The Sports Frappe

The Fat Lady

2011-10-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hey Sports Fanatics and Addicts, Uncle Intrinsic is back to drop a little wisdom on you.

Radio and TV talking heads need to once again check themselves. All day Friday on sports talk radio and TV I heard that the Cardinals were done, and the foregone conclusion was that the Rangers would sweep the next 3 games at home and repeat as World Series Champs.

Whoaaaaa Nelly.........

We know after Game 3 that the Cardinals are not yet ready to just hand it over, and also were not in the shambles the "experts" predicted they were in.

The highlight of last night's 16-7 drubbing of the Rangers of course was the Cards first baseman Albert Pujols tying Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth's record for homeruns in a World Series game with three. In a row.

In this 140 character brave new world of communications and expectations, this lesson is supported with the Friday comments and theories of the "experts":

Skipper Tony La Russa was too big of a gambler with his pitching changes and cost the Cards Game 2 and most probably, the 2011 World Series.
Albert Pujols proved he was not a leader because he didn't talk to the media after the close, come from behind loss dealt by the Rangers.
Albert Pujols lost the game and possibly the series by botching a cut-off play that any little leaguer could have navigated.
The Rangers play too well at home for the Cards to have a shot.
There was a curse because alleged juicer Mark McGwire was a Cards coach.

Ok, I made the last one up. See how easily you were starting to be deceived?

I really don't care who wins this series. I do want you to be smart enough to know that sports, and life, is about taking risks. Depending on how those risks develop and turn out, real players have to deal with being the hero or the goat.

Mediocrity accepts the safe and sane. Kind of like a firework that squeals and sparkles, but never leaves the ground or is spectacular.

Michael Vick Is Marketable Again

2011-07-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

Today it was announced that Nike has entered into an endorsement agreement with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick.

Vick was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons and proved effective with his arm and legs before dog fighting charges brought him down and put him in prison for 23 months.

Vick signed a two year contract with the Eagles upon his release from prison and has since revived his career and image through solid changes and decisions.

Nike and the Falcons were amongst the sponsors that fled from any relationship ties with Vick when he went through his issues.

Thoughts of an NFL Fan

2010-12-29T17:51:00.000-08:00

The NFL owners claim that that an 18 game season is necessary because the fans have made clear that they do not like preseason games. If they really care what fans of the NFL think, then here is the opinion of a fan: I do NOT want an 18 game season.

Please understand the person that this is coming from. On an average fall weekend, I watch around 5 football games on television (college and pro). I make it a point to watch part of every single bowl game on TV. I play fantasy football, I attempt to predict the winner of every single NFL game every single week. And I still end up going to several local football games live before the season is through.

I have room for more football in my life, I'm in favor of a more expanded college football playoff, and yet I am NOT in favor of an expanded NFL season.

The reasons are quite simple. An 18 game season will absolutely lower the quality of football we fans get to watch week in and week out.

An 18 game season means more injuries, which will lead to more games in which we are watching second tier players. Much has already been said about this so I'll leave it at that.

An 18 game season means LOTS more meaningless games at the tale end of a season. Consider the upcoming slate of games in week 17 of the 2010 season: There is really only one that we can expect both teams to really care about, and that features that mess of a race in the NFC West. I'm sure some other games will turn out to be great, but you never know which ones these will be. We've seen enough December/January games in the past in which one or both teams were playing half-heartedly to expect this. You can slightly mitigate this fact by going back to 2 divisions in each conference, but only slightly. And yes, this is true in other sports, but watching a baseball game between two down and out bottom feeders is much more tolerable than a football game. Football is a tough game to play when you don't care about the outcome, baseball players will always look for a chance to pad their stats.

There are already enough factors that contribute to sloppy play in the NFL. You owners have persisted in shoving this Thursday night NFL network game upon us, which always showcases how desperately these teams need the full week of preparation.

The 2007 Patriots failed run at perfection is already so rare, expanding the season will all but insure that nothing like it will ever happen again. And isn't that why we watch professional sports? To see teams that have a chance at perfecting their play?

The NFL is easily the best American professional sports league, why mess with it anymore than you already have?

2010-09-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

Admit it, when you saw it you were filled with hope. When you first saw Chris Berman's stache you thought maybe he was doing an extreme makeover. You know, baseball slugger goes into a slump and grows the fattest, gnarliest porn stache and makes some changes and returns to his former glory.

When you saw Chris Berman sporting a woolly booger during NFL preseason, you were excited. Excited that there'd be a change.

Excited that at halftime of Monday Night Football, you wouldn't be forced to sit through sports euphemisms like "WHOOP!". You wouldn't have to listen to cheesy statements like "Number 4 throws a touchdown and we all wonder, How Favre Can He Go?"

Then you realized when you dialed in Monday night and saw his naked grill that you'd been juked. Bamboozled. You didn't keep your head on a swivel.

Berman's naked upper lip appears like ...."It....Could....Go....All....The....Way!

WHOOP!

Condolences Monday Night Football fans. First you lost Hank Jr. and were forced to buy cable. Now you're stuck with the same trite recaps you thought you'd evolved out of.

RonRon Being RonRon

2010-07-22T22:27:00.001-07:00

Ron Artest evidently was in favor of the Matt Barnes pickup by the Lakers today. This was his tweet of support:

"RONARTESTCOM Matt has the heart off a lion on steroids wit extra chest hairs and three testicles screaming " Adrian "!!!!!!"

about 2 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

The extra chest hairs part surprises me.

Story Source

Leave the All Star Game alone

2010-07-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

I spent the earlier part of the week participating in All Star game activities, on location in Anaheim California. I checked out the Fan Fest on Sunday, the Home Run Derby on Monday, and the game itself on Tuesday. I fully enjoyed all of it, but I do have one VERY controversial opinion to share with you:

There is nothing wrong with the MLB All Star game.

It seems like all anyone talks about is what needs to change about the All Star game. But it's fine the way it is. In comparisons with the other 3 major sports, it easily trumps the Pro Bowl. The MLB game is much more like real baseball whereas the NBA all star game is very little like real basketball (albeit basketball might have the better scene in the weekend surrounding the game). Hockey might be the closest contender as far as the game goes, but I haven't watched enough hockey to make an argument here.

Here are the typical complaints about the MLB All Star game:

The selection system leads to good players getting snubbed. This year, they added a ton of spots on the rosters, and people were still complaining about this. It is time to admit that no system will eliminate this, unless of course we let Jayson Stark pick the teams, in which case at least the loudest complainer would shut up. But seriously, think about it, the fans vote for the starters and they (we) screw it up constantly. The players get a vote now, and they often screw it up. And of course, the managers selections are just as questionable (Omar Infante, anyone?). I don't think there is some method that will solve this problem.
Some choose to blame it on the fact that every team gets a representative. I personally like the rule the way it is - because I remember what it was like to be a fan of a terrible team who only got an all star because of this rule. Moreover, if we can't get the rosters right after they've expanded to 34, we'll never get them right.
The game doesn't mean enough. To this group, I admit, the World Series homefield advantage rule is a ruse. It hasn't actually changed the way that the game is played, simply the way it is perceived. My only response is - it's an exhibition, what do you expect? The great thing about the baseball all star game is that these players don't need any practice together to still play at a high level, so it's really up to the players to decide how much they care about this game. As you'd expect, some come ready to play and some don't.
If you think about Tuesday's game, I didn't see much to indicate that the managers or players were not trying to win. Sure, Girardi mismanaged on the AL side, but that's just because he's not a very good manager. He brought in his own guy Hughes, who lost it for us. He didn't bring in A-Rod, but the fact is that A-Rod was a debatable all star to begin with. He didn't pinch run for Ortiz, because, well, he had already mismanaged himself into a hole there.
The World series homefield advantage rule is stupid. I agree, but get over it, Selig is obsessed with it and it doesn't negatively affect the All Star game. Some might say it negatively affects the World Series, but I don't agree with that either. Previously, the MLB just alternated between leagues, which wasn't any better.

I think the only thing that could make the MLB All Star game better would be to do away with (or scale down) interleague play. Traditionally, what the all star game so great was these batter vs. pitcher match ups you never got a chance to see elsewhere.

Otherwise, get over it and leave it alone.

The Ultimate Catch

2010-07-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

Make it stop. I'm begging you.

Play football.

It's So Easy.......An Octopus Can Do It?

2010-07-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

Those of you that are veteran readers of The Frappe know that I am no fan of the sport affectionately known by the world outside the U.S. as "football".

I've heard all the arguments from the proponents of soccer. I've read the statistics of it's increase in popularity. I noticed the wide array of people from all walks of life that followed America's journey in this year's World Cup. This weekend I drove past a local park where AYSO (youth soccer) signups were occuring and saw roughly 60 people lined up to ~~destroy their kids~~ sign their kids up. Against my will, I was forced to learn what a vuvuzela was.

As compelling as some of that is, how can I enjoy a slow paced, low scoring game where the majority of the players can only run around "bending it" without the use of their hands? I would rather go to that same local park and watch people play hacky sack. There's only slightly less scoring there.

I caught myself beginning to allow my mind to open to this "sport". I had to slam it shut again when I found that someone/thing had picked the winner of 10 0ut 10 (that's 100% to you and me) of this year's contests including the final match.

A dude named Paul did in fact make perfect picks. Paul is an octopus. 'Nuff said.

Courting Lebron James

2010-07-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Unless you've been in jail, a coma, or self imposed World Cup only binge, you know that the hottest sports question right now is where Lebron James will play next season.

Just like the networks clear out time when the president wants a word with the public, ESPN has cleared out an hour of ~~poker~~ it's valuable airtime for King James to let his subjects know where he's setting up court.

Since the end of the NBA playoffs, rumors have run rampant that Lebron could end up in Chicago, New York, Miami, or stay at home at Cleveland. As of this writing, various Twits are tweeting that Newsweek has heard from numerous sources that he is going to Miami to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

This is not a new rumor, as Stephen A. Smith has been claiming this going on two weeks. Chris Bosh has already done his deal. The big question in everyone's mind has been whether or not Wade and James could co-exist long enough to win a ring.

Who really knows? Lebron does.

I know Old Skool dudes (I am one) that curse 24 hour sports coverage as the cause of everything from the erosion of fundamentals in sports, placing self over team, and the focus on ginormous dollars earned for playing kids' games.

In a world where your sports hero can text you what he/she's having for dinner in 140 characters or less, there's a feast of information for your never ending appetite of news on your favorite player, team, or the gigantic symbiotic industries they have created.

25 year old Lebron grew up in this self promoting, brand building era. His high school had a cable deal to show their basketball team's (featuring Lebron) games. His entry to the league was the biggest thing since Magic and Bird entered together. The tale of him and his four buddies playing together in travel ball and high school was even made into a documentary in 2008.

He lived up to the hype too, quickly taking his NBA game to a superstar level. He quickly showed he could lead his team and make money promoting his name's brand. Who can forget him going Eddie Murphy and doing all the parts in the successful Nike ad campaign "The Lebrons"? He even hosted Saturday Night Live. He has his own puppet for crying out loud.

Why wouldn't he commandeer the four letter network and create all the buzz he can? It's a little late in the game, but here's my help (free, or whatever) for Lebron:

Setup a panel like all the sports show formats do and have the seats filled with Lindsey Lohan, Brett Favre, a Soccer Nut, Justin Bieber, Woody from Toy Story 3, and some of those werewolf kids from the vampire movies.

Go all Donny and Marie variety show meets TMZ on it.

The balance of NBA power potentially shifts Thursday on ESPN somewhere between 9:00 and 9:15 pm Eastern.

Why Other Countries Hate Us

2010-07-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

Pomp and Circumstance

Fireworks that blatantly rub our dominance in England's, and therefore the rest of the world's face.

The McRib

The paper or plastic option

Farmville

NBA players stating they want to be billionaires

Las Vegas

Brett Favre's indecisiveness

These all qualify as reasons why the world hates America.

Add to that list the fact that we own the competitive eating game via one Mr. Joey "Jaws" Chestnut. Other countries hate that we own this "sport" that is the epitome of hipness, freedom, gluttony, and the thug life.

Who didn't think that it was about to go down when all of 128 bucks (58 kg) of Takeru Kobayashi hopped on the platform at this year's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest trying to steal some of Joey Chestnut's glory? Was he going to make it rain condiments? Knock over the little cups of water? Steal the mustard colored WWE like trophy belt and run away?

We will never know the answers to these questions because he was abducted and spent the night in the tank before getting charged with obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

You can't bum rush an important American event and then think you can force participation in a post 9/11 world. Especially that close to the 4th of July holiday. The debacle was described with such words as "mayhem", "berserk", "unprofessional", and even "unsavory".

Chestnut won the event by quaffing 54 dogs in 10 minutes.

Straight Up Hood

2010-01-20T23:47:00.000-08:00

Seems that on the eve of the Martin Luther King holiday, a new basketball league announced that it would be forming. It has targeted Augusta, Georgia as it's hopeful birthplace.

The problem is that the All American Basketball Alliance has some pretty racy guidelines for inclusion/exclusion:

"Only players that are natural born United States citizens with both parents of Caucasian race are eligible to play in the league".

This is the point where you go to the bottom right corner of your monitor, click on the time, and double check the calendar to see what year this is. No........it's not 1957. It's still 2010.

Check out this additional primer in supremacist speak that the upstart league's Commissioner Moose (Don "Moose" Lewis) dishes out:

He wants to emphasize fundamental basketball instead of "street-ball" played by "people of color."

"There's nothing hatred about what we're doing," he said. "I don't hate anyone of color. But people of white, American-born citizens are in the minority now. Here's a league for white players to play fundamental basketball, which they like."

(There's nothing hatred? A GED would have helped that)

"Would you want to go to the game and worry about a player flipping you off or attacking you in the stands or grabbing their crotch?" he said. "That's the culture today, and in a free country we should have the right to move ourselves in a better direction."

"People will come out and support a product they can identify with. I'm the spoken minority right now, but if people will give us a chance, it'll work... The white game of basketball, which is essentially a fundamental game, works."

Did you catch that new racist code boys and girls? Fundamental basketball/game = White basketball. You can't dribble through your legs in that robe.

The Moose seems to believe that the Southeast is the best place to locate 12 teams. The licensee fee is $10k.

Will they have Woody Harrelson throw up the first jump ball?

We know the concession stand will offer Haterade, but will they ban nachos and Hot Tamales because they're too ethnic?

Unfortunately, this wasn't the only hint of racism on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Story Source

Big Unit Likely To Retire From Blasting Birds This Wednesday

2010-01-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

LHP Randy Johnson is likely to announce his retirement from baseball this Wednesday according to reports.

Johnson's sick pitching which included sound barrier breaking speed, and George Sanford type junk saw many storied battles with a multitude of team and individual successes.

Johnson came to prominence with the Seattle Mariners after a stint with the Montreal Expos. He has played with six teams, including two separate enlistments with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he won a World Series ring in 2001.

When you see Johnson's career accomplishments it's like a player you'd build in a video game (sans mullet probably):

Five time Cy Young Winner, receiving the award pitching in both leagues.
Ten time All Star
World Series Champ and co-MVP in 2001
Pitched a no hitter (1990)
Pitched a perfect game (2004, the oldest at 40 to ever do so)
One of 4 pitchers ever to 4,000 strikeouts
24th pitcher in MLB history to win 300 games
First in 300 Win Club to ever beat every team in the MLB.

All those are amazing feats, but the Big Unit will always be remembered for helping with bird control while pitching in a preaseason exhibition.

