Thanksgiving 2015: From around the world of sports

From me to you: I hope that you and yours have had a very blessed Thanksgiving.

With that said, feast on this blog post; it's time to go around the world of sports, starting of course with football.

The Panthers beat the Cowboys to remain undefeated and did so convincingly, but to me what caught my eye just as much was the first game between the Eagles and the Lions. It caught my eye because of just how badly the Eagles performed and let a terrible Lions team (although they've been playing better) walk all over them.

You know, we're in the waning hours of Thanksgiving, but maybe the Eagles should be thankful that they get to play this game and make the millions of dollars that they earn. And maybe with that thought in mind, they should go out and give more than a token effort like they gave today. You can't call that effort acceptable in any way, and I'm surprised Chip Kelly still has his job tonight.

Then again, considering that he's found out that his system and the NFL go together like oil and water, perhaps he's jonesing for a return to the college game. I hear that LSU may have an opening soon....

Not saying it will happen, but can you imagine: Chip Kelly vs Nick Saban, every single year.

On the second game: Cam Newton didn't do much numbers wise but didn't have to do much today, especially since the Panthers defense picked off Romo three times (two of them for scores) and knocked Romo out of the game. Heck of a job by the Panthers to come to Dallas on a short preparation week and take care of business, remaining undefeated.

Time to double back to the previous weekend now briefly:

- I don't know if they'll make the playoffs, but certainly the Texans have played better since they cut the Oversleeper, Ryan Mallett. It's only three games since that point, but I wonder just how much damage he caused in that locker room because before he was cut, they weren't giving an ounce of effort at all as that performance in Miami last month could attest to. Of course it doesn't hurt that Watt has taken over this month and helped put the team on his back.

- Even when the Ravens win, they lose. They beat the Rams on Sunday but lost Joe Flacco (QB) and Justin Forsett (RB), both starters, for the season. Ravens vs Browns is the Monday night game this week; can you even imagine how awful a game that's going to be?

- Peyton Manning is allegedly three weeks at least from being able to play again. If Osweiler comes in and does his job like he did in Chicago though Peyton may have to fight to get his position back when he does come back though. He certainly wasn't worth a darn against Kansas City. It will be interesting to see how Osweiler does against the Pats.

On college football:

- I do not envy Urban Meyer this week prior to going up to Michigan; Buckeye soap opera is in full effect. You've got players pointing fingers and already declaring they're going pro, you've got your arch rival who is hungering to snap a three game losing streak against you and it's on the road. Meyer is a great coach but definitely has his hands full this week.

- And even if they win, they still have to somehow hope Penn State beats Michigan State...on the road. With Michigan State's standing in the Big 10 East and in the college football playoff, they very likely don't need any help; very likely scenario is beat Penn State and Iowa and you're in the four team playoff for the title. In fact, I'm sure Michigan State would rather see Iowa beat Nebraska than lose even though Iowa is ahead of them, if both teams take care of business, then Iowa vs MSU basically decides a berth in the playoff.

- Florida is ranked No. 12 in the playoff poll this week but I have no idea how, they've been playing like total horse hockey this month. 9-7 win over Vanderbilt, 24-14 over South Carolina, and 20-14 in OVERTIME over a 2-9 Florida Atlantic team. Now here comes Florida State; I don't think the Gators have been sandbagging for the Noles, but we'll see.

- Big game in college ball this week is the Bedlam battle in Stillwater Saturday night. It honestly all depends on who is QBing for Oklahoma IMHO; if Mayfield plays and all indications are he will start, then I don't see Okla State bouncing back from that flat effort against Baylor. A rivalry game may spark them up again, but I think Oklahoma is on a mission and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

On to a few baseball notes now:

- The Blue Jays apparently are not a major factor in the David Price sweepstakes; not surprising, since Price is a high-caliber pitcher who will demand a massive contract from someone. Apparently there are rumblings that teams such as the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals, Cubs and Giants are poised to make a run at him. One team I am surprised to see not on this list is the one team that needs a top-caliber starting pitcher more than any other...the Yankees. I'm not surprised the Cubs are on this list; the Cubs fans I know have indicated to me they're going to make a major move for Price. The Cards...we'll see but they're not usually inclined to break out the big bucks for players like that. Dallas Keuchel of the Astros has apparently been trying to recruit Price but Luhnow is not going to be overpaying for him.

- The Astros traded infielder Jed Lowrie to the A's; the Astros got Brendan McCurry back in the deal. This one is hardly surprising considering Carlos Correa is the future; he came up when Lowrie was out with his thumb injury and Lowrie never really regained his footing. I like Lowrie, but no doubt it was time to part ways.

- One notable aspect of this deal is the Astros trimmed 7.5 mil off their payroll; they are possessed it seems with finding an elite closer; the lack of a great closer was a major reason the Astros lost to Kansas City in the playoffs this year. Jeff Luhnow, the general manager, also seems to want a veteran presence on his starting rotation.

Couple of college basketball quick hitters:

- The holy trinity of great University of Northern Iowa sports moments now has its third wheel: Kurt Warner winning the Super Bowl with the Rams, UNI beating Kansas in the NCAA tournament in 2010, and that same UNI basketball program beating No. 1 North Carolina last Saturday in Cedar Falls. That is a legitimately tough basketball program they've built in Cedar Falls, and they're competitive every single year. From all indications, they're going to be tough once again.

I know the Hawkeyes and Cyclones fans who follow that sport who are meeting at the lake in Panora today are drinking a toast to Roy Williams getting smacked across the face by any Iowa school; to say that Roy Williams is disliked in Iowa would be a gross understatement.

- It's early and they usually gag in March but so far, Kansas is off to a very good start; they won the highly prestigious Maui Invitational yesterday, beating a top 20 team to do so. Another in their long line of consecutive Big 12 titles is very likely in the cards for KU this year.

Finally from the pros:

- While things are better in Houston with the Texans, the same cannot be said for the team from Toyota Center. The team is third to last in the Western Conference, fired its coach, and lots of theories have been proposed as to why the team is so bad, but one seems to stick out in my mind; the alleged "Kardashian curse" which has hit star James Harden. That's right, the bearded Rockets star has been seeing Khloe Kardashian plenty. I'm not going to speculate on what goes on with them as I'm not really into that sort of thing, but my question is why? If you're going to be contending for a championship, you CANNOT have that sort of distraction.

- The Golden State Warriors are 16-0, the best start in NBA history. They are a powerhouse, no doubt about it. But let's not forget about the little old 12-3 San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors are going to get all the attention until these two teams play, but the problem is they won't play until after the new year. I'd like to know who the schedule maker was that decided that....

Until next time....

11/13: Rex Bowl and much more

So, Thursday night football comes and goes again and Buffalo gets a second big win in a row. Plus a lot more in this edition.

A couple of quick things on Thursday's game:

1. This game to me was defined by New York Jets miscues and missed opportunities. They had four turnovers, and in the waning moments of the game, they actually had an opportunity to take the lead after being down 22-3. They had the ball at the Bills' five yard line, in fact, but as happened so many times, execution doomed them in this game.

2. LeSean McCoy, after a very slow first half of the season, is finally developing into the running back the Bills need him to be. He hadn't gone over 100 yards in any game this year until the last two weeks but has gone over 100 each of the last two and Thursday he was great in the late stages, helping the Bills get key yards and big plays when they needed them especially in the fourth quarter.

3. The Bills have a very favorable schedule over the next few weeks which made this game so important. They get the Patriots next week and likely will not win that one, but look at their games after that; five beatable teams in a row before a season ending showdown with the Jets (@ Kansas City, Texans at home, @ Philadelphia, @ Washington and Dallas at home). Not saying they will win all those games, but the opportunity is there for a good streak.

Other NFL bits:

Last summer on this very blog I questioned the validity of giving Cam Newton an enormous contract for a guy who had a mediocre few years after a spectacular rookie campaign.

With the Panthers 8-0 and Cam being a major part of that success, no one is laughing now. There is even serious talk about him being the league MVP at this point. That, I don't know about, but I do know there are very few players who are more valuable to their team than Cam Newton is to the Carolina Panthers.

Green Bay plays Detroit this week and Minnesota is out in Oakland (a very intriguing matchup actually) but please get me to week 11 because Week 11 (next week) is Green Bay at Minnesota, the marquee late game, in Minneapolis. A great rivalry game, in a marquee spot with a top tier team and a Minnesota team that has surpassed a lot of expectations. Packers are in a tough part of their schedule, huh? They're playing the Broncos, Panthers and Vikings in the span of four weeks and all those games are on the road. Yikes.

The Raiders lost in Pittsburgh last week but Derek Carr is on a roll. The last three weeks, this guy is averaging over 300 yards passing with an insane 11 touchdowns and just one interception. And he's got Detroit and Tennessee before the month is over; two more opportunities to net some huge numbers.

The Colts might be 4-5 with Andrew Luck hurt, but considering they just beat Denver, that Matt Hasselbeck is quarterbacking their team (not a bad option) and that the rest of the division is the Texans, the Jaguars and the Titans, they may not be hurt all that much.

Couple of college football things:

From LSU/Alabama last Saturday: Year after year, the problem with LSU continues to be the quarterback. And heaven knows, they've had some mediocre to bad ones, from Anthony Jennings to Jordan Jefferson and everyone in between. It's amazing to me that LSU could have such talented players and still have such a simple offense that is so easy to defend. With the latest piece of LSU QB mediocrity, Brandon Harris, stinking it up Saturday at QB it was easy for Alabama to put as many hats as they could on Fournette. Miles still doesn't get it; football is a QB driven sport and until he gets an elite one in recruiting, they won't win another national championship.

Elsewhere, the Nebraska season of tales from the bizarre continues. If I had to describe the Nebraska football season in a song, it would be "Crazy Train" by famous heavy metalist Ozzy Osbourne. And Saturday night, we Husker fans really went for a ride on the crazy train. Ironically, the man involved in the controversial play which won the game for the Huskers (and in all likelihood destroyed Michigan State's national title hopes), Brandon Reilly, is a guy from Lincoln Southwest who wasn't highly regarded out of high school and chose to walk on at Nebraska during the previous regime.

