Three games into the 2014 College Football season and the Iowa Hawkeyes have managed to stumble their way into a 2-1 record.  Iowa thus far has yet to live up to the expectations this season that have led some to believe they could even win the West division in the Big Ten.  After the Hawkeyes most recent loss to an Iowa State team that they should have been able to beat and a near loss to Ball State, it has become evident that Iowa needs to regain their focus and find their form.

Saturday the Hawkeyes will travel to the University of Pittsburgh to face a 3-0 Panther team who was has come out of the gates running, and running effectively as the Panthers are currently ranked 5th in the nation in rushing offense with 344.3 ypg. and their scoring offense and defense both ranked 16th in the nation.  The Panther offense will be a good test for the Hawkeye defense, who are currently ranked 30th in points scored against the Hawkeyes this season, as they will almost certainly look to use their ground attack and stout defense to control the ball and pace of the game.

For Iowa to be successful on their first game away from home the Hawkeyes need their D-Line, lead by seniors Carl Davis and Louis Trinca-Pasat to hold the point of attack at the line of scrimmage and take up space to allow the young Iowa linebackers a chance to run freely and attack the Panther ball carriers.

However it is not up to the defense alone to win the game.  Iowa is currently ranked 62nd in passing offense with 246 ypg. and 95th in rushing with 131 ypg. which is much worse than what Iowa fans were expecting going into the season with a bevy of very capable running backs, behind a strong offensive line group lead by Senior left tackle Brandon Schreff.  Instead the Hawks are in a situation where through 3 games their leading rusher Senior Mark Weisman still has not broken the 100 yard mark for the year and is only averaging 3 yards per carry.

Iowa could definitely return from Pittsburgh victorious, however in order to do so they need to establish early on that they will not be beaten by Pitt’s ground attack, and hopefully the Hawkeye offense can string together a couple of successful drives early in order to force the Panthers to pass the ball more and get out of their comfort zone in their own stadium.

The post Crunch-time For the Hawkeyes appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Last week, Michael Sam announced that he was gay. This comes months before the NFL Draft, where Sam is expected to be a mid-round draft pick.  Since the announcement, Sam has received support from his teammates at Missouri, and some of the Tiger players have said that his announcement had not changed their relationship with Sam.

However, Sam will be joining a new team come May, and with this new team will come new players, in a new locker room. This time Sam’s teammates will know that he is a openly gay man before they meet him in person.

A survey conducted after Sam’s announcement, as reported by ESPN, asked 51 anonymous NFL players if a players sexual orientation mattered to them.  44 said no, which made up 86% of those asked, and 7 players answered that sexual orientation did matter.

However, 32 of the 51 players also answered yes when asked if they had teammates or coaches who made homophobic slurs, compared to the 19 players who answered no.  Finally, the players were asked if they thought an openly gay player would feel comfortable in an NFL locker room with 25 saying the player would feel comfortable, 21 answering no, and 5 players who chose not to answer.

We like to think that as a society we have come a long way in accepting everyone as equals, but the results of the survey make it apparent that Michael Sam will have to deal with some teammates and opposing players who will not accept his announcement, as well as the homophobic culture that is sometimes present in men’s sports.

The post Is the NFL ready for Michael Sam? appeared first on KRUI Radio.

So far the Braves are in first place in the National League East division, however their outfields success right now is riding on the success of only one of the trio of outfielders.

The young superstar Jason Heyward is currently on the 15 day disabled list, and prior to being on the disabled list had only been hitting .121 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.

The older of the Upton brothers B.J. is also struggling at the plate with a .138 batting avg, 3 home runs, and just 5 RBIs while for some of the games this year being the lead off hitter for the Braves.

However the third man in the outfield is enjoying a pretty strong start to the season.  Justin Upton is carrying a .296 batting average with 12 home runs and 19 RBIs.

If Justin can keep producing the way he is now you would think he would be looking to his older brother B.J. wondering when he is going to help his younger brother Justin.  With as well as the Braves are playing any Braves fan has to sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for the game where B.J. Upton and Jason Heyward will come back to playing like themselves and help propel the Braves to a great season that could realistically end with an appearance in the World Series.  Before all of that happens though B.J. and Heyward both have to join Justin to put up some runs for the Braves.

The post Oh Brother Where Art Thou? appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Astros in their first 3 games alone have struck out 43 times at the plate while still posting a 1-2 record over that same span.

The Astros team is so young and inexperienced that many analysts believe that the chane the Astros have of breaking the two records mentioned before is very plausible, and for good reason too the Houston hitters are currently on pace to break the record for most strikeouts as a team by their 107th game.  With that in mind I should also point out that the Major League Baseball Season has each team play a minimum of 162 games each year.   However though with the team being as young as they are it is very difficult to think that none of the players will progress enough to keep this from happening.