Tip of the cap Unit!

Stat Source: Wikipedia

BiCoastal Bias' Bowl Season Preview

2009-11-23T19:57:00.001-08:00

This college football season hasn't been quite as intriguing as most - and the culprit is the lack of late season upsets. Sure, there's been a few, Ohio State's loss to Purdue and USC's annual letdown to Stanford come to mind. But there haven't been any earth shattering, BCS wrecking upsets. At least not yet.

The payback is that this sets up some FAN-tastic bowl games. I want you to consider this fact - we could have two bowl games featuring undefeated teams pitted against each other. It probably won't happen, but it's possible. Regardless, there will be some great match ups. Here are BiCoastal's predictions as to this season's match ups and results.

The Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Ohio State
I'm starting out easy. Ohio State has already punched their tickets to Pasadena. Oregon will play Oregon State in two weeks (a game I am really looking forward to), and the winner will go on to win the Rose Bowl - handily. The Pac-10 is legit this year, and the Big Ten has not won this game since 2000. Oregon has shown what they are made of this year - their two losses are to Boise State and Stanford, and keep in mind that they lost to Stanford the week after winning big against USC. Expect the Ducks to drub the Buckeyes, but if you know me at all you would expect me to say that.

The Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. TCU
Georgia Tech has to get by Clemson in the ACC championship game. Slating TCU for this game is a bit of speculation on my part. If they win out, they are guaranteed a BCS berth. In a different year this TCU team would deserve to be the first non-BCS team to play in the national championship game. As it is, they'll have to settle for a trip to Florida and a chance to play a great Georgia Tech team. I'm picking TCU in by a field goal.

The Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Pittsburgh
The Sugar Bowl will be the consolation game for the loser of the SEC championship game. As you can tell, I've got Florida losing to Alabama (another game to really look forward to in case you weren't already). Pittsburgh is a total shot in the dark. If Pitt beats Cincinnati in two weeks (yet another game to look forward to), they win the Big East and assure themselves some BCS game. If they lose, they could easily drop and it's difficult to say who takes their place. Pitt is as good as Florida, but expect Tebow to give an inspired performance, leaving us with something to remember him by. Florida by a touchdown.

The Fiesta Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Boise State
This is really wishful thinking now. The Fiesta bowl has a conference tie-in with the Big 12. However, with the Big 12 winner likely playing in the national championship game, there is no other conference team that deserves to be here. Oklahoma State could crash the party, but I hope not, because this is the only way we'll get a match up of two more undefeateds who don't have a shot at the national title. Cincy makes sense here because the Big East doesn't have a BCS bowl tie in, and Boise State makes sense because of the splash they made in the Fiesta Bowl three years ago. In the unlikely scenario that this match up actually happens, I like Cincinnati. Boise State is a tough team, but I'm just not sure they keep up with the Cincinnati offense for 4 quarters. Cincinnati by 10.

National Championship Game in Pasadena: Alabama vs. Texas
I already told you I think Alabama knocks off Florida. There will be some who argue that this game should feature a rematch of those two teams. Let's get one thing straight - I do NOT like Texas. I hate the powderpuff schedule they play every year, and I hate their entitled fans who thought the rules should be bent for them last year. But the national championship game should NEVER feature two teams from the same conference. I genuinely believe they should put this in writing, and I wish they would. Anyways, Texas belongs here, unless of course they fall to Nebraska, in which case it's back to the Fiesta Bowl, and we'll see Cincy or TCU in this game. Alabama by 10.

Hester Moons Sunday Night NFL Fans

2009-11-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

What can you say about tonight's Sunday night matchup between the haphazard Chicago Bears and the Jekyll and Hyde Philadelphia Eagles?

You could say that it was a matchup between the NFC and AFC.

You could say it was a back and forth contest where neither team seemed to want to win because play was so sloppy on both sides.

You could even say Jay Cutler never met a game he wouldn't find a way to lose.

I would say, thanks NBC for replaying a play toward the end of the game where Devin Hester is brought down with a "pull the other guy's pants down" tackle and showing the full moon in semi slow mo.

Signed,

Scarred For Life

ps You sick puds can find the video yourself.

Dodger Fans Are Weak

2009-10-14T23:50:00.000-07:00

There's some lunacy going on in SoCal at the moment that the Frappe nation needs to be aware of.

Dodger fans have clearly lost their mind. Whether calling in to sports talk radio, talking in the streets, or being interviewed on TV, they are distributing......no other way to describe it........crazy talk.

The craziness begins after some form of the question "If you make it to the World Series, would you rather play the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim?

About 1% (data is unscientific) of the fans answer with "I'd love to play the Angels so we can prove who the true L.A. team is." Ok, we can all get with that answer.

The problem comes with the prevailing majority of the responses:

"I hope we play the Yankees for the history of it." Really? The Dodgers and Yankees have matched up in the Series before. A Freeway Series would be true history, BECAUSE IT HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE.

"I hope we play the Yankees so Joe Torre can try to beat his former team."

Zzzzzzzzzzz

"It's ok if we play against the Angels because I follow both teams." That's like being married and having a girlfriend. You're really not genuinely invested in either, just selfishly taking what is most attractive to you at the time. And no, it's not ok to have a "National League Team" and an "American League Team".

The only reason to not root for a Dodgers v. Angels World Series if you are a SoCal is fear. Fear that if it were to happen that it would be the disappointing snoozefest that the 2000 Freeway World Series was between the Yankees and Mets.

I Was Wrong About Soccer

2009-10-14T22:33:00.001-07:00

I hear the Intrinsicites out there screaming, "No!, Tell me it's not true!"

I know a vast number of you have hung on every phrase I've uttered about soccer over the years. Things like "Soccer is the vampire sport that is sucking the lifeblood out of American sports", "Soccer sucks", and "There's more action in a chess match".

But I've seen the light. I get it. Soccer is action packed. Soccer has many ways to score. Soccer players are very skilled.

The way I discovered this was while accidentally watching it tonight on ESPN.

Soccer is an awesome sport if you can condense all the highlights of a game into one minute.

This is me admitting I was wrong.

Attn Bud Selig: You suck!

2009-10-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Game 3 of the NLDS in Colorado has been postponed today, October 10, because of snow and ice. There is no one to blame but one - Bud Selig.

No, Selig does not control the weather. But he does have a major role in setting up the schedule. This season ended late because of one of his pet projects, the World Baseball Classic, took place in the spring. On top of that, the playoffs started at least a day later than normal, because of another of his pet projects - bending over backwards to make Fox television happy.

Mr. Selig, this is ridiculous. If playing the games on days that Fox doesn't prefer - or scheduling games to take place before midnight eastern time - means less money in television revenue, THEN SO BE IT. This is a summer sport, and the playoffs are meant for early October. This year we are guaranteed to have at least one World Series game in November. Who knows what that will be like if the Rockies go all the way this year? We are very lucky that two west coast teams appear to be headed to the next round - and that the northeast is not experiencing the same weather as the Rocky Mountains are currently.

Our request is simple, Mr. Selig - think about the fans and the betterment of the game. Not the owners' pocketbooks.

Lebron Getting Dunked On Video

2009-07-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

All the hype over Lebron James getting dunked on by an unknown college player and the subsequent confiscation of video tape by ~~Storm Troopers~~ Nike officials seems to be misplaced.

This video by a pirate on eBaum's World left me wondering "Is that it?" It was basically a fly by and not worthy of taking film away from anyone at all.

I thought it would be a mugging like this.

Lance Armstrong Is Gaining

2009-07-07T05:37:00.001-07:00

I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm some sort of cycling enthusiast. I'm not. I don't even understand cycling, aside from the fact that you are supposed to ride fast and that the cycling team is crucial for any one rider's success. Even so, I'm keeping my eye on the Tour de France this year. Why? Because Lance Armstrong is back.

In case you didn't know, Armstrong retired from competitive cycling after winning his 7th consecutive tour in 2005 only to return earlier this year. Now at the age of 37, not many people are expecting Armstrong to do very much and yet Armstrong is already showing he is here to be competitive. On day 3 of this race, Lance moved up from 10th to 3rd, proving that his age and his experience might actually be his advantage. With heavy winds yesterday plaguing the group, Armstrong anticipated the conditions and hitched a ride with the leaders allowing him to leap frog the rest of the competition.

While it is still much too early in the race to say that this will make an overall difference, it is impressive to see that Lance Armstrong can still be competitive. So until July 26th, I'll be periodically flipping the channel over to Versus and staring blankly as I try to figure out what is going on out there. On second thought, I'll just watch the Sportscenter highlights.

******Update*****
Lance Armstrong has pulled into second place thanks to his team's victory in Tuesday's time trial. Had his team beat team Saxo by one more second, Armstrong would be wearing the yellow jersey tomorrow.

Sports Douche of the Week

2009-07-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

Arland Bruce III, whose nickname is "Mr. Mature," was fined this past week by the CFL for his excessive touchdown celebration which paid homage to the King of Pop. I know that you're probably expecting a crotch-grab, or a moonwalk, or maybe even a thriller-zombie move. I mean, that is what would make most sense. Instead, Bruce passed up all those and went for the most idiotic tribute you can think of.

I guess someone forgot to tell him tributes are usually oriented to the life of the person and not their current state of death. When asked after the game why he removed his pads, Bruce replied, "I was supposed to be in a casket. They wouldn't fit."

Arland Bruce III, if that is your real name, you are a douche.

Viewer Feedback

2009-06-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

If you don't live in New England, then you probably don't remember who Jerry Remy is. He's the 1970's ballplayer who has served as the color commentator for the Boston Red Sox television network for over a decade. Beloved by Sox fans, Remy has been out for the 2009 season as he battles lung cancer.

To fill the hole in the broadcast booth, the New England Sports Network (NESN) has used several guest announcers, but has recently settled on a two man rotation consisting of Dennis Eckersley and Dave Roberts. This blog is my own personal feedback on their performances thus far, and a chance for fellow watchers to chime in.

We'll start with the good: Eckersley is surprisingly awesome to listen to. Let's start with his voice: Eck has a certain country twang that is very unique. He doesn't sound southern, not exactly midwestern, he just talks in a way that I can't say I've ever heard anyone talk before. His Wikipedia entry tells me he was born and raised in California, which thoroughly befuddles me. He sounds very relaxed at all times, perhaps to a fault, as he let a four letter word slip out on the air last month. Eck comments on the game as you would expect a former pitcher to. He discusses pitch selection very frequently. He also introduces the viewer to lots of baseball slang that I had never heard before. I suspect he is making many of these terms up as he goes, but it's entertaining nonetheless.

And now for the bad. Dave Roberts is another beloved figure in Red Sox history: his stolen base in the 2004 ALCS is often credited as the cataclysmic play of that history-changing series. And him taking the broadcast booth seemed a natural way for Sox fans to better get to know him, since Roberts only played for the Sox for a partial season. But my advice to Roberts is simple: quit while you're ahead. Roberts has a relatively boring voice, which he can't do much about. But the real problem is that I have yet to hear him add a single interesting thing to the broadcast. He regularly compliments ballplayers for being "great," and he loves to describe the obvious. Over the weekend, he explained why during a very hot day game in Atlanta, Kevin Youkilis was rubbing a cold towel over his head in the dugout. (I'm not exaggerating, he went into great detail about how a cold towel can refresh you and rejuvenate you between innings.)

So there you have it, the good and the bad. I think color commentators in baseball have one of the most tricky jobs. There are so many that I cannot stand. My hope is that if/when Jerry Remy returns to his post, that Eckersley will get some future opportunities somewhere to keep calling games.

Shaq To Cavaliers Is Reality

2009-06-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

Shaquille O'Neal, The Big Nomad, is picking up his tent and moving again.

A long rumored deal between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns happened right before the draft when the Cavs traded Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a second round draft pick, and cold hard cash for O'Neal who has one year left on his current contract.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, the regular season champs, were shock and awed when they were unceremoniously run out of the playoffs by the Orlando Magic, surprising just about everyone in America that cared.

Here's what this trade means though:

The Suns get rid of a bloated contract (no, that's not a reference to Shaq), get some marginal players, and most importantly get a draft pick, and cash which is king in this economy.

Shaq never did fit into the Suns style of run and gun basketball. It's doubtful that Wallace or Pavlovic will ever don a Suns uniform, since they (Suns) are in payroll trimming mode.

The Cavs' backs are against the wall after planning their victory parade that never came to fruition. Their Coach Of The Year winning coach was rumored to be under the gun, Lebron James has one year left before he can become a free agent, and they are forced to force a championship season. Lebron will be pursued by every team in the league except for the Clippers and Grizzlies.

They either need a championship before Lebron bails, or they need a championship in hopes of convincing James to stay. Either way, they have to have a championship. And this time, no one is going to get all giddy just because they are doing well during the regular season.

The Suns are fortunate that they could wave their hand in front of the Cavs and state "You will take Shaq off our hands" and have it work. Good thing Cavs GM Danny Ferry and Suns GM Steve Kerr played together back in the day. It's sad that Kerr worked him like that.

The real loser in this deal is the public, NBA fans or not, who will be subjected to "buddy marketing" advertisements and random dance offs like the one pictured.

Story Source

Manny is rehabbing . . . from what?

2009-06-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

Can anyone explain to me why Manny Ramirez gets to go on a "rehab assignment" during his drug-related suspension?

Manny has been suspended from baseball. He is not even allowed to make contact with the media during this time. Why would he be allowed to play for the minor league team associated with the Dodgers? It's not as if there is no drug policy for minor leaguers - there is.

Hey Bud Selig, act like you've got a pair and put a stop to this before it starts.

Shaq Calls Out Hong Man Choi

2009-06-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

NBA All Star and future Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal must already be bored in his offseason. Or maybe he just has some pent up frustration that his ex wife Kobe Bryant just received jewelry from other men.

Either way, he just called out the giant that ruined Jose "Juice And Tell" Canseco's mma debut last month. You remember this fight for the ages:

The only cool part of this fight is when Choi picks him up at the end of the beatdown and looks like a Dad picking up his little son.

True MMA fans desperately need you to understand that we don't care for these sideshow type fights by "only in it for the buck" promoters. It's not what the sport is really about.

But Shaq should be careful before calling out Hong Man Choi. The guy is a veteran mixed martial arts fighter who has had a number of real fights. In fact, even though his size and weight are anomalies, Choi fought some decent battles before he had the huge tumor removed that had caused his abnormal growth.

Shaq outweighs Choi by about 10 pounds, but gives up 2" in height, and no telling how much reach. I think I can confidently say he probably doesn't have much mma training under his belt. We know he swings a bit like a girl (remember Brad Miller?).

Looks like Shaq is going to leave his career as he came in: multitasking. When he came into the league, he was a baller, ~~poor~~ rapper, and ~~horrible~~ actor. Now he wants to leave as a policeman, broadcaster, and mma fighter.

I'll tell you who is miserable about this is the Phoenix Suns. They reportedly are trying to trade Shaq and his bloated last year of contract worth $25 million to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They literally would have the wrong side of $25 million riding on this fight.

I doubt it will happen but am past being weary of rockers, boxers, football players, baseball players, and now basketball players thinking that MMA is some kind of retirement activity.

MMA Daddy is on loan from Smashmouth MMA.

Kevin McHale Not Returning To Coach T'Wolves

2009-06-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Tweeter and Minnesota Timberwolves player Kevin Love announced via Twitter that Timberwolves GM and Coach would not be returning to coach the T'Wolves.

"Today is a sad day...Kevin McHale will NOT be back as head coach next season."

