Big Six's!

"The domino's are starting to fall on college football's undefeated teams!"

Last week all of the college football prognosticators were worried about Armageddon at the end of the season because there were still eight undefeated teams left. These guys freak out every year about the BCS and it always works itself out. Rarely will you have more than two teams perfect by season's end. The last time that it happened was 2004 when Auburn got left out of the party because both USC and OU ran the table and the Tigers just came out of nowhere. Yesterday boyz started to fall like domino's.

I don’t even want to hear about Utah, TCU or Boise State in past years because I’m talking big boy ball not daddy ball here. Now that Utah has graduated to the big boy league they're currently ranked 10th in the PAC 12 Conference at 1-4 and are 4-4 overall. Go sit in the corner! You’re on punishment for even bringing that up bruh! Let me finish what I was saying!

We started the day yesterday with eight unbeaten. Then I felt like I was in T-bone's basement on the low end when all of the table slapping began. Georgia Tech put that thang on Clemson and Kansas State got exposed as a fraud in front of the entire family by the Sooners. So now were down to 6 unbeaten for all practical purposes: LSU, Bama, Oklahoma State, Boise State, Standford and Houston. However, in my opinion, for the sake of the national title  only 4 teams because Boise State and Houston are still playing Daddy Ball.

 Stanford was taken to the wire by USC last night in triple overtime. Boy that was a great game!! There’s no other sport like it and it's only going to get better next week when #1 LSU and #2 Alabama collide in Tuscaloosa. That's going to be the Big Six of the year right there!

As the season progresses and teams begin to suffer injuries and the inevitable suspensions of players starts to take affect it's going to get even more interesting. That's when guys start getting pealed off by teams that shouldn't on paper even be in the same stratosphere, but it happens. All I can say is put your seat belts on, put a lid on your drink and enjoy the ride!

Who needs a playoff bruh, when you can get this every week? Man I love this game because it's so unpredictable and regardless of who your team is you've got to pay attention to what everybody else doing. You can't, for example, be a Stanford or Oklahoma State fan and not watch the teams ahead of you or below you in the rankings. It's critical to know what’s going on every week. If you're not doing that then you're not a real college football fan and I'd suggest that you turn in your collegiate gear for a full refund at the bookstore.


"This is serious business!"

Yesterday was great! Andrew Luck let the world know again that he was the real deal by just walking the Cardinal down the field with mere seconds to play to tie the joint up and force overtime in the Coliseum! He's all of that, a bag of chips and some penny cookies bruh! While your at it throw in some Lemon Heads, a jaw breaker, some Funyuns and a red pop! Holla At Ya Boy! All of my old school hood dwellers or former hood dwellers could feel me on that one!

One loss Michigan State got shocked in Lincoln and Wisconsin even choked on some bad Buckeyes last night. It doesn't get any better than Saturdays in the fall of the year. Don't call my house, come through or even bother asking me to go anywhere but to a college campus between September 1st and December 10th on Saturdays because you'll find yourself short! Now on Sundays, we can break bread!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport

World Champions? Really?

"How can we call them World Champions?"

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals for winning the World Series in what probably was the most exciting best of seven I've seen in years. After the game I heard the announcers and then the players referring to themselves as “World Champions.” I thought to myself, that’s arrogant! For year's I've often wondered why our professional sports teams call themselves "World Champions", once they simply win the league championship. The NFL, NBA as well as MLB all do it. Why?

I think that it's par for the course for Americans to be arrogant and this is just another reason why people from other countries have such a distaste for us. How can you call yourself a "World Champion" when you didn't compete on a world stage? The Cardinals aren't the world champions! People play baseball all over the world and the MLB is just one of many leagues. How can we call it the "World Series" when the only teams that are playing in the tournament are from America?

The only true "World Champions" are the guys that participate in the World Cup in soccer, tennis or golf and the track and field athletes that participate in the World Championships. The entire world is involved in those tournaments. So whoever wins is the true "World Champion".

When the Packers won the Super Bowl and after the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA title this year everybody was introducing them as the "World Champions" and no one blinked an eye but me.

Sometimes we need to check ourselves and our attitudes about who and what we are. Sure, we probably have some of the best athletes in the world. However, that doesn't mean that we've got the best teams in the world.

I can remember back in 2004 when the U.S. Olympic Basketball team picked up a bronze medal. We probably had the best set of athletes in the tournament but we didn't have the best team. So to say that because we've got the best athletes, therefore we should call our league champions "World Champions" is a fallacy. That means that it true but not necessarily true. It’s like saying, “People in the projects steal. Therefore, because Johnny lives in the projects he steals.” Not completely true! So pump your brakes!

If there were a world tournament played every year for the baseball, basketball and football league champions that would settle the issue. Then if we win those "World Series", if you will, you can wear the tag "World Champion", but not until then. Congrats Cards anyway, I'm Just sayin' bruh!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Top 5 Quarterbacks All-Time!

"Marino was probably the most talented quarterback ever but couldn't win the big one!"

The quarterback postion is the most important on the field. This guy has the ball in his hand on every play. Now all of my other top 5 lists I haven't looked at stats because you can typically eye ball a guy and know whether he can play of not. However, with this position wins and titles make a huge difference because if you're the team leader how well did you lead. So wins and titles make a huge difference in this catergory only in my opinion.

 If you're looking for Dan Marino you won't find him on my list. He was probably the most talented quarterback to ever play the game but he couldn't lead his team to a title and who do I take off to put him on? This is the top 5 at playing the postion not the top 5 at throwing the football.  Like I said the quarterback position is not about talent but about leadership and making everyone else good enough to win. I know that you guys are going to argue all day about who should be on this list. So here we go:

1. Otto Graham

Selected to 5 Pro Bowls and was a two-time NFL MVP. He played his entire career with Cleveland.
 Graham led the Browns to seven championships in his first 10 years, and only lost 13 games throughout his career.*
Otto was 57-13-1 record as a starter in the NFL represents the highest winning percentage of any quarterback (.810)

2.Joe Montana

Won four Super Bowls (XVI, XIX, XXIII, XXIV), an eight-time Pro Bowler, a two-time NFL MVP, and a three-time Super Bowl MVP and is on several of the NFL's all time records lists.
He and Jerry Rice are currently second on the all time list for touchdowns from quarterback to receiver, only behind Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison.

3. Tom Brady

Tom hit the New England scene in 2001, filling in for the injured Bledsoe. Tom would lead the Pats on to their first of three Super Bowl championships.

Tom has the NFL record for Most Touchdowns in a Season with 50 and most touchdowns in a quarter with 5. Led the Pats to a 16-0 season in 2007 and made the Super Bowl, but lost to the N.Y. Giants.
Five-time Pro Bowler, an NFL MVP and a two-time Super Bowl MVP.

4. Peyton Manning

Manning has kicked the label of "The next Dan Marino" by winning the Super Bowl in Feb. 2007.

Manning is a 10-time Pro Bowler, has an NFL record four NFL MVP awards, a Super Bowl MVP, and is the youngest player to reach 50,000 passing yards, 300 touchdown passes and is already fourth on the all-time wins list with 131 wins.(through Dec2010)

5. Bret Favre

For the record I can't stand the guy because I think he was the most selfish player I've ever seen but this ain't about how I feel. I can't hate on what he was able to accomplish on the field. He holds just about every major paasing record in NFL history. He currently No. 1 in passing yards, touchdowns, wins, and of course interceptions.
Favre is an 11-timer Pro Bowler, a three-time NFL MVP, a Super Bowl Champion, and a five-time NFC Player of the Year.
Will forever be immortalized in football history as one of the best to ever play the game. I am sure they already have a nice area in Canton picked out for his bust to go in about five or six years.

