Superman finds his Kryptonite

So the All-Star festivities have come and gone and all that's left is the actual game. But who really cares about that? I personally have some beef with the dunk contest. The same beef I had back in 2006 actually. I am tired of seeing Nate Robinson get bonus points for being small. Dwight Howard said it himself, he makes it look easy while it looks hard for Robinson. Robinson stole the title from Iggy in '06 and he did it again this year. Dwight Howard is the ultimate entertainer. Dunking on a 12 foot rim is incredible in itself. But before the dunk he changed into his superman outfit in a phonebooth, and even adjusted to a bad pass from teammate, Jameer Nelson (cut him some slack, he has a bad shoulder) and made it look easy. Then he throws the ball off the side of the backboard and throws it down with some serious authority. Robinson on the other hand jumped off someone's back in one of his dunks! How is that even allowed?! Then jumps over Dwight Howard (although he appeared to push off and jump slightly to the side). Lost in all of this is the fact that Dwight Howard agreed to participate. He showed that it wasn't about winning, but giving the fans a great show. I will congratulate Nate Robinson (grudgingly) and thank them both for a great show.

And on a side note, LeBron James announced that he put is name in the preliminary running for next year's Dunk Contest in Dallas. Now we just need Vince Carter and Jason Richardson to come back...and maybe somehow convince Nate Robinson not to come back to defend his title.

A-Fraud?

So we all know now that A-Rod used PED's in 2001-2003. What we don't know is who the other 103 players were. I want to know why whoever ratted A-Rod out only leaked his name. If you're gonna do a job at least to it to your fullest potential. Who out there has changed their opinion about Alex now that it's official? Personally, I am disappointed because he has always been one of my favorite players and I was hoping that he would return some validity in the home run record. But that's all gone now. The funny thing is, I still like Rodriguez although I can't stand Bonds. Maybe that doesn't have anything to do with the steriods issue. I don't like the way Bonds carries himself and the way he treats teammates and the media. Now don't get me wrong, there are times when the media hoopla gets on my nerves but we don't have to curse them out (Barry) or throw their camera equiptment (yes, that means you Kenny Rogers). As of now, Bonds would not get my HOF vote, Rodriguez would...not that my opinion counts for anything. But what about you? Would A-Rod get your HOF vote?

Phils, NFL Coaches...

-Once again we see a "what have you done for me lately" decision by an NFL organization. Jon Gruden was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers along with their General Manager, Bruce Allen. Gruden who went 45-53 while in Tampa including a victory in Super Bowl XXXVII. Raheem Morris was named as Gruden's replacement, and Allen is to be replaced by Mark Dominik. Morris has no head coaching experience and also interviewed for the Broncos head coaching job.

-Steve Spagnola has agreed in principle to be the next head coach of the St. Louis Rams, not the New York Jets. I think he made the right choice by going to the Rams. Not only is there more teams to get through had he joined the Jets but they don't even have a quarterback right now. The Rams played well to close the season, although their record doesn't reflect that. And they also have a more stable roster. But then again this contract is just "in principle" and unfortunately, recently we have seen time and time again that there are less and less principals in coaching.

-The best news I have heard all day is that Cole Hamels is going to be wearing a Phils uniform for the next 3 years. The Phillies avoided arbitration with their ace by giving him a 3 year, $20.5 million deal. Although this deal looks like a steal for the organization (it is), it's also a smart deal for Cole. By signing this deal and avoiding arbitration for the next 3 years, he guarantees himself this money, so if he has a bad year or gets injured, he won't have to go to arbitration and risk losing money.

News and Notes

-After a breakout season (.312 BA, 29 HR, 115 RBI), Kevin Youkilis has been rewarded by the Red Sox with a 4 year, $40 million deal including an option for a fifth year.

-Also in baseball, according to sources, Padres decided to add veteran David Eckstein to play second base. Although the signing isn't official yet, a deal is expected to be official by weeks end. The salary is not expected to exceed $1 million thanks to owner John Moore's divorce.

-USC quarterback Mark Sanchez has decided he will not return to school, but instead enter the NFL draft against the wishes of head coach Pete Carroll. This decision makes sense to me. If I'm Mark Sanchez, as soon as McCoy, Tebow, and Bradford declared for the draft I no longer have to think about this decision. Sanchez is now by default, the second best quarterback in the draft, and many have him as a projected top 5 pick. And as Jim Rome put it on his show Rome Is Burning, Stafford is like Sanchez's lead blocker, protected him from being drafted by the Lions. So on behalf of Mark Sanchez and his NFL career, thankyou Matt Stafford.