NBA player dropping news about his team. The world is officially backwards.

Thanks for the tip KLove......and reader BrokenStyle.

What A Revelation

2009-06-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

No other "hot sports story" has deserved the Seinfeldian phrase of yada yada yada, trailing off into a snore as today's report that Sammy Sosa flunked a drug test in 2003. Outstanding journalism indeed. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

At this point, I'd be more intrigued and surprised (intrised?) if reports were leaked of players found clean during that era. It would also be a shorter list too. In fact, I now believe that the more you hope a player is not on the list, the more likely he is on the list.

We really haven't held out anti-juice hope since the power hitters of the '90's and early 2000's or the ornery Red Sox/Blue Jays/Yankees/Astros/Yankees pitcher and his cavalcade of syringe artists began popping the lie bubble and dismantling our myopian fantasy of that era of what we thought were giants.

Actually the All-Time Home Run King ended up being a juicing Giant, but that's a different story altogether.

I'll tell you who paid the price for all this: The kids that grew up during the late 1990's and early 2000's.

It's the Summer of 1998, when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were both chasing down the single season home run record. Remember rushing home to catch Sportscenter or opening the paper (what's a paper?) the next morning and see which hulking piece of humanity reduced the baseball to sawdust with the whack of his railroad tie bat? It was a veritable Field Of Dreams. If you hit home runs, they would come. And that they did.

That generation of kids now either feels betrayed by their baseball childhood or easily accepts the "if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'" mantra.

Even if we wouldn't allow ourselves to believe it at the time, we knew Sammy was a cheater when he corked everyone in the infield as his bat broke.

Or when he showed up to the famed Senate Hearing and forgot how to speak English but did say through his lawyer "“To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything.” Then the very next season he showed up looking like his own little brother after deciding to lose some "weight".

The Senate Hearing quote is my 2nd favorite Sosa quote after this doozy recently that "he would “calmly wait” for his induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame, for which he will become eligible in 2013. Good luck on that one Bruh.

The burning question though, is why throw Sosa under the bus, when he already has so many tire tread marks on him?

The poignant follow-up question is why have only two names been leaked from this list of over 100 that someone's lawyer has? Is this list being used to gain power? And why has only Sosa and A-Rod, two men of color, been chosen for this sport lynching?

Where are all the white dudes at? You better bet they are on that list. Call me Intrinsic Cynic all day if you want, but I don't even trust David Eckstein or Craig Counsell at this point.

How much worse can it get? Much worse.

Remember the accomplishment right after the strike that was credited for bringing fans back to the sport? The player's nickname had a certain Tony Stark feel? I can hear you Frappers screaming "Sacrilege!" for even writing that. But you cannot assume anything at this point.

Days of innocence in baseball are gone for good.

Evidently if you practiced and played hard, gave it your all, and kept your nose clean, it wasn't enough to play pro ball after all.

Story Source

Dwight Howard Has His Head Up

2009-06-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic Center Superman 2.0 does not have his head hanging today after his team was eliminated in the Finals by the Los Angeles Lakers.

In a tweet today at 11:42 am pacific he wrote:

"and for everyone my head is not down. im ready to get better for next year.

never hold ya head down. never. life is too short for that"

In a later tweet he added "kobe congrats. u inspired me."

Meanwhile, Superman 1.0 (Shaquille O'Neal) was busy holding tweet court himself last night after the game. On a night he hoped never would happen, he said things like:

"Congratulations kobe, u deserve it. You played great . Enjoy it my man enjoy it. And I know what yur sayin rt now "Shaq how my ass taste "

"Congrats to you to phil jackson. When the general doesn't panic the troops don't panic. You are the greatest now."

"Congrats to u to d fish, big shots the other day. Enjoy my man enjoy"

"Congrats in spanish pau gasol, muchas gracias pappacito"

"Congrats to you to, mbengaaaaaaaa"

"O yea congrats to u to adam morrison"

Reports have the Suns and Cavaliers working on a trade to get Shaq to play with the league's soon to be best player, Lebron James.

Indians Enlist Bird, Win In 10

2009-06-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

The elements are a part of outdoor sports that you cannot predict nor control. Nature has involved itself in sports ever since the first caveman picked up a round rock and began practicing his aim.

We've seen plagues of gnats in a baseball game, fog in an NFL game, and even an earthquake present itself during a World Series.

Birds are big sports fans as well and are always present at ballparks, whether they are getting blown up by Randy Johnson, or affecting the outcome of an extra inning game like they did tonight.

The Cleveland Indians clawed back to tie a game against the Kansas City Royals and enter extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Indians OF Shin-Soo Choo hits a shot up the middle, clips a seagull that was in the outfield with a bunch of other seagulls, whereby scoring the winning run.

This outcome totally screwed this guy's guess at the outcome of the game.

Vitamin Water and Nike try to save face

2009-06-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this, you are probably familiar with the Vitamin Water advertisement and Nike puppet advertisements featuring Lebron James and Kobe Bryant that have been running throughout this year's NBA playoffs. Both ad campaigns were somewhat criticized since they seemed to assume that the two would face off in the NBA finals.

Well, now that the NBA Finals is featuring Kobe vs. Dwight Howard; both companies have created new ad-spots to make up for this fact. My favorite is this Dwight Howard commercial, which probably took a grand total of 10 minutes to shoot and edit (it is still clever and funny nonetheless).

Nike ran an ad last night featuring puppet version LeBron James in his apartment without Kobe as the little kid next door peppers him with questions about Kobe. (Sorry, this blogger could not find a copy for you on YouTube.)

Kobe tries to rewrite the past

2009-06-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Kobe Bryant is trying to re-write history, and no I'm not talking about him going for his fourth NBA title.

In the lead up to the start of this year's NBA Finals, the main storyline is how important it is for Kobe Bryant to win a championship without Shaquille O'Neil. It is important for Kobe's legacy as one of the best basketball players of all time - and there is little doubt in anyone's mind that it is important to Kobe himself.

Kobe, for his part, denies that this is an important motivating factor for him. Of course, he has to say this, anything else would be denying his teammates proper credit.

Others in the media have also stepped up to defend Kobe. This morning, one of the Mikes from ESPN's Mike & Mike was downplaying the importance for Kobe to win a championship without Shaq. Inevitably, they brought up the fact that Magic never won a championship without Kareem, and Jordan never won without Pippen.

There is a serious problem with this comparison: Magic never forced Kareem to get traded, and Jordan never ran Pippen out of town. And as much as Kobe would like to deny it, Phil Jackson's book makes it very clear that Kobe forced the Lakers to choose between him and Shaq. Why? Because he was tired of being a "sidekick."

So there you have it, whether or not Kobe Bryant can win a championship post-Shaq is an issue precisely because Kobe made it an issue. The rest of his career (up until he wins a fourth ring) should and will be defined by it.

And nothing Kobe says can convince me that he doesn't feel the same way. I take that back - there is one thing he could say that would make a difference. He could admit that he was wrong.

Where Amazing Happens?

2009-06-03T07:02:00.001-07:00

Since The Sports Frappe has apparently been co-opted by David Stern's deep pockets making this blog appear to be "pro" NBA, I thought I'd temper it with this insight compliments of Daniel Tosh. Enjoy:

Where amazing happens? Really NBA? You know what’s amazing? That some of your players find the time to play basketball in between court dates. You gotta love that this league of college dropouts can find time to read to children. Which has to be a real treat for these kids to get to watch a seven-foot man stammer his way through 5th grade reading material. Here are few other great NBA moments that we found amazing.


NBA Where Amazing Happens Parody
comedycentral.com

One Puppet Down, One Left Standing

2009-05-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

After a powerhouse best NBA record season, the biggest shock of the 2009 playoffs was the elimination of Lebron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavs swept through their first two rounds of playoff action against Detroit and Atlanta without losing a game. Then they ran into a gritty, live and die by the 3 point shot Orlando Magic.

The Cavs came within a second of being swept by the Magic when none other than King James nailed a 3 to win game 2. The Cleveland team continued their slide until their must win game 5 when they rallied and beat the Magic. They could not hold off Orlando in the next game though and now have to sit and watch.

It seemed a unanimous conclusion by NBA pundits everywhere that this year's playoffs would result in a Lebron v. Kobe championship for the ages. Vitamin Water and Nike bet millions in marketing this inevitable duel.............too far in advance.

On the Western Conference side of the bracket, the Los Angeles Lakers have looked anything but invincible, struggling in see saw fashion against the talent depleted Houston Rockets and then the Chauncey Billups infused Denver Nuggets.

They looked like the championship possible team they have been billed to be when they decisively clinched their Western Conference Championship.

Will the rolling Orlando Magic play Dr Jekyll, or Mr. Hyde when they begin play? Will Dwight Howard show up in commercials now as a puppet with Vitamin Water in hand?

Who knows?

Disappointing - to say the least

2009-05-30T19:44:00.001-07:00

We were promised the next Michael Jordan. But none of Jordan's Bulls teams would've gotten ripped like the Cavaliers got ripped tonight.

Really, this is not LeBron's fault. He obviously didn't dominate tonight - but he can't be all over the court and you can hardly blame one player for a double digit loss, even the league MVP. The Cavs had no answer for Dwight Howard, they couldn't even box him out - he made them look absolutely ridiculous.

At this point, I am not even going to complain about LeBron's supporting cast. The blame for this disappointing finish has a lot to do with Coach Mike Brown. Can anyone tell me how he was chosen as the NBA's coach of the year? For what? Not getting in LeBron's way for most of the season? Defensively, the Cavs often looked one step slow, like they either didn't fully understand the scheme or the Magic were just seeing through it. Offensively, does is seem like the Cavs are a little too eager to pass? Three years ago, I criticized Coach Brown for doing basically nothing in terms of offensive playcalling - now it seems like the Cavs would be better served by just firing the ball a bit quicker during each possession.

But really, even criticizing the coach is not fair - the Magic were the better team. And that's what gets lost in all the hype of the NBA today, in the search for the next Jordan, we forget that the better team often beats the best player. I cannot wait to see what happens once LeBron James gets in a system with a real coach and a supporting cast to match. But until then - we witnesses will have to settle for the flashes of brilliance and the promise of a better future.

As for the Finals, I am a terrible predicter win it comes to the NBA, so I will just say, I think the Magic will keep it interesting. They are the best defensive team in the game and they have the offensive firepower to go with it.

ReDUNKulous

2009-05-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

Textiles and Hardgoods are not the only export markets that China dominates. In the last decade, they have also become known for producing Giant basketball players.

Enter post playing Sun Mingming, who can dunk the ball without leaving his feet. Sun, who at 7'9" would be the tallest NBA player ever, is not an unknown commodity. In fact, he was declared eligible for the NBA draft in 2005 and tried out for the Los Angeles Lakers that year before discovering he needed surgery to remove a tumor next to his pituitary gland.

Sun currently is under contract for the year, but would like to keep playing ball for at least another 10 years. He doesn't rule out a stab at the NBA.

Story Source

Manny an All-Star?

2009-05-27T16:19:00.001-07:00

The first round of MLB all-star ballots have been tallied, and the suspended Manny Ramirez sits in fourth place among National League outfielders.

You can write off his high finish to the fact that many of these ballots were cast before his suspension began (and I agree) - but many employees of ESPN (e.g. Wilbon & Kornheiser) expect him to end up in the top 3 by the time the all-star teams are chosen. They site websites such as this one - http://voteformanny.blogspot.com - and compare Manny to such cultural icons such as Sanjaya of American Idol.

And while I don't think America will actually select him as an all-star, I like to think of the possible outcomes if they did. First of all, it sounds as if there is nothing that Bud Selig could do to bar him from the festivities - at least officially. Such a move would bring on some serious ire from the player's union.

What I think is funny is that Manny fans could go to great lengths to get him voted into the all star game - and there's a very strong chance that Manny wouldn't even show up! Remember, only 3 years ago, baseball fans made Manny the top vote getter in the major leagues; but he didn't show up to any of the all star game festivities because of a hurt knee, even though the knee was good enough to play in the previous regular season game.

So if Manny gets voted in this year, and pulls a no-show, does he then get praised for it? Do the stodgy baseball writers compliment him in "doing the right thing" and "preserving the integrity of such a historic game"? When in actuality he is blowing it off because he doesn't care - because he's never cared? Manny Ramirez, one of a kind.

Closeups Are Killing The NBA

2009-05-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Check out this email we received from reader Gabe:

"I don't have a blog but something has been killing me so if you want to put it on there go right ahead.

The NBA has been trying and succeeding to fix its image internationally and nationally ever since the Dream Team of the crotch grabbers (Kemp etc.).

With King James, KB24, D Wade, and Dwight Howard (the real Superman, Shaq was a fake) of the league doing right for the league, why does the NBA feel the need to zoom in on players that curse after every big shot they make?

When a bench player like JR Smith hits a big shot or two, not only does the camera zoom in on him live to see him say "This is my motherf------ house" three times in a row, but they feel the need to play it in slow motion.

Being a HUGE NBA fan and a father, maybe I'm being a prude, a goo-die good. But I doubt this is what Naismith had in mind when he made this game up. A game that at 35 year old with 2 bad ankles, 1 bad knee, and a bad elbow plays for free any chance I can.

Enough with the close up on players that we all know are going to do this. Is this really for the ratings? I get that at this point personalities drive the NBA's revenue and not just the game. But when is it going to stop? When will it be out of line?

This is not showmanship. This is a disgrace!

That's all I got. I could go on & on, but you get the point. Now you will all notice this more and more."

Reader Gabe gets it. Commissioner Stern take note.

Jose Canseco Has No Future

2009-05-26T16:35:00.001-07:00

I know I'm no MMA Daddy, but I do know that after I watched this clip that Jose Canseco has no future in Mixed Martial Arts. Sure, he was going against a man who is 7'2", but he could have just as well been 5'6" hopping on one leg. This fight made it rather obvious (which was more than obvious already) that Canseco is nothing but a chump looking for an easy paycheck.

On another note, does anyway else think these introductions look strangely similar to professional wrestling introductions? While I was watching this boring fight that lasted about a minute, I was waiting for the glass to break and Stone Cold Steve Austin to come running out. Quite frankly, if I were an MMA promoter, that is one similarity that I would be distancing myself from immedaitely.

NBA - Great Again

2009-05-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

This NBA playoffs - I can honestly say I am loving the league as much as I ever have in the last decade.

Normally, I complain about the absurd length of the NBA playoffs. But this year, every round has featured "amazing." In the first round, we saw the defending Celtics barely hold off the young Bulls. It was arguably the best first round match up ever, and yet it feels like forever ago because we have seen so much great basketball in the mean time.

Currently, I'm watching the Lakers lose game 4 of the conference championships to the Nuggets. The Lakers continue to play down to their opponents - it appears they are destined to win every-other game, which puts them winning game 7 to advance to the Finals.

On the other side of the ball, it appears that the Magic continue to play up to their opponents. Rising to the challenge against the Celtics, and now honestly looking like the better team against Cleveland.

Maybe the following opinion makes me an illegitimate basketball game - but an NBA Finals that does not include LeBron James would be a serious let down. This season has been defined by his elevated level of play (specifically on the defensive end), and by the amazing camraderie he has with his Cleveland teammates.

Putting that aside, I think it is great that we have four teams all playing so well right now. I honestly think any four of these teams could win a match up with anyone else. Mark this down, because if the Magic end up playing the Lakers, the sporting world will talk as if the Lakers are already being fitted for their championship win. But if the Magic can win a game 7 on the road against Boston, and then handle Cleveland like they have so far - they can beat anybody.

