This debate is actually out there right now. People have been questioning whether strength shoes or jump soles actually help to improve your speed and/or jumping. I’ve posted on here about Willie Parker and his love and testimony of the strength shoes and how much they helped him growing up. Then I get responses like “well he’s a professional athlete and I’m not”. That’s the point isn’t it.

Everyone has God given talents in all sorts of areas whether it be in sports or not and what we do with those talents is up to us. We’ve all seen athletes that have all the ability in the world who can’t quite put it together or they don’t work at it and the talent eventually fades. So I go a little crazy when people tell me that certain products or ideas don’t help people improve. I find it funny that we can get smarter by reading and studying. We can learn new languages at young ages and do so much as far as improving in areas like that, but people question whether or not they can run faster or jump higher.

Do I believe we have a ceiling? I do. I believe that we eventually will max out but isn’t that what it is all about. We are living in a time when a man is running 100 meters in under 9.6 seconds. That’s nuts. He has improved greatly over the past 2 years and I don’t know if we’ve seen his best. Can he run a 9.0? I don’t know but I want to find out. The only way is if Bolt works at things to get better. I’ll tell you that if he doesn’t train for a year and then goes out and races what will happen. He’ll still be very fast but not as fast as he could be if he worked at it. That’s simple.

Can products help you improve? Yes, if they are used. You won’t know if they help you if you put them in your closet and never work them.

Currently you have to like the way Texas and Florida are taking care of business. I know Tebow being clocked will scare some Florida fans but they have a bye this week so he will have 2 weeks to recover before he gets out there again. That was some hit. Texas keeps doing what they should be doing as well and that is winning. I’m surprised they don’t have more #1 votes in the polls but they will before long.

The 3rd horse is Alabama after an impressive performance over Arkansas. Alabama showed they can play some serious defense and are a very prepared team. It’s hard for me to watch Alabama in the same light after last seasons defeat from Utah. I keep watching and waiting for some team to expose them but this team is better than last years and they are going to be reckoned with.

LSU is also undefeated but they were a yard away from really being upset so I’m not considering them a horse quite yet. They need a signature win to get in with me and they don’t have it yet. The SEC is so tough and balanced that anybody could lose to anybody whenever so they’ll get their chance.

I look for Texas to cruise for a little while and I don’t think Florida will get beat. I look for the Texas Oklahoma game to be intense as ever but that’s a bit down the line. Either way, I sure love college football and my wife sure hates it.

I’ve played fantasy football for a few seasons and of all the fantasy sports to me it is the most boring. With limited games each week it can get boring in between games and teams can go dead just based on that fact. It’s not easy.

I know I’m not the norm in this and that most love fantasy football more than any other sport by far. I also know that lately it has been the talk of the office and I started to wonder if it was good or bad for the workplace.

I decided on good for a number of reasons. Understand first that I had my own company for years so I understand when employees arent’ always on task and how annoying it can be to realize that you are paying someone to decide whether to start Larry Fitzgerald against the Jets. I get that. I also see how much chemistry is developed amongst employees and how positive that energy can be. It creates a sense of team and loyalty amongst a group of people and it keeps them fresh in mind. People can’t be focused on work on the time and in a sales job it is great to be able to have a conversation away from what is typically sold. The season lasts 3-4 months and is a time that most employees love each year. They talk trash about their teams and claim titles and fake jewelry. They might get a tshirt or some money out of the deal and its good for their psyche and it’s good for the workplace AS LONG AS IT CAN STAY UNDER CONTROL.

It doesn’t hurt that I’m 2-0 so far and gloating like crazy.

I’m all for BCS busting and I’m not a strong enough believer that the Big East deserves any attention from the BCS however, I believe the Mountain West has the same argument in being just not quite good enough.

At the top of the conference you have Utah, Tcu and BYU but the rest of them aren’t so hot and take away from the total value of the conference. Again, I’m not saying that the Big EAst is beaming with great football schools because they aren’t and we’ve seen how poorly that conference does in the spotlight but the Mountain West as a whole isn’t quite there.

Sure each season you have some team/teams that can break the BCS and get in and cause problems. Utah has done it twice and Boise St is a threat to do it every season but how often is that going to happen or should happen with our current format? Does the Mountain West deserve a BCS spot? NO. In today’s format the conference just can’t compete nationally when you talk about money that the programs generate and just plain national interest. It’s great for the Mountain West when BYU sells out at 66k fans but that’s as good as its gonna get. When we watched Florida St TROUNCE Byu this past weekend you could tell those kids were not in any sort of awe of anything BYU did or had. I’m pretty sure they have had worse fan experiences than to be yelled ‘fake’ obscenities by returned missionaries. I’ve been to BYU games and it is not a loud experience at all compared to other places I’ve been. In reality last week opened my eyes. BYU was supposed to be the team in the Mountain west this season and they got beat at home by a good/decent Florida St team. This team lost once and nearly lost again to Florida International yet somehow was able to get 54 points on BYU while pullling starters in the 4th quarter?

BYU needed that win for the conference and to continue to bring respect. When you couple that with Utah losing to a terrible Oregon team you realize that the conference is getting the respect it deserves.

My father used to tell me all the time that he was more proud of me for off the field things and I used to never be able to truly understand until I had kids of my own and now I get it completely. I love getting compliments about my children and watching them succeed and make good choices.

I was very happy to wake up to the story today about Vince Young taking Steve McNair’s kids to the Father/Son’s breakfast at their local school. Vince picked up two of McNair’s sons ages 11 and 5 and took them to the breakfast and took care of them. Imagine those two boys wondering what they are going to do about the situation and being faced with a tough situation only to have someone come in and take care of things. When my daughters lost their grandmother a few years ago it was tough even doing Grandparents Donut day at school without her and my wife stepped in and took care of things.