*Most important Stat

 Holla At Ya Boy!

 Jay Graves
Stats researched and provided by Zach Bolen 

"Daddy Ball"

"Only volunteer to coach if you're genuinely interested in coaching!"

Every dad wants to see his son do well on the athletic fields or courts. We all have dreamed of the day that our kid would be the stand out in the local area. To see our little guy grow up to be the stud that's on TV as well as in the newspapers for all of the right reasons. That would be a dream come true. To someday have the college recruiters calling to get your son to play at the Division 1 level would be awesome. Wow, wouldn't it be great to see him get drafted to play in the NFL, NBA or MLB? Well... the reality is, that probably won't happen. I was taught a long time ago, that you don't choose the sport, the sport chooses you.


So don't be "That dude"! The dad that's in the way at the little league fields trying to make his kid a star before you can even see if the kid has potential or not. When my son was in little league or should I say "Daddy Ball", it was the worse experience ever. We called it "Daddy Ball" because so many fathers that never even played sports as kids or those that were probably terrible always volunteered to coach. These were the guys that thought that their kid was a stud when in reality they were horrible.

How many times have you seen this picture? The dad that only coaches because he wants his kid to be the quarterback, pitcher or the point guard. Otherwise, his kid wouldn't play. It's the worse thing in the world because many times the kid doesn't even want to play. The "old man" is forcing the child to come out everyday and it's clear that the kid isn't even interested.

Don't be the guy that all of the other parents talk about in the league. Here's what's being said about you, "Your kid sucks and you seem to be the only one that can't see that". Let me tell you something, "If you have to coach your kids team in order for him to start, he's not very good". As a matter of fact, he's horrible and you should find something else for him to play. Here's why? Everybody starts in little league bruh! If he's kid is coming off of the bench at 10 it's not his sport, so find something else for him to play. Why is it that some dads can't see that their kid may not be very good? I mean, the kid that can't catch a cold, hit water if fell out of a boat, or run into the broad side of a barn he should or she shouldn't be out there. Everybody can see it but "That Dude".

If your child needs you in order to see the field he doesn't have a future in that sport. Now if your coaching because you love the game and feel like you can do a better job than the other dads then be all means coach. However, if you're only coaching because you want your kid to be the star, you're "That Dude" and you stink!

It's all about the team and the kids development not about your child being the star. Now only you can answer that and I want you to be honest with yourself. Don't say it's about the team and you know that you just want to tell your friends at work that your son scored over the weekend. "That Dude" should be punished by having to wear a scarlet letter "TD" on his chest so people can throw rocks at him, at will.

Remember, we all want to see our children succeed. However, don't get in the way because you're trying to re-live your childhood. You can't go back and score anymore touchdowns, hit anymore home runs and score the game winning shot. It's over for you but it's your child's opportunity to become his own man. Let him become one so that he doesn't eventually become "That Dude" too.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves

Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

"Can't Get Right"

"Oregon's Cliff Harris just can't seem to stay out of his own way!"

In 1999 Martin Lawrence and Eddy Murphy starred in the movie called "Life." They were two bootleggers on a run to pick up some hooch in Mississippi when they were wrongly convicted of a murder and given a life sentence. There was a deaf mute inmate locked up with them that had a penchant for hitting a baseball that eventually made it to the Negro League that they so affectionately called "Can't Get Right."

Well the Oregon Ducks have their own "Can't Get Right" in cornerback Cliff Harris. I mean this guy can't stay out of his own way. On Monday afternoon he was suspended from the team just hours after he was cited for driving on a suspended license, driving without insurance, and failure to wear a seatbelt. That wouldn't be so bad if that was the first time he was pulled over and suspended from the team.

However, he was also cited by state police in June for driving 118 mph in a rental that was given to him by a university employee which created quite a stir. He was suspended from the team after that incident as well and missed the season opener against LSU at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas.

Ya'll already know what I'm about to say! Let's keep it real or all the way 100, which ever comes first. Do you know how many boyz ride around on suspended license or no license at all for years and don't get pulled over? What is this guy doing to make the police in Eugene ride up on him all of the time? He must be riding around butt naked with his head out the window, doing 100mph, smokin', blind folded bumpin' that DJ Khaled "All I Do Is Win" joint .

How bad can you be to keep getting pulled over all of the time? Remember bruh, he's in Eugene Oregon! Out there everybody's a Duck! That means that the police are friends of the program too. With that being said, he must have been so out of control that the cops couldn't even give him a pass. You know when they pulled him over they knew who he was. They could have easily called over to the athletic department and got coach Kelly on the phone and said, "Hey man we've got Cliff again and we're going to bring him over there to you" but they didn't. They cited him and put him out there. So you know it was bad!



"Can't Get Right"

 An All-American who broke up 23 passes and averaged 18.8 yards per punt return last season, Harris faces fines in excess of $952. The car he was driving, which police say belongs to a relative, was impounded. Now his “family” has already paid the $1,620 in fines for the citations from the last incident. The university compliance office was also given the tedious task of looking into whether NCAA rules were broken when the school employee allowed him to use the rental car. Dude, just stay out of cars at least until the season is over!

He's operating like a crack head except he's addicted to reckless driving. I know cats that only get high on pay day because they are at least smart enough to know that they've got to go to work to support their habit. Now they’ll come up missing for 2 or 3 days but  they'll be at work by Tuesday! This guy won't even wait until his pay day to get high. If he's suspended he can't play to improve his draft status. You've got to play to get paid bruh!

Once he gets the money then he can drive 100 mph all day long at the Autobahns in Germany or he can come my way and get his jollies at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the right price. I'm sure they'll be willing to take his money and let him rent the joint for a few days if that's what he'd like to do. It doesn't make sense that the same guy is in trouble again for the same thing all over again. If that ain't "Can't Get Right" I don't know what is?

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

The Voucher System

"They don't take vouchers in this neighborhood bruh!

When my wife and I were newlyweds we lived a townhouse in what seemed to be a nice neighborhood. Then all of a sudden the complex starting taking vouchers. Now I don't have a problem with folks living on assistance because so often in this country people need it. I just believe that certain neighborhoods should be reserved for that purpose. So I went out and bought a home in a neighborhood where everybody has to make the same sacrifice to live there. It's completely unfair to be able to live next door to me without going through what I've gone through to get there. Just like it would be unfair for me to move into a million dollar subdivision and have a mortgage that's a 3rd of the price everyone else pays. It's like pedging! You can't just put on the Greeks without the same sacrifice as all the rest of the bruh's.

That's the same way I feel about Boise State! You can't potentially show up to the National Title Game without making the same sacrifices the other teams are making to get there. While everyone else in contention are grinding week in and week out Boise State is just hang gliding waiting on someone to slip up. Now that both Wisconsin and Oklahoma have been picked off all the Bronco's do is slide up the rankings after beating Air Force. They aren't even real football players!

When we look at the BCS Top 6, 1.LSU 2. Alabama 3.Oklahoma State 4. Boise State 5. Clemson 6. Stanford, the Bronco's are sitting in the cat bird seat. They are primed to just sleep walk right into the French Quarter in January if the voters keep believing the ESPN hype machine of the "Blue Turf".

On November 5th either LSU or Alabama has to take an "L" because someone has to lose. Also Oklahoma State still has #9 Oklahoma to deal with in the Bedlam Game and #8 Kansas State. Stanford still has USC, #7 Oregon and Notre Dame to wrestle with. If Clemson continues to win they'll leap over Boise State because of their strength of schedule. For that reason, I've suddenly bought real estate at Oklahoma State, Stanford and Clemson.  Now I'm going to always love my Sooners but I love the game of college football even more. It would be a shame to let Boise State into the Super Dome using a voucher when boyz have been going to work all season to earn a spot in the title game.

