My apologies, health reasons....

To the few that read my ramblings here.

Due to some ongoing health reasons, I will have to suspend this blog site for a while. I hope this is just a temporary measure.

Please bear with me. It may be several weeks before I actually take up writing on a consistent basis, and I appreciate all the interest you have given me.

Thank you,

NCAA final four...yawner or great viewing?

I have to admit, I am not much of a basketball fan to begin with. No surprise there for people who have read my posts before. But this final four matchup between all four #1 seeds has to be one of the most boring set of game matchups in recent history. NOT because the talent and level of play will not be good, and NOT because the game will be lacking in competitiveness. I think all of that will be extremely good. But honestly, there just is not much there that is intriguing or interesting.

Without question, there will be a LOT of future NBA talent on the floor this weekend. And the styles of play, along with the execution will be at a very high level. So, if you are a purist of the game of basketball, and just love the game itself, this weekend will be very interesting for you. And very fun to watch. Because these four teams have a great deal of talent.

But if you are just a leisure fan of the game of basketball, and are not a fan of any of the schools that are in the final four, this weekend holds very little interest for you.

I mean really, UNC vs KU and Memphis vs UCLA. Ho hum. In all fairness, because I am in an online bracket game, I will definitely find out what the outcomes of those games are, but I will not be watching. I just have no interest in those 4 teams, and because of this being the first full weekend of major league baseball, I will be occupied watching those games.

I think from the NCAA's point of view, and the point of view of many sports wonks, these matchups fall into the category of "great for college basketball". Ok, I will give them that, considering I have no idea what "great for college basketball" really means. That they were right in picking the 4 teams seeded #1 to get to the final four? So, "great" means they are "great" at picking winners?

All I can say is that there is very little interest because most people, who are not afficionado's of the game of college basketball, only will watch when there is some type of "underdog" chance of making it into the championship game. Otherwise, it is the "cast of usual suspects". And that just has not real interest for most of us.

Now, having said all of that, I would have been ecstatic to see Lousville in the final four...absolutely! That is the team I cheer for. But once they were bounced, and I saw the other 3 teams matched up, I just lost interest.

In any case, I am sure it will be a very competitive and exciting tournament for the sports wonks, fans of the teams, and the college basketball fan who can not get enough, but for the rest of us, this weekend holds a LOT more options. Not just baseball, but also two of the major Derby prep races are going on this weekend. The Wood and the Santa Anita.

So, enjoy the games if you are going to watch, but if you are not interested, take refuge in the fact that there are other sporting events that you can get into.

Quick post-mortem on UL, and Opening Day in MLB

First, UL's Elite 8 performance vs UNC last saturday night was all you could have wanted from this team. They played very well, only falling in the late minutes to a superior "team", in UNC, which had one of the best players in the nation making plays in those final minutes to take the Cards down.

I, for one, and many other UL fans have expressed similar sentiments, think this team did exceptionally well. If you had asked someone in January, after UL had dropped a home court game to lowly Cincinnatti, if UL would make the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, most people would have laughed. But at the end of the season, this team started putting all of the pieces together to have a very good run.

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Secondly, now that basekball is over, it is now "officially" Opening Day for Major League Baseball.

Last night the Washington Nationals hosted the Atlanta Braves, and the Nat's won in a bottom of the ninth walk-off homer fashion, 3-2 over the Braves.

Today the Cubs take on intra-divisional rival Brewers.

Finally baseball is being played again.

As noted, in my other post about the NL Central, here is my prediction for the NL-East.

NL-East

This might be one of the best divisional races to watch come September, if everything works out right. The Mets have all of the talent and pitching staff, but BOTH the Braves and the Phillies have a ton of talent and all of the pieces to contend for the title.

For the Braves, I think their season will all hinge around "health". They, (like the Yankees), have a lot of veteran players that need to do it this year. I would not say this is a "do or die" year for the Braves, but it is close. Two key things for the Braves must happen though. They must get production out of Hamilton in their starting rotation, and Chipper Jones must stay healthy. Considering Jones has not had a full season healthy over the last few, the chances of that are slim. And unlike other NL divisions, a small losing streak in this division could end playoff hopes.

I think this division will come down to a fight, (just like last season), between the Phillies and the Mets. And honestly, I think with the off-season acquisition of Santana by the Mets, I will give the edge to the Mets. Unlike the Braves, while the Mets do have a few key veteran players, (like aging 1st baseman Carlos Delgado), they are not dependant on them for success.

So my pick for the NL-East champs is the NY Mets.

(note, I do think that the Phillies will end up with the NL-Wildcard spot.)

Back in town....after my personal March Madness

After traveling all week, I am back in town today, after taking my own version of March Madness.

Every year, I take week, head off to Florida for a week of fishing and spring baseball. With a lot of drinking in the mix. This year was a little later than I normally go, but still a great time.

I know that most who would read this are very much caught up in Louisville's run in the NCAA tournament. And rightly so.

But this weekend ends the regular spring training and begins the regular major league baseball season.

After watching some teams in Florida I have some predictions for the MLB season.

To keep things simple, I will start with my overall predictions for the season division winners, and then break the divisions down a little more in seperate blog entries.

Since many in our area are Cincinnati Reds fans, let's start with the NL Central.

NL Central

The Chicago Cubs are the favorites to repeat as the NL Central champs. Despite some very big question marks about Rich Hill's control. Jason Marquis will get the starting nod over Hill, and Hill will head to Iowa for more development. Kerry Woods is tagged as the closer now, and you have to wonder if that might create some bullpen hard feelings with Carlos Marmol, who was easily the best closer in the NL last year. But if anyone can handle clubhouse issues, it is Lou Pinella.

The Brewers still have a very good pitching staff, with Sheets and Suppan, but Sheets must stay healthy, because Gagne has not been good at all. Still, they have a very powerful lineup. But I think they are in for some "clubhouse" problems, with some of their off-season trades.

The surprise in the NL Central will be the Cincinnati Reds I think. Unknown pitchers before the spring season started of Volquez and Cueto have been EXTREMELY good. So good that up and coming phenom Homer Bailey, who has struggled a bit adjusting to MLB hitters, has been optioned down to the Bats, to let him continue to develop. Which just shows how deep that rotation could be.

The Cardinals, Astros and Pirates will fight for the basement in the NL Central, and I think the winner, (or loser), for last place will again be the Pirates. They have looked really bad in spring.

My prediction for the NL Central Winner: Chicago Cubs!!!

It is opening day for MLB!...well, kinda...

VERY early this morning was opening day for MLB...in Japan. Not that anyone noticed. Even if you are a huge RedSox and you thought you might be able to get up around 6am EST to watch your team open the season was a "good idea", then you were doubly ticked off, when you found out that through some fluke technical screwup, most of the NE did not receive the transmission.

The only saving grace? ESPN2 did replay the game at 2pm today.

(BTW, I am traveling this week, and will not be able to post much. But will get on it with my predictions of the MLB division and pennant races later this week. However, until then, here is a little taste......Go Cubs!)

2nd round NCAA thoughts...

After the 1st round of the NCAA tourney, I maintained that the Big East has proven that it is the best conference in the nation. Primarily on the strength of the Be going 7-1 in the first round. While the 2nd round of the tourney saw four of those teams fall, including both the BE tourney champions Pittsburgh, and the regular season champs Georgetown, I still believe that. Only the PAC-10, which is now tied with the BE in terms of teams heading into the round of 16 has any other claim to that statement.

But even with that, I still contend the Big East is the better conference. Marquette was a defensive stop or a missed front end of a 1&1, or a missed layup away from taking down the #2 PAC-10 team, Stanford, and the Golden Eagles finished 5th in the Big East conference.

However, I will say that the top of the PAC-10 is looking much stronger and better than the top 2-5 of the Big East, because of the two head to head matchups, where while Stanford just squeeked by Marquette, Washington State just destroyed Notre Dame.

At the same time, some local sports wonks have been touting the Big-12 as being much stronger.

And yet in the head to head matchups in that regard between the BE and the B12, the BE has destroyed their one opponent. And while there is another chance to see that matchup, it is extremely doubtful whether a Villanova team that just barely made it into the tourney will be able to knock off the B12 champion in Kansas.

But, then again, not many people nationwide would have ever picked Davidson over Georgetown, or WKU over UConn, either.

But one thing we do know for sure, and most would agree with: the ACC and the SEC are just AWFUL; and have been all year, despite what "Dookie" V and Jay Bilas have to say about it.

1st round of NCAA tourney over...BE big winner

Here is the fact. The current field of 65 teams in the NCAA tournament have been whittled down over 4 days to just 32, and after today and tomorrow that will be down to just 16.

Of those 32 still standing, 7 of those teams are from the Big East conference. The best winning percentage of all of the conferences. And were it not for a late overtime last second shot, the Big East might have had all 8 of their 8 teams move into the 2nd round.

And what is even more impressive is that the Big East teams are doing it the way they have done it all year in the conference. With NASTY, stifling, suffocating defense that just grinds opponents down and into confusion, and dominating the backboards.

Without question the Big East has proven that it is THE best college basketball conference in the nation. Bar none.

Fans of opposing conferences and sports media wonks nationwide can talk about conference RPI and Sagarin ratings all they want, and how the PAC-10 was a 'better' conference, or that the ACC had the 'best' two teams. The Big East has proven it where it matters most. On the court, against the best competition in the nation.

Will the Big East continue to do that? Honestly, probably not. But when one conference makes up almost 25% of the TOTAL top 32 teams in the nation, can anyone deny that the Big East is THE best conference in the nation?

