The Sports Informer

Major League Baseball Takes Over the Dodgers

2011-04-21T14:37:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday it was reported that Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig would be appointing a representative to oversee the finances and all aspects of the day to day operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The current owner of the Dodgers, Frank McCourt, is currently in the middle of a very messy and highly public divorce from his wife, and part owner of the team, Jamie McCourt which has left the financial stability of the franchise in disarray.

In a public statement issued by the league office Selig had this to say about MLB taking over for the McCourts, "I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the club."

At this point Selig really had no choice. Frank McCourt is on the verge of bankruptcy, to the point where last week he had to borrow $30 million from FOX in order to meet the team payroll, and has been attempting to borrow money to try and save the team. It was reported that he had been trying to borrow $200 million from FOX in order to pay off his ex-wife (that's the amount she is supposedly due after the settlement) and keep majority ownership of the team which he purchased in 1998.

The troubles for McCourt began in October of 2009 when he divorced his, then wife of 30 years, Jamie after accusing her of having an affair with her bodyguard/driver. At the same time he also fired her form her role as the team's chief executive citing poor performance at work.

What followed was a very public feud between the two that brought to light some disturbing information about the way the McCourt's operated the Dodgers. It was discovered that Frank McCourt had been using the team as his personal piggy bank and used team revenue to finance his lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles . The McCourt's also practiced nepotism hiring their son Drew to a front office position in which he received a salary of several-hundred-thousand dollars for services that no one can clearly define.

Other examples include the constant turn-over in the front office, most notably with public relations staff, as well as the payment of over 25 percent of a charitable organizations budget to personal friend Howard Suskin. Frank McCourt also came under fire recently for not having a Head of Security on salary which became a real issue when on opening day a San Fransisco Giants fan was beaten to a pulp outside Dodgers stadium by fans (the fans name is Bryan Stow and he is still in critical condition with brain damage).

Thanks to the public nature of the divorce proceedings all of that information came to light and has hurt McCourt not only in his wallet but also in the eyes of the league and the fans. Major League Baseball clearly does not want Frank McCourt to own the Dodgers and that was made quite apparent when they did not approve a the potential $200 loan from FOX that would have saved McCourt and allowed him to keep the team.

McCourt had another loan proposal drafted and sent to MLB for approval that has is still pending a decision by the league. This proposal would have McCourt receive cash up-front from FOX for a new TV agreement that over the course of the agreement could be worth as much as $3-$4 billion. If that deal were to be approved McCourt would be more than able to pay off his ex-wife and still be able to keep the team.

The real problem MLB has with McCourt is that all the the loans he has proposed involve him accepting money to pay off his divorce settlement and other non-baseball related debts. The league doesn't want this to become standard practice for owners (case in the point the Wilpons and the New York Mets) and they also don't seem to want McCourt to be an owner anymore as he has tarnished what was once one of the greatest franchises in baseball.

"My office will continue its thorough investigation into the operations and finances of the Dodgers and related entities during the period of Mr. McCourt's ownership," Selig said in a public statement to the media. "The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future."

The crazy thing is that despite McCourt's disgraceful use of club finances the team has done quite well on the field. Since he became the owner the Dodgers have averaged 85 wins per year, won three National League West titles and reached the postseason four times. That is not a bad stretch especially when you consider the fact that payroll was cut in both 2010 and 2011 in an attempt to save McCourt some money.

At this point it would take a miracle for Frank McCourt to remain as the owner of the Dodgers. The $30 million loan he received from FOX bought McCourt a little bit of time but unless he can get his hands on more money quickly his reign as owner of the Dodgers has seemingly come to an end.

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UFC Fighters Refusing to Fight Friends/Teammates

2011-04-20T14:17:00.000-04:00

One of the biggest issues currently facing the UFC is the recent epidemic of fighters refusing to fight their friends and training partners. While the UFC is trying to run a business and put on the most exciting fights possible for the fans fighters are flat out refusing fights and in some cases denying themselves an opportunity for a title.

This is by no means a new phenomenon as fighters have always looked to avoid fighting their friends and training partners. It just seems that lately it has been occurring far more frequently.

The first major refusal to fight a friend, that I can think of, came from Anderson Silva. Silva had been cleaning out the Middleweight division and there was a growing theory amongst fans he would step up and fight at Light Heavyweight as well. The only problem was that at the time the Light Heavyweight champion was Silva's friend and training partner Lyoto Machida. Although Anderson had just come off back to back victories over light heavyweights James Irvin and Forrest Griffin he said that he would not be interested in making a permanent move to 205lbs if Machida was champion.

Even after Machida lost the belt to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 113 Anderson still refused to move up to fight for the title. He still believed that Machida was in the conversation as a potential challenger for the title and didn't want to do anything to prevent Machida from getting a title shot. So despite fans desires to see a Silva-Machida superfight the hands of the UFC are tied as they can't force Silva to fight his friend and don't want to upset their biggest star.

Since all of that transpired more and more fighters have come out and said they would refuse to fight their friends. For example Jon Fitch said that had Josh Koscheck beaten Georges St. Pierre he would have moved up to middleweight and challenged for a title there in order to avoid having to fight his American Kickboxing Academy training partner.

In an interview with MMA Mania Fitch had this to say about the whole situation,"To me there's no reason to fight a teammate. It's just not a fight we're interested in at all. It's a situation where, if Koscheck is able to win the belt and defend the belt, I will move up to 185. [If Georges wins] I'll be waiting on the front doorsteps with flowers [for a title shot]."

A more recent example would be Rashad Evan’s initial refusal to fight Jon Jones. Obviously since Jones victory over Shogun at UFC 128 Rashad has had a change of heart. Now a war of words has begun and the two will fight at some point in 2011 but this is the exception and not the rule.

I can understand why fighters wouldn’t want to fight their friends and the people they train with as no one wants to be responsible for setting a friend’s career back by beating them. I mean if Jones does beat Rashad then Rashad may never get a title shot again and that’s a lot of pressure to put on a friendship. Guys make their living by fighting and if you're a title contender you are going to be featured on main cards and make more money. To beat a friend and therefore hurt his earning power is something that I'm sure no fighter wants to do.

Having said that the UFC is a business. When these fighters sign contracts with the UFC it should be under the assumption that they will need to fight anyone at anytime. The UFC is trying to pormote MMA and put on the best possible fight for fans and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva needs to have the freedom to make the best fights possible without having his hands tied because of friendship. In the case of Rashad and Jones the UFC got lucky that they changed their minds and agreed to fight but that won't happen every time.

Another factor to consider is that these days a lot of the top fighters in the world train at the same gyms. Jackson’s MMA, Black House and AKA are the home gyms of 4 of the current UFC champions and at least 10 fighters that would be considered top 5 in their weight class. If guys from AKA refuse to fight one another then that's going to be a problem as that gym continues to grow and attract better fighters.

Staying with the theme of gyms by forcing training partners to fight it might also divide the gym. The best example of this is occurring presently with Rashad and Jon Jones. Rashad trained at Jackson's MMA long before Jon Jones did and now he has left the gym and is training elsewhere as he feels betrayed by Greg Jackson and the other coaches. Now other people that trained at Jackson's MMA have to take sides and the whole situation can get out of hand quick.

In the case of Rashad and Jones if they had just agreed to fight in the first place the whole thing wouldn't have gone down the way it did. Instead they let public pressure and misinterpreted quotes from interviews guide their decisions. Had both fighters realized that they were involved in a business and put their friendship aside this mess could have been avoided.

The UFC needs to put a stop to this sort of behavior as soon as possible because if they don’t eventually it’s going to be hard for them to put on the fights that fans really want to see. Fighters need to realize that they are involved in a business and although it’s understandable they don’t want to fight their friends if you want to be a great fighter you can’t turn down fights.

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Cam Newton's Rising Draft Stock

2011-04-19T14:47:00.003-04:00

One of the best things about the lead up to the NFL Draft is reading every big writers Mock Drafts and seeing where they predict players will be taken. Its always interesting to see who climbs into the first round after an impressive Combine or Pro Day (Andy Dalton of TCU comes to mind) and conversely who falls out of the top 10 after being a consensus top pick forever (this year that is Nick Fairley from Auburn).

This year the player that has moved the most, in terms of where he has been projected to be taken, is Cam Newton. Despite the fact that Newton led Auburn to a National Championship in January and won the Heisman Trophy he wasn't projected as a 1st round pick. Many experts had him pegged as a 2nd or even 3rd round pick as it was believed he didn't have the skill set to make the transition to the pro style game.

There were also character concerns as all year long Newton had been involved in a highly publicized scandal concerning whether his father took money for him to play at Auburn. Lots of people wondered how much Newton knew and whether he was involved in the scandal and was letting his dad take all the heat. Then there was his controversial past at Florida most notably the alleged theft of a laptop and instances of academic cheating.

Needless to say when it came to Cam Newton there were more questions than answers.

Fast forward a few months and all of a sudden Cam Newton is the popular choice to be taken #1 overall by the Panthers on April 28th. How did Newton go from being a possible 2nd or 3rd round pick to now being the favorite to be taken first overall?

The answer is actually pretty simple. For all his shortcomings in the character department, in which he does have many, there is no player in this draft with even close to the same potential that Cam Newton has. His combination of athletic ability and marketability can't be ignored and make him worth the risk of being taken first overall.

Since 2001 there have been 8 quarterbacks taken 1st overall (Michael Vick, David Carr, Carson Palmer, Eli Manning, Alex Smith, JaMarcus Russell, Matthew Stafford and Sam Bradford). Of those 8 quarterbacks only 3 have been busts (Carr, Smith and Russell) with the jury still being out on one (Stafford). That means that based on recent history Cam Newton has pretty much a 50-50 chance of being a total bust and crippling the Carolina Panthers for years to come.

Mel Kiper of ESPN stated the Panther's dilemma perfectly in his latest mock draft when he wrote, "There are immediate needs, and there is a decision that you believe will change the direction of your franchise for years to come." That's the important part right there. The Panthers need someone to market their team around as former stars such as Julius Peppers have left for free agency, or in the case of wide receiver Steve Smith, have become irrelevant.

Kiper continues by writing, "If they really see Newton as the transformative player that can be both a Pro Bowl quarterback and face of the franchise who draws a lot of buzz, they can make this pick. If talent alone was all they were concerned with, Newton would be an easy choice. But this pick also requires a belief in his development and maturity. Certainly, however, Newton's potential is significant"

There's that word again, potential. Whenever you draft a player it is always based on what you think their potential is. How good can they be as a professional and do they have the potential to become a superstar that can change the fortune of a franchise? I believe Newton has that ability.

In terms of athleticism there are no questions. Newton is an athletic freak and his showing at the Combine proved that. He ran the 40 in just 4.59 seconds, broad jumped 10 feet 6 inches and had a 35-inch vertical all while being 6'4 220lbs. He has incredible arm strength and can throw the ball 60 to 70 yards with ease. His performance made Trent Dilfer say, "The ceiling is so astronomically high for Cam Newton that the scouts, the GMs, the coaches are really going to be slobbering about the prospects of having him on their team."

The two biggest issues Newton has are accuracy and maturity. The accuracy is something that can be fixed with a little patience and some solid coaching. The maturity is something Newton is going to have to figure out on his own.

Before the Combine even started Newton was quoted by Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King as saying, "I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon." While it is good to see that Newton realizes football is a business it does not look good when a college kid is talking about becoming an icon before he has even taken a snap in the NFL.

To me the one thing I always come back to when talking about Cam Newton is his performance in the Iron Bowl at the end of the Auburn season against Alabama. The game was in Alabama and Auburn fell behind early 24-0. If the Tigers didn't win then they could kiss a shot at the National Championship goodbye.

Instead of folding Newton led Auburn back and they eventually won the game 28-27 throwing for 3 touchdowns and running in another. It was probably one of the greatest performances I have ever seen and it really showed the greatness of Cam Newton. To pull off a victory like that, on the road and in a hostile environment all the while having to deal with talks of scandal and eligibility is impressive and proves Newton is a winner.

This is what coaches and General Managers look at. They look past the immaturity and the accuracy problems and see the potential for greatness that Newton has. It truly is undeniable and its why he more than likely will be the #1 overall pick come draft day.

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Despite the Officials Best Efforts the NBA Playoffs Have Been Great

2011-04-18T15:57:00.001-04:00

What a crazy weekend in the NBA. It had everything. Big upsets (Atlanta beating Orlando, Memphis beating San Antonio and New Orleans beating Los Angeles), last second heroics (Shane Battier and Ray Allen) and some ridiculous individual performances (Derrick Rose and Chris Paul). There were 8 games and almost every one of them came down to the final possession with the largest margin of victory being only 10 points.

The weekend wasn't without its flaws however and the one that stuck out the most, and when it comes to the NBA always sticks out the most, was the officiating.

No other sport is hurt so much by the refs. Sometimes NFL games can be ruined by a ref making a bad call or calling a stupid penalty but for the most part the players decide the outcome. That's not the way it goes down in the NBA though as at times it seems like the biggest stars on the court are the officials. As Bill Simmons tweeted during the Bulls-Pacers game, "For any Bulls fans attending this game: don't forget, you're not there to see the teams, you're there to see Joey Crawford."

That tweet wasn't far off. Despite Derrick Rose putting on one of the greatest individual performances I have ever seen in the NBA Playoffs the real star of that game was Crawford. In that game alone there were 46 personal fouls called as well as 2 technical fouls (one to Pacers coach Frank Vogel and one to Bulls forward Luol Deng). The final score of that game was 104-99 for Chicago. The Bulls went 26-32 from the charity stripe meaning that exactly 25% of their total offense came from free throws.

But the Bulls weren't even the biggest benefactors of the whistle happy refs. In a 101-98 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies the San Antonio Spurs scored almost 38% of their total points from the line. They shot a total of 47 free throws making 36 of them. In that particular game there were a total of 60 personal fouls handed out by Ed Milloy and the rest of his officiating crew. I watched that whole game and I can promise you there weren't 60 plays that merited a foul call. It just so happens that every time Tony Parker or George Hill came within 8 feet of the basket a whistle got blown.

In total there were 445 free throw attempts over the weekend. That averages out to 55.63 free throw attempts per game. If I had to bet I would say that going forward that number is only going to get higher as well because these officials want to make sure they are "controlling the game" and not letting the players take over.

Here are the guys that got to the line the most over the weekend (Makes/Attempts):

Dwight Howard - 14-22
Derrick Rose - 19-21
Tony Parker - 12-16
Kevin Durant - 12-15
LeBron James - 13-14
Dirk Nowitzki - 13-13
George Hill - 11-13
Chris Paul - 9-12
Chris Bosh - 9-11
Marc Gasol - 6-10

A lot of the guys on the list are players that drive to the basket and actually get fouled (Rose, LeBron and Durant) and Howard just gets hacked every time he touches the ball. The rest of the guys on the list though, especially Hill, Parker and Nowitzki, just drive to the basket and flail hoping the ref will bail them out, which more often then not they do.

Its not even just the free throws that are brutal. In two separate games officials made absolutely terrible calls that ended up deciding the game. The first was a non-call against Kendrick Perkins of the Thunder against the Denver Nuggets and the second was an offensive foul call against Carmelo Anthony in the final minute of the Celtics/Knicks game.

The Perkins non-call was a blatant basket interference call that the refs somehow missed. With the Thunder down 101-100 Russell Westbrook put up a shot from 15 feet that bounced off the rim and then went in. The only problem is that Perkins tipped the ball in from under the basket as it was still in the cylinder. If the refs get that call right then the Nuggets are still up by one point with the ball and 1:06 left to play. That basket changed the momentum of the game and ended up titling the game in favor of the Thunder.

That non-call is nothing when compared to the atrocious offensive foul call against Carmelo Anthony. With the Knicks up 85-84 with possession of the ball Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce were jostling for position just outside the post area. Pierce was holding Melo's left arm and when Melo shook him off Pierce exaggerated and got the offensive foul call. Was it a foul? No and it is definitely not a foul you call with 21 seconds left in a playoff game. That gave the Celtics the ball and Ray Allen, being the best clutch shooter in NBA history in my opinion, nails the game winning 3.

Both of those examples gave the home team the advantage and you have to wonder if that's what made the refs blow the whistle. I personally think its because the officials can't keep up with the speed of the game and they blow the whistle based on assumptions and not based on what they actually see. Some of the refs in the NBA are in their 60s and 70s and yet they feel they can still run up and down the court with some of the best athletes on the planet. They see a guy drive the basket in an instant and then see bodies move and they just blow the whistle as a first reaction.

So maybe I am being too hard on the refs. Then again they are incompetent old men who seemingly want to make sure that basketball games are decided at the free throw line instead of during regular play. Yet despite the best the officials best efforts the first weekend of the NBA playoffs can be seen as nothing but a major success.

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Why Barry Bonds and Manny Ramirez Should be in the Hall of Fame

2011-04-15T13:42:00.000-04:00

This was a big, and extremely controversial, week for MLB. Manny Ramirez surprisingly retired rather than face a 100 game suspension for testing positive during a random drug test and Barry Bonds was found guilt of obstruction of justice and now awaits sentencing in court.

With all of that going on the usual debate has popped up and has dominated much of the discussion of both Bonds and Ramirez. The debate of course is whether or not Barry Bonds and Manny Ramirez should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. To me this shouldn't even be a debate as both Barry Bonds and Manny Ramirez 100 percent belong in the Hall of Fame and here is why:

If you go to the Baseball Hall of Fame website they quote their slogan in the top right hand corner of the home page. The slogan reads, "Preserving History - Honoring Excellence - Connecting Generations." In the top left hand corner of the same home page the official name of the Hall of Fame is written, "National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum." Based on the slogan and the official name of the Hall of Fame both Barry Bonds and Manny Ramirez deserve inclusion.

If the point of the Hall of Fame is to preserve the history of baseball then how can Bonds and Ramirez not be included? Just because they cheated does not mean that they don't have their place in the history of the game. No one in baseball history has ever hit more home runs than Barry Bonds. How is that not integral to the history of baseball? Just because fans and writers don't like him doesn't mean he should be excluded from baseball history.

The same can be said for Ramirez who historically is one of the greatest right handed hitters in the history of baseball. His numbers are right up there with such baseball legends as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Frank Robinson. To deny him entry into the Hall of Fame would be the exact opposite of preserving history, it would be ignoring.

The most important word to focus on is 'museum.' If the Hall of Fame is actually going to be a legitimate museum for the game of baseball then how do you exclude players for taking steroids? That would be the same as the German National History Museum excluding the Holocaust. While it does make the country look bad it is still an important part of their history and to try and sweep it under the rug like it didn't happen is ridiculous. The same goes for players who took steroids. Baseball can try and pretend like it didn't happen but fans know and it makes the Hall of Fame look ridiculous for trying to exclude those players.

Nowhere on the Hall of Fame website does it have the word 'moral' written. The point of a Hall of Fame isn't to induct players based on moral character and personality. If that is the case then why is the Hall of Fame currently filled with blatantly open racists, alcoholics, drug users and convicted felons? Character and personality should have no bearing on whether someone is inducted into the Hall of Fame or not and if it does have some bearing then the word 'museum' needs to be removed from the title of the organization.

Then again this is nothing knew for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In the past they have refused to include some of the more polarizing figures in baseball history. Pete Rose, the man with more hits than anyone in baseball history, is not in the Hall of Fame because he bet on baseball. The list of records Pete Rose holds is astounding including most hits ever, most games played, most career at bats, most singles, runs/doubles/walks/total bases by a switch hitter and most consecutive seasons of 200 or more hits: 10. Yet despite his amazing playing career he has been excluded from the Hall of Fame and more than likely will never be inducted, which is one of the greater tragedies in sports if you ask me.

'Connecting Generations' is also listed as one of the principle values of the Baseball Hall of Fame. If that is the case then how will you connect the 80s to the late 2000s without showcasing the "Steroid Era" of the 90s and early 2000s? How do you know for certain who was on steroids and who wasn't? Maybe everyone was and only a few people got caught. A few years ago there was a reported list of over 500 players that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs yet only a few names were released. Who else was on that list and why haven't their names been released?

If the selection committee is going to deny Bonds and Ramirez, with Bonds never actually testing positive, then how can they induct anyone from that era?

The most common defense for not inducting someone like Pete Rose or Barry Bonds into the Hall of Fame is, "they are excluded because they cheated." This is a not a valid argument for exclusion in my eyes. The Hall of Fame is currently filled with pitchers who admitted to using illegal pitches throughout their careers. Guys would use sandpaper or a nail file to wreck the shape of the ball making it harder to hit and of course there is the infamous spitball used by pitchers such as Gaylord Perry and Don Drysdale. The pitchers that used these pitches broke the rules of baseball and yet still find themselves in the Hall of Fame. If they are included then why can't Barry Bonds be inducted as well?

By blatantly ignoring the purpose of the organization and the '"values" it supposedly stands for, the Baseball Hall of Fame has become a popularity contest. Players whose careers were far less impressive than someone like Rose's or Bonds' are being inducted. You're telling me Bert Blyleven is more important to the history of baseball than Pete Rose and Barry Bonds?

Excluding players such as Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa because they broke the rules of the game is a blatant contradiction of what the Hall of Fame is supposed to stand for. Why can these players not be inducted and then on their plaque have an inscription that states they tested positive for steroids? Is that really such a big deal?

Until the day that Barry Bonds, Pete Rose and Manny Ramirez are inducted into the Hall of Fame I will never look at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum as legitimate.

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NFL Rookie Wages Set to be Cut

2011-04-14T15:10:00.000-04:00

Late Monday night documents were leaked from the NFL offices that outlined a proposed plan by the owners to cut almost 60 percent of guaranteed money paid to first round draft picks. The plan would free up a total of $1.2 billion by 2016 and that money would be diverted to veterans' salaries and benefits rather than being spent on players that have yet to play a down in the NFL. Also all players drafted in the first round would have to sign five-year fixed contracts*.

* Players selected in rounds 2-7 would sign four year fixed deals

Making changes to the rookie salary system was a major point of contention during negotiations before the lockout occurred as it should be. First round picks, especially quarterbacks, get paid way too much money considering they haven't actually accomplished anything. In almost every other sport there is a maximum rookie contract, or rookie wage scale*, that limits how much rookies can make. A system like that forces players to earn a big contract rather than simply being handed millions of dollars for possible future production.

* The owners leaked proposal does not include a rookie wage scale as contracts can still be negotiated on a case by case basis

The amount of guaranteed money first round picks receive is insane. From the year 2000 to the year 2010 the amount of guaranteed money first round players received went up 233 percent. In 2010 alone $525 million of guaranteed money was included in contracts ($50 million of which went to Sam Bradford, the 1st overall pick by the St. Louis Rams). That number needs to come down as paying players that young, that much money, before they have ever played a down not only gives them a feeling of entitlement but can also create animosity from veterans who had to earn their contracts.

Here are the last five #1 overall selections and how much guaranteed money they got:

Sam Bradford -$50 million
Matthew Stafford - $41.7 million
Jake Long - $30 million
JaMarcus Russell - $32.019
Mario Williams - $27.125

Before the JaMarcus Russell bashing starts keep in mind that there are other quarterbacks who have been huge busts that cost their teams millions of dollars as well, maybe not as the same level as Russell but still. Matt Leinart ($12.9 million), David Carr ($15 million) and Joey Harrington ($13.9 million) are just a few that come to mind. Think of how crippling those contracts were to their respective teams.

In an interview with ESPN Philadelphia Eagles team President Joe Banner had this to say about the proposal to cut guaranteed money being given to rookies, "From a fairness standpoint, the simple concept to drive this should be that the players who contribute the most to the league should get the most money. What this system does is ensures players playing well in the NFL and bringing in fans and driving TV [ratings] will get the money that went to players who turned out not to be so good. And that is good for everyone."

The agents for these rookies might tend to disagree with Mr. Banner as this new proposed system would severely hurt the amount of money they would be able to make. Ben Dogra for example is the agent for Sam Bradford and he no doubt made a ridiculous commission on Bradford's contract with the Rams. If this proposed system was in place Bradford would have gotten only maybe $20 million guaranteed which would mean Dogra would have lost out on millions of dollars.

Its not just the agents who would be getting hurt by the proposed new rules. Veteran players would also suffer if the price to sign rookies was to be lowered. Some players in the league only have jobs because teams are hesitant to hand over large sums of money to unproven players. If the average cost of a rookie contract was to drop by the proposed 60 percent and veterans' salaries would go up by 60 percent then teams would be more likely to fill their roster with cheaper and younger players.

Player agent Peter Schaffer put it best when he said, "This will eliminate the veteran middle class because teams can have younger players who are making less and are under fixed contracts." He also called this proposed system, "scouting insurance" as it protects teams that screw up their first round picks in the draft.

Although it will more than likely get rejected I hope this proposal does become the rule. I hate seeing rookies that haven't done a thing in the NFL holdout because they want more money. They should have to earn their contracts as it would make them try harder and you would have fewer busts. No more guys like JaMarcus Russell getting paid their millions and then not caring or trying. Players are now going to have to play their ay to the big pay day (totally meant for that to rhyme).

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The UFC Hype Machine

2011-04-13T13:31:00.001-04:00

What do Mark Hominick, Jake Shields and Yushin Okami all have in common? Well for one they are all #1 contenders for UFC titles in their respective weight classes. More importantly than that however what they all have in common is that despite the glowing praise from Dana White, Joe Rogan and others associated with the UFC they have no chance to beat Jose Aldo, Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva.

This phenomenon is what I like the call the 'UFC Hype Machine.'

The basic function of the UFC Hype Machine is get fans to believe that fighters, while excellent in their own right, have a chance of beating the best fighters on the planet. That's exactly what Aldo, St. Pierre and Silva are, they are pound for pound three of best fighters in the world and yet for some reason fans, including myself, always seem to doubt them heading into a fight.

If you watch The Ultimate Fighter then no doubt you have seen the new promo ad for UFC 129. The ad features Jake Shields in a locker room as Joe Rogan does voice over work listing all of Shields' best victories. The purpose of the ad is to get fans to believe that Jake Shields has a chance in hell of beating Georges St. Pierre on April 30th. If you watch Mixed Martial Arts at all then you know that this is just not possible. Shields has never faced anyone half as good as GSP and he will no doubt get severely outclassed when they meet.

Jake Shields is the latest example of the UFC hype machine at work. When the fight was first announced months ago I remember public reaction being 'he doesn't stand a chance against Georges St. Pierre.' Yet slowly but surely doubt starts to creep into the minds of fans and they start to believe that Shields might actually stand a chance, which is exactly what the UFC wants you to think.

The Hype Machine has been doing its work since long before Jake Shields arrived. Think back on Georges St. Pierre's last few fights. Going into each one of them the message from the UFC was always the same, "fighter X is the most dangerous opponent Georges has ever faced." They even said that about Josh Koscheck, who the first time he fought GSP at UFC 74 got absolutely man handled. Koscheck, Dan Hardy, BJ Penn, Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch. These are the men that GSP has not only beaten but absolutely dominated.

