Speaking of baseball....

 Here's what MLB needs to do. Preferably yesterday.


1) Get rid of the DH. Sorry, David Ortiz. If you can't even play first base, it's time to retire. Believe me, I played first base. It's not hard at all.

Don't look shocked. Grab a glove.

2) Reverse the All-Star game rule. That game shouldn't mean a thing, and I think 90% of Nostradamus I mean Bud Selig's motivation was to erase the 2002 All-Star debacle. Great idea, Bud. Next time I get a paper cut I'll cut my leg off.

This sums up Bud's tenure pretty well.
 

3) Contract the regular season. 162 games is way too long. I'd be okay with between 135 and 145 games. June baseball is terrible. The honeymoon from Opening Day is over and the pennant races are 3 months away.

4) Fix inter-league play. Last year, the Cardinals played the Mariners, Angels, A's, Royals, and Blue Jays. What? Why not switch the Blue Jays for the Rangers to play the entire AL West? I like how the NFL schedules its games. 1st place teams should match up with the other division's 1st place team, etc. Then throw in a rivalry series if you want. Under that rule, the Cardinals would play the Yankees, White Sox, A's, and Royals in 2011.

5) Handle the steroid situation completely different. MLB didn't begin steroid testing until 2001 I believe. What exactly did they expect? This quote explains the steroid era perfectly. "Commissioner Fay Vincent sends a memo to each team announcing that steroids have been added to the league’s banned list. No testing plan is announced." Maybe they went by scouts honor or something.
Here's how they fix it:
Label about 1988-2010 the steroid era in the Hall of Fame and elect the guys who put up the numbers. Roger Clemens and Andy Petite showed us that pitchers were doing the stuff too. Who can blame them if baseball decided not to test them for over 10 years? So A-Rod and Clemens are both juiced and face each other. Who wins? I call it a wash. Instead of Clemens throwing a 94 MPH fastball and A-Rod hitting a 405 foot homer, Clemens is throwing 97 and A-Rod hits a 425 foot homer. No one had an advantage, the skills were just increased. And if these guys were so evil, why are they on Hall of Fame ballots? And when the hallowed records from past eras are brought into the discussion, I laugh.
I don't disagree that juiced players had advantages in breaking records, but you know who else had advantages in breaking records?

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio.  They never faced black or latin players. Let's see all the pitchers they didn't have to face:
-Bob Gibson
-Satchel Paige
-Juan Marichal
-Pedro Martinez

The pitchers were no different. Christy Mathewson, Lefty Grove, Walter Johnson, and Cy Young never had to face guys like:
-Josh Gibson
-Roberto Clemente
-Albert Pujols
-Manny Ramirez
-Willie Mays
-Frank Robinson
and on and on and on...

Players in the pre-WWII era didn't seem to have a problem with baseball denying black and latin players a chance to play with them. Why crucify guys who took advantage of this guy for a decade?

6) Let this guy in the Hall of Fame:

 I know Pete Rose was an idiot, and probably still is, but any baseball Hall of Fame void of arguably its all-time best hitter is incomplete. I don't have any stories of any Hall of Fame members with questionable morals, but they're out there. It isn't the Hall of Very Good and it isn't the White House. Let the guy in.

Blame your owner, not theirs

Why do people blame the Yankees when their small-market owner is cheap? I hear this a lot, especially as Spring training is getting underway and everyone's making predictions for the season. If you listen to some people, you'd think teams with lower payrolls are barred from winning anything, and the Yankees and Red Sox are guaranteed a World Series every year.

The Yankees have had baseball's No. 1 payroll for the last 10 seasons. All that money got them 1 title.
In that same time period, the Marlins have just as many rings. They won it all  in 2003 with a payroll of $48 million, good enough for 25th in the league.

In the last 10 years, the average payroll of the World Series winner is 10th in league, barely in the top third of payrolls.

How about the Mets? They had the National League's highest payroll every year from 2003-2009, only to miss the playoffs all but one of those years. And when they did make the post-season, they lost in the 2006 NLCS.

Just last season, the Texas Rangers won the AL with a payroll of only $55 million, 27th in baseball.
They did that with smart decisions by this guy,

 good defense and great pitching.




So it can be done. And for small-market fans are upset with their team's payroll while watching the Yankees and Red Sox pick up whoever they want, don't blame guys like the Steinbrenners.

