My take on the Democratic Primary

I haven't actually written a blog post in a while, so I thought I'd give a little update on the state of the Democratic primary.

Since the supposed disaster of March 4th, when Obama actually ended up winning more delegates in Texas than Clinton, and Clinton picked up only around 10 delegates on Obama...........Obama has now one Wyoming and Mississippi decisively.

61-38 in Wyoming
61-37 in Mississippi

Apparently though, if you watch the mainstream media, those 2 states don't really matter. Only the white racist states that Hillary can win "really" count.

However, if you look at the number....ah, those damn numbers bringing you back to reality....Hillary can't win the nomination....she just can't. She'd have to win 80-20 or 90-10 in all the remaining states in order to catch Obama. And if Obama can just keep the superdelegates that are already pledged to him, he will have enough delegates (2025) to clinch the nomination.

Here's the latest polls in the 2 big upcoming states:

North Carolina
Obama - 49
Clinton - 41

Pennsylvania
Clinton - 55
Obama - 36

Clinton - 45
Obama - 31

Shocking! Hillary is going to win Pennsylvania, probably fairly comfortably, but not by as much as is shown in these polls. And Obama is going to win North Carolina, although not by a huge margin.

SO.......after saying all this, what I'm really saying is.....IT'S OVER! I'm calling it! MarxistGopher is officially calling this race for Barack Obama. The math shows that Hillary can't catch him. she'd need a mass defection of the superdelgates, some strange unfair scenario in FL and MI, and she'd probably need to steal some of Obama's pledged delegates at the convention. AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!

Barack Obama will be the Democratic Presidential nominee!

Indiana quarterback suspended indefinitely for violating team rules

Spitfires continue to fall apart......

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana suspended record-setting quarterback Kellen Lewis indefinitely on Thursday for violating team rules with spring practice about three weeks away.

"He will not participate as we begin spring practice," coach Bill Lynch said in a statement. "Kellen needs time away from the program and we look forward to his return at some point in the future."

Team spokesman Jeff Keag would not give details about what rules Lewis violated.

Keag said Lynch would make no additional comments on what led to the suspension or when Lewis might return to the team.

Losing Lewis leaves one of the Big Ten's top offenses from 2007 without its leader.

Lewis threw for 3,043 yards and 28 touchdowns and rushed for another 736 yards and nine more TDs while starting all 13 games and leading the Hoosiers to their first bowl game in 14 years. With his favorite target, receiver James Hardy, leaving a year early for the NFL, Lewis was expected to use this spring to build new bonds with receivers such as Ray Fisher and James Bailey.

Instead, the Hoosiers will spend the spring adjusting. Practice begins March 25.

Lewis' backup last year, Ben Chappell, who will be a sophomore, now inherits the starting job even though he has thrown two passes in college. Chappell played in three games last season.

Indiana's only returning backup, Teddy Schell, who did not play as a freshman in 2007, is also expected to miss the entire spring with an elbow injury.

Lynch is moving safety Mitchell Evans back to quarterback, where he opened fall camp in 2007. Evans was twice an all-state high school quarterback in Ohio. He moved to safety for his freshman season.

The Hoosiers do not expect to have another quarterback in camp until the fall, unless Lewis returns before Indiana's intrasquad scrimmage April 19.

In addition, the Hoosiers must also find replacements for Marcus Thigpen, their second-leading rusher, and cornerback Tracy Porter, who like Hardy is expected to be drafted in April. Both were seniors last season.

Lewis burst onto the scene in September 2006 when the Hoosiers' top two quarterbacks were hurt. He was pressed into service at Ball State and rallied the Hoosiers to a come-from-behind victory. He secured the starting job a couple of weeks later and wound up throwing for 2,221 yards and 19 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman.

Last year, Lewis developed into as one of the conference's most dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks. He broke school single-season records for attempts (442), completions (265), yards passing, TD passes, total touchdowns (37), total yards (3,709) and completion percentage (60.0)

He is currently tied with Antwaan Randle El for most TD passes in a career (42) and ranks among the school's top five for career yards (5,264), completions (455) and attempts (788).