We all know that on any given day anyone can win a football game. We saw that Saturday night when Wisconsin and Oklahoma took it on the chin. The Sooners hadn't lost a game at home since 2005 which ended a 39 game home winning streak! So to believe that Boise State has no shot at winning a bowl game after both teams have been off for more than 30 days would be asinine.

Now that the Sooners have been evicted I don't care who wins the title as long as it doesn't go to someone that's paying income based rent. If your going to drive big cars, live in big homes and talk big trash you've got to play big games against big time programs every week. Santana Moss broke it down best when he was at "The U" when he said, "Big Time Players Make Big Time Plays In Big Time Games!"

So for the sake of the game I've suddenly become a Cardinal, a Cowboy, either Mike the Tiger or Big Al the Elephant, or the Clemson Tiger(their mascot doesn't have a name). I don't care who wins just keep the property value up and don't let Boise State move in on a voucher!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Life Is A Thinking Man's Game!

"What's the point of having one of these if you don't use it."

I’ve been around the game of football my entire life and what I've learned in the process is that genetics play a tremendous role in a person's ability to be successful. Ninety percent of it is being born with the size, speed and physical tools to play the game. The other ten percent comes down to what you do with it. However, that ten percent is the most important part of the equation. I’ve seen guys with all of the physical ability in the world make bad decisions in handling that small percentage only to end up wasting the treasure that they’ve been blessed with.

That’s why I'm glad to see Gunner Keil, the nation’s #1 rated quarterback prospect for the class of 2012 reconsider his decision to attend Indiana University. He initially chose the Hoosiers over Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee. What? Now as an IU alumni, I would like to see the Hoosiers do well but it just didn't make sense for the best quarterback in the country to play in Bloomington.

 I was very vocal about it last summer when he made the announcement and wrote this same exact article then. I've just changed a few words to bring it to present sense. You can call me a genius later because I said he'd change his mind when he committed in the first place. You can't make a decision to please the locals. You've got to do what's best for you as a player. I heard nothing but excitement from the people in the local area as a result of his initial decision. I said from the jump, take your fan hat off people. Would you encourage your son to play at IU if he were that good? Absolutely not and if you say you would you're lying!

Now maybe if he were the best punter in the country it would make sense to go there because he’d have an opportunity to put up big numbers. Being a highly regarded prospect increases the likely hood that he’ll be on some one’s NFL draft board in three years. That’s why it’s critical that he choose a school that will force him to grow as a player over the next three years.

Elite players become even better when they are surrounded by other elite players. We're all familiar with the colloquialism, "the rich get richer." We'll it's even more evident in the world of college football. There is a reason why schools like Alabama, Oklahoma and LSU etc are ranked in the top 10 every year. It's like old money bruh! Some businesses are locked down like oil, cotton, music distribution(Sony, Warner etc.) and college football. There won't be any new powerhouses so you've got to get in where you can. Simply put, the elite programs can recruit and sign the best players in the country in their sleep. Their rosters are full of All-Americans and that means better competition at practice daily.

Indiana hadn’t won a Big Ten title since 1967. There is a reason for that people. They just don’t get the players that it takes to win at that level and having one won't help the cause. Has IU sent guys to the pro’s? Sure they have, but those guys developed their skills after playing over a 4 year period. Legends like Anthony Thompson who finished 2^nd in the Heisman balloting in 1989 and Antwaan Randle El, who was one of the most electrifying quarterbacks we’ve ever seen, weren’t the #1 players in the country in their positions coming out of high school.

The only reason Randle EL ended up at IU was because they told him that he could play quarterback while the powerhouses recruited him as a receiver. I know that Gunner was initially impressed with Wilson’s resume during his nine seasons at Oklahoma with 22 offensive players drafted into the NFL, including seven in the first round. However, the key word here is Oklahoma! He had the players with the physical ability to be drafted. Remember, he was at Northwestern before he landed in Norman and he wasn‘t sending guys to the league at the same rate.

Don’t follow the coach, follow the players and tradition of winning. The coach can only send guys to the league that have the talent to go to the league. Gene Chizick just won a national title at Auburn, had the Heisman Trophy winner and the #1 pick in the draft in Cam Newton. Keep in mind that he was at was 5-7 at Iowa State the year before taking over at Auburn.

Did he just all of a sudden learn how to coach? No, he all of a sudden had access to great players. My point is, I believe the kid should go were he can be developed and have the opportunity to play with equal talents that will push him to get better. Playing for the Hoosiers will probably do him more harm than good and here‘s why.

He would have started as a freshman whether he was ready or not. Sometimes it’s better to sit and learn for a year or two. Keep in mind that Hesiman Trophy winner and former #1 pick Sam Bradford set behind another Heisman Trophy winner in Jason White at Oklahoma before he took over the offense. White was a redshirt sophomore when the Sooners won a national title in 2000. Being around winners breeds winning!

If he'd gone to Indiana he would have spent more time on his back than up right therefore increasing the risk of injury. He wouldn't have had the receivers to throw to that he would have at a better program. Thus, causing him frustration because guys aren‘t catching the ball etc. He would have lost more than he ever has because this isn’t basketball where one guy can turn a program around.Therefore, having a negative affect on his attitude.

 Why would he even waste his time considering IU in the first place when you've got opportunities to play at schools like Alabama, Oklahoma or some other school at the same level? I mean if he's considering staying close to home go to Notre Dame even though it's not an elite program anymore. I get it because of the history of the program and his uncle Brair Kiel was a stud there. That still makes more sense than going to IU bruh?

Schools like Indiana are places where guys go that didn’t have any other major conference offers and they were a touchdown or tackle away from playing in the MAC. The best kid in the country going to Indiana would've just been selling all of that talent short because the best needs to play with the best.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport

"The Sound of a Hater"

"Who me?"

I'll always be the first in line to criticize Notre Dame Football for being the most delusional program in sports. It's because they just can't accept that they're no longer Beyonce' and are more like Aretha Franklin than anything. A living legend that had mad skills back in the day but time has past you by. You think that you're still fine, relevant and all the guys want you but they've been on to something else for decades. Like JayZ, one thing I can't knock is their hustle but UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma did on Thursday. He's upset that the conference is going through changes with realignments and major departures etc.

"They've been in our league 17 years, so how long are we going to date before we just decide this ain't working. And I'm not happy about it," Auriemma said at the conference's annual women's basketball media day Thursday. "That's not the opinion of the University of Connecticut, the Big East Conference. ... That's just Geno Auriemma's opinion."

"If Notre Dame had come in as a football and basketball school when they came in, we wouldn't have a problem. Miami wouldn't have left. Virginia Tech wouldn't have left. Boston College wouldn't have left. We probably wouldn't have any of these issues, would we?" Auriemma said.

"We've got one school that holds the future of our league in the palm of their hand and they're not really that concerned about it," Auriemma said. "They're looking out for their best interest and I don't blame them. But join us in football and then look out for your best interest. I applaud that. Every school has a right to do that. I just don't like the way we've gone about it."

What? C’mon Man! Did somebody slip something in his drink? Notre Dame is looking out for Notre Dame. They aren't concerned about what the Big East is doing or what happens to it in the future because their other sports aren't relevant. It wouldn't matter to them if the Big East imploded or not. They can always up and move. It's like the family living on Section 8 in the hood. They could care less about the property. They'll tear up the joint and move because there's always a spot available that the government will pay for. The name of the street and the bus that they ride can always change.

