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Westsider Rider

Friday, August 04, 2006

Friday Roundup

Once again a lot to cover as I make up for the past few days. We'll start off with commitment #10 for the Michigan Wolverines as Lemont, IL C David Molk is the latest to join the Wolverines. He is ranked #8 player in the state of Illinois by Rivals. OL is definitely a need for this year, well it is every year, so it's always good to add quality linemen. As always MGoBlog has more.

The Coaches Poll was released with not many surprises, as I expected, although I disagree, Ohio State is the #1 team with 28 first place votes. Following them in second is the defending national champion Texas Longhorns with only 11 first place votes. There is a tie for third between USC and Notre Dame but it is interesting to see USC with only 1 first place vote compared to the 9 for Notre Dame. The number five team will probably change real soon as it is the Oklahoma Sooners but this was before the Rhett Bomar dismissal earlier in the week. The interesting thing about the Sooners at 5 is they had the 2nd most first place votes with 13.

Rounding out the rest of the top 10 is Auburn, my preseason #1, West Virginia, Florida, LSU and Florida State. Michigan starts this season at #15, a little low IMO, but I like when we are able to play as the underdog. Only other disagreements I have are Virginia Tech (too high) and California (too low) aside from that I don't see any major problems. Of course this is only the preseason poll so it shouldn't be looked at that seriously but it's a good starting point and signals the beginning of football season just around the corner.

I didn't even realize the NFL preseason started so early but it begins this Sunday at 5 pm PST as the Oakland Raiders take on the Philadelphia Eagles in the Hall of Fame Game. I can't wait to see Aaron Brooks leading this Raider offense but I probably won't be able to see him much considering the first exhibition the starting unit plays 2 maybe 3 series before sitting.

The Dodgers are on a roll as they won their 6th straight game and are making a run. Many had left them for dead, myself included, but the team has responded and it will be a tight race down the stretch. Newly acquired Greg Maddux pitched 6 no hit innings before being pulled due to the rain delay between the 6th and 7th innings. The also newly acquired Julio Lugo had a triple and an RBI as the Dodgers swept the Cincinnati Reds on the road. The Dodgers are now 3 back of the Padres in the division and 2 back of the Reds/Diamondbacks for the wild card.

In Lakers related news, Devean George has signed a two year deal with the Dallas Mavericks. After being drafted by the Lakers out of Division III Augsburg College he became a solid contributor for the Lakers, good luck to Devean and I wish him all the best in Dallas.

Finally, Kobe Bryant has set up the Vivo foundation and the first program set up is the Vivo Del Mondo which will give 8 minority students the opportunity to visit Italy. Big props go out to Kobe for giving these opportunities to kids and I know this will be just the beginning.

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