The facts do not lie. Especially when you consider how close, tight, lucky, or downright awful, some of the other conferences teams have played against competition that they were supposedly much better than. I.e. Duke vs Belmont, Vanderbuilt vs Siena.

Again, I doubt whether the Big East will be able to continue that pace, primarily because the competition against some of the more elite "teams" in the nation will force that number down. But that does not dilute the fact of how strong the Big East conference has proven itself. And that was proven by the fact that all but one of the game that Big East teams played were really even close. (Sorry UK fans, but without a superman effort by ONE player, (Joe Crawford), that game against Marquette was not even close.)

The Big East IS the BEAST of college basketball, and no one can deny that now.

Basketball overload...

Ok, so like what the HELL gives with yet ANOTHER post-season college basketball tournament? We have the NCAA, the prize fight of college basketball, the NIT, the consolation prize of college basketball, but now we have the CBI, (College Basketball Invitational)????

This CBI tournament is beginning to encroach on the realm of the absurd, along the lines of the college football proliferation of meaningless post-season bowl games.

Some of the (quote), "TEAMS", (unquote), in this farce of a post-season play, have literally LOSING records. Like the Big East's very own Cincinnati Bearcats. Who have a season record of 13-18. Yes, 13-18! That is so far below .500 that they could not find their way back to playing .500 ball if they had a flashlight and GPS. There are some very "mediocre" teams in this thing, like Houston, Rider and Nevada. But along with bad teams like Cincy there are also teams like Old Dominion, Richmond and Virginia. Those are some really BAD teams. (And BTW, Richmond, Rider and Nevada have already lost and are out of this farce. Mercifully for them...AND us.)

This so-called "tournament" is anything but. It is nothing more than a money grab by Fox sports, (BTW, it is rumored to be being shown on a FOX Sports TV network, but I have not seen even which one it is, or even where that cable channel is offered.)

There is NO reason to hold this tournament, and certainly, NONE of these teams will ever be big fan attractions. So why even play it?

This is a bad idea...taken to the worst possible conclusion. The only ideas I have heard worse than this is "Battery night" at Shea Stadium or "50 cent beer night" at the old Jacobs Fields or XFL football. A few other REALLY bad sports ideas.

Odds and ends from football to baseball..........

Today marks the first day of Louisville spring football practice. Some other schools have been started for a week or two. For UL there exists some HUGE question marks left as a hangover from a horribly unsatisfying season in 2007. The personnel holes at LB and along the OL, not too mention QB, safety and WR, are nothing compared to the much large question marks currently over whether or not Kragthorpe has fixed the assistant coaching holes. Holes that were created by him, and that must be fixed by him. The off-season moves and coaching acquisitions have been welcome changes. But the question marks remain as to how effective these coaching changes will be.

The key will be in how fast these coach's all come together. And that is the real thing to watch for.

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On Monday of this week, the LA Dodgers closed down and bid farewell to their old spring training facility in Arizona called, "Dodgertown". While it did make some sports media talk shows, it did so only because there existed a small break between the end of the college basketball conference championships, and the beginning of the NIT and NCAA tournaments. (Oh, and that other thing call the CBI...a note about that in a minute.)

While I can not even remotely be considered a Dodgers fan, the closing of Dodgertown was a little sad for me. Sad partly because it completely brings to an end a chapter of Dodger history that stretches back to the days when the Dodgers played in Brooklyn, and were not part of that "California culture". Dodgertown, and the Dodger management created that facility in time and in a place that ran against the current mainstream of major league baseball at the time. That being that the real reason that Dodgertown was created was to give a home where ALL of the Dodger players could train, practice and play together. Both black and white. Built in 1948, at the time, it was the only franchise of its kind to show forethought and social conscience in dealing with its black players. And the names of the players that went through Dodgertown is a HOF list. Players like Jackie Robinson, PeeWee Reese, Roy Campanella, Sandy Koufax, Duke Snider, all from the Brooklyn Dodgers. Not to mention all the HOFer's from the LA Dodgers after 1958. Even managers like Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda. All of them had their time in this small Florida oasis of baseball.

It is sad to see it go. But that is why baseball is so rich for so many baseball fans. History. Baseball is the longest, continual running professional sport in America. And Dodgertown was a large part of that history.

NCAA selection changing criteria again

Ok, it is less than 24 hours since we learned of the pairings for the yearly NCAA basketball tournament. And every year we have a large controversy as to who got in, and who did not. This year the major discussion of who did not centers around mostly, Virginia Tech, Dayton, Arizona State and Illinois State. All of the talking heads on ESPN are throwing out great arguments as to why those 3 teams deserve to be in, and maybe why this team or that team should not be in.

Every year at the beginning of the season we hear from every available news source that the RPI, (or basketball Ratings Percentage Index), is THE major determining factor as to what team gets into and is left out of the tournament. And some years that works. But looking at this year, that argument does not hold water.

And that is the whole problem with the selection process. It is not quantitative by any known measure. It is purely and completely subjective based on the makeup of the selection committee in any particular year! Now, I would be ok with that, IF the NCAA selection committee were forced to do two things:

1) Before meeting publish the criteria by which the committee will be using to determine the selections. Even if it is only a few days before they meet to do the selection.

2) Fully disclose how the voting went based on that criteria.

That would, I believe, take all of the debate as to "why" a team did or did not make it, and would just shift the debate by the sports media wonks to disagreement. That would be fine.

But as it stands no one has ANY idea how this process ends up with its decisions. The committee chair told ESPN last night that it was the "overall body of work", while last year it was the "overall RPI and schedule". Which clearly indicates that the criteria is shifting from year to year.

Because if the criteria from last year were applied to this year, then teams like Kentucky, Oregon and Kansas St, would NEVER have been selected over any of the teams I mentioned above. And some would counter that UK, UO and KSU had tougher schedules, as shown by the SOS. Wrong! They did not. Not over teams like Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Dayton. So that argument does not hold water either. (BTW, here is the source of my information: Realtime RPI)

What I have learned over the years is that the NCAA selection committee is not unbiased and wants all of the obfuscation it can get every year in the selection process so that they can reward some conferences and punish others. Anytime you can get people arguing over why this team or that team did or did not get in, it deflects them from asking the more pertinent questions. Questions that would back the committee into defending their positions, rather than giving some off the cuff nebulous criteria answer. An answer such as what we had yesterday from the committee chairman.

The college basketball post season is here!

Now that the conference post season tournaments are in full swing, it is the one time of year that I truly can not get enough college basketball. But maybe not for the reason you think...or even you do.

What I love most about the post season basketball tournaments are, the day games. This really, for me, is a throw-back to when I was a kid in grade school and the baseball World Series was played during the days. During those late october afternoons, every boy in my school had a dad, uncle, or even much older brother, who would call up the school during lunchtime and offer some really lame excuse about some type of "family problem", so that they would have come get "little Johnny" and take them home. After, of course, using even a dumber and MUCH lamer excuse on their bosses at work, so that they did not go in all day and spent most of the morning at the bars, talking about the upcoming pitching matchups. Of course, more often than not, the guy sitting across the table arguing why so-and-so pitcher was better than yours was often your dad's/uncle's boss anyway. (As if THEY would miss the game, and did not know what the real reason was they were not at work.) Then your dad/uncle/brother would drive to school, and having pulled us out of normally a packed nurse's room of boys with stomach aches and other assorted ailments, we would all pile in the back of a one dad's stationwagon and sneak off to the local bar to watch the game. At that, the bartenders and owners had NO fear of reprisal from local authorities about kids in a bar, because literally half the bar was cops, government officials, or some other authority figure of renown.

It was truly a "guy moment"!

With TV deals of the World Series putting EVERY game on at night, those days are long over. But, we can still have this type of "guy bonding" with our kids today every time the college basketball world begins dribbling out the clock beginning in mid-March.

And there is very little chance this will go away anytime soon as a result of TV deals. The shear volume of games and teams playing pretty much assures that. The only real crisis being when is your "favorite team" playing? And are there interesting matchups that you want to watch?

Yeah, yeah, I know. A LOT of guys can not do this sort of thing for fear of mad bosses who only have a nose for the bottomline and no life, can watch and/or listen to these afternoon games over the Internet in the comfort of their Dilbert cube. But that just does not have the "style points" of coming up with lame excuses and pulling your kids out of school just to watch a game together.

So as we head into the NCAA tournament this year, I say all of us sweatsock, armchair athletes, take some time, grab your kid and hustle off to the nearest "family friendly watering hole" and catch an afternoon game once. You and your kid will remember it for a long, long time.

Another golfer gone wild...

An incident occurred last week that went by with very little media attention nationally, and absolutely no media attention locally that really needs to be discussed.

What the incident was about, related to PGA tour player Tripp Isenhour killing an endangered species of hawk by hitting it with a golf ball. Now, I am not a PETA member, or ascribe to any of PETA's doctrine. So what makes this issue newsworthy? It was that this "silver spoon-fed, frat-boy" targeted the hawk, because it was making noise.

This guy did not do kill this bird through some fluke accident. No, this moron deliberately and successfully tried to kill the bird by hitting shot after shot at it, until he finally killed it.

