Kevin Faulk's Sticky Situation

This just in...Professional Athletes love to get high. So do Rappers. What do you get when you mix the two? A place that's smokier than Gary, Indiana. New England Patriot's Captain and Running Back Kevin Faulk thought he would blend in with the crowd at a Lil Wayne Concert on Friday Night at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana. Unfortunately for him, Narcotics Officers get paid to find stoners like him and arrested the Footballer (to use the term loosely) with four hand-rolled cigars filled with Green...and I'm not talking about Spinach. Faulk is the second Patriots player to be arrested with Mary Jane since the Superbowl joining Reserve Defensive Back/Special Teams Specialist Willie Andrews who was caught with 3 bags of Weed...2 days after the Pats loss to the Giants. New England is becoming the New Cincinatti of the NFL. Faulk awaits his court date. If he's smart, he'll front that cash money to get this taken care of like Lil Weezy does when he gets caught on the regular with the Sticky Icky.

If a tree falls in the forest...

In an era of overwhelming sensationalism in television medium, Young Swole finds it shocking that one of the most high-profile athletes stands accused of serious violations and crimes and yet is being ignored.

Two years ago Reggie Bush was on top of the world. He was one of the most electrifying college athletes we had seen in years and was poised to make millions of dollars in the NFL. Since then, a lot has gone wrong though. He hasn't lived up to the hype in New Orleans despite being surrounded by some of the greatest offensive weapons in the entire league, but more damaging are the off the field concerns that have been raised. For years, many skeptics have wondered if USC could build such a powerful football program in a clean way, and while it was hard to find a crack in the Trojan Program, the Achilles heel (pun intended) may in fact turn out to be the face of the USC dynasty in the 2000's, Reggie Bush himself.

Bush is accused of borrowing money from people like Lloyd Lake, an ex gang member who became a sports agent, while playing at USC. Lake is believed to have financed a car for Bush and home for his family, which if true would violate NCAA rules. To make the case even more serious, Lake is now suing Bush because he claims Bush has not paid him back despite making millions of dollars a year. While this is a very serious deal, it unfortunately isn't even the biggest story. What makes the entire situation so shocking is how the overwhelming majority of sports media has chosen to ignore it.

For the past few years, ESPN has degenerated before our eyes into a daily tabloid of sports drama, instead of a reputable source of sports information. Their habit is to choose a controversial team or player, and cover them so extensively that they run the story into the ground before they choose another candidate to feed on for the next rating cycle. Players like Terrell Owens, Michael Vick and Barry Bonds and teams like the New York Yankees are beaten into our collective psyche like a bad catchy song. It seems like the developing Reggie Bush saga would have ESPN executives licking their chops as they see it as an opportunity to fill up another 3 months of programming. Yet if you turn on ESPN you will never hear a mention of the case. Lip service is paid to the fact that Bush's bodyguards threatened Lake's life at a hearing last month, or that Bush didn't show up at a mandatory court appearance yesterday, or even that USC is investigating Bush's financial background and may forfeit victories and championships. In a story that seems like a much bigger deal than most of the other garbage we hear about daily (The Best Highlight of All time for example), why is ESPN almost entirely ignoring it, when it seems so quick to jump on the bandwagon of every sensational sports story that exists?

Here are 3 quick reasons why ESPN is ignoring it:

1. USC was ESPN's glory program for college football. 2 years ago, their talking heads were saying USC was the best football team in the history of college sports before they even won a title (which they promptly lost to Texas). This year they severely overrated the Trojans at the beginning of the year again, and then constantly rated them as the best team at the end of the season despite being no more impressive than many other teams around the nation. This coverage included fawning over the accomplishments of Bush which while impressive, have to be looked at harshly in hindsight if Lake's allegations are true. To bury Bush's career, ESPN is effectively burying all the hype they put into the USC program, which would make them look foolish.

2. Reggie Bush has carefully crafted an image as a clean-cut athlete that fans can look up to. ESPN is quick to bury athletes they deem controversial like a TO, who hasn't done anything near what Bush is accused of. The fact that they play favorites is bad enough (just look at their coverage of Brett Favre and the Patriots last football season), but to not treat all players fairly in the wake of recent and enlightening events is frankly a disservice to ESPN's viewership.

3. Most importantly, Reggie Bush's attorney is a man named David Cornwell. ESPN viewers may remember him as the legal authority then turned to when the Bonds and Vick fiascos were ongoing. Now Cornwell is the man orchestrating the possibly criminal acts that Bush is undertaking, all while still being considered a respectable legal authority in the eyes of ESPN. This entire relationship screams of a conflict of interest. Simply because a person has been on your tv channel before does not mean he should be above the law, and above the judgment of those with the power to do so. By protecting Cornwell, and thus his client Bush, ESPN is stunting the legal process, and also proving highly hypocritical in its reporting and opinion-forming.