Looking Ahead: The 2008 Keepers

Woah. The 2007 BTFFL has been decimated by Juniors leaving early for the NFL – certain keepers, Mendenhall, Thomas, Hardy, and Manningham are gone. At first glance, I don’t see a single team that has the full contingent of five keepers next year. Let’s break it down:

Fightin’ Farmers:

Definite: Adam Weber, Chris Wells, Terry Robiskie, Eric Decker

On the Bubble: None

Unlikely: None

Andy’s enthusiasm for Gray could have pushed Weber to the Bubble, but Weber is the current starter, was huge in the BTFFL, and until I see something solid, I have to assume he’s the starter next year, too. As long as Robiskie doesn’t go pro, the core of the championship team comes back.

Halifax Spitfires:

Definite: Kellen Lewis, PJ Hill, Duane Bennett

On the Bubble: John Clay

Unlikely: Kory Sheets

The team most hurt by the early departures. Rashard Mendenhall and Mario Manningham would have been certain keepers and to add insult to injury, Adrain Arrington, a guy who would have been on the bubble with the departure of Manningham, leaves too. Still this team has fewer holes to fill than the two Gopher Bowl participants.

Bucky’s Goodgers:

Definite: Curtis Painter, Juice Williams

On the Bubble: CJ Bacher

Unlikely: Daniel Dufrene, Troy Pollard, Carlos Brown, Kevin Grady

Will this team keep 2 or 3 Quarterbacks? The Goodgers are loaded up on possible starting Running Backs next season, so there may be a possibility of five keepers here but it seems a long shot at this point. Devin Thomas goes pro after one great season.

Golden Goblins:

Definite: Tyrell Sutton, Jaycen Taylor, Javon Ringer

On the Bubble: Arrelious Benn, Evan Royster

Unlikely: None

The Golden Goblins will return a stable of productive Running Backs. Can they build around them? Benn remains a question mark – he certainly showed flashes and Juice was a star so does Benn break out as a sophomore?

NO ONE IS EDITING YOUR POSTS MR. PARANOID!

Blu Ox Bowl V

Fighting Farmers vs. Spitfires

Goodgers Face 2nd Must Win Game in as Many Weeks

What Would Happen if they Held a Blue Ox Bowl and the Goodgers Were Not Invited?

Hopefully, we'll never find out the answer to such a terrible and troubling question. Goodgers face rival Fighting Farmers in a must win game Saturday.

QB1 CJ Bacher
QB2 Curtis Painter
RB1 Mike Hart
RB2 Albert Young
WR1 Dorien Bryant
WR2 Devin Thomas
WR3 Dustin Keller
K Ryan Pretorios (dropping Mehlhoff)

Goodgers Must Win Out to Return to BOB

Painter
Bacher
Brown
Young
Dorien Bryant
Dustin Keller
Devin Thomas
Taylor Mahlhoff

Looking Backward 2007 Worst of BTFFL Draft

10 “Boom” Herron, John Clay, Nick Toon, 17^th, 9^th and 16^th Round, Halifax Spitfires, Halifax Spitfires, and Fightin’ Farmers. It’s never good to have a Red Shirt year in the BTFFL. All three of these guys have not, and will not, see the field this year.

9 Arrellious Benn, 3^rd Round, Fightin’ Farmers. I loved the pick at the time but Benn simply has not delivered enough to merit this pick this year. He certainly has soon skills and should be a keeper based on talent but in the end, this season, he has been a fantasy disappointment.

8 Greg Orton, 10^th Round, Halifax Spitfires. The last WR picked before both Wheelwright (the pick before) and Decker. Orton was supposedly set to be the #2 receiver in the pass happy Purdue offense but it has not panned out.

7 Jaycen Taylor, Amir Pinnix, 3^rd and 4^th Rounds, Golden Goblins and Fightin’ Farmers. Both of these backs had decent runs at the beginning of the season but have been slowed or stopped by injury. They are not the worst picks taken on their own (Pinnix is still in the top 10 RBs) but the problem is an old one on the worst of the draft list and that is they were snagged before Javon Ringer. Ringer should have been the first RB off the board and these guys went before him.