I see where Michigan State players and announcers have not been able to put the game behind them. Shilique Calhoun of MSU was talking about dirty play by Nebraska, and Michigan State announcers left a little note about the officials in their announcers booth. At least their coach D'Antonio took the high road. My advice to Michigan State players and announcers, sincerely?

Kiss my butt.

NU fans have had more than enough things go against them this year to last three seasons but we choose to focus on our own issues instead of blaming others. Maybe Sparty players should remember they had a 12 point lead with four minutes to go and didn't finish.

Speaking of bizarre, that Arkansas/Ole Miss overtime game was the definition of crazy. This play that I've linked up is a 4th and 25 play which ends up being a lateral between two Arkansas players and went for a first down: Arkansas lateral

A few plays later Arkansas scored and then following an Ole Miss penalty, the Hogs won the game on a two point conversion

Couple of basketball notes:

Good heavens, the Golden State Warriors are a freight train. 10-0 to start the season, and they look to be even better than the team that won it all last year. The other thing is it's not like they're trucking scrubs; they've beat the Grizzlies twice already, the Pelicans once, the Rockets once and the Clippers once. The only team that can stop them from winning it all might be themselves...and that team in San Antonio. It really is too bad that the Spurs and Warriors won't play until after the new year because I'd like to see those two go at it right now.

Really disappointed with the Rockets start to the season; 4-4 wouldn't be that bad except that two of the losses came to the Nuggets and the Nets, both at home. It's obvious that the focus isn't there right now and when you play in the always-tough Western Conference, you have to win those types of games. The Nets hadn't won a game all year and then they beat the Rockets.

A few Astros related notes now:

The big baseball item out of Houston is that Colby Rasmus decided to accept the Astros qualifying offer of $15.8 mil for one year and remain with the team. That is huge for the Astros because with him back, the outfield is really in good hands and for another year at least, the Astros get that clubhouse presence that Rasmus brings; he's a popular player with the team with his long, greasy haircut and so having him is a huge bonus for the team.

It's a good thing the Astros are in the process of keeping the core of their team together and/or improving the ballclub because the Angels made a huge move on Thursday, getting two time Gold Glove winner Andrelton Simmons from Atlanta for a veteran shortstop, two prospects, and cash. The addition of Simmons just adds to what was already an extremely talented roster. On paper, they'll probably be the favorite to win the West as one of the game's big spenders, but in baseball games aren't played on paper.

What the Astros really need is a closer, and one of the closers on the market that is expected to be picked up by somebody (if you listen to widely known baseball guy Peter Gammons) by the end of the weekend is Reds fastballing closer Aroldis Chapman. That guy is one of the best closers in the game and if the Astros could get him (not saying they will) that would be an enormous get.

One final thing: I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the World Series at least briefly and its aftermath. The Kansas City Royals are the World Champs for the first time in 30 years, and while I'd like that to have been the Astros, the Royals beat them fair and square and proved to be a formidable team throughout this whole season.

And their parade...oh my God their parade. Two days after the Royals won the title, 800,000 people showed up to their parade...to put that in perspective, the metro Kansas City area consists of 2.3 million people. And the amazing thing? No riots. Not one. That's how you class it up after a win.

Until next time....

10/29: The World Series, Football and NBA Tipoff

The World Series is two games in, football is obviously in full swing and...the Association is back in action as they had their opening night last night. That said, time for another blog entry.

On the World Series: We're two games in, and there is a long way to go and certainly the Mets have the players to get back in this series when it shifts to Citi Field, but there are a lot of things working against them right now.

A big factor against them right now is that, for all of the Mets young pitching talent (and they have it in bunches), the Royals approach is working against them. Mainly what's happening is that those swings and misses that Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom are used to aren't happening so far.

To wit: in the National League playoffs Jacob deGrom's swing and miss ratio was 36.5%. Last night, just 6 percent of his pitches were swung and missed at and the Royals didn't strike out swinging once. Matt Harvey, the game 1 starter, had a swing and miss ratio of 37.5% in the NL playoffs, but Tuesday night it was just 17%.

Another factor working against the Mets is that Yoenis Cespedes is struggling...badly. He hit .286 the first two rounds of the playoffs and was a huge reason the Mets won the NL East this year, but he is just 1 for 10 in this series. If he isn't doing what they need him to do, they're in trouble because then they're basically what they were before they traded for him in July...an average team with an impotent offense.

Maybe the biggest thing though is experience; KC learned a lot from their first run in the postseason last year and the Mets act like a team that hasn't been here. They could get it going at Citi Field, but they almost certainly have to win all three games to have a chance to come back.

On the National Football League, this particular thing I'm about to speak of just burns me up. DeAngelo Williams of the Steelers lost his mother to breast cancer a year ago. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the NFL. So, for putting "we will find a cure" and the breast cancer ribbon put on his eye black...get this...Williams was fined over $5,000 Wednesday. I still can't believe it just thinking about it. That to me is totally absurd.

Meanwhile, the NBA and the sport of basketball lost a great coach last weekend, Flip Saunders, who passed away at 60 due to lymphoma. The NBA agreed to let the Minnesota Timberwolves, who Saunders spent two tenures with, to wear a commemorative patch to honor the late coach. On this one, the NBA beat the pants off the NFL...and I'm a football guy.

Speaking of Minnesota and coaches with health issues, from college football, Jerry Kill has stepped away as the head coach of the Golden Gophers football team due to health issues. Health issues aren't a novelty for Kill, who has dealt with kidney cancer, seizures, and dehydration spells. I'm glad he is deciding to step away because his health has been a hindrance for him at doing his job at times in the past, and I would hate to see something like that again in the future. He was and is a very respectable coach.

The NBA had its real opening night last night (yeah there were three games Tuesday but IMHO Wednesday with just about everyone playing is the real opening night); long season but a few takeaways...

1. Southwest Division had themselves a bad night except for the Mavericks who won at Phoenix, but New Orleans dropped its second in a row to begin the year at Portland, the Spurs were beaten by OKC, the Memphis Grizzlies lost by 30 at home to Cleveland and maybe the most embarrassing one of all, the Rockets lost by 20 at home to Denver on their opening night.

2. That Rockets game was so bad that Rockets GM Daryl Morey was on the Jim Rome show today and he was not happy. Very easy for someone to say, it's just one game, but that's not what he said. He was legitimately concerned and after that effort, I share his opinion. They need to play MUCH better than that.

3. The Milwaukee Bucks, coming off a playoff season, got embarrassed at home by 25 points by the Knicks on opening night, WOW.

4. Very early, but the Chicago Bulls look stout to open the season. Beat the Cavs at home, then went on the road to the Barclays Center and won by 15 over the Nets. I still wonder if Hoiberg should have stayed at Iowa State, but if the Bulls win I'm sure any regrets will disappear.

5. Lakers got beat on opening night by the Timberwolves, but the big talk after that game is that Kobe Bryant didn't get the last shot. It makes me laugh. He can still produce but people have to remember he's well above 35 years old and can't do what he used to do anymore.

Until next time....

10/21/15: Football and the MLB Playoffs

Busy sports time of the year, with football in full swing, Major League Baseball down to its final four and the NBA season preparing to start. As I've said before, this is a football blog so that's where I'll keep the focus, with a few thoughts on the League Championship baseball series as well.

We have to start with the question on everybody's mind who watched that trick play that was attempted by the Colts Sunday night: What in the world were they thinking running that play?

In case you missed it, here is the play; the Colts were down 27-21 at the time, with fourth and three on their own 37 Colts fake punt fail

I'm like I think a lot of people out there; that was absolutely the worst fake punt call I think I've ever seen. I didn't think anything could replace Bill Callahan trying a fake punt on fourth and short inside his own 30 yardline in the Cotton Bowl several years ago, but this one did it I think. There was absolutely no reason for the Colts to go for that play, mainly for two reasons: 1. the ball was on their 37 yard line and 2. there was a little less than a half of football to be played.

In any event, the Patriots left Indianapolis undefeated. But beware the Jets...that's a very physical team on both sides of the ball and that's how they'll attempt to beat New England, by manhandling them physically. I don't trust Fitzpatrick and that is well known, but their team is good and I am surprised New England is favored by nine points or whatever they are favored by.

Other NFL notes:

- Is it possible for the Chiefs to try someone OTHER than Alex Smith? Jamaal Charles is out, so that puts the onus on the quarterback even more and Alex Smith just is never going to do it, even with weapons like Maclin. Maybe it's time for KC to put Chase Daniel in and see what he can do, or maybe even go with Aaron Murray. In any event, KC's Alex Smith experiment isn't working.

- Detroit gets its first win of the year, with a tough OT win against the Bears. I'm happy for the Lions; I saw 0-16 once in 2008, and I don't need to see the sequel.

- Texans messed around for three quarters before deciding to finally wake up and win against Jacksonville. Amazing to think that Houston is 2-4 and is still just one full game out of first place. That's how awful the AFC South is.

- Seattle is now 2-4 after losing a double digit lead for the second week in a row against an undefeated team, this time against Cam Newton and Carolina. Jon Gruden was on the Mike and Mike show Wednesday morning and I agree with two things he pointed out; first, Seattle's back four isn't quite the same, they lost a couple of players and their secondary leader Kam Chancellor held out in training camp which disrupted things from the start. Also, if their pass rush was what we've seen the last few years they wouldn't be blowing double digits leads in the fourth quarter two straight weeks.

- The Eagles ended up beating the Giants Monday night but that game was awful (so many turnovers and bad plays) and that division is atrocious; I don't know what to expect there anymore. Philly obviously is tied for first but can't be trusted, the Giants have the talent to get on a winning streak but haven't found near the consistency necessary yet, the Cowboys are very much short-handed and the Redskins are the Redskins.