Even when it comes to Anderson Silva, the best fighter in the world in the weakest division in the UFC, the Hype Machine is still extremely effective. Before he fought Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia, Thales Leites and Patrick Cote there were fans who thought he could be in trouble. Yet other than Sonnen (who was on steroids and Silva had a cracked rib) they have all looked pathetic barely posing a challenge. Two of those guys (Leites and Cote) aren't even in the UFC anymore. Yet when Anderson faces Yushin Okami you better believe fans will think Okami has a chance.

How many fights will Anderson Silva need to dominate before fans finally realize he cannot be beaten? I mean the man hasn't lost since 2006. Georges St. Pierre hasn't lost a round 2007. Let me repeat so it really sinks in. He has not lost a single round in over 5 years of fighting. Yet Jake Shields (who is often in bad positions and barely pulls of victories) is somehow a serious threat? Jose Aldo hasn't lost since 2005, that's 6 years people, but Mark Hominick is being given a "punchers chance."

I'm not saying that the UFC is being dishonest in the way they promote fights. No the point is that fans keep falling for the same thing (I include myself here). We as fans watch Countdown and Primetime, we see the promos and we start to think, "yeah I could see him pulling off the upset." That is the power of the UFC Hype Machine. It takes rational MMA fans and gets us to completely disregard all the fights we have ever watched. All the evidence of domination we have witnessed in the past is forgotten in an instant and that's when the UFC has us right where they want us.

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1st Round NHL Playoff Predictions

2011-04-12T15:06:00.001-04:00

The NHL playoffs kickoff on Wednesday and I couldn't be more excited. The regular season is fine and all but playoff hockey is a better representation of what real hockey is. Guys actually finish their checks unlike in the regular season and players actually try for the entire game, its awesome.

I just can't wait for that first double overtime game that takes until 2:35am to finish. And is there anything better then when someone throws a dirty hit in Game 2 officially signifying that the series just got chippy?

So here are my predictions:

Western Conference

(1) Vancouver vs. (8) Chicago

God damnit Dallas you mother f*&ing pieces of s%@* how did you not beat the f%$#@ing Minnesota Wild?! All the Stars had to do to make the playoffs, and keep Vancouver from playing Chicago, was beat Jose Theodore and some AHL callups. But I guess that's just way too much to ask for a team who boasts one of the best top two lines in the NHL. Just disgraceful.

As a Canucks fan am I worried that my team will get bounced from the playoffs for the 3rd straight season by the Blackhawks? Am I worried Roberto Luongo hasn't slept since the Stars lost and still has nightmares about Patrick Kane every night? Am I worried Vancouver's best faceoff man is half blind? Am I worried about the President's Trophy curse? Of course I am.

But I am also cautiously optimistic and here is why. Vancouver's penalty kill during the regular season was 3rd bets in the league at 85.6% while Chicago's was 25th at 79.2%. I don't see Corey Crawford stealing any games and becoming this years Antti Niemi.

Lastly with Dustin Byfuglien now on Atlanta and Troy Brouwer and David Bolland unlikely to be healthy for the series I don't think Chicago will be able to man handle the Canucks like they did the past 2 years. That should hopefully give the Sedins more room to work with.

Having said all that I could still see the Canucks getting swept and wasting another year as a Stanley Cup contender.

Prediction: Canucks in 6 (had to go 6 because if it goes 7 the Canucks are screwed. Maybe I should have gone with the reverse jinx on this one)

(2) San Jose vs. (7) Los Angeles

I could talk about how San Jose doesn't kill penalties half as well as LA does and how LA has a young team that is loaded with talent but really it would be a waste of time.

The only thing you need to know about this series is that the Sharks top line are what I like to refer to as "choke artists." Unless they are on the same team as Sidney Crosby, Eric Staal, Jonathan Toews, Drew Doughty, Chris Pronger, Corey Perry, Ryan Getlaf and every other great Canadian player in the NHL they aren't winning shit. No one to carry them means no chance of victory.

Prediction: LA in 6

(3) Detroit vs. (6) Phoenix

List of players on the Detroit red Wings that have won a Stanley Cup: Pavel Datsyuk (2), Henrik Zetterberg, Brian Rafalski (3), Johan Franzen, Jiri Hudler, Nicklas Lidstrom (4), Nicklas Kronwall, Dan Cleary, Valtteri Filppula, Tomas Holmstrom (4), Kris Draper (4), Brad Stuart, Drew Miller, Darren Helm, Chris Osgood (3), Mike Modano.

List of players on Phoenix that have won a Stanley Cup: Ilya Bryzgalov, Ray Whitney.

Prediction: Detroit in 4 (yeah I said it. Phoenix shouldn't have a hockey team and they probably won't even sell out the building during their 2 home games. But keep pushing the NHL on people that could care less about the game Gary Bettman its noble work you're doing).

(4) Anaheim vs. (5) Nashville

Nashville got so screwed here. They almost got to play Phoenix or LA both teams they more than likely would have won their first playoff series ever against but now they have to play Anaheim who will not be an easy out.

For me this series comes down to one player: Shea Weber. In order for Nashville to be successful Weber needs to play his best hockey and shutdown Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. If he does that then Nashville might finally get over the hump and win a playoff series which I am really hoping for because Nashville is a solid team and Barry Trotz could use a break (I mean the guy has no neck he could use a win).

Prediction: Nashville in 7

Eastern Conference

(1) Washington vs. (8) New York

Time to see if the Capitals new commitment to defense will pay off. Last year they got bounced in the first round by Montreal and rededicated themselves to playing 'playoff hockey' all season. It may have cost them in offense but they still won their division, got a first seed in the playoffs and had the 2nd best penalty kill in the league.

The Rangers barely got into the playoffs (Carolina choked at home against Tampa Bay on the final day of the season) and when I look at this team I wonder who is going to step up and be a leader in the playoffs. Henrik Lundqvist is an amazing goalie but he can't win the series on his own, not with the defense he has in front of him anyways.

The Rangers owned the Capitals during the regular season but I don't see them continuing that trend when it actually matters.

Prediction: Capitals in 5

(2) Philadelphia vs. (7) Buffalo

They may have limped into the postseason (going 3-4-3 in their last 10 games) but the Flyers are a team that was built for the playoffs. They play physical hockey and across the board are in my opinion the most talented team in the NHL. Their goaltending is a real question mark but they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals with Brian Boucher in net last season so no need to worry there.

Plus if Chris Pronger plays in this series, which it looks like he will, then god help the Sabers forwards. he has built some pent up aggression sitting in the press box and no doubt he wants to kill somebody. Thomas Vanek better keep his head up.

I emailed my buddy Draper (biggest Sabers fan I know,well to be fair the only Sabers fan I know) asking him how many games he thought the Sabers would win. "2 if we are lucky."

Prediction: Flyers in 6

(3) Boston vs. (6) Montreal

I was watching TSN today and they aired an interview with Travis Moen of the Canadiens asking him how he thought they were going to win the series. His response, "drive hard to the net and make Tim Thomas work." Not a bad strategy although there is one flaw I do see in it. The Canadiens don't have a forward taller than 5'4. How are these midgets going to drive to the net on Zedeno Chara? They won't even be able to get by Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton.

With all the bad blood between these two teams this year this series should be great to watch but I think its going to be pretty one-sided in terms of wins. The again my boys Carey Price and PK Subban might go off and pull off the upset, I kid I kid.

Prediction: Boston in 4

(4) Pittsburgh vs. (5) Tampa Bay

The fact that the Penguins played so well down the stretch despite missing Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby is mind bottling. Jordan Staal proved he can be a #1 center and everyone else stepped up their level of play. I don't think Crosby will be playing in this series but I don't think the Penguins will need him as they are a proven group with the best penalty kill in the NHL.

Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis combined for 190 points. Tampa bays next 4 top scorers combined for 183. Tampa Bay is a 2 man team that scored the 6th most goals in the NHL this year but had just 8 players finish with a + rating. They don't play good defense and their goaltending is mediocre at best. I mean Dwayne Roloson? Its not 2005-2006 anymore.

Prediction: Pittsburgh in 5

So there you go. Predictions that mean absolutely nothing from some random jackass on the internet. Enjoy the playoffs. I know I will.

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Tara Sullivan Denied Access to Male Locker Room at Masters, Overreaction Ensues

2011-04-11T14:22:00.004-04:00

"Bad enough no women members at Augusta. But not allowing me to join writers in locker room interview is just wrong."

That is a tweet from female journalist Tara Sullivan of the Bergen Record from Sunday night after she was denied access to the male locker room at Augusta National Golf Club. The tweet was published at around 8:30 pm and thanks to the express nature of social media the story blew up in a matter of minutes.

The general public reaction was one of outrage as people simply couldn't wrap their heads around a female being barred from a male locker room. Naturally the majority of the outrage was directed at Augusta National due to their history of sexism (they currently have no female members) however some people were quick to blame the security guard who refused her entry.

This is where the overreaction began.

A common saying is that when you have a knee-jerk reaction often times you end up looking like the jerk. This saying rings especially true in this case as people were quick to call both Augusta National and the security guard sexist before getting all of the facts. If people had simply waited for the entire story to surface they would have realized that the whole situation was a misunderstanding and not some sort mean spirited and sexist act with the intention of embarrassing Tara Sullivan.

Fact #1 - The security guard that denied Tara Sullivan was female not male like many assumed

Here is a quote from Tara Sullivan in an article she published this morning that ran in almost every major newspaper Monday morning,

"At the final portion of the hallway, the one that ended at the locker room door, I was told by a female security officer that I was not allowed in. I asked the security woman again why they had such a policy, and she told me it was because there was an open bathroom area in the locker room. She apologized for the rule, saying it was not her policy."

So rather than a male security guard rudely telling Tara Sullivan she wasn't allowed and not giving an explanation it was actually a female who, based on Sullivan's own story, politely explained to her the situation and what she understood was the policy of the club.

But rather than wait for that information to come out people just assumed it was a man who denied her. I'm not saying it makes it right because she was denied by a woman I am simply showing how jumping to a conclusion rather than waiting for facts can lead to overreactions.

Fact #2 - Augusta National apologized as soon as they were informed of what occurred

Once the story broke many people were quick to blame Augusta National and point to their sexist past (myself included although I didn't blame them I simply stated I wasn't surprised based on their history). For those that are unaware in 2002 there was a large controversy over the lack of female members at Augusta National.

In response then Chairman Hootie Johnson stated publicly, "Our membership is single gender just as many other organizations and clubs all across America. These would include junior Leagues, sororities, fraternities, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and countless others. And we all have a moral and legal right to organize our clubs the way we wish"

That is sound logic and although it may not be politically correct and socially acceptable it is legally correct as Augusta National is a private organization who can create and enforce any policy it wishes. Since then the club has allowed female members to join the 'waiting list' although that was 9 years ago and there still isn't one single female member. But back to Tara Sullivan.

Once again in her own words, "I approached the media desk for an official reaction. An apology was translated to me shortly after and Masters media official Steve Ethun met with me personally."

"I apologize," he said. "It was a complete misunderstanding by tournament week security and you should have rightfully been given access per the standard practices of major sporting events."

One more quick excerpt from Tara Sullivan's personal account, "I looked around for any official Masters representative, but didn’t see anyone."

So what happened was Sullivan was denied access to the locker room and there was no official present to correct the mistake that had been made. As soon as an official was notified an apology was given although at that time it was too late.

There was nothing that Augusta National could have done short of stationing an official right by the door to the locker room. In this case it seems as though Tara Sullivan was simply unlucky and to accuse Augusta National of purposely baring her is flat out incorrect.

Fact #3 - The female security guard was "tournament week staff"

What does that mean exactly? It means that the security guard isn't a full-time employee of Augusta National and that she was hired on a 7 day contract to work just the Masters. Once the tournament ended she would effectively no longer be employed.

Therefore it would be fair to say she might not know 100% of the policies at the club and simply made a judgement call that was incorrect. She was clearly unaware of equal-access policy which Augusta National does have in effect and had an official been there at the time the situation would no doubt have been rectified.

Tara Sullivan even took some of the blame off the female security guard herself when she said in her recounting of the incident, "Augusta National does not allow women members, so perhaps security personnel could be confusing club policy with Masters policy."

As I said before it was bad luck for Sullivan and an unfortunate misunderstanding that has spiraled into a backlash against Augusta National for being "sexists."

Fact #4 - Sullivan met her deadline and got her story on Rory McIlroy published

That obviously doesn't make up for what happened to her but in reality that's what this whole incident is about. A reporter wanted an interview but was denied access to the locker room. She eventually got quotes and the entire transcript of a group interview from her fellow journalists but she missed out on being there personally.

People were reacting like she was denied access to a cure for cancer. She was just trying to write a 700 word story and couldn't talk to her main interview subject directly. Context people, context.

I can understand why people would be upset over first hearing about a story like this. Its 2011 and females are still having to deal with incidents like this. A lot of the outrage I saw came from female journalists and members of the media which is shocking because if you are a professional journalist you should know that facts are king. Reacting without knowing the facts can blow up in your face and make you look foolish and had everyone just sat back and waited 12 hours they would have seen that this was just a case of misunderstanding and bad luck.

Random YouTube Video

Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars Crack Under Pressure

2011-04-10T22:20:00.001-04:00

Win one game. That's all the Carolina Hurricanes and the Dallas Stars had to do to make the NHL playoffs.

Thanks to a New York Rangers loss earlier in the week all Carolina had to do was win at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and they were in. As for the Stars they were given a ray of hope when the Chicago Blackhawks lost Sunday afternoon to the Detroit Red Wings.

But the pressure was too much as both teams ended up losing and will now have to watch the playoffs on television like the rest of us.

For the past 3 weeks the Hurricanes had been chasing the New York Rangers and the Buffalo Sabres for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It seemed that no matter how well they played, and they did play really well down the stretch, they just couldn't make up any ground. Then miraculously the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Rangers 3-0 on Thursday opening the door for the Hurricanes to sneak their way into the playoffs with a win over Tampa Bay on Saturday night.

It seemed like a dream scenario for the Canes as they were playing a team that had nothing to gain by winning and were playing them at home in the RBC Center where they were 22-13-5 on the year. Unfortunately for the Canes, and their fans, it quickly turned into a nightmare as the Lightning scored 3 unanswered goals in the 1st period to suck the energy right out of the building. The Hurricanes wouldn't recover and ended up losing 6-2 thus ending their season.

"I think there's a chance it was shock at 3-0," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said in an interview with NHL.com after the disappointing loss. "It happened so fast that you're shell-shocked a little bit, and then the enormity of how much you put into it and where it's at, I think that made it difficult for us."

Captain Eric Staal echoed his coaches sentiments, "We worked our butts off all year to have this opportunity at home and we didn't get the job done."

I thought for sure the Hurricanes would make it into the playoffs. I figured there was no way they lose with Cam Ward in net and Eric Staal knowing what was on the line but clearly they choked. They didn't play a strong game defensively and didn't set the tone early instead playing a style of hockey more suited to Tampa Bay's strengths.

Luckily for the Hurricanes they aren't the only choke artists in the league as the Dallas Stars also blew their glorious chance to make it into the playoffs when they lost 5-3 to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night.

The Stars were all but out of the playoff race going into the weekend but on Sunday afternoon they were given a second chance at playoff life. The second chance came thanks to a 4-3 Blackhawks loss at home to the Detroit Red Wings. The defending Stanley Cup champions knew they controlled their playoff fate and would be guaranteed the 7th or 8th seed with a win, but they blew it.

"I can't even believe we're here right now," said Hawks captain Jonathan Toews during his post-game press conference to the media. "It's so frustrating that it has to come down to this. I'm pretty much speechless."

If the Stars had beaten the Wild, the Blackhawks would have become the 5th team in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup one year and fail to make the playoffs the following season. The 1967-68 Maple Leafs, 1969-70 Canadiens, 1995-96 Devils and 2006-07 Hurricanes are the only teams to fail to make the playoffs the season after winning the Cup.

But the Hawks don't have to worry about adding their names to that list thanks to the choke job by the Dallas Stars and believe me it was a choke job. The Wild played backup goalie Jose Theodore instead of Niklas Backstrom and most of the Wild's best players (John Madden, Martin Havlat and Nick Shultz) weren't even in the lineup. No the Dallas Stars got shut down by a Wild team that was filled with minor league call ups and backstopped by a goalie that only started 28 games this year, winning just 14 of them.

Its crazy to think that two teams could play 81 games working so hard to try and get into the playoffs and then lose the most important game of their season to teams that had nothing to play for. In the case of the Stars they couldn't even beat a team that, based on the roster they put on the ice, looked like they were trying to lose.

Both teams will now have a full off-season to reflect on just how exactly they blew their respective chances to potentially win a Stanley Cup. You can't ask for much more than to control your own playoff destiny and for the Canes and Stars it was too much pressure to handle. Then again by losing both teams proved that they didn't deserve to make the playoffs and the teams that got in are the correct teams.

I am more pissed than shocked that the Wild won as I was banking on a Stars win so that my Vancouver Canucks wouldn't have to play the Blackhawks in the opening round. Now I have to sit and watch as Roberto Luongo gets ravaged by Patrick Kane backhands. Thanks a lot Dallas.

Random YouTube Video (Fail compilation seems appropriate)

Manny Ramirez's Shocking Retirement

2011-04-09T14:12:00.001-04:00

On Friday Manny Ramirez announced that after 19 seasons he would be retiring from the game of baseball effective immediately. Only hours later it was revealed that Ramirez had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in a random blood test during Spring Training. This being his second offense Ramirez would have faced a 100 game suspension but instead he chose to walk away from the game officially ending one of the most impressive, and controversial, careers in baseball history.

Reaction from players and managers all over the league was one of disbelief. "I'm shocked," said Colorado's Jason Giambi in an interview with ESPN. "He always kind of portrayed that he was out there, but he knew how to hit, man. He was unbelievable when it came to hitting."

In a conference call to the press Ramirez had this to say about his decision, "I'm at ease. God knows what's best [for me]. I'm now an officially retired baseball player. I'll be going away on a trip to Spain with my old man."

Had Ramirez not retired he would have become the first baseball player in MLB to get caught using performance enhancing drugs twice. The first time he was caught was with the Dodgers a few years ago and he was suspended for 50 games. Now at 38 years old and as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays Manny has chosen to retire rather than face his punishment.

So far every article I've read or interview I've watched has had the same theme, 'what will Manny's legacy be and did he ruin it with this latest positive test?' Its an understandable question and a tough one to answer especially since another controversial baseball figure, Barry Bonds, is in the middle of one of the craziest trials in recent memory.

A lot of times I get accused for defending assholes and I guess that trend is going to continue because I am about to stick up for Manny Ramirez.

Maybe I am blinded by the fact that I am a Red Sox fan and he was so important in helping the Sox win both their World Series titles (MVP of the 2004 World Series) but I feel Manny's legacy will remain intact and here is why. In ten years no one will remember that Manny played for the Rays and the White Sox, they might not even remember he played for the Dodgers, much the same way people always forget Jerry Rice played for the Broncos and the Seahawks.

When people look back on the career of Manny Ramirez they will focus on his years with the Indians and the Red Sox and the fact that he got caught cheating twice will more than likely be forgotten. He had too many great and absolutely hilarious moments (like the time he dove to intercept the throw to the cutoff man) that will dominate the memory of the fans and overshadow his recent transgressions.

For me Manny Ramirez will always be one of the greatest right handed hitters in the history of baseball. If you look at his career numbers he ranks right up there with some of the best players in history such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson and Joe DiMaggio. His combination of power (555 career home runs good for 14th all-time) and his ability to hit for average (.312 lifetime career batting average) are extremely rare in today's game.

But it wasn't just his stats that made Manny so great. He was a rare breed in baseball, someone with talent and an actual personality. Too often the best players in baseball have the charisma of a brick wall and never look o enjoy themselves while playing. The same can't be said of Ramirez who had a childish energy about him and always seemed to be smiling and having a good time. That is why so many fans were drawn to him and enjoyed watching him play. Sometimes it seemed like he didn't care or that his work ethic was lacking but former teammates say otherwise.

For teammate Omar Vizquel told ESPN his thoughts on Manny, ""A lot of people don't take it really seriously when they talk about Manny Ramirez. But the guys who have been in the lineup with him and know how he works, his work ethic, he shows up at 2 o'clock every day, he takes extra batting practice every day and it doesn't matter if he went 5-for-5 the day before. He was constantly in the gym lifting weights. His work ethic was very, very good. And some people look at him on the field like, 'Who the hell is this guy? What is he doing?' There are actions that he does on the field that really don't reflect what type of player he was. But he was just an amazing guy."

Will he get into the Hall of Fame? Probably not anymore because for some reason baseball treats its Hall of Fame like its the Hall of Morals instead of a museum celebrating the history of baseball. I emailed Woody Paige of Around the Horn fame after Manny was caught the first time asking whether he would vote for Manny and this was his response, "James: I will not vote for players who have been found to use steroids unless the voting rules are changed." Since that won't be happening anytime soon Manny may be out of luck when it comes to the Hall.

It truly is a shame because Manny Ramirez had such a great impact on the game and brought so much joy to so many people. Ron Washington, manager of the Texas Ranger put it best, "You hate to see greatness all of a sudden just fade."

Random YouTube Video

Potential NBA Lockout Keeping Players Out of Draft

2011-04-08T15:10:00.001-04:00

With so many different sports stories occurring everyday one of the bigger stories that many fans are unaware of is the almost guaranteed NBA lockout that is going to occur next season. While the NFL lockout may end in time for the start of the 2011 season the NBA lockout, according to league experts, is almost certain to cancel the entire season and its effects are already being felt as almost daily top prospects are declining to enter the draft and are opting instead to return to school.

The lockout itself will be initiated by the owners and led by NBA Commissioner David Stern with the main goal being the reduction of the current NBA salary cap. Other issues will be discussed as well such as the current age limit on entry into the NBA as well as the recent trend of players 'choosing' their team by forcing trades. This means that the current CBA will be voided and if a player is drafted they will more than likely miss their rookie season and may be joining a league that theoretically won't exist.

The uncertainty about the future of the league is already having an affect as some top prospects have decided to return to school rather than declare for the draft. The most high profile of these prospects is Jared Sullinger who last week stated that he would return to Ohio State next year for his sophomore season. Sullinger was considered to be a top 5 pick, with some experts even having him going 1st overall, but he has opted to return to school rather than becoming a pro.

Other top prospects who have stated they are returning, or who have yet to make up their mind, are North Carolina's Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller, Arizona's Derrick Williams, Colorado's Alec Burks, Texas's Tristan Thompson and Jordan Hamilton and Vanderbilt's Jeffery Taylor and John Jenkins.

Not every top prospect has been scared away by the lockout though as earlier this week Duke's Kyrie Irving decided to declare for the NBA draft rather than come back for another season. Irving was considered a top 5 pick although with so many others staying in school he may now be the consensus #1 overall pick which no doubt had some bearing on his decision.

In an interview with the Associated Press the freshman point guard summed up his decision to become a pro, "it was really a tough decision for me. If I would have come back, I would have gained a lot more experience under Coach K. That was hard to let go, especially in the culture that's built here that I was a part of. It's something that I'll remember for the rest of my life. But on the other hand, deciding to go the NBA is just my ultimate dream," he added. "I've been dreaming about it for a while, and having that opportunity to be such a high pick at such a young age is an opportunity that many people won't pass up."

Even before players started dropping out of the NBA draft it was already being labeled as one of the weakest in years. There was no consensus top pick as mock drafts had a constant rotation of Sullinger, Irving, Barnes and Williams going first overall and now with so many players deciding to stay at school the talent level of the 2011 draft may be at an all-time low.

This is awful news for lottery teams that were really hoping to draft a franchise player to help turn their team around. What's happening now is that players that were considered 'bubble first-rounders' are now moving their way up the draft board because the better players are staying at school. This means that teams will teams be forced to use their 1st round picks on mediocre players who are extremely over valued and more than likely won't be able to provide the impact needed for those teams to improve.

There is something positive to take out of this issue though as now more kids will have a chance to stay in school a year longer then they would have initially wanted to, which has multiple benefits. For one they will gain more experience playing another year, they will also grow both mentally and physically making them better prepared to enter the league when they do declare.

Staying for a second year might also convince some players to stay for all four years and actually graduate, which in theory is the purpose of going to college. Rather than going to a school for 8 months and then leaving as soon as possible more players might choose to stay until they earn their degree, which if they stay for 2 years they will be halfway to achieving.

The players that do declare for the draft and get selected will be joining a league that won't exist much like the players in the upcoming NFL draft. They may end up missing their entire rookie season and being forced to play overseas for a year just to stay in shape and be ready for when the lockout ends. That is if they can get a roster spot on an overseas team as no doubt more established players will be more sought after than untested rookies.

If that is in fact the case then the players who opt to stay in school may be at somewhat of an advantage. The national exposure that college players receive is invaluable and may make them better prepared for when the league resumes. The players that are drafted may be forced to take an entire year off if they can't sign with a team overseas and that will really hurt their development.

No matter how the NBA lockout situation shakes out the damage has already been done There is enough doubt out there to force players to stay in school rather than entering the draft. A draft that was already short on talent is now even shorter and those bottom dwellers hoping to rebuild through the draft are going to have to wait another year.

Random YouTube Video

Has The Ultimate Fighter Run Its Course?

2011-04-07T13:56:00.001-04:00

When the Ultimate Fighter first aired back in 2005 the show was meant to showcase young up-and-coming fighters in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. The contestants were some of the best fighters not currently fighting in a major promotion and for the most part they were all extremely talented. Most of the competitors from the first few seasons still fight in the UFC today and some have even gone on to become champions. But that trend seems to be over as the latest crop of fighters in the past few seasons have been mediocre at best which leads me to wonder if TUF has run its course.

If you look at the first 3 seasons of the TUF compared to the last 3 the level of talent isn't even close. The competitors on the more recent seasons seem far less experienced and in the case of the Heavyweights during season 10 unable to go more than 90 seconds before becoming exhausted. There have been a few diamonds in the rough here and there but overall the talent just isn't there.

Here are some of the fighters from the first 3 seasons that are still relevant within the UFC:

Josh Koscheck

Forrest Griffin (former champ)

Stephan Bonnar

Diego Sanchez

Kenny Florian

Chris Leben

Joe Stevenson

Melvin Guillard

Rashad Evans (former champ)

Michael Bisping

Matt Hammill

Now compare that list to the fighters from the last 3 seasons that are relevant or have a bright future (not counting the current season)

Brendan Schaub

Roy Nelson (barely counts as he was a well established fighter before appearing on the show)

Matt Mittrione

Court McGee

Michael Johnson

Jonathan Brookins

The level of talent has clearly dropped off as all of the really good fighters have seemingly already been found and are either fighting in a major promotion or working with solid camps and on the UFC radar. So over the past few seasons the fighters, and their performances, have been less than impressive and its starting to really hurt the show.

If you have been watching this season you know what I am talking about. Only 2 episodes in and so far both fights have been brutal to watch. The lack of excitement compounded with the fact that both representatives of Team Dos Santos were top picks makes me less then enthused to watch the remainder of the season. Add that to the general lack of charisma that the coaches for this season (Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos) possess and it makes for some dull television.

But the lack of charisma from the coaches showcases yet another problem with the show. Since the fighters are so awful the show now needs to be carried by the personality of the coaches. This has morphed the show into a 10-12 episode hype video for an eventual fight.