What's wrong with spending your own money to make your team better? Nothing but bitterness from fans with cheap owners like David Glass of the Royals or Bob Nutting of the Pirates.


So don't blame the Yankees for spending their own money in an attempt to get better. Blame the owners who take fans' money and hoard it while filling their roster with AAA-caliber players.

They all have plenty of money. It's not the Yankees or Red Sox's fault they actually spend it.

Your Team Can't Beat Mine

Quarterback- 
Joe Montana: You Play to win the game. Montana did this, winning 4 Super Bowls and 3 Super Bowl MVP's.

Backups: Dan Marino, John Elway, Brett Favre.


Running Backs-
Barry Sanders: He only played 10 seasons before shocking everyone with his 1999 retirement, but he went to 10 Pro Bowls. He had 99 touchdowns in those 10 seasons as well as 15,269 yards. Barry Sanders is the ultimate 'what if' player. Him and Bo Jackson.

Walter Payton: Second all-time in rushing yards (16,726), 4th in touchdowns with 110. He went to 9 Pro Bowls as well.

Backups: Bo Jackson, Marshall Faulk, Emmitt Smith.


Receivers-
Jerry Rice: Obviously. He's the all-time leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He also went to 13 Pro Bowls.

Cris Carter: Top-5 All-Time in receiving touchdowns (4th) and receptions (3rd). Never had the chance to play with a truly great quarterback though.

Tim Brown (88-04): 100 career touchdowns, 14,934 total yards and 9 pro bowls. Member of the All-1990's team and the College Football Hall of Fame. Also owns a Heisman from his days at Notre Dame.

Backups: Isaac Bruce, Randy Moss, Steve Largent.

I was really surprised to see that Terrell Owens is 2nd all-time in both receiving yards and touchdowns. There's still no way I'd put him on any all-time 'team.' He doesn't like that word anyway.

Offensive Line-

Will Shields

Jonathan Ogden

Randal McDaniel

Bruce Mathews

Orlando Pace

Cornerbacks:

Rod Woodson: The greatest of all-time in my opinion. 71 interceptions on his way to 11 Pro Bowls mainly with the Steelers and Raiders.

Dick 'Night Train' Lane: An incredible 14 interceptions as a rookie in 1952 for the LA Rams. Finished with 68 for his career, along with 7 Pro Bowls. Also gets points for having the best nickname on the team, maybe ever.

Backups: Deion Sanders, Champ Bailey.

Linebackers-

This was the toughest position to pick by far.

Lawrence Taylor: Having LT on the list wasn't hard, though. He tops nearly every list of great linebackers, going to 10 Pro Bowls while becoming only the 2nd defensive player to be named league MVP. Also had one of the nastiest hits of all time.

Ray Lewis: His play backs up his mouth, most definitely. The best middle linebacker of the last 25 years. He went to 11 Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl with the 2000 Ravens, leading an arguably top-5 defense of all-time that season.

Mike Singletary: Definitely a better linebacker than coach. He was a member of the All-1980's team, went to 10 Pro Bowls and was a first team all-pro 7 times.

Derrick Thomas: I think Derrick Thomas gets overlooked when talking about all-time great linebackers. In a career that was shortened by his death in 2000, Thomas was one of the best pass-rushing linebackers off all-time, getting 126 sacks while playing for the Chiefs.

Backups: Dick Butkus, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert.

Defensive Line-

Bruce Smith: No. 1 overall pick by the Bills in 1985, he's the all-time leader with 200 career sacks. Went to 11 Pro Bowls, and is a member of the 1980's and 1990's All-Decade teams.

Reggie White: The "Minister of Defense." White went to 13-straight Pro Bowls as a member of the Eagles and Packers. Member of the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time team. 198.5 career sacks is only topped by Bruce Smith.

Deacon Jones: Allegedly coined the term 'sack.' Jones played before sacks began being counted in 1982, but is known as one of the greatest defenders of all-time as a member of the Los Angeles Rams in the 1970's.

Backups: Alan Page, Joe Greene, Michael Strahan.


Safeties-
Ronnie Lott: Considered by many the greatest safety of all-time, Lott could play safety or cornerback. He was also a member of the All-1980's and All-1990's teams, while winning 4 Super Bowls with the 49ers.

Steve Atwater: One of the more underrated players in NFL history. Atwater had an incredible 1,180 tackles in only 11 seasons. He went to 8 Pro Bowls and won 2 Super Bowl rings with the Broncos.


