, and me bringing up DFL with 314 points. Going by straight up winners and losers, Tito and I tied by getting 11 of 32 wrong, while Ehren got 12 wrong. None of us picked Florida to win.

After that, Tech basketball started to look up. Despite losing their best offensive threat in Lewis Clinch, Tech beat Duke and FSU. Then they went on the road to Chapel Hill and things started to go terribly, terribly wrong. Tech seems lost on the court right now, especially our freshman point guard. At 2-6 in the ACC, this season is probably lost, and, well, if we can’t beat Wake Forest, who can we beat? Even if we get our collective shit together, I’d say best-case we finish 7-9 in the ACC.

Expect a Braves preview sometime later this month. Updates will probably be sparse until March, when my second favorite time of the year hits.

Well, the championship game was a disappointment. I lost $15 (I bet one more person than I remembered), and the game wasn’t even close. Ohio State’s 84 yards of total offense made overcoming Florida’s offensive onslaught an impossibility. The Gator defensive line dominated all night long, and Troy Smith never remembered how to throw on the run (I told you they should have given the Heisman to Vince Young). The first quarter loss of Ted Ginn, Jr. didn’t help the Buckeyes, either.

I can’t really say I enjoyed this season of college football as much as 2005. The “Bush Push” USC-Notre Dame game and the “Vince Young vs. USC” national championship will forever be etched in my memory. Still, there were some games I’ll remember in the years to come. To close out the season, here are my five most memorable matchups of the year:

5. Michigan State 41, Northwestern 38. This game was great for its historical significance rather than its importance to the course of the season. Michigan State overcame a record deficit of 35 points to beat the Wildcats, kicking the final field goal with 0:18 left on the game clock. The next weekend the Spartans were dominated by Indiana, but hey, at least they made history!

4. Texas 22, Nebraska 20. This game was played in snow. Sophomore walk-on Ryan Bailey kicked the game-winning field goal for the Longhorns with 0:23 on the clock after Nebraska foolishly fumbled away an upset. Vince Young was walking the sidelines. Those elements make for a pretty awesome game.

3. Auburn 27, Florida 17. A week after falling to Arkansas, the Tigers rebounded with a primetime thriller. Down 11-17 off of a safety and two field goals, Auburn’s defense lifted the team, which never scored an offensive touchdown, over the national-champions-to-be in the second half. Any game where ne’er-do-well Tre’ Smith flips into the end zone for a touchdown (congrats on the Pontiac Game Changing Performance, Tre’) is an instant classic. I still believe God was on our side that night.

2. Florida 17, South Carolina 16. South Carolina sent scares into a lot of SEC opponents this year, but none was as big as their near-upset in Gainesville. Spurrier’s Gamecocks were a field goal away from ruining the Gators’ title game hopes when Jarvis Moss blocked Ryan Succop, who has the funniest name of any kicker in the nation. The block wouldn’t be noteworthy were it not for Moss’ block of an extra point and another blocked field goal in the first half. Steve Spurrier probably threw a visor out of the stadium afterwards.

1. Boise State 43, Oklahoma 42. I missed all but the opening minutes of this one. From what I’ve heard, this one ranks up there with the wild finishes of history. With 1:02 left in the game, Oklahoma returned an interception to go up by a touchdown. With 0:07 left, Boise State scored on a hook-and-ladder play from 35 yards out. After a Sooner touchdown in overtime, Boise State scored and decided to go for two. They brilliantly executed the backyard football-esque Statue of Liberty play to win. To top it all off, Bronco tailback Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend on national television moments after scoring the winning conversion.

To all the people who read this column during the season, thank you. I appreciated all the comments, positive and negative, that many of you posted at the ends of my articles. Have fun waiting for August to arrive!

Ohio State wins. I have $10 riding on this prediction, so they’d better. I was so busy unpacking my room that I forgot to write a more in-depth analysis, and now I’ve run out of time. Sorry folks. I will write a year-ending article some time after the championship with my list of the season’s best games. Hopefully tonight’s will earn a spot.