(Here is a link to the ESPN story about it: Isenhour, charged )

Many times over the course of sports history have animals been killed or injured in the course of playing the game. But nearly all are accidental. For example, in 2001, fireball pitcher Randy Johnson, while pitching in a spring training game for the Arizona Diamondbacks and facing Giants hitter Calvin Murray, literally blasted a dove that flew into the path of Johnson's fastball to the plate. Randy Johnson was visibly upset by the situation and noted that he was very sorry that it happened. The same type of situation happened in 1983 when Dave Winfield, right fielder for the Yankees, while throwing a ball back to the ball boy after warmups between innings against the Toronto BlueJays, hit a gull in the head, killing that bird. In that situation also, Winfield was upset, and even a few days later made a large donation to the Humane Society. (A sidebar anecdote to this, is that Winfield was charged with cruelty to animals. And while the charges were dropped the very next day, Yankee skipper at the time Billy Martin had this to say about the incident, "They say he hit the gull on purpose. They wouldn't say that if they'd seen the throws he'd been making all year. It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man." Funny stuff. But note this was still an accident.)

So, while clearly there have been other examples of animals being killed in the course of engaging in sports by humans; where some golfers have been involved, these guys go out of their WAY to kill, harass or disturb wildlife, all for the sake of their idiotic and insipid game that, (as Winston Churchill once described), is nothing more than a "good walk spoiled".

Here is another example of a golfer gone wild.

In December of 2000, a 54 year old golfer named Harry Wagner killed an exotic black swan by breaking its neck at the Trump International Golf Club. Donald Trump had imported the rare bird from Australia. The reason this moron gave for killing the swan? He felt "threatened" by the bird. It was not clear why this idiot chose this path of action, when even the investigators noted in their report that the golfer could have very easily just have driven away in his golf cart. Luckily this guy was charged and found guilty of animal cruelty and through a plea agreement performed community service at a local animal shelter. Personally, I think he also should have been made to go through some anger management classes. This guy had some "issues".

In the case of Isenhour, not only should he be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law, since this spoiled frat-boy, literally targeted an endangered bird, and committed an incredibly egregious act, but the PGA also should step in and ban him from play for at least a year. And I think until such time as he has completed BOTH 500 hours of community service and completed an anger management course. And that should be ON TOP of whatever legal action outcomes there are. Afterall how is what Isenhour did really any different that what Michael Vick did? Because let's face some facts here. If this guy so does not care about the life of a bird, what makes you think that he would even HESITATE to hit into you, or even your kids if they were ahead of him on a golf course. (And believe me, I have seen MANY so-called "weekend golfers" who do this sort of thing.)

Isenhour has NO business playing this game. At ALL! Look, this game is played OUT OF DOORS!!! Meaning that if you want to play golf with NO NOISE, then I suggest you buy the Golden Tee arcade game and play in the solitude of your basement! Otherwise, DEAL with the noise!

The PGA needs to take some action here. Because in recent years, the game of golf, has evolved from a gentle past-time where literary writers like P.G. Wodehouse would make fun of the gentry, to one where vicious competitive natures end up in violent acts. And the PGA needs to make an example of Isenhour that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.

Winter sports fun...and an anecdote....

Over the weekend Louisville was hit with one of the BEST snowstorms we have had in quite a number of years. It was nothing short of a winter wonderland of fun all weekend as a result.

While many people just HATE that kind of weather, I personally love it...well, every now and then. I pretty much lived outside friday, saturday and sunday, playing the snow and getting every minutes enjoyment out of what will surely be the last significant snow of the season.

Hopefully, many of you enjoyed yourselves as well. I know that the parks were just full of people sledding, making snow sculptures and generally playing.

However, the one outdoor sport in this part of the country we hardly ever participant or hear anything of, because of our milder climate and low sea-level, is skiing. Something that while I enjoy, I pretty much suck at it.

So, in honor of the past 72 hours that I have been playing with the dog, having a snowball fight with the neighbor kids, and just all around enjoying the best snowfall we have had in years, let me share my worst skiing story.

I had just moved to Denver and had only skied 2 other times in my life. But the gang I hung with there took me out the very first weekend the slopes opened. Every year at the end of the season they give out the Big Banana award for the best, (read Worst), ski fall. The Big Banana was a 3 foot long stuffed banana. Well, I won it the very first day, because they said that NO ONE could top it. After 20 minutes on the Green Circle slopes, I stupidly decided I was ready for the Blue Circle. Remember this was only my 3rd time skiing. Everything was fine until....(how many bad things always start out with that line?).....I hit a little bump. All I remember from there out was waking up 2.5 hours later with a concussion. And a video tape that made me look like the guy from the ABC Wild World of sports falling off of the ski jump. Apparently, one of the guys thought ahead enough to bring his VHS recorder with him and captured the whole thing for posterity.

Watching myself, I looked like Charlie Brown taking a line drive up the middle. Ski's, hat's, shoes, and yes, EVEN MY SKI PANTS, came flying off as I bounced and tumbled down the hill at about a clip that would make Darrell Waltrip proud. I took out two evergreen saplings and a ski school class of 7 people made up of mostly 8-10 year olds that could ski better than I could any day. They went sprawling like bowling pins, knocking out the tow rope line. I came to rest, (as it were), by slamming into a bench that was sitting next to the tow line, proving than immovable object can stop an irresistible force. Especially if that force is unconcious and out of control.

Really, I can't make this stuff up. Needless to say, I was banned from returning to that ski slope.

One other note: The guys retired the big banana that year to me figuring that was one that should not ever be topped, and changed to the Big Bear award.....

or not!..........

Yesterday I posted that Brohm's drop in the NFL draft may be more driven by NFL team positional need rather than anything that Brohm has or has not done, or whether the NFL scouts are somehow "blackballing" him.

Wellllll.....maybe I was wrong.

Yesterday evening we learned that the Atlanta Falcons released Joey Herrington thereby creating a spot for them at QB and with the Falcons picking 3rd, the rumor is that they are badly wanting a franchise QB with that pick.

The rumor further states that the Falcons are hoping that Matt Ryan is still available when their pick is made.

There is only one small problem with that. The real problem that the Falcons had last year was an OL that was more porous and ineffective than a Rafael Palmero testimony.

The problem for Brohm, is that he is a pocket passer, and would get pummeled in that Atlanta offense.

So if Miami takes Matt Ryan, and if the Falcons are dead set on a taking a QB in their spot, Brohm will likely NOT be Atlanta's pick. Because to be effective, the Falcons need QB that really can throw on the run, and be a run threat themselves.

Maybe there was something to that statement that Brohm is being schemed against afterall.

Brohm getting raw deal?

I have seen and read a lot recently about Brian Brohm looking to slip way down in the first round NFL draft this upcoming April.

A lot of local media is suggesting that Brohm is getting the "Brady Quinn" or "Drew Brees" treatment from the NFL. But I am not so sure about that. Brohm preformed very well at the combine in Indianapolis recently, even running the 40 time much better than he ever had done previously.

So, why then is Brohm projected as slipping way down in the first round of the draft, and in one case one "draft pundit" has him not even being SELECTED in the first round?

I think it has a lot more to do with positional needs and talent by NFL teams, more than it does anything that Brohm has or has not done.

I certainly think Brohm is far better than any QB in the draft, and IMHO, is THE number 1 QB in this year's draft. And even though Matt Ryan has graded out higher than Brohm, I think Brohm's intangibles and field leadership is far and away better than Ryan's.

Even with that, I still think that the reason Brohm might not go in the top 20 of the NFL draft is more because of other needs by the teams selecting. Miami has the #1 pick this year. And their first and foremost need is at QB. They BADLY need a Brian Brohm type of QB to come in and take over immediately. But honestly, I do not think that Brohm would fit in there at Miami for the type of offense they are running. And I think that Miami will look at other QB options first.

Then you look at the next 9 teams and QB is just NOT their top priorities. The Rams have 3 good, (but not great), QB's to start next season, Atlanta has Herrington and Redman, and would like to have a great QB, but they have monster needs on the OL first. And that goes on all down the line until you get down to Carolina who picks 13th. They have a need for "franchise" QB, but are they going to pull the trigger on it?

One thing is for sure to me. I do not think there is anything like "black balling" going on with Brohm. I think it is just situational based on other needs by the NFL clubs. There is a LOT of youth in the NFL at the QB spots right now. You look up and down the rosters, and most NFL QB rosters in the 2-deep, (not the starters), have not been around more than 3-5 years. So, they are just now getting their NFL legs under them.

Brohm WILL have a very good NFL career. There is no doubt in my mind about that. And he will do that, regardless of whether he is picked 1st or 101st. And that is the real bottom line here.

the REAL 'March madness'..........

Over the weekend, we had one of Louisville's mid-winter weekends that makes everyone just ache for the warming weather of spring and the outdoor activities that come with it.

I saw dozens of people out on the golf courses, jogging, walking their dog, in the park playing frisbee, riding bikes, etc. I even saw many local HS teams out practicing their various sports, as well pickup games of basketball. Yep, the warm weather brought out all of the people who love sports and enjoy playing them, if only on an ad-hoc basis. Personally, I took the chance to fight with other 'fair weather' fishing junkies and was trying to land that prize pre-spawning bass. Something I failed to do, but I have NEVER had a bad day fishing. But that is another blog.

There were other things going on also. This past weekend, along with the beautiful weather, many of the summer sport leagues began holding their sign up periods for their sports. Summer softball leagues held their meetings, as well as summer basketball and swim leagues.

One such league that also met this weekend, that gets little attention, but has a very big underground membership is the Louisville chapter of the Men's Senior Baseball League.

They held their sign meeting this past weekend And the Courier-Journal on their website posted this information:

Men's senior baseball is gearing up
By Derek Poore
dpoore@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Louisville's chapter of the Men's Senior Baseball League will hold an informational meeting from 2-6 p.m. on March 2 in the Community Room at Jefferson Mall on Outer Loop.

