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NEW YORK -- Charles Barkley didnt want Kevin Durant to join the Golden State Warriors and isnt sure Durant changes things now that hes there.In Barkleys mind, the Warriors are still a flawed team.Let me say this: I still think they got some of the same issues this year with that team, Barkley said Tuesday.Can they rebound the ball? Theyre going to still be shooting jumpers. Theyre not going to get any low-post scoring. Can that type of play hold up through the rigors of the NBA playoffs? Im still going to say the same thing Ive always said: No.The Warriors won a record 73 games in the regular season but blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State then signed Durant, the former NBA MVP, in the offseason.Thats made the Warriors the favorites to regain the title they won in 2015, though Barkley said they were lucky then because their road was filled with teams weakened by injuries. Cleveland was already without Kevin Love in those Finals and lost Kyrie Irving near the end of Game 1.The Cavs were healthy last year, and Barkley picked them to beat the Warriors.When I told you they couldnt play that little small ball and win a championship if everybody they played was healthy, that theyd wear down, and they did. I told you Cleveland was going to beat them and they did, Barkley said during a lunch before TNTs Inside the NBA studio team was elected to the Broadcasting Hall of Fame.Barkley and the team will host their show Tuesday night in Cleveland outside Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavaliers will receive their rings before facing New York in their season opener. The Warriors will play San Antonio in the nightcap of TNTs doubleheader.Barkley, a Hall of Fame player who never won a championship, was disappointed that Durant left Oklahoma City for an easier chance at a title with the star-studded Warriors, who have two-time MVP Stephen Curry and fellow All-Stars Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.If they win, Barkley said, the title wont mean as much to Durant as it would have in Oklahoma City, where he had played since the Thunder franchise moved from Seattle in 2008 after his rookie season. Durant has been booed in rival arenas since his decision and has angered some of his former fans with what appeared to be criticisms of Russell Westbrook and his former team.Hes made himself a villain by taking all these shots at Oklahoma City for no reason. Theres no reason for that, Barkley said. He left, hes happy, shut up. When youre taking shots at Russell and those guys, thats not necessary. A.J. Greer Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Rob Ramage Jersey . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. http://www.cheapavalanchejerseys.com/?tag=adidas-j-t-compher-jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Adam Foote Jersey . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Anton Lindholm Jersey . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position. All weekend long, my TV screens, computer screens and even the screen on my phone were filled with a nonstop cavalcade of different variations on the same image.It was the faces of people in agony.From Neyland Stadium, where the ninth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers were on the ropes in the fourth quarter, there was the guy they showed in the student section who looked as if his underwear were four sizes too small. Then, as the game ended in overtime, there was the woman dressed head-to-toe in Appalachian State gear who fell back into her seat as if shed been shot with an elephant tranquilizer.In College Station, there was the guy who was yanking a rally towel down onto his skull so hard I thought he might suffer a compression fracture in his neck. His image was followed by the mouth-open, stressed-out cadet corps member with the Top Gun reflective sunglasses that revealed the image of his significant other, face buried in his uniformed shoulder, unable to even look at the field as Texas A&M drove toward overtime.The kid at Arkansas with the quivering lip ... the lady with the homemade foam Boomer Sooner hat sobbing uncontrollably ... the Washington State alum mouthing the words damn it, not again... the LSU fans who cashed in vacation days and traveled 1,100 miles to Green Bay only to be shown live on ESPN wearing facial expressions seen only in the lobby of a movie theater as a Nicholas Sparks film is letting out ... UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen with a face that all at once owned his mistakes while showing disbelief that those mistakes had happened ... Washington States Mike Leach looking like a man stuck in an FCS time warp ... We could go on and on.Are these really the feelings that we all spent winter, spring and summer waiting for? Is this the payoff for buying the T-shirts and the tickets and the preseason magazines and flying the