Manny Tests Positive

2009-05-07T10:36:00.001-07:00

If you haven't heard yet, Manny Ramirez has tested positive for a banned substance of MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Manny has already accepted his 50 game suspension, saying,

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons. I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I'm sorry about this whole situation."

Now, we can be as skeptical as we like about this statement, and rightfully so. It's pretty hard to believe "the story" whenever something like this happens. I personally tip my cap to Manny for probably the best handling of a positive drug test I've seen in baseball so far. His affirming of the taking of banned substance and accepting his punishment as his responsibility upholds the integrity of his apology far and above some of the other pathetic apologies we have witnessed in the past.

Did I just that about Manny Ramirez?

But with that said, I'm willing to entertain the idea that Manny has been doping all along and the tests finally caught up to the chemists in this instance. Which might mean that this isn't the last we've heard about significant players testing positive for banned substances this year. Personally, I would be putting my money on Manny's closest Domican Republic buddies, David Ortiz and Vladimir Guerrero, to be next. It's only a matter of time before we see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Traitor-Rod

2009-05-01T07:06:00.001-07:00

The rumors and allegations surrounding ~~A-Roid~~ A-Rod keep getting worse and worse. SI is reporting that in a new book to be published this Monday about Alex Rodriguez, there are allegations that A-Rod used to intentionally tip pitches to opposing batters when playing for the Texas Rangers. According to the report, A-Rod would do it to "friendly opponents" who would then return the favor in the middle of blowouts (i.e. already decided games). It functioned as a slump-breaker and a stat-builder for the star.

If these allegations are true, then we are looking at a new low for both the images of A-Rod and Major League Baseball. It's already been problematic enough that confidential test results were leaked to the public, outing A-Rod as a steroid user during his time in Texas, but now to possibly unveil that his stats were also the product of direct cheating (rather than indirect cheating of steroids) is not something MLB is going to want to face. The game simply can't handle such a revelation, and I wouldn't be surprised if we hear next to nothing from Selig on this matter. He'll just chalk it up to speculation if he has to and hope the story dies on its own.

As far as A-Rod, he now has some serious explaining to do. I wouldn't be surprised if someone is accessing the archives of Texas Rangers' games in hopes of uncovering a pattern that would testify to A-Rod's actions. Such a project will not be easy and will certainly have to be done by some derranged Rangers' fan who has a vendetta against A-Rod. But if said derranged fan does see a pattern, you can be sure we'll be hearing about it. And I can guarantee you that with substantial proof, A-Rod's career will be over.

A few months ago I stood up for A-Rod and Tejada for their ties to performance-enhancing drugs given that they never tested positive again for a banned substance once MLB declared these substances illegal. I think there is a clear difference of pre-2004 PED use and post-2003 PED use. But tipping pitches to an opposing player so that they can throw you a bone the next time you are up is the most selfish act of cheating I have ever heard of. This isn't like putting Vaseline on your cap or a file in your glove to give you an edge against your opponent in hopes of helping your team win. This is conspiracy material simply to boost one's stats. And for a team that habitually lost during A-Rod's tenure, there were plenty of opportunities to make this happen.

Get ready for Pete Rose, 2.0; his name is Alex Rodriguez.

What Basketball Could Learn from Soccer

2009-04-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

I am watching game 5 of the Celtics vs. Bulls playoff series - and I was just struck by a brilliant idea for a rule change in the NBA. But I'd like to bounce it off of you loyal Frappe readers before writing to commissioner Stern.

I know that some of you like the sport of soccer, and some of you think that soccer is lame - but I think we can all agree that there is one very cool rule that soccer can claim as its own. When a referee catches a player unnecessarily flopping to get a foul call, he can yellow card the player for bad acting. Why not do this in basketball?

Let me clarify one thing, I'm not particularly looking to penalize the defensive floppers looking to get a charging call - this would have put Vlade Divac out of a job back in his day. I am really thinking of the three point shooters who collapse backwards conveniently after they've released the ball. Often times they were not touched at all.

Usually, the refs are good enough to spot a flop, and don't call anything, so it's not like the game is being that negatively affected by this phenomenon. But honestly, I'm just annoyed. These floppers make the game look . . . wussier. And I'm not cool with that.

Trouble for the new Yankee Stadium

2009-04-22T06:12:00.000-07:00

Did you watch any of the nationally televised games between the Yankees and the Indians last weekend? Then you probably noticed something - empty seats. And these empty seats weren't in the upper decks like you'll see during any Florida Marlins game. These empty seats were up close to the action, the places where people are usually waving at the camera while talking on a cell phone.

This is a brand new park, the Yankees should have already sold out the entire season. Think about the record attendances that took place at the opening of Jacobs Field, Camden Yards, and whatever it is they call that dome with the swimming pool in Phoenix. Word is, the Yankees were still 5,000 tickets away from a sell-out last Sunday.

You could blame the whole thing on the economy and just say it is bad luck that the Yankees opened their new stadium the same year as our current economic catastrophe. But I don't think the Yankees share none of the blame here. The Yankees spent 2 billion dollars (not all of it coming from the Steinbrenners) on a stadium that fits 5000 less fans (that's including standing room). This was moronic - and perhaps as a result the average cost of ticket rose from $40 to $73. For the sake of comparison, the league average is $26.74.

Fans don't take that kind of dramatic rise well. Are citizens of New York intentionally or unintentionally deciding to spend their money elsewhere? We'll see where the trend goes from here. If the Yankees couldn't sell out in their first homestand of the season, I would expect their numbers to decline as we move toward the middle of the season. On the other hand, if the Yankees heat up, or rival Boston comes to town, this could give them the boost in fan-attendance they need.

During Sunday's game, a New York fan interfered with a Posada homerun ball. The refs reviewed this one, and decided to still give Posada a homerun (which appeared to be the wrong call according to the announcers as well as everyone sitting on the couch with me). Just out of curiousity, I went online and tried to figure out about how much that fan's seat cost. It looks like you can sit along the outfield wall for $125.

They probably should've let that guy keep the ball.

Every Thing Old Is New Again

2009-04-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

I was watching the Lakers determine the only Western Conference matchup that's set to this point by beating the Utah Jazz, and saw that Gatorade Focus Kid Tiger animated commercial.

It struck me that the Obi Wan bear character in the spot that acts as Tiger's Sherpa is really just a combination of Baloo from Jungle Book, and that ultra slick and suave bear in the old school Super Sugar Crisp commercials.

Sports Douche of the Week

2009-04-13T16:52:00.001-07:00

Josh Beckett. Check out this article, where Beckett claims there was "a lot of emotion" in yesterday's game because of, you know, that recent "tragedy."

Right Beckett, as if they can't be mad simply because you tried to hit Abreu in the head after he called timeout. The Angels are just emotionally unstable right now.

Not only does the guy not show the least bit of remorse after firing a rocket at Abreu's face, he has the nerve to get upset that the Angels were upset, and lastly he condescendingly offers up this excuse for their actions. Josh Beckett, you are a douche.

World of Mixed Martial Arts 2 Releases Free Playable Demo

2009-04-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

Grey Dog Software has released a playable demo of World of Mixed Martial Arts 2, allowing you to try out this sequel scheduled to be available for digital download April 8th.

World of Mixed Martial Arts 2 will bring mixed martial arts to your PC allowing players to control every aspect of a mixed martial arts company. The player is in charge of just about everything to do with its running, including hiring fighters, match making, marketing, and so on.

Story Source And Download Link

Tweet Of Reassurance

2009-03-31T17:17:00.001-07:00

According to a tweet from Boston Celtic player Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett may be out "another week or two."

He goes on to say "But have no fear 34 is still here."

Celtic Nation can now relax.

Japan wins the WBC, again

2009-03-24T11:06:00.001-07:00

So, how long until Nippon Professional baseball is considered a third major league?

They are two for two when it comes to World Baseball Classics. The first one seemed like a fluke, but this year they dominated, losing only a couple games to Korea along the way.

I am not so sure that us Americans can hide behind the old "not all our best players played" routine anymore. We had Jimmy Rollins at shortstop and David Wright at third, Ryan Braun and Adam Dunn in the outfield. It woulda been nice if Pedroia and Youkilis would've stayed healthy; and sure, I would've rather had Texeiria at first - but I don't know if those guys make any difference between Daisuke Matsuzaka shutting us down while Roy Oswalt gets shelled. The fact is, that USA roster looked thin to begin with, especially the starting rotation, and I'm not sure there's that many American-born major leaguers out there that would've made a difference.

Two Picks Better than the Prez.

2009-03-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about this year's version of March Madness - competing with President Obama. My wife's bracket might be better than mine - but I can still say I'm two picks up on Mr. Prez.

BiCoastal Bias NCAA Tournament Picks

2009-03-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hello Frappeheads. It is the night before the NCAA tournament kicks off in full force, and I'm sure many of you are preparing schemes to watch the games without missing work tomorrow. Some of you might still be finishing up your brackets.

I love the fact that everyone has their own little habitual method to filling out their brackets. Personally, I go crazy with anticipation leading up to the selection show on Sunday. Then, when the bracket is finally available, I spend an hour or so filling it out. I always tell myself I'll re-evaluate my initial picks, but I almost never change my minds.

So for those of you who are curious about the BiCoastal Bias's advice (which is none of you), or for those of you who love mocking my picks after the fact (which most of you Big Ten fans wish you could do) here are a few gems:

Biggest First Round Upset: (3) Kansas will get knocked off by (14) North Dakota State. This is the first team from the state of N.D. to ever make the NCAA tournament. Multiple North Dakota State players have redshirted just to stay eligible for this season - NDSU's first year of eligibility for March Madness. Kansas is experienced, but the entire state of North Dakota is excited.

Other First Round Upsets: I got (10) USC, (11) VCU, (12) Arizona, (9) Butler.

Final Four: I could fall flat on my face for this, but I have an all Big East Final Four, and it doesn't even include Pittsburgh. My final four: Louisville, Villanova, UConn, and Syracuse. Louisville beats Villanova to win it all.

You read it here first.

Rematch Windmill Style

2009-03-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight there was a rematch that rivaled that of the classic Foreman vs. Ali monumental battles.

Tonight in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), the Dominican Republic attempted to revenge a loss from last Saturday to the powerhouse slugger nation of...............the Netherlands.

However the star studded roster listing names like Willy Aybar, Jose Reyes, David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Robinson Cano, Miguel Tejada, and Jose Guillen lost to the dutchmen for the second time in four days.

The Dominican Republic has taken some hits lately, what with the revelation the country is an alleged hotbed of PED's (ala A-Rod) and further evidence of birth certificates being altered to shave years off players' ages (ala most recent case ofVladimir Guerrero).

This loss to the Honkballers (no that is not an Intrinsicism) eliminates the Dominican Republic cast of all stars from the WBC completely, and has brought despair to the small West Indies nation. It has also killed the intrigue of an expected matchup between Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic which was anticipated in the next round.

When you read the recap, the clutch players' names involved in the come from behind in the bottom of the 11th victory are the likes of Eugene Kingsale and Sidney De Jong.

No word on how deafening the celebration was in the parking lot after the game when the Dutch fans jumped and danced around en masse in their wooden shoes.

Sports Frappe Debate Club

2009-03-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

KnowledgeDroppings back again dropping debate bait in front of the resident geniuses. Tip of the cap to reader Julie for the inspiration.

Should college coaches make more than the president of their respective college or university?

BiCoastal Bias: Why don't we start by asking our good friend Jim Calhoun of UConn what he thinks? (Seriously, I understand that that reporter is a moron, but is there any reason for Calhoun to be that close to going off the handle during every press conference?)

Being an academic myself, I'd like to interject a little perspective on this issue. When a sports coach makes more than the university president, what does is say about the values of the institution? And who is really in control when the next cheating or recruiting scandal inevitably arises?

Not only should the university president make more than the coach, I'd say it is imperative to preserving the sanctity of the NCAA game. We are already that close to having big college teams completely disassociated from their actual college in terms of everyday life, and the salaries of the respective presidents and coaches is yet another warning sign.

If we look at this from a strictly sporting-fan angle, I say there is still reason for the presidents to make more. The financial success of a college team does not completely depend on wins and losses. It also depends on the type of venue the team plays in and the facilities to attract recruits, which all depend on the fund raising ability of the actual college. Which is usually one of the bigger responsibilities of the college president.

So sure, Jim Calhoun can sit there arrogantly certain that he is worth every penny. And he can take most of the credit for building up UConn to the basketball dominant school that it now is. But he didn't do it all by himself, and he's not bigger than the institution of which he is part.

IntrinsicBent: This may come as a surprise to most of you, but I ain't no academic.

I really isn't.

It's 2009, so we're like in the 21st or 22nd century by now, right? Let's remove the rosey glasses of yesteryear and realize that money rules the sports world and sadly, society in general.

If a specific sport is a dominant revenue stream, then it drives the marketing and identity of the brand of the institution. This of course trickles down and benefits not only the university's sports program holistically, but also benefits the school's other programs, including academia.

In business, it is conceivable that a top level dealmaker can pull down more than the head of the organization, especially if there is a windfall phenomenon or the dealmaker's compensation package is weighted heavily with commission and sales are large tickets.

We also shouldn't glide over the fact that a modern day coach at a large school is in fact the CEO of that program, responsible for all facets that are required to be successful in an uber competitive industry.

Yes, I did just drop an uber.

When a program gets into any kind of violation trouble, whose head do we call for? It's rarely ever the President of the university.

The last point in this winning side of the debate (even without a picture on my side) is the old question "Just how much is a major sports coach at a university worth?"

The answer is two part:
1) Whatever the market bears

2) Whatever the university pays them.

Don't hate the coach, hate the game.

T.O. Given The Spur

2009-03-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

ESPN is reporting that the Dallas Cowboys have cut wide receiver Terrell Owens from the team.

Owens' numbers dropped last season even as he created the brand of Owens divisive chaos within the team as he has done with every NFL team he has been associated with.

If you were to create a T.O. drama timeline it would stretch from Northern California all the way to Pennsylvania and then wind back to Texas again.

BCS Humor

2009-03-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

I love this story. The Mountain West Conference has a proposal for an 8 team college football playoff. Here's the BCS response:

"We have received the Mountain West proposal," BCS coordinator and ACC commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. "Some of these ideas or similar ones have been addressed before in BCS meetings. We will make sure that the proposal has a full airing by the commissioners and presidents, and we will respond to the Mountain West at the conclusion of those discussions."

Can't you imagine the meeting where they fully air this proposal? I am with you, MWC, but I have a feeling those BCS jerks will basically be laughing at you.

Sometimes, they have it coming

2009-03-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

Every now and again, a story makes it into the national news about a crazed parent (or parents) fighting each other or attacking a referee after a youth game. Always, our reaction is one of disgust - disgust at adults that can't control themselves, disgust at bad role models, disgust at someone who takes a kids' game too seriously.

But the truth is, we don't always know the story behind the story.

I caught the second half of a high school girls basketball game yesterday, a playoff game between two well matched teams. In the packed gym, I took a seat next to a fan of the winning team. We started up a conversation, and he immediately admitted that the officiating had been so lop-sided that he was feeling genuine guilt.

It only took 45 seconds of the 3rd quarter for me to see exactly what he was talking about. When one team had the ball, the game was called extremely tightly; on the other side of the court it appeared that the refs were letting anything go.