Anyone interested in joining a team in the league's 18-, 25- and 38-and-older divisions is encouraged to attend, league organizer David Allison said. Teams and individuals who need a team are welcome.

The league plays at parks throughout Jefferson County and Southern Indiana in the spring and summer. The Men's Senior Baseball League is a network of about 1,000 leagues nationwide.

For more information call Allison at 594-0872 or 935-0095 (after 6 p.m.) or e-mail allison83@bellsouth.net.

If you have never heard of this, please let me enlighten you. This is a group of guys, mostly older ones that just love the game of baseball, even though the days of playing the game in any real organized way has past them by.

They play for the love of the game, and because softball is not the same game. This is a real baseball game. Played with fast pitch baseball and only a slight change of the rules regarding substitution and pinch running. Afterall, with the knees and years of beer and fried food, that is enough of a handicap for most of us.

But make no mistake, even though the arms look like rubber, the fastballs never getting over 65MPH, the speed of the running looks like guys wearing army boots running in sand, and the only sound from the spouses sitting around the field are from the cell phones who have 911 on 'speed dial', these true 'boys of summer' play the game as if it is the World Series. That does not mean that they are so serious as to not have fun and ridicule those of lesser talents or skills. Because as I noted, time is the biggest leveler of talent and skill. No, they take the game seriously, but they also take back the joy we all remembered of playing those after-school playground pickup games. Of the times in the backyard with our dads, brothers, uncles, even MOM's, playing 'catch' to teach us to throw and catch.

It's a way to remember the past and celebrate the game we love. And it's a perennial reminder that summer is always just a warm spring weekend away.

Clemens and Bonds...double-standard by the media?

As of yesterday, we found out that the congressional committee looking at the Mitchell report on HGH and steroid use in major league baseball, has recommended to the justice department to look into whether or not Roger Clemens lied during his testimony in front of the same committee a week or so ago.

I agree. They should. There are so many contradictory statements to Clemens denial that it would be almost conspiratorial by a pretty substantial number of people, if Clemens is telling the truth. By that, I mean that either Clemens is lying about his denial that he ever took steroids/HGH, or at least 5 other people are lying that he DID take them. This is not a "he said vs he said" situation. And new we have learned that Clemens, (with regard to his denial that he attended a party hosted by Jose' Canseco), that there actually may be photographic evidence that the WAS there. And Clemens is now backstroking saying that he may have "misremembered" that event.

Funny that he used the phrase "misremembered" to his own statements, when he used the exact same phrase with regard to former teammate and friend, pitcher Andy Petitte, when Petitte said that he heard Clemens talking about using HGH. So you have to wonder, if Clemens is "misremembering" about the party, could he ALSO be "misremembering" that conversation and Petitte be right?

Still, the real issue for me is why has the media been so tirelessly running article after article about Clemens, and showing very little support for him, when just 4 months ago, these VERY same media were calling the indictment of Barry Bonds a "witch hunt"? (The exact words that Kevin Blackistone, sports writer and ESPN guest of the show "Around the Horn", used when describing the effort to get to the truth of Barry Bonds claim of denials of his use of steroids and HGH. As he too was mentioned in the Mitchell report.) Bonds, IMHO, has proven to be FAR more guilty than Clemens has at this point and I very much believe that Clemens is lying, but the evidence will out on that story line.

So where is the media regarding Bonds indictment for lying to a congressional committee? Is the media playing a double-standard here? You have to ask that question.

Which also begs another question. While Andy Petitte is coming across as the "victim" in this whole sordid affair, by openly and almost immediately admitting he did use HGH, because as he claims, he did it on the advice of people who told him it would help him rebound faster from an injury, where is Selig, the players union, and all of the MLB exec's in regard to this? Basically, why are they allowing Petitte to continue playing?

Look, I understand that Andy Petitte is a sympathetic figure right now, and I actually and honestly feel sorry for him. But that does NOT diminish that he acted in a manner that, while not illegal in baseball at the time he did it, is illegal now, and is seen as a form of cheating, even at the time he did it. So, why has MLB not at the very least, suspended Petitte from play?

I am beginning to wonder if there is not some type of double-standard going on here.

A reason why baseball 'was' better than football...

Ok, first. I am a huge football fan. College football is my #1 sport, with major league baseball close in the heels @ #2 on my list. Well, that is unless you count fishing, then college football and MLB ranks second and third respectively, but that is something different. And I do not count them in the same categories.

Still, one of the greatest things I love about baseball is that in baseball, you do not have the constant and annoying distractions while the game is being played that you do with other sports, like football. What do I mean by that? Simple. Cheerleading.

Or at least, there USED to not be any cheerleading in baseball.

Do not get me wrong. I am a guy, and I sit in the stands of football games with a pair of binoculars and staring down at the petite, athletic, extremely limber, lithe and HOT little cheerleader babes like 90% of all other guys do. It is what makes football what it is. Especially with the delays between plays, it is a great distraction.

But in recent years we have seen, in an effort to bring in more fans and mostly male ones, some of the low market baseball teams are now, not only looking at creating cheerleading teams, like the Florida Marlins, "Mermaids", who while they are EXTREMELY pleasant to look at, bring nothing to the game itself.

But those very same Florida Marlins feel that was not enough. Now they want to completely offend our very senses by bringing in a cheerleading squad called, "Manatees". This group is NOT made up of women dressed in hot little outfits that make 40 year old, paunchy men suck in their gut so hard they turn blue and faint, but instead THIS group will consist OF 40 year old plus, paunchy men! (or some reasonable facsimile of that male demographic.)

According to an AP news report this is what is happening (quote:)

"The Florida Marlins are looking for some footloose fat men. The National League team is creating an all-male, plus-size cheerleading squad to be dubbed the Manatees. Tryouts were scheduled for Sunday.

The team hopes to recruit seven to 10 tubby men to dance, cheer and jiggle during Friday and Saturday home games this season.

Real manatees, 1,200-pound mammals sometimes referred to as "sea cows," are not considered the most agile of creatures and often get caught in boat propellers.

The Marlins want their Manatees to have the same dimensions, but to be decidedly more agile. Men will be judged on how well they dance a choreographed routine."

(Source AP news)

(endquote):

Ok, that is just WRONG! NO one wants cheerleading at baseball games, and certainly no one wants to see "fat guys" dancing!!! Fat men dancing as cheerleading for baseball is to me about as appealing as spooning down a bowl of ice cream topped with bleach and gasoline!

Baseball is supposed different, it has been and will be a game for 'game purists'. People who are insanely wrapped up in statistics, numbers and history. But over the years as the interest has faded in that part of fan involvement of the game, what has begun to show up is something that is just offensive and contradictory to that. That being, "cheer leading".

Baseball is game to be enjoyed wistfully and in contemplative reflection of the game. Not wild-eyed, radical screaming at the top of your lungs. THAT is what football is for!

To paraphrase from that immortal movie about baseball, which gave us some of the greatest baseball one-liners, "THERE IS NO CHEERLEADING IN BASEBALL!"

Center of college basketball...state of Tennessee??

Here we sit with only two weeks to go in the regular season of college basketball for the 2007-2008 season, and we need to take stock of some major shifts that have occurred this year.

With all due respect to UL, UK and IU fans who believe that the states of Kentucky and Indiana are the birthplace of college basketball; and to all of the Duke and UNC fans who know with their heart and soul that THEIR schools refined college basketball to be the center of it for the nation; and to all of the sports media wonks who believe that if basketball is not played on tobacco road, in the gyms of the mid-west, the streets of the northeast and the beach strips of the west coast, I have some shocking news.

The BEST basketball being played in the nation, is right there in Tennessee!! Yes, Tennessee.

Take a look at the most recent AP top-25 poll for factual evidence of that.

Not only are UT and Memphis University, (MU), sitting atop the poll still at the #1 & #2 spots, but coming in at #18 is Vanderbilt. The only other state that can say they have 3 schools in the top-25 is Indiana, with IU (#12), Purdue (#16), and Notre Dame (#17). But it is hard to make that case that the basketball is better there when the top two teams in the nation just flipped-flopped their positions without dropping after UT ended Memphis' bid to remain unbeaten in the regular season.

Sorry, Dookie Vitale and all of the Cameron crazies, but your blue devils are nothing more than devil cake dessert afterthoughts in the national rankings.

To the UNC fans: what can I say? With all of that sticky substance on your heels, no wonder your feet are dragging on the national college dribbling scene!

To UK and UL fans: Sorry, but the national attention just does not care about either one of you right now, no matter how many banners are in your rafters, or how much of a national presence your coach may have.

The question becomes, when did the state of TN eclipse all of these other bastions of basketball supremecy? How did it happen?

The truth is that all of these schools in TN have very steadily building their programs to this outcome. Both Memphis and Vandy have been known for years as "good" programs. But with little else in the way of revenue generating sports, and with both schools having to compete with pro sports in their home locations, the schools decided to throw all of their attention to building their men's basketball programs to compete on the national level for NCAA titles and top-25 rankings. Both after wallowing in some obscurity for a long period.

UT however is a newcomer on the stage. And you have to give the UT AD a ton of credit. After watching UF figure out ways to leverage their dominating national college football program, UT's AD decided to "keep up with the Jones", and put as much effort into the men's basketball program, as UT has done in both women's basketball and football.