flag of our alma maters from the front of our house?Yes. Yes, it is.Deep down, you knew the pain was coming, right? You knew this might happen. You knew your team didnt have a quarterback or that it lost half the offensive line to the NFL draft or that the team you were opening The Greatest Opening Weekend In College Football History against was really good.But still, you allowed yourself to believe the hype. You sifted through all of those magazines and websites and maneuvered past all of the negatives and found the one line in the one article that said, However, they do have a lot of talent on special teams. Or you found the one preseason poll that had your school ranked the highest or listened to that one guy on ESPNU who declared in August, I really think they are going to shock some people (if that was me, I apologize).Why do you allow yourself to believe? Why do you keep coming back every Labor Day weekend, knowing theres a 50-50 chance you might get punched directly in the heart?Because theres also a 50-50 chance that youll also have that heart filled. Theres a 50-50 chance that pleasure will win out over the pain. Theres a 50-50 chance that you wont be the person they showed on TV who looked as if they were in the middle stages of a root canal. You might also be the one they show spinning that towel above their heads, or with his girlfriend hugging him so hard it makes those reflective sunglasses fly off, or standing up on their seat instead of slumping back into it.We come back every fall because of that feeling. The agony is tax that we have to pay to get it. And if were being honest, the agony isnt so bad, either. When you have your school colors on, the heights and the depths are just different ways of feeling alive. And nothing is more alive than a Saturday in the fall.Besides, I have good news. The hardest part is over. The Band-Aid has been ripped off. Theres going to be a Week 2, starting in just a few days. We still have more than three months of this to go, and if college football has taught us nothing else over the last century its taught us this -- theyll be plenty of emotion, good and bad, to go around.Now lets get on with Flipping the Field ...Owning it.?I rankled readers and TV viewers alike one week ago when I suggested that the best running back in Saturday afternoons Georgia-North Carolina game was going to be wearing blue and his name was Elijah Hood. When Atlanta-based friends and family members started calling and telling me that I might need a police escort the next time I came south down I-85 I realized Id struck a nerve. Id based my prediction on two factors. One, I thought that Nick Chubb still had a little ways to go with his recovery from knee surgery. Two, I thought that UNC would have learned from its season-opening mistakes of one year ago and do everything it could to feature its best offensive player. I was wrong on both, as Dawgs supporters have so kindly reminded me via Twitter. Hunker down.Were going streaking! According to the number mashers at ESPN Stats & Information, Washingtons 48-13 win over Rutgers marked the Huskies fourth straight game of 40-plus points. Thats an active streak that ranks second only to Western Kentucky (5) and the longest in UW history. Alabama owns the longest current FBS win streak at 15, followed by San Diego State at 11 and Tennessee and Western Kentucky (theres that name again) with seven. Floridas win over UMass marked the 27th consecutive season that the Gators have started the year 1-0.Get in the car, Frank ... LSUs loss to Wisconsin was its first defeat in a season opener since a defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech in 2002. That was also LSUs last regular-season nonconference loss. Southern Miss had lost 13 consecutive times to SEC schools until erasing an 18-point halftime lead to knock off Kentucky. Kansas defeated Rhode Island to snap a 15-game winless streak dating to November 2014.Danny Ford Scientific Rocket Quote of the Week: Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State.?It was a weekend packed with touching moments and tributes, from the pregame remembrance of Bill Dooley in Atlanta that included brother Vince, to the thunderous Autzen Stadium applause that greeted the comeback of Oregons Pharoah Brown, who nearly had his knee amputated after suffering a horrifying injury against Utah in 2014. But none topped what took place in Lincoln, as Nebraska honored punter Sam Foltz, killed in a car accident over summer, by taking the field in punt formation with 10 men and leaving his spot vacant. The Huskers were flagged for delay of game and Fresno State declined the penalty. After the game, DeRuyter explained that hed been given a heads-up on the tribute by both the officiating crew and Nebraska head coach Mike Riley and declining the penalty was automatically the right decision. No hesitation. It is tragic. I was talking to our coaches and I cant imagine losing a son. And if we cant teach our guys to do something classy like that then what it college for?