The Astros heading into their 4th game of the season facing Oakland and carrying a 1-2 record along with them can make you believe that the most losses in a season record is still a great possibility for the young team.  Houston’s starting pitching however has so far been a bright spot for the Astros with starters Bud Norris, Lucas Harrell, and Phillip Humber all turning in quality starts for the team in each of the pitchers first regular season start of the year.

If there is anything on the Astros side this season it is definitely age as there most productive hitter Jose Altuve is just 22 years old and all but three of their starters in the field are under the age of 30.

There is still a lot of work to be done in Houston to make sure they do not find themselves entering the record books in a bad way, but what is going their way is the potential they have in the youth of their players to turn in a season that is at least not the worst season in MLB history.

The post Heading to the record book? appeared first on KRUI Radio.

1. Kansas City Chiefs – Luke Joeckel, OT, Texas A&M: After making a deal with the San Francisco 49ers for quarterback Alex Smith there is no longer a reason to take a one here.  They will look to re-sign Branden Albert and let Eric Winston go to free agency making Joeckel a perfect replacement for Winston.

2. Jacksonville Jaguars – Chance Warmack, OG, Bama: The addition of defensive ends Jason Babin and second round pick Andre Branch will have the Jags looking to get stronger on the interior of their offensive line and Bama’s Warmack looks like he could be the man for the job.

3. Oakland Raiders – Sharrif Floyd, DT, Florida: With Richard Seymour hitting the road they are going to look to get that defensive back by using this pick on Floyd to eat up blockers and cause trouble for Manning, Rivers, and now Alex Smith who they will be facing twice a year.

4. Philadelphia Eagles – Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah: The Eagles are looking at a change on defense and no one knows yet whether they will use a 4-3 or 3-4 scheme.  So I think they take a chance here with Lotulelei’s heart condition knowing that they could line him up at tackle alongside last years first round pick Fletcher Cox in a 4-3, or move Cox to End and use Lotulelei at the nose tackle position in a 3-4 scheme.

5. Detroit Lions – Bjoern Werner, DE, Florida State: Defensive Ends Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch are likely to leave Detroit, so the Lions will look to the raw-talented and high motored German End to start to fill those shoes.

6. Cleveland Browns – Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia: After seeing the success that Seattle and Washington had last year with Russell Wilson and RGIII and also last years first rounder quarterback Brandon Weeden being 29 and and struggling in his rookie campaign I would not be surprised to see the Browns take a chance on Geno here at six.

7. Arizona Cardinals – Eric Fisher, OL, Central Michigan: The Cardinals finished this season with one of the leagues worst offenses and with no quarterbacks worthy of being selected here they will look to go with the big and athletic lineman here to protect a quarterback that they will bring most likely later on in the draft.

8. Buffalo Bills – Dion Jordan, DE/LB, Oregon: With the eighth pick the Bills will look to find an outside linebacker who can consistently rush the passer as well as cover down field and they should be able to do so with the athletic former tight end Dion Jordan.

9. New York Jets – Jarvis Jones, LB, Georgia: Like the Cardinals the Jets will find that there are no quarterbacks worthy of being taken here so they will take Georgia’s Jarvis Jones and hope that he can be a sack machine like his fellow alum Justin Houston is for the Chiefs.

10. Tennessee Titans – Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma: Running back Chris Johnson has already opened his mouth and said that he will run for more yards this season than the Vikings Adrian Peterson.  So if that’s going to happen step one is get stronger on the offensive line and Johnson will surely be around here to helpout.

The post Projecting the Top 10 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The US is by no means considered a top soccer country in the world on the mens side, but they still are expected by many to at least qualify for the 2014 World Cup.  In Honduras on Wednesday the US had a new look on the field starting only four players who had played in the 2010 World Cup.  Of the four, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard are the big stars now after US legend Landon Donovan announced his retirement following the 2012 MLS Season.  Dempsey who scored the lone US goal in the game has had some success in England’s Premier League for Tottenham and Howard has been the goalie for a few years now for Everton. Midfielder Michael Bradley and forward Jozy Altidore have also had success playing over seas.  Defender Geoff Cameron has also been playing overseas with some success and fellow defender Omar Gonzalez was the MLS cup MVP.  So seemingly so there is some solid talent on the team even though none of the players are considered to be superstars.

As for the experience part again, only four starters in the game against Honduras played in the 2010 World Cup and some of the US starters had not ever played in a World Cup Qualifier match before Wednesday.  The most experienced of the defensive starters for the US was center back Geoff Cameron with only 11 games played in a US jersey.  Luckily for the US defense Cameron is also the oldest of the group at the age of 27 so there is still room for the group to develop and come together to help out the future of the US soccer team.

In conclusion it appears that the USMNT has some talent on the field and some experience, but they are also definitely lacking in both of those ways.  Hopefully the young group can put things together before their next game against Costa Rica on March 22nd and show us the they are a legitimate contender that can qualify for the FIFA World Cup on a regular basis.