Moving on to the college game now; the only thing to say about that finish in the Michigan State-Michigan game is...wow. For those who haven't seen the play, you can see the situation and the unbelievable finish that ensues, complete with the MSU radio call of the play: MSU-UM wild finish

- The thing is, all the punter needed to do was fall on the football. He didn't even have to get the punt off; just fall on the ball and Michigan probably still wins the football game. That said, whether MSU won that game or not, they proved just in that game that they are not going anywhere any time soon and Mark D'Antonio will continue to be able to hold his own against the likes of Michigan and Ohio State. You could see the improvement in Michigan under Harbaugh though; it will be interesting to see what happens when he gets his players.

- If we were having a poll on who is the best team in the country right now, I'm saying it's LSU. For a lot of years with the exception of the year and a half they had Mettenberger, LSU's weakness has been QB. This year, they have the QB in Brandon Harris that can complement Les Miles' defense and running game. Still a lot of season left, but LSU looks very, very good. Ohio State may well be the best team in the country eventually but they have basically been playing and will be playing preseason games until the Michigan State and Michigan showdowns in November.

- Very nice bounce back win for the Huskers against Minnesota. I think for many Husker fans, it's obvious that Pierson-El is an enormous difference maker offensively. Tommy Armstrong will never be the world's greatest quarterback, but he looks a lot better when he's actually got guys who can make plays on the outside.

I don't like to give Bitter Beer Face Bo Pelini much credit but he pulled a gem in Pierson-El. With that win, the Huskers should be able to reach a bowl game if they take care of business against Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers. Iowa and Michigan State will be much tougher games although I think they'll have a better shot against Iowa.

Finally, on the baseball playoffs, the Mets are on their way to the World Series as they sweep away the Cubs. Joe Maddon did one heck of a job with the Cubs' youth movement this year, but the Mets have played about .650 baseball since the end of July, arguably the best team in baseball since that point. We'll have to see what they do against KC (or Toronto for that matter) but they are deep in pitching and since the pickup of Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline, they have acquired the offense to complement that pitching. They would have to like their chances against whomever they play.

In the AL, the Royals might have the series lead 3-2, but I think I'd be really nervous if I'm a Royals fan right now. It goes back to KC for Game 6 and KC's got two shots to win a game, but the Blue Jays have David Price on full rest (granted, he has been less than stellar in playoff competition but Toronto got him for just that sort of game).

And if it goes to 7, the Royals will send the ever-unpredictable Johnny Cueto to the hill while the Blue Jays will have Marcus Stroman, who is a solid option for a decisive game. Cueto got the job done in game 5 against Houston, but it remains to be seen if he will do the same in game 7 if that series gets that far. And the Royals best hope it not get that far. They had better jump all over David Price Friday night and end it there.

Until next time....

9/29/15: NFL, College Football, Pennant Races and the Pope

We're almost to the end of September and though it's impossible to know what will happen over the next three or four months of the football season, it's clear that identities are starting to be forged.

From the National Football League...

- The Arizona Cardinals MAY be the NFC's best team. 3-0 and the three wins are by an average of 25 points in a league where close games are the norm, not the exception. I say they MAY be the NFL's best team because there's no way you're going to get rid of the Seahawks and Packers that easily. As expected, the Hawks smacked around the hapless Bears Sunday and will likely smack around Detroit next Monday night at the Clink (that's Century Link Field). But for now, the Cardinals look lethal.

- As for the Packers/Chiefs game last night, the Packers do still look tough without Jordy Nelson (still personally my Super Bowl pick even without Jordy), but is it possible for the Chiefs to find a quarterback that's better than Alex Smith? Granted, he's better than some of the other black holes for quarterbacks in the league (Ryan Fitzpatrick and Johnny Manziel for example) but the Chiefs are never going to win anything with him. Suddenly with a trip to the Cincinnati Jungle upcoming, the Chiefs are staring a 1-3 start right in the face.

- Texans got their first win of the year and are still alive in the AFC South but there are still a lot of ugly units on this team, first and foremost the offensive line. Was it really not that long ago that the Texans had the best offensive line in football? Was it really not that long ago that Arian Foster had an enormous season and the Texans made the playoffs for the first time? My, how things change. Now, Foster's struggling with injury and the offensive line is a complete mess. Good thing the AFC South is a complete mess as well. Too bad the Texans might get blown out in Atlanta next week...the Falcons are flying high. Pun intended.

- Not sure which division is worse, the AFC South or NFC East. The AFC South as stated earlier has all teams below .500 and the only team in the NFC East above .500 is the Cowboys without Romo and Dez Bryant. Very real possibility that both of those division winners could be 8-8 or 9-7.

- They may not hold up all season and both their wins came against winless teams, but there is something to be said for the Raiders being 2-1. I think Jack Del Rio is a good fit for them as a coach; he emphasizes tough, physical football which is Raider football at its best. He's also a Bay Area native so he knows the culture there.

A few college notes now:

- How about Auburn, being #6 in the country preseason, being already out of the SEC West race before September even ends? I'm really not sure how people bought that hype train but those who did it are eating a whole lot of crow. I like Malzahn as their coach and always have, but who they have at QB right now isn't taking them anywhere.

- Many of my readers are Husker fans, so let me just say this: 126th nationally in pass defense. I suppose I can deal with being terrible against the pass better than being terrible against the run especially in the Big 10, but this is not a good sign moving forward. What really bothers me right now is that not only did NU nearly lose to Southern Miss Saturday they gave up 300 yards passing in one half (when you should be getting better from the first to the second half, not worse), and they had 12 penalties. That is not the sign of a good football team.

They also appear to be regressing as the season goes which isn't a good sign. I'd like to say there's at least four more guaranteed wins on this schedule but that team Saturday might not win more than one or two more games. I would say Purdue is probably a gimme win, and MAYBE Illinois Saturday but other than that...I don't know. That said, unlike Callahan Riley beat Southern Miss in his first year so there's that.

- The more things change, the more they stay exactly the same. Texas A&M beats Arkansas in OT, again, after Arkansas allows an A&M receiver to get behind them and help tie the game, again. Arkansas fans must be seeing deja vu flashbacks this week. Third straight loss for Arkansas also and with Bama, Ole Miss and LSU still on the schedule (and all on the road) they are staring at a long football season.

- Texas is 1-3 as well after another special teams miscue (second consecutive week) and they are staring at a rocky road also with TCU and Oklahoma on deck. Of those two they'll probably stand a better shot against Oklahoma because of the rivalry factor. The State Fair game in Dallas has been a crazy, unpredictable rivalry for years; a winless John Blake-led OU team beat a very talented Texas team in 1996 so anything is possible.

- Texas Tech gave it all they had against TCU, but still that's a heck of a way to lose a football game, on a tipped pass in the end zone. Nebraska caught a similar break many years ago on the way to a national title. Speaking of the Huskers, the TCU player who caught the game winner; former Husker Aaron Green, who played high school ball at San Antonio Madison.

Now for some baseball:

- As if the Washington Nationals season wasn't tough enough, Sunday you had reliever Jonathan Papelbon and star Bryce Harper fighting in the Nationals dugout. You can read more about it here if you don't know already: Harper and Papelbon fight

According to various outlets that I've seen this whole thing started when Harper didn't run hard out of the box on a pop fly. I don't care what, or who started it, but I can say this: It's the kind of thing that happens when a team who was supposed to win 95 to 100 games has one of the most disappointing years in recent memory. The Nationals have a lot of talented players and when things don't go your way, egos make their way to the surface. It's not a good mix.

- The Astros kept their season alive for now by winning two of three from the other team up I-45 (Rangers) and won last night in Seattle too. They cannot afford to rest easy though; the Angels trail for the last wild card spot by just a half game and they've seemingly rediscovered the winning touch they had during the first half of the summer. Minnesota's hot on Houston's tail too and has a beatable Cleveland team and a Royals team that's leaking oil down the stretch.

- Even should the Astros get in though, Toronto will likely be the heavy favorite to win the American League especially if they end up with home field throughout. David Price changed the entire complexion of their team and they know this is their one shot because Price is a free agent this offseason. Those guys can swing some big sticks as well...their runs scored/runs allowed differential is well over a whopping +200.

- I'm not sure who's going to win the NL at this point, that is much more of a mystery. I know one team that won't though; the Dodgers even with Greinke and Kershaw. Got swept in Colorado this past weekend and lost in 12 to the Giants last night. Believe it or not, they have not won the NL West yet. They most likely will, but they are playing poorly at the wrong time of year while their potential Division Series opponent the New York Mets are steamrolling towards the playoffs.

Finally, though I'm not a guy to beat my religious views over everyone's head, this is a sports blog after all (I personally have been Catholic for a VERY long time), I have to address Pope Francis' visit here to the USA this past weekend. No matter your religious views or whether you believe in God or not, I am glad to see the coverage this got all weekend long. My view on Pope Francis is this: I support anyone who sits on that chair in the Vatican personally and Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI did wonderful things, but this Pope is a totally different breed and has done many amazing things since being named Pope two years ago.

I could beat you over the head with article after article about his visit, but I won't do that. Instead, I'm going to leave you with a stirring rendition of what we like to call The Lord's Prayer, done Saturday in Philadelphia. No matter your religious views, I think this is the best version of The Lord's Prayer that has ever been done Lord's Prayer in Philadelphia. Additionally, if you would like to read any of Pope Francis' remarks while he was here in the USA this week, this is a good link to go to Pope's remarks

Until next time...

College Football, Patriots and MLB 9/9/2015

It's been quite a bit of time since the last blog post, hasn't it? The last time I did a blog we were in the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. But now, the summer is starting to fade away, college football is now in full swing, pennant races are starting to heat up and the National Football League is breathing down our necks. That said, good opportunity for the first blog post of the football season and some other items.

On the first week of the college football season, the biggest thing that struck me were the number of injuries that were suffered to key players. Among the players who sustained serious injuries over the weekend included were Pittsburgh running back James Conner, Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston, TCU linebacker Sammy Douglas, Stanford defensive lineman and BYU quarterback Taysom Hill.