#MACtion, yall! Speaking of streaks, want to know a streak that one big group of folks want to keep going while another big group wishes it would end so we will all shut up about it? When Western Michigan and its awesome helmets knocked off Northwestern (though the Broncos tried bizarrely to lose it) it marked the 11th consecutive season with a MAC win over a Big Ten opponent. Also, on the first college football Saturday in forever without John Saunders bringing us the scores on ESPN/ABC, it must be noted that our late friends alma mater was WMU. If it makes Northwestern backers feel any better, a total of four FCS schools knocked off FBS teams Saturday, including three wins over Power 5 schools. OK, that probably wont make them feel better.Jumpman, Jumpman, Jumpman, them boys up to something ... Yes, Drake, they are and them girls, too. Im talking about the guys and girls of the Michigan Marching Band, honoring their teams new Nike apparel and the Jumpman himself, Michael Jordan, who was on hand to see the jerseys bearing his likeness roll over Hawaii 63-3.From the Ridonculous Stats Dept.?For all of the deserved hype surrounding the opening weekend matchups, there were also plenty of traditionally lopsided Week 1 stinkers. Not surprisingly, they produced some insane statistical performances. Start with the game we just mentioned, where Michigans 60-point win was its largest margin of victory since the value of a touchdown was changed to six points in 1912. Up the road in Columbus, Ohio, quarterbaack J.ddddddddddddT. Barrett accounted for seven TDs vs. Bowling Green, six passing and one rushing. That broke the school record of six, a record held by three men, the last being in in 2014 when it was accomplished by ... J.T. Barrett. Down south in Miami, Mark Richts first game as head Hurricane produced three 100-yard rushers vs. Florida A&M. Thats the first time The U has pulled that hat trick since 1987, when they were THE U.All of the above. Sunday nights game between Notre Dame and Texas did indeed include almost everything weve already covered in Flipping The Field, even the MACtion part (Brian Kelly used to be head coach at Central Michigan). There was plenty of emotion, both painful and ecstatic, particularly for the home Horns, who have experienced their fair share of anguish in recent years. There were streaks continued, as Texas has now defeated the last three top 12 opponents it has faced (No. 10 Oklahoma and No. 12 Baylor in 2015, No. 10 Notre Dame) as well as streaks ended, as the Longhorns finally earned their first win over Notre Dame since 1970 (0-5) and the Irish suffered their first loss in Austin after wins in 1913, 15, 52 and 96. Texas was led by Shane Buechele, the first true freshman to start at QB for Texas since World War II and in the first overtime game ever played at Royal-Memorial Stadium. There were even ridonculous stats, as Notre Dames DeShone Kizer threw for five TDs and ran for another and UTs Tyrone Swoopes rushed for three TDs of his own, including the game winner. Oh, and Bevo XV is now undefeated, at a perfect 1-0.I speak on behalf of all men ... when I say that USCs Jabari Ruffins decision to spike Alabamas Minkah Fitzpatrick between his thighs should not be judged only against the rules of football but against the universal Man Code.Tommy West Coachs News Conference of the Week: Nick Saban, Alabama.?When asked about his decision or seeming lack of decision when it came to naming a starting quarterback, Mr. Coke Bottle Stare was already in midseason preachy form, explaining: I made a decision for this game that whatever we did at quarterback was for now. Did you ever make a for now decision? So we made a decision today for now. And thats the only decision we made. So Im not speculating on what were going to do in the future. And everyone here wanted to know who the quarterback was gonna be. Did anyone write that one of Southern Cals players said I wish we knew who was going to play quarterback for them? And isnt that the object, is to make it hard for the other team? Or to make it good for your guys to write about? Yeah, we missed you too, coach.Time for a dance break ... sort of. By this time last year, the crazy dancing coach video was already a thing. This years Week 1 was a little too intense for any goofy rug cutting, but a recently retired coach -- more accurately, Head Ball Coach, led an old school cheer down at the stadium he made famous and was adding his name over the door. He even added a Usain Bolt chest rip and point for good measure.Comeback of the Week Award, also named for Frank Reich: South Alabama. There were so many, but I wanna talk about the South Alabama Jaguars, PAAAAWWWWLL! All day long it felt just another tune-up ho-hum Week 1 affair between an SEC team and a Fun Belt, er, Sun Belt school. Mississippi State led 17-0 at