Hello once again
Good to be back after a vacation to South Carolina. I still can't get used to SC's speed limit still stuck at 55, but maybe, someday soon, that will change. Now.....on to the sports.
It has come to light recently that the UNC Tarheel football program was going to be investigated by the NCAA. My first reaction to this story was "What....Butch Davis has another dirty program (Miami)? Give them the death penalty!!!" But, as my partner on the TV show, Tim McMillan said, the death penalty should probably never be used again, and that we should wait to see what the rest of the facts are. Well.....here we go. It has now come to light that Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia have players that are also under scrutiny from the NCAA. Now, there are always 2 sides to an issue like this, and I see both of them. The sides are: 1. These kids are not getting "paid", per se, and that if someone wants to give them a little money to, say, go out to eat, then that's OK. I always thought the NCAA was wrong for hammering Utah's basketball program when former coach Rick Majerus bought a kid a slice of pizza at the airport as the kid was going home to bury his mother (true story). And the other side is: 2. These kids are, in fact, getting paid in the form of a "free" education, with room and board. All they have to do is play a game to get a free education. And, make no mistake about it, college athletics has become a huge business. Look at the money being thrown out by ABC/ESPN, CBS, FOX, and other subsidiaries to broadcast games. And, as such, if everyone is making a ton of money, the athletes feel they should receive some sort of stipend for their efforts. But, old-school as I am, I feel that they should go to class, go to practice, play in their given sport, and zip their mouths closed. The big complaint among athletes is that they see "their" jersey in the college bookstore, but they can't afford to buy it, since they don't get any money. Horse feathers!!! One, it's not "their" jersey, it belongs to the school, and two, once you leave school, you won't have any student loans to pay off.....go buy you a jersey then. But, this whole case has brought to light, once again, the seedy side of sports agents and their minions. Alabama coach Rick Saban likened them to pimps. He's also tossed about the idea of closing off the campus to NFL scouts, something that has the big league scared to death. We really haven't heard any kind of agent contact like this since the UNLV basketball team of the early 1990's. Are any of the athletes at the above mentioned schools guilty? Who knows....but one thing is certain. I'd kind of dismiss it if it were just one school, or one kid. But the fact that it's multiple schools and multiple athletes, it sort of has a ring of truth to it. We'll have to wait and see what the NCAA or the individual schools find out before we can really see how much of a problem there really is.
To the NBA, where New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul wants out of the Crescent City, and I can't blame him. The Hornets are in the midst of a huge house-cleaning, and Paul feels that the team is not headed in the right direction anymore. Most people are saying Paul saw all the attention lavished upon LeBron James and Chris Bosh in their recent free-agency, and he wants in on the act. Since James left Cleveland, everyone is saying that he's "tarnished" his legacy, that his "brand" has taken a hit, and that he's just plain greedy. Well......if he wins a title, all of that will be fotgotten. And, if Paul can engineer a way out of New Orleans, then good for him. It doesn't have anything to do with a so-called "LeBron effect", it has everything to do with the fact that soon-to-be former Hornet owner George Shinn has bled the franchise completely dry, and Paul doesn't want to stick around for a rebuilding period.
In the NFL, many teams are getting ready to report to training camp. But, with that as a backdrop, why has nobody really asked the question that teams need to sign their draft picks a bit earlier to avoid any confusion before camp. I mean, the NFL Draft was in April, here we are in July. Was there not enough time to get a deal done in between time? This should be the final year we see rookies get monster deals, too. The owner's side of the table has, for some reason, asked the Player's Association to, once aain, save the owner's from themselves. It's looking like rigiht now, we could be headed for a work stoppage in the NFL next season, and some of it comes from the revenue system. Leave it to 32 spoiled billionaires to kill the golden goose. It makes me love college football all that much more.
Sorry I haven't posted for a bit. High school football starts in 4 1/2 weeks. We'll be back on the radio this fall, with the internet broadcast to be posted the following day. Hope everyone can tune in this season. We'd love to have you on board. That's all for today.