The thing that comes to mind immediately for me is that this will continue to be the biggest argument for NFL owners to keep preseason games (besides the fact that they make money in those glorified exhibitions from fans who eat it up). If you don't have preseason games at all like they do in college football, then when you get into games that count with a lot of intensity, there is greater chance in those games for serious injury like we saw this weekend.

I'm particularly heartbroken for BYU quarterback Taysom Hill and not just because the Huskers played him Saturday. I'm particularly heartbroken for him because he is a great player who just can't catch a break. This will be the third major injury in the last four seasons for Hill; he had season-ending knee surgery in 2012 and missed the back half of last season as well with a left leg fracture.

Aside from the injuries, these things stand out to me:

1. Alabama is still Alabama. Had to silently laugh at people who thought this past offseason that Bama's demise was coming. Make no mistake, there's no one who wants to see Alabama fall off the face of the Earth more than I do, but that is not happening. If we're telling the truth, then they were a close loss to Ohio State last year away from another national title because that was the only team that could have beat them. They are still loaded for bear and still have Saban at the helm. They aren't going anywhere.

Saturday, they made a loud statement against a Wisconsin team that is fully capable of bouncing back and getting back to Indianapolis for the Big 10 title game. The only teams that are capable of beating them are in the SEC West because no one in the East is doing it. I gave Tennessee a look in the offseason after the way their 2014 season ended, but they gave up 30 points to Bowling Green to open the season and may very well lose to Oklahoma this week.

I think Ole Miss and Texas A&M in particular have better than average chances to upset Bama; both run the spread offense that Saban hates, both have defenses that can get it done on any given day (A&M now has John "The Chief" Chavis running its defense and Ole Miss is consistently solid defensively with its Landsharks) and if Allen and/or Kelly can get it done, either team has a chance to upset Alabama.

2. When Ohio State hits the jets and goes to that next level, ALMOST no one can beat them. Key word, almost. What basically happened in that Monday night game with Virginia Tech was that they got up 14-0, fell asleep at the wheel then awoke from their slumber and ran Virginia Tech off its own field.

So that begs the question: Who COULD beat them when they go to that next level? Bama obviously could, TCU might as well although them losing Sammy Douglas is a big blow, maybe not in the Big 12 but against the better teams outside the conference. Baylor has no shot against any of the big boys because they can't play defense as evidenced against SMU Friday night. Michigan State is probably the only team in the Big 10 who COULD go toe to toe with OSU for four quarters.

3. I wasn't shocked that Texas got beat handily by Notre Dame; Notre Dame is a solid football team and whoever Texas QB was going to be wasn't going to get it done in that environment. But I didn't expect them to be beat 38-3 and for their offense to look utterly lost like what happened many times through the course of their 2014 season. This is Strong's second year at Texas, not his first so he's had some time to get his house in order and at the very least not look as bad as he and the rest of the Horns did last Saturday night. I like Charlie Strong but this may be a round peg square hole type deal where the way he coaches football might not mesh with how UT does things.

4. I've been pretty silent on social media since the Hail Mary at the end of the Nebraska game, but yes I have some thoughts on that game as I always do each and every Nebraska game. To me, the game was a mixed bag. The most encouraging thing that I saw was that when it looked really bad at halftime and BYU looked like it might run and hide, Riley and Co. made the necessary adjustments to put the Huskers back in the game and give them a chance to win. This was something that didn't happen very often in the Pelini or Callahan eras.

Tommy Armstrong also looked very much improved...poised in the pocket and showed drastic improvement. He struggled through the middle part of the game when the offense became a bit too predictable but once NU turned the momentum he settled in once again.

Offensive line needs work though...major work. Part of it is experience, BYU's offensive line had more experience (as in combined career starts) over Nebraska's by a wide margin. Nebraska's offensive line is also very small comapred to most great offensive lines...average of 290 lbs isn't very big.

The way NU played that final Hail Mary needless to say was atrocious...should probably have rushed 4 or 5 instead of just three. Bottom line is, that Hail Mary completion cannot happen, but it did. DC Mark Banker said he goofed on that one in postgame though so hopefully he learned from it. The defense needs major improvement as well, though the returns of Jonathan Rose and Michael Rose-Ivey will hopefully help. I would be ready for a 7-5 season or something like that if I'm a Husker fan this year.

5. Much like Riley's debut, Jim Harbaugh's debut at Michigan was a mixed bag. I think Michigan's probably further along than Nebraska though just because they showed well defensively on the road against a pretty solid Utah squad. Rudock isn't a good quarterback though.

In the NFL meanwhile, it seems as though the NFL's lightning rod the New England Patriots can't stop being in the news. Even though the Deflate Gate saga appears to be behind us, the Spygate investigation from 2007 appears to have resurfaced. According to a report by ESPN's "Outside the Lines" which focuses mainly on the 2007 Spygate investigation (and Outside the Lines unlike most ESPN shows is not a show to sneeze at, that's a show which for the most part has actual good, hard journalism), some of the allegations include:

1. The Patriots videotaped opposing signals for seven years and at least 40 games

2. Patriots staffers would sneak into the opposing team's locker room and steal the opposing team's script for the first 20 some-odd plays

3. Said staffers would pillage opposing teams' hotel rooms looking for materials related to game plans

As you might guess, there is more. You can read the story here: Patriots Outside the Lines story. The only other thing I'll say about this is now you see why Goodell isn't going to lose his job even though Brady got his suspension revoked. The owners are definitely still pissed about Spygate and are most certainly pleased with how Goodell handled Deflategate.

Lastly, a few thoughts regarding the baseball pennant races which are heating up:

1. Re: the Astros, I don't think there is a team in the AL the Astros can't beat, but I think realistically this team is probably a year or so away. The lead is down to 1 game over a surging Rangers team and the teams are tied in the loss column plus the Astros are in the midst of a long road trip. There is a very good chance that the Astros will be playing in a wild card game in early October and a better than decent chance they might not be in the playoffs at all. If they were to play in a wild-card game against the Yanks I'd like their chances though.

2. A Blue Jays/Royals ALCS is very likely right now, although I'm not particularly crazy about the way the Royals are playing at this point. Alex Gordon is back for the Royals, but they have a key reliever out as a result of their chicken pox problems and the White Sox rolled through them three straight last weekend, granted the White Sox aren't playing terrible baseball right now. A Jays/Royals ALCS would be a solid ratings-getter though, there is some pretty bad blood between these teams.

3. The Cardinals are 1-4 in their last five games at home against the Pirates and Cubs. I've said it all along; they're in trouble come October because Wainwright is a guy they have to have to be able to win a championship. Their other pitchers are capable but Wainwright is the one true ace on that staff. That Matt Holliday is iffy at best to come back doesn't help their cause either. Whoever wins that wild card game between the Cubs and Pirates has a very good chance to eliminate the Cardinals.

4. Right when I thought the Dodgers might be in trouble after getting swept in Houston, just like that they've won 13 of their last 15 and have a playoff spot all but locked up. There could be a lot of quick games in a Mets/Dodgers Division Series, which looks very likely right now.

5. You can pretty much say good night to the Washington Nationals because the New York Mets are flat ripping the Nationals' hearts out.

Down 7-1 after six innings and appearing dead and buried Tuesday night, in a game the Nationals had to have, the Mets rose out of the grave and smacked the Nationals right in the face with that shovel and came back to win...and in the process, might have sped up the Nationals own demise in what has to be one of the most disappointing seasons by any team in recent memory. Going into the season, I couldn't see any way that the Nationals wouldn't win 100 games with the talent they have.

It's not technically over but Washington is down six games now, with just four games left against the Mets and three of them are in New York. If Dandy Don Meredith were still with us, I think you know what he'd say....

Until next time....

6/17: NBA Finals, Hack Gate, Football and Much More

First thing's first: I have links on this blog post, and this time they go to the websites I intend to have them go to. I found that problem last time and fixed it up on the last blog post.

Anyways, now with the hockey and basketball postseason done and the College World Series over halfway done, now begins the long march through the summer towards football. The PGA's U.S. Open is this weekend, and I'll get to that a bit later. Now, normally this is a football based blog as I have said many times before. But there are other big stories this week, and I think I'll start with the NBA Finals, then the mess involving the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Golden State Warriors are the NBA champions for the first time in 40 years; first time since the Rick Barry days that the Warriors have been to the top of the mountain. They are more than worthy to hold the crown. They were the best team in the Association all season, 67 wins, and they lost just three games while going through a tough Western Conference.

Granted, they didn't have to play either of last year's Western Conference finalists (Oklahoma City missed the playoffs due to injuries and the Spurs lost in that epic seven game slugfest with the Clippers), but that's not their fault; they can only play who is in front of them. And they had to survive two tough series against a really physical Memphis team and then against the game's best player.

Two things about the Warriors: One is that the team's future is really bright. This is going to be a team right back in contention next year and for many years to come. High-caliber forward Draymond Green is a free-agent-to-be, but I'd really be surprised if he leaves this group. Everyone else is locked in, except for assistant Alvin Gentry who will be off to New Orleans to coach the Pelicans.

Two is that they made a really bold decision to fire Mark Jackson, who won over 50 games last year, but they wanted to get to the top of the mountain. And by hiring Steve Kerr, that's exactly what they did. Kerr is a championship caliber coach who played under Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, and has spent time in color-commentary watching games. He was arguably last offseason's most sought-after coach and Kerr was able to take the Warriors to that elusive next level which they so badly wanted to get to.

That's not to say that Cleveland didn't show well though. They were without two of their three best players and still had Golden State nervous through the first three games of this series until Kerr made the necessary adjustments. Kevin Love will probably leave to go to the Lakers (he's an LA native and played at UCLA), but if they can get another good player to go with Kyrie Irving and Lebron they will be right back in the hunt next season.