halftime and 20-7 in the fourth quarter before losing 21-20. Much will heaped upon MSU kicker Westin Graves for a doinked 28-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds, but he should have never been in that situation in the first place.Frank Reich Backup QB Of The Week Award: Malcolm Perry, Navy. Perry nearly broke Twitter during the noon games when the freshman fourth-string quarterback started the day sitting among the Brigade in uniform ... his dress whites. When starter Tago Smith went down in the second quarter and shortened the depth chart, Perry, whod been sick all week but did start Fridays JV game, was found by a team manager and told to report to the locker room. Meanwhile, an equipment manager hustled back to the football office to retrieve Perrys other uniform, the one with the big No. 5 on it. That would have been cool enough, but then he entered the game in the fourth quarter, rushing for 30 yards on seven carries and leading the Middies on a 90-yard drive that added a field goal to the 52-16 victory over Fordham. In a related note, I am assuming whomever runs Navys Twitter account wasnt including me and my 2015 overboard season-long man crush on Kennan Reynolds when they posted this ...The Guy You Should Know About, But Probably Dont: Jeremy McNichols, RB, Boise State. The Broncos have taken a backseat to Houston when it comes to the leaders of the Gang of Five BCS/Playoff party crasher hopefuls, so the nation doesnt know Boise stars the way they used to. But McNichols is worth your attention. On Saturday at Louisiana Lafayette, the junior picked up a pair of rushing touchdowns and one receiving. ESPN Stats & Info informs me that last year he led the nation in games both running for and catching a TD, doing it six times. Nice.The Guy You Used to Know About But Forgot About But You Should Know About Again: Trevor Knight, QB, Texas A&M. Katy Perrys former crush, Duck Dynasty daughter Sadie Robertsons former boyfriend and the former starter at Oklahoma now has the job at A&M after the QB position room was evacuated over the winter. On Saturday vs. UCLA he threw for 239 yards and a TD, and rushed 31 yards with two more scores. He also added his own in-action Jumpman pose as he hurdled a defender during a crucial conversion toward the end of regulation. And his old man won Dad of Week 1 by watching brother Connor Knight play for Oklahoma at Houston and then hauling butt up Highway 6 to College Station to see Trevor.The Team You Should Know About, But Probably Dont: Texas State. If you are a regular reader of the Bottom 10 (and thanks if you are) then you are a little familiar with the Texas State. It used to live in that neighborhood. Not anymore. On Saturday Texas State won the Bobcat Bowl over Ohio (its not actually called that, but Im calling it that because the schools are Bobcats) in the best game none of you watched. Texas State scored in the third overtime on a double pass and two-point conversion to take a 56-48 lead and then still had to sack the Ohio QB to stop a two-point conversion that would have retied the game. New head coach Everett Withers is already a third of the way to matching the teams 2015 win total.The Game You Should Be Psyched For But Probably Arent: Cal at San Diego State, Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET. East Coasters will need to put on a pot of coffee to stay up for kickoff but once the game starts there will be plenty of adrenaline to keep us up from there. It took the Bear Raid a little while to get going vs. Hawaii in Australia, but when it did, it did. Meanwhile, without Boise or Air Force on their Mountain West conference schedule, the Aztecs, they of the 11-game winning streak we told you about earlier, have a legit chance to run the regular-season table and be in the Gang of Five big time bowl conversation. But first theyll need to knock off the only Pac-12 opponent on their schedule.Extra Point: Last week we told you that you needed to keep an eye on Pitt running back James Conner, a former ACC Player of the Year who missed last season simultaneously battling cancer and overcoming a knee injury. He did not disappoint. The Panthers entered the second half with a 14-0 lead over Villanova and Conner had scored both touchdowns, the first coming on a gritty, emotional stiff-arm 3-yard run. He had worked out a deal with his coaches that they would all agree to eat the 15-yard celebration penalty because he planned to spike the football if he scored. But his teammates didnt give him the chance, surrounding him and starting an impromptu mosh pit. He finished the day with 53 yards rushing, 16 yards receiving and the two scores in the 28-7 win. Keep an eye on this Pitt team. The Panthers arent good enough to win the ACC, but they are certainly good enough to scare the dickens out of the team that does. Win or lose, every opposing player who faces Pitt should line up and shake James Conners hand. ' ' '