If UConn had the power that Notre Dame had with it’s women's basketball program to cut an exclusive deal with NBC they'd do it too. Like the Irish or not they've got mad juice and they're working it. I still say that all that power has become a hindrance to the program's ability to win but they've seemed to have sold their soul to the devil a long time ago. They could actually make more money being in the conference than out of it. Like Malcolm X once said, “They’ve been hood winked and bamboozled,”

They could win more games, have the opportunity to go to a BCS Bowl annually($17 million purse with the invite alone), become relevant again and get better players if they joined the Big East. The level of competition is so weak that they could win it seemingly ever year. Being an independent hurts them because they have to win 10 or 11 games every year just to get to the BCS and currently that's tough.

Unless they make it to the national title game every year the players can't otherwise win a championship because they aren't in a conference. Even with all that being said, you can't hate on them for holding on to the cut baby.

Geno knows that but he's pouting because even with the success of his program he still doesn't have the juice that an irrelevant Notre Dame Football program still has. So let’s keeping real, he doesn’t care about the Big East, he’s only concerned about the future of UConn Women’s Basketball just like Notre Dame is about Notre Dame.  With that being said, in my Memphis voice, "Sounds like a hater maine!"

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Grown Man Business Is Grown Man Business!

"The Honey Badger understands accountability!"

Being a grown man is understanding that you've got to do what your supposed to do before you can do what you want to do. Understanding that all emotions have to be removed in order to see things clearly. There is a level of responsibility that many human beings of the male species never elevate to. So many guys get older but never mature to grown man status! That ultimate level is called accountability and where I'm from it's called "Grown Man Business."

Handling that business is the determining factor between failure and success. This week top-ranked LSU has suspended star cornerback and Heisman candidate Tyrann Mathieu known as the "Honey Badger" and star running back Spencer Ware for Saturday's home game against Auburn, a school official told ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach.

A source told The Associated Press that defensive back Tharold Simon is also suspended, and that the players ran afoul of the team's drug policy. The source did not specify the drug for which the players tested positive. The suspensions are only for one game, a source told ESPN's Joe Schad.

Head Coach Les Myles tried to keep the situation from looking too bad by saying, "I understand the interest which surrounds what seems to be news. There is internal discipline and internal news," Miles said. "I have a process I go through. ... It's a procedure I'm true to. There is no real information about any player that I'll address at this point."

Let's keep it all the way 100 coach! This is a big deal! You're losing at least two of the most productive players on your team and probably the best defensive player in the country in the "Honey Badger". He has forced four fumbles, recovering three and returning two for scores. He also has two interceptions and 42 tackles including 1½ sacks. That's huge hole to fill bruh!

When you're the #1 ranked team in the country you can't afford to show up limping because everybody is going to give you their best shot and Auburn will be no exception to that rule on Saturday.

I know that these are 18-22 year olds but we need to start teaching young boys about handling grown man business while they're in middle school at the very latest. Understanding how to handle that business is necessary at that age because they've already begun to play sports and like girls etc. Being accountable to whatever is important to you sets the tone for your life.

These three young men have not only let themselves down but also their parents, teammates, coaches and fans. As they get older, if they never completely learn what handling grown man business is they'll let down the most important group of people in their lives, their wives and children.

This is bigger than just some silly kids getting caught with drugs and violating team rules. If you can't put simple distractions away while you're on the verge of competing for a national title. What can you put them away for? That's probably the most important goal in your life at that time if you are a student-athlete. We've already seen Jordan Jefferson nearly ruin his life by getting into a bar fight prior to the season starting. He was initially facing felony charges that easily could have landed him in jail. Blame emotion!

We've got to teach our young boys to take the emotions out of their critical decision making because God didn't wire males to operate like that. Women are wired to make decisions with emotion. not men. However, so many of our young men have been raised without fathers. So who do they see making decisions on a regular basis? Mom! Just ask Vince Young about how making decisions with your emotions works out.

I'm not knocking single mothers because they've been forced to raised these children because dead beat dads didn't learn what "Grown Man Business" meant when they were children. Once again, being a grown man is understanding that you've got to do what you're supposed to do before you can do what you want to do! Grown Man Business Is Grown Man Business!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

Showin' Luv In The Club!

"Hey Donovan, don't end up like these guys! Can't let the game go!"

I always say that some things are only meant for young buds to do and that's talking trash in the street, chasing women, rapping(with the exception of JayZ because his forte is hustlin' and that's universal) and playing professional sports. Once you hit 35 you've got to reevaluate what you're doing and figure out what the next move is going to be. Well, Donovan McNabb will be 35 next month and it's time to leave the young man's game to young men.

On Monday head coach Leslie Frazier informed McNabb that he was being demoted and that rookie Christian Ponder would be starting Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Now Frazier road with Donovan as long as he could because he hand-picked him to help the Vikings avoid what many thought would be a rebuilding year. Unfortunately, it has become just that. McNabb ranks 29th in the league in touchdowns, 26th in yards passing and 19th in completion percentage. Let's just say it doesn't look like my man has anymore chase in his system.

With the Vikings 1-5 and coming off of a 39-10 blow out loss at Chicago, everybody pretty much expected the move to happen including Donovan. Let's keep it real, some things are just made for young folks and football is probably at the top of the list. There's no need to be ashamed of being benched because it is what it is. Everybody gets to a point where they've got to hang it up bruh.

Go ahead and bow out gracefully. Don't stick around so long that you start ruining your legacy like Brett Favre. I mean, he's still going to be a first ballot Hall Of Famer but nobody likes him anymore. He showed the world that he was a complete jerk when he could have walked away without people even knowing that.

How about Jerry Rice hanging around too long? You know it's time to leave when you're playing for the rival across the bay in Oakland. I mean his hair tried to retire before he did but he kept trying to hold on to the braids. It was like having faded corn rows! He looked like the 44 year old cat walking down the street dressed up in a kids costume, complete with the flat bib baseball cap, sagging jeans and a jersey. Ridiculous!

The worst of all-time was when Jordan wouldn't let it go while playing for the Wizards. It was like slowing down to watch an accident on the expressway. You know it's going to be bad when you ride past but you can't help but look. It was tough to watch Air Jordan play without any air. I mean, he couldn't even dunk bruh! It was that bad.

So Donovan, step in the barbershop for a minute! Out of love for all the dead homies, give it up bruh! Don't be the old player at the club trying to holler at the young girls. They spot you from the door and the whole crew of women that came together drink off of you all night and then end up going home with some gangsta's from the south side. Don't be that dude bruh!

He’s had an unbelievable 13 year career leading the Eagles to four consecutive NFC East Championships, 5 NFC Championship games and he took them to Super Bowl XXXIX in which they lost to the New England Patriots. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Not very many people can say that they've done that. He can ride off into the sunset and keep his dignity.

The guy is extremely well spoken and would have a great career as an analyst or commentator if he wants to stay around the game. The sky is the limit for a guy that has done nothing short of keeping his nose clean and been an excellent role model for all the young brothers coming after him. I salute you bruh, just don’t go back to the club once you've stepped out of the game!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

The Ring Leader!

Dewey Bozella was wrongly convicted of murder but wins in the end!

The U.S. Justice System is designed to be perfect but the people running it many times refuse to be. How many times have we seen people wrongly convicted because of the personal bias' and political agenda's of prosecutors and judges? As a result, many innocent people have wasted away in prison cells and often times been executed because they needed to convict somebody but not necessarily the right body.

Dewey Bozella, a 52 year old boxer who spent 26 years in Sing Sing Prison for a murder that he didn't commit, made his first and last professional fight a successful one Saturday with a four round unanimous decision over Larry Hopkins(0-4).

"This was my first and last fight," Bozella said. "This is a young man's game. I did what I came to do. I appreciate what everyone did for me. This was one of the greatest moments of my life."