Divisional Playoff Round

So after another weekend of playoff football, we've learned once again that anything can happen in sports. The games started in Tennessee where the number one seed in the AFC lost to the Baltimore Ravens. The game was really more of a wrestling match that happened to have a football game going on during it, as predicted by one of the players early in the week. There was pushing and shoving after just about every play. So after the first game, we've already lost the number one seed in the AFC. Granted the Ravens have a very very good defense. Second overall in the league as a matter of fact. The difference maker may have been the loss of Chris Johnson who went down in the second half. The Ravens had no answer for Johnson but had no problem stopping his backup Lendale White. The short week for the Ravens seemed to affect them early on as they were getting pushed around by the Titans which didn't happen all year.

Now on to game two. In the game that was supposed to be the easiest to predict, the Cardinals headed to Carolina to take on the Panthers. The game started just like many predicted with the Panthers marching right down the field to take an early 7-0 lead. That's where all the predictions went out the window. The Cardinals answered right back and rolled for the rest of the game to a 33-13 win. Jake Delhomme played especially poor finishing the game with a very unimpressive line of 17-34 for 205 yards, 1 TD, 5 interceptions and a lost fumble.

Sunday held a highly anticipated matchup in the Meadowlands with the Eagles taking on the hometown Giants. It was the third time the teams met up this season with a 1-1 split where the road team pulled out the win both times. Foresight maybe? The Eagles looked to become the third team to pull the upset in as many games. Eli Manning looked to have problems throwing the ball through the swirling winds and coupled with two failed fourth and short conversions, the Eagles sent home the NFC's top seed. The loss made the Giants the first defending Super Bowl champs to lose their first game when being the number one seed. The final score of 23-11 was the first time in NFL history a game ended with that score.

The fourth and final game of the weekend was in Pittsburgh where the Steelers took on their improbable opponents, the San Deigo Chargers. The Chargers rode into Pittsburgh without LaDainian Tomlinson who was inactive for the first time in his career. They also had Pro Bowl snub, Phillip Rivers who was the league leader in touchdown passes and passer rating. But the Steelers had the league's top ranked defense. The Chargers looked to improve on their 2-0 record in postseason games in Pittsburgh, although they are 0-13 in the regular season. Strange yes, but what else do you expect from two teams who played in the NFL's first ever game to end with a final score of 11-10 just a few weeks earlier. The Chargers started with a 41 yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson in their opening drive. The lead was short lived when Santonio Holmes tied the game on a 67 yard punt return on San Diego's next drive. The turning point in the game was the third quarter when the Chargers held the ball for just one snap which resulted in an interception. They also had a ball bounce off a player's helmet which Pitt recovered following the interception. Big Ben and company held down the speedy Sproles and Rivers on their way to a 35-24 win. The win assured them that the Ravens have to beat them in their own house in order to play in this year's Super Bowl. The win also made sure that all four home teams didn't lose which would have been a first for the NFL Division Series. And on a fun note, the Steelers are the only team remaining whose mascot is not a bird. Chew on that.

SPORTS!!

So it's been awhile so there is obviously alot to catch up on but I don't have time to go through everything that has happened in the past couple of months. So we'll go with the cliffnotes version. Spygate, Belichek's a cheater, Favre retired, just kidding no he didn't, Pacman got reinstated, Pacman Jones is now Adam Jones, Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever, Mike Singletary pulled his pants down, and my personal favorite...PHILLIES ARE WORLD FU**IN CHAMPS!!!!

So more recently, the Browns have hired Eric Mangini to be thier new head coach. I think it was a good choice. He got the short end of the stick in NY. I understand the NFL is all about what have you done for me lately (just ask half the coaches in the league) but from what I understand, he never really wanted Brett Favre to be his quarterback. They went out and beefed up their offensive line to become a running team so why would he want a quarterback that would force him to throw the ball? Alot of people are wondering why Bill Cowher turned down the job that would allow him to coach for the team he used to play for. I'll tell you why. Loyalty. He said it way back when the rumors first started flying in the middle of the season. He has too much loyalty to the Steelers organization and the Rooney family to coach one of, if not their biggest rival. And frankly, I don't think we see enough of that these days.

Red Raiders are Down a Knight

After 42 years and 902 wins, Bob Knight is stepping away from college basketball. On his own terms. Monday night ESPN reported that Bobby Knight would resign as the Texas Tech basketball coach, leaving it for his son Pat. It's interesting that he resigns just 2 wins after his 900th to become the winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball after he reapeatedly said the record meant nothing to him. I think we all know enough about sports to say there are few people who can honestly say that they don't care about records, and personally I don't think he's one of them. I think he felt like he had something to prove. Yes, his methods may not be the most conventional, but they work. Plus they make for great Sportscenter material. Who doesn't like to see a coach throw a chair on the court? I know I enjoy it. Knight won his first game back during the Nixon administration (and we thought things couldn't get worse. but this is about sports, not politics so we'll save that for another day). And now, 901 wins later, he retires as the winningest and most controversial coach in NCAA history. Congratulations Bobby.

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?