And that brings up the next point, it is not ONLY men's basketball that the state of TN is dominating in. But also women's basketball as well. The UT women's program has been a powerhouse for years. But looking again at this week's AP standings and you again see TWO state of TN universities chiming in, in the top 25. UT Lady Vol's at the #3 spot and the Vandy women's team at #23. Yeah, yeah, I KNOW all of you Duke and UNC fans are going to start thumping about how both of your women's programs are also in the top-25 as well. UNC #2 and Duke #12. But I am talking about total programs for the state here, where the state of TN tops NC in that regard. And if you look a little closer you will also notice that in the "Others receiving votes", that Chattanooga's women's basketball team received 4 votes in the AP poll, and are close to breaking into that top-25. Which would again give the state 3 teams in both men's and women's programs spots in the AP top-25 polls.

The question becomes though, is this a trend? Can the state of TN continue to put teams into the top 25 year after year? That only time will tell. But one thing is for certain: at least for now, the state of TN is THE center of the NCAA college basketball universe.

The first weekend of Spring!....

Ok, so it might not have looked or felt like it, but this last weekend of Feb WAS the first weekend of spring.

There was still ice clinging to all of the trees, and every parking lot had small mounds of non-melted snow/ice on them, and the temp on saturday dipped in the upper 20's. But this WAS a spring weekend.

Ah, spring, that time of year, when all men's fancy turned to two things: Baseball and Bass Fishing!

Ok, maybe not ALL men, but a number of us! And there is a larger number that is also beginning to polish up the golf clubs, because soon it will be time to begin torturing well-manicured fairways with huge divots, just as I will be annoying fish.

And yes, this weekend begins all of those honored traditions.

Baseball is being played again in Louisville, with the UL baseball team opening up their season saturday with two big wins over Cleveland State, (13-5 in the first game, and 4-2 in the next), in a double-header day that was a holder start after that big ice storm caused a postponed game on Friday.

And this was also the weekend that the BassMaster Classic, (the 'super bowl' of the bass fishing tournaments), was held on Lake Hartley in South Carolina.

Ok, so many of you probably are NOT both baseball and fishing fans. But believe me, those two events mark the start of spring. And that is the important thing.

Because soon, all baseball, (both college AND professional), will be in full swing. And speaking of full swing, for all of you golfers out there, remember, it is just one thaw away from the time you get to swing for your favorite summer sporting fun.

Yes, the days are getting longer, even though the weather is not much warmer. But we are in the beginning stages of spring.

So, let's remember, that while it may not look like it outside, you can feel that spring is in the air. Or, if you can not feel it, you can still see the signs of it by heading out to Patterson Stadium and catching an early season UL baseball game!

Council arrest highlights athlete issues

In some surprising news yesterday, Rod Council, the UL football starting cornerback, and one of the only consistently solid secondary performers for UL, was arrested in TN allegedly for robbing a gas station at gunpoint, for barely over $100.

UL Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe acted immediately to "permanently dismiss" Council from the team and the football program. Kudos to Kragthorpe for not being wishy-washy about a decision and acting promptly. It was a sound and correct decision.

However, this incident, for me, illustrates what might be the real problem in college athletics today. While athletes are given full scholarships for their educations, (and something every current and former student would LOVE to have, instead of the debt we incur while gaining our education), there still exists a big hole for these athletes that results in SOME of them ending up in serious trouble and even serious legal trouble.

That hole is a double-edged sword. The first part is that many of our athletes come from very economically depressed and poor neighborhoods that quite often are riddled with crime and even gang warfare and drug abuse. Many of our athletes see sports as their ONLY way out of this situation. And for a great number of them, it works. But this situation also shows the pitfalls of that system. While in school and on campus, these athletes can and do lead very productive lives and begin to find self-worth. But outside of that protective environment these same athletes, once back home, are subject to the exact same conditions that they seek to get out of. And the pressure by those that do not leave is still there on these athletes to be accepted or be "cast out" and threatened.

In the case of Rod Council, for example, the first question that comes up for me is this: Why was this athlete roaming around Asheville N.C. in the middle of a school week, in the middle of an academic semester?

Why was he not in class? Or at the very least, on campus either studying or in the football complex training?

According to reports, not only was Council not at the school on the day the alleged crime took place, but also the next DAY when he was arrested he also was not even in the city of Louisville.

Where was the oversight and mentors that are supposed to be in place?

And what possessed Council, who is getting a free ride for his education to allegedly rob a gas station for little more than $100? He is charged with a felony that could ruin his life all for such a pitiful sum of money? Why? If this is true, what led him to this action, and where were the people who his parents entrusted him to, (i.e. the school administration and coaching staffs), when he reached this critical life-changing decision?

Afterall, the schools themselves have a very real financial vested interest in seeing that the athletes in their charge are having their needs met and are caring for these athletes in way that
protects these kids from themselves.

Now, understand, I am NOT defending Rod Council, or even questioning the decision by HC Kragthorpe to permanently dismiss Council from the UL program. As I stated above, I 100% agree with Kragthorpe's decision. My question(s) are more broad based and general as it pertains to college athletes.

The system, because of past greed to "win at all costs", (by schools like Oklahoma, Notre Dame and most emphatically Southern Methodist University, where unfair practices would stockpile talent and falsify academic records), where many of these athletes could stay on campus and be under the care and supervision of their coaches and mentors, as well as having academic and assistant and/or graduate assistant help, are now, by NCAA rule left to their own devices to survive except the time period in which the sport is actively playing. And that includes very strict rules on any scholarship athlete finding a paying job, in the time period when the sport is not actively playing. Are we truly being 'fair' to these athletes? Are the schools that depend so much on the revenue that these athletes bring in for their performance truly acting in the best interest of the STUDENT?

I know that many ordinary students have the attitude that athletes "get all the breaks". In many cases that is true. But I would also challenge those same student opinions to tell me how much more impact the school's revenue is beyond that student's tuition costs? With athletes, the price of a scholarship is minuscule compared to the revenue that the school brings in comparatively.

And yes, I do realize that there are many ordinary non-athlete students who also come from very underprivileged environments. But at the same time, unlike student-athletes, ordinary students are not constrained by NCAA rules with regard to finding any kind of job they want, or limited to financial help by any number of sources, (i.e. family, friends, even social services), to help them with their scholastic pursuit.

I just have to wonder if the real issue here is the NCAA rules system which so strictly impairs our schools to act in the best interest of our student-athletes.

ok, reason #1001, why baseball is great....PRANKS

On sunday, one of THE all time greatest baseball pranks was pulled on Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick. This was a BIG time prank.

In case you have not heard about this, here is a recap: Kendrick was called by the Phillies manager into his office and told him he was being traded to Japan, for a pitcher named Kobiashi. Kendrick fell for this hook, line and sinker. They had him going from the second he stepped into the mgr's office. They had him sign the trade papers, and then the Phillies General Manager, (yes the GM AND the MEDIA were in on it), came down to make a media statement and said he thought it was time to make a move in the best interest of the team for the future. It was PRICELESS!

What was so great about it, is that they had everyone involved from the manager to the players, to the General Manager, to even the media! That was a true big time punk! It had all the elements that make a great baseball prank. It was cruel and funny!

And the funniest part is that they told him they were trading him for that guy in Japan who is the hot dog eating champ!...that is priceless!...LOL...

This is one of the major reasons that baseball is so great for those of us who love the game. Baseball has a long and storied history of pulling pranks. From the proverbial 'hot foot' in the dugout to shaving cream pies in the face while sleeping in the clubhouse, to now this.

With all of the negative stories and ugliness of the scandal regarding drug use in MLB, it is great to see that some of the things that make baseball such a unique sport are still part of what makes the sport a "fun game".

Pranks in baseball is what reminds us that with all of the "business" of baseball, baseball is, at the very core, a "game". An escape from all of the seriousness that we have to deal with in our daily lives. And the sport of baseball is a major piece of our American history. (I might do a series of blogs about that during the dull days after the MLB All-Star game.) Baseball is still a game that is played by men who never grew up. And pranks are the way they express that eternal mischievous nature.

I remember a couple of great pranks pulled on me, and one I pulled on pitcher. When I was in HS, I played both center field and was the backup catcher. One of the best pranks ever pulled on me was when I was in HS, on a day when the temp was nearing 100 degrees. The starting catcher was just about dying by the 5th inning, and asked if I could take over for an inning or two to give him a chance to cool down. What I did not know is that the ump had called a half-hour delay to the game to let both teams cool down. So I start to get geared up and when I slipped my hand into my catcher's mitt, (we each used our own), I found out he had slipped several scoops of cherry jello into it. Don't worry, I got even, I put vaseline in his cleats a few weeks later. Oddly, he said he liked the way it "squished" between his toes.

And even movies ABOUT baseball reflect how much pranks are part of the game of baseball. Watch the movies of "Bull Durham" when Costner decides that everyone needs a "rained out" game. Or the Tom Selleck movie "Mr. Baseball" when he lights a teammates shoe on fire.

Pranks are part of baseball. It is what we remember that is best about the game. And it is what is best about your teammates. And right now, we need more stories about the "fun" in baseball instead of the "ugliness" surrounding it.

and you think I am a baseball fan?

Ok, as most of you might know I am a big baseball fan. And in Louisville, there really are quite a bit more of us than you might realize. Part of that is because of Louisville's baseball history and the ties to current baseball with The Louisville Slugger bat and Hillerich & Bradsby.