When Bozella was convicted in 1983 for a 1977 murder in New York he was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison. After serving 6 years he went before the parole board that told him if he'd just admit to the murder he could go free. Bozella refused to admit to something that he hadn't done and subsequently served an additional 20 years.

It was later proven that the prosecutors suppressed evidence that would have proven Bozella's innocence during the original trial. How can a person sleep at night knowing that they've just railroaded someone's life like that? Unbelievable! The sad thing about it is that it happens all of the time!

The United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, admits that statistically 8% to 12% of all state prisoners are either actually or factually innocent. Now lets keep it real or all the way 100, which ever comes first! Those numbers only represent what folks are admitting to. We know that the numbers have got to be more than twice that if we're keeping it real and unfortunately the majority of those wrongly convicted have been African-American.

As of 2010, the 250 people exonerated in this country were sent to prison in 33 states for a combined 3,160 years. That’s an average of 13 years in prison for each inmate. Sadly, 60 percent of them were African American while only 29 percent were white. Of those, 17 were on death row when they were exonerated. How many people have died in prison as a result of either execution or prison violence that shouldn't have been there in the first place?

I'm happy for brothers like Dewey that have endured the injustice and have come out to make a positive impact on our youth as a result of speaking and sharing his story.

When I was a kid my dad would always say, "Son don't get caught driving the get-away car!" What he meant by that was, never be a follower. The guy that wants so badly to be with the crew is normally the one assigned to drive the get-away car. He never knows the plan and is clueless as to why the guys just jumped back into the car with ski-masks on but he gets the same prison time as the ring leader.

My point here young brothers is this; stay out of trouble in the first place and you'll be less likely to be convicted of anything. Notice that I said less likely because the possibility always exists. However, many times if you pull back the layers on guys wrongfully convicted. You'll find that they've been involved in other incidents in the past that makes it easier for prosecutors to use their character against them. Even though they were innocent of the crime at hand.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport

Pushin' Whips!

"The Maybach stands above the rest but does SEC Football?"

Have you ever been crazy about a certain type of vehicle because it just looked good to you? You’ve always wanted one and couldn’t wait to test drive it. Your excitement actually drove you to the dealership. You were like the New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott, “Can’t Wait” to drive off of the lot with it. Finally, you’re behind the wheel of your dream car. We called them whips where I‘m from. Sadly, after driving it you weren’t all that impressed. On the surface it was the best looking car you've ever seen but it didn’t drive as well as you had expected. So you passed and kept it moving.

That’s how I feel about Southeastern Conference(SEC) Football. It drives me crazy to hear all of the analysts and so-called experts say that the SEC is the best conference in football and no one challenges that thinking. Sure the last five national champions have come from the SEC. However, it wasn't from five teams. We're only talking about 3 teams at the top of the conference, LSU and Florida have won two each and then there's Alabama. Auburn has been irrelevant since the days of Bo Jackson in the early 1980's until last year because of Cam Newton and now they're barely holding on to a Top 25 ranking at 24th.

My argument is not to say that the SEC isn’t good because it is. But it’s no better than the other BCS conferences as a whole. Every conference typically only has two teams that are dominant every year. No league as a whole is that much better than the others that‘s why they all are a part of the BCS. For example, the Big Ten traditionally has Ohio State and Michigan, they're down right now so Wisconsin slides up to fill the void. The PAC 12 has USC and Oregon, the Big 12 has Oklahoma and Texas, the Big East for years was only Miami and Va. Tech now they've gone to the ACC. Clemson is rolling now but that won't last long. The Big East now isn't even worth mentioning. They will always remain at the bottom of the pile.

My point here is, don't get fooled by people saying that the SEC is hands down better because they've got catfish in their conference too. As a matter of fact, the other nine schools outside of LSU, Bama and Florida(Auburn was an anomaly last year because they last won a title in 1957) have had nothing to add to that argument for years and some have never contributed at all. Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Miss St, Arkansas, Georgia, Tenn, South Carolina(worthless until Steve Spurrier showed up) has brought nothing to Christmas dinner for at least the past 10 plus seasons. You would stop inviting folks to dinner if they just kept coming through eating and bouncing, wouldn’t you?

That's like saying that the Big 8 back in the day was the best conference in football because between Oklahoma(6 now 7 as part of the Big 12) and Nebraska(5) the conference won 11 national titles before the two joined the Big 12. Don't give the conference credit for the success of two or three teams bruh!

Do we say that the Big 10 is the best all-time because of the success of Michigan(11 titles) and Ohio State(5 titles)? Between the two of them they have won16  national titles and had 10 Heisman trophies( Michigan 3 & Ohio State 7). The SEC has had only 10 Heisman winners total. Ohio State has had more BCS Bowl wins than any other school in the country at 6 with the most appearances at 9. The Big Ten has had more BCS appearances than any other conference at 21. That doesn't mean that they are better. That would be dumb to say out loud.

All I'm saying is quit selling the SEC to me like it's the Bentley of conferences when we're all driving Benz’s around here. Every conference is top heavy and that typically is the case in basketball too. Can you imagine people saying that the SEC is the best basketball conference because of the success of Kentucky? After all, they are the winningest program of all-time. That would sound stupid to say wouldn't it?

Let the school stand on its own success and be done with it. Just because one or two schools dominate doesn't mean that the conference is great. Everybody has their bottom feeders and the SEC is no exception! Roll up on me when schools like Kentucky, Ole Miss, Miss St, Georgia and Tennessee start pushing Bentley‘s and Range Rover‘s. But if all I’m going to see every year is LSU and Alabama in the Bugatti I won’t be impressed.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves

Twitter: @jaygravesreport

The Burning Sands!

"Only a chosen few can cross these sands & survive!"

“Young, Rich and Dangerous” was the title of the last CD of the famed hip hop rap group Kriss Kross in 1996. It should however, be the soundtrack of your life, at least for now. You’re a 25 year old professional athlete and you’ve just signed a brand new 5 year deal worth more than 80 million dollars. The “Young and Rich” part you get, but “Dangerous” you don’t agree with, right?

 See, you’re not the one that’s necessarily dangerous, however the world that you’ve just been thrown into is. Look into my crystal ball young brother. You still can’t wrap your mind around just how much 80 million dollars is, but you have a pretty good idea of what you can do with it. Just about anything you’ve ever wanted to do.

See money is like alcohol it doesn’t change you, it just brings out what’s already inside of you. In 2007 B.M., that’s “Before Money”, you were the big man on campus (BMOC) with a girlfriend. However, the coeds just kept finding their way into your dorm room uninvited. That’s what happens when you’re the most popular guy on campus. Now that you’ve got the money and fame the campus just got bigger. You travel from coast to coast playing ball and in every night club you hit, every guy in the place wants to be you and every woman in the place wants be with you.

 That’s a drug all to itself and it’s easy to overdose on that combination. Now I’m not saying that all men cheat, what I am saying is that all men are human. So if you’re away from home 30 out of the 52 weeks in a year for sometimes weeks at a time, with women doing everything they can to get at you, that becomes a bit too much to handle. I’m not talking about your everyday women. I’m talking about cosmetic 10’s, the movie star types that follow you around like a puppy.

See we can’t compare a pro athlete to the normal working class family man. The normal guy has to typically initiate contact with a woman. So he has to at least be mischievous enough to play with the matches to start a fire. With a pro ball player… he’s running through the forest while it’s already burning. Women are constantly following these guys from city to city and many times even making their way into hotel rooms uninvited. Sound familiar? Now I’m not saying that all women are groupies, I am saying that all of the women that are constantly in your face are. It’s like being a drug addict and saying that you’re going over to the drug house just to play dominos.