The post Lack of Experience or Lack of Talent? appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Big brother John will look on Super bowl Sunday to use the experience his Baltimore Ravens bring to the table to try and shut down his younger brother Jim’s red hot San Francisco 49ers and their young and explosive quarterback Colin Kaepernick.  The 49ers will throw a lot of different looks at the Ravens on the 3rd and if they’re not ready the Ravens will get burnt.

However, lining up across the ball from Kaepernick will be a couple of NFL legends on the Ravens defense headed by Ray Lewis.  Lewis a man who for 17 years has played with intensity, emotion, and a brilliant football mind should be able to make sure that he and the rest of his teammates are in the right place and don’t get fooled by any of the read option plays the 49ers like to run.

There is a great story line to the game already with both teams head coaches being brothers, and the media will go crazy with that but for me, the real story is Ray Lewis vs. Colin Kaepernick and whether the young, inexperienced yet extremely athletic quarterback can beat out the aging, yet intense and very very wise through years of experience legend Ray Lewis.

The post The Battle of the Brothers appeared first on KRUI Radio.

However after a dismal rookie campaign where Gabbert showed very little progress, produced very little, and showed horrifying pocket awareness it seemed as though the Jaguars had made a mistake.

Now in year two of  young Gabbert’s career, the Jaguars have done all that they can to help the now 23-year-old quarterback become what they wanted him to be when they took him with the number 10 overall pick. The Jaguars went out and hired a new head coach in Mike Mularkey, signed a high-priced wide receiver in Laurent Robinson, and Drafted the two-time Biletnikoff award winning wide receiver in Justin Blackmon to help surround Gabbert with the talent and leadership he needs to succeed.

Since then the Jaguars are 1-8 this season and many people are giving up on Gabbert saying that he will never be what the team wanted him to be when they drafted him last season. While other fans are calling for backup Chad Henne to start the rest of the season, I say don’t give up just yet. Last season Gabbert became one of the youngest quarterbacks to start 14 games in the NFL. Also last season ball security wasn’t a strong point in Gabbert’s game, throwing 11 interceptions and fumbling 14 times losing five of those fumbles.

This season without the help of Maurice Jones-Drew to keep the running game strong Gabbert has all of the sudden become the man expected to take over and win games for the Jaguars. So far with a 1-8 record he has not stepped up quite as hoped however he has played well enough to keep the Jaguars in some of their games where things out of Gabbert’s control ultimately lost them the games. So far this year, Gabbert has shown some progress in the passing game when his receivers are on the same page as him and has also has been securing the ball alot better this season only having thrown six interceptions and fumbled four times through nine games.

Gabbert is still a young quarterback playing in the most difficult league in the world and although he has not taken a huge step forward in becoming the next elite quarterback. I think that we should not give up on him just yet, he is still young and talented and he has shown some progress thus far, and now with receiver Laurent Robinson coming back from an injury, maybe the young and inexperienced group can find a way to get on the same page with each other in these last seven games and show the league why we should not give up on the kid just yet.

The post Don’t Give Up on the Kid Just Yet appeared first on KRUI Radio.

It seems that while fans still love their teams and love the game, some people might be losing respect for the game, the players, and the fans who just want to have a good time watching the game.

Just over a week ago, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel went down late in their home game against the Baltimore Ravens with a head injury. While Cassel stayed down on the ground, an eruption of cheers came from the home team crowd. Cassel, who has had a rough start to the 2012 season, has thrown 9 interceptions and lost 5 fumbles for a total of 14 turnovers in 5 games, leaving him with a passer rating of 66.2.

Was it really necessary for the fans to cheer for Cassel’s injury even with his poor play? Some may argue (including me initially) that cheering for Cassel’s injury was not meant to promote him being injured, but instead that the cheers were meant to show that they were ready for a new quarterback in Kansas City.

However, in hindsight I know that it was overly disrespectful to Cassel to cheer when he was injured.

On the other side of the argument there are people like Chiefs offensive tackle Eric Winston who felt so disgraced by the actions of his own team’s fans that he spoke out after the game.  To make matters worse Winston received some ridicule from those who thought that their actions were just.

In addition to the reaction to Cassel’s injury, the NFL has also seen two separate incidents where fans have been stabbed by other fans before their teams played in the last two weeks, one of which ended in a fatality.

Early Sunday morning, an unsportsmanlike incident occurred at a bar in Jacksonville that resulted in the death of a Chicago Bears fan who was in town to see the game. The Chicago fan was stabbed by a Jacksonville resident after what was described as a “disturbance” between the two and he was later pronounced dead.

In a similar incident this past weekend, a 49ers fan was stabbed by a fellow San Francisco fan outside of Candlestick Park. Luckily, according to reports from NFL.com, the fan who was stabbed is expected to live.

“For the Love of the Game” is what has been encouraged in sports since day one but are some fans taking it too far these days?  Are some fans getting out of control? It seems to me like we need to re-evaluate our morals and go back to loving the game within reason.  Sports have been and still are a wonderful thing we have in our society, so let’s try to keep it that way.

The post Unsportsmanlike Conduct: On the Fans? appeared first on KRUI Radio.