Till next time.............
Patrick
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Super-team in South Florida, SEC's wide open status...
Hello once again to everyone......
To the NBA, where the free agency period has been fast and furious. Most everything that was predicted to happen has, in fact, come to pass. But, we were all waiting for the "Big 3" as pertains to free agency (apologies to the Celtics) to let us all know where they were going to play. The only thing we knew for sure going into this was that Chris Bosh would not return to Toronto. And, that shouldn't be a shock. Toronto, at first, tried to placate Bosh by offering the maximum deal. Bosh, to his defense, said he wanted to test the market, but would give Toronto a fair shot at signing him. Then, word came out that Toronto wanted to dictate where Bosh went via a sign-and-trade deal. This, of course, struck a nerve with Bosh, who wanted to be the one who decided on his career, and not someone else. So, once the animosity started to reveal itself, we all knew Bosh was gone from the Raptors. But then, we heard DeWayne Wade was leaning towards Chicago because of his kids being there, and the fact they already had some nice pieces in place with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. So, we had all these pieces moving at one time until yesterday, when Wade and Bosh both announced they would sign with the Miami Heat. Now, earlier this month, Wade and Bosh were reported to have had a "sit-down" with LeBron James to see what the landscape was going to be, and what teams could take them on. Jump to today, where James is having a press conference tonight on ESPN in an hour-long show to announce where he is going to play. Now, the thing to remember in all of this is three words as pertains to the state of Florida: No State Tax. If James does indeed leave money on the table as he is reported to do if he signs in Miami, he'll still get comparable money due to the tax issue. So, while it seems that James will join Bosh and Wade in Miami, the population of Cleveland seems to be souring on the whole thing. It went from "LeBron, please stay", to "LeBron, this is home", and now to "If LeBron goes on national TV and stabs us in the back, it's the most classless, disgusting thing ever!!" Hyperbole, to say the least.
So, if you're from Chicago, New York, or New Jersey, and you're a fan of those teams, how do you feel now about coming in second place in the free agent sweepstakes? Chicago went from making room in the trophy case for another title to picking up the pieces in a matter of hours. New Jersey was never really a player, despite their new owner. And, New York put a lot of their eggs in the Amar'e Stoudemire basket, so they still have a slim outside chance, but it's highly unlikely. Tune in to ESPN tonight to see where James will make his NBA home.
To college football, where I was asked a question on the TV show the other night, and that was "Who do you think will be a surprise team in college football this season"? Well, I mentally went through a list, and started eliminating teams, mostly based on conferences. And, when I got to the SEC, it made me think a little harder. Let's start at the top: Alabama doesn't have Javier Arenas, Tay Cody, Rolando McClain, or the favorable home schedule this season, and they'll enter the season as the defending national champions, so they'll get everyone's best shot week in, week out. I don't think they'll run the table as they did last season. LSU is always a player out west, but they always seem to trip up on Arkansas at the end of the season. Ole Miss could make a run, but I just don't see that one either. In the eastern division, UGA has a huge cloud hanging over the program there with the resignation of their AD (charged with DUI last week) and Mark Richt is on a bit of a hot seat there. Kentucky.....well....no comment. Same thing for Vanderbilt. That leaves Tennessee (new coach, new staff, and trying to get over the whole Lane Kiffin debacle) and Florida (how will Meyer's health affect them in the post-Tebow era?) as teams that could possibly be a wild card, leaving.......God help me for saying this.......South Carolina as the picture of stability in the SEC East. Plus, their baseball team just won the national title, so it'll be a bit of a challenge to the rest of the teams there in Columbia to step it up. Can Spurrier put another run together? Who knows.....but, speaking from a continuity and stability standpoint, I think they could be a contender in the SEC this fall.
It's a great time in the sports world, folks. MLB's All-Star Game is next week, the World Cup final is Sunday, and NASCAR hits the home stretch before getting ready for the Chase. Oh, did I mention that training camps will soon open for the NFL? Hope everyone is having a great summer. Till next time..................