So while this Bush story is not going away any time soon, and in all likelihood will only grow more important in the coming months, it may be ignored on one of the most important sports media outlets in the world. Bush may be guilty or innocent, the legal process will surely find that out, but we can already safely say that ESPN is guilty of biased reporting in what may turn out to be a more serious case than all of the sensationalized garbage they have thrust upon America over the last few years.

Arizona Diamondbacks Preview

Last year's big surprise isn't going to sneak up on anyone this year. The D-Backs were active in the off-season switching up a number of things in hopes of improving on their improbable NLCS appearance from last year. The only playoff team to get outscored during the regular season went out and bulked up on...pitching?! Yeah, that's right. The D-backs are banking on their young sluggers improving and traded for one of the biggest pitching names in all of baseball in Young Dan Haren. It appears they're not just satisfied with a 1st place finish in the NL West...they want the whole Cherry Pie.
2007 Finish: 90-72 1st in NL West

Key Additions
Dan Haren SP
Trot Nixon OF
Chad Qualls RP
Chris Burke OF
Key Losses
Jose Valverde RP
Carlos Quentin OF
Tony Clark 1B

Livan Hernandez

Projected Lineup
1) Justin Upton RF
2) Orlando Hudson 2B
3) Eric Byrnes LF
4) Chris Boo-urns Young CF
5) Connor Jackson 1B
6) Stephen Drew SS
7) Mark Reynolds 3B
8) Chris Snyder C
9) Pitcher
Offensive Grade: B-...This line-up doesn't have any All-Stars currently, but the great potential for growth is definitely there. This is one of the youngest line-ups in the majors and besides an oft-injured Carlos Quentin, they didn't lose anything. Their oldest starting hitter by far is the 32 year old Eric Byrnes, who had a career year last season. 2nd Year CF, Chris B. Young came on very strong near the end of the year, hitting more Dingers than almost any hitter in the majors over the last month. Young bucks Stephen Drew and Justin Upton are also still ripening and Jackson and Reynolds each had flashes of brilliance last year too. I think that by this time next year this grade could be much higher.

Projected Roster
1) Brandon Webb
2) Dan Haren
3) Randy Johnson
4) Doug Davis
5) Micah Owings
CL) Brandon Lyon/Tony Pena
Pitching Grade: A-...I had to add the minus because of the depth issues and closer shakiness. The top two flamethrowing duo of Webb and Haren stack up with the League's Elite and you can make an argument that they are the best 1-2 punch in baseball. Both of these ballers are potential Cy Young Candidates in the loaded NL Pitching Race. They really remind me of the Randy Johnson/Curt Schilling tagteam from the 2001 World Series winning D-Backs squad. Could these two have as much success as the '01 Studs? Speaking of Dandy Randy...his health is going to be a Gigantic X Factor for this team. Clearly, he's not going to be return to his dominance of 2001, but if he can stay healthy for 60 percent or more of the season, this rotation is going to be one of the most intimidating in baseball. Doug Davis is the king of mediocrity, but for a #4 hurler, he'll do. Micah Owings is in the same vein as Jason Marquis...mediocre pitcher, above average hitter. I Wouldn't be surprised if he gets pinch hitting duties at some points this season. Losing Valverde is a tough blow. I don't really understand why they dealt him to the 'Stros, but it shouldn't matter if Haren and Webb can go late enough into games.

2008 Season Outlook
The NL West should be a great race this year and the D-backs will be right in the thick of things. It's hard to imagine them not being near or at the top come September considering what they did last year with less. Some of the lucky breaks might not fall their way this time around, but with Dan Haren around, it should make up for the times when they don't have Lady Luck on their side. I see this team at least equalling their performance from a year ago with a possibility of flirting with the century mark in the left hand column. This squad is primed for a run to the World Series again, but they'll need to be firing on all cylinders if they want to advance farther in a much better National League this year.
Projected Finish: 94-68

No Condoms in SEC Country

Remember how big of a deal it was when we learned that Travis Henry has fathered 9 children out of wedlock. Well don't look now, but it looks like the Frostproof Felon may have some new competition on his hands in the Future Seeds department

http://www.aljera.com/articles/view/65#article

Good lord, Darren McFadden is only 20 years old and already off to this fast of a start? I guess SEC speed reigns supreme not only on the field, but also off of it as well.