6 Todd Boeckmann, Brian Hoyer, 6^th and 7^th Round, Fightin’ Farmers and Halifax Spitfires. Boeckmann has been serviceable, Hoyer hasn’t cracked the Spitfire line up for quite a while. Worse still, CJ Bacher was on the board when this pick was made.

5 Andy Brodell, 7^th Round, Bucky’s Goodgers. If I ever pick another Wide Receiver with my first or second pick I should be shot. Brodell joins a notorious list – Jonathon Orr (taken over 2^nd choice Taylor Stubblefield), Herb Grigsby (taken over 2^nd choice Mario Manningham) and now Brodell (taken over 2^nd choice Brian Robiski). The Iowa offense never looked good, Brodell never looked good, and then he was injured.

4 Dion Butler, 6th Round, Golden Goblins. The earliest, worstest, WR picked in the draft. The Goblins had their choice of all the good ones – Arrington, Robiski, Wheelwright, and Decker. Instead choose the guy that is reliant on Schreech to get him the ball.

3 Jake Christiansen, 5^th Round, Golden Goblins. The second QB off the board, only outscoring the injured Chad Henne and the injured and often pulled Juice. He looks terrible and is no small part of the Goblins massive struggles this season.

2 and 1 (He gets 2 spots) AUSTIN SCOTT!!!!!!, 2^nd Round, Fightin’ Farmers. What a fitting end to a truly amazing career, the likes of which I doubt we will ever see again even if the BTFFL survives for the next 50 years. Let’s Review. Great Scott entered the BTFFL a highly regarded RB recruit to a tradition power, a tradition power running team and the question was simply, how great, how soon? Having never played a down, he was snatched up by the Goodgers in the 2003 in the 7^th Round. Typically, he teased that season. He had a 28 point game and a 16 point game to go with his 3 Zeros, 2 Ones and 1 Two point games. I think he was hurt at the end of the season, or in the doghouse, or, more than likely, both. He was a keeper in 2004. Game 1, 23 points – here comes Great Scott! He followed that 2004 debut with 0, 6, 0, 0, and 1 point games. My records end there for 2004. Dropped by the Goodgers, Scott is picked again in 2005. The lowest that he is ever picked – the 10^th Round. Less heralded Tony Hunt takes over at Penn State and Scott scores 22 fantasy points on the season. But he’s still too good to give up on, maybe as a senior he’ll figure it out, it will click, he’ll mature, and he’ll beat out this clearly limited Running Back Tony Hunt. Cut again, in 2006 he’s chosen in the 8^th Round. At this point, Scott has been a 7^th Round pick, a Keeper, a 10^th Round pick and an 8^th Round pick. Towards the end of the season, Shawn famously puts his finger right on it – has there ever been a bigger disappointment than Austin Scott in the BTFFL? Well, no. And yes! Because Austin Scott gets a Red Shirt season as Tony Hunt tears up the BTFFL in 2006 – the 2^nd highest scoring RB in the League! Only Scott can outdo Scott. In 2007, the buzz builds again. Scott is a Senior, Hunt is gone to the NFL, none of the other RBs on the Penn State roster looks at all good (who is Rodney Kinlaw, Evan Royster?), certainly Scott, with all that talent, will finally meet expectations. Remember Larry Johnson! He never saw the field before his huge senior year. Perhaps, Scott, who has looked good on occasion, can pull an LJ! As the 2007 BTFFL draft approaches, all the clear cut stud Running Backs will be kept, startable RB will be hard to get. Scott emerges as the Great hope for BTFFL franchises. He’s got the job, Penn State RBs are valuable, don’t share time and Austin Scott is the 1^st player off the board! Taken by Shawn (remember Shawn, the guy who first identified Scott as the biggest disappointment ever, oh the humanity) in the 2^nd Round in a draft where Matt cuts James Hardy in the hopes that Shawn passes on Scott so he can grab him. Austin has outdone himself! Scott has a decent, but not great, start to the season. It is not clear at all that he is outplaying the nobodies behind him, and then, to cap off a truly transcendent, no, transsplendent, BTFFL career, he is accused of rape and suspended from the team. Could it have ended any other way? I don’t think so. What will we do without him?

