What You Should Know Before Heading Out to That Super Bowl Party (Besides What You’re Wearing)

First off it’s the Rams and the Patriots in Super Bowl LIII

#1 Sean McVay: He’s the Head Coach for the Los Angeles Rams and in his second season with them, proving himself to be a phenomenal coach despite his young age (33 years old and the youngest head coach in NFL history). After coming off his rookie season as a head coach last year with an 11-5 record and a Wild Card game he has shown he’s not slowing down with his new position with the Rams now at 13-3 and a super bowl contender.

#2 A Tale as Old as Time: with Tom Brady (Patriots’ QB1) playing in his 9th Super Bowl, the most of any quarterback in the NFL, it seems that this game already has a bitter ending of repetition. Brady also has the highest completion percentage in postseason with a 71.1%. While everyone is hoping for the underdog to come in and teach Tom Brady a lesson, it is important to remember that this ain’t his first rodeo especially vs the Rams having defeated them in his first ever Super Bowl appearance in 2001

#3 Jared Goff Coming in Hot: While Brady is a phenomenal athlete and quarterback let’s talk about Jared Goff. He was the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft with arguably low prospects due to his physical tests at the NFL Combine and because of his record at Cal of 14-23 ~not good~. Despite that he came out and played 7 games on the tail end of his rookie season with the Rams finishing 4-12. Enter in Sean McVay. Goff has since helped lead the Rams to 11-5 in 2017 … WOW and now to 13-3 in the 2018 season. This would truly be an underdog win if the Rams can pull it off.

#4 But What About the Final Score?: While it’s easy to think that this is going to be a high scoring game with the Patriots average 511 yards per game so far in the postseason (1st in the NFL postseason) and the Rams 418.5 (2nd in the NFL postseason), I wouldn’t count on it, especially because it’s widely thought that defense wins games (or loses them, RIP to the Chiefs). With the Patriots averaging 312.5 yards allowed per game (4th in the NFL postseason) and the Rams with 299.0 yards allowed per game (2nd in NFL postseason) this is going to be a close game with an intense QB battle. Also, Vegas has the point spread at +2.5 in favor of the Patriots*.

#5 Who are their targets?: Tom Brady throwing to wide receiver Julian Edelman is an amazing sight. With Edelman being 1st in NFL postseason with 247 receiving yards and recording 16 receptions it’s no question that the Rams will have to figure out a way to stop him. On the other side of the gridiron the Rams’ Brandin Cooks is coming out with 11 receptions and a lesser 172 yards, which means with the Patriots having such a machine-like defense the Rams might look to their running backs to provide some variety. Los Angeles’ Todd Gurley competing with New England’s Sony Michel might be a little bit more of a fair matchup despite Gurley not seeing a lot of playing time in their playoff game versus the Saints. With Gurley averaging 6.3 yards per game in NFL postseason and Michel averaging 4.6 yards per game I anticipate that these two will have a strong battle with each team needing to break up the high-power quarterback passing.

* The point spread: When betting on football, the team you bet on must "cover the spread." This means the team must win or not lose by a predetermined margin of points. – Vegas.com

Have fun watching the Super Bowl on February 3rd at 5:30 CST on CBS, these were my #nontraditionalthoughts

The 2018 College World Series

With the start of baseball season rapidly approaching I'd like to take the time and stroll down memory lane.

Being a student at the University of Arkansas the 2018 College World Series was one of the most heartbreaking events to watch. Specifically the second game. All I remember was watching Eric Cole, Jared Gates, and Carson Shaddy all rush towards a pop fly and then the rest was a blur.

Who should have had the easiest, most routine ball in the entire game of baseball doesn't matter. What I want to talk about is the public backlash and lack of respect the state and nation had for these three players. Excuse me, these STUDENT athletes.

Imagine after finishing a semester of college where you are juggling classes and a full time job (which happens to be your favorite sport) you have earned the opportunity to represent a university and state who has backed you and supported you from the beginning at the most important event of your season. Then imagine the people who you thought were your family, your #Razorback nation turning on you because of one play. Then, you're expected to go out the next day, give your all, and no matter the outcome you're supposed to return ~home~ and either attend classes or move on with your life in baseball.

These players gave everything they had to a state and nation that had shown support and provided encouraging words the entire season only to be turned on and received nasty, unfathomable hate because of one play of many that were made that game.

Should our student athletes be subjected to this kind of media animosity when they're expected to perform the job of an athlete and a student all season? My opinion is no but there is also some accountability when you're in a job. If anyone else performs below their expected ability and responsibilities there are consequences, so where do we draw the line between treating student athletes as a student and an athlete? I am in no way supporting hateful messages to these individuals, I love the hogs and supported the Omahogs throughout everything these are just my #nontraditional thoughts.

The "Trae Young Effect"™

If you ever watched any basketball game in the 2017-18 season you've heard the name Trae Young no matter what time of the day or who was playing. If you happened to watch an Oklahoma game well... God bless you for sitting through it and hearing the name about a thousand times while seeing his stats constantly stay up the entire game.

The "Trae Young Effect" ™ is a philosophy I've been thinking about since I first heard his name. Does he deserve all the hype? Well yes of course, have you seen him play? This philosophy involves the focus on a key player each year that media and television broadcasts utilize for an entire season. He's an easy storyline to go to and one that you can somehow relate to any game. This player has proven that they are good at their craft and deserve to be constantly watched by the entire nation.

I didn't believe this effect was continuing until the start of this college basketball season, ever heard of Zion Williamson? Of course you have. Williamson is the new victim to the "Trae Young Effect". He's always talked about and for good reason averaging 21.7 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game, and shooting 67.4% from the field.

While Williamson has proven himself, should college basketball be monopolized by a single player? I'm not so sure but those are my #nontraditional thoughts.