Backups: Troy Polamalu, Paul Krause, Jack Tatum.


Kicker-
Adam Vinatieri: This is one of the easier decisions to make. He had 3 Super Bowl-winning field goals with the Patriots, and 2 of those were kicked as time expired. Also has another ring with the Colts.

Punter- This team doesn't need a punter.

Coach: Vince Lombardi

Random NCAA musings

Selection Sunday is 3 weeks away. If I knew how to put a countdown on here, I would. But I can't, so trust me. It's 3 weeks away.

It seems like nobody wants that No. 1 ranking right now. After Wisconsin toppled previous No. 1 Ohio State last Saturday, Kansas took over on Monday, only to lose the same night to Kansas State. No. 2 Texas then proceeded to lose to Nebraska yesterday. I guess No. 4 Pittsburgh felt left out, because they also lost on Saturday, falling to St. Johns on a last second shot. Then after all that, Ohio State lost again today to Purdue. CBS tells me the last time the top 4 teams lost in the same week was in November of 2003. Not that being No. 1 means anything right now, but the race for a No. 1 seed is on.

I think we've got 5 teams fighting for the 1 seeds.

-Ohio State (25-2): 2 losses, but both on the road to top-15 teams. Losing 2 out of 3 would worry me, but I'm not a Buckeye fan and a 1 seed is still a lock.
-Kansas (25-2): Only one bad loss so far.
-Texas (23-4): Bad losses to USC and Nebraska, but nice wins over North Carolina and Kansas.
-Pittsburgh (24-3): Not any truly bad losses, and wins over Texas, Uconn, Georgetown, and Villanova.
-Duke (24-2): Bad loss to Florida State and got blown out by St. Johns last month. Taken care of everyone else though.

Finishing the regular season No. 1 doesn't matter, as the final No. 1 ranked team heading into the tournament has won it all only twice since 1996. But being a No. 1 seed is important. Since 2001, a No. 1 seed has won the title 7 times, including the last 4 years.


Want to make the Final Four? You better be a top 5 seed. Since 2001, only one team has made the Final Four that was lower than a 5-seed. That was 11-seed George Mason in 2006.

Here's the Final Four Appearances by seed the last 10 years:

1: 18 (7 national titles)
2: 9 (1 title)
3: 6 (2 titles)
4: 2 
5: 4
11: 1


Teams likely to be outside the top 4-seeds you don't want to see:
Big names:
 -Kentucky: They have enough raw talent (Potentially 3 first round picks this year in Doron Lamb, Brandon Knight and Terance Jones) to surprise anyone, and they're #9 according to KenPom.
-Washington: 10th in KenPom's rankings and they can score better than almost anyone. (2nd in the country with 85 points a game.)
-North Carolina: See Kentucky, but add a Hall of Fame coach.

Mid-majors you don't want to see:
-Utah State: Probable 9 or 10 seed who's hung around the top 25 all year and is currently 17th in KenPom.
-George Mason: 20th in KenPom with the nation's 25th best defense (61 points a game) and a coach with Final Four experience.
-UNLV: Wins over Virginia Tech and Kansas State and currently 28th in KenPom.
 -Cleveland State: No signature wins here, just a hunch. Norris Cole can score at ease, getting 20 points a game. His ability to do this, should put fear in the 3 or 4 seed which faces Cleveland State, assuming they make the tournament.

The Big 12 season

is about 2/3 of the way over. Here's what I know:

-Kansas and Texas are in a different stratosphere.
-Iowa State is worse than I thought.
-Kansas State is worse than 99% of the country thought.

Here were my predictions on the eve of conference play starting.


Here's how we look with 5 or 6 games left for everyone:

1) Texas (10-0, predicted finish last month: 2nd): The Longhorns have looked other-worldy for most of Big 12 play, beating Missouri and Kansas by double digits and sweeping Texas A&M. A No.1 seed looks to be in the cards with 6 games left and the Big 12 tournament remaining. Prediction: Final Four

2) Kansas (9-1, 1st): Kansas has won its last 5 games by a combined 92 points. The only road block remaining looks to be the March 5th matchup in Columbia with Mizzou. Prediciton: Final Four

This is where it gets interesting. Teams 3-8 are all within 2 games of one another.

3) Texas A&M (6-4, 4th): A&M was embarrassed twice by Texas by a combined 41 points. Losses to Nebraska and Colorado don't help either. Prediction: NCAA 2nd round.