NBA Weekly Preview

The dust has settled after the trade deadline. Now its time to see which teams made the right moves to push them forward. Lets take a look at whats on tap in the association.

The Power 16

1. Boston 42-12. Talk about a rough road to start out post all-star break. The men in green took consecutive L's in games at Denver, Golden State and Phoenix, but after tonight's game they will return home to the friendly confines of the eastern conference and look ahead to a showdown with Detroit in a week from wednesday.

Opponents this week: @LA Clippers, Cleveland, Charlotte, Atlanta

2. Detroit 41-15. The Pistons are probably as close to the Celtics as they have been in months. After two bad losses post all-star break, Detroit rebounded by destroying Milwaukee and Phoenix by a combined 57 points. Two more huge road games on tap this week as they continue their western trip. If they keep up their impressive form, they could be the new top dog in the league.

Opponents this week: @Denver, @Utah, @LA Clippers

3. LA Lakers 39-17. There was no more impressive victory than the Lakers win over the Suns on Wednesday. In winning one of the greatest regular season games in years, the Lakers served notice that they are quite possibly the team to beat in the West. If Kobe can play this good with a hurt finger and Bynum comes back, the road to the finals could go through LA.

Opponents this week: Portland, Miami, @Portland, Dallas

4. Utah 36-20. The Jazz lost an unexpected game to the Clippers on Friday night, but their consistency keeps them in the top 5 for another week. Its amazing how sometimes the smallest moves can make the biggest differences, as seems to be the case with the Jazz acquiring Kyle Korver.

Opponents this week: @Minnesota, Detroit, @New Orleans, @Memphis

5. San Antonio 37-17. Young Swole warned people about writing off the NBA Champs too early, and now they've won 5 straight and appear to be finding their groove. And if Manu Ginobili keeps playing this well, he may have to factor in MVP Consideration.

Opponents this week: Atlanta, Dallas, @Milwaukee, @New Jersey

6. New Orleans 37-17. The road is getting much more difficult for the Hornets. They lost back to back to division rivals Houston and San Antonio and could possibly be in 4th place in their own division after another brutal week of opponents. This is a good test to see if the young Hornets have the mental fortitude necessary to win big games.

Opponents this week: Washington, Phoenix, Utah

7. Phoenix 38-18. Its funny that people are already saying the Shaq trade is a disaster after yesterday's debacle against the Pistons. Educated people knew that of all the trades, the Suns would take the longest time to adjust to their new player. It didn't help they played the 3 top ranked teams in the league immediately after Shaq started playing either. Give this team a few more weeks to adjust before judging the trade.

Opponents this week: @ Memphis, @New Orleans, Philadelphia

8. Houston 36-20. The Rock show has a definite chance to have a 16 game winning streak before heading to Dallas next Thursday. Bobby Jackson is going to be a great addition to this team because he can provide a third offensive option behind Yao and T-Mac. Also, Carl Landry may just fuck around and win rookie of the year if he keeps playing this good.

Opponents this week: Washington, Memphis, Denver

9. Dallas 37-19. Dallas won 2 out of 3 games this week and is in 9th place in the standings showing just how tough the West is. They have three super tough road games coming up which will give us a good measurement of how the Mavs will look with Jason Kidd running the team.

Opponents this week: Chicago, @San Antonio, Sacramento, @LA Lakers

10. Orlando 36-22. The Magic have come out fast since the all star break winning 3 of 4 to solidify their hold on the 3-seed in the East. However, their lack of acquiring a steady point guard to run the team may be their undoing in the playoffs. If I was the Magic I'd look long and hard at acquiring Sam Cassell for the stretch run, his leadership would be perfect for such a young team.

Opponents this week: @New Jersey, @Philadelphia, NY Knicks

11. Golden State 33-22. If the Warriors want to make the playoffs in the brutal west, they cannot afford to lose games such as they did Friday at home to the Hawks. They had little inside presence before, and now without Andris Biedrens for 2 weeks, they will have none. Its a good thing the schedule sets up really well for them the next two weeks, none of the teams they will play have a good low post presence that can hurt them.

Opponents this week: Seattle, Philadelphia, Portland

12. Denver 33-22. If any team seems like it could fall off the pace in the west playoff race, it seems like the Nouglats would be the logical choice. They added no one significant at the trade deadline, just lost 2 games in a row to bad eastern conference teams, and face a schedule even uglier than a naked Rick Majerus over the next two weeks.

Opponents this week: Detroit, @Seattle, LA Clippers, Houston

13. Cleveland 32-24. You know your supporting cast is pathetic when adding bums from Seattle like Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West plus epic bitch Ben Wallace is considered a vast upgrade over what you had before. While these guys are nothing special, the greatness of Lebron James may be enough to make them contenders in the east.