Steve is looking down proud at that but more imporantly Vince’s mom is more proud of this gesture then Vince winning the National Title at Texas I’m sure of it and she should be.

Jay Cutler was brought to Chicago to bring a winner and a change to a franchise that hasn’t had a consistent starter since Jim McMahon and even he was shaky with his health.  Since McMahon all bear fans, myself included, have prayed for a qb of Cutler’s caliber.  What happened?

Cutler threw 4 picks last night with the opportunity for a couple others that were simply dropped by the Packers.  He had one series where he threw 3 balls that could’ve been intercepted but only one eventually was.  The announcers were saying that Jay Cutler’s receivers were at fault on a couple of them and I agree but others for sure weren’t his fault.  What are the Bears to do?

#1….Sign Marvin Harrison.  He’d come in and teach the kids what to do while providing a legit threat.  Marvin isn’t a burner anymore but I’d love to see him end up in Chi Town because Cutler needs someone.

#2…Where is Rashied Davis?  He played last season and now he’s on special teams.  You can’t tell me he isn’t better than some of the chumps that were out there yesterday. 

#3…Get the ball to Olsen.  1 catch is terrible for a player like him.  He needs to get the ball.  I know the Packers doubled him but if that’s the case then the Bears need to do some creative things. 

#4…Get the ball to Forte.  Forte is a great pass catcher out of the backfield and he didn’t get a lot of shots last night.  Get him the ball on short passes and take some pressure of Cutler to make 25 yard passes downfield to players who are sketchy at best. 

Just some thoughts from me on what the Bears can do.  With Urlacher out for the season this team is on the fence right now.  They get Pitt next week and they had better show up.

Who wins this one?  With the game being played in Columbus it puts a whole new spin on a game that was a rout just last year.  A couple things are different and they are big ones and they are the guys behind center for both teams.

For Ohio St they feature Tyrelle Pryor and USC Matt Barkley.  Both qb’s are completely different but both equally important for their teams.  Pryor is the talent with reported 4.5 speed and is the type of qb who has given USC fits in the past.  When I say fits I mean Vince Young but faster.  Vince Young and Texas beat USC and they did with a running qb who can get outside the pocket and create 1-1 situations.  Texas had more talent that year however so don’t think I’m comparing the two teams, only the two qb’s.  Barkley is the true freshman with 1 game under his belt.  He’s already being talked about as the top pick in the draft 3 years from now and has a ton of talent playing with him.  He’s going to be asked to play conservatively and to let the running game dictate a lot of what has to be done.  If Barkley has to throw 30 passes then USC won’t win.

This game will be closer than last year and Ohio St will have a chance to win late.  I’ll go out on a limb and say the Buckeyes win on a field goal with less than a minute to go.

What a great opening weekend in college football.  You had some simply amazing football games played with none better than the BYU vs Oklahoma game.  Most people who read my stuff know that I hate BYU football.  I hope they lose every time but I have to admit when I see a good football game and this was one of them.  Max Hall played great but the star was the BYU defense.  How could someone not watch that game and come away not impressed with how hard hitting that team was?  That whole game was full of big hits by both teams and a game that could’ve been a shootout turned out to be a low scoring game.  BYU still won while committing 4 turnovers and fumbling one of them in the end zone.  I wanted Oklahoma to win badly but BYU deserved and got the win.

Other great games:  Miami vs Florida st.  Does it get better than the finish in this one?  FSU had chance after chance to score a touchdown and win and it took a drop in the end zone with no time left to give the win to MIAMI.  Both teams played great offense and I felt that whoever had the ball last was going to win but I was wrong.  FSU had it but lost it.  3 plays from the 2 yard line and no points.  Simply a great football game to watch.

What I’m sick of already though is the BCS talk of national championships and teams running the table.  We are 1 week into this thing and people are spouting off everywhere with what if’s and could have beens already.  I’m sick of it.  Let’s at least get into week 7-8 before we really start projecting schedules.  Too much can happen.  Players get hurt (Sam Bradford) and leave their teams in a bit of a problem and that’s all it takes.  The BYU fans around me are killing me with winning a national title already and I have to remind them of when BYU beat MIAMI several years ago when Miami was number 1.  Ty Detmer went on to win the Heisman but BYU still ended up losing a number of games with none better than the loss to Texas A&M 65-14.  Espn classic in my mind.

Let’s just enjoy these early weeks without declaring National Champions please.

I hate Michigan like I hate BYU football.  Ok maybe not that bad, maybe like I hate Duke basketball.  That’s probably better.  Anyway, I hope Michigan loses every football game they can but I can’t call them cheaters.

The NCAA has standards and rules that are in place and recently Michigan was accused of practicing more than the alloted time that is given them by the NCAA.  The NCAA allows 20 hours of practice time a week and Michigan is accused of going above that.  I say good for them.  Michigan has never had issues with graduating players and since when does a football player go to Michigan because of academics?  Kids go there and Ohio St. because they want to be pros.  They are coached hard because the kids that go to Michigan to play football all believe they can be pros.  The best players will always put in more time in the weight room and on the practice field because they are driven. 

Cheating is such a hard word in this case and I understand the standards that the NCAA sets up and if one team breaks those then it gives them a competitive edge.  If they find that coach DICKROD did violate that then he should get his hand slapped but don’t label hard working as cheating, please call it or label it something else.