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....
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
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....
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....
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