BlogNet News WisconsinYeah, it’s early. But I think someone nicknamed parc0023 hit the nail on the head with a comment on the NCAA not changing the BCS,
Nobody wants to see the National Championship decided on the field anyway.
‘Zactly.
(a tip of the conservative cap to my buddy Chris at TWSB)
Two stories here. First the NCAA will add apair of bowl games.
The NCAA announced Wednesday that its Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee had given the OK to 34 bowls this season – two more than last season.
The new games are the Congressional Bowl in Washington, D.C., and the St. Petersburg Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla. The subcommittee did nix one bowl, the proposed Rocky Mountain Bowl in Salt Lake City.
The St. Petersburg Bowl. What an imaginative name. Couldn’t they get Tropicana to sponsor that, too?
Then BCS officials reject a playoff proposal.
Even a four-game playoff scenario was too much for the BCS.
Bowl Championship Series officials rejected a plan Wednesday to turn the much-criticized system for deciding a national champ into a four-team playoff, starting in the 2010 season.
The BCS format will remain the same until at least the 2014 season.
Great. We won’t know who is truly the college champion for six years.
And I do hope we have disputed games every year for the next six.
Hey, how about some sleeze?
Beleaguered country singer Mindy McCready finds herself in the center of a media storm once again, but this one promises to be unlike anything she’s weathered.
On the line is the national reputation of baseball player Roger Clemens, as well as his defamation lawsuit against a former trainer who has said Clemens used steroids.
In a Monday front-page story, The New York Daily News reported that McCready and Clemens had a decade-long romantic affair that began in 1990, after he met the 15-year-old at a Florida karaoke bar when he was a 28-year-old married Boston Red Sox pitcher.
Clemens’ lawyer, Rusty Hardin, confirmed a long-term relationship, but told the News it was not sexual. However, McCready later released a statement saying she could not refute anything in the story.
The allegations could be damaging to Clemens because his honesty remains central to his testimony about alleged steroid use to Congress. The implications of dishonesty about the affair could bleed over to his denials of steroid use, as well. “If you lie once, will you lie again?” asked Mel Antonen, USA Today baseball writer.
Slime all around for Clemens.
Trop could host newest bowl game
[The St. Petersburg] bowl would pit the Big East against Conference USA, and Wednesday brought new details, such as $30 tickets. (The Outback Bowl, with higher-level teams, charges $65). Tropicana would be configured with the field running from home plate to rightfield with seating for as many as 44,000.
Wonder what will happen if a punt hits the catwalks?
But wait, there’s more.
The St. Petersburg Bowl isn’t the only potential addition as proposals will be heard Wednesday in South Florida from the Congressional Bowl, which would pit Navy against an ACC team in Nationals Park in Washington, and the Rocky Mountain Bowl, featuring teams from the Mountain West and Western Athletic in Salt Lake City. Only St. Petersburg’s would be produced by ESPN.
Three more bowls. Great.
MLB - Standings - Yahoo! Sports
American League
East W L Pct GB
Tampa Bay Rays 14 11 .560 –
Baltimore Orioles 14 11 .560 –
Boston Red Sox 15 12 .556 –
New York Yankees 13 13 .500 1.5
Toronto Blue Jays 11 15 .423 3.5
Yes, folks, the Devil Rays and the O’s are tied for first. So is Boston but they’re sure to fade 
Meanwhile, Rays fans continue to be outnumbered at home games,
The Rays have often seemed like the visitors when the Red Sox and Yankees are in town, but they hoped it would change with an improved team.
Yes, some of these guys will be stars. Some will also be flops. Ryan Leaf, anyone? It’s a crap shoot at best and yet these guys are analyzed ad nauseum. Mock drafts abound.
Don’t count me among those on the edge of their seats waiting for the next pick.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays rallied Wednesday night,
for a 5-3 victory at Disney World. “We’re very fortunate to be able to do it.”
Tampa Bay improved to 5-0 in games they’ve played here the past two seasons in home-away-home series designed to bolster fan support in the Orlando area.
Five and oh. That could be enough reason to build that new stadium in Orlando.
The attendance was 8989, that’s about what they’d get at the Trop.
In a move so earth shattering that it’s hard to find it on the Rays front page, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays acquired Greg Gross from Brewers.
The Tampa Bay Rays addressed a need for help in the outfield Tuesday, when they acquired Gabe Gross from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for minor league pitcher Josh Butler.
Gross was batting .209 with no homers and two RBI’s in 16 games this season. He went 2-for-4 and scored three runs, including the game-winner, in Milwaukee’s 9-8 victory over St. Louis earlier Tuesday.