This was especially evident when Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson were coaches during season 10. Each episode would feature footage of the two fighters arguing with one another, one coach pulling a prank on the other and then the last 10 minutes were reserved for the fight.

It was interesting television and it may have built anticipation for their fight, but it detracted from the actual contestants on the show. No fighter really got any airtime, other than Kimbo Slice, and by the end of the season I didn’t really care who won.

The latest rumor is that the coaches will be middleweights Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping. The two would then fight upon completion of the show with the winner of that fight becoming the No. 1 contender at Middleweight. That person would then likely fight Anderson Silva after he fights the current No. 1 contender Youshin Okami.

Now with Bisping and Sonnen being tagged as possible coaches, the dynamic of the coaches being more important than the fighters will be multiplied tenfold as both fighters have extremely big egos and love to talk trash. Will it be entertaining? Of course, but I was under the impression that the point of TUF was to showcase potential UFC fighters and get fans interested in their careers, not to hear two fighters disrespect one another.

I love TUF and I will watch it no matter what just because I'm an MMA fan, but I really hope the UFC either changes the format somehow or gets a higher level of fighter to compete because if the show continues the way its been going over the past few seasons then I think it might be time for TUF to come off the air before it does more harm than good.

Random YouTube Video

What's Cooler Than a Walk-Off Home Run?

2011-04-06T14:35:00.000-04:00

In short, nothing. The walk-off home run is by far the coolest moment that can occur in any sporting event and when witnessed live is nothing short of amazing. Yes other sports have their version of the walk-off home run like an overtime goal in hockey or a winning touchdown/field goal in football but neither of those moments match the true awesomeness that is a walk-off home run.

The walk-off home run is such a perfect moment for so many different reasons. For one it can only occur in the home teams ballpark due to the fact that in baseball the home team always bats last. Therefore, unlike in hockey, basketball or football no fans ever have to witness their team losing in such a devastating fashion at home. This cannot be emphasized enough as there is nothing worse than watching your team lose in their own building. Just ask Flyers fans who last year had to watch as the Stanley Cup was given to the Chicago Blackhawks at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

That particular Stanley Cup Finals illustrates another reason why the walk-off home run is king. Unlike the overtime goal in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals, which no one other than Patrick Kane knew went in, the walk-off home run is a no-doubter that everyone in the building can see. Just the sound of the ball hitting the bat is all players and fans need to hear to know that the game is over. The batter tosses the bat to the side and like a giant wave you see the hands of every fan in the ball go up in the air out of pure joy.

Hockey isn't the only sport that can have an anti-climatic finish to a game. Think about how many overtime football games end with a field goal. One team will win the coin toss and gain 40-50 yards and then the kicker comes on to try and win the game. Yeah its pretty exciting because there is always the chance the guy could miss but in comparison to a walk-off home run it isn't even close. Plus too often in football games only one team gets possession of the ball in overtime which really kills the excitement level.

But the best thing about a walk-off home run is that its just the batter out there on his own. Everyone in the entire stadium is focused on one person who can't rely on his teammates to win the game. He has to do it all himself and its because of all that extra added pressure that walk-off home runs are so great. In no other sport is there that much emphasis/pressure placed on just one individual and to me that makes the walk-off so great.

Although the idea of the walk-off home run is as old as baseball itself the actual term "walk-off home run" only became part of the baseball lexicon in the early 1990s. It was Oakland A's closer Dennis Eckersley who coined the phrase as he called a home run that ended the game "walk-off pieces" due to the fact that the pitcher had to walk off the field with his head hung in shame. Since then the walk-off has gone from having a negative connotation to a positive one as it now refers to the batter, who won the game, instead of the pitcher who lost it.

According to Baseball-Reference.com there have been 2944 walk-off home runs in the history of baseball. Who has hit the most walk-off home runs you ask? There is currently a three-way tie for 1st place as Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle and Jim Thome all have 12 career walk-off homers to their name. Also worth noting is that of those 2944 walk-off homers 10 were hit by pitchers and 14 of them were inside the park walk-off home runs.

Some of the greatest moments in baseball history are walk-off home runs. Kirk Gibson's famously coming off the bench to hit the winning walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. Bobby Thompson's "shot heard round the world" to win the pennant for the Giants in 1951. Carlton Fisk's "stay fair" home run to win Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Joe Carter's World Series clinching home run in Game 6 back in 1993 and the most famous of them all Bill Mazeroski's home run to win Game 7 of the 1960 World Series which to this day is still widely considered the greatest moment in baseball history.

Every kid that has ever played baseball has always grown up dreaming of one day hitting that big walk-off home run that wins the World Series. Everyone wants that feeling of running the bases knowing that all your teammates are waiting at home plate to mob you while thousands of people cheer deliriously. It is a perfect moment and in terms of sports there is nothing cooler.

Random YouTube Video

Shaka Smart Staying at VCU

2011-04-05T13:59:00.000-04:00

Upon leading the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth to their first Final Four appearance in school history it was widely believed that head coach Shaka Smart would be targeted by larger schools to fill their head coaching vacancies. That belief came to fruition yesterday as it was reported by the Associated Press that Smart had been offered the head coaching job at North Carolina State to replace Sidney Lowe who resigned earlier in the year.

Instead of doing what so many other NCAA coaches do, build a reputation at a smaller school and then immediately leave for greener pastures as soon a possible, Smart decided to turn down NC State. Instead of leaving Smart decided to stay and late last night signed an 8-year contract extension with VCU. According to a report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch the contract will pay Smart an annual base salary of $1.2 million with several bonus performance incentives (a big jump from the $325,000 salary he made this year).

In an interview with the AP Smart said, "I'm extremely grateful for the belief that [VCU president Michael Rao] and Norwood Teague [VCU Athletic Director] have shown and continue to show in our coaching staff and basketball program. Their support, in addition to the bright future that our student-athletes possess, makes VCU a very special place for me to be the head basketball coach. I'm very excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for both our program and our university."

It is extremely refreshing to see a coach stay with a "mid major" rather than leave for a more established program as too often there is zero loyalty shown. Smart, who turns 34 on Friday, has only been a coach for 2 years now and I think one of the reasons he stayed was because VCU gave him a chance to be a head coach at such a young age.

It is also being reported that VCU told Smart that they were going to make a bigger financial commitment to the basketball program and try and build off the success of this years team. New facilities are already being planned as well as a greater portion of the athletics budget being allocated to the recruitment of better players. When you factor that report in, along with the pay raise it makes Smart's decision to stay a lot more understandable.

In a statement made to the AP athletic Director Norwood Teague said, "True to form, Coach Smart's primary concerns were about his players, coaches and the overall support of the basketball program. We are honored that he has decided to stay a VCU Ram. He exemplifies everything that is right about college athletics, and VCU is ecstatic about the future under his leadership."

Teague is not alone in his praise of Smart. Throughout VCU's run to the Final Four Smart has been constantly praised by almost every analyst and reporter for the job he had done and his attitude during games and practices. He seemed to have a genuine love for coaching and for his players and once the videos of him dancing with the team after victories and his participation in the "Ironman drill" during practice hit YouTube it was confirmed that he was the real deal.

Aside from Kemba Walker he may have been the star of the tournament as his profile grew and grew with each VCU victory. I remember watching their first game and seeing him on the sideline in a polo thinking that he was the trainer and not the head coach. Now he is one of the more well known names in college basketball and a sports celebrity. Now is he wants to continue his success at VCU (55-21 in 2 seasons along with a CBI championship) he will need to parlay his new fame into a strong recruiting class for next year.

Despite Smart's success in this years March Madness tournament there are still a lot of things he needs to prove. The most important is that he can recruit as the current VCU roster was recruited by former coach Anthony Grant (now head coach at Alabama). Only time will tell is Smart will be successful but so far he has done a terrific job.

Random YouTube Video

Red Sox Nation Pushing the Panic Button

2011-04-04T14:33:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend the Boston Red Sox were swept by the defending American League Champion Texas Rangers and are now 0-3 for the first time since 1996. Even though there are 159 games left in the season Red Sox Nation is starting to worry and already there is talk about Carl Crawford being a huge bust and Jarrod Saltalamacchia aka Salty being unprepared to handle the full-time catching duties. As a Red Sox fan I definitely didn't enjoy watching my team get swept but I am by no means ready to throw away the season like it appears so many other have already done.

Yes Carl Crawford struggled at the plate in the first two games (he went 0-7) but once manager Terry Francona moved him down to 7th in the batting order he produced and went 2-4. I think Crawford will be fine and it may have been the pressure to produce right away that got to him a little and he just needed to be eased into the lineup a bit. Francona made the right move by adjusting his spot in the order and hopefully Crawford can gain some confidence moving forward.

As far as Salty is concerned that may be an actual issue. Over the weekend the Red Sox pitchers gave up 26 runs, 34 hits and 11 home runs which considering we used 2 out of our 3 best pitchers (Lackey is just awful I don't care how much weight he loses) is not good. Obviously the Ballpark in Arlington is a hitters park and home runs occur more frequently but its still a troubling statistic.

I think the Red Sox pitchers will eventually get used to Saltalamacchia and will get back to being their normal selves. They are probably too used to Jason Varitek who had been the catcher with the team for 10 years before finally being replaced this off-season. It may have been smarter for general manager Theo Epstein to ease Salty into the starting role by giving him more time to develop a relationship with the pitching staff but he probably thought that with the amount of offense the team would produce it wouldn't be a problem.

One thing to keep in mind about Saltalamacchiais is that he is only 25 years old and at one point Texas tried to convert him to a first basemen. Most 25 year old catchers are down in the minors trying to refine their craft and very few come up and make an immediate impact (Buster Posey being an obvious exception to this rule) so Sox fans would do well by having a little patience with our new starting catcher. He could help his own cause however by getting a hit. Against Texas he went 0-10 making him an even bigger target for hatred from Red Sox fans.

In an interview with ESPN Saltalamacchia had this to say for his performance, "I'm not going to judge my season on 10 at-bats right now. I was overaggressive, I was really amped up because it was the team I used to play for," he said. "I wanted to put good at-bats together. We were losing. I wanted to win. I was trying to get more aggressive and make something happen. I've got to learn to be more patient." I think Red Sox fans need to be a little more patient as well.

Another thing that a lot of fans are forgetting is that the Texas Rangers were the American League champions last year. Just because they lost Cliff Lee doesn't mean that they won't be an elite team in the American League and a potential World Series contender. Their batting order 1 through 9 is stacked beyond belief with guys that can hit for both average and power. They have Ian Kinsler, Micahel Young, Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, Mike Napoli and Elvis Andrus. That is a Murderers Row of talent and when you combine those bats with that ballpark the Rangers are an offensive juggernaut.

I did however read an article this morning on BusinessInsider.com that made me worry a little bit as they provided some historical evidence that makes the sweep at the hands of the Rangers a little harder to stomach.

According to the article of the 80 teams that have qualified for the playoffs over the past 10 years only 3 of those teams ever started a season 0-3 (the 2007 Phillies, the 2003 Braves and the 2001 Cardinals were the others). Now that data didn't take into account opponent or any variables it strictly looked at wins and losses to begin a season but it is still something to think about going forward.

Red Sox fans would do well to remember that the baseball season is a marathon and not a sprint. There were a lot of positive things that came out of the Texas series. Adrian Gonzalez looked great at the plate and it seems that Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkalis have all recovered nicely from their injuries last season. So while it was a bad series from a team perspective there are some individual performances that make the losses easier to take.

Luckily for the Red Sox, and their fans, the teams next series is against the lowly Cleveland Indians who in 3 games against the Chicago White Sox gave up 24 runs. The Indians managed to take 1 of 3 from the White Sox but they are a team that is rebuilding and hopefully the Red Sox can take advantage of that and get their first win of the season putting an end to the panic that has set in all across Red Sox Nation.

Random YouTube Video

Jacob Tucker Proves That White Men Can Jump

2011-04-03T15:26:00.001-04:00

Jacob Tucker is a 5-foot-11 point guard who plays for the Blueboys of Division III Illinois College in Jacksonville Illinois. Don't let the height fool you though Tucker possesses a 50 inch vertical and an arsenal of dunks that would make even Blake Griffin jealous. Over the weekend Tucker used his ridiculous array of dunks to win the NCAA Denny's Slam Dunk contest that was held at the same time as the Final Four in Houston.

The rest of the field consisted of players from Division I schools: Pittsburgh's Gilbert Brown, St. John's Justin Burrell, Memphis' Will Coleman, East Tennessee State's Justin Tubbs, San Diego State's Billy White, Cincinnati's Darnell Wilks and UNC-Asheville's John Williams. Not only was Tucker from the smallest school at 5-foot-11 he was also the shortest competitor by about four inches.

Tucker, who was labeled as a "dark horse" by celebrity judge Karl Malone, was almost left out of the contest entirely as before a month ago he was an unknown playing for one of the smallest schools in the entire country (enrollment is just over 1000 students). But thanks to an audition video that went viral after being mentioned by Jim Rome on his ESPN television show Tucker was thrust into the national spotlight. He then went on to win an online vote thus earning a chance to compete.

“The last three weeks have been a blur,” Tucker said during an interview with his schools athletics website. “I never really expected this when I made the video – I wasn’t even sure it was good enough to get me into the contest – but it’s been an unbelievable ride.”

Its nice to see that the NCAA caved to public pressure and let Tucker participate in the event as normally in the past a Division III athlete wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the Slam Dunk Contest. It really goes to show the power of social media and sites like YouTube and Twitter as without them Tucker would have had no chance of competing. The NCAA was smart to recognize the positive publicity they could get by allowing to participate and made the right decision.

Here is the footage of his dunks from the contest:

What I really like about Tucker is how well he has handled himself dealing with all the attention before and after the contest. He was clearly out of his element being the center of attention on a national stage but he didn't buckle under the pressure and not only performed well in the contest but did a great job answering questions during interviews. In all the videos I have watched and interviews I have read he seems like a really humble guy who was just happy to be there and excited to represent his school.

People love an underdog story and Tucker fits the mold perfectly. Add that to the fact that his victory completely goes against one of the funnier stereotypes in sports (that white guys suck at dunking and can't jump) and you have yourself a perfect story.

Random YouTube Video

How the Jays Can Compete With the Red Sox and Yankees

2011-04-02T17:21:00.001-04:00

I was at the Toronto Blue Jays game today (they won 6-1 and rookie pitcher Kyle Drabek was awesome) and couldn't help but notice all the empty seats. The announced attendance at the game was somewhere around 38,000 and since the capacity for the Skydome (I refuse to call it by its new bastard name) is 50,000 that means there were 12,000 empty seats. This got me to thinking about how much money the Jays were missing out on by not having sold those seats and what they could do with all of that extra revenue.

So I looked up ticket prices on Ticketmaster and an average seat at a Jays game costs around $60 (now that number is subject to change based on the opponent as tickets for games against divisional teams like the Yankees and Red Sox cost more than a game against the Royals). Going forward I will admit this is some pretty sketchy math but stick with me because I swear there is a point to all of it.

Now the biggest complaint from an average Jays fan is that the team will never make the playoffs as long as they are in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox. Fans complain the Jays don't have the money to compete and insist on a salary cap being put in place to try and even the playing field. As a Red Sox fan I get into this debate a lot and luckily I have the following handy statistic to use in just such an occasion that usually wins me the argument:

In 2010 the Yankees sold 88.9% of all available tickets and had an average attendance of 46,491
In 2010 the Red Sox sold 100% of all available tickets and had an average attendance of 37,610
In 2010 the Blue Jays sold 39.9% of all available tickets and had an average attendance of 20,068

That stat right there is why the Blue Jays can't compete financially with the Yankees and the Red Sox. Both of those teams sell more tickets, which also means they sell more merchandise at food/beverages at the ballpark. Those extra sales mean extra revenue that the team can then spend on signing better players. Its pure common sense and yet Jays fans don't want to hear it.

Back to the math.

Based on the above statistic there were 29,932 empty seats per Jays game. If you multiply that number by 80 (the amount of home games the Jays had in 2010 remembering they lost 2 home games because of the G8) you get 2,394,560 tickets that went unsold. If you then take that number and multiply it by $60 (the average ticket price) you get $143,673,600. Now that is a shitload of extra cash that, had the Jays been able to sell out, could have been used to improve the roster of the team.

I understand that its hard to sell out every single game each year but think of what the Jays could do with all of that extra revenue (remember that just ticket sales and doesn't account for extra revenue from food, drinks, beer and merchandise). The team could instantly become a baseball powerhouse and return to the glory days of 1992 and 1993 when it won back to back World Series titles.

Imagine this Jays fans. Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Alex Anthopoulos makes a special announcement at a massive press conference presenting the math I just quickly showed you to the entire Jays fan base. He then says that if the Jays can sell out the Skydome for every home game he will use that extra money on players and make a run at Albert Pujols when he becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

Obviously it would be a long shot that Pujols would come to the Jays but with an extra $143 million to play with I think they might have a serious shot. The Yankees and Red Sox are set at first base and as Pujols aged he could become a DH still making him valuable in the later years of the contract.

Now Pujols is a Blue Jay and fans start going to the games because they want to see him play and obviously the team would improve with his addition to the roster. All of a sudden fans realize that if they sell out every game for another season the team would be able to sign even more marquee free agents and just like that the Jays could compete with the Yankees and Red Sox.

I openly challenge anyone to find a hole in that logic. It can't be done. If Jays fans gave their team just 1 year of 100% attendance commitment they could overnight become a powerhouse. Its really quite beautiful in its simplicity.

Random YouTube Video

The Real 'Fab Five' Controversy

2011-04-01T15:04:00.001-04:00

"For me, Duke was a person. I hated Duke, and I hated everything Duke stood for. Schools like Duke don’t recruit players like me. I felt that they only recruited players that were Uncle Toms" - Jalen Rose.

That quote is from an interview that appeared in the ESPN documentary "The Fab Five" that aired a few weeks ago. The documentary was intended to tell the story of how five black freshmen players came to play for the Michigan Wolverines in the early 1990s and how they impacted on revolutionized the game of college basketball.

What instead ended up happening was a public backlash over the 'Uncle Tom' comment and a back and forth between Jalen Rose and former Duke star Grant Hill about race, class and family. The controversy has made its rounds on all of the major sports talk shows and everyone has chimed in their with their opinion on whether or not Rose was justified in his comments or not.

I for one will not be joining them. A few people have asked me to write about this but I just don't feel comfortable writing about race. The only time I have ever heard anyone use the phrase 'Uncle Tom' before was in stories I have read about the build-up to the Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fight. I assumed it was a time period type phrase like that people didn't really use anymore as the language had evolved over the years. However upon hearing the public response to Rose using the phrase clearly it is an extremely derogatory word that African Americans find very offensive so I would rather just avoid writing about that topic entirely.

The other reason I don't want to discuss the public feud between Hill and Rose is because to me that wasn't the biggest issue I had with the documentary. The real issue is the main message of the film itself, that the 'Fab Five' revolutionized the game of college basketball and left behind a legacy that is still felt today. That claim couldn't be further from the truth as the only real impact the 'Fab Five' had on college basketball was the scandal they created by having most of their wins and on-court accomplishments taken away due to numerous NCAA rule violations.

Their other legacy, as Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports so eloquently puts it, "The legacy of the Fab Five is that they were on the cutting edge of America’s unashamed embrace of style over substance." Normally I don't agree with Whitlock on most issues but on this one he is bang on. The 'Fab Five' never actually won anything as they came close to winning multiple NCAA championships but both teams were beaten soundly by far superior teams. They are most well known for their over-the-top celebrations of mediocre achievements and their desire to wear baggier shorts.

Yet according to the documentary they were a revolutionary team that challenged the establishment and are still relevant today.

If you watch the documentary itself at one point Jalen Rose says, "from the first day we stepped on the Michigan campus it was a revolution. It just so happened that this revolution was televised." Not a surprising comment considering Rose was part of the 'Fab Five' as well as being the executive producer for the documentary itself. Clearly this is a man that is trying to create a revisionist history of what happened in order to increase his own fame and standing within the world of basketball.

Wearing baggy shorts, over celebrating mediocre achievements and having 5 freshmen start for a team are not revolutionizing basketball and to say so is a slap in the face to those that came before Rose and paved the way for him to even play NCAA basketball.

Not once in the entire documentary does anyone mention the name John Thompson or the Georgetown Hoyas. John Thompson is the most famous black basketball coach of all time and his Hoyas teams of the 70s and 80s were the ones who were actually making an impact and revolutionizing the game of college basketball.

Thompson was one of the first coaches to have all black starting lineups and he was also one of the first coaches to recruit black players from the inner city. It was Thompson and his teams that had to fight against racial inequality and rules like Proposition 42 that were intended to lower the amount of black athletes in the NCAA. Without the work of John Thompson and other trailblazers Jalen Rose might never have been able to play for Michigan.

Plus Thompson and his Georgetown teams actually won something. Thompson still holds the record for most Big East conference championships (seven regular season, six tournaments) and in 1984 led his Hoyas to a National Championship by beating Houston in the Finals 84-75. Sure their shorts may have been way too short but they were making an impact on the game and on society.

So while people are focusing on Rose calling Duke players 'Uncle Toms' the real issue is being overlooked. The 'Fab Five' revolutionized basketball by adding two to three inches of fabric on the length of shorts and that's it.

Random YouTube Video

Mark Hominick Promises to Make Jose Aldo "Back Up" at UFC 129

2011-03-31T12:53:00.001-04:00

“People haven’t seen him against a top level striker, he’s dominated everybody and he’s pushed paces on everybody so we will see what happens when he has to take a step backwards.”

That is what Mark Hominick (20-8) had to say to MMA Mania about his upcoming fight against Jose Aldo (18-1) at UFC 129 on April 30^th in Toronto for the UFC Featherweight Championship.

Going into the fight Hominick is a massive underdog as Jose Aldo is one of the most well-rounded and exciting fighters in MMA and is widely considered to be in the Top 10 of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.

Aldo has a blackbelt in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu and is an incredibly dynamic striker that throws a variety of punches, kicks and knees. Some people have even taken to calling him the “Anderson Silva” of featherweights and after watching his highlight reel its easy to see why.

Yet as great as Aldo is he has never faced a striker as accomplished and technically sound as Mark Hominick. Hominick’s nickname is “the Machine” because he rarely shows any emotion when fighting or during interviews but more importantly because his technique is so machinelike. He throws crisp and accurate punches and his ground game is solid as well.

Hominick trains under Shawn Tompkins who is a world renowned kickboxing instructor at The Adrenaline Training Center in London, Ontario. Tompkins also works with other top UFC fighters such as Goran Reljic, Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva. Hominick has also been working with some of Canada’s 2012 Summer Olympic boxing hopefuls in preparation for what he feels will be a “fight for the ages.”

Aldo is aware of Hominick’s striking ability and although he is no slouch on the feet himself he has brought in a new striking coach to prepare for Hominick. He has started training with Andy Souwer who is a Dutch welterweight shoot boxer. He is two time K-1 World MAX champion (2005, 2007) as well as the reigning three time Shootboxing World tournament champion.

With both Aldo and Hominick training primarily with striking coaches fans should expect this to be a standup fight with neither fighter looking to take the fight to the ground.

If that is in fact the case and the entire fight is fought on the feet then one area of concern for Hominick should be Aldo’s leg kicks. During his fight against Urijah Faber Aldo landed some of the nastiest leg kicks I have ever seen and pretty much made Faber a cripple as he had to be carried to his corner after each round and then carried out of the Octagon after the fight was over. That doesn’t bode well for Hominick who in the past (case in point early in his fight against Yves Jabouin) has shown an inability to effectively check leg kicks. That very well could be the difference in the fight.

Many people are overlooking Hominick in this fight but I think he has a decent, yet small, chance of defeating Aldo. Hominick has never been knocked out by strikes before, he has knockout power of his own, his strikes have pinpoint accuracy, he pushes the pace by always moving forward and his liver punches are hard to prepare for and devastating. I’m not saying he is a better striker than Aldo but if he can keep it on the feet then at least he has a punchers chance.

However if Hominick is indeed intent on making Jose Aldo “take a step back” then he needs to remember one thing: Jose Aldo trains at Black House with Anderson Silva and we all know what happens when you try and make a Black House fighter back up (just ask Forrest Griffin).

Random YouTube Video

Phillies Not a "Sure Thing" Just Yet

2011-03-30T15:29:00.000-04:00

During the off-season the Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent pitcher Cliff Lee to a new 5-year $120 million contract. The feeling around baseball at the time was that with the signing of Lee the Phillies had all but booked their spot in the World Series (26 of 45 ESPN baseball analysts that were polled have the Phillies making it to the World Series).

It seemed like a pretty safe bet as the starting rotation featured some of the best pitchers, not just in the National league, but in all of baseball. I mean with a rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton how could the Phillies not be the consensus favorite?

Yet aside from their phenomenal pitching staff the Phillies have question marks all over the field as injuries and age have caught up to them during Spring Training and are threatening to put a serious hitch in their World Series plans.

So far during Spring Training no team has been as deeply affected by injuries as the Phillies. All-Star second baseman Chase Utley has a knee injury, closer Brad Lidge has a rotator cuff strain, Roy Oswalt suffered a neck contusion after being hit by a linedrive, Placido Polanco has an elbow injury and outfielder Dominic Brown fractured his right hand.

It's expected that both Polanco and Oswalt will be ready in time for the start of the season but Brown, Utley and Lidge will all start the season on the disabled list. Lidge is expected to miss anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks as is Brown and as for Utley there is really no timetable for his return as the Phillies don't want to rush him back and risk doing permanent damage to his knee.

Stepping in for Utley will be journeyman Wilson Valdez, who despite hitting .396 so far in Spring Training, is a career .232 hitter and a serious downgrade defensively as well. But the injury to Utley hurts deeper as he was a valuable part of the batting order and the protection for Ryan Howard. Pitchers can now pitch around Howard as there is no other real power bat in the line up to worry about and that's where the Phillies are going to miss Utley the most.

As for the injury to Lidge it could expose a real weakness for the Phillies, their bullpen. Last season Lidge went 1-1 with an ERA of 2.96 and converted 27 saves in 32 tries. During his time on the DL he will be replaced by either Jose Contreras (pitched 56.2 innings last year with an ERA of 3.34) or Ryan Madson (pitched 53 innings with an ERA of 2.55). Both are decent replacements for Lidge but if they move to take over the closer role someone else will have to step up and take over the 7th or 8th inning role and that would hurt the team as the Phillies don't have many quality arms in the bullpen.

The injuries are simply one of the problems the Phillies face headed into the new season however as another issue the this team has to be concerned with is age.

The average age of this Phillies team is 30.9 years old officially making them the oldest team in all of baseball.

Jimmy Rollins is 32 and has been slowly declining for the last few years now as his stolen base numbers have been dropping steadily (47 in 2007 to just 17 during an injury plagued 2010 campaign). Polanco is 35 and last season saw his offensive numbers drop in hits, stolen bases, runs, doubles, home runs, RBI and walks. Raul Ibanez who will be playing right field is 38 and last year failed to hit at least 20 home runs for the first time since 2004. Contreras, who is now the starting closer, is 39.