At present, they're probably the only team in the East that could hang with any of the West heavyweights. The top four teams preseason next year will likely be the Spurs, Thunder, Warriors and Cavs, not necessarily in that order. The rest of the pecking order will likely be decided by free agency.

Now, on to baseball and the Cardinals situation. For those living under a rock, the St. Louis Cardinals are in a little bit of hot water with none other than the F.B.I. and it involves actions taken against the Astros, of all teams. You can read more about the details here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/17/sports/baseball/st-louis-cardinals-hack-astros-fbi.html?smid%3D=tw-nytsports&_r=0

I've already seen comparisons between the Cardinals' actions and those of the Patriots; for those comparing the actions of the Cardinals to what the Patriots did by allegedly deflating footballs last year in the playoffs, that's really not a fair comparison. No matter what you think about the Patriots, they never got in trouble with the feds for deflated footballs. Also, if the NYT report is true that the hacking was done by vengeful Cardinals employees looking to get back at Jeff Luhnow for leaving the Cardinals to go to Houston, then it looks really bad for the Cardinals.

It looks really bad especially considering that they have the best record in the sport right now at 21 or 22 games over .500, whatever it is and that the Astros, until now, have been trying to get their team back to a respectable level. The Cards have also been to the league championship series each of the last four years and have been to a World Series once since he left, so why would any Cardinals employee or fan be angry with Luhnow? If anything they should be thankful for Luhnow helping to build the core of that team to what it is now.

And in case you're wondering, they've already said that "the alleged conduct has no place in our game." Pretty much what I'd expect them to say under the circumstances. If this investigation is proven to be true, it will be interesting to see if they actually take action against the employees who pulled this off.

In the wake of the Chicago Blackhawks' recently NHL Stanley Cup title which they won on Monday, a Korean newspaper made a huge mistake in a headline. As someone who has done copy editing/proofreading in the past, I find this worth a look. Right city, wrong team, editors. You can see it here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2498698-korean-newspaper-runs-headline-proclaiming-chicago-bears-stanley-cup-champs?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national

Time for some football news now. So apparently, TheScore, a sports news app centered towards mobile devices such as the iPhone, did an NFL likability list based on each team's front office. Unsurprisingly (in my view) the Washington Redskins came in dead last and it's mainly because of owner Daniel Snyder, who just can't seem to get out of his own way in the Redskins' front office.

 If you want a general picture of how deep the agony in D.C. goes, take a listen to this epic rant by D.C. sports radio host Chad Dukes following a 59-28 beatdown by the Eagles several years back on Monday Night Football; this was when Shanahan was the coach there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXwzlXEipc

The names have generally changed with the Redskins, but the frustration remains and the team cannot get out of the gutter and I sense they won't get out of the gutter until Snyder leaves. By the way, if you're wondering who is the No. 1 most likable team based on the front office, it's the Green Bay Packers which to me is not that surprising.

Besides the Cavs losing in the Finals, the other big piece of news today in Cleveland is that Johnny Football's going to put away the money sign that he has taken to doing since his last year at A&M. It appears, at least through words so far, that Johnny's stay in rehab in the offseason has done him some good as he also conceded today that he was a distraction to the team with his off-field behavior.

Granted, those are just words and actions always speak louder than words. But the first step to fixing the problem is admitting you have one, and by going to rehab and addressing the media, Johnny appears to be willing to try to fix that problem.

From college football, the big news today from a meeting of the Collegiate Commissioners Association is that a proposal to create an early signing period for recruits has been tabled for one year. This proposal, if passed, would allow high school players to make commitments binding to schools in mid-December. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that if it's passed, to be honest.

Here in Texas, the big college football news is that the U of Texas athletic director Steve Patterson approved alcohol sales beginning this fall at UT home games. My response to that is this; like college football needs alcohol to be sold in stadiums. I don't think it enhances the fan experience, the last thing we need is fans actually drinking during a game. At Nebraska, alcohol is expressly prohibited inside Memorial Stadium, which I think is the correct stance.

Speaking of the Huskers, QB commit Patrick O'Brien from California got some very high marks at the Elite 11 quarterback camp last week, where he made the finals of that camp. In addition, in 247 Sports recruiting database he was upgraded to a four star because of his performance at that camp.

While we're on the topic of four stars, score one for Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's program today. Offensive line Ben Bredesma from Wisconsin, who was rated No. 31 overall by 247 Sports, committed to Michigan's 2016 class today; this thus far is the biggest catch that Harbaugh has been able to land since taking the Michigan job a little less than six months ago.

And this is a really highly touted lineman: he had offers from many of the SEC's heavyweights such as Alabama, Auburn and LSU as well as Michigan's blood rivals Ohio State and Michigan State. Nebraska also offered him too, so score one for them. I believed when he was hired and I still believe now that Harbaugh is going to give Urban Meyer heartburn in the years to come.

I also like Harbaugh's stance on the satellite camp issue, which I touched on in a previous blog. He said, "In my America, you're allowed to cross state borders. That's the America I know."

Harbaugh's busy week though hasn't been without some jabs at his program, namely from their neighbors in East Lansing. Michigan State recently received their Cotton Bowl title rings for their win over Baylor. Take a look at the bottom right photo in this picture collection and notice the apparent jab at Michigan. It's a little hard to read, but it's there: https://twitter.com/RBOkerstrom/status/609852939121758208

A little piece of advice, Sparty: It's best not to poke a bear with a large stick, because that bear's eventually going to wake up.

Finally, as far as the U.S. Open golf tournament which starts tomorrow, Mickelson is my pick. He played his best golf maybe ever at Augusta, it's on the West Coast, he won't get many more shots at the career slam, and he finished very strong at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. I do think this tournament will be won by a big name, whether it be Rory, Phil, Spieth, or someone like that. I don't think you're going to see some middling golfer rise up and win this tournament. If you're looking for sleepers though, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Kevin Kisner might be worth looking at.

Until next time....

6/3: All sorts of sports + visiting fans

Back with another blog. Arguably the best time of the sports year: College World Series breathing down our necks, NBA and NHL Finals on the way, MLB baseball heating up. Plus, Cam Newton got a nice, big, fat contract. As a matter of fact, that's where I'm going to start. This is a football blog, after all.

So let's talk about Cam Newton: Yes, he won a Heisman Trophy and a national championship at Auburn. He came from 24 points down against Alabama in their building in 2010 and brought the title back to Auburn. And in the NFL he had a stellar rookie campaign.

But let's look at the facts, too: He has a single season above .500, has a TD/INT ratio of just 1.5 and ranked 27th in the NFL last year in that statistic. Even E.J. Manuel, who got his behind benched in Buffalo for Kyle Orton, had a better ratio than him. He's also been progressively worse the last four years, and had his worst season in the NFL in 2014.

Yet, he got paid. Oh, he got paid all right. To the tune of a $103.8 mil contract extension. This includes $67.6 mil over the first three guaranteed years. Sure, this guy is a talented quarterback. But THAT much money for a guy who's gotten progressively worse each year in the league? Yeah, I don't know about that one.

On baseball: Wonder how many people saw Joey Gallo's debut for the Rangers last night. He has been a AA prospect in their system but a very highly prized one. Yes, AA, not AAA. Yet, because of Adrian Beltre's injury over the weekend (which sadly caused me to put Beltre on the DL in my fantasy baseball league), they called him up this week and he made his debut last night. And in his debut against Jeff Samardzjia and the White Sox he did not disappoint; he had three hits, and came within a triple of the cycle.

Makes you wonder, with the Astros injury situation at shortstop (their normal starting shortstop Jed Lowrie is currently on the DL), should the Astros bring up Carlos Correa right now. Correa, like Gallo, is a very highly prized prospect, and is probably the most talked about of the Astros young players in the minors (he is at AAA Fresno right now). His talent is definitely off the charts, but his #s aren't great in AAA. Personally, I don't think they necessarily need to bring him up right now, but with the AL West starting to heat up a bit, I'd keep my finger near that trigger. He could be the difference between the Astros making the playoffs and sitting at home.

While we're on baseball, let's go to the college game now and I'll start by saying this: even though the Huskers had a terrible year on the baseball diamond, the Big 10 having two teams (Illinois and Maryland) with a legit shot to make it to Omaha is a very healthy thing for the sport. In baseball, it's natural that a team from the south would have the advantages over the northern schools because of weather and days you can get outside to play baseball. Here in Texas, you can play ball all year round and the high school baseball season usually starts around late February and early March.

In fact, the Big 10 got more teams into the Super Regionals (two) than the Big 12 got (one, and the Big 12 wouldn't have any if North Carolina State hadn't gagged massively in their regional final Monday against TCU). No doubt, as much as I hate to say it, the SEC is the best baseball conference (they got five teams into the Supers and will likely put multiple teams in Omaha) but it is good to see the Big 10 with a pulse. In particular, Maryland, a team who kind of struggled at times this season, beating top overall seed UCLA (and a team that won it all two years ago) was huge for the Big 10.

And as far as NC State: How is it possible to give up SEVEN, yes, SEVEN unearned runs in the space of two innings? TCU was done like dinner and then NC State just...lost it. That's a loss they will never live down.

On the NBA Finals, which start tomorrow: The Warriors have the better team, but do not underestimate Lebron. That man is as close to superhuman as the NBA has right now. I think it goes 7 but the Warriors prevail.

One Rockets note: apparently James Harden was recently seen with Denver point guard Ty Lawson. Could the Rockets somehow snag Lawson in free agency? That would be terrific because a Rockets area of need is a point guard and Lawson would fill that void quite nicely.

Time to briefly touch on FIFA (soccer) now and their ongoing corruption scandal. The last anyone heard of this corruption scandal, seven men were being hauled out of a hotel in Switzerland a week ago today in connection to an investigation by the FBI into wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

Think about this: FIFA decided to give Qatar the World Cup in 2022, pretty much the highest level of that sport on a national scale. Now think about this: in Qatar it's hotter than blue blazes in the summer so they'd have to play it in the winter when the best players in the world are all playing in their respective worldwide leagues, and they don't have the stadiums to hold this huge event.