Looking Backward 2007 Best of BTFFL Draft

Honorable mentions

Adrian Arrington, 8^th round, Halifax Spitfires. Good pick, decent value.

Ryan Mallett, 12^th Round, Fighting Farmers. Mallett has been pressed into action and has performed reasonably as a Freshman. No doubt he will be Michigan’s starting QB in 2008.

And to the list:

10. Duane Bennett, 5^th Round, Halifax Spitfires. The first of 4 Gophers to appear on this list, Bennett certainly appears set to be the Gophers RB next season. As a freshman he has been impressive, might have even taken over the starting position if not for injury.

9. Kory Sheets, Omar Conteh, and Evan Royster, 6^th, 11^th and 17^th Rounds, Halifax Spitfires, Golden Goblins and Golden Goblins. This trio of Running Backs have one thing in common, the starters in front of them have been injured or lost the job for other reasons, they have all stepped in and played well. There is a bit of luck in these three but nonetheless, they have all paid dividends. They are the 9^th, 8^th and 16^th ranked Running Backs as of this week.

8. James Hardy, 2^nd Round, Golden Goblins. I hate to put high picks on this list but it always seems like one or two picks deserve it. And Hardy deserves it as he is the highest scoring WR in the League and the Goblins snatched him back with their first pick in the draft. Lucky thing Austin Scott was not available or the Goblins would be even worse.

7. CJ Bacher, 8^th Round, Bucky’s Goodgers. The Goodgers only pick on this list. Bacher has outplayed Christiansen (5^th), Boeckmann (6^th), Hoyer (7^th), and Henne (8^th), all selected before him. Eighth QB off the board, third highest scorer. Goblins agonized between Bacher and Kinlaw – choose Kinlaw.

6. Javon Ringer, 4^th Round, Golden Goblins. Ringer has been fantastic this season. He is the 4^th highest scoring Running Back behind only Hill, Mendenhall and Hart – all three were keepers. He was also the 4^th RB selected! Somehow, Scott, Taylor (inj) and Pinnix picked before Ringer.

5. Ernie Wheelwright, 10^th Round, Golden Goblins. Another Gopher. Wheelwright has been a reliable BTFFL WR this year. He’s the 6^th highest scoring WR and is outplaying a boatload of WRs selected ahead of him, including Benn (3^rd), Bulter (6^th), Beckum (7^th), Brodell (7^th), Arrington (8^th) and Orton (10^th).

4. Brian Robiski, 9^th Round, Fightin’ Farmers. Robiski has been fantastic. Taken just one round before Wheelwright, selected after the mediocre group of WR, he is the 4^th highest scoring WR.

3. Jehuu Caulcrick, 10^th Round, Fightin’ Farmers. 5^th Highest scoring RB, even after last week’s goose egg! Nonfactors like Austin Scott, Damien Sims, John Clay, Marcus Thigpen, and Brandon Saine selected ahead of him.

2. Eric Decker, 13^th Round, Fightin’ Farmers. Go Gophers! Decker is the 7^th highest scoring wide receiver in the BTFFL and he was picked after such duds as Butler, Brodell, Orton, Williams, Hubbard and Lymon.

1. Adam Weber, 5^th Round, Fightin’ Farmers. Wow! The Farmers have the top 4 best picks in the draft and it looks like they are headed to the Blue Ox Bowl because of it. Weber, along with every other Gopher drafted was scoffed at by this author. How much crow can one man eat? Weber is the 2^nd highest scoring QB (was 1 for much of the season) and is the biggest beneficiary of Brewster’s spread coast offense – although clearly not the only one. I guess he’s a keeper?

Grading the keepers

It's that time of year...