Now the Phillies do have some of youth on the team (Brown and pitchers Antonio Bastardo and Andrew carpenter) and in the farm system (shortstop Freddy Galvis and pitcher Yohan Flande) but for the most part those players are all untested and stuck playing behind established players who, unless they get hurt, won't be relinquishing their roster spot anytime soon.

Lastly the Phillies, and those who picked them to make it to the World Series, need to be worried about the batting order as with the loss of Jayson Werth to the Nationals and Chase Utley to the DL its not nearly as imposing as it once was.

Shane Victorino
Wilson Valdez
Jimmy Rollins
Ryan Howard
Placido Polanco
Raul Ibanez
Ben Fransisco
Carlos Ruiz
Pitcher of the Day

That lineup isn't really striking fear into the heart of the opposing pitcher. Aside from Howard there is no one in the order with any real power and for the most part the rest of the lineup are all contact hitters with a bit of speed. Now since the Phillies have such a dominant pitching staff they will probably only need 3-4 runs per game to win but that may even be hard to come by if Utley is out for an extended period of time.

If the Phillies really are going to challenge for a World Series then they will probably have to make a trade mid-season in order to acquire at least one or two bats. That will mean either parting ways with some of their prospects (which would hurt them moving forward and contribute more to the age problem) or trading one of their pitchers, more than likely Joe Blanton which wouldn't be too great a loss since once you get to the playoffs the rotation shrinks to 4 anyways.

So there are some cracks in the Phillies armor. Their starting rotation may be one of the best ever but is it enough to cover up the glaring weaknesses in the rest of the team? Will Chase Utley be 100% when he comes back from injury or will his knee hinder his defense? Can the bullpen survive the injury to Brad Lidge? Can the Phillies hold off the Braves who look to be one of the better teams in the National League and are another favorite to make a deep playoff run?

Right now I think this is a team that has more questions than answers. But those questions should be answered quickly as the season kicks off this weekend and the Phillies try and get back to the World Series for the 3rd time in four years.

Random YouTube Video

Georges St. Pierre/Jake Shields: Comparing Training Camps

2011-03-29T14:01:00.000-04:00

During the broadcast for UFC Fight Night 24 Joe Rogan interviewed Jake Shields about his upcoming fight on April 30^th against Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship. The interview itself was pretty standard and I wasn’t really paying attention until Joe asked, “tell us how training camp has gone in preparation for this title fight.” Jake Shields’ answer to that question is exactly why he is going to lose to GSP at UFC 129 in Toronto.

“So far things are going great man. Camps going good. You know we just had Court Mcgee out here last week…we got Chael Sonnen coming out this week things are going good.”

From that one answer every fight fan out there should know that Jake Shields doesn’t stand a chance against GSP and here’s why:

Jake Shields has never fought anyone like Georges St. Pierre before. Sure he has fought athletic guys and guys that can wrestle but he has never faced a fighter that is even close to being on the same level as GSP. Yet despite that glaringly obvious fact Jake Shields has not changed the way he has prepared for this fight at all and by his own admission is going about training camp like its business as usual.

Now Shields may be keeping a lid on exactly what’s happening at his training camp but the UFC has planned a UFC Primetime special leading up to this fight so the cameras will be there making lying a waste of time. Plus I don't really see Jake Shields as a fighter that plays mind games so really I think he is telling the truth. If that is indeed the case then he is in serious trouble.

Looking at the current champions in the UFC they all have one thing in common, they train with great fighters at great camps. Anderson Silva trains at Black House alongside some of the best fighters in the world (Jose Aldo, the Nogueira brothers and Junior Dos Santos). Jon Jones and GSP both train at Greg Jackson MMA as well as Grudge Training Center and Cain Velasquez trains at American Kickboxing Academy. The champions surround themselves with other elite fighters because they know the only way they can get better is by training with the best.

Jake Shields meanwhile is training for a fight against Georges St. Pierre by wrestling with Court McGee. Not to rip too hard on Court McGee who is a talented enough guy but he is barely a prospect in the UFC Middleweight division and isn’t exactly well known for being a great wrestler. So I wonder what could Shields possibly hope to gain by training with him?

The rest of Shields’ training partners at Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu are a little more respectable as Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez and Nate Diaz all train with Shields regularly. These types of training partners may suffice when preparing to fight guys such as Martin Kampmann and Jason “Mayhem” Miller but when preparing for a fighter like Georges St. Pierre you need to get outside your comfort zone and train with the best otherwise you are just going to get steamrolled.

Now I know that both Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez are champions in Strikeforce but I don't put much weight into victories tallied in Strikeforce as I feel that the talent pool and level of competition falls well short of the UFC (an issue I would gladly debate with anyone at anytime). That also only covers half the issue (good training partners) as the fact that Shields is doing nothing to step up his game for a superior opponent is the main concern I have.

When it comes to training with the best and incorporating new training partners/coaches there is no one better than GSP. When preparing for his fights Georges is constantly working with different fighters and trainers making sure that he is always evolving as a fighter.

For example leading up to his fight against Josh Koscheck Georges trained with world renowned boxing coach Freddie Roach in order to improve his striking. Through his training with Roach GSP learned how to better incorporate his jab into his striking. He then subsequently used that jab to smash Josh Koscheck’s orbital bone and dictate the pace/location of that fight on his way to earning an easy victory.

That’s the kind of effort Georges put into a fight against a wrestler. He very easily could have outwrestled Koscheck like he did the first time they fought but instead he changed his gameplan and caught Koscheck completely off guard as no one expected Georges to stand and strike with that big right overhand Koscheck likes to throw.

Jake Shields on the other hand is the same fighter today as he was back in EliteXC. He isn’t very good on the feet and prefers to take guys to the ground and submit them using his jiu-jitsu. In his last 3 fights he has gone to a decision and in his fights against Dan Henderson and Jason Miller he was in a dominant position for pretty much the entire fight and couldn’t finish either fighter. Clearly Shields needs to make some adjustments to his game but it appears that he hasn't done that.

All I know is that if Jake Shields goes about preparing for this fight like its business as usual and treating it like it’s just any other fight where he can take his opponent down and go for submissions attempts he is going to be soundly defeated.

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UConn On the Verge of History

2011-03-28T14:57:00.002-04:00

Lost in the madness that are the Cinderella like runs of the VCU Rams and the Butler Bulldogs has been the story of the UConn Huskies, a team that heading into the Big East tournament on March 8th had lost 4 of its last 5 games and was very much at risk of being left out of the NCAA Tournament. That losing streak is all in the past now as since that opening game of the Big East Tournament against DePaul the UConn Huskies have won 9 straight games in 19 days and are just 2 wins away from one of the best turnaround stories in College Basketball history.

Head coach Jim Calhoun, who has been the head coach at UConn for 25 years put it best during an interview with the New York Daily News when he said, "I've been fortunate over 39 years to have a lot of teams do a lot of different things, but never could I imagine the team winning nine games in tournament play in 19 days. These brothers, this unique group of young guys, have just given me a thrill beyond compare."

Even the players themselves admitted that what they have accomplished so far is truly special, "I didn't know what to expect after losing four out of five and everybody's confidence was down," sophomore center Alex Oriakhi said to the Boston Herald. "But we had two great practices before we went off to the Big East Tournament. (Calhoun) said, 'I'm not going to quit on you guys, I'm not going to let you quit.' ... That changed everything."

After winning the Big East Tournament by winning 5 games in 5 nights UConn earned a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and were immediately targeted by "bracketologists" as being a weak 3 seed and a possible early upset pick. I remember watching the CBS preview show before the tournament started and hearing Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Seth Davis talk about how UConn wouldn't be able to keep their momentum going as they would be exhausted both mentally and emotionally after winning 5 games in 5 nights.

One of the big reasons so many people were doubting the Huskies is because the team was being carried by player of the year candidate junior guard Kemba Walker all season long. Walker was looked at as being the only scoring option on the team and it was thought that if you could shut him down then the rest of the team would fold. There was also concern about the fact that UConn starts 3 freshmen (guard Jeremy Lamb as well as forwards Tyler Olander and Roscoe Smith). Yet so far the freshmen have played great and no one has been able to slow down Walker as he is averaging 26.3 points per game so far during the tournament and has continued to hit clutch shot after clutch shot.

But Walker hasn't had to do it all by himself as other players on the team have stepped up their level of play to take some of the pressure off of him. Jeremy Lamb, who averaged just 9.6 points per game during the regular season, has blossomed into a legitimate second option and is chipping in with 16 points per game so far in the NCAA tournament. Even Walker's backup, freshman guard Shabazz Napier, has been effective coming in for Walker during the West title game against Arizona and playing 30 minutes as well as scoring 10 crucial points.

Even Arizona's head coach Sean Miller acknowledged UConn's completeness as a team during an interview with Greenwichtime.com, "for freshmen at this stage to hold their poise with what was at stake is a tremendous compliment and credit to them. That's why they're in the Final Four, because it's not just Kemba Walker. It's the overall team effort and poise that UConn has."

During their current 9 game winning streak UConn has beaten DePaul, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Louisville, Bucknell, Cincinnati, San Diego State and Arizona. They are now 30-9 on the season and most impressively 21-0 against non-conference opponents yet they because they aren't a #11 or #8 seed they are being overlooked. I understand why VCU and Butler are grabbing most of the attention but to overlook a team that has pulled off such a ridiculous run would be doing them a great disservice.

UConn is now just 2 wins away from winning a National Championship and completing a win-streak that seems like its right out of a movie. A winning streak that would rank as one of the best tournament performances of any team in college basketball history.

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Boston Celtics Screwed Without Kendrick Perkins

2011-03-27T14:38:00.003-04:00

When the Boston Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green the best way to describe the reaction from around the league was shock. Even the players themselves were taken aback by the trade as it seemingly came out of nowhere. That trade happened more than a month ago on February 24th but the effects are still being felt today as the Celtics are currently playing some of their worst basketball of the seasons and never seemed to fully recover from the loss of Perk.

From a basketball point of view I can understand why Celtics General manager Danny Ainge made the deal. Kendricks Perkins has had a history of injury problems and was in need of a new contract that the Celtics more than likely wouldn't have been able to afford. He didn't have a lot of offensive upside and since Rondo disappears at the end of games that meant that 2 out of the 5 guys on the floor during crunch time were useless on offense.

Another factor to consider was that going into the playoffs the Celtics knew that if they made it to the Finals they would probably have to face the Heat, Knicks and Lakers which means playing against LeBron, Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant. The only person on the Celtics who can guard those guys was Paul Pierce and if he had to play shutdown defense every game it would have detracted from his offensive game which the Celtics heavily rely on. So the Celtics needed another solid defender to take some pressure off Pierce. Jeff Green fits that mold perfectly and I think once the playoffs start he will prove himself to be a solid role player and exactly what the Celtics needed.

Ainge was also banking on Sahquille O'Neal and Jermain O'Neal being able to stay healthy and contribute valuable minutes every night. With those two, as well as Glen Davis, taking up all of the front court minutes it made Perkins expendable and so he was traded.

So that's strictly the basketball side of things.

From a team chemistry point of view there isn't a worse trade I could think of as far as the Celtics are concerned. Perkins was well-loved by the fans as well as everyone on the team and was Rajon Rondo's best friend. He was a great teammate always sticking up for anyone on the team and he would do anything the coaches asked him to do to help the team win. The guy bled Green and White and he was shipped out of town with seemingly no warning to either himself or the rest of the team.

The first game after the trade the Celtics played the Denver Nuggets and lost 89-75. The entire game they looked disinterested, shell-shocked and lifeless which led Bill Simmons, a lifelong Celtics fan and writer for ESPN, to tweet, "Congrats on the 2011 title, Laker fans. And congrats on making the Finals, Chicago fans."

That game has really been a microcosm for the rest of the Celtics season as they are currently playing with such a malaise that it makes their games really hard to watch. Rajon Rondo has been awful since the trade showing only flashes of his old self and his body language is terrible as he looks like he is constantly pouting and like he wants to be anywhere but on the court. Kevin Garnett has had poor shooting nights and doesn't have anyone to growl with and scream alongside anymore. Paul Pierce has had questionable shot selection and Ray Allen’s role in the offense is almost non-existent now that Green is on the team.

Simply put without Perk the Celtics just don't have the same swagger.

Head Coach Doc Rivers addressed the problem recently during an interview with the Boston Globe, "The way we're playing shocks me," Rivers said. "Our attitude shocks me. We're just not ready to win any games right now the way we play, the way our approach is to basketball games."

The Celtics are 9-7 since the trade and have lost some key games to some awful teams including home losses to the Charlotte Bobcats, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies. They have also lost games to the lowly New Jersey Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers. Most importantly they have dropped out of the #1 seed in the East and now sit 2.5 games back of the Bulls and only and 1/2 game up on the Heat. Without the #1 seed the Celtics road in the playoffs is going to increasingly more difficult as they will more than likely have to go through both the Knicks and the Heat to get to the Finals.

But the Celtics shouldn't even be thinking about the Finals right now because without Perk the team must now rely on veterans like Shaq and Jermaine O'Neal who surprise surprise are both hurt. Simmons also had something to say about that, "I guess you can't blame Danny - there was no way to know that 58 year old Shaquille O'Neal might be injured come playoff time."

Ainge has a different opinion however as in a recent interview with the Boston Globe he had this to say, "these games aren’t lost because Shaq [O’Neal] and Jermaine [O’Neal] aren’t playing. The guys that are in uniform and playing, we have plenty to be winning games. I think everybody in that locker room will tell you we haven’t been playing as well as we’ve been capable of playing."

Doc Rivers echoed Aigne's feelings to ESPN, "I know what we have in the locker room is good enough to win a title, as far as talent. I also know that right now, in our minds, we're not good enough. Until we move to that next step -- they were there earlier in the year and they were there other parts -- but right now they are not."

Celtic defenders point out that last year the Celtics went through a similar funk after the All-Star break and only played .500 basketball yet still made it all the way to Game 7 of the NBA Finals. If that's your defense then just remember that Perkins was a big part of that playoff run and the Celtics players themselves have come out and said had Perkins not gotten injured during Game 6 they would have won Game 7 in Los Angeles.

The window of opportunity is quickly closing for the Celtics as "the Big 3" are all in the final stages of their careers. If the team doesn't win it this year then they might not get another shot. I think that Celtics fans will look back on this team 10 years from now and think about what could have been had they not traded away Perkins.

Random YouTube Video

Players are the Solution to NHL Headshot Problem

2011-03-26T11:15:00.000-04:00

I am starting to get really fed up with all of this talk about head shots and concussions in the NHL. There are two exciting playoff races going on in both the Eastern and Western conferences and all anybody can talk about is what to do to "make the game safer." I understand it's an issue that needs to be dealt with but there is more to hockey then just head shots. I mean is it too much to ask that Sports Center show the highlights first before going right to footage of the cheap shot du jour?

My real problem is that nobody is offering any real solutions on how to make the game safer or eliminate headshots. Everyone just makes obvious statements like, "the guys are a lot bigger and the game is a lot faster." No shit its called evolution and it's happening in every sport not just hockey. Football is dealing with the same issues but you don't see the NFL Network running a series like Crisis on Ice? like Sportsnet did the other night. These type of statements don't help anyone and simply make the discussion go around in circles without ever coming to a clear solution.

It's obvious that the new rules and sanctions put in place the NHL are not having an affect on the players as every night there is a headshot in at least one game in the NHL. So why make your league look foolish by implementing new rules and having the players ignore them making it seem as though the league is a joke and has no real authority over the players? Why continuously overshadow the game with meetings and conferences where nothing really gets done and people aren't happy with the result?

So I have taken it upon myself to come up with a possible solution to the current epidemic of concussions and headshots and it's so simple I am surprised no one has thought of it yet, and if they have they stole the idea from me. Now it obviously isn't perfect and it would take a lot to make it happen but if you actually look at the issue its the only way to put an end to the debate once and for all.

What's the one thing current and former players constantly say when asked about outsiders commenting on concussions and headshots? "They never played the game so they have no idea what they are talking about." That's a valid point. I have never played in the NHL so my opinion obviously doesn't carry much weight to the current players of the NHL.

And what's the one thing general managers, owners, fans and members of the media say when they make suggestions on how to fix the game? "It's all about player safety. We need to ensure that our players can remain on the ice and not have to worry about getting killed out there." Yet another valid point as fans, owners and general managers don't like it when their players get hurt.

So what's the common connection between both points? The players.

If players are saying that people outside of the game should shut up because they don't know what they are talking about then obviously the solution to the problem needs to be created by the players. If owners, general managers and fans want the players to be safer the only people that can actually ensure that the game is safe are the players themselves because really 'safe' is a relative term. What you and I might consider safe may be completely different from what an NHL player considers safe. Therefore the only way to put a stop to headshots or at least put a stop to the discussions on headshots are the players.

So here is my solution: at the end of the season gather all the members of the NHLPA and hold a conference discussing concussions and headshots. Have every single player in the league there and make them sit down and lay out the ground rules for headshots and dealing with suspensions. At the end of that conference have the players vote on how they would like to punish players or enforce theses new rules. Whatever decision they come up with is final and cannot be changed by owners, general managers or even Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell. This way if anything happens to the players the NHL can simply say, "they are the ones playing the game and they are the ones who created the punishments so if they don't like it they have no one to blame but themselves."

This may take away authority from the NHL slightly but really why should Colin Campbell be the one deciding what is right and wrong on the ice? The players are the ones who are at risk and the ones that actually play the game so why does it not make sense that they have a say in how things are enforced? A common statement that hockey pundits usually use is that 'hockey players enforce themselves on the ice by fighting guys that hit star players and things of that nature'. So if that's true why not just make it official and let players enforce the game itself.

If you feel like that's giving too much power to the players then here is a slight compromise or a possible twist on this idea. Replace Colin Campbell with recently retired players and make up a small committee that will be in charge of handing out the punishments. Get a group consisting of guys like Chris Chelios, Rob Blake, Scott Niedermayer, Brendan Shanahan, Joe Sakic and Scott Stevens. Combined they have been involved in almost every scenario that could ever happen on the ice and they were all well rounded players with tones of knowledge about the game. Let them decide how many games Matt Cooke should have gotten or whether or not he should still even be in the league.

Players have a different viewpoint than everyone else because they are the ones on the ice every day. For example after the Chara/Paciaretty incident a lot of NHL players were asked about their thoughts on the hit. About 90% of them said it was an accident and that Chara should not be suspended while fans, including myself, and media members wanted Chara to miss at least 1 game. If the general consensus around the league is not to suspend him then who are we to argue

Hypothetical situation. Let's say that the the players voted that any headshot of any kind result in a 1 game suspension. So even if it's a dirty hit the payer gets 1 game because that's what the players decided. Then for arguments sake let's say Steve Ott goes out and just blatantly headshots Danny Heatley as retribution for that dirty elbow he received a week ago. Under the rule created by the players Ott would receive a 1 game suspension and that's it. He would no doubt be dealt with next time the two teams played but as far as suspensions go he would get his 1 game. It wouldn't matter if it was deemed intentional or if Heatley got seriously hurt because that's the appropriate punishment the players voted for.

Now no one on the Sharks could complain to the league or the media because they would look like hypocrites and pussies which is never a good look in the NHL. Now the media wouldn't be able to turn the story into a fabricated epidemic and try and grab ratings off of a useless discussion. The players could focus on the game and the NHL wouldn't have to constantly be answering questions about how they were going to deal with every hit.

Obviously this is a vastly flawed system and some people might take advantage of it but it would at least put an end to all of this annoying debate and discussion. The NHL can go ahead and make up all sorts of new rules and sanctions about headshots and concussions all they want but unless the players make a change to the way they play then it's all for nothing. It's up to the players to make the change. So why not just simply the process and let the players make the new rules and go from there. The league would avoid a lot of negative publicity and we could go back to talking about hockey instead of concussions.

Seems like a common sense win-win to me.

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UFC Fight Night 24 Predictions

2011-03-25T10:36:00.001-04:00

I am beyond excited for this event. After this event the next UFC event will be UFC 130 in Toronto which I will be attending. Hopefully these fights on Saturday, and then the Strikeforce card in two weeks with Paul Daley and Nick Diza, can sustain me until then.

My predictions for UFC 128 were perfect as I went 5/5. Then again it was a pretty easy card to pick as there were no real shockers (maybe the way Jon Jones dominated Shogun could be considered a shocker but not the fact that he won). So I am putting that streak on the line again as UFC has their 24th Fight Night live for free on Spike TV.

Here are my predictions:

Antonio "Lil Nog" Rogerio Nogueira (19-4) vs. "Mr. Wonderful" Phil Davis (8-0)

I am actually kind of pissed about this fight because Phil Davis was supposed to fight on the Toronto card and I was really excited to see him fight as he was being mentioned alongside Jon Jones as one of the best prospects in the UFC. Now due to a number of injuries Davis will be fight Lil Nog and trying to prove he has the reputation and hype to main event a card.

As for the fight itself there is a lot on the line. If Davis can beat Lil Nog in a convincing fashion he should make the jump into the upper echelon of Light Heavyweights and put himself one step closer to a future title shot. As for Nogueira he has not been impressive so far in his first 2 fights in the UFC and if he puts up another dud Dana might have to consider letting him go. He is already 34 and this may be his last chance to make a run for a title.

Phil Davis has crazy good wrestling and has shown he has some sick submission skills but really lacks a polished striking game so he will no doubt look to take this fight to the ground. Nogueira has unreal Jiu Jitsu and has a solid boxing background so one would think he would be comfortable on the ground and standing but he can't match Davis' size and if the fight goes to the ground I think he will get overwhelmed.

Prediction: Davis via Decision

Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy (23-8) vs. Anthony "Rumble" Johnson (8-3)

After 17 months Anthony Johnson is finally back inside the octagon. Before his fight against Josh Koscheck many people were looking at Johnson as a possible contender in the welterweight division but due to his lengthy layoff he has really faded in the minds of most fans. The biggest test for Johnson won't be on Saturday night it will be Friday afternoon at the weigh-ins as rumors have been circling that Johnson was walking around at 230lbs not more than 10 days ago so that weight cut will be insane.

As for the fight itself it is my early favorite for both 'Fight of the Night' and 'Knockout of the Night' as both of these guys like to stand and throw bombs. In his last fight Hardy got put to sleep by Carlos Condit which makes it 2 straight losses for the "Bad boy for Britain" (yes I felt really lame just writing that) so the pressure will be on him to perform and get back to his winning ways if he wants to stay relevant at 170lbs.

I am a fan of Johnson and would love for him to pull off the victory but 17 months is a long time to be away from fighting and dropping 50lbs is no joke and I think that's going to kill Johnson.

Prediction: Hardy via KO

Leonard Garcia (15-6-1) vs. "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung (10-3)

This is a rematch of one of the greatest fights of the year, well at least one of the most exciting. The last time these two guys met in 2010 it was a one of the craziest fights ever as both guys were swinging for the fences the entire fight showing no signs of technique. I don't expect a repeat performance this time around however as sequels rarely live up to the original.

Neither guy has real knock out power so I think this one goes to the judges scorecards. In fights like these I usually side with the guy who trains at Greg Jackson's gym just because he does such a great job coming up with solid gameplans and having his fighters implement them.

Prediction: Garcia via Decision

Amir Sadollah (4-2) vs. Damarques Johnson (17-8)

Former TUF competitors face off in a fight where Sadollah's potential opponent has changed 3 times. It was originally supposed to be kickboxer Duane Ludwig but then he got hurt, then submission wrestler James Wilks was slated to take the fight but also got hurt while training and now Sadollah ends up fighting Johnson who is predominantly a boxer. That means that in preparing for this fight Sadollah has been training all aspects of his game and not leaving anything out which I feel is a big advantage for him.

Both guys are looking to string some wins together and become mainstays on main cards before their 15 minutes of fame they earned on TUF comes to an end. Sadollah is a better all around fighter and works with randy Couture which means if he gets into trouble he will clinch and outpoint Johnson which is what I expect will happen.

Prediction: Sadollah via Decision

Random YouTube Video

NY Jets Benefitting From Lockout

2011-03-24T14:29:00.001-04:00

If you're a football fan then no doubt you want the current NFL lockout to end as soon as possible so the league can go back to business as usual and fans can be guaranteed there will be football. However if you're a New York Jets fan, like myself, you may want to rethink that position as the longer the lockout goes on the more the Jets benefit. Don't get me wrong I still want football this upcoming season but the longer the lockout lasts the more the Jets stand to gain and here's why:

Since there is no current CBA in place there is no free agency. Players are not allowed to switch teams and they are not allowed to get in contact with anyone from any team in the league. That means that potential free agents are not allowed to have meetings with perspective teams and neither are their agents. How does this help the Jets you might ask?

Well of every team in the NFL no one has more key free agents then the New York Jets. Potential players that could leave the Jets via free agency include: Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, Antonio Cromartie, Brad Smith, Shaun Ellis, Drew Coleman and Eric Smith.

That list includes the Jets two best receivers (Holmes and Edwards), their second best corner (Cromartie), their return man/wide receiver/wildcat quarterback (Smith), and the longest tenured player on the team who is also a leader in the locker room (Ellis). If the Jets were to lose all those players, or for that matter even some of them, the team would be decimated and would have a hard time returning to the playoffs let alone winning that SuperBowl Rex Ryan is always going on about.

Yet Jets fans should remain optimistic because if potential free agents can't talk to perspective team its going to make it easier for the Jets to retain their players. Think about it, if the lockout were to go on until 2 weeks before the season started that would mean teams would have 14 days to negotiate a contract with a player and then get him to camp and teach him a whole new offensive or defensive system in time for Week 1 of the regular season. I think that would be a major problem for a lot of teams and might cause them to stick with the personnel they already in place as opposed to going out and acquiring a player via free agency.

Another factor to consider is the NFL draft. Since free agency is currently frozen a lot of teams will be filling the holes on their roster with players from the draft since they can't go out and sign somebody. So for example if a team needs a cornerback they may be forced to draft one rather than hope a new CBA gets done in time for them to sign a guy like Antonio Cromartie. And if a team drafts a corner and has to give that player a new contract they will be far less likely to go out and spend even more money on a free agent.

Lastly there is the human element to consider. One would think that players would be less likely to switch teams so late in the off-season because it would mean uprooting their family and potentially moving them across the country with only a few weeks notice. Not many people enjoy moving and relocating their entire life at the drop of a hat so that may be a factor when it comes time for Jets players to make a decision about whether or not to resign with the team.

So if you look at it the longer this lockout lasts the more likely it becomes that the Jets will retain their key free agents and as fan of the team you have to like that. There were a lot of reports that claimed the Jets would let Antonio Cromartie go if it meant keeping both Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards but now that may be a moot point because they could potentially keep them all.

The Jets are benefiting in other ways as well. A few days ago ESPN released a report by Adam Schefter that showed how players would be losing out on their off-season workout bonuses because there was a lockout. Basically players have stipulations in their contract that state if they participate in a certain percentage of team led off-season workouts they would receive a bonus. Well since there is lockout currently in place the players can't workout with their teams which is costing them money and saving the owners tones.