And I admit I love the "game" of baseball, even though I hate all of the recent scandals over drug use. I even make a yearly trip down to Ft. Myers, where I used to live, for a week of fishing and spring training baseball. I actually love spring ball to see guys who are trying to make the teams and where the next generation of talent comes from. And you have not tailgated until you have grilled out redfish, snook and snapper that you caught just that morning!

Even in the winter I love to watch the off-season trades, and who is moving to which team.

But I am NOTHING when it comes to some people and their baseball frenzy. That fact was driven home to me just a couple of days ago, when I was reading an article from a Boston newspaper, and came across the following little hysterical item:

--------------------
Dan Shaughnessy
<http://www.boston.com/news/globe/>

It's live - but not lively

2/16/2008

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Seminal moments in television history?

There was the first appearance of the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in
1964, the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, and, of course, the final
"M*A*S*H" episode, watched by 106 million viewers in 1983.

And now we have spring training brought to you live by NESN [New England
Sports Televsion]. Television history.

The Red Sox network today will broadcast the team's first workout for
pitchers and catchers from 10 a.m. to noon. It will be replayed in condensed
versions at 1:30, 4, and 11 p.m.

Wow. LIVE FROM FORT MYERS! MUST-SEE TV! . . . Curt Schilling leading the
charge out of the clubhouse for the ceremonial single lap around the warning
track . . . Doug Mirabelli belching . . . Pitchers standing on the mound, in
line, running to cover first base as a coach hits fungoes to the right side
. . . Tim Wakefield stretching while [broadcasters] Don Orsillo and Tom
Caron stretch to find words to fill the empty action.

----------

Ok, now how hard up do you have to be for baseball to tune in for two hours to see a bunch of PITCHERS jogging around a field and stretching?!

I have to laugh, because I KNOW that unless there were some RedSox fans watching somewhere, this would not be televised.

So, just remember the next time your spouse, (female OR male), says that you are "obesessed" with your hobby or sport, just remind them that at least you are not watching pitchers excercising for several hours.

NCAA at the whim of TV...

A couple of days ago, as you may know, the NCAA proposed several changes to the college football rules. Most of these changes were done not with the intent of enhancing the game, but instead at the request of TV to shorten the games.

There were some changes that were proposed which were, IMHO, good changes, because they were enacted to protect players from injury. For example, college football will follow the NFL now with regard to "horse collar" tackles, making that a penalty. Another was a greater clarification on what constitutes a "chop block".

These two rule changes have been long overdue. Too many times players who have been caught from behind and drug down by their shoulder pads, (i.e. the 'horse collar' tackle), have ended up with injuries. Some severely so. And the clarification on what is and is not a chop block makes if far more simple for referees to call, because that rule was simplified. However, on the horse collar tackle, what we do not know at this point is whether that is a 5-yard minor penalty or a 15-yard personal foul penalty. Personally, I believe it should be a 15-yarder.

Another rule that was enacted was the elimination of the 5-yard incidental face mask penalty. The problem with this rule being eliminated is that now the ref's are going to be making judgement calls as to whether to call a personal foul 15-yard face mask penalty. And I believe we will see the number of those calls go UP over the course of the season. That is a huge part of the game that can truly determine an outcome.

Another proposed change was another clarification on the helmet-to-helmet penalty. That was actually, (like the chop-block rule), a good proposal, because again, it makes it clearer what is and is not a penalty. And that helps the ref's in determining calls.

The other rule changes proposed though I think are unnecessary and actually take away from the game. The biggest of these changes is once again on the kickoffs. Last year the kickoffs were moved back 5 yards from the 35 to the 30 yard lines to try and speed up that part of the game. THIS season, in addition to that, any kick that goes out of bounds will be placed on the opposing, (kick return), team's 40 yard line, instead of the 35 yard line. That is a HUGE advantage to opposing offenses. And the ONLY reason for this rule is so that the TV networks can shorten their broadcasts. The same with the change in rule for the play clock.

Instead of starting the play clock upon the ref placement of the ball, it will start using a 40 second clock which will begin immediately after the preceding play ends. That is also a huge change in the game, and for no good reason, IMHO. While this rule parallel's the NFL game, in college, where schemes and coaching play a more dominant role in the outcome rather than the talent level on the field, this rule HEAVILY favors "hurry-up" or "no huddle" offenses. This may have the net effect that we will see a major shift in college football to less and less of a power football scheme to more of a "pass-happy", spread the field type of football.

The problem I have with these clock, kickoff and other "speed the game up" changes is that the game itself begins to look less and less like a traditional game of football and more and more like a "junk" offshoot of the game. I mean really, what is next? Are we going to see the NCAA go the X-Football league route and ban 'fair catches' on kickoffs next, because a fair catch call added a whole 2 minutes to each game? This rule does nothing to truly enhance the game of football. And in direct effect, actually DE-emphasizes a part of the game that is virtually 1/3rd of the strategy of the game of football.

I mean really, at this point, why even BOTHER with kicking off? The TV networks hate that anyway, so let's just eliminate that part of the game altogether and upon scores, just give the ball to the opposing team offense at their own 35 yard line to start. That will take a whole 4-5 minutes off of the game right?

I do not mind any change that actually "enhances" the game of football. But some of the rules changes being proposed do not do that, and are only being proposed because of pressure by TV networks because THEY do not like how "long" the game takes? Oh, right, THAT is a reason to make that change! (rolling my eyes here).

Basically what is slowly happening is that the game of college football is not changed for the betterment of the game, but instead is looking more and more like a government entity being swayed by a powerful lobbyist. And there is no good reason for that to be the case.

Easy to find...but hard to read....

Roger Clemens testified today in front of the congressional committee holding hearings on PED use in MLB, as a result of the Mitchell report.

Having listened to his testimony, I want to believe him. But the problem I have is that Clemens seems more angry and defensive, than someone innocent and pleading his case. Several times during testimony, even when asked questions which seemingly would have helped his case, (such as the question asked by one congresswoman about his workout regime after showing a 4-panel display of Clemens taken at various stages of his career), Clemens had to be coaxed by chairman Waxman to answer the question directly, and even then barely satisfactorily.

Clemens just seems bent on stating that he has been wronged, and that others have and are lying about him, but at no time during the questioning has he offered any real proof of his innocence or evidence that shows that his accusers HAVE falsely accused him.

And even those people who Clemens considers good friends, like Andy Pettite who yesterday during his questioning said that he overheard Clemens in a discussion about taking human growth hormone, Clemens stated today that Pettite just misunderstood. He did not deny that there had been a discussion that had taken place, nor did Clemens provide to us the details of how that conversation could have been misunderstood. All Clemens did was offer us an excuse that Pettite was wrong, not that Clemens was right.

And that is the knife that keeps twisting in my brain about this situation.

If Clemens is not guilty, then why is not offering substantiative proof of his innocence, instead of trying to state to us that he thinks all of his accusers are lying or mistaken???

Very few of the questions were directly answered. At least not to my satisfaction.

Even that very simple question which part of his answer is in the title of this blog entry, he stumbled answering. The question was simple and straight forward. When asked if he had denied any request to appear before former Senator Mitchell to answer any allegations that were being made against him, Clemens offered us only that he was "easy to find". And that had he know what "lies" were being told he would have been there. But that did not answer the question. So while Clemens may be "easy to find", he sure is extremely hard to read, when it comes to answers he has given.

Baseball memorabilia..bloody sock to bloody gauze??

When the Boston RedSox won their first World Series in nearly 90 years, a few years ago, they did so with the help of the pitching of Kurt Schilling who had to have some surgery on his ankle literally during the AL divisional series. Then during that WS, we all watched the game he pitched as the media focused on such a "gutsy" performance that he gave, while his stiched up ankle oozed blood. Which turned into the "bloody sock" gate later on where Schilling was even later accused of staging the whole thing. That turned out to be much about nothing. Still, we were left with people vying to buy a "bloody sock" to get a piece of baseball history, even to the point where the MLB Hall of Fame finally won out, and now that sock is on display.

But last friday may be all time doozy of baseball memorabilia. Last friday we learned that Clemen's former trainer, McNamee, not only accused Clemen's WIFE of taking human growth hormone injections, but to try and prove his claim that McNamee injected Roger Clemens with them, he produced syringes and bloody gauze pads that he claimed he kept in a freezer for SEVEN years!

Anyone else find this really creepy?

Ok, for now, let's drop the whole "guilt or innocence" discussion of Clemens. Because what I find FAR more disturbing is that as a big time baseball fan we have sunk so low as to now we have started considering that such things as cotton fabrics stained with bodily fluids are now part of baseball lore. This is really just wrong.

I mean come on, what's next? Not to be crass, but have we dipped so low into our quest of trying to immortalize our baseball heros as to have gone beyond dumpster diving for "trinkets", as to now start to see if we can save anything from blood to hair to urine samples???

It is one thing to go after uniforms, gloves, bats and equipment. But it then borders on sickness to start to go after such things as jock straps and cups. Which you can bet somewhere on Ebay, there is a guy who is offering such things.

Horse Racing & Boxing...dead sports?

Yesterday the Breeder's Cup decided to send the 2009 event to Santa Anita in CA. Churchill Downs, along with the KY state legislature had put in a tremendous amount of effort and incentive to attract the event back to Louisville and to Churchill Downs, with obviously no success. And in my opinion, through no fault of their own.

But this brings into view a growing problem in the sports world around both the horse racing industry and the professional boxing industry. That problem is, that I believe that both of these sports are literally dead sports to the vast majority of the American sports public.