Fightin’ Farmers (Chris Wells) Wells has been something of a disappointment this year, although last week he performed as the Farmers maybe expected he would throughout the season. But clearly Beanie was a good keeper. You can’t really blame him – but this team cut Ringer and Caulcrick (both have outscored Wells to this point), as well as Wheelwright and Decker! Got Caulcrick and Decker back though. Grade: B-

Halifax Spitfires (PJ Hill, Kellen Lewis, Mario Manningham, Rashard Mendenhall) Well, Lewis is the high scoring QB, Hill and Mendenhall are 1 and 2 at RB and Manningham is a top 5 WR. I guess these were good keepers. Grade: A

Golden Goblins (Tyrell Sutton) Sutton is hurt. Cut Hardy, the #1 WR, but took him right back. Grade: C

Bucky’s Goodgers (Mike Hart, Curtis Painter, Juice!, Dorien Bryant, Albert Young) A few hits, a few misses. Hart, Painter, and Bryant performing well. Juice!, who walks on water, not exactly tearing up the league, as he is the 11^th highest scoring QB and Young, coincidently, the 11^th highest scoring RB. Bacher cut but got back. Grade: C-

Goodgers pushed out of 2nd place?!

Have switched to C. Brown, MI at RB

QB1 Bacher
QB2 Painter
RB1 ***C. Brown***
RB2 Young
WR1 Thomas
WR2 Bryant
WR3 Keller
K Mehlhoff

NW 52
EMU 14

IA 6
PU 35

NIU 14
WI 35

PSU 20
IU 10

NDSU 30
MN 31

MSU 7
OSU 28

MI 24
IL 17

How will they Finish the Season?

1. Ohio State (8-0, 12-0) BCS Bowl
2. Wisconsin (7-1, 11-1) Capitol One Bowl
3. Purdue (7-1, 11-1) Outback Bowl
4. Illinois (6-2, 9-3) Alamo Bowl
5. Michigan State (4-4, 8-4) Insight Bowl
Indiana (4-4, 8-4) Motor City Bowl
Michigan (4-4, 6-6) Champs Sports Bowl
8. Iowa (2-6, 5-7)
9. Penn State (1-7, 5-7)
10. Northwestern (1-7, 4-8)
11. Minnesota (0-8, 1-11)

I went through the entire remainder of the schedule game by game to come up with these.....so I'm pretty confident (roughly) in these predictions.

Confident Spitfires take Field at Mid-Point of Season

tentative starters:

qb - Kellen "50 pts this week" Lewis
qb - Brian Hoyer
rb - P. J. "the lumberer" Hill
rb - Rashard "badger killer" Mendenhall
wr - Adrian "someone has to get the ball" Arrington
wr - Greg Orton
wr - Luke "the disappearing" Swan
k - Kevin "the kicker" Kelly

Eastern Michigan - 20
Michigan - 34

Minnesota - 24
Indiana - 49

Wisconsin - 20
Illinois - 17

Ohio State - 20
Purdue - 16

Penn State - 13
Iowa - 16

Northwestern - 17
Michigan State - 31

Goodgers push for 2nd Place!?

QB Painter
QB Donovan
RB Hart
RB Young
WR Bryant
WR Thomas
WR Jefferson
K Mehlhoff

NW 20
MSU 31

WI 27
IL 21

MN 21
IN 42

MI 38
EM 14

IA 13
PSU 20

PU 20
OSU 28

Do you know that Iowa doesn't have to play Michigan or Ohio State this year? Could be their year -- watch out!

I'll Update Those Rankings

1. Ohio State (5-0)
2. Purdue (5-0)
3. Wisconsin (5-0)
4. Michigan State (4-1)
5. Michigan (3-2)
6. Illinois (4-1)
7. Indiana (4-1)
8. Penn State (3-2)
9. Iowa (2-3)
10. Northwestern (2-3)
11. Minnesota (1-4)

The First-Place Spitfires Start......

QB - Kellen Lewis
RB - P. J. Hill
RB - Rashard Mendenhall
RB - Kory Sheets
WR - Mario Manningham
WR - Adrian Arrington
WR - Luke Swan
K - Kevin Kelly
D - Wisconsin
D - Illinois

1/3 of the way rankings

1. Ohio State (4-0)
2. Purdue (4-0)
3. Wisconsin (4-0)
4. Iowa (2-2)
5. Michigan (2-2)
6. Michigan State (4-0)
7. Penn State (3-1)
8. Illinois (3-1)
9. Indiana (3-1)
10. Northwestern (2-2)
11. Minnesota (1-3)