Let’s face it some lifestyles aren’t conducive to having monogamous relationships. I don’t care if she was your college or high school sweetheart. When you guys met you were broke and women weren’t showing up at all hours of the night uninvited and undressed. Let’s keep it real, the woman that you decide to marry knows full well that she isn’t the only one. So who’s fooling who, especially if she met you in 2012 A.M., that’s “After Money”.

 Even if you think that you love her you aren’t mature enough to handle what’s coming your way on a daily basis. I just think that you should wait until after you retire when you’re settled enough to be someone’s husband and father. Your lifestyle will have changed by then and you won’t be in the hot spots all over the country, nightly. By the time you’re in your late 30’s or early 40’s you’ll be ready.

There’s no rule to say that you have to marry young i.e. Tiger, Kobe etc. You’ll also meet women that should be well into their careers by then… ladies that have more to lose than some young groupie trying to get pregnant and paid at your expense. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s some old groupies out there too but when you’re older you’ll at least be able to recognize the game. That will keep you from getting caught up at the minimum.

 I strongly believe in the full sanctity of marriage because I've been in the game for nearly ten years and it should never be disrespected. So before you try to join my frat and cross these burning sands my brother think long and hard about what you're doing. You’ll have to get rid of all the girlfriends and be able to keep your butt at home however, in the mist of being a professional athlete that’s virtually impossible. So your application has been denied.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Rotten Apples



"Man I should've kept my mouth closed and just went to work!"

Plaxico Burress became concerned last week when he saw 15 year veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason playing on the scout team. That's a rookie's job not something an established veteran with a $1.3 million salary(this year) should be doing. He was just signed by the Jets at the beginning of this season. On Tuesday he was gone! Traded to the Texans for what sources have told ESPNNewYork.com's Rich Cimini a conditional seventh round pick. Dude, that's the last round! They may as well have traded him for me and I'll just take half of the money!

Mason essentially put the target on his back and packed his bags when he complained after the Week 4 loss to the Ravens, telling reporters that there were "cracks" in the offense. There were several reports that he and fellow receivers Holmes and Burress met individually with Ryan to complain about offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer's system. 

That's equivalent to a guy that's been on the job for 35 years holding up the morning meeting with a plethora of questions. If he's been in the league for 15 years why does he even care bruh? Just pick up the check and keep it moving. Now the Jets are saying that he wasn't traded because of his comments but we all know better than that.

Now I know it's professional football but it's still a job. Sometimes pro athletes forget that they've got to go to work just like the rest of the world. Yeah, they're making obscene amounts of money but at the end of the day they don't own the joint. They still have to be held accountable for their actions and some things just won't be tolerated.

How many of us can just show up in our managers office and complain about the system after only being on the job for 4 weeks? We'll get escorted to the front door by security. The Jets were at least nice enough to trade Mason to the another team because regular working class folks would have been out on the street as it relates to a job. Now boyz are thinking if you pay close attention to Plaxico's comments!

"My production hasn't been all that great either. Santonio Holmes production hasn't been all that great either," Burress said. "You can't just point at one guy. You can't just say it was his production. He's a wide receiver so he goes out and controls what he can control. He can't do everything for himself. There's 10 other players on the field also, and we all have to contribute, so that one person or each of us can have success."

Yeah, that sounds very humbling doesn't it? The front office isn't crazy! They got rid of the most expendable person. Mason had only been around for essentially 4 weeks not including camp and preseason. You’ve heard since you were a child, “One bad apple can spoil the whole bushel“, right? At 2-3 with three straight losses head coach Rex Ryan can't afford to have a mutiny on his hands bruh. Get rid of the rotten apple and keep driving. That's what they do in the real world too.

Sometimes you've got to be happy that you've got a job. As bad as this economy is bruh? Man you better shut up and go to work if you've got a job and try to hustle up on one if you don't. I'm always blown away by the amount of people that take employment for granted. There are millions of people in America that are unemployed and there are still people with jobs that are late to work everyday.

I trip off of the guy that always complains about everything wrong with the way the company is doing business but he's yet to do his part in helping it to become more successful. However, he'll go off if his pay check isn't deposited on time. If we did less complaining and were more productive with our time we’d all see the success that we long for.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

The Odds Beater!

"I'm here now bruh!"

It's finally Tebow time in Denver! On Tuesday coach John Fox officially announced that Tim Tebow would be the starting quarterback for the Denver Bronco's. It's couldn't have come sooner for the frustrated fans of the Mile High City. They've been calling for this guy for weeks.

"Well, I think 1-4 has a lot to do with it," Fox said. "We haven't gotten it done as a football team. It's not one guy. It's not all Kyle Orton's fault. But we do have to make adjustments, we have to change and we have to do something to win football games."

Fox had seen enough by halftime Sunday when he decided to bench Orton and call on Tebow. After a sluggish start, the former Heisman trophy winner and two time national champion pulled a Kobe and put the offense on his back and came to within a last-second pass of bringing the Bronco's out of the toilet and beating San Diego.

As the Broncos disappointedly left the field, the stadium roared like the Roman Coliseum and all you heard was "Tebow! Tebow! Tebow!" It was great to see the guy completely change the momentum of the game and almost win it. Some people have what they call the "It" factor and Tebow has definitely been blessed with it.

I'm completely blown away at the amount of people that keep hating on this kid. When he was in college at the University of Florida all he did was win! He's clean as a whistle and only shows up in the news for one thing, winning ball games . He has a solid Christian foundation and the world seems to hate him. Isn't that what we want our kids to see in an athlete? We're always complaining about guys being terrible role models and how we'd like to see them make better decisions etc. Now here the guy is and people don't want him.

Well, I'm glad to see him get a shot at the big time. Why not? He's won everywhere else he's been! Tebow's arguably the most accomplished college football player of all-time. That alone should at least give him a huddle pass and 10 starts. Before you write him off see what he can do.

What two guys sat in a dark room and said that the prototypical NFL quarterback has to be 6'4" 230lbs with an excellent delivery? Why can't he play with the quirky throwing motion that he has and run all over the place. He’s a football player before he’s a quarterback. Limits are meant to be broken. Not everybody is going to fit into the same box.

They said that Doug Flutie wouldn’t make it because he was a dwarf in size compared to the typical height of an NFL quarterback. They also said that a black man could never play quarterback in this league until Doug Williams showed up, won Super Bowl XXII in 1988 and was named the MVP. I guess the same two guys told Mohandas Gandhi that his non-violent protests wouldn’t work during the Indian Independence Movement. Then Martin Luther King, Jr. used the same strategy in America during the civil rights movement and changed the world.

Those same two guys told me that I couldn’t succeed in life because I was born with one full arm. Throw in the fact I could barely read when I graduated from high school scoring 642 total points on the SAT. I can remember the councilor at the start of my freshman year telling me that I shouldn’t be in college because the entrance exam showed that I was more equipped to drive a bus. What? Me, a guy with one full arm? Are you kidding me! I need a job where I can wear tailor made suits, high end shoes and watches. Good luck with that!

While he was telling me that foolishness his brother was whispering to the kid next to me, you shouldn't be here either because you were raised by a single parent in the ghetto. Those same two guys have been trying to stop folks from succeeding for years. However, for people born with the "It" factor their tactics have proven to be ineffective.

 Tebow feels the same way right now. I know he’s saying to himself because he’s too humble of a guy to say it out loud, “I’ll show all of the haters what’s really real.” So you better believe that this kid will be ready to play when the Bronco’s show up in south Florida in two weeks because they‘ve got a bye this Sunday.

