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• Afternoon quickie

  February 22, 2012

  

  Wednesday, February 22, 2012- Tampa Bay Ray 3b Evan Longoria recently admitted that he was in fact dating Playmate Jaime Edmondson. No confirmation as to whether the "admitting" took place via the roof of Empire State Building, or national TV, nationally syndicated radio show, social media, message in a bottle. Look at that picture. I would admit that to my wife.

  From the "Sun was in my eyes" file- Mizzou really got caught looking ahead to what may be there final match up with long time rival KU Tuesday night. Kansas State took them to the woodshed and embarrassed them on their own floor, maybe exposed them a little, all but insured there will be no 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. This may leave a taste so bad in Tiger mouths that they may not lose sight of the prize again this year. Even if they lose to KU in Lawrence, which is likely.

  From the "run like hell" file- Former NBA enforcer Charles Oakley needs some attention. So he calls out NBA stars past and present. Oakley on Celtic Kevin Garnett: "He hollers and makes alot of noise but he's not tough. He's one of the weakest guys to ever play." and Kendrick Perkins "is just like him. I played for 18, 19 years and only got dunked on three times." On TNT analyst Charles Barkley: "He's a coward and a fraud. He was a good player for his size, but not a leader or role model. He wants to be funny on TNT. They're a bunch of clowns on that show." I have no idea what kind of shape Charles Oakley is in now, or what would motivate him to challenge men half his age to fight. Barkley I get. But in Oakley's prime? These three could walk together and better cross the street to get out of his way. They couldn't handle him with pistols in a phone booth. Probably still couldn't. Still , "coward" and "fraud" could be considered mean-spirited.

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• Evening Bracer

  February 21, 2012

  Tuesday February 21 2012- Portland Oregon- Greg Oden requires a third micro-fracture surgery on his left knee according to team spokespeople. Any one micro-fracture surgery is career threatening and this one should end an injury plagued and disappointing on-court NBA career, through no fault of Oden's other than his own body's betrayal.

  Oden, who was chosen ahead of NBA superstar Kevin Durant, only played in 82 games since being drafted in 2007 and is the latest in a historical line of injury-riddled post players for the Trail Blazers.

  Bill Walton won a championship in Portland but bad feet and a poor attitude ended his Portland run before he came back with the Celtics. Sam Bowie was drafted ahead of Michael Jordan. Not much else to say about "Sittin' Out Sammy". Now Oden.

  Pittsburgh- From the "It's not me it's you" File: New Steeler Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley and QB Ben Roethlisberger have still not spoken. This drama is going on two weeks and has reached ridiculous levels. Is "Big Boy Benny" posturing? You bet. Is Haley acting foolishly? Of course. This mess is entirely on Haley, who, as the coach, should at least pretend he's more mature. Probably distracted by the team of agents survailling his every movement. I am not sure this is the best first move from a beleaguered coach with a questionable reputation when dealing with a two-time super bowl winning QB. Even Josh "I'm the Man!" McDaniels thinks it's crass.

  St. Louis- From the "You talkin' to me?" File: In a social climate that has professional sports teams holding cities hostage for bigger better stadiums and bigger better tax incentives, the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (CVC), the owners of the Edward Jones Dome where the Rams play their home games, have said enough.

  Already under pressure from team owner Stan Kroenke to upgrade many of the Dome facilities, the CVC put their chins down and fists up after Kroenke announced that the Rams would play a "home" game in London in each of the next three seasons. Reminding Kroenke that the lease agreement between the team and the Dome requires the Rams to play all home games at the Dome, the CVC agreed to a one-year amendment to the lease that can be revisited in the future, that will allow the team to play in London. If Kroenke pays all contract employees (ticket takers, venders, etc.) their full hourly wage for the game. Additionally, the CVC will now have use of the Dome for two weekends a month during the football season. Kroenke agreed.

  Don't be messin' with the CVC. They'll cut a dude.

  Denver- From the "It had to happen" File: Brady Quinn, back-up QB for the Denver Broncos, let his feelings on the Tim Tebow situation fly in an interview with GQ magazine. The no. 2 qb when starter Kyle Orton got hurt, Quinn felt passed over when Tebow got the nod. "I think the fans had a lot to do with it," said Quinn, "chanting his name, there was a big calling for him. I didn't have any billboards. That would have been nice."

  Quinn also offered an opinion on Tebow's success late in games. " When the defensive line has to chase the QB around for the entire game, it effects the pass rush. The defensive backs are chasing the receivers but when you throw only eight passes, they can start to feel lazy. Then it only takes one big play to score a touchdown."

  Quinn must wonder what it would be like to have the complete support of the coaching staff and front office with no danger of being pulled even if you only complete eight passes. Would Quinn have the same success with the same opportunity? No one can say with certainty.

  Except this. In 12 career starts, all with Cleveland, Quinn, who came in to the league from Notre Dame with a great deal of fanfare and hype, was 3-9 and completed only 52% of his passes. While journeyman Derek Anderson took the same basic on-field personnel to the play offs and himself to the Pro Bowl.

  Quinn is now backtracking from his comments and confessing his true and undying love for all things Tebow. Sit down and shut up, Brady before someone actually puts you on the field and you make an even bigger fool of yourself.

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• Linsanity Rules

  February 15, 2012

  Wednesday, February 15, 2012- In his First game since being named Eastern Conference player of the week, New York Knick Jeremy Lin continues his amazing journey from end-of-the-bench afterthought to top of the world sensation.

  With less than a second left in Tuesday's matchup against Toronto, Lin hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer to win it for the Knicks, capping a 27 point performance in which Lin scored the game's last 6 points and included a career high 11 rebounds.