In addition, according to an article from the Washington Post, the workers who were hired to build these stadiums are dying at an alarming rate. From everything I have read, the worker conditions in Qatar aren't good.

So yeah, I think it's possible there was some dirty money underneath the table for Qatar to get this event. In all honesty though, this thing goes pretty deep: this investigation isn't just about the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids. I'm not going to go into all the details, but this whole problem FIFA's got goes a lot deeper than that.

The good news for FIFA is that Sepp Blatter, the head of FIFA, resigned yesterday. Hopefully for them that is a step in the right direction.

And finally, a first, and very possibly last, for this blog: something related to hockey. That sport played on ice with a puck. Actually, I'm not even sure it's hockey; it's more of a fans thing and the asinine decisions sometimes made by professional sports organizations and college athletic departments in response to a lot of visiting fans in their stadiums. I wasn't going to talk about this, honestly, until I saw the link below on my Yahoo feed yesterday. Thus, this little soapbox.

Something's happened relating to the Stanley Cup Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, which begin tonight, that touches a bit too close to home as a lifetime fan of Nebraska and in particular football. You see, the Tampa Bay Lightning have this asinine dress code for visiting fans that, because they are playing in a final series, is getting a little national attention. They aren't going to throw Blackhawks fans out of the building, but it's asinine enough. You can read more about it here: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/pass-or-fail--tampa-bay-lightning-s-anti-visiting-fan-dress-code-140431070.html

See, this hits a bit too close to home as a lifetime fan of the Huskers because these are the kind of tactics Husker fans were used to from schools like Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, etc. who would see Nebraska fans fill their stadium for big games every Saturday during the fall and they would try various things to keep Nebraska fans out of the stadium (that is, before the Huskers went to the Big 10).

For example, CU used to drive up ticket prices for just the Nebraska game alone. Nebraska would get anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 fans at places like Folsom Field and CU players and fans hated it. I don't like Notre Dame's football program at all (though Catholic, I still don't like them), but at least when the Huskers went there in 2000, Notre Dame didn't try any stupid tactics to keep Husker fans out.

Similarly, TCU will face A&M in college baseball's super regionals this weekend and with the powerful Aggie base of fans in this state there will be a lot of them in TCU's ballpark. A&M's school is about four or five times the size of TCU and they have a very powerful network. I hope TCU makes a concentrated effort to get their fans in the stadium while still allowing Aggies to watch their team.

Bottom line: bush league move by the Lightning, similar to what Colorado, K-State, and others used to do when the Huskers came to town on Saturdays during football. Get more of your fans in, and don't be bush league to other fans who want to see their team.

Until next time....

5/21: Ray Rice, other football stuff and Rockets

Just a few quick notes as this Thursday winds down here in Texas:

From the NFL, the charges against Ray Rice of domestic violence stemming from him punching his then-fiancee Janay Palmer were dropped. That's just unbelievable. You mean to tell me that a guy can hit his girlfriend in an elevator, be caught doing it and have the charges be dropped? What kind of world are we living in today where Tom Brady and Deflate Gate gets more attention than a star running back hitting a woman?

What's even worse is that he's talented enough to play in the NFL again, and whichever team ends up with him in the future is going to see his jersey be a popular seller in stores in that market. Sadly, as a Nebraska graduate and lifetime fan I've seen this story one too many times.

Lawrence Phillips hit his ex-girlfriend in 1995, Osborne booted him but decided to give him a second chance (when he really didn't need to, as they won the title without him anyways) as did many other coaches but he never learned. I can only hope that unlike Lawrence, that Ray Rice learns from his mistake but how can the charges be dropped when he was caught on camera?

Speaking of the Huskers, Mike Riley landed his second quarterback recruit of Nebraska's 2016 class, Patrick O'Brien out of California. Amongst the many things I hope I will see with Riley that we didn't see with Pelini is he needs to be aggressive on the recruiting trail all year round. Sometimes, what we saw with Pelini was that during the school year he would recruit decently, but in the summer the recruiting really tailed off.

Two cases in point: Damore'ea Stringfellow and Hunter Dale. Stringfellow was a wide receiver transfer from Washington for approximately two to three weeks last summer, but then opted to go to Ole Miss instead. Then, two-sport star Hunter Dale from Louisiana committed to the Huskers, then said he didn't and went elsewhere. They had 11 commits last year in May then got stuck on that # for quite a while.

One final Husker take: The end of the Husker baseball season was a complete disaster and for as much as I like Erstad, he's got to take the brunt of the responsibility. There needs to be at least some pressure on him to perform next year and that goes for all three major Husker sports for that matter. This is by far the worst the three major Husker sports have done since Nebraska came into the Big 10. I think Riley can win the West this coming fall, but basketball has a ways to go and baseball needs better hitting and better assistants in the dugout.

A few more NFL takes: The Chargers are apparently optimistic they can sign Philip Rivers. Hopefully, for their sakes, they can. Rivers has a mouth, but he is a gamer and he is a winner. Chargers could have made the playoffs last year but all their running backs got hurt it seemed.

So apparently Tom Brady's endorsement value has dropped since Deflate Gate. Ha, you think? Do I think Deflate Gate is overblown, yeah, but considering what many people think about the Pats, they don't need a reason to not trust Tom Brady. Speaking of the Pats, returning New York Jet Darrelle Revis opened his mouth recently, saying that the "Patriots have a history of doing stuff." Which is pretty much what I would expect any player under contract with the Jets to say. Interesting that he said it, but not surprising.

Smart move by the Saints to sign Andrus Peat to a four year deal. The Saints can use some improvements in run-game blocking and in protection for Drew Brees and Peat is just what the doctor ordered. Oh and by the way, he's another recruit that Bo Pelini missed out on.

As far as the Rockets tonight, devastating loss. If they wanted any chance to win this series, they had to get one of the first two games in Golden State. They had chances in both of those games but could not get it done. I think they can win a couple of games, but asking them to beat that Golden State Warriors team four out of five times is asking quite a bit. Honestly, the Rockets' biggest weakness is point guard. Even if Patrick Beverley were out there checking Curry, he's not an elite point guard; career backup at best. If the Rockets want to take that final step to win a championship, then they must get an upgrade at that position.

As to whether Cleveland could beat Golden State, uh, no. Lebron as great as he is isn't beating this Golden State team four times in a seven game series. Sorry, but the Cleveland curse continues.

Until next time....

5/18: Football never stops, Clutch City reborn

So, as you can probably tell, this blog post is going to be VERY heavily leaning towards both college and pro football (as it usually does) plus the Rockets shocking comeback over the Clippers in the NBA Playoffs. That having been said....

Let's begin with quite a bit of football, starting in the college game. Though it is the offseason, recruiting is heating up for National Signing Day 2016, and there are some transfers hitting the "open market" so to speak as well.

Two of the offseason's hottest transfer possibilities, Everett Golson and Braxton Miller, still haven't made their final decisions yet. In the last blog, I mentioned that there was a rumor several weeks ago that Finebaum of the SEC Network had a source who said Miller may transfer to Alabama.

Needless to say, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith doesn't see that happening, Sitting down with a reporter from Eleven Warriors, an Ohio State based website, Smith said, "No, he's not going anywhere. Where's the rumors? He never said that."

Smith further went on to say that Miller loves it in Columbus, has a child and is in a good position. Obviously, Smith is not waffling on this position.

We shall see. But the Ohio State depth chart at QB, plus him being able to play right away leaves the transfer possibility always open until we hear it from the horse's mouth.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson is also a hot "prospect" as far as transfer possibilities. The rumor was that he was going to make a decision on where he'd play football next year (he has a year of eligibility remaining and will be able to play immediately as he graduated from Notre Dame on Saturday), but it appears he will keep the college football world waiting a bit longer according to Brett McMurphy of ESPN.

In Norman, the rough waters since the 2014 Sugar Bowl continue for Oklahoma's football program, as sophomore wide receiver K.J. Young was dismissed for violating team rules, and defensive backs Tito Windham and Marcus Green are set to transfer. Those three join running back Keith Ford, who announced he would transfer last week.

Auburn has had a week of setbacks as well though they did land the services of former five-star offensive lineman (and ex-Longhorn) Darius James this week; War Eagle lost three defensive backs to transfers in the past week as Kamryn Melton will be joined by fellow defensive backs Derrick Moncrief and Joe Turner in leaving the program. Moncrief is the biggest loss of all of them experience wise, as he played in all 13 games for Auburn this past year.

From the NFL comes the most confusing thing of the day; the Miami Dolphins signed Ryan Tannehill to a six year, 96M contract extension. What they see in this guy I'll never know; he's not a bad quarterback, but I certainly don't think he's a quarterback that is worth that much money. But if they want to put all their money on a decent but not great quarterback, knock yourselves out Miami.

Also from the NFL, Justin Smith, consistently one of the best defensive ends in the game, retires after 14 seasons in the pros. Amongst consistently drawing double teams and opening up gaps for linebackers in his tenures in Cincinnati and San Francisco, he played in a remarkable 221 out of 224 games in his 14 year career (thanks to Chris Sprow of ESPN for that stat). That's just about impossible in today's NFL. Smith played his college ball at Mizzou, an old rival of the Huskers, but I tip my hat today to one of the most durable players the NFL has seen in some time.

This also continues the rough offseason for the Niners, who of course lost Jim Harbaugh after the regular season and lost their other defensive stalwart Patrick Willis, who also retired this offseason.

Elsewhere from the Shield, apparently former Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan would coach again if the situation was right. Speaking at a panel discussion for a lifestyle brand founded by a former NFL player, Shanahan said,

"You go 18 hours a day for 40-something years, and then you got a year and a half to two years where you feel like you got the time to do whatever you want to do," Shanahan said. "I still study the heck out of football. I actually have more time. I study more football than I actually did before."