Now that he's the starter, the Mile High City should name a drink after him. Since he’s not a drinker make it a virgin daiquiri but whatever you decide to call it,  it'll be a winner!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Straight Cash Homie!

  "As long as the Lions keep winning so does the City of Detroit!"

In January 2005 Randy Moss was fined $10,000 by the league for pretending to moon the Green Bay Packer fans at Lambeau Field after scoring a touchdown. Later that week a local TV reporter Dana Thiede caught up with Moss as he was leaving the practice facility and here was the exchange:

Thiede: "Write the check yet, Randy?"
Moss: "When you're rich, you don't write checks."
Thiede: "If you don't write checks, how do you pay these guys?"
Moss: "Straight cash, homie."
Thiede: "Randy, are you upset about the fine?"
Moss: "No, cause it ain't (expletive). Ain't nothing but 10 grand. What's 10 grand to me? Next time I might shake my (expletive)."

Classic!

Well the city of Detroit is saying the same thing now that their beloved Lions are undefeated after beating the hated Chicago Bears 24-13 on Monday Night! The franchise is 5-0 for the first time since 1956 and that was the first Monday Night game for the city in a decade.

Oh by the way, the Tigers are in the playoffs too. For a city crippled by the collapse of the auto industry having two winning teams will at least help put some cash back into the city. Even though it continues to lead the nation’s areas of 1 million people or more with the highest unemployment rate of 15.4% any money generated helps the bottom line.

The corruption scandals that ultimately led to the arrests and convictions of democrats Monica Conyers and former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick wasn‘t at all welcomed either. The city is in financial ruin at this point but to have the Lions and Tigers winning is a blessing to a struggling area.

The 2010 census data showed a dramatic decline in Detroit's population. Over the past 10 years, the city lost a quarter of its residents, bringing it down to a size similar to the pre-auto boom numbers of 1910. The current imigration rate means one person left the city every 22 minutes between 2000 and 2010. That’s incredible!

I'm not a proponent of jumping on bandwagon's at all but in this case I'm holding the reigns for the Motor City. The more they win the more money the city makes and also the better the people of Detroit will feel about themselves. Don't get it twisted, winning builds confidence and confidence encourages! Detroit needs a whole lot of it right now.

If nothing else restaurants, hotels and street vendors are making money as a result of the two teams winning. When money is coming in it in turn gets spent and so on and so forth. How so? Let me break it down for you homie!

Now we're talking about Detroit right? Let’s follow the street vendor for example. He get’s paid on Monday, buys new “Gators”(shoes) on Tuesday because that’s what all the players wear in the “D”. The Gator man buys a Caddy on Wednesday, puts rims on it on Thursday. The car salesman pays bills, buys gear(clothes) and breaks his wife/girlfriend off with money to get her/their hair done by Friday. The club is packed on both Friday and Saturday night and the cycle starts all over on Sunday! Classic!

Now with all kidding aside, winning really does translate into revenue for the city. If you don't believe me look at Cleveland. After they drafted LeBron with the first pick of the 2003 NBA draft and started winning the local economy brought in more than $150 million annually.  Don't sleep on what a professional team can do for a city!

After the win on Monday Night quarterback Mathew Stafford said, "It was electric! "Our fans came out and did an unbelievable job." Well Matt, just keep winning! I’d love to see you guys do what the Saints did for city of New Orleans a couple of years ago. Winning is therapeutic and in all seriousness Detroit needs a big spoon full. Go Lions!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport

Called Back!

"I've always wanted to do this!"

During the off-season the NCAA implemented an unsportsmanlike conduct rule for celebrating or taunting prior to scoring a touchdown. In the past if a player celebrated or taunted another player before reaching the end zone the 15 yard penalty would be accessed on the kickoff. Now that same penalty takes the points off of the board.

LSU's punter Brad Wing had what would've been a 52-yard run erased by an unsportsmanlike conduct call after he held the ball out toward a Florida defender. It was the right call, according to Coach Les Miles.

"It was absolutely correct. What a great lesson it will be to our guys to have to take points off," Miles said. "Celebrate? Are you kidding me? In a big game, where four points is very important we won't do that. It's just not something that we're going to do."

Six weeks into the season, the call on Wing was the first time it had been acted on. Now this phenomenon known as end zone celebrations and trash talking is more cultural than people want to admit. It’s a right of passage for ball players in the African-American community and now it's spread throughout the culture of sports. More than 70% of the players in college and in the NFL are African-American. So to take taunting or celebrating out of the game would be like completely changing it. Therefore, guys would have to be reprogrammed because this is how so many were taught to play.

 When kids first learned how to play ball, they were taught by the older kids that the game is played between the ears. See everyone in the hood had talent, speed, agility and quickness. So the playing field many times was level. How can a kid get an advantage? By getting inside of the other guy’s head.

It’s was as simple as that. If you wanted to compete in the hood you had to be able to hold your own. If you weren’t not strong mentally you wouldn’t be able to compete. So kids in that environment learned to be tough early on or they wouldn‘t make it. You couldn’t afford to get labeled as the kid that couldn’t take the trash talk because you’ll get targeted daily. Guys would intentionally go after you just to break you down mentally. Those were the rules.

It’s more than just a game it’s about who’s tougher between the ears. Those that were the toughest mentally usually became the better players. Those that weren’t, typically quit before they got out of middle school. That’s just the way it was. This was the way guys were taught to play the game. The question has always been, how can I get an edge on a guy that has the same amount of talent that I have? There’s no secret formula or magic potion, just rattle the other guy until he breaks.

Also the game is a lot more fun to play when everyone understands the rules of engagement. The weak players were eliminated in middle school so that the real trash talkers make it to high school. Then the celebrations and talk gets even louder and more harsh. By the time guys make it to college it’s at a fever pitch. Why do you think that the Miami Hurricanes were so successful in the 1980’s thru 2001? Yes, they were obviously better than other teams but they also got into their heads and wore them down. It's much easier to beat guys that were internalizing the taunting and taking it personal. It’s called “gamesmanship”. I can beat you as long as I’ve got you doubting yourself and many times that means trying to embarrass you in the process. If I'm successful at doing that, I'll beat you 100% of the time.

Muhammad Ali was the king at doing it! Michael Irving “The Playmaker” and Deion Sanders “Prime Time” were very affective as well. Remember when Billy “White Shoes” Johnson would do the crazy legs in the end zone and people would go crazy? That made the game more fun to play and watch. It's entertainment isn’t it? Why are people trying to take the attitude out of the game? That’s what makes the game the game!

I hear the commentators so many times demonizing players for celebrating by saying that they’re disrespecting the other team. That’s exactly what they’re trying to do. Point blank! They’re trying to get into the heads of the opponent so that they can win the game. However, the only people that make comments like that are people that didn’t grow up in the culture of talking trash and celebrating.

I was happy to see an Australian punter show a little street flair as he strolled down the sideline in Death Valley. The fans loved it, the other players loved it and the Les Miles loved it even though he couldn't say it publicly. I'll bet everything that the brothers from Florida hated the fact that a punter, albeit an Australian punter, took them to the hood for just one minute! It was great!

Players already know! If you don’t want to see a guy dance, celebrate or talk trash keep him out of the end zone and that goes for punters too.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Hacked In The Name Of Love?

"Yeah, I hear you bruh! That WAS crazy for me to give her my passwords!"

