SPORTS INFERNO Thursday October 30th

Check out my show from yesterday as thankfully I had no recording problems this time. I now do shows from 9-11a.m. on Thursday mornings and 8-10p.m. on Sunday nights both can be heard live on http://thewhale.org/. Yesterday's show I shared my opinion on the World Series, talked about the Pistons season opener, Greg Oden's injury, College football this weekend with the big Texas Tech vs. Texas game, gave my NFL predictions for this upcoming week of games, shared my thoughts on the possibility of Daunte Culpepper becoming a Detroit Lion, talked NASCAR as only 3 races remain in the chase, and much more on the Sports Inferno give it a listen. Shoot me a comment or send me an e-mail at hoffj@student.gvsu.edu. As always thanks for listening.

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SPORTS INFERNO October 26th

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This is the first Sports Inferno in which I recorded on October 26, 2008. It is 1 hour 30 minutes, I had some recording issues, so the Lions segment got chopped off pretty much, also there is about 5 minutes where the audio is kind of bad just to prewarn you. Other than that it sounds really good. Listen to the Sports Inferno every Sunday night from 8-10 on http://thewhale.org/. Join my facebook group by searching Sports Inferno to become one of over 500+ members to learn more about the show. THANKS FOR LISTENING, tell me what you think of the show.

Who wins 2008 World Series?

This could be one of the most unwatched World Series' ever? With that said who would have expected the Rays vs. Phillies....NOBODY. This is just like George Mason making the Final Four a few years back. I like the Tampa Bay Rays in this matchup in 6 games. I feel they have a better manager, have more momentum, better starting pitching, and obviously home-field advantage.

Tampa Bay is in a much better league first off and had a better regular season. Now how much of that means something in the World Series. I don't know, it didn't help the Tigers back in 2006. Then again the Tigers had a week off, the Rays just played on Sunday night. B.J. Upton has 7 home runs this postseason which is second only to Carlos Beltran's 8 from a few years ago when he was in Houston. Carl Crawford is back, Evan Longoria is the real deal, Carlos Pena can swing it when he is on a roll as most Tigers fans know. I feel the key though is the great pitching of the Rays. Scott Kazmir, James Shields, and Matt Garza= enough said. They are all young studs who can throw it. Kazmir doesn't have overpowering stuff but he is the Tom Glavine of this era. Last time I checked Tom Glavine had a pretty damn good career.

The Fighting Phillies have some good stars as well with Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard. I just don't think they have enough especially with Brett Myers and Jamie Moyer pitching in Games 2,3 respectively.

Either or, I don't know if I can watch this series, I wanted to see the Dodgers vs. Red Sox. Let's just start watching preseason NBA basketball instead of this series. I can't believe I am saying that about the World Series. Rays in 6

Who do you got?

Big 10 Predictions for the weekend

Some big games are taking place this weekend in the Big 10 conference. Penn St. travels to Ohio St. and Michigan St. goes to Ann Arbor to play the Wolverines. Who wins the games this weekend? One thing thing is for sure they should be close games that will go a long ways in deciding who the Big Ten champion is going to be in 2008.

In the first one, I like Ohio St. over Penn St. in a close one. The Buckeyes are starting to hit on all cylinders especially with Terrelle Pryor at at quarterback ask Spartans fans. Pryor is the real deal and he always was. Did you ever see his highlight tapes on YouTube? Check them out, he has the confidence, the skill, the drive, and the team to be one of the best quarterbacks in recent history. I think Pryor is so good he could have went to Michigan and Penn St. having just as much success. It was his choice to go to the Horseshoe and if he can lead the Buckeyes to a Big Ten title in 2008 it was a real good one.

Ohio St. is better coached than Penn St, plus the game is in Columbus which makes a big difference. Beanie Wells is finally getting closer to 100%. Brian Robiskie is becoming an elite receiver in the Big Ten and Brian Hartline isn't far behind. James Lauranitis is a sure Butkus award candidate and has great potential in the NFL next year. Don't get me wrong Penn St. is good, but they didn't finish off Michigan till the 3rd quarter while Ohio St. took out Michigan St. after midway through the 1st quarter.

As for the Michigan St. vs. Michigan game this is going to be a hell of a game. Michigan has showed signs of life throughout the season but have yet to put together 4 good quarters in a football game. Will this be the week? Does a rivalry game bring out the best in the Wolverines? What about being at home against the Spartans? I think it brings out the best and I feel the Wolverines will beat the Spartans by less than 7 points.

I love Javon Ringer and I feel he is a candidate for the Heisman Trophy and would be going to New York at the end of the season if his team was better. Brian Hoyer has always concerned me and what happens if he or Ringer gets injured this weekend? Question marks certainly are there for the Wolverines but these same marks have to be raised to the Spartans after their performance against Ohio St. The Spartans schedule has been pretty weak to this point with their biggest win coming against the Northwestern Wildcats.

All in all, both of these games will be close. I like Ohio St. and Michigan in a dogfight this weekend. Don't worry Mike Vick is still in jail.

What's your take?

Will the Lions go 0-16?

I think it's a fair question to ask. Currently they stand at 0-6 overall and their schedule is only going to get tougher as the season wears on. Can these misfits they call NFL players really do the unthinkable and forever be known as the worst team in NFL History?

Yes, I feel they will go 0-16, they play virtually all playoff teams from here on out with the exception of the Vikings. The Vikings played horrible back in week 6, just squeaking by the Lions with a 12-10 score. The Lions only chance for a win might come on December 7th when they tangle with the Vikings at Ford Field. The Lions have been outscored by 90 points through six games in the season. They have 6 of their last 10 games at home but none tougher than the Tennessee Titans which they see on Thanksgiving Day. In other words, start eating that turkey early Lions fans because your going to want to fall asleep for this one.

Let's look at the Lions remaining schedule; Washington, @Chicago, Jacksonville, @Carolina, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Minnesota, @Indianapolis, New Orleans, and finishing off the season @Green Bay. Talk about a tough schedule, it may be one of the toughest left in the league. Could you imagine if the Lions are 0-15 heading to the frozen tundra on Dec. 28th, that would be a nightmare. Realistically their could be two 0-16 teams at the end of this season with the Bengals and the Lions. Cincinnati is almost as bad as Detroit. They both will have a common agenda heading into the off-season with replacing their head coach.

Yes, Rod Marinelli should be fired, I don't care when, but he should not see the field for the Lions next year. Marinelli should actually inquire about the defensive line position for East Grand Rapids High School. There he can turn kids into men, something Marinelli has tried to do with the Lions for the past 3 seasons. This franchise finally made a good move by firing Matt Millen, next is getting rid of the entire coaching staff including Mr. naked himself Joe Barry (referring to his drive-through incident where he forgot to put clothes on). The biggest problem with firing Marinelli is the fact he brought in a bunch of his old players from Tampa Bay. Guys like Brian Kelly, DeWayne White, Chuck Darby, Kalvin Pearson, and Dwight Smith who will all be expendable once the new coach is hired. Talk about a salary cap hit. This will set the Lions back another 2 years because they will not have a chance to spend money on quality free agents.

One positive is the number of draft picks they have available for the 2009 NFL Draft. The problem is we lost part of our dynamic duo at the wide receiver position in Roy Williams. If the Lions make good picks then the trade will be a wash. Although if the Lions miss on the picks, the trade will be bad just for the fact that Williams could have been lured to stay by the new coach after next season. I feel Roy is just starting to hit his prime of his career and we just sent him to Dallas.

One of the key characteristics to a losing season is bad quarterback play. The Lions have had every bit of that with Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky playing quarterback. Kitna got benched and then got put on the IR to end his season. Kitna basically got screwed, but some Lions fans feel the same about paying money to see him play. Orlovsky forgot the most simple rule in football, you can not step out of the back of the end zone or it's a safety. He looked decent against Houston this past weekend but that is Houston, a team that will not win more than 6 games this season at best.

Lions have a lot of work to do to avoid making history this season. Even though they have played terrible there has been a few bright spots in Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith. Johnson has led the Lions in receiving in 5 of the 6 games and Smith has led the team in rushing in 5 of 6 games as well. They have to build around those two players. On defense they have to build around Ernie Sims and Daniel Bullocks. What about Gosder Cherlius and Jordan Dizon are we going to see them play much more for the rest of the season? A bright spot will be when the off season comes around and Lions fans realize they don't have to watch this pathetic football team.

If you want to see a team make dumb mistakes and be apart of history tune in to watch the Detroit Lions. They have been the worst team in the NFL since 2001 and they will have a chance at making history in the 2008 season. They are truly two words "consistently terrible."