The losing team's best player fouled out with two minutes left in the third quarter, on an offensive off-the-ball foul, no less. With that foul-out, and a 17 point difference, the game had definitely been decided. The winning side was already in the double bonus for the half, while the losing side wouldn't even get to the double bonus at any point in the game. But at some point in the fourth quarter, as if to add insult to injury, the referees suddenly seemed to try to make up for the inequality. It was too little and far too late, but it only seemed to prove that they knew they had really screwed up.

I will admit that I was not an unbiased observer. So, for those of you out there in blogosphere-land, you can choose not to believe me when I say that this was one of the most biased officiating I have seen in any sport at any time (strangely, it was in favor of the visiting team). I can only offer up the testimony of the fan next to me in an attempt to prove to you what I'm saying.

I have no idea what was going on with the referees in this game. I can only tell you that something was absolutely not right. I could run through all of the potential reasons that would lead them to commit this wrong - but I have no idea what the truth is.

As for yours truly, I am a cool-tempered individual with a commitment to non-violence. So while I can't claim that I bit my tongue during time-outs, I can tell you that when the final whistle blew, I simply tried to put the disappointment behind me and move on.

I can't say the same for my fellow fans - I saw at least one mother chasing the referees down the locker room hallway. I watched the losing team shed their tears at this terrible conclusion to a season - their facial expressions all seemed to say the same thing, "Why couldn't we get a fair chance at winning this game?" They had a great season, and were a very fun team to watch as they found ways to be even better as a whole than they were individually. The feeling that they had gotten cheated from the opening tip-off left a knot in my stomache.

I watched the local news last night. I'll confess that I almost hoped to hear a story about some altercation following a high school basketball game. Because, to be honest with you, if one of those moms happened to get a swing in - those men had it coming.

Side note: if anyone reading this happens to work for the MIAA, please take a look at the Marshfield vs. Newton-South game tape and take the appropriate actions.

Chuck Is Back

2009-02-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

Charles Barkley was back on TNT's Thursday Night NBA Doubleheader tonight for the first time since his recent legal woes.

Charles was serving a suspension after a DUI incident that occurred in Arizona and was graphically captured by video, audio, and a sweaty mug shot photo.

Chuck seemed uncharacteristically timid in his first night back on the air. Barkley is a fan and athlete favorite due to his shoot from the lip style of honest commentating.

During Barkley's absence, TNT subbed with other ex-NBAers including Karl Malone and Chris Webber.

99 Economic Problems But A Pay Per View Ain't One

2009-02-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

Say what you will about UFC President Dana White and the Ultimate Fighting Championship MMA empire he has built, but it stands as one of the few recession resistant entertainment enterprises in existence today.

With the most recent UFC 94 event breaking Las Vegas live attendance and pay per view records, White looks like he will continue growing his brand of MMA promotion while others falter and flail.

UFC 100 is scheduled to be held somewhere around July this year, and may be the pinnacle event of 2009. It's rumored that the UFC is planning to have every weight class champ challenged with a fight for their belt at this event, barring any injuries to the participants.

Many aspects of fight fans' lives are being tightened during this economic downturn, but the belt's not yet hitting the UFC notch.

Sports Hero(es) Of The Week

2009-02-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

In this era of economic turmoil, juicing baseball players, bong hitting backstrokers, and other daily headline downers, this article reminds us that right still exists, and sometimes putting basic human decency ahead of win at all costs is still the road to choose.

I'm not going to butcher the article by trying to give a summary. This is a good read.

If you don't feel touched by this story, check yourself for a pulse. This also supports my theory that anything ending with the consumption of pizza is usually awesome.

Story Source

A Time to Differentiate

2009-02-13T06:08:00.001-08:00

No, this isn't geeky calculus talk. We're talking about baseball here. Nerds, go back to your TI-83 and your online girlfriends.

The latest news that A-Rod and 103 other players tested positive for steroids in MLB's 2003 tests is tragic for two reasons.

Number 1: This is definitely a steroid era in baseball that will forever mark this period of time and any record that was broken during its duration. These leaked results just show how pervasive steroid use has been in baseball, and the fact that some big names like A-Rod are a part of these positive results makes it all the more painful.

Number 2: These names were never supposed to be released. Players agreed in 2003 to these initial tests on the basis that they would be kept confidential and that this was simply a survey to investigate the true level of steroid use within baseball. What would have never marred a man's career could now cost him a trip to the hall of fame. A-Rod, along with plenty of other players, stopped using -- or found better chemists -- and have never tested positive again for a banned substance once MLB declared these substances illegal.

I'm not sure why I feel compelled to stick up for A-Rod, Tejada, or any other shmoe that was stupid enough to take performance enhancing drugs before 2004, but I think it's time we start differentiating between those players who tested positive after 2003 and those who tested positive or were linked to steroids before 2004. The fact of the matter is that before 2004, steroids, precursors, and performance-enhancing drugs were not considered to be illegal for baseball players to take. And while we all consider it to be cheating, there have been plenty of other well-known cheaters throughout baseball who have actually been praised for their desire to win. These users were no doubt stupid for doing what they did, but I think it's time we give these guys a break. Forget the discussion of asterisks and bans, these guys have earned their places in the record books, no matter how dirty that place is.

Ster-Rod?

2009-02-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

It is being reported today by ESPN radio that New York Yankee 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003.

This was before the the MLB had a testing policy which included punitive actions. The results were from testing done by Major League Baseball in 2003 to give them insight whether there was a problem with performance enhancing drugs in their sport.

Here's where it begins to get greasy. MLB never had intentions of the results of this testing to get out. They coded the samples which were in a lab, and had the key to the codes (names and codes) in another office in a different state. Seems the Feds are pretty good at the whole sleuthing game and after obtaining the information during a subpoena search, had no problem connecting the dots.

A-Rod's comment was a wimpy statement of he won't say anything and inquiries should go to the union about it. The union is mum to this point as well.

We need to officially turn the page on hoping that great players that came through the last decade and a half were anything but dirty. Baseball, the sport that you could compare using the numbers of the game has forever been sullied and is left as a 3 stage sport: Before Testing (BT), During Drugging (DD), and After Testing (AT).

This latest finding also kills the all time home run record as many were hopeful that Rodriguez would smash this record and wipe away the stain that was Barry Bonds.

I say give everyone a pass, test the crap out of the players for every conceivable cheating mechanism, put real teeth in the punishment, and move on.

No word on whether or not Madonna or Joe Torre had any comments on this matter.

Regarding Michael Phelps

2009-02-06T07:38:00.001-08:00

This is one situation where I wish I wasn't right (see my Olympics post of last summer where I suggested he get a therapist to deal with the post-Olympic letdown). We saw this four years ago, and we're seeing it again now. Phelps hasn't quite learned to deal with his time outside of the swimming pool.

Yes, he is just a 23 year old - and yes, he is held to a higher standard. But rightfully so.

Cowher's Stock Plumets

2009-02-05T05:37:00.001-08:00

Since BiCoastal is in denial that there was championship football game played last week that didn't involve "the genius" Bill Belichick and his beloved Patriots, I'll do us all a favor and bring us back to the aftermath of one of the most amazing Super Bowl games I have ever witnessed. And while I would like to point out that Boldin's career is going down hill from here and make the bold prediction that Matt Leinart will once again return to the Super Bowl, I have to take a moment to talk about Bill Cowher.

Poor Bill Cowher.

It was only three seasons ago that Cowher was winning his first Super Bowl and vindicating his successful coaching career. When Cowher retired after 15 seasons with the Steelers, he had won 8 division titles, secured ten playoff births, coached 6 AFC championship games and made two Super Bowl appearances. And with the 2006 Super Bowl win, he had assured himself that if at anytime he wanted to coach football again after retiring in 2007, he could all but pick his team and name his asking price.

That is until Mike Tomlin came along and showed the world that Bill Cowher is overrated.

With the Steelers' win on Sunday, Tomlin has helped to reaffirm the growing trend in the NFL that you don't need a big-time coach to lead your team to the Super Bowl, you just need a guy who can work within a good system. Unfortunately for Cowher, that means he's one week too late in announcing his return to coaching (there is/was an attractive position still available in Kansas City that would have fallen head-over-heels for a pre-Super Bowl XLIII Bill Cowher). Now all he can hope for is a catastrophe of a season for the 2009 Steelers or else his stock is just going to continue to plumet.

So the question is: why pay several million to hire Cowher as your head coach when you can use that several million to spread across a great coaching staff and probably produce just as good of an outcome? I'll let you chew on that one for a while.

Sports Douche of the Week

2009-02-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

Here at the Frappe, we don't write about tennis very often - and to be honest, I feel kinda funny blogging about this particular sport the day after the Super Bowl. But, something must be said about Novak Djokovic.

During the quarterfinals of the Australian Open last week, Djokovic retired in the fourth set of his match against Andy Roddick who was leading 2 sets to 1 and was already up a break. I don't think Djokovic gave any reason for giving up, other than a lack of energy due to the heat.

As they would say in Djokovic's native land of Serbia - this guy needs some cajones.

Yes, it was ridiculously hot, but Roddick seemed willing to go on. And yes, Djokovic's match the night before went late, but isn't that part of the job description? What's worse is that Djokovic waited until he was clearly going to lose to throw in the towel. At what point is it better just to let your opponent finish you off rather than bare the humiliation of being a quitter?

Wait, the humiliation gets better. It was only four months ago that Roddick accused Djokovic of being a gigantic wus, wondering aloud whether Djokovic's problems involved bird flu, SARS, and and maybe even anthrax, and then saying "You know, he’s either quick to call a trainer or he’s the most courageous guy of all time."

After those comments, Djokovic knocked Roddick out of the US Open, which only goes to show that the guy can play when he's provoked. But apparently Djokovic's feelings have healed, because not even playing against Roddick could give him the motivation to finish out the fourth set in the Australian Open last week.

Djokovic already had a reputation for quitting matches due to supposed medical reasons more than anyone else on the tour - but now he's even quitting against the very guy who called him out on it - and without even giving a legitimate reason other than that the conditions and the schedule of the tournament were too much for him.

All of us knew a Djokovic growing up - he was the kid who would "accidentally" step on your last ping pong ball right before you crushed him for the sixth straight game. The difference between Djokovic and that kid was that Djokovic actually has talent - which is what makes Djokovic all the more despicable.

Officiating Stays Consistent In The Big Game

2009-02-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

The Sports Frappe has been reporting all year on the consistency of officiating gaffes that have affected the outcomes of contests this season in the National Football League.

Tonight in an awesome matchup between the first time to get there Cardinals and the trying to be the first to win 6 Steelers, it is this blogger's opinion that this has happened again.

But I will never know for sure.

Teams cannot challenge calls in the last 2 minutes of halves. Wasn't it the responsibility of the officials to at least look at the Kurt Warner intended pass that was ruled a fumble? I'm sure I saw a ball come loose as the arm was moving forward. Why should I feel the burden to figure things out? If I disagree with the way something was called, that's one thing. If I have no confidence because the officials don't give any effort to look to be sure, that's horrendous.

The game was great in the last quarter after looking like the Steelers would run away with it in the 1st quarter.

Take nothing away from the Steelers and especially quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who thread the needle and found Santonio Holmes in a miracle play to score the go ahead touchdown.

But something should be done with the NFL officiating. All the rules and procedures are in place.

Use them.

Michael Phelps thinks the refs showed poor judgement.

PETA Thinks Vick Is Just Average

2009-01-26T07:28:00.000-08:00

Remember when you were in the dating game and you would go out of your way to learn more about your prospective date's interests and research them/it so you'd make a good impression?

Most you just answered no, and seemingly ex NFL Quarterback and dogfight Godfather Michael Vick doesn't know what I am referring to either.

In a reported attempt to win PETA's endorsement to return to the NFL, Vick took a PETA generated test on empathy and was prepared enough to shine with a C on it.

Hold up.......PETA's endorsement to return to the NFL?

Supposedly, PETA has lobbied the NFL and is bamboozling them with an Obi Wan jedi mind trick, including being quoted as saying:

"Commissioner Goodell knows that he has an obligation to the league and to millions of fans, including children... to make sure Michael Vick is mentally capable of remorse before he can touch, let alone wear, an NFL uniform again."

This quote is much more powerful when you imagine a minimally clad woman in a cage with red paint on her reciting it while waving her paw, er... hand over the fake horizon in front of her in a confident manner.

This issue was important enough to Vick's handlers (or dollar sucking hangers on) to prepare him so he could get an impressive "C". Where would that type of effort landed one of Vick's dogs? Don't even think about it.

Before you pajama clad Frappers with low impulse filters throw red paint on your monitor and then find some way to blame it on me, let me just disclose that I love animals and have a house full of them. They get treated better than I do and I am also keenly aware that if a fire broke out and the Bent family had a choice to make, the animals would have nothing to worry about while yours truly would be in trouble.

But I am not ashamed to simply say that I also love me some McNuggets, and refuse to feel bad about it. Especially when there's plenty of dipping sauce available.

Check out the bizarre test and futile attempt by Vick to make the the grade.

Sports Douche of the Week

2009-01-20T05:21:00.000-08:00

This week's award goes hands down to Anquan Boldin. At the end of the Arizona Cardinals biggest victory in franchise history, Boldin was so upset that he wasn't in on the final 14 plays of the game that he refused to celebrate with his teammates and was reportedly seen leaving early via the back door. That's right: Boldin was so butt-hurt that he wasn't used at the end of the game in which his team won the freakin' NFC Championship that he passed on slapping five with his teammates and drinking some bubbly.

This of course is just the culmination of a rocky season with Boldin, who started the season saying that he would never re-sign with the Cardinals after they failed to sign an extention with him. And in consistent fashion, Boldin will try to keep these weeks leading up to the Super Bowl all about him and not about upsetting the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.

A New NFL Legacy is Born

2009-01-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Regardless of what happens in the Super Bowl two weeks from now, by getting the Cardinals there, Kurt Warner has earned himself one of the most unique NFL legacies ever.

Most of you readers of the Sports Frappe are pretty knowledgeable, so I won't go through his entire story here. You know he came out of nowhere in 1999 as an undrafted, 28 year old third string quarterback to lead the hapless Rams franchise to two Super Bowl appearances and one championship.

You also know that before this season, he was considered washed up for at least the previous four years. He wasn't even supposed to be the starter of the Cardinals, and yet today we can say he has taken one of the NFL's worst franchises to their first ever Super Bowl.

The NFL world never gave him a chance to begin with, and then was quick to count him out when his career hit its first bump. Who else has risen to the top twice, in both of these circumstances? Through it all, by most accounts, he has remained a family man true to his convictions. He has thanked God for each victory, even jokingly apologizing for it yesterday.

I honestly don't think we've seen a football player like him, and I doubt we will again.

It's interesting to contrast Warner's new legacy with the declining legacy of Brett Favre. I don't want to pile on Favre at this point - he has taken a lot of abuse lately. Years from now, we will mostly remember Favre for his MVPs and gun slinger mentality, and selectively forget his recent Jets incarnation.

But for now, the fact is that he has damaged his own legacy. He put the team that loved him - the Packers - in an incredibly difficult position by renouncing his retirement. The trade to the Jets looked like a great match. The problem is that Favre acted the same way with the Jets that he did with the Packers - like an aloof old-timer who was somewhat above the rest of the team. This didn't cause any problem with the Packers because Favre was the face of the franchise who outdated anyone and everyone who walked into that locker room. But with a new team, that doesn't work, and Favre should have realized that before he requested a trade.