Now, before you start quoting how Louisville and Churchill Downs owns the 5 of the top 6 Breeder's Cup attendance records, or how the Derby every year pulls in millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of people, or how Louisville hosted a professional boxing event, and how Louisville is home to the greatest heavy weight boxing champion in the world, let me defend my point. Because Louisville and the state of KY still value these sports, especially the horse industry. And the horse industry in KY is a HUGE part of the economic engine in this state. I get that.

But the truth is that nationwide, horse racing is losing fan interest. Especially among the sports media. Even during last year's Derby event, the friday immediately before Derby, (known here as Oaks Day), not only went completely unnoticed by ESPN's SportsCenter, but also, on ESPN's "Around the Horn" show, Kevin Blackistone and Bill Plaske said that they would NOT be watching the Derby at all. Blackistone because there was a boxing match, (which I will get into in a moment), and Plaske because of some other golf event. Even Jay Mariotti on the show that day said that while he would watch the race itself, it only had a passing interest for him and his readers in the Chicago area.

You can gnash you teeth and come up with all sorts of reasons as to why these guys do not matter, but the evidence of fan attendance at race tracks bears out that horse racing has become such the purview of the most wealthy and famous that unless you are part of the industry, (or live in KY, or certain parts of FL, VA or CA), it no longer holds any interest for the national fan base. (And do not use the argument of, "But the Queen of England came to the Derby!"....because I can counter with how much interest do you have in THEIR national sport, soccer.)

Boxing is another sport that no matter how hard the cable companies try they just are NOT going to revive from the dead. Sorry, but this sport is dead, buried and needs a eulogy for it. This sport has been declining in significance since the incarceration of Tyson. The truth is, with anyone under the age of 35 this sport is being fastly replaced as a spectator sport with more violent and agressive Ultimate Fighting Championships. UFC is growing fan ranks at a very quick pace, and will soon equal, and I believe overtake, boxing with regard to fan interest. Again, you can deny that, but numbers do not lie, (although they can be 'fudged'), but the truth is, that boxing has become completely insignificant in the world of sports. And in many ways they only have themselves to blame for the greed that overtook them by moving all big title bouts to 'pay per view' events that had very little excitement and interest.

Even in the state of KY and surrounding areas, UFC is gaining in popularity and interest, where boxing, even with Louisville's rich history of boxing, is losing ground. And again, to that same demographic. And the truth here is that boxing is all but dead even in KY.

The point is that soon while in KY these sports will continue to have relevance and interest, and in the case of horse racing, a continued huge roll in the overall economy and interest of the people of this state, in the coming years these sports will be of so little significance that even getting the Breeder's Cup to Churchill Downs will not capture much attention of the national sporting world.

What is the answer? I think doing what Louisville is doing. Looking to pull other events into the mix. Events like the Ryder Cup, the Senior Olympic Games, (and as much as I personally HATE it), even the Ironman Competition. Louisville should also continue to court other X sports, and try to get more of those championships to come to the area. Those sports are growing in fan interest, and are far and away a better investment of time, resources, and money than continuing to go after boxing and other horse racing events that will have continued diminishing economic and fan interest returns.

a different perspective on UL football signings

Yesterday, UL football signed 22 players to the football team. Of those 8 of them were JUCO's, and the rest prep players. Like many of the sports media wonks, I honestly do not put a whole of weight on the "star" rankings of players. Is there a talent difference between a 1 star and a 5 star player? Yes. But the gap between 3, 4 and 5 star players is really not that great for the most part. Remember, that rating is not so much a rating based on "talent" as it is the difference between "potential" versus "immediate" impact a player could have. Some kids are more physically developed than others, but that does not mean those that are not, will not become superstar players in college. It just might take a little longer. So I do not put a great deal of emphasis on those rankings.

Looking up and down the players signed by UL, it looks like a solid class. It has some size and speed, mixed in with shoring up some glaring needs that UL has coming into the 2008 season. So all of that is "goodness and light". But I have to say, I have some very serious reservations as to the strategy of recruiting by Kragthorpe and this staff.

My concern is not that Kragthorpe has not and can not find talent, it is that there exists what appears to be an extreme bias against recruiting what has been traditional areas that have resulted in reaping great benefits for UL football.

With this staff the emphasis is in recruiting the western part of the nation far more heavily than UL's history of pulling talent from areas like AL, LA and especially FL.

Unlike some others I am NOT convinced that this is in UL's best interest.

When Schnellenberger came to UL to build a program, he started pulling from talent rich FL. Over 10 years Howard worked that pipeline, building relationships and ties. And over the 20 years since that time, UL, (especially in south Florida), has developed a very strong alumni and prep school presence there. When Schnellenberger left, every coach since has recognized how important that link was to a state that is arguably the most football talent rich state in the nation. And without question IS the most football talent rich state east of the Mississippi river. And having recognized how important those in-roads to talent were, every HC since Schnellenberger continued to develop them.

The single biggest reason why I believe UL should not "focus" on recruiting players from out west is that of geography and demographics. The truth of the matter is that UL simply stands VERY little chance of ever consistently developing a pipeline of top level talent from those states of TX and CA, because quite frankly, UL just does NOT have the "national presence" to develop that pipeline. And historically only ONE school ever HAS done such a feat. That school is Notre Dame. Now having said that, I am not saying that Kragthorpe should never go to TX or CA to look for talent. But I am saying the he should NOT do it as the first option. Instead go after those players selectively and as a one-off process.

Geographically, trying to get a kid to come east of the Miss. river, unless your school name is Notre Dame, is nearly impossible. If it were that simple to develop and pull talent from those areas, you would see a LOT more schools from the Big 10, the ACC and even the SEC trying to do it. But they do not, and there is a reason for that. Most of the kids in TX want to play in fairly similar timezones, so that their families, parents and friends can see them play. In Notre Dame, that is easy, because of ND's virtual TV choke hold on NBC.

The other issue is one of demographics. Regardless of what this staff thinks, there is a HUGE cultural difference between the west and the east coasts. And Louisville just does not have the same type of culture, from an activities standpoint, that west and west coast environs do. (As someone who lived in Denver, CO and Phoenix, AZ for 7 years, I can speak to that a bit.) Not to mention that in the Big East, east coast football is very different than what they play out "west".

And a lot of what I say rang true with the FAILURE of this staff to pull in even mid-level talent from the state of TX. Two of the players that UL were recruiting signed with other teams that were on-par or were below UL's football level. That is VERY telling.

For Kragthorpe to "thumb his nose" at areas that UL has had long standing tradition with, and great success pulling recruits from, speaks to just how completely "out of touch" he is with the history of UL football. And lest we forget, the LAST time a school in the state of Kentucky tried to develop a strong recruiting base from the state of TX or west of the Miss. river; resulted in that school getting smacked with 2 years of probation due to NCAA violations. (*ahem*, see UK history for reference.)

It is my opinion that if Kragthorpe continues to disregard those areas that have resulted in football recruiting success and have deep ties to UL, then UL football is in for a long period of relative obscurity, because it will take at LEAST 5-10 years to even come close to developing the type of prep school recruiting pipeline that UL has cultivated over the past 20 years.

the REAL "super tuesday" event....

Sure the airwaves tonight will be full of media wonks going off about who won this primary or that caucus and giving us more information that is useless than last weeks build up to the super bowl.

But the REAL "Super Tuesday" event today is that this is the day that Roger Clemens will have his day in court....er...or should I say, day in congress.

Clemens is due today to give his deposition to a congressional hearing committee on charges of his using PED's during some of his years in MLB.

This comes one day on the heels of Andy Pettite's deposition which went almost completely unnoticed by the sports media world. And I still find it interesting that throughout all of this mess, Pettite, being the only one that has confessed to USING PED's, is just quietly flying under the radar of every media outlet and reporter. Funny that.

Let's hope that today though we get to hear something from Clemens other than 42 pages of statistics showing his ERA, strike out ratio, and game winning percentage. Clemens needs to address specific charges against him in specific ways. Even to the point of answering questions such as, "Why would McNamee lie about you, but not about Pettite?"

And let's hope the congressional hearing committee is not satisfied with sound bite answers.

Love him or hate...Bob Knight was centerstage

In shocking news last night we learned that Bob Knight is abruptly retiring as HC of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. My first reaction to this news was, "Man, I really hope this is because he wants to, and not because of some type of health or family crisis." I still hope that is the case today. But from everything we know, he was just tired of the gig.

I have to admit, I am one of the probably hundreds to thousands that both respect and despise Bob Knight.

I respect him for all that he did off the court for his players and his community. His sincere and honest care for not only the player to achieve as an athlete, but also in the classroom and as individuals. I achieved this respect years ago, when Bob Knight did something I have never heard of being done before, or since, in college basketball. During one season, Knight was reviewing the players grades from the semester, and even though all of them were passing grades well enough to be eligible to play basketball, Knight benched 3 of his 5 starters for the next game, because the players were not getting grades high enough. What coach today would even DREAM of benching a player for not getting higher than required NCAA eligibility grades?

I respect him for what he brought to the game of basketball. His motion offense and tough defense.

I despise him as an opponent and his tirades. If there was ever a coach I never wanted UL to face it was Bob Knight. Even though UL did well, he was a terrifying opponent, and he just hated opposing fans.

I wish Bob Knight all the best and hope his retirement years bring as much success to him as his years of success on the court have.

History interrupted.....

As I have stated throughout the NFL playoffs, I am not a New England Patriots fan. But I am a little down this morning after watching the Pat's blow a late game lead and lose to the New York Giants last night in the Super Bowl.