Goodgers Battle for 1st Place

QB Curtis Painter
QB Juice Williams
RB Mike Hart
RB Dan Dierking (assuming I got him in the weekly pick ups, if not, Albert Young)
WR Dorien Bryant
WR Dustin Keller
WR Devin Thomas
K Taylor Mahlhoff

Big Ten Predictions:

Illinois 34, Indiana 20
Northwestern 3, Ohio State 31
Michigan State 21, Notre Dame 7
Penn State17, Michigan 21 (I've been thinking PS will win this game all week but I can't write it down.)
Iowa 10, Wisconsin 28
Purdue 52, Minnesota 21

Goodgers Back to Winning Ways

Week 3 Starters:

Curtis (6 TDs) Painter
CJ (The only Night Big Ten Game) Bacher
Mike (MI only hope) Hart
Albert (One half worth a whole game against ISU) Young
Dorien (My Ankle Hurts) Bryant
Dustin (TD machine) Keller
Devin (Deep Threat) Thomas
Taylor (I'm the Kicker) Mehlhoff

Alternates:

I am really tempted to start

Donovan vs. The Citadel!
Juice vs. Syracuse (Actually would start him except that there are way too many games at 11:00)
Zach Brown (Listed as 2nd RB, I believe he's going to get a long look Satuday)
Damien Sims (Probably end up with more work than Young by the end of the ISU game)

(Delayed and likely ignored) Week 2 Thoughts

Michigan: I called for Carr to be fired 2 years ago when they lost 5. Carr’s National Title run appeared to vindicate him last season. He should have left before this fiasco. He should have been fired before, he should be fired now. How many games will Michigan win this season? Will Brewster bring home the Jug in his first year?

Minnesota! Wow. What a difference a week makes. This week the Gophers take another MAC team to OT but win. Adam Weber is the top BTFFL player after 2 weeks! He reminds me a lot of Drew Stanton when he runs – not pretty but effective. And this week his passes hit the mark. Unfortunately, this is also a matter of no matter how much things change they stay the same. While the Gophers looked better against Miami, they still needed a bad call and OT to win. The Big Ten schedule still won’t be kind to them. But a win is a win, right?

Wisconsin. Badgers path to Big Ten title seems clear. Michigan is winless, Ohio State has looked unimpressive. So the Badgers look like winners. Well, they sure didn’t look like Big Ten Champions against UNLV. I hate to say it but I’m starting to wonder about PJ Hill’s long term fantasy value. The good news for the Spitfires is no one is getting any meaningful carries other than PJ. John Clay has yet to see the field. I have to think if we get to the Big Ten season and he has not played, we are looking at a Red Shirt.

Ohio State: Again, not impressive in the win. No running game to speak of. Wells’ yards almost all come at the end of the game on, like, 3 runs. Boeckmann again looks ok, clearly locks on to Robiski. Shoencroft sees some action again – he sucks again. Will Henton get a shot?

Iowa: Christensen appears to take a leap forward – Syracuse doesn’t bother to cover TE, that helps. It could be ugly for universally loved Iowa State this week.

Illinois: Juice still has not put it together but he’s close. Mendenhall looks very good – so does his back up, Daniel Dufrene! Go DD. Benn and Williams will have a good run though.

Indiana: Don’t you wish your team had offered Kellen Lewis as a QB? I know I do.

Penn State: Screech returns to form. He’s apparently satisfied with his play -- "I don't know how I didn't have a good game," Morelli said. "We won the football game. So many people are so caught up on stats. Stats are so overrated. I'm so tired of hearing about it. It's so ridiculous. It's just unbelievable. No one's ever satisfied with a victory." PSU gets laugher in Buffalo this week.

Northwestern: That was sweet. Great game winning drive for Bacher. I also recall a long discussion about who Sutton’s back up is at the draft. Always worthwhile backing up your studs.

MSU: Ringer finds the End Zone this week.

Purdue: Everyone is going to score on that offense, especially Curtis Painter!

Goodgers Take field in an unfamiliar position

QB Curtis Painter
QB Juice
RB Mike Hart
RB Albert Young
WR Dorien Bryant
WR Devin Thomas
WR Andy Brodell
K Taylor Mahlhaff