Here are some of the Jets players that won't be getting bonuses should the lockout continue:

D'Brickashaw Ferguson     $750,000
Bryan Thomas                   $500,000
Mike DeVito                     $350,000
Calvin Pace                       $250,000
Bart Scott                         $250,000
LaDainian Tomlinson         $200,000

That equals up to $2.3 million in savings for the Jets just from workout bonuses that won't need to be paid due to the lockout. It may not seem like a lot of money but in the end that's $2.3 million that can be put back into the team in other areas that may be more beneficial.

So while most fans are struggling with the idea that there may not be football fans of the Jets should be looking at the silver lining in all of this.   The dream scenario would be that the lockout ends about 10 days before the start of the season which would give the Jets a chance to resign all of their key free agents and get in one pre-season game and some practices before the real season started. Fingers crossed.

Random YouTube Video

Jones' Victory Puts GSP/Silva Superfight on Hold

2011-03-23T15:36:00.000-04:00

Before this past weekend the fight that almost every MMA fan was taking about was a potential superfight between the current UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and the current UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva. UFC President Dana White had downplayed the possibility of the two champions fighting but it seemed inevitable as both fighters had cleaned out their respective divisions and were in desperate need of some real competition.

Then on Saturday night Jon "Bones" Jones put on one of the most dominant performances in recent history on Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Now the talk has shifted from GSP/Silva to a possible Jones vs Silva match-up and I for one couldn't be happier.

While it would be amazing to see GSP fight Anderson Silva as a GSP fan I don't think I could handle it. Both fighters are extremely dominant within their division (Silva is even dominant at Light Heavyweight having stepped up and beaten fighters like James Irvin and Forrest Griffin) but GSP does not possess the size to handle Anderson and I believe if they fought he would get killed.

Anderson cuts to get down to 185lbs and in order for GSP to make weight and be even close to the same size as Anderson he would need to put on some serious muscle which would no doubt hinder his speed, which currently is one of his biggest weapons. Anderson has shown a weakness to takedowns, which is another area GSP excels, but his size advantage over Georges would counterbalance the takedowns as GSP would struggle to keep the much larger man down.

This is all a moot point now anyways since Jones victory has thrust him into the conversation as a possible opponent for Anderson Silva.

The Light Heavyweight division is one of, if not the most, stacked divisions in the UFC with more potential champions than any other weight class. Proven fighters such as Shogun, Rashad Evans, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, and Forrest Griffin have all held the title at least once in the past 3 years. Plus there are up and comers like Ryan Bader and Phil Davis who if they continue to develop could one day be champion.

Yet all of those fighters, with the exception of Phil Davis, have shown holes in their game and an ability to be dominated by opponents. Jon Jones on the other hand has walked through each one of his opponents as if he was on easy mode in a video game. He does what he wants when he wants and his opponents just stand there and take it.

Going into his fight against Shogun many people, including myself, were worried that Jones wouldn't be able to handle the step up in competition. He quickly put an end to those concerns when not even 60 seconds into the fight he had thrown a flying knee and a front kick to the face that wobbled Shogun. There is no other way to put it other than Jones beat up Shogun. It wasn't even really a fight (according to Compustrike.com Jones landed well over 130 strikes while Shogun landed a pathetic 11 strikes).

So now if Jones beats his next scheduled opponent, Rashad Evans, he could very well face Anderson Silva which would be a much fairer fight than if GSP had to take on Silva. Jones has the longest reach in the UFC (84 inches) and has the height/size to hang with Anderson. He also has the same freakish athletic ability as Silva which would make the fight real interesting.

If Jones and Silva fought it would more than likely be one of the most entertaining striking battles in MMA history as both guys like to throw crazy unorthodox strikes that really progress the sports. For instance last time he fought Anderson Silva knocked out Vitor Belfort with a front kick to the face. When Jones fought Shogun he used that exact same front kick 4 or 5 times in the fight as if he watched Anderson do it and then tried to do it himself.

This would be in stark contrast to a GSP/Silva fight where Georges would need to take Silva down and out wrestle him to earn the victory as on the feet he would be outclassed no matter how much he trains with Freddie Roach. The fight would still be amazing just because of the fact that it would be two of the best pound for pound fighters in the world but I prefer stand up fights as opposed to fights fought on the ground.

UFC President Dana White recently commented on the possibility of GSP fight Silva when he spoke to Yahoo Sports. "This fight isn't happening," White said. "It's not a fight yet. It's still a big fantasy fight. There are still things that need to happen in the meantime before we sit down and discuss where this fight would be, what weight it would be at, how it would work. It's all just fantasy yet. I literally have not talked to Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva about this fight."

So it seems that Georges is going to be staying at Welterweight and continue to dominate opponents leaving the only superfight left a Jones/Silva match up. I still think Jones need to have a few more convincing wins first but if he beats Rashad the way he beat up Shogun and Anderson walks through Yushin Okami then I could see a fight between the two dynamic strikers being a real possibility and possibly the only viable option in terms of seeing how good they both truly are.

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Barry Bonds On Trial Underway But Does Anyone Care?

2011-03-22T15:54:00.001-04:00

Today in San Francisco the criminal trial for Barry Bonds, or as its officially known The United States of America vs. Barry Lamar Bonds, case 07-0732, began as the prosecution will attempt to prove that Barry Bonds committed perjury seven years ago when under oath he swore that he had never knowingly taken perforation enhancing drugs. Bonds told the court that he believed was taking flax seed oil and using arthritis cream which in his openings statement today Assistant U.S. attorney Matt Parrella called "ridiculous and unbelievable."

This trial is the culmination of eight years worth of relentless work by the prosecutors to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that Barry Bonds is a liar and a cheat. Makes you wonder why they spent so much time and money trying to prove something that everybody already knows anyways.

Barry Bonds used performance enhancing drugs to become a better baseball player, of this there is no doubt. I don't need a jury of 12 people and a judge to tell me that, nor do I need to hear it from Bonds himself. The proof that Bonds cheated exists on every website that keeps baseball stats and every image of Bonds that shows how he transformed from an average sized human being to a gorilla almost overnight.

I'm not going to sit here and throw stats at you about how as Bonds aged he got stronger or about how his batting average in August was otherworldly and the grind of the season didn't slow him down like it did to other players even though he was close to 40 (Tom Verducci of SI.com already did that). If you have followed baseball at all over the past decade you know about all this and by now you, like myself, are unmoved by it.

Before this trial began I don't think I had heard the name Barry Bonds in well over a year. He is beyond irrelevant as baseball fans have moved on from caring about him and are now once again focusing back on the field. The fact that these lawyers have been working so hard to prove that Bonds lied back in 2004 is ridiculous. How much money has been wasted on this trial at this point all for the sake of saying 'I told you so' to the media? What do these lawyers expect to happen should Bonds be proven guilty, which by the way is next to impossible as the evidence is lacking and his former trainer Greg Anderson refuses to testify?

Fans have already made up their mind about Barry Bonds and have moved on. No one has been sitting around for eight years waiting for the outcome of this trial to pass their own personal judgment of Bonds. Bonds has already been judged in the court of public opinion and the outcome there is far more severe then any punishment he would receive for perjury.

What I do find really interesting about this trial is that it has been eight years in the making. Think of the other players who were caught for performance enhancing drugs and how their lives have been affected over the past few years. Sammy Sosa continued to play for a little while and then quietly retired in 2009 and has been out of the public eye since. Mark McGwire got burned a bit by the public but has now reinvented himself as the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bonds on the other hand has been the target of the authorities for eight years now and has earned the ire of every baseball fan in North America (even people in San Francisco who used to defend him seem to have given up on him now) and I find that fascinating.

When Sosa and McGwire were hitting all their home runs nobody cared, or even wondered, if they were on steroids. Ignorance is bliss as they say. But as soon as Bonds starting blasting them out of the park every other at bat people started to wonder why and more importantly people got upset. Bonds became the face of the steroid era and has never been able to shake the accusations that he cheated and earned the title of Home Run King' unfairly.

The reason for that, I think, is because Bonds is a prick. He is cold to the media and just genuinely seems like a real asshole as opposed to Sosa, who is constantly smiling and creating handshakes in the dugout, and McGwire who was nicknamed 'Big Mac' and had an engaging personality and seemed like a decent guy. Had Bonds been a better person he probably could have avoided a lot of the vitriol and maybe even avoided some of the hassle from the authorities.

But now Bonds is back in the media again and will no doubt be mentioned on PTI everyday for the rest of the week despite the fact that as I mentioned earlier this trial will change the minds of absolutely no one. I get why the prosecution wants to nail Bonds. Lying to the grand jury is something that can't go unpunished but at some point an investigation that lasts eight years for a simple perjury crosses the line into theatrics. This is no longer about whether Bonds lied or not, its now about making an example of Barry Bonds.

The outcome of the trial could take weeks to be decided and I have already lost interest in the whole thing, well that's not technically true as I was never interested in the trial to begin with. Bonds is a liar and a cheat and it doesn't take eight years and a trial to figure that out.

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New York Mets Eat Cash Despite Being Broke

2011-03-21T14:02:00.000-04:00

Over the past week the New York Mets released both second baseman Luis Castillo and pitcher Oliver Perez. Not shocking moves considering that both players were struggling with numerous injuries and were both having awful spring trainings. What is shocking is that by releasing these two players the Mets will have to eat $18 million worth of salary this season.

Why is that so shocking you might ask? Its shocking because as of February of this year the Mets were reported to be $430 million in debt and taking $25 million loans from MLB just to stay afloat. Its also shocking because Mets owner Fred Wilpon is currently being sued by the victims of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme for the reported amount of $1 billion (no that was not a type that's $1,000,000,000).

Before going over the financials of the team let's look at these moves from strictly a baseball perspective. Quite frankly they were moves that needed to be made and in the case of Perez they should have been made a long time ago.

In 2009 Perez signed a three-year $36 million contract with the Mets after coming off back to back winning seasons where he led the major in fewest walks allowed and posted a decent ERA. There were signs that he was struggling a bit as his velocity was down from 2008 to 2009 but at the time Mets management thought they could fix it and Perez would be a solid #2 behind staff ace Johan Santana. Then the wheels fell off as after signing that contract Perez went 3-9 with an ERA of roughly 6.81. He had lost his velocity as well as his command and had been moved from being in the starting rotation to the bullpen where he was a middle reliever.

Coming into Spring Training this year reports were that Perez was optimistic he could earn a spot in the rotation again. Unfortunately for Perez however he got his world rocked posting an ERA of 8.83 in just 9 2/3 innings of work. The final straw came on Saturday when he gave up back to back home runs to minor leaguers. After that the writing was on the wall he was released on Monday.

Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson had this to say to Sports Illustrated about the decision to cut Perez, "I think it was additional evidence that from his standpoint the velocity was not there, the command was not there. It wasn't going to work in a starting role. It didn't appear as if it were going to work in a relief role at least any time soon. We are getting down toward the end of spring training so we felt it was time to make a decision."

As for Castillo he was nearing the end of his four-year $25 million contract and was struggling just to stay on the field as he was constantly battling a variety of injuries. Since joining the Mets in 2007 Castillo only cracked 87 games once and was constantly on the disable list. When healthy he is a serviceable player who makes solid contact and can steal bases but at 35 years old and with a history of foot/ankle injuries he was no longer needed by the Mets.

Releasing Perez and Castillo was the right thing to do from a baseball standpoint. Aside from being hurt and ineffective both were not well liked by Mets fans. Perez was hated by Mets fans for his apparent apathy towards the game as he never seemed to care if the Mets were winning or if he had just given up a huge home run. He came to the ballpark, pitched and got his money. Castillo on the other hand was hated for the infamous error he made against the hated Yankees when he dropped an easy pop fly that would have ended the game but instead allowed 2 runs to score to give the Yanks the win.

So now the Mets are walking away from both of these players and are willing to pay Perez $12 million and Castillo $6 million not to play for them this season despite the fact that their owner is being sued for $1 billion and the team has hundreds of millions of dollars worth of debt.

The financial situation for the Mets has gotten dire. Due to the massive amount of debt and the possible billion dollar lawsuit Mets owner Fred Wilpon has been actively seeking what he calls a "strategic partner" to buy a percentage of the team, a percentage that at first was reported to be roughly 25 percent but has jumped up to now 49 percent.

It was reported by the New York Post that Wilpon has already received 12 bids from potential suitors (despite numerous reports mark Cuban is not one of them) and will accepting bids until the end of March at which point he will make a decision. And making that decision quickly will be of the utmost importance as the Mets are financially strapped and need to make payments. They have already tapped out their line of credit with MLB which is a reported $75 million and can no longer borrow money from their lender JPMorgan as they have tapped out that line of credit as well.

The timing of the lawsuit combined with the losses form last year ($50 million in losses after paying off interest on the initial loan as well as bonds to New York City for the recently built Citi Field) is what is really hurting Wilpn and the Mets right now. They need a new investor and they need it as soon as possible if they want to keep paying the players salaries and keeping the lights on at Citi Field.

I have always found it fascinating when a team cuts a player knowing they will have to eat their salary. Its a public admission of failure but 99% of the team its necessary because the player is often injured/ineffective or in some cases the player can be a symbol for the old regime that is being dismantled by new owners/general managers. When Sandy Alderson took over as General Manager from Omar Minaya he saw players like Perez and Castillo as symbols of the failure of the old regime and so now he is cleaning house.

This makes complete sense and I think you would struggle to find a Mets fan that didn't agree with Alderson's decision. I just am baffled at how a team can cut two players and eat $18 million worth of contracts while they are fighting to stay financially afloat and getting loans from anyone that will give them one and are actively looking for someone to buy a 49 percent stake in the team, which by the way at the moment just seems like the investment opportunity of a lifetime.

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Deron Williams and Carmelo Trades Not Working Out as Hoped

2011-03-20T14:37:00.000-04:00

Usually when a team trades for a superstar there is a belief that the team will immediately be better. Sometimes it can take a few games for new players to learn a system or to gel with the rest of the team but for the most part the expectation is always for improvement. The other expectation is that the newly acquired superstar will actually want to play for your team instead of crossing days off on a calender waiting for the moment when he can jump ship and move to greener pastures.

These are the two issues that are facing the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets as they try and adjust to life with their newly acquired superstars. Let's start first with the Knicks:

When the trade for Carmelo Anthony was first announced the debate was not about whether he would fit into Mike D'Antoni's run and gun style of offense it was whether or not the Knicks gave up too much to get him. The trade did leave their team somewhat depleted but in my opinion the Knicks still had enough fire power to contend in the East and at least make a push for that 4th or 5th seed yet so far that has not been the case.

The Knicks are just 7-7 since Anthony's arrival on February 22nd and after the initial honeymoon phase where the Knicks beat the Heat and went on a 6-3 run the excitement has worn off with the team losing 4 out of their last 5 games including back to back losses to the Pacers and an embarrassing loss to the lowly Pistons. Fans in New York are legitimately worried that the team won't make the playoffs (even though they are 7.5 games up on 9th place Charlotte) and even more worried that trading for Melo has ruined the chemistry of the team and may have been the wrong decision going forward.

The problem hasn't been Carmelo adapting to the Mike D'Antoni system because for that to happen the team would have to be using D'Antoni's offense. Since acquiring Melo the Knicks have completely changed their offensive style as they are now being forced to feed the ball to Melo who is demanding possession in isolation situations and pinning his man in the post, both of which are in complete contrast to what D'Antoni usually does. This change of play has made the team less explosive on offense and has made Amare Stoudemire far less effective.

"Absolutely, absolutely, that's the way we're going to win," Stoudemire said to Newsday of the need to get back to the uptempo, pick-and-roll style. "That's the way we've proven that works with the team we had before the trade and it can work with the guys we have now. It's just a matter of us buying into it and really trying to understand that our ultimate goal is to make the playoffs and see what we can do."

This is a veiled shot at Anthony as the only things that's changed since the trade are the additions of Anthony and Billups. Everyone else on the team knows how to run the offense so the task of learning and utilizing the offense now falls on the new guys. For his part Billups has done a good job and the only time he struggles is when he is forced to feed Anthony the ball.

Billups also spoke with Newsday about Melo and had this to say, ""He'll be fine. He's a great player. I've seen him get frustrated offensively at times in Denver, playing with him for so long. It happens. You're not going to play awesome every single night. Nobody is. You expect him to because he's a great player, but it just doesn't happen like that. He's going to be fine. No, I'm not worried about Melo at all."

Billups sounds like Michael Cera in Superbad. "I'm not too worried about it, really. I wouldn't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I'm not worried at all." But he is right. Melo is a great player and he will eventually come around and the Knicks will be OK. Despite what some people think the Melo trade wasn't made with 2011 in mind and it was only phase 2 of a 3 phase plan. Amare was phase 1, Melo was phase 2 and when Chris Paul joins the Knicks in 2012 that will be phase 3.

If the season were to end today the Knicks would end up facing the Heat in round 1 of the playoffs. Could they win that series? Not if they play like they are playing right now and getting bounced in the opening round of the playoffs is not what Donnie Walsh, or Knicks fans, had in mind when Melo was acquired.

The Knicks may be having trouble adjusting to life with Melo but at least he wants to be there in New York playing for the Knicks long term. The same can't be said of Deron Williams and the New Jersey Nets.

The Nets don't have the same problem as the Knicks. Since acquiring Williams the team has been playing much better, especially center Brook Lopez, and now sit just 6.5 games behind Indiana for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. That in itself is not surprising since Williams is an elite point guard and the Nets were awful so really the only place for them to go was up. What is surprising is that according to many league sources Williams has shown no desire to stay with the team once his contract expires.

The Nets traded away a lot to get Deron Williams (or guard Devin Harris, forward Derrick Favors, two first round draft picks, and $3 million in cash) and if he walks away in 2012 then the Nets are screwed. I can understand why the Nets made the trade as it not only helps improve the team immediately but will also help generate interest in the team when they move to Brooklyn in a couple years but if Williams doesn't resign then they are screwed as now not only will they not have a superstar to market/build the team around but they won't have any draft picks to rebuild the team.

Now Williams himself hasn't made any official statement about whether he will resign or not but there is some serious evidence to help support the theory he wants to get out of New Jersey as soon as possible. When the trade was first announced the response from Williams was anything but positive as he said he was upset about the deal and not happy to be leaving Utah, which when compared to New Jersey is understandable. Even though Williams would then go on to say all the right things at his press conference and interviews it was the initial reaction that were his true feelings I believe.

The other thing to consider is the current roster of the New Jersey Nets. Aside from Williams and Lopez this is a team filled with mediocre roles players that are overpaid and under skilled. The team has no 1st round draft picks to rebuild and barely any cap room to go out and get someone so why would Williams stay in a situation like that? I think its going to take a lot to convince Williams to stay with the Nets and unless the team can pull off something crazy in terms of a trade or free agency I see him walking in 2012, maybe even to the Knicks if they can't get Chris Paul.

So there you have it, the 2 biggest trades of the year, the 2 biggest trades of the past 4-5 years for that matter, and both aren't working out has hoped. If given the chance would both General Managers make the deals again? I know I would. Both deals needed to get done. Each team was never going to be a contender as previously assembled and both needed to fill the seats and trading for a superstar is often the cure to those issues.

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UFC 128 Predictions

2011-03-18T16:32:00.001-04:00

I really hope nobody reads these and then makes bets based on my predictions, then again that would mean people read what I write so I think I am good on that front, because at UFC 127 I went 1-4 on the main card with my only correct prediction being Kyle Noke beating Chris Camozzi. So I am looking to rebound this Saturday and it shouldn't be too hard as aside from the main event the PPV card is filled with fights that I feel are a little one-sided.

I know that Dana White has to be thrilled that Jon Jones walked all over Ryan Bader and was able to step in and take this fight against Shogun after Rashad Evans got hurt. Ever since Jones stepped into the Octagon he has been pegged as "the next big thing in MMA" and Dana knows he can market the hell out of this kid and hopefully stop the revolving door of champions at Light Heavyweight.

This is a stack ass card from top to bottom and I am real pumped for it and even more pumped to go 5-5 in my predictions so here they are:

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (19-4) vs. Jon "Bones" Jones (12-1)

When this fight was first announced Jon Jones was going off as a 4-1 favorite. Now that a few weeks have passed the line has come down quite a bit and sits at 2-1 for Jones. While Shogun is the champion and the more proven fighter I completely understand the betting line here. Jones is undefeated (that loss against Matt Hamill is complete BS and everyone knows it) and just came off a complete manhandling of previously unbeaten Ryan Bader.

Add that to the fact that no fighter has ever been this hyped before by people within Mixed Martial Arts. That's what worries me about Jones. Normally when a fighter is hyped up it is by the UFC itself or fighters from within the same camp but with Jon Jones its literally everyone talking about how insane this kid is. They all talk about him like he is the LeBron of MMA and is ready to explode on the scene and just dominate the 205lb division for the next 10 years.

Shogun on the other hand is being greatly overlooked. He is still young in his own right, just 29, and has beaten some of the best fighters in the history of MMA. His muay thai is insane and he has the most devastating leg kicks in the UFC. He does struggle a little bit with wrestlers but being that he is Brazilian he came out of the womb knowing how to submit someone so if the fight goes to the ground look for Shogun to remain active rather than lay there and absorb elbows like people think he is going to do.

One of the other great abilities Shogun has is his ability to handle "unorthodox" strikers. Before he fought Lyoto Machida there were people out there who thought Machida might never get hit again as his elusive and defensive style made him appear invincible. Yet both times they fought Shogun was able to close the distance and really bring it to Machida eventually knocking Machida out in their second fight. So I don't think he will have a problem handling Jones' style on the feet.

Where Shogun may have a problem is with Jones' insane reach. Jones has the longest reach in the UFC and uses it to his advantage. If he can keep Shogun at a good distance and avoid leg kicks then he should be able to dictate where the fight takes place and if he feels Shogun is too dangerous on the feet he can always fall back on his wrestling background and just take him down.

Where I think this fight really gets decided is in the clinch. Both of these fighters are great in the clinch as they both employ a lot of muay thai in their attack so whoever can dominate the clinch game will win the fight. If Shogun can inflict some damage in the clinch and eliminate the reach advantage of Jones then he will pull it out but if Jones can overwhelm Shogun with his superior length and maybe a trip or two via the clinch then its his fight to lose.

The crazy thing is that Jones has obviously never been finished and I have a hard time seeing Shogun getting knocked out by anybody yet at the same time the odds of two exciting fighters like these guys going to a decision must be nonexistent. I want Shogun to win I just see more ways he loses the fight than ways where he can win. Jones may be less experienced and may be facing an extreme jump in competition but he seems focused and determined.

Prediction: Jones via Submission

Urijah "The California Kid" Faber (24-4) vs. Eddie Wineland (18-6-1)

Finally Urijah Faber gets to make his debut in the UFC. For a long time he was the poster boy for WEC and the only reason anyone ever watched one of their events (until Jose Aldo came around and started killing people and getting compared to Anderson Silva). Now he gets to step into the Octagon and become even more of a household name but in order to do so he has to get by a self proclaimed, "corn-fed hillbilly from Indiana."

Eddie Wineland may not be a household name but he isn't just some dustbag the UFC brought over from WEC just to get beat up. Wineland is a solid well rounded fighter, although his ground game fails in comparison to Faber, who prefers to stand and has proven in the past that he has knockout power. A lot of people are viewing him as a stepping stone and an afterthought since its rumored that the winner of this fight will be a coach on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter alongside Dominick Cruz but Wineland has talent. I mean he did beat Antonio Banuelos.

As for Faber he is as well-rounded as they come and the drop down in weight seems to have suited him perfectly. By the way I love how in the Countdown show they never showed him losing to Aldo and he never mentioned how he dropped weight to avoid fighting Aldo ever again. My buddy Josh called him out on this and I somewhat agree but I understand it. Why would anyone want to be a Middleweight knowing one day they might have to fight Anderson Silva?

Despite Wineland being a legit fighter he is still not on the same level as Faber. Faber will no doubt look to take this fight to the ground and finish Wineland convincingly.

Prediction: Faber via TKO

Jim Miller (19-2) vs. Kamal Shalorus (7-0-2)

Before George Sotiropoulos fought Dennis Siver I thought he should have fought Jim Miller to determine who the #1 contender for the lightweight championship should be. Instead Joe Silva matched both of these guys up against fighters who pose a huge challenge for them stylistically. This was done for 1 of 2 reasons.

1) My theory that the UFC picks and chooses its champions based on their marketability and charisma seems to be gaining steam as fighters like Jon Jones are given title shots without beating top tier talent while guys like Jim Miller are given tough fights that will neither move them up the rankings or get them closer to a title shot. There is no way Jim Miller gets a title shot if he beats Shalorus but if he loses he will need to win at least 2 more fights to get back to where he is now, on the fringe of the title picture.

2) Joe Silva and the UFC wanted to put these two guys against tough fights stylistically to see how good they are against adversity. Can they game plan well and can they overcome the odds and change their style to beat a tough opponent. GST failed in his test and now has to work his way back up the ladder. Will the same happen to Jim Miller?

If you look at Miller's 19-2 record you will see that his only 2 losses came to Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard who are both superior wrestlers. Shalorus is a superior wrestler to Jim Miller and so if you look at track record you pick Shalorus to win this fight. I think Jim Miller might be able to adapt better than GST did against Siver and prove that he can beat superior wrestlers. Plus that home crowd in Jersey will be behind Miller and you can never discount that.

Prediction: Jim Miller via Decision

Nate "The Great" Marquardt (30-10-2) vs. Dan Miller (13-4)

Gotta respect Dan Miller for stepping up and taking this fight on almost no notice. He was scheduled to be on the card anyways so he was physically ready but no way he was mentally ready to fight a guy like Nate Marquardt. Then again Dan Miller could have 12 months to prepare for Nate and still get murdered.

This is Marquardt's last chance to go on a run and try and win the Middleweight title. He can't afford to lose anymore fights and have to start at the bottom all over again. He was supposed to fight Akiyama but because of the tsunami/earthquake in Japan that fight got canceled and Miller stepped up. Marquardt is the official 'Jack of all trades yet master of none' in the UFC as he exemplifies well rounded but doesn't stand out anywhere in particular.

Dan Miller on the other hand exemplifies a duster. He beats mediocre fighters (see his last win over Joe Doerksen) and loses to anyone with real talent (see previous 3 loses to Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia and Michael Bisping). I see no way he wins this fight unless Marquardt has a massive heart attack right after the opening bell sounds.

Prediction: Marquardt via TKO

Brendan "The Hybrid" Schaub (7-1) vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (27-8-2)

I don't like Brendan Schaub. Never have and probably never will. Something about him just really pisses me off. Another thing that pisses me off is that I didn't watch PRIDE during the height of its popularity therefore I have never seen Cro Cop just decapitate somebody with a head kick. So I am pulling for that tonight and hoping Schaub never wakes up.

Having said that...

Chuck Mindenhall of ESPN put it best when he wrote, "As much as Cro Cop would like to file that Frank Mir fight away as an aberration, the truth is he has slowed down increasingly over the last three years, looking older than his 36 years. Meanwhile, Schaub is just coming into his own, and as he makes his way up into heavyweight contention, this fight will just be a handshake in the stairwell as they go in their own directions."

Prediction: Schaub (but hoping for that left leg to the dome)

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The Key to the Success of the UFC: Dana White

2011-03-17T14:57:00.001-04:00

OK obviously the UFC is successful for a number of reasons: the decline of boxing leaving a void for combat sports in North America, their ability to put out a great product both in the Octagon but also on their television shows and online content, a serious lack of legitimate competition and of course their constant policy of always putting the fans first. All of these reasons made the UFC the success that it is today but without Dana White being the face of the organization I truly believe the company would not be doing nearly as well as it currently is.

There are lots of people that make the UFC what it is and get very little credit for their work because they are not in the spotlight like Dana White. There is the Chairman/CEO Lorenzo Feritta who does most of the behind the scenes business deals for the UFC and of course the man that makes all of the fight related decisions the VP of Talent and official Matchmaker Joe Silva.

Both of these men play key roles in the company and one could argue that they in fact are the key reason for the success of the UFC as without Joe Silva making great fights and singing amazing fighters the UFC would be putting out a shabby product and would have no fans. Its a valid argument and if Joe Silva wasn't such media hermit there may be more evidence to show that he is more than just 'the man pulling the switches behind the curtain.' But its because Dana White is so front and center that makes him so important and integral to the success of the UFC.

As President of the UFC Dana White is involved in every single aspect of the company. He works closely with both Lorenzo Ferittia and Joe Silva but also has to constantly be in the public eye making statements on behalf of the company and dealing with fights, fans and the media every single day. When the UFC bought Strikeforce last week it was Dana White who was doing countless interviews discussing the deal even though it was Lorenzo Ferittia who made it all happen. Dana is out there in front of the world as the face of the biggest company in Mixed Martial Arts and in my opinion he does a phenomenal job.

I think the biggest reason Dana is so successful is because he comes across as just a regular guy who is extremely passionate about what he does. 75% of the time he is in a t-shirt and jeans and just hanging out when he does interviews and he rarely, if ever, wears a tie (actually now that I think of it I don't think I've ever seen Dana White in a tie). This may seem unprofessional to some but to most fans it means they can identify with him because of that and it makes him seem more approachable and human.

Now compare that description to some of the other public figures in professional sports (and yes the UFC is comparable to MLB, NFL, NBA and the NHL in terms of its popularity as a professional sport).

The NFL has Commissioner Roger Goodell as the face of the organization. Goodell is referred to as Roger "Goody Goody" Dell by a number of members of the media and seems like the personification of a suit who never says anything that wasn't prepared for him by a team of public relations representatives. Does the NFL succeed as a league because of Roger Goodell? No, it succeeds because its the NFL. I could be named Commissioner of the NFL and it would continue to make billions of dollars so giving Goodell credit for making the league successful is unwarranted.

Then you have David Stern who is the Commissioner and face of the NBA and Bud Selig who is the Commissioner of MLB. Both of these guys are old and by my view appear very out of touch with their fans. I would say both do a good job with their respective sports considering the colossal problems they are forced to deal with everyday (Selig has the steroid issue and Stern has referees as well as attendance issues). Do they pass the "yeah I'd have a beer with that guy' test? Of course not. Are they the reason their leagues are successful? No, LeBron James and the fact its "America's Pastime" are the reason the NBA and MLB are successful leagues.

Lastly there is the Commissioner of the NHL Gary Bettman who in my opinion is the worst Commissioner by far in professional sports. The majority of fans of the NHL despise Bettman and look for every opportunity they can to rip him apart and make fun of him. Is the NHL succeeding because of him? If anything the league is popular despite the efforts of Bettman.

Dana White breaks the mold created by men like Goodell, Bettman, Stern and Selig. White isn't always politically correct and he doesn't always say the right thing but he will never hold back on his opinion and he is always frank and honest with fans and the media. White has no problem speaking his mind on any issue and isn't afraid to pepper his answers with a few F bombs here and there. Fans respect/identify that sort of behavior and it endears White to them and in any business its always about making the customer happy.

But its more than just being honest that makes White so successful. He seems like a genuinely good guy that loves MMA and is incredibly generous with both his time and his money. Before every UFC event White always goes on his Twitter account and tweets his location saying that the first few fans to find him will get free tickets to the event. White will also give away a few free tickets to every event at the press conferences before the fights simply because fans ask and he understands tickets can be expensive and hard to come by. He will even hang around and talk/take pictures with fans long after the events/press conferences are over and he ends almost every interaction with a fan by saying, "thanks for coming." These actions may cost the company a little bit of money but they help create a positive image of White and the UFC as a whole.

White also provides fans amazing levels of access to both himself and the UFC as an organization. Not only does Dana White actually use his Twitter account to interact with fans but he also puts out a video blog before each event that provides fans insight into what its like to be Dana White. These video blogs show behind the scenes footage of White going about his day as the President of the UFC and show him interacting with fighters, fans, celebrities and the media. In no other organization are fans treated to this kind of access by the face of that organization and its probably because no other organization has a personality like Dana White that can pull it off.

Uploading a video blog and answering fans questions on Twitter may seem like trivial or cheap ways to get positive publicity from fans but they are incredibly effective. Dana has over 1.3 million followers on Twitter as compared to Stern, Goodell and Selig who have 0 and Bettman who has just over 10,000 (although he has only 3 tweets since April 09). That kind of exposure and direct marketing is invaluable and helps create both brand recognition and loyalty among the fans.

What also needs to be considered is the way Dana's employs view him. In the video blogs Dana uploads fighters are constantly coming up to him and thanking him for the opportunity to fight in the UFC and after big wins or when demanding title shots fighters will always say something along the lines of 'I told Dana I would put on an amazing performance and I did" or "Dana wants guys that can finish and that's what I am." The fighters in the UFC seem to genuinely like Dana and want to work hard and put on good performances for the UFC to keep Dana happy.

If the fighters are always trying to do their best then the fights will be better and the fans will be happier. Its common sense and its a way of doing business that Dana White has cultivated in the UFC. Its one of the main reasons the UFC is so successful and its why the UFC will continue to be successful.

One of the other roles Dana played (and continues to play), and maybe his most crucial, is getting Mixed Martial Arts legalized all over North America and around the world. Without Dana White MMA would probably still be illegal in Ontario and in 90% of the United States. He has made such great progress in helping spread awareness for the sport and for the brand of the UFC. His role cannot be stated enough as he has made countless television appearances spreading awareness as well as being involved in legal proceedings on multiple levels of government trying to push through legislation legalizing MMA. Its almost like Gary Bettman expanding the NHL into the southern United States except successful.

Without White working hard for legalization of MMA the UFC would not be as successful as it is today because they would be limited to doing shows in Las Vegas and a few other locations rather than hosting events all over the world. Over the past year alone the UFC has put on shows in Vancouver, Montreal, Australia, England, and Germany. If Dana White isn't the President of the UFC that probably doesn't happen.

As I said before there are lots of reasons to explain the rocket like rise in popularity the UFC has gone through over the past few years but in my opinion its the presence of Dana White that has helped the most. People associate him with the UFC as he is the face of the organization and he does an amazing job promoting MMA and cultivating relationships with the fans.

Dana White knows that the fans are the most important part of his company and so he does everything he can to keep them happy and as an MMA fan myself who will be going to UFC 129 April 30th at the Skydome (I refuse to call it by its actual name) there isn't really much else to say except, thank you Dana White.

Random YouTube Video

Players Losing PR Battle During NFL Lockout

2011-03-16T15:05:00.000-04:00

When the whole NFL lockout situation began a few weeks ago it seemed that the public were going to side with the players as the common belief was that the owners were just greedy old men who wanted to exploit the players and make even more money. It seemed that in the court of public opinion the owners didn't stand a chance and their cause would be weakened by public pressure forcing them to make concessions to the NFLPA that they didn't want to have to make.

Then the players and the NFLPA blew it.

In the span of just a few short weeks public opinion has shifted completely and now it's the players that are losing the public relations battle to the owners. If this trend continues its going to be harder for the NFLPA to get what it wants from the owners during negotiations. If the NFLPA were on a 3 strike policy this whole thing would be over by now.

The NFLPA collected Strike 1 during the actual negotiations with the league when they demanded to see 10 years worth of financial reports from every owner in the NFL. The NFLPA wanted to use this information to prove that the owners were making hundreds of millions more than they were reporting and try and leverage that information to get a bigger cut of the revenues for the players. Seems like a decent idea in theory but in practice its beyond ridiculous.

First off there are teams that haven't had the same owner for the past 10 years and therefore the bookkeeping systems may be completely different or may not even be accessible to the current owner. Also this was a sticking point during the negotiation for the previous CBA and at that point the owners said under no circumstances would they comply with the request so why continuously harp on that point? It was also wide held opinion that whatever numbers the NFL did show could be massaged in such a way that they would be useless to the NFLPA so the fact that this is what halted negotiations looks bad on DeMaurice Smith (pictured below).

If you were watching coverage of the negotiations on any network they kept talking about how the NFLPA wanted those records and how they refused to discuss anything else until that issue was settled. If you're a fan watching this it makes the NFLPA look stupid and greedy because all they care about is money and nothing else. What happened to only wanting safer work conditions and better retirement packages for players and their families? As a fan I watched DeMaurice Smith stand in front of the microphone and ask for something he knew he wouldn't get and then try and blame the breakdown in negotiations on the owners. It was at that point I knew the NFLPA was in trouble if this guy was their representative.

As Michael Lombardi of the NFL Network said, "that's not negotiating." He's right. That isn't negotiating and so when you claim you 'did your best' but then get exposed for doing nothing but demand the impossible and not try and compromise you lose face in the public eye.

Strike 2 occurred when the NFLPA contacted 17 of the top projected picks in this upcoming NFL draft in April and told them to boycott the event as a show of unity between the current players and the soon to be rookies. This was strike two as far as the public viewed it.

How dare the NFLPA ask these young men to purposely skip one of the biggest days of their entire lives just to upset the owners and try and gain leverage. These kids have all worked hard and sacrificed a lot to hear the Commissioner of the NFL read out their name and get to walk across the stage and hold up that jersey. Even current NFL players do those commercials for the NFL Network where they describe how amazing of a feeling it was and how it symbolized a culmination of all of their efforts to that point.

Projected Top 10 pick Patrick Peterson, a cornerback from LSU, said it best when he told ProFootballTalk.com, "That’s what you play football for. That’s a big moment to go up there and shake the commissioner’s hand and get that jersey and hat. It means a lot."

I don't know who at the NFLPA thought it would be a good idea to ask these players to boycott the draft but clearly that person needs to be excluded from offering up ideas in meetings from now on. Just because the current players are greedy and not happy with their current work situation in the league doesn't mean these rookies, who by the way are not actual members of the NFLPA until they are drafted, should have to forfeit their chance to be on national television holding up that jersey. The NFLPA just wanted to use these young players to gain leverage and stick it to Roger Goodell and the rest of the NFL.

And lastly strike 3 came yesterday when Pro Bowl runningback for the Minnesota Vikings Adrian Peterson tweeted, "It’s modern-day slavery, you know?" Massive public outrage occurred over that comment as people everywhere were beyond pissed that Peterson could be so ignorant and disconnected from reality. How can someone who gets paid $10 million a year to play football ever compare himself to a slave.

Not only does that comment make Peterson sound like a spoiled asshole who has no connection whatsoever to the average person but it also shows his ignorance to African Americans and what they had to suffer through for so long. It boggles the mind that someone who has an agent, a manager, a publicist and other multiple representatives could publish something like that and stand behind it. The fact that his disconnect from reality is so great that he could tweet something like that is just baffling.

Other players around the league were quick to bash Peterson and try and separate themselves from his thoughts but its too late. The tweet is out there and once its on the internet there is no going back. Peterson is one of the biggest superstars in the NFL and so his thoughts represent the thoughts of the NFLPA whether they want them to or not.

This is an area in which the owners has a massive advantage over the players. There are only 32 owners in the NFL but thousands of players. This means that the owners only have to worry about 1 one of the 32 of them saying something stupid, which they would never do because every single sentence out of their mouth is scripted and edited by a team of public relations reps. Meanwhile the players have to worry about one of a few thousand saying/doing something stupid in an interview, at a club, on Twitter or any other media outlet. Sooner or later someone else is going to say something moronic that makes the players look bad and its just going to make their public image even worse.

The public wants to side with the players. People feel they can relate to certain parts of these athletes lives far easier then they could one of the owners. We see these players grow up while playing in college and then watch their entire careers unfold in front of us on national television every Sunday for 21 weeks a year. So when the lockout started it was assumed that the public would side with the people whose jerseys they wore proudly and whose pictures they put on their walls but after only a couple weeks the public opinion has pulled a complete 180.

All fans want to see is football. That's all we care about. I don't want to have to go a whole year without getting to spend at least 12 hours of one Sunday laying on the couch. I don't care how it gets solved I just want it to get solved and the longer it drags out the more fans will look for someone to blame and if current trends continue it will be the players who take the bulk of the blame from fans. The players will lose all the trust and respect they had gained from fans and will instead be looked upon as disconnected from reality and greedy.

Random YouTube Video

No Problems With March Madness Selection Process

2011-03-15T19:27:00.000-04:00

After Sundays selection show on CBS people all over the country were outraged over who got into the tournament and who got left out. People love to debate about who got snubbed and who got overrated whether its March Madness or the roster for the Pro Bowl there is always going to be someone who feels they got left out.

This year the 2 teams who people feel got ripped off the most are Colorado and Virginia Tech. Dick Vitale went on record saying that leaving out Colorado and Virginia Tech while allowing UAB and VCU into the tournament was like picking Roseanne over Scarlett Johannson in a hotness contest.

Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg put it a bit more eloquently when he told reporters, "You almost wonder if someone in that (selection committee) room has their own agenda, and that agenda doesn’t include Virginia Tech. I totally wonder if someone in that room has an agenda. The explanation (for our omission) was so inconsistent with the result that it was almost mindboggling.”

In response to that comment by Greenberg NCAA Tournament chairman Gene Smith stated, “When we stacked Virginia Tech’s resume up against all the other teams, we just didn’t feel like they belonged in the at-large field.”

My response would have been a lot simpler: just win more games.

I hate when people complain about being 'snubbed' by the selection committee when in reality each team controls its own fate when it comes to making the tournament. If you win games then you will make the tournament. Both Virginia tech and Colorado lost key games in their season that, had they won, would have gotten them into the tournament.

For instance Colorado finished 21-13 overall but went just 8-8 in conference play (good for 6th in the conference). Every team they finished behind in terms of the overall standings (Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M and Missouri) all were selected to play in March Madness and all finished with more wins then Colorado.

If Colorado wants to blame anyone for their exclusion from the tournament they need to start with themselves. They lost key conference games to teams like Iowa State (worst team in the Big 12), Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Baylor. They also lost games to teams that finished just ahead of them in the standings like Missouri. But their worst loss of the season came to San Fransisco which plays in the lowly West Coast Conference and went just 17-14 on the year.

If Colorado won any one of those games then they would be in the tournament. Yet instead of taking a step back and saying 'well we had a good year but we didn't execute when we needed to let's try and improve and come back next year and win our conference' they are blaming the selection committee and saying they got "robbed."

The same argument applies for Virginia Tech who are making the most noise publicly about the supposed snub. They finished 6th in their conference going just 9-7 in conference play and also lost some key games that, had they won, would put them in the tournament. They lost to Virginia twice (7-9 in conference play), once to Georgia Tech (5-11 in conference play) and lost games to teams that finished ahead of them in the standings, who might I add also did not get selected for the tournament either, in Boston College and Clemson.

I know it sounds like I am repeating myself here but I just can't help it. It is such a basic concept and yet it is often disregarded by fans and the media because they say its too simplistic. If you win more games than the other teams in your conference you will be invited to the tournament. That is a fact. Win more games and you can't be snubbed. If Colorado was 27-7 and finished 2nd in their conference and didn't get invited then maybe they have a legitimate complaint but as it stands right now they just sound like whiners.

If anything they should count themselves lucky they are involved in a system them allows them to win their way in for at least a shot at the National Championship. At least they don't have to deal with a playoff system like the BCS where teams can go undefeated for a whole season and still not play for a National Championship.

So really whose fault is it that both of these schools are now being relegated to the NIT rather than playing for a National Championship? Is it the selection committees fault that Colorado and Virginia Tech didn't win more games? These teams should count themselves lucky they are part of a system where they control their own destiny. They should focus more on winning basketball games and making it harder for them not to be selected by the committee.

The selection process for March Madness isn't perfect but at least it puts every team on even and fair ground, win and get in.

Random YouTube Video

Kevin Love's Streak Getting No Respect

2011-03-14T14:22:00.001-04:00

On Sunday night the Minnesota Timberwolves lost to the Golden State Warriors 100-77. The game itself was not worth mentioning as both teams are incredibly irrelevant in terms of the playoffs and the entire league for that matter. What is worth mentioning is that Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love finished the game with just 6 points and 12 rebounds which means that his streak of consecutive double-double games finally came to an end at 53.

Love's streak, which was the longest in franchise history and the longest in NBA history since 1973-1974 when Elvin Hayes recorded 55 straight double-doubles, never really got the attention I think that it merited. The fact that Love could play so many games in a row and constantly have such an impact that he was putting up at least 10 points and 10 rebounds is astounding and really shows that he is an underrated player in the NBA. He basically didn't have an "off game" for 2/3 of the season and had recorded a double-double in every Timberwolves game since November 19th, 2010.

During the streak Love averaged 21.8 points per game and an astounding 16.3 rebound per game. On 9 separate occasions he posted a 20-20 game (meaning 20 points and 20 rebounds) at one point even doing it 3 games in a row.

Despite Love's statistical dominance the Timberwolves still managed to be absolutely awful going just 13-40 during the streak. How you can only win 13 out of 53 games when one of your players is putting up an automatic double double a game is beyond me, oh wait their starting five last night featured the likes of Darko Milicic and Luke Ridnour now it makes perfect sense.

As for Love himself he told the Associated Press after the game that he was glad the streak had finally came to an end, "Now I can just focus on playing my game. I was still doing it for myself, but a lot of it was for fans and everybody who wanted to watch me get those double doubles."

Hopefully Love will now get the attention that he deserves and should have been receiving the entire time the streak was occurring. Not once has he been mentioned on PTI or Around the Horn on ESPN and if you typed his name into Google News before Sunday night there was little to mention of his streak in any articles on the web. Now if he played in a bigger market like New York or Los Angeles or was a bigger name in the league like LeBron James or Kobe Bryant this would be a much bigger story, but that's the reality of sports.

The craziest thing about the streak ending was how it ended. Love was shut down by a Warriors team that is often ridiculed around the league for playing pathetic defense and focusing more on trying to outscore teams rather than shut them down. And the player that put the clamps on Love was David Lee who like the rest of his team would be viewed as a defensive liability on most teams so the fact that he is the main reason the streak ends is somewhat interesting.

What's even more interesting is how far short Love came of breaking the All-time record for consecutive double-doubles. That record is held by Wilt Chamberlain who record a double-double in an astonishing 227 consecutive games a streak that lasted from 1964 to 1967. Chamberlain also is #2 and #3 on the all-time list with streaks of 220 and 133 respectively.

So yes Love never even came closing to breaking the all-time mark but his streak is still impressive and worthy of praise. To do what he did in the modern NBA is nothing short of spectacular and to see that no one has been able to get to 50 in over 30 years really speaks to not only Love's great play but also the evolution of the league itself.

Think of all the great players that have been in the NBA over the past three decades and how none of them achieved what Love has. Forwards and centers like Patrick Eewing, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, and Hakeem Olajuwon all put up a tremendous amount of double-doubles but never in a consecutive streak to match Love's.

Even guards like Jason Kidd, John Stockton, Steve Nash, Michael Jordan, Kevin Johnson, Tim Hardaway, Mark Jackson, Clyde Drexler and Magic Johnson couldn't compare to the consistency of Love.

That's what makes the streak so impressive and worthy of discussion. It's the fact that he was so consistent every game that makes Kevin Love's streak eye opening. He may never go down in NBA history as one of the greats but he will always be able to look back on this streak and say that he accomplished something only a few players ever have.

Random YouTube Video

Chara/Pacioretty - Intent Irrelevant

2011-03-10T15:14:00.002-05:00

Did Zedeno Chara intend to throw Max Pacioretty into the stanchion? Was his intent to hurt Pacioretty or was it just a horrible accident? Those are the big questions that people have been debating and arguing over since Tuesday night when one of the most controversial hits in recent NHL history occurred.

These questions, while providing good talking points, completely overlook the real issue here: why does intent matter?

I find it really difficult to understand why people are arguing whether Chara intended to hit Pacioretty into the stanchion as if it matters or not. Who cares whether he meant to do it? The real issue is that Chara committed an illegal hit that resulted in a player being knocked unconscious and having his neck broken. Whether Chara meant for this to happen is completely irrelevant and should have no bearing on the NHL decision of whether or not to suspend him.

The NHL obviously feels differently as they didn't suspend Chara for a single game and are letting the one game misconduct penalty handed out by the referee suffice as his punishment, which is a complete joke. The NHL felt that Chara did not intend to hurt Pacioretty and since he doesn't have a history of Chara being a dirty player the league decided that the hit didn't merit any sort of a long suspension.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was in Washington this week addressing Congress on the issue of head shots and concussions in the NHL and had this to say about the hit, "Our hockey operations people are extraordinarily comfortable with the decision that they made. It was a horrific injury, we're sorry that it happened in our fast-paced physical game, but I don't think whether or not supplemental discipline was imposed would change what happened and in fact the people in the game who I have heard from almost to a person ... believe that it was handled appropriately by hockey operations."

Can this moron just resign already? How can you have a player in your league almost die on the ice and not do anything about it and then justify it to the public by saying 'oh it was just an accident'? No one is saying you need to drag Chara over the coals and make him out to be a goon or anything but at least give him a game or two to show that you take the safety of your players seriously.

But back to the main issue, intent. On every radio/television show covering the hit and on every forum or comment board the same sentence is being used over and over again, 'I don't think Chara intended to hurt him...' This is the same argument people used against Todd Bertuzzi when he nearly killed Steve Moore. Did he mean to break Steve Moore's neck? Probably not no but he did and so therefore he was punished. Why is does that same logic not apply to this incident?

The NHL could save itself so much bad publicity if it would only make a universal rule that saved them from all the headaches of having to deal with hits like as isolated incidents. Here I will do it for them in under 45 seconds:

- If you hit a player illegally and they are injured as a result you are suspended X number of games
- If you hit a player in the head you get X number of games
- If you hit a player from behind you get X number of games
- After each suspension X gets multiplied by 2
- You get 3 strikes and then you're out of the league

How hard was that? Now the NHL doesn't have to worry about deciding intent or not, the only thing you need to determine is whether the hit was legal or illegal which should be easy enough considering there is a standard rulebook which defines that for the league. You can't tell me that wouldn't simply the whole thing and get rid of all this ridiculous debate about whether Chara knew where he was one the ice.

The fact that Chara didn't get a suspension is beyond ridiculous. Look at this picture and tell me that he shouldn't have at least gotten 1 game:

The NHL should do itself a favor and stop trying to worry about whether a player meant to injure someone or not. They should focus on protecting their players and ensuring that someone doesn't die on the ice because of a illegal hit.

So did Chara mean to do it? Irrelevant. The only question that matters is 'did he do it?'

Random YouTube Video

Jim Tressel: The NCAAs Posterboy for Hipocrisy

2011-03-09T13:29:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday Jim Tressel, the head coach of the Ohio State football team, was suspended 2 games and fined $250,000 for failing to report knowledge that some of his players had sold jerseys, championship rings and other memorabilia to a local tattoo parlor in exchange for free services and cash. Tressel has also been charged with lying to the NCAA about his knowledge of the entire situation.

While some people may look at this penalty against Tressel as harsh or fair I see it more as just another example of how the NCAA is not only corrupt but also hypocritical in its treatment of players versus coaches/administrators.

In order to fully understand my outrage over the "hefty punishment" which I feel is more a slap on the wrist you need to know the full story. Here is an excerpt from the official NCAA press release on the players and the selling of memorabilia:

Five football student-athletes from The Ohio State University must sit out the first five games of the 2011 season for selling awards, gifts and university apparel and receiving improper benefits in 2009, the NCAA has determined.

A sixth football student-athlete must sit out the first game in 2011 for receiving discounted services in violation of NCAA rules. The violations fall under the NCAA’s preferential treatment bylaws.

In addition to missing five games next season, student-athletes Mike Adams, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Terrelle Pryor and Solomon Thomas must repay money and benefits ranging in value from $1,000 to $2,500. The repayments must be made to a charity.

Here is where my problem begins. According to everything I have read on this the only items these players sold were technically their own property. They sold their own jerseys (which they either buy from the team or are given to making it their own property) and their own championship rings which they were given for their accomplishments on the field (once again their own property). How is it fair that the school penalize student athletes for selling their own property?

This is where the hypocrisy begins. The NCAA fines/suspends these players for selling their property, fine I get that. Let's move ahead, pretending like that in itself isn't ridiculous enough, and see where Jim tressel enters the whole mess.

In September of 2010 Tressel signed a compliance form with both Ohio State University and the NCAA saying that he had no knowledge of any possible violations. The in December it was reported that Tressel had received a specific tip stating that the players were in fact breaking NCAA rules. He denied this and once again stated that he had no knowledge of any wrong doing by any of his players.

Then this week a series of emails between Tressel and a lawyer (whose name has yet to be disclosed) were released to the public. In the emails, which began in June of 2010, clearly state that an investigation into a local tattoo parlor had discovered that numerous players had sold gear and memorabilia to the tattoo parlor in exchange for services and cash. Tressel's reply to the email was "Thanks for your help...keep me posted as to what if anything I need to do. I will keep pounding these kids hoping they grow up." Then the emails stopped and Tressel did nothing about the violations made by his players.

So not only did Tressel know for a fact that some of his players had committed serious infractions and would be made ineligible by the NCAA if discovered he then lied to both Oho State University and the NCAA about having any knowledge of wrongdoing.

And for all of his crimes what is his punishment? He will miss the first two games on the 2011 schedule: Home dates with Akron and Toledo on Sept. 3 and Sept. 10 which could both be won with my on the sidelines coaching and then pay $250,000 in fines which equates to roughly 14% of his annual salary. Oh yeah real stern punishment.

Its also not even Tressel's first run in with this sort of thing. When he was the head coach at Youngstown State in 1991 there was a NCAA investigation into the school when star quarterback Ray Issac was discovered to have received $10,000 and access to cars from boosters. There were also incidents at Ohio State with star running back Maurice Clarrett who claimed that boosters as well as Tressel himself provided him with money and other gifts in return for signing and playing with Ohio State. Finally there is former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith who was also given gifts from boosters with the apparent knowledge of Tressel.

Now its been established that Tressel has a past of being dishonest and breaking the rules in order to win yet there was no mention of this by Ohio State or the NCAA when the suspension for Tressel was announced which brings me back to the hypocrisy of this whole ordeal.

How is it fair that Tressel is suspended for only 2 games, for lying and withholding information, while his players, who simply sold property that legally belonged to them, get suspended for 5 games? Are both parties not equally guilty and should they therefore not face the same punishment? But this is just business as usual for the NCAA when it comes to screwing over students and going easy on coaches/administrators.

Remember back in October of 2009 when Oklahoma State Heisman trophy candidate Dez Bryant was suspended for the entire 2009 season for having lunch with Deoin Sanders at his home. All the two did was talk football and that for some reason merits being suspended for an entire year? The suspension cost Bryant, who was at point considered a top 5 pick, to lose millions of dollars as his draft stock plummeted due to the suspension.

The NCAA is an organization that makes hundreds of millions of dollars from college football and yet the players are given nothing in return (financially) and then are penalized when they try and make some money for themselves, or their families, on the side. I'm not sure of the exact rule in the NCAA Handbook these players broke but I bet its reads, "No NCAA athlete is allowed to make any money from being a nationally recognized athlete...unless the NCAA gets a cut" or at least something to that effect.

Random YouTube Video

Miami Heat Cracking Under the Pressure

2011-03-07T19:11:00.001-05:00

"This is painful for every single one of us going through this. There are a couple guys crying in the locker room right now."

That is a now famous from Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra after last nights 87-86 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The loss made it four in a row for the Heat but that's an afterthought now as everyone is talking about "Crygate." Everywhere people are mocking the Heat players and apparently radio stations in South Beach have been playing songs like "Big Girls Don't Cry" all day long as a tribute to the team.

The mockery however is misplaced in my opinion. There is nothing wrong with crying after losing a game. Sports can be very emotional and a lot of athletes put a ton of effort into winning and for some people it even defines who they are as a person. For some athletes the greatest moments of their entire lives unfold on national television and if they lose who are we to judge them for crying?

Some examples of when its acceptable to cry at a sporting event: if you have just won/lost the championship (professional or college level only, if its your men's league softball tournament then no crying), if it was the final game of your career, during a retirement speech,or if you just played the game after losing a relative or loved one.

Example of when its not acceptable to cry in sports: after losing a REGULAR SEASON game of basketball. Normally when athletes cry during/after a sporting event it is a game of some meaning whether it be a playoff game or the deciding game of a championship but never before have I seen someone cry after losing a regular season game. The fact that any player on the Miami Heat cried after losing a game during the regular season should be seen as a massive red flag to people who think this team might make any noise in the playoffs.

How can you expect a team that is obviously so emotionally fragile to compete for a championship? If you're crying after a regular season game in March what will your reaction be when you lose a playoff game in May? Clearly the pressure of carrying the rest of the team is getting to "The Big Three" as after each of the last 4 Heat losses the body language of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh has been horrendous. They slouch and sulk during the post game press conferences and after blowing a 24 point lead to the Magic the other night Bosh slammed the ball on the court in a showing of frustration.

The attention is all on them, but that's what they wanted. NBA Broadcaster and analyst Jeff Van Gundy nailed it on the head when he said this to ESPN, "my suggestion would be if you don't want the scrutiny, you don't hold a championship celebration before you've even practiced together. It's hard to go out yourself and invite that kind of crowd and celebration and attention, and then when things aren't going well, sort of bemoan the fact that you're getting that attention." Preach Jeff preach!

The other side of the argument is that people are defending the Heat players and praising them for crying because it shows that they genuinely care about the game. I find this insanely hard to believe as you would have to ignore all the intense pressure that has been put on Miami during this latest 4 game losing streak and treat this one game as an isolated incident. Its not as if the Bulls and the Heat are big rivals, I mean there may be some animosity as Chicago did pursue Wade, Bosh and LeBron in the off season, but not enough to warrant tears.

No its clear that the effort required to carry the dead weight that makes up the rest of the Miami Heat roster has gotten too great for the "Big Three" to carry. They were managing just fine until the corpse of Mike Bibby was added to the pile and finally they simply broke down. The Heat may as well just call it a season because they clearly lack the character needed to make a serious playoff push and eventually win a NBA title.

That's what you need to take away from the Spoelstra quote. Not the fact that the players were crying but that they were crying after losing game 63 in an 82 game season.

Random YouTube Video

BYU and its Honor Code

2011-03-03T18:30:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday night Brigham Young University aka BYU released a statement saying that sophomore forward Brandon Davies was being suspended for the rest of the basketball season for breaking the BYU Honor Code. It was later discovered that the infraction Davies committed was having premarital sex with his girlfriend which violates rule #2 'Live a chaste and virtuous life'

BYU Honor Code from Undergraduate Handbook

1. Be honest
2. Life a chaste and virtuous life
3. Obey the law and all campus policies
4. Use clean language
5. Respect others
6. Abstain from alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and substance abuse
7. Participate regularly in church services
8. Observe the Dress and Grooming standards

In the wake of the suspension there has been quite a bit of public outcry claiming that BYU doesn't have the right to suspend Davies for his actions. Others feel that suspending a 19 year old kid just for having sex is ridiculous. People have also bashed the Honor Code itself saying that its unconstitutional and that the point of college is violate all of those rules.

BYU is a private institution and therefore can have any policy it chooses in terms of how the students and faculty are expected to behave. Danny Ainge, arguably one of the greatest athletes ever to graduate from BYU, told FoxSports.com, "You go through two interviews and sign a contract saying you'll uphold the honor code. People will ridicule it because they don't understand it."

In response to the popular public response head coach of the BYU Cougars men's basketball team Dave Rose told ESPN, "Everybody who comes to BYU, every student if they're an athlete or not an athlete, they make a commitment when they come. A lot of people try to judge if this is right or wrong, but it's a commitment they make. It's not about right or wrong. It's about commitment."

I am inclined to agree with Rose. I think people are focusing on the wrong part of this story, the fact that Davies got laid, rather than focusing on the fact that he signed this Honor Code which is basically a contract and then committed an offense that violated that contract. If anything people should be applauding BYU for taking this harsh action rather than doing what 99% of other schools in the NCAA would do which is turn a blind eye and pretend nothing ever happened.

Davies was a vital part of BYU's success this year as he lead the team in rebounding with 6.2 per game and also chipped in 11.1 points. His defense is outstanding and was one of the main reasons BYU was able to beat rival San Diego State last week and is also a big reason why the Cougars are (27-2, 13-1) and the No. 3 seed in the country.

BYU was a big favorite going into March Madness and a lot of people had them making a deep run but without Davies its going to be difficult, if not impossible. That makes the decision by BYU to suspend Davies even more commendable as they put the honor of their institution above athletics which is extremely rare in today's NCAA.

Try going on ESPN or Sports Illustrated and not reading a story about a college athlete being involved in some sort of serious crime whether it be theft, assault or drugs. For the most part these kids are simply disciplined by the team or suspended for a game or two, in rare cases they are given the Heisman Trophy. Yet these stories have become far too common for most people to even care but people are for some reason outraged about the Davies story.

Davies knew what he was getting in to when he was recruited. He is a Mormon and knows that the Honor Code at BYU is not just a simple document to be ignored but is a code of beliefs on how all Mormons should act. He understood the consequences for his actions, hell he even told the coaches about himself therefore abiding by Rule #1 of the Honor Code - 'be honest.' This kid obviously has a lot of character and feels bad for what he did.

It is unfortunate that this young may will have to miss the rest of the season (and may very well be kicked out of school) but that's the way BYU does things and that's exactly what he agreed to when he signed his letter of intent. Outsiders may feel that the punishment does not fit the crime but that's exactly what makes them 'outsiders.'

It may not seem fair to you but as the saying goes, "rules is rules."

Random YouTube Video

The Bengals Have to Trade Carson Palmer

2011-03-01T21:52:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I wrote that the St. Louis Cardinals should do everything in their power to keep their franchise player Albert Pujols. Franchise players don't come around everyday and having them and keeping them happy should be priority #1 for all sports franchises. Unless of course your franchise player is an overrated has-been that has publicly belittled your franchise and has said that he would rather retire than continue playing for you.

In this particular instance I am speaking of the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals Carson Palmer.

Back in January Palmer told the Bengals that if they did not trade him to another team he would retire from professional football. Ever since little tidbits of news, such as the fact that Palmer put his Cincinnati house up for sale, have been surfacing regularly.

The report that surfaced today was from an interview Palmer did with Cincinnati television station WCPO in which Palmer stated, "I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again" and ""I have $80 million in the bank. I don't have to play football for money. I'll play it for the love of the game but that would have to be elsewhere. I'm prepared to live my life."

As I said previously I don't normally advocate trading a franchise player but in this case it needs to be done. Obviously Palmer has no interest in playing for the Bengals anymore and simply letting him retire without getting anything in return for him would be a foolish decision from a business perspective so what choice do they have?

The Bengals could simply try and call his bluff and let him walk away from the game but that would be an embarrassing scenario for the team and would severely hurt their public image. Or they could be cutthroat about the whole thing and just release Palmer and say in a public press conference, 'if he doesn't want to be here then we don't want him here. Great players have worn the Bengal uniform with pride and clearly Carson wasn't one of them. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.'

How could fans not appreciate that kind of statement? If anything they would respect it because its the truth. Carson Palmer has quit on this football team and he needs to be called out for it. If you want to quit because you can't win then quit but don't try and hold the team hostage with some sort of ridiculous public ultimatum. If he really wanted to be traded so badly he should have told the team privately to shop him around the league because by making everything so public he has absolutely murdered his trade value.

There is however one other way to look at this whole situation, the Sports Informer way. I think the Bengals may have caught a break here. Now they can finally cut ties with a player that never quite lived up to his potential and can blame it on the player than admitting to failing as a franchise. They can move Palmer for a draft pick and then can go into next season with back up Dan LeFevour as the starter or draft somebody in the upcoming draft in April.

Either way its a good thing because they were going nowhere with Carson Palmer and were never going to win a SuperBowl with him as their quarterback. He claimed that one of the main reasons he wants out is because he is tired of the inconsistency of the franchise and their inability to win year after year. Maybe he should look at himself before he starts pointing the finger elsewhere because if anything he cost the Bengals more games then he won them last year.

Here is a guy that had a plethora of offensive weapons at his disposal last season. He had Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens, Jermaine Gresham, Jordan Shipley and Cedric Benson and yet he only managed to throw 26 touchdowns. Meanwhile Peyton Manning threw for 4,700 yards and 33 touchdowns all the while throwing the ball to guys the Colts pulled off the street. Give Manning the same weapons Palmer had and he may have broken every single season passing record there is.

The biggest problem with Palmer though is his horrible decision making. Last year he threw 20 interceptions but I can tell you for a fact that he had at least 10+ passes that hit defenders square in the hands and were just dropped. He forces throws and never looks off defenders often staring straight at his intended target the entire play waiting for a window to force the ball through.

Simply put Carson Palmer is not an elite NFL quarterback. In 2010 he didn't finish in the top 5 in terms of touchdowns, yards, completion percentage or quarterback rating. In fact his 61.8 completion percentage was 13th amongst all quarterbacks tying him with none other then Shaun Hill and his quarterback rating of 82.4 sandwiched him at 19th in between two superstars in Jason Campbell and Kerry Collins.

When he was selected 1st overall in 2003 the Bengals thought Carson Palmer was the answer to their perpetual losing woes but clearly they were wrong. Palmer just wasn't the right fit for the team and now he wants out and I think the Bengals need to make that happen. You cannot allow a player to rip your franchise and publicly demand a trade and then hope to bring him back to play the most important position on the team.

So really the Bengals have no choice. They need to trade his ass ASAP.

Random YouTube Video

Why The Cardinals Should Pay Pujols

2011-02-28T21:58:00.001-05:00

The fact that the St. Louis Cardinals didn't sign Albert Pujols to a new contract before the season started is ridiculous. Since first being called up in 2001 he has been far and away the best player in the league and has had one of the best 10 year stretches in baseball history. If he continues on his current pace he may end up breaking a number of records and could possibly go down as the best to ever play the game.

So why didn't the Cardinals give him an extension? Because the contract extension Pujols wants is for 10 years and $300 million.

Now I understand that conventional wisdom says you don't pay any player $30 million a season no matter how good they are. And you definitely don't give a 31 year old (he may actually be older) a 10 year contract. But Albert Pujols is anything but conventional and if St. Louis was smart they would have given him his extension and here's why:

Albert Pujols IS the St. Louis Cardinals

Albert Pujols was drafted in the 13th round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999 and made his major league debut with them in 2001. Since then he has become synonymous with the Cardinals. He is the face of the franchise and one of, if not the most, recognizable faces in all of baseball. He is the National League Derek Jeter (except without all the dating of high profile celebrities and jealousy of Arod). Ask any random person to to name 5 baseball players and he would no doubt be on every persons list.

The man is a franchise player and is one of the most marketable athletes today due to his amazing on field skills as well as his sparkling reputation off the field as a humanitarian and a family-oriented individual. According to Major League Baseball Albert Pujols has the #3 best selling jersey behind only Arod and Jeter. He also has sponsorship deals with Nike, Gatorade and Milk which bring extra exposure to the team.

But his impact on the Cardinals goes beyond advertisements and jerseys. He is a pillar in the St. Louis community and works with many charities and foundations to help raise money for a number of different causes. In 2005 he, along with his wife Deidre, founded the Pujols Family Organization which is dedicated to helping people with down syndrome as well as their families. He also helped in an effort to bring an MLS team to the city.

The man is an icon in the city of St. Louis and rivals the great Stan Musial in terms of his legacy with the community and the team. Not many players spend their entire career with one team anymore and it would be a shame to have to watch Pujols play for another team and then possibly enter the Hall of Fame not wearing the Cardinals hat.

So if Pujols leaves who do the Cardinals market as their franchise player?

Adam Wainwright is out for the season due to Tommy John Surgery, Chris Carpenter is a solid pitcher but he's hardly bringing fans to the ballpark, Colby Rasmus is emerging as a star but not in the same mold as Pujols and Matt Holliday hasn't exactly lit the world on fire since signing his massive contract which leads me to...

The Cardinals Aren't Exactly a Small Market Team

In 2010 The Cardinals ranked 12th in terms of overall team payroll spending nearly $94 million. In terms of the National League they were 6th behind only the Cubs, Mets, Phillies, Dodgers and Giants. Since owner William DeWitt Jr took over the team in 1995 the Cardinals have shown a willingness to spend money in order to compete.

St. Louis has the money to spend on players as evidenced by the 7 year $120 million contract they gave to Matt Holliday in 2010 It would be tough to sell to the fans that Pujols will be leaving the team for financial reasons when you just spent $120 million on an average left fielder.

Plus compare the contract Pujols wants to some of the other big time first basemen around the league. In 2010 there were 5 first basemen that made more than Pujols, they were Mark Teixeira ($20 mil), Ryan Howard ($19 mil), Miguel Cabrera ($20 mil), Todd Helton ($17.75 mil) and Justin Morneau ($15 mil). Albert Pujols is better than all of those guys and deserves to be paid as such. I mean Todd Helton is making more than Albert Pujols that's just not right.

Pujols is homegrown talent that has been consistently terrorizing the record books and piling up awards for 10 years which brings up another point...

The Age Argument

One of the biggest concerns people have with this deal is the length of the desired contract. 10 years is a long time and Pujols is already 31 (he very well might be older than that however as determining the age of some Dominican players has proven difficult in the past) so by the time the contract expires he will be 41.

I can understand the validity of this argument as most athletes decline with age and very few baseball players are productive in their late 30s and early 40s but this is Albert Pujols we are talking about. The man is a model of consistency having never hit less than .312 and never hitting fewer than 32 home runs in a single seasons.

He is just entering the prime of his career and should have realistically 6-7 more years of "best of all time" baseball before he tapers off into being just great. He has never played less than 143 games and plays the least psychically demanding position in the game plus first basemen tend to have longer careers than other position players.

Plus looking at the rate in which salaries are going up and the way mediocre players are being overpaid (Jayson Werth) by the time 2016 rolls around paying $30 million for Pujols might seem like a real bargain.

These are all solid points but they fail in comparison to my last point which I feel is the strongest:

It's Albert Pujols

Seriously this man is beyond a beast. His career numbers and accomplishments are crazy and he is by far the best baseball player in the world. He is a constant Triple Crown threat and one of only a handful of guys I watch where I assume every time up he is going to hit a homerun. But his stats really speak for themselves.

Here is his career line: 1900 hits/408 HR/1230 RBI/.331 AVG/.426 OBP/.624 SLG

*He is the leader among all active players in AVG, OBP, and SLG

By the way he is also a 9x All-Star, 3x MVP, 2x Gold Glove Winner, 6x Silver Slugger Award Winner, 2x Hank Aaron Award Winner, 2001 Rookie of the Year and oh yeah he won a World Series for the Cardinals in 2006.

How valuable is he to the Cardinals? In terms of WAR (wins above replacement player) he has ranked 1st in the NL for 6 straight years. last year his WAR was 7.2 meaning he alone was worth 7 wins which means without Pujols in 2010 the Cardinals would be a sub .500 baseball team.

He is a 1st ballot Hall of Famer and if he continues at his current pace may go down as the best hitter in the history of baseball but I completely understand why the Cardinals wouldn't want to keep him around.

Random YouTube Video

UFC 127 Predictions

2011-02-25T18:55:00.000-05:00

Looking at the card for tomorrows UFC pay per view has me thinking just one thing: other than BJ Penn there is no one here the UFC wants to see fight for a title. Just look at these fighters and how unmarketable they are and see what I mean. Do you think the UFC wants to see Jon Fitch win and possibly get a shot at the welterweight title and GSP? The answer is of course not because Jon Fitch is the most boring fighter on the planet who admits to "grinding out opponents." How do you market a guy to fans when he admits to not trying to finish people?

Fitch isn't the only fighter the UFC doesn't want to see succeed though. Jorge Rivera and Chris Lytle are both too old to have much more of a career in the sport and neither would make a great champion. Dennis Siver and GST (not spelling Sotiropoulos every time) are both excellent fighters but Siver doesn't speak English and GST doesn't like dealing with the media as evidence by his recent interview with Ariel Helwani. Michael Bisping has potential but it seems everyone outside of the UK hates him and he has still yet to beat anyone of note.

Anybody who thinks I'm wrong needs to take a step back and look at who GST is fighting. This is a guy who has won 8 fights in a row (7 of them in the UFC) and instead of being put in the title picture or being given a legit title contender the UFC gives him Dennis Siver? Don't get me wrong Siver is a legit fighter and is no push over but when you list off the top 10 lightweights in the UFC does he make the list? His biggest wins are Spencer Fisher and Andre Winner who aren't exactly elite level fighters.

The UFC makes these fights for a reason and its easy to understand why. They are running a business and trying to sell a product. In order to sell that product to more people you need charismatic champions that you can market and none of these guys, with the exception of BJ Penn, fight that description. I can tell you right now that I would not spend money on a PPV that was headlined by Michael Bisping or GST.

Having said that I am really looking forward to the fights tomorrow. They should all be exciting and the fact that "the cookie" from Shoeless Joe's will be involved makes the anticipation almost unbearable. Here are my predictions:

Kyle "KO" Noke (18-4-1) vs. Chris "Kamikaze" Camozzi (14-3)

Both of these guys came into the UFC via The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 and both are undefeated since the show finished. Noke is from Australia and will have the fans support which, along with his advantage in terms of experience, should be the difference in the fight.

I don't think Noke has such a superior advantage that he will be able to finish the fight but he is an all-around better fighter and I think he will pull out the decision (hopefully the only decision of the night).

Prediction: Noke via Decision

Chris "Lights Out" Lytle (30-17-5) vs. Brian "Bad Boy" Ebersole (46-14-1)

This fight was supposed to be Lytle vs Carlos Condit but Condit got injured and so Ebersole has stepped in. If I were Lytle I would be pretty pissed because a win over Carlos Condit moves him up in the rankings (although as I stated above he has no chance of a title shot) while a win over Ebersole does little to help his momentum.

The only upside for Lytle is that Ebersole has had over 60 professional fights and has never fought in the UFC before so he should have no problem finishing him and possibly collecting another fight of the night/knockout of the night bonus.

Lytle will be turning 37 this year so I don't know how many more fights he has in him so its kind of sad that one of his last has to be against such a jobber like Ebersole. This fight should stay on the feet and whenever that happens it is always a safe bet to pick the former professional boxer.

Prediction: Lytle via TKO

George Sotiropoulos (14-2) vs. Dennis Siver (17-7)

Poor GST. Even if he beats Siver he is still 2-3 wins away from a title shot. I love how the UFC does this. They pick a great fighter like GST and stick him against a guy that he is clearly going to just walk over and outclass and try and build up enough hype that eventually you say to yourself "yeah I could see Siver pulling this off." Its a tactic they use all the time with whoever is fighting Anderson or GSP. They make you think the opponent has a chance and then they get dismantled and you kick yourself for ever buying into the hype.

GST is filthy on the ground and he has shown that he can stand long enough to eventually get the fight to the ground. Siver is primarily a stand up fighter and he loves to throw that spinning back kick to the ribs. I like Siver but in this fight he is above his pedigree and GST is going to use the hometown crowd going nuts to propel him to victory.

The only real question GST has to ask himself is whether he wants to take Siver's arm or his leg home with him?

Prediction: GST via Submission

Michael "The Count" Bisping (20-3) vs. Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera (19-7)

This is the fight I am most looking forward to and its not because I am a Jorge Rivera fan. I hate Michael Bisping. Hate him. When Dan Henderson knocked him out and then hit him with that vicious cheap shot I had a smile on my face that could not be wiped off for weeks. To this day it remains one of my top 5 sports memories ever. It was magical.

Never has a fighter been more overrated than Bisping. People always talk about how he is so good and how he has knockout power. I have yet to see this "power" people speak of. Since he has been in the UFC he has never knocked anybody out. I have seen every one of his fights and can never remember him hitting someone with a big punch that sent them to the floor. He swarms guys and finishes them with punches but he doesn't knock people out like an Anderson Silva or Shane Carwin. He is a big piece of shit that talks too much and can't back it up by beating anyone of note and don't dare try and say Akiyama is a noteworthy win.

So here is hoping that Bisping circles into the power hand of Rivera like he did with Henderson. He does like to circle to his left and at least once per fight he gets tagged with a big right hand. So my fingers are crossed Rivera can do that to him tomorrow and finally put a stop to all of this 'Bisping as a contender crap.'

Prediction: Rivera via KO (don't think it will happen just want it to sooooo badly)

BJ "The Prodigy" Penn (16-7-1) vs. Jon Fitch (23-3)

Before writing my predictions I like to check some of the major MMA sites and see what their experts think is gonna happen. Every single person said the exact same thing "Fitch via decision." And that's probably what's going to happen because there is no one in the UFC that is better at dragging people to the ground and holding them there while not inflicting damage than Jon Fitch. Gray Maynard has tried to take the title as "WrestleFuck" king but to his dismay Fitch just keeps on laying and praying.

Since entering the UFC Fitch has been in 14 fights. 10 of those have gone to decision including his last 8 in a row. The guy just doesn't know how to finish people and to be honest I don't think he wants to. He just loves getting in the cage and wrestling for 15 minutes. Maybe it reminds him of his college days and he is constantly trying to regain his youth. Who knows? All I know is that its boring as shit.

Yet people continue to defend him and say he is the #2 welterweight in the world. If he is so damn good why didn't he finish Ben Saunders, Mike Pierce, Akihiro Gono or Chris Wilson? If he is so talented and dominant why can't the guy put anybody away? It's not so much that he doesn't finish fights its that he doesn't even try. He is so content to sit in the half guard and rain down weak punches and hammerfists to the point where the guy on the bottom is more annoyed than hurt. Its just so hard to watch.

Fitch usually uses his size to control fighters because when he steps in the cage he is usually at 185-190 but now that he is on this new vegetarian diet he is said to be walking around at 173 so maybe that might be something to keep an eye on.

With BJ Penn it always comes down to the same question: which BJ shows up? Is it the BJ Penn that walks through people and then licks blood off of his gloves or the BJ Penn that seems like he wants to be anywhere but in the cage?

BJ has better stand up than Fitch and his BJJ is world class so there are ways Penn can win. If he can avoid the take downs (which he is great at) and keep the fight standing, he wins. If he can force Fitch to make a mistake on the ground, he wins. So BJ does have a chance to win this fight and I really hope he does because if I have to watch Jon Fitch lay on somebody for 15 minutes I am going to snap.

Prediction: Penn via Submission

Random YouTube Video

Don't Call it a Comeback

2011-02-24T18:09:00.002-05:00

Finally the Sports Informer has come back to blogging! (2nd biggest comeback this month)

"Oh my God! Oh my God! That's James Choleras' music!!!!"

So rather than spending time explaining why I stopped writing and then explaining why I came back I figured I would just jump right back into sipping haterade on everyone and generally just doing my best to bash those that are far more successful in life than myself.

The only problem is what topic do I pick for my triumphant return to the shores of Fistiana? There's so much happening in sports right now. There is of course the looming NHL trade deadline that needs to be addressed at some point. Maybe I could write about Milos Raonic and how he has made tennis relevant in Canada or how Tiger Woods was beaten down in the opening round of a match play event this week and no one seemed to notice/care.

I could write about the NFL draft but then again I have never heard of half the guys projected to go in the 1st round. I mean how many people can honestly say they watched even one second of potential top 3 pick Da'Quan Bowers playing this year? Without looking where did he go to school and what position does he play? I would write about the potential lockout in the NFL next year but I don't have a law degree and thinking of life without the NFL generally makes me depressed.

So that leaves the NBA and the 2 trades that went down this week that changed the entire landscape of the entire league in a span of two days. Seems like a fitting topic as this week at work all I did was sit on ESPN and read updates and analysis on these deals.

First there was the massive 3 team trade that sent Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Corey Brewer to the New York Knicks, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov a 2011 1st round pick and two 2nd round picks to the Nuggets and Anthony Randolph and Eddy Curry's expiring contract and massive man breasts to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

**Please note that any that refers to the lead up to this trade or anything occurs afterward as "Melo Drama" is a douchebag and deserves to be called out as such.

Some people were saying that the Knicks gave up too much to get Melo. I could not disagree more. Felton for Billups is a pretty big upgrade as far as I'm concerned. Even though Billups is older Felton was never thought of as a long term solution as he was more of a bandaid until 2012 when Deron Williams and Chris Paul became available so the Knicks win there. And the offense of the other 3 players can easily be replaced by Anthony and Brewer. As the saying goes you gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelet.

The Knicks got themselves a superstar and now have 2 of the top 10 players in the league. The only problem I have with this trade is that the Knicks let the negotiations drag on for too long which allowed the Nets to jack up the price to get Anthony. If they had acted sooner they may not have had to add in Mozgov or some of those picks.

As for Denver I think they made out alright. They got some solid players with good contracts and some picks to help rebuild the team and they definitely fared better than Cleveland and Toronto who both lost superstars and got the poo poo platter in return.

That said the Nuggets didn't make out nearly as well as the Jazz who randomly traded away franchise player Deron Williams to the New Jersey Nets for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and a couple of first-round draft picks. That is a solid haul for 1 player and provided the Jazz do their scouting they could be right back in mix in the Western Conference in a year or two.

This move was a real shock to me. When Jerry Sloan stepped down as the head coach a few weeks ago it was reported that he did so because he was feuding with Williams. Various people reported it as a 'its either him or me situation' with Williams being the one kept. Even Williams himself was shocked and apparently pretty pissed off about the whole thing

Then again if I had to be the point guard for the Nets I would be pretty pissed as well. If you check their roster you will see right away that they are not a talented team. Aside from center Brook Lopez (who is actually regressing this year) there isn't a single player on that team worth passing the ball to. They aren't talented and they have a lot of bad contracts that are going to be hard to unload so even though Williams is on the team right now he could choose to not resign leaving the Nets royally screwed.