Patrick
To the NBA, where the free agency period has been fast and furious. Most everything that was predicted to happen has, in fact, come to pass. But, we were all waiting for the "Big 3" as pertains to free agency (apologies to the Celtics) to let us all know where they were going to play. The only thing we knew for sure going into this was that Chris Bosh would not return to Toronto. And, that shouldn't be a shock. Toronto, at first, tried to placate Bosh by offering the maximum deal. Bosh, to his defense, said he wanted to test the market, but would give Toronto a fair shot at signing him. Then, word came out that Toronto wanted to dictate where Bosh went via a sign-and-trade deal. This, of course, struck a nerve with Bosh, who wanted to be the one who decided on his career, and not someone else. So, once the animosity started to reveal itself, we all knew Bosh was gone from the Raptors. But then, we heard DeWayne Wade was leaning towards Chicago because of his kids being there, and the fact they already had some nice pieces in place with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. So, we had all these pieces moving at one time until yesterday, when Wade and Bosh both announced they would sign with the Miami Heat. Now, earlier this month, Wade and Bosh were reported to have had a "sit-down" with LeBron James to see what the landscape was going to be, and what teams could take them on. Jump to today, where James is having a press conference tonight on ESPN in an hour-long show to announce where he is going to play. Now, the thing to remember in all of this is three words as pertains to the state of Florida: No State Tax. If James does indeed leave money on the table as he is reported to do if he signs in Miami, he'll still get comparable money due to the tax issue. So, while it seems that James will join Bosh and Wade in Miami, the population of Cleveland seems to be souring on the whole thing. It went from "LeBron, please stay", to "LeBron, this is home", and now to "If LeBron goes on national TV and stabs us in the back, it's the most classless, disgusting thing ever!!" Hyperbole, to say the least.
So, if you're from Chicago, New York, or New Jersey, and you're a fan of those teams, how do you feel now about coming in second place in the free agent sweepstakes? Chicago went from making room in the trophy case for another title to picking up the pieces in a matter of hours. New Jersey was never really a player, despite their new owner. And, New York put a lot of their eggs in the Amar'e Stoudemire basket, so they still have a slim outside chance, but it's highly unlikely. Tune in to ESPN tonight to see where James will make his NBA home.
To college football, where I was asked a question on the TV show the other night, and that was "Who do you think will be a surprise team in college football this season"? Well, I mentally went through a list, and started eliminating teams, mostly based on conferences. And, when I got to the SEC, it made me think a little harder. Let's start at the top: Alabama doesn't have Javier Arenas, Tay Cody, Rolando McClain, or the favorable home schedule this season, and they'll enter the season as the defending national champions, so they'll get everyone's best shot week in, week out. I don't think they'll run the table as they did last season. LSU is always a player out west, but they always seem to trip up on Arkansas at the end of the season. Ole Miss could make a run, but I just don't see that one either. In the eastern division, UGA has a huge cloud hanging over the program there with the resignation of their AD (charged with DUI last week) and Mark Richt is on a bit of a hot seat there. Kentucky.....well....no comment. Same thing for Vanderbilt. That leaves Tennessee (new coach, new staff, and trying to get over the whole Lane Kiffin debacle) and Florida (how will Meyer's health affect them in the post-Tebow era?) as teams that could possibly be a wild card, leaving.......God help me for saying this.......South Carolina as the picture of stability in the SEC East. Plus, their baseball team just won the national title, so it'll be a bit of a challenge to the rest of the teams there in Columbia to step it up. Can Spurrier put another run together? Who knows.....but, speaking from a continuity and stability standpoint, I think they could be a contender in the SEC this fall.
It's a great time in the sports world, folks. MLB's All-Star Game is next week, the World Cup final is Sunday, and NASCAR hits the home stretch before getting ready for the Chase. Oh, did I mention that training camps will soon open for the NFL? Hope everyone is having a great summer. Till next time..................
Patrick
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