Butler was 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in three starts for Class A Vero Beach this season.
A mediocre position player for a mediocre minor leaguer. Boy I hope both teams are improved with this move.
See more at “the Bar.”
In review:
AL EAST Boston Red Sox
AL CENTRAL Cleveland Indians
AL WEST Los Angeles Angels
Wildcard New York Yankees
NL EAST New York Mets
NL CENTRAL Chicago Cubs
NL WEST Arizona Diamondbacks
Wildcard Philadelphia Phillies
ALCS Boston vs. Indians
NLCS New York vs. Arizona
World Series Cleveland vs. New York
Cleveland wins the Series.
The last in a series picking the finishes of the major league baseball divisions. Coming soon will be the playoffs.
In spite of the Brewers’ (and their fans) optimism, I see the Chicago Cubs winning the division. Basically the same pieces are there from last year’s club. Hitting is still good. Pitching will be the question mark. Dempsey to starter, Wood to the closer role.
Because of the weakness of the division, the Milwaukee Brewers will finish second, but again miss the playoffs. This club is no better and may in fact be worse than last year’s 83-79 team. It remains to be seen if Gagne will even regain his form much less be better than Cordero. Does Braun have a sophomore season approaching last year’s rookie year while moving to left field? Does Bill Hall regain his team MVP season of two years ago? Will Sheets remain healthy? Do all those bullpen changes work?
The rest of the division is harder to pick.
The left side of the St. Louis Cardinals infield is gone. And perhaps one of the finest defensive centerfielders, or if not, the hardest playing has been traded. What will the rotation will be until Carpenter and Mulder return from injuries.
The Cincinnati Reds have a lot of kids. They did get Cordero. They have Harang and Arroyo. After that? Who knows. Will Griffey still be around by the All-Star break?
Houston Astros have several questions. Don’t they all? A new middle infield combo is one of them. A new centerfielder too. Will Tejada return to MVP form? No.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are the only sure thing. They will finish last. Just not enough money for the pieces they need.
We will find out this year if Joe Torre is the genius everyone thinks he is. He has left the New York Yankees and gone to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he may have to decide pitching changes once in a while. Will the Yankees live up to their potential this year? The pitching staff has promise. The offense should show no slack.
But they won’t beat the Boston Red Sox who should repeat as AL East champs. Providing everyone stays healthy and Ramirez and Papi regain their 2006 form.
Toronto Blue Jays should gain third place if only because all they have to do is beat out the Devil Rays and the Orioles. They got David Epstein for SS and Scott Rolen for 3B.
Joe Maddon is predicting a .500 record for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays this year. Right. But they probably won’t finish last thanks to the Orioles. Maybe 70+ wins will help get them that new stadium at the waterfront.
What to say about the Baltimore Orioles? With Erik Bedard going to Seattle, the O’s have no one close to a bona fide starter. Last place, even though they are in the same division as the Devil Rays.
Take a group of starters with the third best ERA in the NL, add Dan Haren, throw in a healthy Randy Johnson and you could have the best starting rotation in the majors. Now if the Arizona Diamondbacks could hit. But pitching wins in baseball and the D-Backs have some good arms.
Better than the San Diego Padres? We’ll see. Had the baseball season been 160 games long last season, they would have been in the post season. With a staff that led in most pitching categories last year, they should again be in it till the final week.
The Colorado Rockies were one of the great comeback stories last year, winning 21 of their last 22 to get to World Series. They return most of the components of last year’s team and should contend again.
Watching the Los Angeles Dodgers this year will show if Joe Torre can manage without the Steinbrenner largess. They had the best record in the NL after the All-Star break, but injuries crippled the pitching staff. If the free agents do their thing, this could be a four team race.
That leaves the Barry Bonds-less and Barry Bonds-purged San Francisco Giants. Holes abound although the pitching staff is decent even with underachiever Barry Zito. How the kids fill those holes will determine how well the Giants do.
Continuing my look at Major League baseball.
The California Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim have won the West three of the last four years. They should do it again, although over the weekend a couple of pundits expressed concern over pitching injuries. Torii Hunter is a big addition that lets Scioscia rotate his four outfielders with the DH.
Seattle Mariners are the best of the rest. They made strides last year, but still have a few moves to make to get over the hump. Richie Sexson is in the last year of his contract so perhaps he’ll have added motivation to perform better. Plenty of offense, but the rotation? Not so much.
It’s hard to put the Texas Rangers in third, but with Oakland last, this is the only spot left. Holes in the rotation, holes in the offense, and oh, they led the league in errors last year. The bullpen is the one bright spot.
As I said, the Oakland Athletics are the reason Texas is third. Most of the healthy players are gone leaving healing veterans and youngsters. They are rebuilding and as the vets heal and perform, they may be on the trading blod.
The Cleveland Indians are the defending champions, but the Tigers were active in the offseason. The Indians had the top-rated rotation, Borowski was the saves leader and a more than adequate offense. All those pieces are returning.
The Detroit Tigers improved themselves greatly with the additions of Willis, Cabrera, Renteria, and Jacque Jones. Their already lethal offense is now more so. If the pitching holds us, they could take it all. But I don’t think they will.
The once fearsome Chicago White Sox rotation is a shadow of its former self. The offense was last in the league last year and there have been no improvements. The reason I put them as high as third is because of the following two teams.
Johan Santana leaving for the Mets leaves big shoes to fill for the Minnesota Twins. If all the youngsters come through, they might finish higher.
That leaves the Kansas City Royals. They improved last year and didn’t lose 100 games. They probably won’t this year either. But they still need a lot of help and will finish last again.
I will begin a series on the various baseball races, ending with the post season. First the National League East.
The New York Mets won the Johan Santana derby. Even with some time to adjust to the NL he should be their ace. If Pedro stays healthy the Mets should have the potential of 4 15 game winners. The offense will be more than adequate with that kind of pitching
The Philadelphia Phillies add Brad Lidge and hope to repeat as NL East champs. They won’t but they might get the wild card. With, perhaps, the best hitting infield in the majors, the Phillies should score their pitchers plenty of runs.
The Atlanta Braves should finish third, if only because all they have to beat are the Nationals and the Marlins. Will the aging pitching (Glavine and Smoltz) last until replacements are found?
The Washington Nationals should nip the Florida Marlins to stay out of the NL East basement. The Marlins pitching and defense are suspect. Two new faces are in the Nationals outfield but they should produce.
From The Heater, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays blog,
So much for any issues between the Rays and Yanks being “put to bed.”The Rays-Yankees spring training game Wednesday took a wild turn in the top of the second, when Yankees 1B Shelley Duncan slid spikes-high into Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura while trying to stretch a single into a double. Duncan[']s hard slide prompted a quick ejection, and sparked the benches to clear.
Duncan, if you remember, had made some veiled threats earlier this week that there would be more intensity in today’s game following the much-publicized home plate collision Saturday by Rays INF Elliot Johnson. The Rays felt it was just a hard play. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said it was “uncalled for” during a spring training game.
Just think what it will be like when the regular season starts.
This is why we hate the Yankees.
MySportsCal.com is where you need to go.
Download the 2008 Major League Baseball Schedule into an Outlook, iCal, or Google Calendar. Right click on csv or iCal icon, Save to computer, Import into calendar.
Two of my favorite players retire the same day (a tip of the conservative ball cap to grumps, who as a Packer fan, obviously doesn’t think as highly of Sapp as we Buccaneers fans do).
Warren Sapp’s 13-year NFL career officially ended when his retirement was posted on the Oakland Raiders’ Web site.
Sapp said immediately after last season that he was through playing, but did not file the paper work. The posting on the team’s site was the first official word that the star defensive tackle was done.
In January, the 35-year-old Sapp posted a two-word message on his Web site: “I’M DONE!” He had told teammates and coaches his plans after the season finale against San Diego.
Packer fans are understandably upset at Sapp for what they consider a cheap hit that injured tackle Chad Clifton.
But when the Bucs were in the “Black and Blue” division, I enjoyed watching Favre and Sapp trash talk back and forth.
The game will be duller without these two great players.
The most storied quarterback career in NFL history is coming to a close.The Green Bay Packers have confirmed a story first reported by FOXSports.com that Brett Favre, the NFL’s all-time career passing leader, has decided to retire.
Why now? After perhaps his best seaon in a while? Maybe he doesn’t see the team going farther next year. Tougher schedule. More teams gunning for you. Maybe he’s just tire of getting hit.
Some wonder if something else was involved. Who knows? We’ll have to wait and see what comes out.
I thought something was up when Chris Mottram at The Sporting News spotted a page on the Packers web site announcing Favre’s retirement.
And then I saw an interview the last couple of days with Mike McCarthy (I wish I could remember which Milwaukee station did it. Anyone?) where he gave the oddest answer to the retirement question and again I thought something’s up.
I’m not a Packer fan. But #4 was one of my favorite players and I will miss him.
|
RightyBlogs