So as the season closed, we saw a fading Favre who looked old and broken - and worst of all, as the season ended with no playoffs, his teammates ripped him.

Other than being MVPs, Warner and Favre have little in common, and their legacies will show that to be true.

It's Rickey Time

2009-01-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

Rickey Henderson will be entering into the baseball Hall of Fame this year, and since I grew up idolizing the man (I wanted to be like Rickey so badly that after I read his autobiography in the 4th grade, I stole third when my coach gave me the red light because that was what Rickey would do), I thought I'd go ahead and write Rickey Henderson's acceptance speech for him. Here it is:

"Thank you. Thank you. When Rickey Henderson heard that Rickey Henderson had be elected to the Hall of Fame, Rickey Henderson said, 'Well of course Rickey Henderson was voted into the Hall of Fame.' Rickey Henderson just can't believe that 28 writers didn't vote for Rickey Henderson. If Rickey Henderson could vote, even Rickey Henderson would have voted for Rickey Henderson. Rickey Henderson is the greatest offensive threat in the history of baseball. So Rickey Henderson thought Rickey Henderson would share some stories about Rickey Henderson today, but Rickey Henderson has already heard them all, so Rickey Henderson thought Rickey Henderson should ask one simple question. If Rickey Henderson signs with a team next season, because everyone knows Rickey Henderson can still out steal any leadoff hitter in the game right now, will Rickey Henderson still be in the Hall of Fame or will Rickey Henderson have to be put on probational status? Someone call Rickey Henderson with that answer because Rickey Henderson wants to know.

That's pretty much all Rickey Henderson has to say about Rickey Henderson. Thank you. And, oh yeah, Rickey Henderson is the greatest of all time."

My hat goes off to Rickey. I'm still pulling for a franchise to sign him this next season so that he can finish off his 300 homers. That may sound ridiculous given that he is now 50 years old, but if anyone could do it, I'd put my money on Rickey.

New GM, Same Old (Sorry) Team

2009-01-14T09:10:00.001-08:00

After an abysmal 2-14 season, the Kansas City Chiefs are ready to embrace anyone who can let them focus on next year. The first major step for the franchise was booting Carl Peterson out of the office of general manager and hinting that Herm Edwards would not have a job next season. The next move was to hire a new GM and get this off season underway. Well, Kansas City, your long awaited savior has come, and his name is Scott Pioli.

For those who are unfamiliar, Scott Pioli was the vice president of player personnel for the Patriots in 2002 and has 3 Super Bowl Championships to his name. That's two more than the entire Chiefs franchise. And now he's leaving his friend Bill Belichick to take on the challenge of one of the worst teams in the NFL who has plenty of upside. With the 3rd overall pick in the draft and 32 million dollars under the cap, Pioli can't complain about his hands being tied.

But while Kansas City celebrates this hiring (Jack Harry, an NBC Sports commentator for the Kansas City affiliate, ludicrously said it sounds like the best thing that the Chiefs have had for at least 40 years), it's going to take a lot more than a GM with an impressive resume to bring the Chiefs out of this funk. No matter what Pioli decides to do with the head coach position, we're looking at at least a four year struggle before the Chiefs win a playoff game. Until then, fans are just going to have to enjoy their newly renovated stadium and their beloved off seasons which are always brighter than the actual season.

By the way, you know your franchise is in a sorry state when the Arizona Cardinals have won more playoff games in the last 38 years than your team. A new GM certainly doesn't miraculously turn that around.

Goodbye, Tony Dungy

2009-01-12T18:08:00.000-08:00

Tony Dungy announced his retirement from coaching today. Most will remember him as a class act - except for this blogger. I will remember him as the coach who seemed to take pleasure in wrapping up an early playoff spot, and then blatantly forfeiting his team's remaining games. To me, this act was more disrespectful to the game than any form of cheating - I think it was bad for the NFL, bad for the fans, and on the whole, bad for the Indianapolis Colts. Many will miss you Dungy, I will not.

My Love For the BCS System

2009-01-12T08:42:00.001-08:00

I was just about to write a beautifully crafted blog about why I love BCS, but Will Forte from Saturday Night Live beat me to it. So instead of writing something new, I'll just pass him the mic.

One More Vote for Utah

2009-01-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

In my previous post, I stated that I won't think of any one team as the national champion; but if pressed to cast a vote, my vote goes to Utah.

Don't misrepresent me - I am not usually on the bandwagon of the non-BCS conference schools. Some guys are always arguing for the trendy non-BCS school of the year. This is really the first time I've found myself in this position - but Utah really does deserve the national championship.

I came to this realization while watching (and partially sleeping through) last night's game. It was sloppy, and not at all what I had hoped it would be - which was simply a great college football game. It's hard to blame the schools for this part, they're lay-off is way over the top.

Utah, on the other hand, drubbed Alabama. They looked dominant against a team that looked dominant against most of the SEC (save Florida, I know, I know). Now, looking back on the bowl season, they beat teams in the regular season who won significant bowl match ups (TCU and Oregon State).

As for Florida and Tim Tebow, congratulations, you have earned all the accolades you are receiving. I only hope Tebow gives us one more year before going pro, please don't leave us the way Vince Young did.

But as for my vote, it goes to Utah.

Even playoffs could not have saved this season

2009-01-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

Looking back at this season of college football, with the BCS championship game still to play, I have one point I would like to make: Not even an 8 team playoff could have solved the dilemma that this season posed. There were just too many deserving teams.

If we consider our recent bowl games as the first round of playoffs, let's see who would be remaining for the next round: USC, Utah, Texas, Virginia Tech, and oh yeah, those two teams still playing: Florida and Oklahoma.

So in this hypothetical playoff scenario we're working with, we've got 6 (or 5 after Thursday night) teams remaining. In BCS games, we eliminated Penn State, Ohio State (no surprise), Cincinnati, and Alabama. But we also got lucky here, because Boise State and Texas Tech, who were well deserving of hypothetical playoff berths, were eliminated by opponents we didn't consider so deserving (TCU and Ole Miss).

That's at least twelve teams all originally deserving shots at the title. Let's face it, there is no way the NCAA will ever consider a four round playoff bracket. Any playoff fix that they do offer us will be a patchwork fix - teams will be left out that deserve to be there.

But let's remember, the last two seasons have been especially unique. Usually, there is at least one team that clearly deserves to be in the national title game, with the rest of the NCAA arguing over the chance to play them. The last two years, both teams have arrived to the championship with plenty of naysayers, plenty of teams with a valid argument that they deserve to be there instead.

So as I watch Thursday night's game, I'm just going to enjoy what oughta be a great college football game. One team will claim to be the national champion at the end, but as far as I'm concerned, this season didn't really have a champion, and I'm okay with that.

On the practical side, I'm starting to warm up to the new trendy playoff plan, the "bowls plus one" idea. The idea is to move all of the traditional BCS bowls back to New Year's Day or earlier, and only after they are completed, use the BCS standings to declare the two contenders in the championship game to take place January 8th. Many have complained that bowl games should not be incorporated into any playoff plan because it ruins the whole point of a bowl game - but I think this "plus one" idea is okay because it treats the bowls as more of a potential qualifier instead of an actual playoff round. Most importantly, the bowl games will weed out the pretenders from the contenders (this season's examples: Texas Tech, Alabama, any team from the Big Ten). And we'll get a real idea of how strong a conference is before we choose the championship match up. For instance, this entire season, the Pac 10 was thought of as one of the weaker BCS conferences, but they went 5-0 in bowl games, mostly against teams ranked higher than them.

It isn't really a solution, but it's better than what we got, and it does a pretty good job at saving the historical tradition of the New Year's bowl games.

I have a question

2008-12-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

And this is one of those questions that I can't just google and get the answer. So maybe one of you smarter Frappe-heads can give me an answer.

I just finished watching the Monday Night Football game between Chicago and Green Bay (which was a great game, by the way). In overtime, the Bears got the ball inside field goal range. They opted to kick a field goal on third down - something many teams do in this situation. The explanation always given is that in case there is a bad snap, the holder could down the ball, or throw it away, and then the team could kick again on fourth down.

My question is this: has this strategy every ended up paying off for any team, ever? Has the holder ever had the quickness of mind to abort the attempt on third down, giving his team another chance to kick on fourth down? I see this strategy employed all the time but I never actually see the safety net get used.

Some might say that it doesn't hurt to kick on third down, so it doesn't matter how rarely it pays off, but I disagree. The one thing I do see happen rather frequently is a team settle for a game winning field goal attempt at the end of a game, when they suddenly shut down their offense as soon as they get within their kicker's range, only to see the kicker shank one. It seems like that third down play would be better used in going for a first down, or even a few extra yards, rather than using it as a safety net that you'll never actually use.

Justice comes to the AFC West

2008-12-21T16:37:00.000-08:00

Justice comes to the AFC west next week when Denver and San Diego meet with the division championship on the line. Remember what happened the last time these two teams met? You might not, but I can guarantee you the San Diego Chargers remember it.

No matter which side of the Broncos-Chargers rivalry you sit on, you have to admit that that was one of the most unjust outcomes in NFL history. When referee Ed Hochuli is resorting to emailing apologies to San Diego fans, you know something must have gone terribly wrong.

But every now and again, these sorts of things right themselves. In this case, that involved Denver losing two straight and San Diego winning 3 straight to set up next week's match up.

Even though I don't have a significant rooting interest between these two teams, the rivalry between Phillip Rivers and Jay Cutler is one of my favorite in sports right now. It dates back to this game last year, when Phillip Rivers inexplicably taunted Jay Cutler from the sidelines. I think I love this rivalry because I do not understand it. It is inexplicable as to why two players who are never on the field at the same time would develop such a hatred for each other. I also don't understand how two grown men wearing helmets can embody such typical playground caricatures - Rivers being the bully and Cutler being the mop-haired dufus who can't even hold on to a football, (seriously, have you watched this video?).

Home, Home On The Web

2008-12-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

As the typical dudes we are, we came up with every possible reason to keep from committing.

But after 3 1/2 years, this lil experiment finally has a permanent (as long as we pay our bills) home on the internet.

You can now dial us up at http://www.thesportsfrappe.com/.

The beautiful thing is that our little Frapper Babies won't have to do anything. We know you're lazier than KnowledgeDroppings on robitussin.

No need to change your links, or dial us up any other way. If you are partial to the old Blogger address, it will automatically forward you to our new home. Which by the way, is very spacious.

And filled with spam.

Grab A Cup And Enjoy!

Denial Of The Fittest

2008-12-14T21:31:00.000-08:00

Welcome back to the T.O. Channel, All Selfishness.....All Of The Time.

The latest saga comes after tonight's big victory against the New York Giants in the Sunday night game.

The much anticipated follow up to the soap opera/reality series that has been the Cowboys all week had everyone watching to see how the ball would be distributed. Reportedly, T.O. went SubversiveTheory and complained that QB Tony Romo had "secret" meetings with TE Jason Witten, believing there was a conspiracy to keep the ball away from him. It's reported that he and other WR's Patrick Crayton and Roy Williams went to Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett to discuss the distribution of the ball.

Tonight saw the ball distributed to old and new weapons, including T.O., who was unceremoniously booed after missing his first pass that bounced out of his hands that had big play potential. Looks like Dallas Fan has turned.

Marion Barber tried to show he had heart to combat Dallas owner Jerry Jones' comments doubting that he did, but was ineffective due to a persistent toe injury. 3rd string rookie RB Tashard Choice stepped up and performed though. Dallas Fan liked that.

Dallas Fan also liked the fact that even though the New York Giants treated Tony Romo like a tackling dummy, they came out with a solid win 20-8.

There was the obligatory sideline shot of Witten, Owens, and Romo yukking it up like they planned on having dinner together after the game.

Our modern day poet John Madden likes to say "winning is a deodorant". And all the players of this week's drama are walking around whistling like that Old Spice sailor dude.

T.O. being T.O. though had to not let the sleeping dog lie though at the post game presser. He kicked the mutt by attacking the reporter that broke the team's tumultuous condition, ESPN's Ed Werder. He described Werder's report as "lies".

We are way past the era of trying to pretend that millionaire athletes are role models or examples of how we should live our lives. Sadly, gifted athletes like Owens build a foundation of lies that, surprise surprise, cannot handle the load when additional spins and lies are placed atop it.

Conversely, when an athlete denies a situation, compromising or not, we can usually assume that the situation occurred. Especially when that situation is labelled a recurrence.

Keep your head on a swivel, y'all.

T.O. - Why should we be surprised?

2008-12-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

After three teams, and having the same problem with all three, most of us would start to suspect that we were the real problem.

Not T.O., who is burning down the third locker room of his career. Before this season, I honestly thought that as long as Owens had Tony Romo as quarterback, that things would stay relatively peaceful for him in Dallas. When Romo took over as the starting quarterback in 2006, it made a huge difference in the Cowboys' season, and mainly because the young Romo appeared to force the ball to Owens whenever he could. Not only did it keep the peace, but at the time it appeared to actually work in terms of sparking the offense.

But now Romo is not the naive rookie starter he was then, he is old enough to realize what an asset he has in his tight end Jason Witten. But T.O., on the other hand, has not grown up. And now the rest of us know that what looked like a good quarterback-receiver relationship was really just a season-and-a-half long honeymoon. Even if the Cowboys smooth things over long enough to make a playoff run, we know T.O.'s track record and so we know this relationship will end soon.

If T.O. burns his bridges in Dallas, where else does he have to turn? Oakland?

It doesn't always have to be like that, however. Randy Moss had often been compared to T.O. He had some rocky beginnings in Minnesota, and then went to the football wasteland that is the aforementioned Oakland Raiders - where some accused him of intentionally dropping passes. But I have watched every game Moss has played as a New England Patriot. I honestly believe that he does NOT take any plays off. On a weekly basis, he impresses me by throwing crucial downfield blocks. But most importantly, since Brady's injury, he has stepped into a leadership role as an offensive captain. He has never said an unsupportive word about Matt Cassell - in spite of the fact that Wes Welker gets more balls than Moss does week after week, in spite of the fact that Cassell continually short armed passes to a wide open Moss on deep routes for the entire first half of the season.

Of course, the danger in writing this is that Moss could turn around and prove me wrong next week. He did have assault allegations brought against him during last season's playoffs, but those allegations never panned out, leading me to consider that Moss was telling the truth about the incident. But for the time being, I honestly think Randy Moss has done what T.O. has not
(and probably never will). He has grown up.

The BCS Discussion

2008-12-07T20:10:00.000-08:00

Live by the system, die by the system.

It's funny the way this time of year brings about selfishness and bad attitudes.

I'm not talking about mall shoppers that would just as soon run you over to get to the last Nintendo Wii Fit as look at you.

I am talking about the BCS (Bowl Crying System) time of the year, where the system's flaws and shortsightedness are revealed, harvesting a new crop of victims in it's path.

This year, Texas and USC are crying foul with Ball State's loss rendering their whine volume to zero.

I am no lover of the BCS system, but it does the best it can while it hangs around the neck of NCAA football like so much dead weight.

BiCoastal assures me almost every day in the hallways that Obama is going to get us a playoff system, so there is no need to worry.

In the meantime, bust out more lollipops.

Are The Minnesota Vikings Overexposed?

2008-12-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

Yes, I've been away for a while and yes, this is the perfect post to jump back into the Frappe with.

So I ask again, do you think the Minnesota Vikings are overexposed?

I do.

And if you saw Fox's post game coverage, then I know you do too.