No matter how old the love story gets it never changes. A thousand years from now we'll be telling the story verbatim! The ex-girl friend lost it and tripped beyond measure. When I was a kid the story was the Ex would talk two or three of her girlfriends into egging the ex-boyfriend's car, slashing the tires or smashing the windows. Now they're hacking twitter accounts.   Michigan star quarterback Denard Robinson has recently become the victim of an ex-girlfriend's rage. She got a hold of the passwords to his twitter account and got busy! Here's the damage that she did:  

Bruh, never give people the passwords to your life! I know that at the time you were in love but at your age it only lasts until the next girl comes along. Especially if you're the starting quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines or at any big time college program for that matter. Sadly my man, it comes with the territory of being a college superstar. It goes back to an article I wrote last year entitled "Why Pro Athletes Shouldn't Get Married." Now I need to do the remix entitled "Why College Superstar's Shouldn't Have A Steady Girlfriend!"
  The problem with being a 19 or 20 year old kid with that type of celebrity on a college campus is that there are constantly women/girls on the hunt and he's not wise enough to stay out of the line of fire. They keep getting picked off with easy shots. So why lie! It's like the homeless guy standing on the corner holding the sign that reads, "I need money for beer, why lie!" Just be straight up and you can avoid getting your car smashed or now days your Twitter account egged.   You're on a campus of 37,000 students or more and everybody knows your name. It's like being at "Cheers." Why tell some girl that she's the only one when you know that simply isn't the case bruh? Your Facebook and Twitter accounts are your DNA and at this point you can't afford for someone to get into them.    Be more responsible with your girlfriends and passwords from now on young brothers! If you're going to have them you have to be honest with them!   Holla At Ya Boy! Jay Graves Twitter:@jaygravesreport

Hata's Gon' Hate!

"I know I'm hatin' but I just can't help myself!"

In 2001 the singing group 3LW released a song entitled "Playa's Gon' Play and the hook went like this, "Playa's Gon' Play, Them Hata's Gon' Hate, Them Balla's Gon' Ball, Them (Shot)Caller's Gon' Call! For years my philosophy has always been if more than 50% of the people in the room aren't hatin' on you. Then you need to step your game up. The more successful you become the more people are going to dislike you or have negative things to say about you. It comes with the territory. That's why I wasn't surprised to hear Brett Favre take a shot at Aaron Rogers Wednesday in a radio interview with Atlanta's 790 The Zone.

He said that he wasn't surprised Rodgers won a Super Bowl, saying "the biggest surprise to me would be that he didn't do it sooner" and that Rodgers "just kind of fell into a good situation. He's got tremendous talent, he's very bright and he got a chance to kind of sit and watch and he saw successful teams do it right," Favre said in the interview.

"And so he just kind of fell into a good situation. And on top of that, he's a good player. I don't think anyone would question now the talent around him is even better than when I was there. So I really was surprised it took him so long. Really, the early part of last season, it hadn't quite clicked yet and I didn't know if it would. I just figured at some point, when they hit their stride, they're going to be hard to beat. And that's what happened."

If I were from Memphis I'd say it like this, “Sounds like a hater mane"! Brett Favre, in my opinion, was the most selfish and self-centered athlete we've seen over the past 25 years. Guys like T.O. or Ochocinco get the wrap for being locker room cancer's but was there anybody worse than Favre over the last 5 years? Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want T.O. on my team either. The main reason that he isn’t in the league right now is because of his foolishness. Yeah, I know that he’s hurt but nobody wants that clown on their team. I’ve got no problem with Ochocino because he’s actually a breath a fresh air always joking around etc.

Brett is the ultimate hater! He refused to help develop Rogers when he was drafted to Green Bay telling management that it wasn't his job to teach him how to run the offense. Then he held the team hostage by not telling them whether he was going to retire not once but twice. Have you ever had a party at your house and there’s the guy that just won’t leave. You finally have to give him a plate and push him out the door. That's Brett Favre!

He did the same thing in New York and Minnesota! Now, I'm not denying the fact that he won ball games with both the Jets and Vikings but he was a locker room cancer. Football is the ultimate team sport and it's not all about one guy. He sat at the crib for the entire off-season without telling the Vikings whether he was going to play or not. That’s a problem because they needed a quarterback bad. The only other option they had was Tavaris Jackson. So if he wasn't going to play they needed to be able pick one up in the draft. However, because of his selfishness they weren’t able to do that.

Who waits for guys to show up at their crib to beg them to play? Really? Now he's telling folks that Rogers should have won sooner because he got lucky and fell into a good situation! Man that was a serious hater move! The word of God says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks!”, Isaiah 58:13. Brett just couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Rogers has won as many Super Bowls as Favre already. Now don't get me wrong Brett is a first ballot Hall Of Famer no one will ever deny him that. However, it doesn't give him walk around points with the fella's. One thing you can't do and get respect is hate on a another man's hustle.

Aaron Rogers is poised to win several more Super Bowl’s at the rate that he’s going and there’s nothing Brett can do to stop it. Always remember, "Playa's Gon' Play and Hata's Gon' Hate!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter: @jaygravesreport

Ride or Die!

"Either you all in or not bruh!"

They say that imitation is the best form of flattery but where I'm from loyalty is! If you want to impress me stay in the passenger seat when I‘m doing bad. Give me your full support. They call it ride or die in the hood! I only want to hang out with people that are going to have my back regardless of how successful I am. Whether I'm up or down, I want to look over and know you're still ridin'. That's how you'll flatter me!

West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen gave the Mountaineer Nation an ear full this week for not being so flattering to his team. They only had 46,000 fans show up to last Saturday's game against Bowling Green and during his weekly press conference he let the fans have it.

“You only get seven opportunities a year,” Holgorsen said. “What’s so hard about it? It’s too cold? Wasn’t too cold for our players. Wasn’t too cold for our coaches or managers or trainers; they’re out there. So why did we have 20,000 people less at this one than we did last week?”

“The funny thing about it is we’re all talking two weeks ago about how much difference the fans and the crowd’s going to make to the LSU people. Well, LSU played well in front of 62,000 of our people and then turned around and went home and played a 1-3 Kentucky team at noon and [they] have 95,000 people there. You want to talk about an elite program, that’s one of them. I don’t know about this place.”

I completely agree with him! If you're a fan then ride or die with your team. Don't come through only when they're winning. You've got to be in the front seat when boyz are losing too. I'm seeing it first hand living in Indy with the Colt starting the season 0-4! I'm a die hard OU Sooner fan not a Colts fan but it's crazy to see the amount of people in the emergency room with sprained ankles and pulled hamstrings as a result of jumping off of the Colts bandwagon in the first month of the season. It's incredible!

It's getting so bad that I may show up to Lucas Oil Stadium for a game and they'll let me get my ankles taped in the training room, get a full body message and return a kick off or two just because. For extra measure, I might even call a play or two.  They're desperate for fan support the way these people are running and giving away their tickets at this point.

If it's your team you've got to ride with them. That's why I've got tall respect for cities like Chicago(all sports), Cleveland(Browns), New Orleans, Dallas(Cowboys) etc. They'll ride regardless of the record. It’s like family! They can talk about their team doing bad but you better not say a word! How many friends would you keep if they only came around when you had some money? That's shady to treat someone like that. So why would you do your so called favorite team that way?

I can remember when the New Orleans Saints fans were wearing brown paper bags on their heads years ago and the team was known as the "Ain'ts"! They were disgusted but they kept coming to the games. That's flattery bruh! So when they did finally win a championship it meant everything to the fans and the team because they suffered through the bad times together.

If Peyton Manning doesn't play around here it's a ghost town! Sorry excuse for support and it's not just football fans either. Go on down the street to Conseco Field House where the Pacers play and you'll get some playing time too. I had a triple double last year, twice! They're giving tickets away with food included. It's banana's man!

So the West Virginia head man Dana Holgerson was dead on for giving it to the fans! You either ride with me when I'm down and don’t try to get in the Bentley when I'm rollin'.


Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport