The Clemens Report

That's right, that says the Clemens Report. Whether Clemens and his agent purposely named it after the much anticpated, but not so informative Mitchell Report or not, that's where the cause for the Clemens Report stems from. On Monday, Roger Clemens and his agent released an 18,000 word report (although I haven't finished counting yet) full of statistics that are supposed to prove his innocence. How can statistics prove someone innocent? I'm glad you asked. They can't, well not by my standards anyway. His basic defense is that he had no abnormal spike in stats throughout his career. Although his batting average did go from .194 in 2006 to .500 in 2007, and I don't want to hear excuses on how he had 25 less at bats in 07. If you're going to say that your stats stayed consistent, at least cover all your "bases". But back to the report. Clemens compares his stats to the stats of other pitchers as they aged such as Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, and Nolan Ryan. Feel free to make your own judgements though. You can find the report at www.rogerclemensreport.com A MUST READ! (it should at least keep you busy until Jose Canseco's new book comes out. YAY!)

Please Accept Our Letter of Your Resignation

Lane Kiffin obviously doesn't understand what exactly the Raiders are trying to say. Al Davis, owner of the Raiders has been attempting to get Kiffin to resign so that he can bring in Dennis Green. C'mon Lane, I know it's every kids dream to be a professional athlete, and we all know the saying, "those who can't do, teach". So yes being a coach in the NFL is the next best thing to being a player in the NFL, but do you really want to be the coach of the Raiders? I'm sure you can find another job elsewhere, in fact you could probably even find a job in an organization that doesn't try to force feed you your letter of resignation...Just sleep on it. I'm sure you'll make the right choice.

Top 25 Shakedown

The list of unbeatens is down to two. Just Kansas and Memphis hold that precious zero in the loss column after UNC lost to Maryland last night by a score of 82-80. Many thought that UNC would be undefeated the longest due to their big men and their depth. Personally, I like Memphis. Nobody is able to keep up with them up and down the floor for two full halves. Or maybe this is just Kansas' year. We all remember what kind of run their football program had. Lets just hope that their basketball team doesn't stall at the end of the year, although Kansas' football team definately showed that they were for real in their bowl game. But I guarantee you that Kansas and Memphis will both give up their perfect regular season records for a national title in a heart beat.
The Top 25 will have some re-sorting to do after this week, although most of it has to do with Saturday's games. Seven of the top 25 lost on Saturday including 1 UNC, 4 UCLA, 9 Texas A&M, 15 Mississippi, 16 Pitt, 24 Miami (FL), 25 Arizona State. It seems obvious that Memphis will be 2 and Kansas will be 3. It will be interesting to see how far UNC and UCLA fall as well as who will be joining the top 25 since both 24 and 25 lost. I'm sure there will be plenty of talk until the new rankings come out so enjoy the havoc known as college basketball.

Harbaugh to Baltimore

John Harbaugh will be the next coach of the Baltimore Ravens, and the second coach to be hired this off season after the Dolphins named Tony Sparano their new head coach. Harbaugh has spent most of his coaching time with the Philadelphia Eagles. This hiring now leaves just two head coaching jobs open, the Falcons and the Redskins. Monday may bring a third vacancy if Tony Dungy steps down as the head coach of the Colts although it is thought that he will stay one more year to welcome their new stadium. Even if Dungy decides to leave, it wouldn't be a coaching opening as much as it would be a breeze. Assistant coach Jim Caldwell has been all but promised the job when Dungy is gone.

General Sports News

-According to ESPN.com Tony Dungy denies the reports saying that he will step down as head coach and said he will notify the Colts organization of his decision on Monday. However, Colts Assistant coach, Jim Caldwell withdrew his name from consideration from the Falcons head coaching job. It could be that he just doesn't want to coach there or it could be that the report is true and he withdrew his name because he already has a head coaching job lined up.

-Also in football, Jason Garrett has decided to stay with the Cowboys organization. Right now he is their offensive cooridinator but with rumors still swirling about Wade Phillips' future, he may find himself being the new head coach. Ravens now have their full attention on Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh.

-Also according to ESPN.com, Floyd Maywether Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya are close to finalizing a deal for a rematch of their fight last spring. Their first fight was the richest fight in boxing history, and the sequel shouldn't be a let down. The fight will either be on September 18th or 20th and broadcasted on HBO pay-per view. Maywether won the first bout by split decision.