You see, Fox thought it would be a good idea to cover the locker room after the Vikes' come from behind win today with shots of the owner Zygi Wilf (best owner name btw) giving the game ball to the coach's son who just joined the Marines.

Touching, right?

Live TV in a locker room.........what could possibly go wrong? Nothing that hasn't gone wrong in the past.

Like game winning pass receiver Tight End Visanthe Shiancoe in the raw, in the back of the shot.

Thanks Fox, for that cutting edge coverage. How's the smell-o-vision tests going?

Cover up boys, there's a Fox in the room.

College Game Day - Conference Titles

2008-12-06T18:18:00.000-08:00

Florida versus Alabama did not disappoint. It was a great game for three quarters - and in the end, Tim Tebow along with the Florida pass rush were too much for Alabama.

Before the game was even played, there was some discussion that if Florida did in fact win, that they should play Alabama in a rematch for the National Championship. I'm writing this during the Big 12 title game, but regardless of what happens there, let's get one thing straight: the national championship game should NEVER be a rematch of a conference game.

In fact, I think this is a very necessary rule tweaking that the BCS should consider: two team from the same conference cannot meet for the championship. For the reason, we need only look back two years ago, the season of 2006. Ohio State and Michigan were ranked numbers one and two for five straight weeks, right up until their end of the season meeting. What many have forgotten is that after Ohio State won the head-to-head match up, plenty of commentators thought they should have a rematch in the national championship - and in fact, Michigan came pretty close, ending up third in the BCS ranking. What we all remember is that Florida embarrassed Ohio state in the big game, complimented by USC's two touchdown victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

The mistake we made then was in overestimating the strength of the Big Ten. We might make the same mistake today, in overestimating the SEC, or even the Big 12 if somehow Texas stays ahead of Florida in the final BCS ranking. I say this even though you've often heard me touting how superior the SEC is on this very blog. The way the college football schedules shapes up year after year, it is incredibly hard to compare one conference to another.

So I'm putting this out there right now: If the national championship game ends up pitting Florida versus Alabama, or Oklahoma versus Texas, I won't be watching.

Okay, putting that issue aside, let me make some other comments on the games today.
Tim Tebow is the man. I just cannot believe the hits he lays on linebackers on a regular basis. In some respects, he reminds me of Vince Young, but the comparison is still not very good since Young was elusive when he ran the ball, and Tebow clearly love to lead with his helmet. It is time to start thinking what kind of pro quarterback he will be. It is so hard to say, for this reason: when was the last time a quarterback from a successful college program has had significant success in the NFL? We might be saying Matt Ryan after this season, but there aren't many quarterbacks drafted in the last decade that would make this list.

Props to Pete Carroll for bringing back some tradition, and having both USC and UCLA wear their home jerseys during tonight's game. See the Trojans in their deep red along side the Bruins blue gave the game a real classic look.

Lay off the Big 12

2008-12-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

This is a quick blog to tell you to lay off of all the Big 12 tie-breaker criticism.

Let's review the facts. The Big 12 South's regular season ended with a three-way tie at the top: Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech all finished with 11-1 records. And in head-to-head games between this group of three, all three won one and lost one.

The thing that people are forgetting is that there is absolutely no reasonable way to break a tie like this. When three teams win every game they play except against each other, this throws every favorable tie breaker out the window. And by favorable tie breaker, I'm talking about anything that judges a team by its record (record within division, record against common opponents, etc.).

Anyone who favors Texas in this debate wants to forget about Texas Tech and turn this into a two-way tie, in which case Texas would be the obvious winner since they beat Oklahoma head-to-head. But this argument completely ignores the situation we are in, you can't forget about Texas Tech; sure, they are the obvious odd man out when it comes to discussing which of these three teams is the best, but the very fact we're having this discussion in the first place is because they threw their hat in the ring.

I am honestly making the argument that using the BCS standings in this case IS the best solution. Think about it, what other tie breaker ideas are there? Cumulative points scored? Largest margin of victory in games between the group of three? Choosing some particular points-based stat is completely arbitrary, and besides, the polls take into account some of these statistical arguments anyways.

I've heard it brought up that the SEC has a better tiebreaker in which the BCS standings are used to eliminate one of the teams in the three way tie, after which the remaining two teams are judged by their head-to-head meeting. Is this really that preferable? Why use the BCS to eliminate only one team, and then hand the division over to the lower ranked team of the two remaining? The main reason Texas Tech is ranked seventh compared to Oklahoma's second and Texas's third is that Oklahoma absolutely shellacked Texas Tech, delivering quite an end-of-the-season setback. It would be a little weird if that would end up costing Oklahoma for setting back Texas Tech so definitively.

The real reason people hate this tie breaker (other than Texas fans) is that it involves the BCS, and we all love an extra reason to complain about the BCS. But still, this decision by the Big 12 makes sense in that it gives their conference champion the best chance of also going to the national title game. And by the way, this is one problem that even a real playoff system wouldn't solve - the Big 12 would still need to declare a legitimate champion for seeding purposes, not to mention the fact that an 8 team format wouldn't have room for three schools from the same conference.

So give it a rest, folks. We'll have plenty to argue about after Mizzou knocks off Oklahoma next week. Who is more deserving to play Florida? A one loss Pac 10 winner, a one loss Big 12 loser, or a one loss SEC runner-up? (Sorry, Utah and Penn State, this debate doesn't have room for you.)

Saturday Game Day Post

2008-11-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

Ohio State vs. Michigan: I just got done watching the closing minutes of Ohio State's shellacking of Michigan. I can't help but feel like I'm also watching the dying gasps of this rivalry. The announcers keep reminding us that this Michigan team will be a lot further along next year. But still, this team just finished their worst season in school history, and Rich Rodriguez continues to mystify us with his bizarre quotables that make the rest of us think - "Does he know what he's doing?"

I'm sure that Michigan will be competitive again soon, but this blogger has some pretty strong doubts about next year.

Oregon State vs. Arizona: I was pumped about tonight's Oklahoma / Texas Tech match up, up until about midway through the first quarter. It became clear (very quickly) that Oklahoma's defense actually prepared for this game, something I thought was against the rules in the Big 12. So I flipped over to this Pac 10 match up, where it appeared that another team's BCS dreams were coming crashing down. Oregon State needed a win against Arizona, and another win next week against Oregon and they'd be heading to the Rose Bowl. But their kicker missed a game tying extra point with only four minutes left.

Oregon State's defense got them the ball back, and their offense got them back down inside the ten, where kicker Justin Kahut redeemed himself and won the game. I am now officially rooting for Oregon State. I think it would be a nice change of pace to see a Rose Bowl match up of them versus Penn State. And besides, USC is basically guaranteed some other BCS invitation, so it's not like they are getting snubbed, we might even see an especially great match up in some other bowl game: USC vs. the SEC runner up? Or maybe USC vs. Texas? That would be awesome.

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma I'm writing this at halftime, but I'm gonna go ahead and assume Oklahoma holds on to win, and this is exactly the scenario I warned about a couple weeks ago. Each of the three teams involved still has a game to play next weekend, with Oklahoma facing the toughest challenge against Oklahoma State. But, assuming each of them takes care of business, I think we'll see Oklahoma advance to the Big 12 championship game. As I said in the previous post, the team with the best BCS ranking will advance. The thing giving Oklahoma the edge, in my opinion, is their non-conference wins against Cincinnati (who appears to be on their way to winning the Big East) and TCU (who've been ranked for most of the season).

The Big Twitter

2008-11-19T20:58:00.000-08:00

Seems that Shaquille O'Neal is a twitterer.

A fugazi Shaq had been twittering (a microblogging form of communication) as if he were the Big Aristotle. This bent the big man in the desert the wrong way so he decided to begin twittering himself.

His ID is THE_REAL_SHAQ, and if this is not legit, then the perpetrator has the Shaq character down.

Some interesting tweets:

"Question were is dikembe mutumbo??"

"Stuart scott from espn said greg oden looks 42 , lol dats funny"

"ABOUT TO EAT DINNER, I PASSED UP 20 MCDONALDS TODAY. I COULDNT DO IT I'M ON A DIET,BUT MCDONALDS FRIES R THE BEST UM UM UM"

"At the barber shop, gotta b sexy for the game tomorro. Us supermodels always have to stay fine, lol "

"Theres a tear in my eye rt now, thinking about the great pete newell. What a tremendous person"

Great stuff.

Story Source

Don't Get Hung Up On The WWE Part

2008-11-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, there was a momentous shift in the MMA (mixed martial arts) world. Collegiate wrestling champion and WWE star Brock Lesnar beat legendary UFC Hall of Fame champion fighter Randy Couture in the 2nd round of what was scheduled to be a 5 rounder to take the UFC Heavyweight title at UFC 91. Oh, and did I mention that it was only Lesnar's 4th professional MMA bout?

That's not an indictment on the sport of MMA, but rather it speaks to the awesome natural talent and raw power that Lesnar possesses. If he keeps working at rounding out his game, he may stay champion for quite some time.

Let's deal with the 800 pound gorilla that's sitting in the room. Lesnar to this point has been best known as a professional wrestler. MMA is a far cry from pro wrestling. Keep in mind that Brock Lesnar was the NCAA collegiate champion in his weight division in 2000, after being runner up in 1999. The fact that he took the big payday offered up by pro wrestling was due to factors of the day where collegiate wrestling studs worked hard to reach the top of their game only to run out of competitive options. They could continue wrestling greco roman and freestyle tourneys, shoot for the Olympics every four years, and coach wrestling. All the while sleeping on someone's couch.

Or they could "wrestle" professionally and get paid.

But today is a new day, and I believe we will see other pro wrestlers try their hand at this gladiator sport (Kurt Angle is rumored to want in). This phase will be brief and then drop off. And you won't see another pro wrestler accomplish what Lesnar will. Not even close.

In the future you will see legitimate wrestling competitors cross train in mma and transition to the sport to satisfy their lust for competition and testing themselves after college, as well as for the ever increasing paydays. You will also find youth training in mma at younger ages which is already occuring.

Brock Lesnar is an albino hulk of a man that had to have special gloves made by the UFC to cover his huge mitts. Regardless of his past, he has achieved much very quickly through hard work. Now we will see what he does with the mantle that has been passed to him.

In the hugest twist of irony possible, the internet is buzzing with WWE fanatics who are upset with Brock's recent accomplishment, referring to it as not an accomplishment that is.............................real.

Crazy Soccer

2008-11-18T07:20:00.001-08:00

Only in soccer would you get a story like this. A soccer team that plays in the Italian top division reportedly dropped trow during a free kick in order to distract the goalie and it worked. Giuseppe Mascara lined up the kick and scored in Catania's 3-2 victory thanks to the efforts and fancy undergarments of several of his teammates.

Now, you would assume this would be some sort of thing that might happen on a whim. The players line up, one of the players decided to be funny, some others join in, and before anyone really realizes what is going on, it works. But these guys are professionals at their sport, and professionals practice. Apparently, this is a "strategy" that Walter Zenga, the coach of Catania, has his team practice on a regular basis in training. I must say, that's a little creepy.

But this got me thinking, what other sports would "dropping trow" be an effective strategy? Any thoughts?

Attention Super Models: Give Matt Cassell a Chance

2008-11-14T12:37:00.000-08:00

To all you super models who read our blog, and I know there's a handful, it's time to give Matt Cassell a call. In case you haven't heard, he's the new starting quarterback of the New England Patriots, and we know how much you love men in that position. Moreover, he orchestrated his first last second comeback last night: completing an impossible pass on the run to Randy Moss in the endzone to send the Thursday night game into overtime.

Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to win the game, as the defense gave up a field goal on the first possession. Still, we are not talking long term commitment here, ladies, just give the guy a chance.

BCS Picture Getting Clearer . . . Or is it?

2008-11-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of reasons to think that the road to the BCS championship game got a lot clearer this weekend. But has last year taught us nothing? With Penn State losing todya, it certainly looks like the top two spots will come down to the winner of the SEC and the winner of the Big 12 South division. But as long as there are more games to be played, there is still the potential for chaos.

Let's start with the SEC. Alabama, currently undefeated and with a number one ranking, has already secured a spot in the SEC championship game. They have two games left against Mississippi State and then rival Auburn. Don't forget that Auburn has a six game winning streak against Alabama, and they would love to keep that streak alive while ruining Bama's perfect season. Florida has also secured its place in the SEC championship against Alabama. They have three games left, finishing their season against a ranked Florida State team. It's hard to imagine anyone knocking off Florida the way they are playing right now.

So assuming these two teams win out before getting to their conference playoff game, the winner between the two of them will definitely be representing at the national championship game. But what if they don't? What if Florida takes a loss to Bobb Bowden & Co. and then goes on to beat Alabama? Or what if Auburn knocks off Alabama in the Iron Bowl and then Alabama still wins the SEC? Both of these scenarios leads to the first national championship game without an SEC representative since four years ago.

Now to the Big 12. I'm currently watching Texas Tech finish off Oklahoma State (Michael Crabtree is a man among boys, it should be said). All eyes will be on Tech's game against Oklahoma next weekend. If Tech wins, and finishes off Baylor in the final week, they'll head to the championship game against Mizzou, most likely. But if Oklahoma wins, (and I predict they will), we could end up with a three team tie in the Big 12 south - Tech, Oklahoma, and Texas. Whoever has the best BCS ranking will advance to the conference championship. This will be a complete crapshoot for these three teams. Unfortunately for Tech, they don't stand a chance in this scenario. They don't have an impressive win that the other two teams don't have. Meanwhile, Oklahoma beat TCU who have had a fantastic season, while Texas beat Mizzou. It might come down to where these un-common opponenents fall in the rankings to decide who advances.

Any way you spin it, one of these three teams will be playing for the Big 12 championship with a chance to go to the national championship game. The only way the Big 12 doesn't end up with a top 2 team is if Mizzou (or Kansas, potentially) knocks off the south representative.

So there you have it - the roads to the BCS, and the potentials for chaos. And who is hoping to swoop in should chaos occur? USC, Utah, Boise State.

New X Games Event Tested In The AZ

2008-11-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

I hate to have fun at the expense of someone else's problems..........................but here I go:

Don't go jogging in Prescott, Arizona. I know, the fresh open air, the scenery, the invigoration of accomplishment of travelling somewhere during your workout.........I get it. (Actually I don't).

But fight the feeling and just jog it out on a treadmill......indoors. I beg you.

You see, it's rabid fox season in Prescott, as one woman jogger found out. But as far as I'm concerned you can give the scoreboard and a complimentary pair to the jogger in this story.

It seems that while running on a trail, a rabid fox attacked the jogger and bit her on the foot. The jogger then grabbed the fox by the neck and the fox clamped down on her arm.

This is where it gets weird good, for us readers anyway.

The jogger evidently didn't want to get shots if she didn't have to, so she decided she was gonna take Mr. Rabid Fox to get tested for rabies.

Problem was, she was a mile away from her car at the time. She then made a decision that the 300 Spartan warriors wouldn't have made and ran back to her car, with her mitt clamped around the the fox' throat, AND THE FOX CLAMPED DOWN ON HER ARM!!! For a MILE!

She gets back to the car, tosses and locks Brer Frothing Fox in her trunk and takes herself to the hospital.

The fox later scored again when he bit an animal control worker, necessitating that the jogger and the animal control worker get treated for rabies.

Story Source

Al Davis Is Certifiable

2008-11-05T23:48:00.000-08:00

To even post on this is straight up redundancy again.