  The spotlight on Lin may be bright, but Lin makes plenty of room for his teammates. "It's not because of me," Lin replied when asked about NY's 6 game win streak,"it's because we're coming together as a team. We started making these steps earlier but were still losing close games which , obviously is not fun. But winning solves alot of problems. We've been winning together and we've been playing together."

  Tuesday the Raptors official website displayed a picture of Lin in an attempt to sell more tickets for the game that night. Somebody deserves a raise for that ingenious marketing strategy as Tuesday was Toronto's first sell-out of the year. Quality, quality kid that is better for more than just the NBA.

  

  From the "Massive Disappointment" File: The New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates are close to reaching a deal for RH A.J. Burnett. The only hurdle remaining is compensation. In this case the compensation question surrounds how much of the $33 million still owed Burnett the Pirates will take on, they prefer $10 million while the Yankees would like them to absorb between $13 and $15 million. Burnett seems to be one of those fellas, and there are a bunch, that is not comfortable under the NY microscope and takes it to the field. As a Yankee, his ERA is a full run greater than at any other time in his career. Never a top of the rotation pitcher, despite what the Yankees expected, Burnett should return to pre-NY career average numbers once he's out of the Bronx. 13 wins 200 innings and an ERA around 4. He is what he is no matter how much you pay him. There are no magic powers in pinstripes.

  From the "Hey that hurts" File: Johan Santana has been playing long toss and will throw from a mound on Thursday. Good for him. Unfortunately, the Mets will expect him to return to his former greatness and save the franchise from the evil and trickerish Madoff scheme while winning the CY Young and World Series. He is going into his age 33 season and is returning from major shoulder surgery. Getting the ceremonial first pitch all the way to the plate might be closer to reality here. Besides the Mets wouldn't be the Mets without a crippling long term contract that has little to no return. Just ask Steve Phillips and Mo Vaughn. And Bobby Bonilla whom they are still paying. Last time Bobby was a Met? 1995 and the Mets owe him $30 million.

  From the "Just say No!" File: Best Wishes from the Grind to the Gwynn family as HOFer Tony Gwynn undergoes surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his cheek. When asked by doctors if he would like them to put the cancer back after it had been excised, Gwynn said no.

  In a related story, the Baltimore Orioles have declined to sign Manny Ramirez to a contract even at league minimum and pro-rated for 112 games as Manny has to serve a 50 game PED suspension. Evidently Buck Showalter was unimpressed with Manny's CF to LF to SS triple cutoff innovation. No verification of the rumor that Manny will catch a ride to Cancun with Jose Canseco.

   

   

   

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• Witless "Twitts" and Linsanity

  February 14, 2012

  Tuesday February 14, 2012- Commenting on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the report that he will make $20 million per year by the end of his current contract, Atlanta Falcon wide receiver Roddy White took to Twitter. "How in the hell can you pay this much money to a man that can't run, tackle, or catch." wrote White. "Roger Goodell is getting over never seen anything like it 20 million for looking over the league with tremendous help I guess the NFL is banking."  When a follower suggested the job that Goodell and his predecessors had done  was responsible for White's salary, White responded, "thats the stupidest thing ever heard the players make this league dont forget that"  Falcon owner Arthur Blank may not agree. As head of the NFL Compensation Committee he is the man largely responsible for Goodell's salary, as well as being responsible for White's 6year $50 million contract. The numbers speak for themselves. The only question remaining is, "How the hell can you pay a man $50 million when all he can do is run, tackle, or catch?"

    More from the "Twitter" file- Evidently, not everyone is suffering from "Linsanity". Boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr. took to Twitter to express his less-than-enthusiastic  thoughts on the branding-iron-hot New York Knick point guard and crowd favorite. "Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise".

  In reality, Lin has scored 109 points in the first four starts of his career a feat accomplished by Lin and...Lin alone. No players, black or otherwise, are  doing what he does every night. 

  But who is Floyd to let silly facts get in the way of a good tweet? This is not Floyd's first foray into the highly charged world of the racially motivated statement. Back in 2010, he went on a racist and homophobic rant about boxer Manny Pacquiao.

    Lin, a Harvard grad, has the kind of story that most fans can get behind. In high school he sent his resume and highlight DVD to Cal, UCLA, the Ivy league schools, and his dream school, Stanford. The Pac-10 schools wanted him to walk-on and Ivy league schools do not offer athletic scholarships. Lin's 4.2 GPA in high school made the Ivy league possible and he chose Harvard.

    In Lin's junior year he became the only Division I player to rank in the top ten in the nation in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks, steals, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage. Lin was a unanimous All-Ivy League selection. His senior year was nearly as dominant, garnering another All-Ivy league selection.

     Lin went undrafted after graduation, but received an invitation from Dallas GM Donny Nelson to attend their Mini-Camp and Summer League teams. After a successful but un-spectacular Summer League session he received offers from three teams and decided to sign with home town Golden State, signing a two year deal in 2010. Lin spent most of that year shuttling between the parent club and the D-league, before being released by Golden State and picked up by the Houston Rockets, but released again before the start of the season.

    Picked up by the Knicks, Lin was assigned to the D-league again. After recording a triple double, 28pts, 11rebounds, and 12 assists, Lin was recalled by the Knicks where, due to a perfect storm of injury, he was installed in the starting line up against the NJ Nets where he scored 25pts, had 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Against the Jazz, 28 pts, 8 assists, versus the Wizards 23 points, 10 rebounds. On February 10, Lin scored 38 points against the LA Lakers, outscoring Kobe Bryant 38-34. Lin's current popularity can be attributed to not only his success but his hard work and determination, while never losing sight of where he has been. The D-league not Harvard.

   As for Floyd Mayweather, Jr., he starts a 90-day jail term on June 1 for domestic violence. You stay classy, Floyd.

   

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