4) Baylor (6-5, 6th):Lacedarius Dunn can score with the best of them, getting 21 points a game. If he decided to pass every once in a while the Bears could be a lot more dangerous. Freshman Perry Jones is a future NBA big man that no one has heard of because of Dunn's separation anxiety with Mr. Wilson. Prediciton: NCAA 2nd round.

5) Missouri (5-5, 3rd): Missouri's problems are pretty cut and dry. They don't win on the road. Call it coaching, lack of discipline, or a lack of calls they can't get away from Columbia. I don't know, but I hope they know the NCAA tournament isn't played at Mizzou arena. Prediction: NCAA 2nd round.

6) Colorado (5-6, 10th): I missed on this one. Alec Burks is better than I thought, and the Buffs look to be a year away from doing damage in the new Pac-12. They might not get that chance, though. Burks has said he's leaving early if projected as an NBA lottery pick. He's 18th here. Prediction: NIT.

7) Nebraska (4-6, 8th): They can't score, but the Huskers have the Big 12's best defense and the 10th best defense in the country. Head coach Doc Sadler might need an NCAA tourney appearance to save his job, however. He's failed to make the big dance, and with Nebraska's move to the Big 10 next year, I think AD Tom Osborne wants to start fresh in 2011-2012. Prediction: NIT.

8) Oklahoma State (4-6, 12th): The Cowboys aren't as bad as I thought, but they aren't that good either. Their best win was a 76-60 defeat of Missouri on Feb. 3rd. Sitting at 16 wins, they'll probably need 6 more to make the tournament. But with games with Texas, Texas A&M, Kansas, and Baylor remaining, that ain't happening. Prediciton: NIT.

9) Kansas State (4-6, 5th): From No. 3 to NIT. I knew the loss of Denis Clemente was going to severly hamper the Wildcats' hopes of repeating last year's Elite 8 run. It has, and the wheel's have been falling off the last few months. Dominique Sutton transferred. Former McDonald's AA Wally Judge flat-out quit. Then last night, when Rodney McGruder apparently nailed a 3-pointer to drop Colorado, it was .01 second late. It's been that kind of season in Manhattan. Prediction: NIT.

10) Oklahoma (4-6, 9th): Jeff Capel isn't a great coach unless he has future NBA stars on his Roster. The only decent conference wins have come over Baylor and Colorado. I don't see things in Norman improving anytime soon. Prediciton: CBI

11) Texas Tech (3-7, 11th): Alright, I get it. Pat Knight's dad is an all-time great coach. Unfortunately, none of those skills got passed down to his son. Knight hasn't done anything since taking over for Bob in Lubbock. He's got to go after this season. Prediciton: Watching the tourney on CBS.

12) Iowa State: (1-9, 7th): "The mayor" Fred Hoiberg is struggling in his first season coaching in the Big 12. He's got one of the smallest rotations in the country, and he has about 15 guys who transferred to ISU and are sitting out this season because of NCAA rules. Next year will be better in Ames. Prediciton: CBI.

College hoops top 10

With exactly 1 month until Selection Sunday, the weekly polls are starting to get more attention as fans try to project seeds for their team. No.1 Ohio State finally fell on Saturday, a 71-67 loss to Bo Ryan's Badgers in Madison. Here's how I see things now.


1) Kansas (24-1): The media seems to like Texas as the new No.1. The Longhorns did beat KU in Lawrence, but they also have 3 losses to KU's single defeat. Kansas has won its last 5 games by a combined 92 points. That's impressive.

2) Ohio State (24-1): Losing to the No.14 team on the road is about the same as losing to a top 5 team at home, so these are basically 1A and 1B in my book. Wisconsin is tough at home, so that loss wasn't a shocker and shouldn't concern Buckeye fans. Vegas even had Wisconsin favored in the upset.

3) Pittsburgh (23-2): Everyone seems to have Texas ahead of Pitt at No.3, and even No.1 or 2 in some cases, but I like the Panthers here. They're 11-1 in the ultra-competitive Big East, they have one less loss than Texas, and they just knocked off Villanova in Philly on Saturday night.

4) Texas (22-3): The Longhorns are looking as good as anyone lately, and the case can be made for them to be higher here. They're on pace to finish with an unblemished 16-0 Big 12 record and a No.1 seed looks good right now.