In a surprise (senile) move today, Al (Darth) Davis decided to waive cornerback DeAngelo Hall after he played only 8 games. The degree of difficulty here is that he mortgaged part of his team's future since he (Raider Al) gave up a 2nd round draft pick in the 2008 draft, and a 5th round pick in the next draft to Atlanta to get Hall. Just to be sure that he killed the ultimate amount of team morale, he immediately gave him a 7 year, $700 million contract.

And then cut him loose after 8 whole games.

The players are at a loss for words. How do you keep playing your heart out when your leadership is waving a huge, and obvious white flag of surrender? (Insert France joke here).

Who knows, maybe he thought he was getting Mike Vick. Cornerback sounds a lot like quarterback, if your hearing is bad. In the 70's he built superbowl champ teams by taking other teams' troubled rogue players. Their mascot is a glorified pirate.

Is there mutiny on the horizon?

Davis is like your grandfather that shows up at your house, and still produces a pair of magnets from his trouser pocket for you to play with because they are "magic science", and then asks you to pull his finger.

You love him because he's your grandpa. But you wouldn't take him to work with you to run your company.

The Raiders will never return to glory with this owner at the helm.

Story Source

Faber Loses Flyweight Belt By Knockout In 1st Round

2008-11-05T20:17:00.000-08:00

The California Kid, Urijah Faber (21-1-0) lost his flyweight (145 lbs) title belt this evening to Mike Brown (19-4-0).

The TKO occured 2:23 seconds into the first round when Faber tried to catch Brown with a side reverse elbow to the head. The elbow glanced off Brown's shoulder and Brown delivered a punch right on the button on Faber's chin. Faber fell to the canvas and tried to defend himself into recovery, but Brown was relentless with bunches of punches.

Faber, a longtime fan favorite due to his exciting and creative style of fighting, held the WEC flyweight belt since March 2006.

This WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting) bout was carried free of charge on Versus. This is a great way for MMA (mixed martial arts) newbies to watch quality action and learn the sport without having to pay pay-per-view (PPV) charges.

The Big 12 - Still a lot of football left

2008-11-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

America was treated to a terrific football game last Saturday when Texas took on Texas Tech. The script was classic: two undefeated teams, one is a powerhouse year after year, the other is a newcomer. The game was in Texas Tech, and the team and the crowd were into it, while Texas looked flat. Tech took an early lead while they were flying high, Texas came back in the third quarter, Tech made a final drive to win it, fans rush the field one second to early, you get the point.

Whatever you do, don't go back and read my college football post from two weeks ago. I think I may have questioned Texas Tech's legitimacy - but I was really just trying to inspire them, I swear. Now Texas Tech is the proud owner of a number 2 BCS ranking, trailed by Texas at number 4 and Oklahoma at number 6.

Looking forward, I see all three of these teams winning out the rest of their schedule, with exception of the game two weeks from now in which Texas Tech goes to visit Oklahoma. With no disrespect toward Tech, I see Oklahoma winning that game, which leaves us with a three team tie at the top of the Big 12 South division. In this scenario, these three teams will have identical records in all possible Big 12 tiebreakers - so the decision as to who will represent at the Big 12 title game will actually come down to which of the teams has the best BCS ranking.

This was actually pretty smart of the Big 12, when you think about it, since this ensures that the Big 12 champion will have the best chance at going on to the national championship game. But still, it is kind of ironic, since the BCS is unpopular enough as a decision-maker for the national championship game, that the Big 12 would go ahead and let it decide its own tiebreaker.

You've got to figure, at the end of the season, even after Tech loses to Oklahoma, these three teams will have BCS ranks somewhere between 3 and 6. The tiebreak winner of the three will go on to play the winner of Kansas and Mizzou - both good teams who will put up a fight, but not good enough to win the conference. Unless both Alabama and Penn State stay undefeated (an easy task for Penn St but herculean for Bama), we should still see a Big 12 team in the championship game. Then again, the one loss Florida team could also crash this party. It will come down to a few percentage points in the BCS ranking system, and you can guarantee that somebody will be complaining at the end of it.

Beckham Leaves, U.S. Soccer Still Unnoticed

2008-11-01T08:09:00.001-07:00

Two years ago I was celebrating to you all the transfer of David Beckham to the L.A. Galaxy since it marked the first international stud to make their way over to the U.S. to play soccer in a decade or so. And if you remember correctly, I also predicted that this U.S. experiment would have little to no effect on the overall popularity of soccer in the United States as a whole. The sport would continue on, unnoticed, and Victoria (Posh Spice) would get bored of us Americans.

Guess who was right?

The L.A. Galaxy are handing David Beckham over to the AC Milan on loan on Jan. 7 as "he seeks to maintain his fitness during the Major League Soccer off-season," which just means Beckham is trying to find his way back to the European Pitch where he can play some competitive soccer again. According to Bloomberg.com, Beckham's endorsements fell 6.6 percent since he joined the Galaxy in 2007 which means that his move to the U.S. has not increased his marketability on U.S. soil significantly enough to offset his loss of the market share in Europe. And for any businessman, that's a problem. So, Beckham is going to return to Europe to try and salvage his name and his reputation in hopes that he can get back to making some serious cash and play in the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. As of right now, playing in a second-rate league like the MLS is not helping his case to make England's national squad.

As for U.S. Soccer? Well, it's still boring. And we just proved that not even David Beckham can solve that problem.

Awesome Foul

2008-10-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

Seems The Big Shaqtus is not the only NBA person who likes to put on a good prank every once in awhile.

But who knew stoic San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich had a sense of humor?

Seems he called for Michael Finley to employ a HackaShaq foul mere seconds into the first game of the season. You can see Shaq looking around confused and then start to mad dog the Spurs' bench when he sees a childlike Pop grinning ear to ear flashing two thumbs up.

Shaq criticized Coach Popovich during their playoffs last year for employing the practice liberally. For those of you that just learned what basketball is, Shaq does not shoot free throws well so late in the game, if a team is behind they will foul O'Neal knowing that statistics show it is probable that they will get the ball back after Shaq misses the shot.

It is my opinion that this is Popovich's second prank of the season. You check out that dead muskrat he's calling a beard?

New Niners Coach Singletary:"I Am From The Old School"

2008-10-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

"Number one is, I apologize", led new San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Singletary in his first post game press conference. His first game as head coach, a 21 point loss, was rife with mistakes and lack of focus.

He benched starting QB J.T. O'Sullivan for poor performance. He sent starting Tight End Vernon Davis to the showers with 10 minutes left in the fourth, after Davis received a 15 yard penalty for slapping an opponent in front of a referee.

He explained his actions with Davis by stating "We cannot make decisions that cost the team and then come off the sideline and it's (his actions are) nonchalant."

He went on to say, "I told him that he would do a better job for us right now taking a shower and coming back and watching the game, than going out on the field. Simple as that."

Coach Singletary explained his team's new formula is:

1) "We go out and we hit people in the mouth."

2) "We are not a charity. We cannot give them the game."

3) "We execute from the very start of the game to the very end of the game."

Singletary is underselling when he states that he is Old School. He is a dyed in the wool, working class, pop you in the jaw, smashmouth linebacker for the Chicago Bears in the linebacker lineage of Dick Butkus. A gentle devout giant off the field, but on the field of competition, he changed into a scary bulge eyed machine, scanning the field to see where he could release some of his own brand of beautiful violence.

But he finds himself with an opportunity to be a head coach in an era of "player's coaches" that are more psychologist and buddies to millionaire entertainers than brimstone breathing leaders that push highly skilled athletes to higher levels and instill team first thinking.

Singletary's militaristic style will bond the team and point them in a direction, but it remains to be seen if and how long the players will perform before they decide to stop listening to their fiery coach.

The quickest way for Vernon Davis to get back on Coach's good side would be to don a leather helmet and knock the snot out of someone in practice this week.

Odds are though, he'll respond by pouting and never benefitting from the superbowl ring wearing sage's direction.

NBA Preseason Or And 1 Game? You Decide

2008-10-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

When I first saw this dunk, I thought maybe it was past 11 pm and I had forgotten to turn off ESPN. I was looking for the Professor to double dribble, carry the ball, do that "Uh oh I'm throwing the ball at your face" Globetrotter move at the other end.

Then I realized I was in fact viewing the Lakers in their preaseason game.

I know you haters are already loading up with, "Intrinsic, you're so old the game has passed you by" smack to which I say.......... Pssshhhttt..........please.

I love this stuff as much as any 15 year old, when I am not watching a pro team play.

Just another reason I dislike all professional sports' preseason play.

And no, I don't know who had next.

Troy Polamalu Would Knock You Out, but He's Worried About His Retirement Fund

2008-10-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Troy Polamalu is getting irritated by the rash of fines his team has been receiving as of late and for good reason too. The Steelers Oct. 5th game against the Jaguars resulted in four players being fined for a total of $45,000. Polamalu said, among other things, that the heavy-handed fines that are being levied by the NFL is turning football into a "pansy game" that is similar to "two-hand touch."

Tell us how you really feel, Troy.

But then again, Polamalu has a point. Some of the fines that are being levied are quite questionable since some are coming off of plays that were not penalized during the game. Among the players who were fined against the Jags was Hines Ward ($10,000 for unnecessary roughness on a play that wasn't penalized). Can someone tell me how a wide receiver gets fined for unnecessary roughness? I mean, we're talking about a wide receiver here. As long as he doesn't attempt a running drop-kick, WWE style on the cornerback, I think he's safe from being fined for unnecessary roughness.

This is football, people, not soccer. So in that spirit, let's roll out of here with another Polamalu quote just to get us pumped:

When you see guys like Dick Butkus, the Ronnie Lotts, the Jack Tatums, these guys really went after people. Now, they couldn't survive in this type of game. They wouldn't have enough money. They'd be paying fines all the time and they'd be suspended for a year after they do it two games in a row.

Preach it, brother.

Detroit Lions Surrender Roy Williams, Give News Conference In French

2008-10-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

The NFL's Detroit Lions have officially waved the white flag and signaled their intent to constantly stay in rebuilding mode by trading Pro Bowl Wide Receiver Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys.

This continuing unravelling of the debacle that Matt Millen built had vocally disgruntled Williams and the 7th round pick in the 2009 draft going to Dallas for 1st, 3rd, and 6th round picks from the same draft.

Terrell Owens was said to be excited about the deal, meaning he'll be complaining about it in two weeks by the time he realizes that 40 year old backup quarterback Brad Johnson is unable to get the ball to either one of them under any semblance of a pass rush.

Johnson last started a game for the Vikings in 2006. He will see action after Cowboy starting QB Tony Romo broke his pinkie finger in last week's overtime loss to the Cardinals. Romo is expected to be out for 4 weeks.

For Roy Williams, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Story Source

College Football: the undefeateds that remain

2008-10-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was a big day in college football, featuring two different games between undefeated opponents. So it is time for BiCoastal Bias to put it all into perspective for you. Here is my run down of the remaining undefeated team in the FBS. I'll tell you who is legit, who is not, and who might be somewhere in between.

TEXAS The new number one. They beat Oklahoma 45-35 on Saturday. If you played that game over, my guess is Oklahoma would win the next one. Lucky for Texas, they won't have to play Oklahoma a second time. Though they've got plenty of teams standing between them and a national championship game: Mizzou next week will be looking to bounce back from their loss, then they've got the currently undefeated Oklahoma State and Texas Tech in consecutive weeks (more on them further down the page). The road is going to be tough, but so far, Texas has done everything they were supposed to do. Verdict: LEGIT.

ALABAMA Once again, a team that has done everything we could ask of it. They flat out embarrassed the Georgia Bulldogs in a big national game, maybe we shouldn't have been so surprised when they had a let down the following week against Kentucky and barely squeaked by 17-14. What lies ahead? A surprisingly easy SEC schedule! This team gets to skip Florida (until the conference title game), a ranked Vandy team, and the sometimes tough South Carolina. They've got LSU and Auburn in November, but other than that they face few challenges. Verdict: LEGIT.

PENN STATE This might shock all of my regular readers, but I actually like this Big 10 team. The Nittany Lions made a statement on Saturday, going into Wisconsin and winning 48-7. Of course, it would be a lot easier for me to get on board if they had a bigger non-conference victory to speak of, although they did trounce Oregon State, before Oregon went on to beat USC. Anyways, if they run the table in the Big 10, I am almost willing to accept this team into the national championship game . . . unless of course both Alabama and a Big 12 team go undefeated as well. Verdict: LEGIT.

TEXAS TECH The Red Raiders needed overtime to win a home game against Nebraska. Honestly, I have no idea why both the USA Today and the AP have this team in the top 7. THey still have to face every single one of the top Big 12 teams, so they'll get knocked off sooner rather than later. Verdict: ABSOLUTELY NOT LEGIT.

OKLAHOMA STATE I tuned into Oklahoma State's game against Mizzou Saturday night in hopes of seeing a great game between two undefeateds. Instead, this game was just plain ugly. Chase Daniels flushed his Heisman hopefuls down the drain, but Oklahoma State didn't exactly impress either. Maybe this is unfair, maybe I should be giving Oklahoma State credit for beating what I consider to be a very good Missouri team - but I just can't give it to them. They'll have plenty of chances to impress me down the road. Verdict: DOUBTFUL.

BYU and UTAH This is turning out to be the year for the MWC. There are enough strong teams in this conference that whoever of these two teams that emerges undefeated will absolutely have a place in a BCS bowl. Of course, the question remains as to how they'll do against the big dogs - you never know. Verdict: LEGIT and LEGIT.

BOISE STATE The only impressive win on their schedule has been Oregon, and unfortunately for them, the only impressive conference game they have remaining will be Fresno State in the final week of the season. This is not the same team that won the Fiesta Bowl two years ago, but people still want to give this current team credit for the old Boise State accomplishments. Verdict: UNDECIDED.

BALL STATE I'll be honest, I haven't seen this team play, and probably won't get a chance to unless things get really interesting. Verdict: NO IDEA.

Maybe the NFC East ain't that good

2008-10-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago, it was the consensus among NFL analysts that the NFC east was the best division in football, with the Cowboys, Giants, and Redskins all going to the playoffs, and the Eagles being the remaining member left in the cold.

Then this weekend happened, and we remembered that we're only six weeks into the season and it is way to early to start assigning playoff positions. The Cowboys lost to Arizona (ouch), the Redskins lost to St. Louis (double ouch), and as I write this the Giants look miserable against Cleveland. Only the Eagles salvaged a win, beating San Francisco.

The division that impressed me this weekend was the NFC south. Tampa Bay has a pretty good team, and Atlanta continues to surprise. Carolina has shown that they can beat up on lesser teams (something the east can't do, apparently). And of course, you can't count out the Saints.

I expect to see a shake up in the NFC over the next few weeks.

MMA Knocks Out The Internet

2008-10-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

Internet street fighter and hyped MMA phenom Kimbo Slice was knocked out by Seth Petruzelli 10 seconds into the first round in tonight's EliteXC bout.

Originally, Slice was to have faced off against MMA legend Ken Shamrock in this, his 4th fight in a cage. Shamrock opened a cut above his eye earlier in the day while warming up that required 6 stitches to close, whereby causing Shamrock's elimination by governing fight doctors.

Before this fight Seth Petruzelli was best known for being on the 2nd season of the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter, as well as a brief career in the UFC. He had taken the last year off from competition, and was looking to get back to action in an undercard performance.

Instead, he took the last minute offer to fight Kimbo and took down the EliteXC's chosen marketing cornerstone. The burning question is whether or not he killed a fight promotion (EliteXC) in the process.