Listen, Shanahan is a great football mind, has been for years. But there was one decision that, to me, set back his entire professional coaching career significantly and that was continuing to play Robert Griffin III in that playoff game against Seattle (in the 2012-13 season) when it was obvious Griffin couldn't play anymore. Honestly, if anyone hires this guy after that I'll be shocked.

Also from the NFL, current Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (you may remember him as a national title winning quarterback at Auburn as well) had a great moment with a horse racing fan this weekend at the Preakness Stakes. American Pharoah won the race to bring him within a victory at the Belmont Stakes of the first Triple Crown in 37 years, but a fan who had a winning ticket got to be in a photo with Newton. That's pretty cool.

On a side note, I'd love to see the Triple Crown come true, but there's a reason it hasn't been done in 37 years; it's probably the hardest feat to pull off in all of sports.

Cancer got another victim this weekend unfortunately; this time it was former Miami Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian, who was a part of the 17-0 Dolphins perfect season. My thoughts are with him and his family at this hour. Also, my thoughts are with Seattle defensive tackle Jesse Williams, who will undergo surgery for kidney cancer.

Chargers owner Dean Spanos stepped away from the day to day operations of the Chargers on Monday, ceding control of the team to his sons, John and Alexander Gus. Hopefully the Spanos boys can work with the NFL to keep the Chargers in San Diego; I would hate to see them become an LA product.

And finally, from the NFL Captain Obvious department, Joe Buscaglia of WKBW in Buffalo reports that unless E.J. Manuel makes significant progress in the offseason his time with the Buffalo Bills could be numbered. Uh, yeah, Captain Obvious. They wouldn't have gone and picked up Matt Cassel if they were totally confident in E.J. Manuel's ability.

Now, let's get to the NBA Playoffs, and more specifically, the return of the Clutch City Rockets, who became just the ninth team in NBA history to wipe out a 3-1 series deficit and just the second NBA franchise (joining the Boston Celtics of 1968 and 1981) to do it twice. Which, I might add, I believed had no chance of happening approximately one week ago. In fact, I said on this very blog one week ago that until they got some tougher players this was as far as the Rockets were going to go in the playoffs.

Ha. Maybe I should have said that about the Clippers. Who, by the way, reminded us all that they are still the Clippers and will forever be the little brother to the Lakers in Los Angeles.

I think, though, that you have to give a ton of credit to Kevin McHale and also to his assistants T.R. Dunn and J.B. Bickerstaff. In particular, it was the insertion of Josh Smith into the starting lineup in Game 5 last Tuesday in Houston that changed the momentum of the series. The biggest difference in the series was two factors; one, it's that McHale outcoached Doc Rivers as he did Rick Carlisle of the Mavs in the previous round. Both of those men, by the way, have won NBA titles as a coach.

The other is plain and simply that the Clippers have no bench and really are average outside of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. It was something I thought might catch up to them earlier in the series with them having been through a seven game bloodbath with the Spurs, but it ended up happening right at the end of this series. Once the Rockets shut down the three main Clippers role players (Matt Barnes, Jamal Crawford and JJ Redick) the Rockets had the advantage.

To wit, in game 5, the three Clippers shot a combined 6 for 30. In the incredible Game 6 comeback in which the Rockets rallied from 19 down late in the third, those three men shot a combined 12 for 38. And yesterday, those three shot 10 for 32. I think most who watched that series knew that Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, James Harden and Dwight Howard would get their points but this series was decided in large part by role players. In the three Clippers wins, Redick, Crawford and Barnes all played very well.

In contrast to the Clippers, the Rockets are a much deeper team; they had eight guys who played 20 or more minutes yesterday. And it was a key reserve, Pablo Prigioni, that sparked the decisive run of yesterday's game.

I believe the mentality of this Rockets team is very strong and it is a find-a-way mentality; I don't think at this point that they feel they are out of any game. That was never more evident than last Thursday night where they wiped out a 19 point Clipper lead late in the third. The team has been that way all year; they had to go without Dwight Howard for the majority of the season, and they've lost two key starters including their starting point guard who hasn't played in two months.

Speaking of said point guard, Patrick Beverley, he finally got his cast off today for his surgically repaired wrist and despite the slim possibility that he'll be able to play, he has said he wants to try to suit up against Golden State in the West Finals. Will that happen, I'm not sure but it's something to keep an eye on.

As far as that matchup goes, would I pick them to beat Golden State, probably not. But after what they did against the Clippers, I'm not sure I'd bet against them either. It's a pretty good time to be a Houston sports fan right now with the Rockets in the West Finals and the Astros having the best record in baseball.

As far as the Clippers go, that's a series that franchise won't be able to forget for some time. All the bleach in the world can't blotch that series out. Up 3-1, a game away from their first ever conference finals, and up 19 in the third quarter of Game 6 and they lost it all. The only way the pain of this series can be erased is if some day the Clippers get to the NBA Finals, and maybe win it all. This one's roughly equivalent to the pre-2004 Red Sox collapses, specifically 1978, 1986 and 2003.

There are a lot of guys responsible for this collapse, but most significantly this loss lands at the feet of Doc Rivers. It's sad because I like Doc after he led them through the Donald Sterling mess last year, but fact is he is the general manager and the coach. That he didn't have the bench to counter Houston's depth is in large part his fault. The Clippers really have only six guys I would consider threats, which isn't enough in the playoffs.

Until next time....

5/11: A lot of ground to cover in multiple areas

It has been some time, hasn't it? Close to a month, so there's quite a bit of ground to cover.

This is normally a football blog, so naturally I'm going to start there. And I'm going to start with what has to be the most overhyped, overblown "scandal," that I have seen in sports in a long time, known as "Deflate Gate." My thought on this is; why in the world are we still over-hyping this? It's four months out from what allegedly happened and we're still making it out to be some huge thing?

For those unaware, independent attorney Ted Wells was hired by the NFL to do some investigating into whether the Patriots deflated their footballs in the AFC title game. He completed his investigation last week, and concludes that it is "more probable than not that the locker room attendant, equipment assistant and Tom Brady were aware of releasing air."

Look, there's a distinction to be made here. I don't mind the NFL going and investigating whether the Patriots deflated the footballs. I do have a problem with everyone over-hyping this whole thing and saying it's completely the reason the Patriots won a Super Bowl, or all four of them. The final of the game in question (AFC title game) was 45-7. This whole thing is not the reason the Patriots won that football game, or the Super Bowl after that.

I told you guys back in January that the sports media and Patriots haters in general were making a mountain out of a molehill, and they still are. Frankly, if there's anything I was more concerned about regarding the Patriots, it was that Aaron Hernandez get what was coming to him, and he did.

Meanwhile, in Houston (and no the Rockets aren't off the hook, I'll get to them later), Texans coach Bill O'Brien, according to Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle, said that the Texans "have a lack of conditioning" and "need to get in better shape as a whole." He also didn't mince words when he said it was the long snapper who was in the best shape of those attending mini-camp.

Talk about no-nonsense; it's a far different cry from what we had in the previous regime. O'Brien is building toughness and setting high standards for the players that come in here. This is why he will be a winner here.

From Dallas Cowboys camp, it appears that there has been mutual interest prior to and after the draft about the possibility of the Cowboys acquiring Adrian Peterson from the Vikings. That having been said, it appears the Palestine, Texas native will not be returning home any time soon. So sayeth Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, who told TMZ Sunday that "we are both from East Texas. We believe in the same thing. Just as much as he love the game, I love the game the same way I think it would be something very special."

The Vikings are not willing to cooperate according to Bryant, who said "the Vikings not lettin' that happen, cause if they did, the league would know what would happen," Bryant said. "That man is a monster. He's something special."

I can't honestly say I blame the Vikings for holding onto All Day, although this smells eerily similar to the Herschel Walker trade in 1989 where the Cowboys sent Herschel Walker and a few other picks to Minnesota. Dallas received a king's ransom in that deal; they got several players but more importantly, received three first round picks, three second round picks and a third round pick.

Two of those picks became Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson, two of the cornerstones of the Dallas run in the 1990s. One thing I think we can all agree on, Adrian Peterson is the franchise in Minnesota.

One more NFL note; the saddest thing about the whole Deflate Gate thing is it is overshadowing Gronk being Gronk. Gronk, of course, refers to Rob Gronkowski of the Patriots, who celebrated his 26th birthday this past weekend in Las Vegas. You know how the old saying goes, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Not with Gronk. Some of the highlights featured Gronk in a wig, two Super Bowl themed birthday cakes, inflatable footballs, and as per usual with Gronk, lots and lots of dancing. No one in the League knows how to have a good time like Gronk, I'm convinced.

From college football, before I go to more current events, I want to double back and talk about a possibility that surfaced a few weeks ago that I should have touched on then. A few weeks ago, a report by the SEC Network's Paul Finebaum surfaced that he had a source who said that it is possible Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller may transfer to Alabama.

The thing that makes this believable and gives it legs is that 1. he would be immediately eligible to play next season; he has eligibility left but graduated in December 2. he'd be most probably third on Ohio State's depth chart with the rise of J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones and 3. he'd immediately be the most talented quarterback on Alabama's roster.

All I can say is this; the rest of the SEC better hope this does not happen. Because if it does, Alabama becomes that much more lethal, even without Cooper. They already have an abundance of talent every year, and if they were to add Braxton...watch out.

Speaking of Nick Saban (this was something I also should have touched on), it seems to me that he has a problem with schools like Michigan and Penn State setting up satellite camps in his own territory. In case college football fans, or non-fans for that matter, don't know what "satellite camps" are you can read up on them here: http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/110369/what-you-need-to-know-about-satellite-camps

My response to this is; et tu, Nick? The man who has no problem stuffing his team with talented players and walking into Iowa and poaching Ross Pierschbacher after he had already committed to Iowa has a problem with this? Can't have it both ways, Nick.