Jerry Jones wants Garrett..Dungy Gone?

According to the Dallas Morning News, Jerry Jones will match any offer Jason Garrett recieves. Garrett has reportedly turned down the Ravens head coaching job although they are still negotiating. Garrett is now headed to ATL to interview with Arthur Blank and the Falcons. To me, this should be an easy choice. If Garrett goes to either Baltimore or Atlanta, he will have to rebuild a program, especially in Atlanta. And since Jones has already said that he will match any offer, there are no monetary reason to leave Dallas. After coming off a 13-3 season, Dallas has the players in place and is already a playoff team so why leave? Whether Phillips gets fired this year or not, which it seems like he will, Garrett has to know that he is the heir appartant. What is there to even think about?

Some more NFL coaching news..according to profootballnow.com, Tony Dungy will step down as the Colts coach so that he can follow his kids as they attend school in Tampa Bay. Assistant Coach/QB Coach Jim Caldwell will take over. Congratulations to one of the classiest guys in sports. The NFL and its fans will miss you.

NFL Coaching Notes

-According to Len Pasquarelli on ESPN.com, the Dolphins have officially hired Cowboys Assistant coach Tony Sparano as their new head coach. This is the first (or second if you count all of the firings) move made by Bill Pacells and Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland in an attempt to improve the 1-15 Dolphins. Sparano was contacted in the past to become the Saints, Chargers, and Browns Offensive Cooridinator but was not allowed by Jerry Jones. Sparano was especially disappointed by not being allowed to go to the Big Easy. Sparano wanted to go to Baylor but the feeling was not mutual and instead he finds himself being the head coach of the 2007 NFL laughing stock of the league.
-The Baltimore Ravens have reportedly offered Jason Garrett their head coaching job. According to an NFL source it's about 60-40. The offer should speed up Jerry Jones' decision on whether or not to keep Wade Phillips around. Jones doesn't want to let Garrett go, and remember he was hired before Wade last year, and was even a candidate to be their head coach. Phillips may have blown his only chance to coach "America's Team" after leading them to a 13-3 season but losing to the Giants in their only post season game.

Championship Sunday

This is what you play for all year long. It's the chance to play in the big game for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The Giants are on an incredible run of road victories and will obviosly look to continue that when they head to Green Bay. Ultimately I think the Packers have too many weapons in their offensive arsenal, especially in the passing game for the Giants depleted secondary. In order for the Giants to have a chance they will need their defensesive line to come up big again. Romo will be having nightmares of the Giants D line (and a certain Mexican vacation) for weeks. The Giants sacked him only twice but hit him ten more times in 36 total dropbacks. That means he was hit 1 every 3 times he dropped back. Thats an awful lot of punishment. Eli Manning has finally showed that he can win football games but if Green Bay stops the New York rushing game, Eli will have to throw the ball alot more than the Giants would like. Now for the AFC...I honestly didn't think the Patriots weren't going to go 19-0 this year, but with the way they are playing they might never lose again. The Chargers may be too banged up to be much of a test. L.T. is probable but who knows how much he will play, and Rivers is questionable. Tom Brady on the otherhand is playing better than usual and that is saying ALOT. It will be interesting to see what happens with Randy Moss. If they don't win the title this year, he will probably return since New England is his best chance at winning a Super Bowl before he retires but if they do, he might just follow the money.

NFL Divsional Playoffs (Saturday)

The divisional playoffs showed alot of things we already know. Tom Brady played like, well and MVP. (26-28, 262 yards, 3 TDs) Brett Favre played exactly how you would expect one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time to play. (18-23, 173 yards, 3 TDs) Ryan Garnett played like...Ryan Grant? The Giants traded Grant to the Packers because they didn't see a place for him and boy are the Packers glad. The last eight weeks of the season Grant rushed for over 900 yards, second to only some guy in San Diego. All he did to follow that up agains the Seahawks was rush for 201 yards (Packers record for rushing yards in a postseason game) on 27 carries and 3 touchdowns. The second game on Saturday was just as entertaining. The Jags hung around for awhile. Garrard looked more like the Garrard from the regular season instead of the guy that showed up against the Steelers in the Wild Card round throwing for 278 yards on 22 of 33 passing with 2 touchdowns and an interception. But the Patriots turned out to be too much. The Pats got ahead which forced the Jags to move away from their bread and butter rushing game. Tom Brady played almost perfect football. His only two incompletions came off dropped passes by Welker and Watson! Moss was almost nonexistant. His only catch was a 4th down conversion on their first drive. Lawrence Maroney picked the right time to have his biggest game of the year (22 carries 122 yards and a touchdown) helping to lead a balanced, that's right a balanced Patriots attack.