Hat's off to the Giants. They had a stellar defensive game plan to stop the Pat's. And they did. But that still leaves me feeling a little cheated this morning, because I really wanted to see NFL and sports history made.

Like I noted last week, it also is a bit unfair to the Pat's, throughout everything they accomplished this season to end up 18-1, and that be considered a "failure" this morning.

Let's hope that the NE Patriot's, with their aging LB corps, and their group of overachieving playmakers, realize just how much they DID accomplish this season and just how dominate they were all season. Look at the following stats:

NFL records for:

Most touchdown passes in a single season

Most touchdown receptions in a single season

Highest scoring point total in NFL history for a single season

Only team EVER in NFL history to win 18 straight games in a single season

Only team in NFL history to reach 18-0 in single season

As a team, this was a dominating team to watch, and epitomized what the real definition of the word "team" meant.

On a night were a gutsy and completely gassed Giants defense, and bunch of young and unknown Giants offensive future stars made the plays they had to, to win; let's also give the Patriots an round of applause for giving us football fans a season to remember.

Another Pat's superbowl opinion and prediction...

Right about this time, most of us football fans are sick to DEATH from all of the sports-wonk analysis, predictions, injury-innuendo and just plain nonsense. Even local sports talk radio is flooded with talk of the super bowl. It is as if they are trying to INVENT issues to talk about because what more can be said? Truth is, we sports fans just want the damn game to be played and stop talking about it.

But I am NOT going to take my own advice....LOL...and this is just one more stupid, insipid and rank discourse about the upcoming 42nd superbowl.

The first thing I would like to say, is that I am NOT a Patriot's fan. I am a Tampa Bay Buc's fan. But having said that, I am pulling hard for the Pat's to win this game. Because I want to SEE sports history.

What the Patriot's have done to this point is literally unparalleled in the history of the sport. And I believe 100% absolutely already eclipses ANYTHING that the 1972 Dolphins did!

Let's face it, at the time the Dolphins had their magical undefeated season, they did it in a time when the NFL was not nearly as deep and talented, or as even in parity, as it is today. And that makes what the Pat's have done to date even that much MORE impressive. They have won MORE games while going undefeated than any other team in NFL history. But here is the problem they have. They have now set the bar SO high, that the ONLY possible satisfactory outcome for them is to finish it off with a Super Bowl Championship. If this team finishes 18-1, that would be considered a failure?! Yes, a team that went 18-1, but did NOT win the Super Bowl would be a failure. At least in the eyes of history they will be. This is like the MLB Seattle Mariners, who were the winningest team in baseball a few years ago not winning the World Series. Which is why I think that this 42nd edition of the Super Bowl, will be the biggest viewed televised sporting event in the history of the NFL, and MAYBE of any single game event in the history of TV sports broadcasts.

Regardless of whether you want the Pat's to lose, the Giant's to win, or the Pat's to stamp their mark in NFL history, you WILL be watching. Even those casual football fans that care nothing about either team, (like me). I WILL be watching, because I want to see history unfold, if it indeed happens. But at the same time, if Giants look like they are going to win, I am also going to be turning the station. Because I honestly have NO interest in seeing the Giants win, or the Pat's lose. Only in seeing if the Pat's can finish off this run.

Late sunday evening, we will know.

Oh, and my prediction? Give me the Pat's by 8.5 over the G-men. I think it will be closer than many think.

UL basketball...recent issue

I have been hearing a LOT of complaining going on by UL fans over recent losses to both Seton Hall and UConn.

Admittedly, both games UL has had more talent, and both games UL could have, and perhaps should have won. But the type of comments being made are sometimes pretty silly, and often just downright pathetic. And on both sides of the argument.

Some people saying that the kids are not talented, can't shoot, Pitino can't win close games, etc. While others say that Pitino is still one the best in the biz, and there is a lot of young, very good talent on this team that has suffered from lack of SR leadership due to injuries that have just started to get their games back.

Perhaps both are right. But neither argument has any real validity.

This is NCAA Basketball. NOT College football. Losing to teams that you can beat, and probably SHOULD beat, do not mean anything. The ONLY thing that matters is whether or not UL can win ENOUGH games to get invited to the NCAA tournament, where they would have a chance at winning the national championship.

Period. End of story.

(but not the end of diatribe blog entry...VBG)

Let's stop with all of the gnashing of teeth over whether "Sosa should have done this", "Palacios should have done that", "what Pitino could have done", "what T-Will should have done". Or why Padgett makes this team better and why Smith is a great 2 guard. NONE of that matters. NONE.

What DOES matter is that Louisville is sitting 15-6 (5-3) and plays in THE toughest basketball conference in the nation, but still has 10 games left to get at least 6 wins, and make both the BE and the NCAA post-season play. Losing a game here and there might hurt the Cards "seeding", but as long as they find a way to win at least 21 games, then they will have their chance. Unlike in football where 1 loss WILL drop a team out of the national title picture, a bad loss here and there for UL does nothing, except to give media-wonk critics something to write about to justify their so-called "expertise".

So, just cool down everyone, and let's see what happens now that we are in February. This is truly "crunch" time for the Cards, and they need to put it together for sure. But the season still has a LONG way to go.

Santana and the Mets

Look I KNOW that most people in Louisville think that "basketball is god". But baseball has a ton of people who care and follow the sport. That is why I do write so much about baseball here. And in Louisville, as being the Triple-A home for the Cincinnati Reds, the deal that happened recently between the Mets and Johan Santana has huge implications for many Reds followers in Louisville.

It is obvious that while the Mets scored a MAJOR coups in snatching Santana from the Twins, it is also true that the Twins really took a major bath on the deal. The question is, what happened that BOTH the Yankees and the Red Sox backed off of this deal?

Personally, I think the only reason that the RedSox were involved to begin with was to keep Santana out of Yankee pinstrips. While they would have loved to have had him, I do not think they were all that keen about losing Ellsbury, or a couple of the other players mentioned, given what they have returning in their pitching rotation anyway.

Why did the Yankees backoff? Good question. And I really have no idea. The Yankees pitching last year was AWFUL, and without question they BADLY needed Santana far more than Santana needed to play in front of those backwoods, country morons, known as "Yankee Fans". But here is what is interesting, George Steinbrenner would never have allowed Santana off the hook, whereas his idiot progeny did. In two of the major off-season deals, (Santana recently and the nearly botched loss of A-Rod), it is becoming VERY clear that not only are these guys not their father, they are complete idiots. (More's the better for a lifelong Yankess hater and RedSox fan like me!)

These are guys have nearly screwed up and did screw up two of the biggest deals in recent Yankees history, and the more they get involved, the more you realize that they are not the right owners for this storied ballclub.

If the Yankees start going down the tubes this season they way they did last year, these guys might just be stupid enough to not only fire the manager again, but also have a "fire sale" on some of their better players, just to try and get a "quick fix" in place.

It will be interesting to watch over the next few years.

One other MLB and PED comment

In case you missed this little item that was in the news last week.

Chuck Knoblauch, also accused in the Mitchell report of taking PED's during his career with the NY Yankees, was served a congressional subpoena last week for failing to respond to request to appear before the congressional subcommittee investigating the Mitchell report claims.

Knoblauch yesterday, has agreed to appear and testify before the committee yesterday. And Waxman, (chair of the committee), has withdrawn the subpoena.

But here is the best part, and if you are a baseball fan you will love this. Last week, during the MSNBC show Countdown, hosted by Keith Olbermann, had the best baseball joke line I have ever heard about this.

Olbermann, when referencing Knoblach's failure to respond to the committee summons, said this, "Perhaps it was not that Mr. Knoblauch has in any way intentionally refused to answer or reply to the committee. Instead, he probably received the request in the mail, promptly balled it up, and attempted to throw it to first base, sailing it into the stands and hitting my mother!"

Any baseball fan that watched Knoblauch play 2nd base for the Yankees knows just how funny that line is!

18,000 words? EIGHTEEN THOUSAND?!

Ok, in the ever revolving story of the use of PED's in MLB, Clemens and his lawyer yesterday released a 40+ page document with 18,000 words, which was really nothing more than a statistcal biography of Clemens career.

Nearly nothing in this report gives is anything that you can not lookup in the Baseball Almanac, or on MLB.com.

You would think that a guy that is accused of taking PED's, would at least ADDRESS the exact issues that his accusers have stated, instead of trying to use statistics of how his play actually improved around and after the same time frame he has been accused of this action.

But let's put that aside for a minute.

I actually applaud Clemens for vehemently defending his name. Because, let's face it, his career is over, so it is not like he is going to be going back to baseball in hopes of winning another Cy Young award. The only reason he might go back is just to make 'mo money' and because he does not know when to quit.

So the reason he is fighting this is for his baseball legacy. And I understand that. Because if proven that he did take PED's, then his chances for HOF induction are all but zero.

Which makes this document so very confusing. The argument is at best an odd tangent, and at worst completely moot. You would think that instead of trying to make this document about the whole of Clemen's career and saying "See! Look at his stats it shows how good he has been as a pitcher!", they would instead address specific issues and events that McNamee has accused Clemens of. Why talk about Clemens lowest in the majors ERA during that time period, but not address any issues or situations off the field, which is where the allegations are said to have occurred? It does not make much sense.

And why has Clemens legal team not seen fit to address the questions raised by Pettite's admission of guilt directly? For example, why would McNamee lie, what does he stand to gain or lose by falsifying information about Clemens?

While it is an interesting tack, this document does nearly nothing to address the questions or innocence of Clemens being accused of PED use. At least none that I can see.