In more recent events, here in Texas, even though the Aggies and Longhorns don't play anymore, the fires of rivalry still run hot, particularly in the A&M camp. In a Thursday interview with the Texas Tribune, A&M system chancellor John Sharp didn't pass up the opportunity to take a shot at UT and its Longhorn Network when he said this,

"We're hopeful that sometime in the future there will be a bowl game that we're able to play in, you know, if (Texas) gets there," Sharp said. "But the great thing about playing us is that you can get on real TV if you play us."

Honestly, there's no reason why those two can't play each other but the thing is, it takes two to dance. And if Texas won't do it, then it won't happen.

On the NBA playoffs, a few things stand out:

1. LeBron James got one on Chicago Sunday just as Michael Jordan did to Cleveland so many times in the past. His buzzer-beating three tied that series at two, and may have swung it back in favor of the Cavs with 5 and 7 at home.

2. The Rockets' goose is totally cooked. The bad thing for them is this; they're playing a Clippers team that is much tougher than it was in the past (that San Antonio slugfest did something to the Clippers because they're tougher and nastier than they've ever been), and Chris Paul when he's in is a terrible matchup for the Rockets. Getting beat by 20 to 30 points in two straight games is not a good look at all. McHale's done a good job this year, but until they get some mentally tougher players this is about as far as they're going to go.

3. Mike Conley is back and playing well and that's bad news for Golden State. With that series at 2-1 Memphis, game 4 is obviously a must win for the Warriors.

4. That Spurs/Clippers series was a war; a seven-game war and a classic. The Spurs are still the Spurs but it's obvious the Clippers have learned a lot from that series too. I think the next time those two play each other the Spurs will be look to exact their pound of flesh much as they did to Lebron last year.

Next, a few baseball things:

1. Big series win by the Royals in Detroit, capped off with a 2-1 10th inning victory late last night. Like them or not, the Royals have been able to survive all the suspensions and several injuries and are still at the top of the AL Central. They have also, largely, managed to stay out of trouble since Yordano Ventura's brawl with the White Sox.

2. At least early on, the Yankees are in first place. It's their first year in a long while without either Mariano Rivera or Derek Jeter playing regularly for them, yet so far they are making it work after beating the Orioles three out of four this weekend.

3. The Astros are off to a good start, but I want to see how they do long-term against teams outside the AL West. The Astros have been helped a ton by playing the AL West for the majority of the first month of the year, which has been playing mediocre. I still feel that Seattle, if they can hang on until June when one of their better pitchers comes back will challenge the Astros, but the Angels, Rangers and A's have played mediocre so far. Most of the teams the Astros will be playing are outside the division for the next long while, so this will be interesting to see.

4. The Cardinals are the best team in the NL right now, but my feeling is that long-term, without Adam Wainwright, they won't be. That's the most well-run organization in sports or one of them, but you need big-time players to win a championship eventually. I pegged them to win the NL at the beginning of the year, but you need aces like that in the long run.

5. I'm still intrigued by the Mets, who still sit in first place in May. Them and Washington is going to be a great race all summer; the young stable of arms for the Mets vs Washington who bought the farm to go get Scherzer for a run at the title.

One final golf note; very glad to see Rickie Fowler win the Players' Championship yesterday at TPC Sawgrass. He had a great year last year, but couldn't get that proverbial 900 lb. gorilla off his back with a big win. He did so yesterday. Can he win one of the three majors this year? Maybe not, but it looks like he's gearing up for a run at it.

Lastly, I hope all the mothers and mothers to be had a great Mother's Day Weekend.

Until next time....

4/20: A lot of ground to cover

As the title suggests, this was a very busy sports weekend, football and otherwise.

The biggest news from the football world this weekend occurred yesterday, and it involved none other than Timothy Richard Tebow, who if you recall almost had a cult following the last time he was in the league especially when the Broncos went to the playoffs under his watch. It was a cult following that included, amongst others, Skip Bayless of ESPN.

One thing we've already seen is that Chip Kelly isn't afraid to do things his way, and this is just another example. He's already dealt away his two top offensive weapons, Shady McCoy and Nick Foles (although, to be honest, most average quarterbacks could probably do well in that system) and now he's got Frank Gore and whoever the Eagles QB is going to be - and it looks like TRT is going to be at least in the mix for a bit. Since they signed Tebow, my feeling that Kelly will go after Mariota is waning. But you never know with him.

In other football news, a possibility talked about in recent weeks in some NFL circles is that Philip Rivers might get dealt from San Diego to the Tennessee Titans. Fueling these rumors is the news that the Chargers sent people to the home of the Oregon Ducks, Eugene, to work out Marcus Mariota.

Now, I'm not sure whether the Chargers will deal Philip Rivers and take a chance on Mariota (who I am not sold on as an NFL QB to begin with). I do know this; I am no fan of Philip Rivers, but that guy is a gamer and has a lot of heart and talent. I would say it would be really stupid of the Chargers to trade Rivers, but as I mentioned in the last blog, there is at least a possibility the Chargers could move to LA in the near future. And according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, Rivers "ain't about LA." So maybe if the Chargers are going to move to LA, they trade Rivers and both teams get what they want.

Also from the NFL, Andre Johnson said recently that he didn't sign with the Colts to get back at the Texans. Yeah, that's reaaaaaalllll believable, Andre. If it weren't about revenge, then you wouldn't have signed with a division rival. You could have gone to the Pats or someplace else and had a chance to win a Super Bowl. But where did you go...to a Texans division rival.

On college football; it is ridiculous that the Big 10 and Delany are still pushing for freshmen to be ineligible in football and basketball. In case you missed it, Delany sent out a 12 page treatise Friday explaining why he favors freshmen ineligibility.

One thing that caught my eye was from an article in Friday's USA Today, where it is noted that Delany believes the balance between academics and athletics has tilted too far in the wrong direction. Now I'm not the best translator in the world, but I think what this really is, is a move against the SEC.

It's a move against the SEC and most notably the Kentucky basketballs of the world; as most fans who follow college basketball know, Kentucky has probably benefited the most from college basketball's one and done system as they sent seven players to the NBA draft this year and probably will still be ranked top 5 preseason next year. Football obviously pays the bills in college athletics, but I think the way Calipari runs his program at Kentucky has really gotten under Delany's skin.

Thing is though, there is an easier way to solve this problem and keep freshmen eligible at the same time (which is how it should be). They should use the NCAA baseball model, which I really like. In that first year draft, the guys who go into that draft are either straight out of high school or have completed at least three or four years in college and are 21 years old (and junior college players can be eligible any time). But wait, I forgot, the Big 10 doesn't care about college baseball all that much except for schools like Nebraska, which is truly a shame.

Also from college football, Ohio State gets over 99,000 for their spring game. I can't stand Ohio State but that's an impressive accomplishment. Their stadium holds between 104,000 and 105,000 so they did a good job almost filling the place up. They were part of a weekend where a lot of the SEC's heavyweights (Alabama, LSU, Auburn) also had their spring games.

Time to double back now and go to the Masters and golf; yeah, I know they played at Hilton Head this past weekend and Furyk won in a playoff but to be honest, not many of the top players played this weekend. Speaking of Spieth, there's your answer to the future of golf.

I've heard lots of chatter from talking heads in recent years that golf won't be the same without Tiger and Phil playing well. Bottom line is, golf will carry on just fine no matter who is leading it, even for as good as Tiger and Phil have been throughout their careers, and Spieth appears to be the flag bearer for the next generation. How many guys who are 21 can go do what Jordan Spieth just did at Augusta? Even more impressive was that every single one of the top golfers in the world took a run at him at one point but he had an answer for everything.

Perhaps the most appropriate thing about this Masters was that as legendary University of Texas golfer Ben Crenshaw played his final Masters, Jordan Spieth, the next generation of Texas golf and golf in general, has taken the torch and ran with it. That will not be the only major he wins, by the way.

Not a whole lot of surprises from the NBA playoffs this weekend, but I will touch on two things briefly. #1, Mavericks fans should be very concerned. Harden had a fairly quiet night and Howard played just 17 minutes Saturday and the Rockets still beat them by 10. #2, I'm not 100 percent sure the Clippers can knock out the Spurs, it's tough to knock them out 4 of 7, but the Clippers made a very large statement last night in the first game.

A few baseball things now:

1. Probably the biggest thing in baseball this weekend was the debut of highly publicized talent Kris Bryant, who made his MLB debut for the Cubs Friday against San Diego and went 0 for 4. He got a hero's welcome though, from Chicago dignitaries such as Mike Ditka. Astros fans may remember that the Astros were scouting him in the draft two years ago before they took Mark Appel instead.

2. A's/Royals looked and felt a bit like Chiefs/Raiders this weekend; there were skirmishes in all three of those games, for those who missed it. The whole thing started Friday with this play, when A's player Brett Lawrie slid into second base with his spikes up as Royals shortsop Alcides Escobar is trying to cover second. You can see the play here: http://deadspin.com/brett-lawrie-alcides-escobar-and-the-case-of-the-text-1698799891#

Now, Lawrie claims he texted Escobar after the game, Escobar claims he didn't and called Lawrie out for his slide. Personally, whether Lawrie did apologize or not, you absolutely cannot slide into second base with your spikes up. Those spikes on those cleats are dangerous. In any event, there were skirmishes on Saturday and Sunday as well. All I can say is it's going to be interesting when those teams meet again in June.

3. Like I said last week, the Mets intrigue me. They've won eight games in a row and currently sit in first in the NL East. The Nats will probably come back and take over first place, but the Mets should be a good team the whole year.

4. Almost as hot are Don Mattingly's Dodgers, who have used a seven game win streak to grab an early NL West lead and end the Rockies undefeated run of six in a row on the road.

5. Early on there is at least reason for careful optimism regarding the local nine in Houston; so far the division is playing mediocre. Even the division favorite (for a lot of people) the Seattle Mariners have had their struggles early this season. If the division continues to play mediocre, the summer could be pretty fun at Minute Maid Park.

Finally, the Boston Marathon is today. I have friends who are competing in that event. Best wishes to all the athletes in that event.

Until next time....