The biggest story from this week though is how these 2 massive trades shifted the balance of power in the NBA from the West to the East. First there was Amare and to a lesser extent Carlos Boozer and now Anthony and Williams. All the talent is going East. Of the 12 Western Conference All-Stars from last week only 10 are still on a Western Conference team and that number should continue to shrink because Chris Paul is 100% going to play for the Knicks.

LeBron, Wade, Howard, Anthony, Williams, Amare, Derrick Rose and Bosh.

The landscape for the league has shifted dramatically and no longer is the East a 3 or 4 team conference. The talent pool in the East just got deeper at the expense of the West.

If you smeeeeeeeeell what the Sports Informer is cooking!

Random YouTube Video

A Sign of the Apocalypse

2010-09-08T18:17:00.000-04:00

No it's not frogs raining from the sky or the 4 horsemen come to kill everyone, its Vernon Wells finally earning some of the $15,687,500 that he is being paid this season. As of the writing of this article Wells' numbers look like this:

27 Home Runs 77 RBI 71 Runs .272/.326/.523/.849 (that's AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS)

Those are pretty decent numbers and the Jays still have roughly 30 games to play so they can only improve. I didn't believe them at first so I had to do a little digging and you know what I discovered? Not only is Vernon Wells having a decent year, he is having one of the best years of any center fielder in baseball.

Here are his rankings among CFs in both the AL and NL:

Runs (14th but only 9 runs back of 5th place)

Hits (Tied for 8th)

Doubles (2nd)

Home Runs (2nd)

RBI (4th)

Batting Average (10th)

OBP (13th)

Slugging (2nd)

OPS (4th)

Not bad for a guy that many people consider to be one of the most overpaid players in all of baseball. Yes he still gets paid way too much money but at least he is starting to earn it this year unlike last year when he was just 'Big Fat Vernon' filling up a roster spot and going through the motions. So what changed in Vernon to make him bring back his 2004 form?

I personally believe that Vernon has taken more of a leadership role on this young team and he realizes that he has to lead by example. In the past it always seemed like the Jays leadership came from its pitching staff as guys like Roy Halladay put the team on their back and tried to carry them to victory. Now it's Wells turn and along with Jose Bautista he is doing a decent job. He seems more involved in the games and in the dugout he is much more active than in the past.

Wells return in power could also be contributed to him being healthy. Last season Wells suffered from various injuries including wrist, hip and shoulder injuries that really hindered him at the plate. Now he is healthy and using the Dwayne Murphy philosophy of swinging for the fences and it's hard to argue with the results.

Back to Wells' salary vs his production. He is the 22nd highest paid player in baseball but considering the other names on that list and the production, or lack there of they provide, his salary looks less and less ridiculous. Here are some of the guys that make more than Wells and produce less (Keep in mind Wells makes $15 million):

Derek Jeter - $22.6 million - inferior to Wells in every major category except stolen bases

Carlos Beltran - $19.4 million - last 2 years thrown away due to injuries

Carlos Lee - $19 million - Only beats Wells in RBI and total Baconators consumed

Alfonso Soriano - $19 million - Power numbers on track with Wells but worse average & god awful defense

Carlos Zambrano - $18.75 million - 7-6 rcord with an ERA of 4.23, point for Wells

John Lackey - $18.7 million - 12-9 with an ERA of 4.48, 12 wins aren't bad but I give it to Wells

Manny Ramirez - $18 million - if he would stay healthy he would be better, toddlers play better defense

Barry Zito - $18 million - 8-11 with a 4.18 ERA, possibly the worst contract in MLB

Todd Helton - $17.75 million - .249 6 HR 28 RBI, plus he runs the bases like a complete jackass

Aramis Ramirez - $17 million - power numbers right there with Wells but his average is 29 points lower

AJ Burnett - $16.5 million - 10-13 with an ERA of 5.15, pitching for the Yankees I could put up 10 wins

When you look at that list and see all the guys with stupid contracts that don't produce it makes the $15 million cap hit from Wells a little easier to take. Plus unlike most of the guys up there Wells can play defense and has won Gold Gloves in the past and may be in the discussion again this year.

I know it's hard to believe but Vernon Wells may not be overrated anymore. With Jose Bautista getting all the attention Wells has quietly put together a nice season and hopefully all the Jays fans out there he can continue to do so.

Random YouTube Video (Apparently there is an actor named Vernon Wells, who knew?)

Gods Do Not Answer Letters

2010-09-07T20:37:00.004-04:00

I just finished reading John Updike's classic essay Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu which is an account of Ted Williams' last professional baseball game. It is only 30 pages or so but it is amazing and really makes you think about how athletes are viewed today compared to how they were viewed in the past.

Updike writes about Williams as if he was a benevolent being that graced everyone with his presence. The reverence in which he refers to Williams can only be reserved for a true fan and the essay itself was actually written before Updike became a very successful journalist. At the time he was just another fan who was at the game and felt that it needed to be recounted as so few people actually attended it.

Now imagine this happening to any baseball player currently playing. Of all the guys still playing who would get this kind of reaction? Derek Jeter is the only person I can think of and outside of New York no one really has a lot of love for him and unlike Williams who was an effective player until the day he retired Jeter is slipping statistically and will no doubt continue to do so eventually becoming a utility player. Times have changed and there are no more heroes or immortal figures left in baseball.

The title to this post is from the essay and is one of the most famous lines in sports journalism history, it refers to Williams refusal to come out and tip his cap after he hit his final home run of his career in his last at bat ever. After he hit the home run he did was he always did, ran the bases quickly with his head down as if he was running through a storm and was trying to get out of the rain and went to the dugout and sat down. Williams never tipped his cap after his 520 previous home runs and he wouldn't do it on the 521st time despite lengthy pleas from the crowd, the umpires and the players.

Gods do not answer letters.

As a Red Sox fan I always knew Ted Williams was one of the best baseball players ever but after reading this essay and doing a little research I finally understood just how great he actually was. Here are a few stats that show just how great Williams was (keep in mind he gave up 5 years of his prime to serve as a pilot in the Korean War):

19x All-Star Selection

521 home runs (18th)

2,654 hits (69th)

1,839 RBI (13th)

2x MVP

.344 career batting average (8th)

2x Triple Crown Winner (lead the league in batting average, home runs and RBI)

6x Batting Champion

Last person to hit over .400 when he hit .406 in 1941

12x Led the league in On Base Percentage

.482 Career OBP Highest in MLB History

One interesting note about Williams career is that although he was a dominant hitter, one might argue the best pure hitter in baseball history, he doesn't own very many records. He is in the top 10 in a number of categories but other than OBP and being the last man to hit above .400 he doesn't have much to stake his name to. He did have the distinction of being the oldest man to win the batting title but he lost that in 2004 when Barry Bonds won it at age 40 a fact that is about to launch a mini rant:

I have been reading more books about the history of baseball lately and trying to learn more about the great names from the past. Guys like Mantle, DiMaggio, Musial, Williams, Cobb and Foxx and they are all interesting guys who seem likable and worthy of the constant high praise they receive. Yet they are all continuously falling down the leaderboards in various categories because they are being passed by guys from the "Steroid Era."

Now if you read this blog regularly you know that for the most part I don't have a problem with steroids as everyone was cheating so who cares. When A-rod was caught I shrugged it off as just another guy using drugs, there is a list of 103 he is just one of them. But after reading these books its kind of starting to piss me off that all these cheaters are passing legends whose accomplishments were achieved based solely on skill and heart.

Ted Williams is tied for 18th on the home run list but was passed by guys such as Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez (Jim Thome is also ahead of him but I think he is clean). All these guys were caught cheating and all achieved their records through the use of performance enhancing drugs. They all tarnish the names of Williams, Mantle and Foxx by moving them further down the list and off the radar screens of newer fans who live on stats.

This never used to bother me but after learning more about the past generations of players I now see the error of my ways. In my mind Hank Aaron is still the home run king and Barry Bonds never broke any of Williams records. To me Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire are just punchlines in a joke about baseball and steroids. They are both lairs, frauds and cheats and Chael Sonnen should bury them where they stand.

But Ted Williams was about more than just stats. He was a humanitarian, through his ongoing work with the Jimmy Fund, and an honest man who felt people should be paid based on merit. In 1959 Williams had his first sub .300 season and went to management and demanded a pay cut. He was also a tolerant man as unlike many other players at the time he was open to black players in baseball and lobbied to get excluded blacks into the Hall of Fame.

He wasn't without his faults though as he had a rough relationship with the Boston fans and absolutely despised the media. He also had some bad habits on the field as he would routinely spit everywhere and would throw a tantrum if things didn't go his way but I would attribute those actions more to his competitiveness and desire to be the best.

In 1941 going into the last 2 games of the season ( a double header) Williams was batting .3955 and would have had his average rounded up to .400 if he had sat out. Williams would have none of this and went out and had 6 hits in 8 at bats over the two games finishing with a .406 average.

He loved to win and hated to lose, in sports that's called passion. Of his desire for greatness Williams summed it up best when he said, "I want people to say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived."

When you watch people talk about Ted Williams a smile always appears on their face and they always have this look of wonder like he needed to be seen to believed. I only wish I had been able to see him play live and be able to fully appreciate his greatness the way others do.

Random YouTube Video

Derek Anderson > Matt Leinart?

2010-09-05T21:57:00.000-04:00

I remember a couple of years ago I was watching the NHL Trade Deadline special on TSN and one of the analysts said that someone was a, "poor mans Jeff Halpern." At the time I thought this was the biggest slap in the face any athlete could receive. Then I came home from a weekend up north and found out that the Arizona Cardinals had released Matt Leinart.

The fact that he got released isn't the slap in the face. The slap in the face is that the Arizona Cardinals would rather have Derek Anderson as their starting quarterback than Matt Leinart. I couldn't imagine a bigger hit to someones ego than hearing that.

I know people always rip on guys like Jake Delhomme and JaMarcus Russell for being awful quarterbacks, and believe me they are, but Derek Anderson is in a league all his own. He had one good season where he managed to make the Pro Bowl and since then he has been absolutely pathetic. His career quarterback rating is 69.7 and he has 46 touchdowns to 45 interceptions and he has completed just over 50% of his passes.

So why would the Cardinals want Anderson instead of Leinart?

Well it's no secret that Cardinals coach Ken Wisenhunt wasn't a fan of Leinart and thought that he lacked the work ethic and leadership skills to be a starting quarterback in the NFL but is he still not the lesser of two evils in this situation?

At least Leinart believed he was better than Anderson as he recently told AZcentral.com, "the philosophy is you want the best 11 guys to play. I feel like I've proved that with my performance. I don't really know what else I could possibly do, so it probably goes beyond football. For me, I just really want an explanation, and I haven't been given one."

I have to agree with him on that point. Leinart gives the Cardinals a better chance to win then Derek Anderson so why release him? I know Cardinals fans call him Captain Checkdown, and with good cause, but he looked great in the preseason and had a few years to learn from Kurt Warner so you would think he would be the choice going into the season.

But did he really learn anything from Warner while he was holding his clip board or did he just go through the motions until Warner retired and he could step up and take control of the team?

Critics of Leinart have always said that since the day he was drafted 10th overall by the Cardinals 4 years ago that he came into the league thinking he was larger than life. Having won a Heisman Trophy at USC Leinart obviously got a big ego and he brought that with him to Arizona when he held out of training camp after being signed a move that did not endear him to his teammates.

Many people often said that Leinart was more concerned with being a celebrity than being a good quarterback, a viewpoint that gains more credence when you search his name in Google Images. There are 6 pictures of him partying and getting wasted before a picture of him in an Arizona Cardinals uniform. Clearly the guy liked to party and wasn't 100% devoted to football.

Leinart isn't a rare breed in that regard however as a number of quarterbacks from high profile schools often fall into the party lifestyle because on campus they are gods. John David Booty went to USC and had the same problems as did recent draftee Jimmy Clausen who's partying lifestyle caused him to fall from a projected top 10 pick all the way to the 48th overall pick.

Even with the off-field problems I still feel like the Cardinals would have been better served sticking with Leinart over Anderson. By releasing Leinart and making Anderson the starter the Cardinals have basically thrown this year down the toilet and said to their fans 'maybe next year.'

What I find odd is the timing of the move. The Cardinals must have known they didn't want Leinart around and that they would need a new quarterback to replace him so why where they not involved in the Donovan McNabb talks and why would they not have made a move for Marc Bulger? Why wait until one week before the season starts to cut your starting quarterback? Then again these are the Arizona Cardinals who until 2 years ago were the most irrelevant team in the league.

Back to Leinart. If he ever wants to overcome this ultimate ego attack by the Cardinals he is going to have to choose his next team carefully. What he doesn't wanna do is go to Jacksonville or Buffalo and be a one-year stop gap. He needs to pick a team where he can learn the system, dedicate himself, and prove to people around the league that he isn;t just another Heisman Trophy winning bust like Eric Crouch, Chris Weinke, Danny Wuerffel, Charlie Ward, Gino Toretta and Ty Detmer.

I think Leinart is going to use this as motivation and go on to become a decent quarterback in the NFL. Even if he goes on to become a bum that never makes it and has one of the worst quarterback ratings in the league and throws a bunch of interceptions in big moments he will still be better than Derek Anderson. And when Ken Wisenhunt looks up at the scoreboard at halftime in Week 1 and see his team is losing 49-0 he will look up to the sky and say, "I made Derek Anderson my starting quarterback. Lord what have I done?"

Random YouTube Video

Tidbits to Hold You Over

2010-09-01T18:04:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow I am headed to Carnarvan to enjoy some R & R with a few beers and some sunlight so I won't be writing anything. Instead of writing one big article to hold over the rabid fans of this blog I have decided to write a bunch of small ones that should peak your interest and hold you over until I get back on Saturday.

Dolphins Go On Treasure Hunt

Today the Miami Dolphins had to stop their practice for almost an hour to look for an earring. The 2.5 karat diamond earring worth roughly $50,000 belonging to defensive end Kendall Langford was lost during practice and needed to be found.

After spending an hour searching for the diamond, which was not found, practice ended and now Langford is out 50k. Ihave a few questions out th ole incident:

1) Why on earth would you wear a $50,000 earring to a football practice?

2) Why would Langford not just offer the rounds crew a few hundred bucks to check for him afer practice was over, or before practice stared the next morning?

3) How does a 3rd round pick have enough money to be buying a 50k earring?

4) Why did Tony Sparano stop his practice for this nonsense?

5) Did they check the filter in the dolphin tank?

Chatroulette Scandal

There is a big scandal surrounding Brandon Spikes, a rookie linebacker for the New England Patriots, and the website Chatroulette. Apparently someone was on Chatroulette and happened upon Spikes and some woman wearing just a bra and watched as the girl performed oral sex on him. That's not even the best part. The best part is that Spikes never identifies himself in the video and it was only thought to be him because the guy in the video is also a black man covered in tattoos.

Even thought that's a racist way to go about identifying Spikes it turned out to be effective as since the story broke an NFL investigation has begun and Si agent has come out and said in an interview with the Boston Herald, "the embarrassing situation certainly doesn't reflect the kind of person that he is."

I think it says a lot about him. It says that he likes women, is very self-confident and that he wants to have a great relationship with the fans.

Bolting to Man U

In his autobiography Usain Bolt wrote, "Ideally, if I was to play football, I'd sign for my favorite team -- Manchester United. People say it's not realistic but nobody has seen me play so you never know. If Alex Ferguson saw me in one of those charity matches he might think I could replace Ryan Giggs."

Bolt isn't the first athlete to talk about switching sports as LeBron James has talked abut laying in the NFL and Terrell Owens expressed and interest in the NBA. I mean James Toney is the best two sport athlete on the planet but Bolt could give him a run for his money. At the very least it would be a good publicity move for a team to let Bolt tryout plus he might turn out to be real good so whats the harm.

Bolt has trained with an number of top clubs including Man U, Barcelona and Bayern Munich and there was a feature in the French newspaper L'equip on his skills so maybe he does have a shot playing professional soccer somewhere.

Maybe he could be a winger and just sprint down the flanks and thrown in crosses all game. He would have 0 problem getting by anyone in the Premiership, with the possible exception of Theo Walcott or Aaron Lennon. I think its worth a shot and with the way Man U spends money (the team recently spent & million pounds on a player that manager Sir Alex Ferguson had never seen play) why not?

Little MJ in Big Trouble

Marcus Jordan, the son of his Royal Airness Michael Jordan, is getting a lot of heat in the media right now for some comments he posted on his Twitter feed over the weekend. Here is the twee: ""Last night was stupid... 35K at Haze. Totals 50K something the whole day."

OK so whats the big deal the guy spent 50k in Vegas, 35k of which was dropped at a strip club, like father like son. Problem is Marcus Jordan is only 19 and is a sophomore at the University of Central Florida. So how was he drinking and gambling in Vegas when the drinking age is 21? Also how does a 19 year old have $35,000 to spend at a strip club? Were the lapdances $2500 a song?

The whole reason Marcus was in Vegas was to attend his dads basketball camp. Now people are critisizing not only Marcus but his father as well and knowing MJ he is royally pissed, not about what Marcus did, but about being second guessed as a parent. MJ doesn't like people giving him a hard time on the basketball court imagine how he will react to this.

Since the story broke the tweet has been removed and Marcus has made a public statement saying, ""I didn't mean it the way it came across. My family and friends know the type of person I am."

Now the MGM Grand is under investigation for allowing minors to drink and gamble and if you've seen Casino you know that if you mess with those guys money you wind up in a shallow grave in a cornfield getting bludgeoned to death by metal baseball bats.

Mets Pitchers Looks to Supplement Income

Mets knuckelballer RA Dickey is looking to supplement his income by following in the steps of Cosmo Kramer and becoming a "ball man" at the US Open. In an interview after a recent win Dickey told reporters about his ambitions, "I think it would be really cool. I’m really serious. Do you think I can do it?”

According to the New York Times, he can. Just not this year because he already missed the sign up period and the tournament has already begun but maybe next year. Plus the Mets are on the road right now and although they have a 0% chance of making the playoffs they still need Dickey to pitch.

The NY Times spoke to Tina Tapps who is the USTA's director for ball boys and girls (what an easy job that must be) and she seemed really excited about Dckey being a ball boy, "That would be really exciting. It’s obviously too late for this year, but if he’s really willing to go through the process, we would love to have him. I think he would be great at it.”

My favorite part of this story was Dickey's reaction to a reporter who told Dickey he would have to pass certain tests like a running test, catching test and a throwing test. Dickey's response was, "I think I can handle that. I’m a professional athlete.”

Dickey is up for arbitration after this year so if the Mets aren't willing to cough up the cash he might have to move on to greener pastures and start raking in all of that F you ball boy money.

Roy Halladay Pisses Class

Roy Halladay is a great guy. That is a fact. Everyone knows this. Here is some proof of how great a guy he is. He recently gave every member of the Philadelphia Phillies (including ball boys, trainers and medical staff) a Swiss Baume and Mcier watch. Halladay handed them out himself. Each watched was engraved with the date of the game and each players name and number.

I understand that the Jays are a team that is rebuilding and Halladay wanted a lot of money but I would give this guy whatever he wants to pitch for my baseball team. He is a massive beauty both on and off the field and one of the coolest athletes in sports.

...and because I am gone for 2 days here are 2 YouTube videos. One is an amazing song by an amazing Canadian band and the other is hilarious:

Random YouTube Videos

Brian Tallet: World Class Duster

2010-08-30T23:41:00.004-04:00

Urban Dictionary defines a duster as - "unfortunate souls who usually only step on the ice with 14 seconds to go when your team was initially down 4-2 but gave up an empty netter to make it 5-2. The coach finally calls the "dusters" number and does so in a way that the duster feels like he is finally getting an opportunity to showcase the talent he doesn't really possess. Why the term duster? Cause this plug has been sitting on the bench the entire game.............Collecting dust. Always the worst player on team."

Nobody better embodies what it means to be a duster than Brian Tallet of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Anybody that watches Blue Jays games regularly knows that if Brian Tallet is brought in to the game then the game is lost. Even if the Jays are ahead by 4 or 5 runs Tallet will find a way to make sure that they lose. Tallet is the human victory cigar and does his very best to be absolutely terrible every time he takes the mound for the Jays.

The other night I was driving to my buddies place and remembered the Jays game was on so I turned it over to the play by play and heard this, "Brian Tallet has just entered the game." Station immediately switched. The game was over so why bother listening at that point?

Yet for some reason Cito Gaston insists on continually putting this massive duster in games. In fact Tallet is 5th amongst Blue Jays pitchers in innings pitched with 64 1/3 trailing only the 4 regular starters on the team (Romero, Cecil, Morrow and Marcum). That stat really speaks more to the Jays being behind by multiple runs in numerous games than it does to the talent of Brian Tallet. Cito knows that if the game is lost he better bring in Tallet to save the arms of the quality guys in the bullpen.

But how in good conscience can Gaston bring in a guy with these numbers? As of tonight Tallets's record is 2-5 and he has an embarrassing ERA of 6.44 and a WHIP of 1.54. Opponents are batting .262 off Tallet and he has allowed 18 home runs this season (2nd most behind only Shaun Marcum who has pitched almost 100 more innings than Tallet). He does however have more strikeouts then walks (42-33) but when that is your only decent stat you know you're a duster.

Here are some baffling numbers that Tallet has posted over his last 10 games:

19 Innings pitched

20 hits

17 runs

15 earned runs

5 home runs

7 walks

In those 10 appearances Tallet failed to have a single 1-2-3 inning. Not once could he get 3 straight outs. In 19 tries he couldn't do it once. I feel like you have to purposely try to be that dusty. He also gave up at least 1 run in 8 of his last 10 games, and gave up at least 1 hit in every inning he pitched over his last 10 games. The guy is a joke and is statistically guaranteed to give up a run if he enters the game.

Plus he looks like a complete jackass. I think he was going for the Hugh Jackman as Wolverine look but ended up looking like a cholo on Easter. Maybe if he didn't have the lamest sideburns/facial hair combo in history it wouldn't be so bad but the whole package just makes him even dustier. I mean its one thing to suck ass at your position but to also be incredibly ugly? That's just disrespectful to the fans watching in HD at home.

In fairness to Tallet he hasn't always been a duster. Back in 2006 he put together a 3 year stretch where he put up some decent numbers and wasn't an embarrassment. He was a solid pitcher out of the bullpen and had a sub 4 ERA and kept his opponents batting average below .250.

Then last year the Jays tried to make him a starter and everything went downhill. He pitched 160 innings last year and had an ERA of 5.32 while going 7-9. Opponents hit .268 off him and he had 72 walks and only 120 strikeouts. He was a passable 5th starter but was merely a stop gap and not a long term solution. Basically if he was pitching it meant the Jays needed to score 5 or 6 runs to even have a shot at winning the game.

Now Tallet is back in the bullpen and pissing off Jays fans with every inning he pitches. Even Tallet knows he sucks telling the Globe and Mail recently, "There’s no doubt about it, I haven’t been myself, I haven’t really been able to help the team out a lot. And that’s pretty disappointing as far as I’m concerned." That's putting it mildly.

Not only is Tallet not helping the team by being dusty as all hell but he in fact hurting them by giving up runs at an incredible pace. If he keeps up his current play he very well might finish the year with an ERA of 7 or 8 which would put him in the running alongside Josh Towers as the worst Blue Jay pitcher ever.

Don't expect Tallet to be going anywhere anytime soon though as Brandon Morrow has been shut down for the year as he has reached his innings count so it looks like we will be seeing even more Brian Tallet in the upcoming weeks.

Ladies and Gentle get your Swiffers ready.

Random YouTube Video

Antonio Bryant Gets Paid to Leave

2010-08-30T00:25:00.000-04:00

Today the Cincinnati Bengals released wide out Antonio Bryant. This was a move that every one saw coming as going in to camp the Bengals were stacked as wide receiver having guys like Chad Ochocinco and Andre Caldwell on the roster and signing free agents Terrell Owens and Matt Jones this off-season. They also picked Jordan Shipley in the draft giving them tonnes of depth at the position. There was simply no room for Bryant who was coming off of major knee surgery and had been lackluster in training camp thus far.

There is a silver lining for Bryant though as the 4-year $28 million contract he signed with the Bengals back in March guaranteed him $8 million no matter what. So basically the Bengals paid Bryant $8 million to show up for a few weeks of training camp and then go home. He was a Cincinnati Bengal for exactly 172 days. Talk about easy money.

But wait it gets better.

Back in 2008 Bryant signed a league minimum contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and went on to have a breakout season catching 83 passes for 1248 yards and 7 touchdowns. At the end of the 2008 season the Bucs put the franchise tag on Bryant meaning he would be paid a salary in line with the top players at his position in the league. In 2009 the price to franchise tag a wide receiver was $9.84 million.

In 2009 Bryant caught only 39 passes for 600 yards and 4 touchdowns while getting paid $9.84 million. So in the last 12 months Bryant has made $17.84 million to play in 13 games and catch 39 passes for 600 yards and 4 touchdowns. Broken down that works out to:

$457,435 per catch

$29,733 per yard

$4,460,000 per touchdown

Not a bad pay day if you ask me. But this incident speaks to a larger issue, mainly the ineptitude of the Cincinnati Bengals. This is a team that has never won a SuperBowl and probably never will based on the way their going.

Everyone is entitled to a screw up here and there, maybe a bad draft or a bad free agent signing but giving someone a big contract with big time guaranteed money and then not having that player make it through training camp. Someone definitely got fired for this one.

It's just business as usual for the Bengals though as this team routinely screws up draft picks and free agent signings often getting guys with poor track records or guys that just bust the second they put on the uniform, just look at last years draft.

The Bengals had the #6 overall pick and were in desperate need of a franchise left tackle. Waiting for them at #6 was Michael Oher the best lineman in college football and a high character guy out of Ole Miss. Oher would have been a perfect fit for the Bengals but they passed on him and chose Andre Smith from Alabama. Smith is a headcase and had a pathetic combine which was highlighted by his milkshake bringing all the boys to the yard. This of course merited a $42 million contract, that was only signed after a holdout. In his first practice Smith hurt himself and missed most of the season.

Smith is just the most recent example however as the Bengals have also drafted such historic busts as David Pollack, Chris Perry, Peter Warrick, Akili Smith, Reinard Wilson and Ki-Jana Carter. The Bengals have found some gems in the draft, Leon Hall and Jonothan Joseph, but for the most part the guys they take don't work out.

This is a team that has made the playoffs twice in the past 20 year seasons and its because they make awful personal moves like the Antonio Bryant deal. Who gives a wide receiver coming off of major knee surgery a contract worth $28 million? It blows my mind.

You can;t blame Bryant though, he was just trying to get paid. His comeback season with the Bucs in 2008 was one of the feel good stories in the league and by all accounts he is a great guy. He just got injured and was lucky enough to have the Bengals come calling for his services. Thankfully he has some money to live off for awhile or at least until he can get back on his feet.

Random YouTube Video