Congratulations to the Patriots and Packers. Good Luck next week.

Bobcats beat Celtics?

Last night the Charlotte Bobcats stunned the Boston Celtics, and pretty much everybody else in the sports world with a twelve point, that's right TWELVE point victory on the road. The Celtics have been virtually unstoppable this year (29-4), especially at home (16-1 going into the game), and lets just say that the Bobcats don't like room service too much (1-11 on the road going into the game). This shouldn't be too much of a surprise considering the rise of perennial bottom feeders. The Atlanta Hawks (16-16) and the Greg Oden-less Portland Trailblazers (22-13) are staring the playoffs in the face, although it may be too early to tell considering we haven't yet reached the All-Star break, but congratulations to them for not being the laughing stock of the NBA which, by the way, the New York Knicks have effortlessly become. Time will tell whether or not the Hawks and/or Trailblazers will resort to their losing ways, but for now, it has been fun watching.

Football Notes

-Rutgers running back Ray Rice has announced that he will leave Rutgers a year early to enter the NFL draft. This seems like a smart choice to me. There is no better time to leave school then when your stock is at its highest, and after his performance in the International Bowl (35 carriers for 280 yards and 4 TD's and 2 catches for 15 yards) I don't see his stock getting any higher. Say what you want about the fact that they were playing Ball State but he proved time and time again throughout the year that he could carry the load which he was forced to do, especially last year due to their anemic passing game.

-According to Joe Schad on ESPN.com, Pete Carroll has showed interest in the vacant Atlanta Falcons head coaching job and is scheduled to meet with Arthur Blank. Blank is supposedly offering to give Carroll complete control of all personnel which is what makes this offer so enticing. Personally, I'm surprised that Blank is even talking to a college coach after the Petrino situation, although Carroll is a different person and also has past NFL head coaching experience as well as 12 years in the league as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator.

-On a less serious note, Seahawks kicker, Josh Brown has announced that he will be wearing heated pants for their upcoming playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. Because kickers are less active than the rest of the players, it is harder for them to stay loose, especially in colder weather so he will try to help the situation by wearing pants set at 75 degrees.

Bayou Beatdown

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Well Coach Tressel, shame on you. For the second straight year, the Buckeyes start the BCS Championship with a quick score, but then it's quickly downhill from there. Although not before Beanie Wells broke Archie Griffins school record for rushing yards by a sophomore. Kudos to him for a great season especially for a guy who played hurt the entire season. I actually thought Ohio State was going to come out and beat LSU despite LSU's obvious home field advantage. I thought Ohio State would come out and show the country that last year was a fluke, but instead they showed it was a trend. Once again the nation's top defense choked giving up 38 points. A big part of that was LSU converting 11 of their 18 third downs while Ohio State went 3 for 13. Plus Ohio State had almost twice as many penalty yards as LSU did, but other than that this game was pretty much statistically even. Ohio State even managed to gain more total yards that LSU. So Congratulations to the LSU Tigers...and maybe next year Ohio State.

Clemens Innocent? Does it matter?

So Roger Clemens has finally decided to come out and defend his name just like Curt Schilling and John Smoltz have said they would have done if they were in Clemens' position. He has officially filed a defamation suit against his ex trainer Brian McNamee. Although Clemens has finally come out and denied the allegations, even going so far as to agree to take a lie detector test, does that mean anything to anybody? No matter what happens as far as guilty or innocent, he will always have this hanging over his head. The fact that his name is even mentioned in the Mitchell Report puts a stain on his reputation. Personally, I do believe he is innocent. Everybody around him has always said how much of a workout freak this guy has been throughout his entire career. To bring up a point made by Clemens himself, where is they guy who supplied him with the steroids? McNamee has only admitted to administering the steroids, but he says nothing about supplying them. They didn't just miraculously appear in his locker, or did they? That's Barry Bonds' defense isn't it?