Those 4 teams look to be on their own level. Everyone else is part of a jumbled mess of sorts from about No.5-15.

5) Duke (22-2): That ACC schedule isn't doing much in the way of Marquee wins for Duke here. The losses to Florida State and St. Johns aren't exactly impressive, either. Coach K doesn't seem to think freshman star Kyrie Irving will return from his toe injury to help come tourney time. That will hurt Duke in March.

6) Notre Dame (21-4): The loss of Boston Celtic Luke Harangody hasn't hurt the Irish much, who sit in sole position of 2nd place in the Big East. They have some nice wins over Wisconsin, Georgetown, Uconn, and Pittsburgh. Ben Hansbrough has been playing lights out this year.

7) San Diego State (25-1): The Aztecs just swept UNLV, which are 2 good wins for the selection committee to look at. I've just never been sold on mid-majors in the NCAA tournament. How many mid-majors have made the final four the last 20 years? George Mason and Butler? I have SDSU at 7 because college basketball is down this year.

8) BYU (24-2): I only have the Cougars this high because of The Jimmer. Fredette is getting 27 points a game and his range is anywhere inside the lines. I'm not kidding. That range could lead to a potential run in March.

9) Georgetown (20-5): The Hoyas are 3rd in the Big East behind Pitt and Notre Dame with quality wins over Missouri, Utah State, Villanova, and Syracuse. Austin Freeman is as good as any guard in the country.

10) Wisconsin (19-6): The Badgers were favored to beat No.1 Ohio State Saturday, and they did just that.  With Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor getting 19 and 18 points a game respectively, the Badgers are tough to beat with that defensive style Bo Ryan employs in Madison.

Lebron James isn't a 2-time MVP

At least he shouldn't be.

He should have 7 MVP's. Can we go back and time and give Lebron the league's MVP for every season he turned that pathetic franchise in Cleveland into a basketball team?

The Cavs were terrible for about a decade before landing Lebron. In the 7 years before the 2003 draft, the Cavs averaged 31 wins with only 1 playoff appearance. (A 6-seed in 1998)

After drafting Lebron in 2003?
-An average of 49 wins a season.
-The Eastern Conference's best record twice.
-NBA Finals appearance in 2007.

And he accomplished those things with a roster full of ham sandwiches and bad coaching, all while actually living in Cleveland. He had to live in Cleveland for 7 years. Let that sink in.
They made him god-like with billboards like this:

And were shocked, SHOCKED that he would still leave their city.

I know the way he left was terrible PR and he should have handled it a lot better, but does anyone blame him for high-tailing it to South Beach? The Cavs are a terrible franchise in a not-so-flattering city. Especially for millionaires.

Let's pretend for a second that the Heat and Cavaliers have identical rosters
If you're a bachelor with a few hundred million dollars in the bank, which do you prefer?
-beaches, bikinis, and sports cars   OR
- this gem of a city?  (At least it's not Detroit)


The guy lived in Cleveland for 7 years, he actually won somehow, and he left to play with his buddies on South Beach. I don't blame him.

His ego is unmatched, no doubt. But nobody wins in Cleveland. And he did. Give Lebron an MVP for every year he was stuck in Cleveland while we wait and see if the Cavs ever make the playoffs again.

Super Bowl XLV

I'm not really sure how the Packers made it this far. They've put 15 guys on injured reserve this year including pro-bowl talents Nick Barnett, Ryan Grant, and Jermichael Finley.

Somehow the injuries were overcome and Green Bay made the playoffs after winning its last two regular season games. After a close win over the Eagles, they destroyed Atlanta on the road before taking out the Bears in the NFC title game. Aaron Rodgers has a 6/2 touchdown to interception ratio in the playoffs and looked all-worldly in his lone start in a dome, (throwing for 3 TD's and 366 yards) which is obviously the same surface he'll be on for Sunday's game.

The Steelers are playing for a lot of history. Head coach Mike Tomlin can become the youngest head coach to win two Super Bowls. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger can join the ultra-exclusive 3-rings quarterback club. Pittsburgh has played two really tough playoff games so far, a 31-24 win over Baltimore and a 24-19 victory over the Jets in the AFC title game.

Both teams are led by the league's best defensive minds in Dick Lebeau and Dom Capers, and  both defenses have played great this post-season. This seems like an easy pick for a 17-14 defensive struggle, but I don't think so.

I picked the Packers over the Colts back in August, and there's no way I'm changing anything now.

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