Opponents this week: @Milwaukee, @Boston, Minnesota, Chicago

14. Toronto 30-24. If any team in the east is going to make a strong push in the east it has to be the Raptors. They have the talent and one of the most laughable schedules in league history coming up. This team may still end up winning 50 games this year.

Opponents this week: @Indiana, Minnesota, Indiana, @Charlotte

15. Portland 29-27. The Blazers are pretty much in spoiler role the rest of the year, but their young guys should still treat this as a playoff push so they will be ready for next year when Greg Oden and his fearsome mohawk joins the squad.

Opponents this week: @LA Lakers, @LA Clippers, LA Lakers, @Golden State

16. Washington 26-29. The Wizards have played like garbage lately, but with the teams in the east below them being so bad, they are still 6th in the conference. They are going to need Agent Zero and the Holy Caron back real soon though to hold onto that spot though.

Opponents this week: @New Orleans, @Houston, @Chicago, New Orleans

Young Swole's Baller of the Week

Yeah we could probably give the award to Lebron James every week, but seriously, look at the numbers he put up last week:

-26 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists against Houston

-31 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals against Indiana

-33 points, 15 rebounds, 8 assists against Washington

-25 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals against Memphis

Lebron is so good these days he's making Damon Jones look good, which is almost as hard to do as climbing Mount Everest in one of Borat's 1 piece swimsuit things.

Young Swole's Jackass of the Week

To all the GM's who were either too afraid or too stupid to do something to help there teams at the trading deadline, such as Chris Wallace not trading Mike Miller and Kyle Lowry, Denver not getting either Ron Artest or Andre Miller, or Otis Smith in Orlando not upgrading at point guard over sorry ass Jameer Nelson.

5 Games to Watch in order of significance

1. Utah at New Orleans, Friday. Two excellent teams, with the two best young point guards in the league face off in a crucial western conference battle for playoff seeding

Young Swole Prediction: Deron wins the PG battle this time 116-111

2. Dallas at LA Lakers, Sunday. New-look teams battle on Sunday afternoon. Do the Mavs have enough to beat the premier western conference teams after their big trade. This will be a good barometer to find out that question.

Young Swole Prediction: The Lake Show keeps rolling along, 113-97

3. Cleveland @ Boston, Wednesday. The Cavs knew they had to make a move to try and get close to the Celtics and Boston in the east. This is their first chance to face one of the EC's premier squad with their new players.

Young Swole Prediction: Even Lebron can't win this one, Celtics 94-87

4. Phoenix @ New Orleans, Wednesday. Another tough game for the new look Suns. Will they start to adjust to Shaq this quickly and be able to win a huge road game, or will the frisky Hornets stay in the hunt for the top overall seed in the west?

Young Swole Prediction: CP3 eats Nash alive again, Hornets win 122-111

5. Denver @ Houston, Sunday. By next Sunday, this may be a must-win game for Denver if they want to stay alive in the western conference playoff chase. Its going to be tough facing a Houston team that is playing its best since Yao and TMac became teammates.

Young Swole Prediction: Rockets keep the momentum going, 107-97

Los Angeles Dodgers 2008 Preview

Bring on the youngsters. It's time to finally see what that young talent in LA can finally do for this team, who has been sitting on them for quite sometime.

The Dodgers were big players in free agency this off season, adding Andruw Jones into their arsenal and wooing Joe Torre from other potential suitors to attempt to bring back glory to the West Coast.

The question is, did the team make enough moves to contend in a very difficult NL West and will the pitching be strong enough to lead the team onward?

Key Additions:

Joe Torre Manager
Andruw Jones, CF
Hiroki Kuroda, SP

Key Losses:

Mark Hendrickson, P
Olmedo Saenz, 1B
Luis Gonzalez, LF
Randy Wolf, SP

I don't know enough about Kuroda to make an assesment on this addition, but the other two are great for this team. Getting the vetern leadership of Andruw Jones (not to mention the power of his bat and amazing defense in the field), as well as the guidence of young Torre amounted to a very decent off season for this team.As for the losses, none of these seem to be "back-breaking" losses for this team. Randy Wolf provided some depth to the rotation, but all in all this team did a fine job of addition by subtraction.

Probable Line-Up:

1: Rafael Furcal - SS
2: Juan Pierre - CF
3: Matt Kemp - RF
4: Andruw Jones - CF
5: Jeff Kent - 2B
6: James Loney - 1B
7: Russ Martin - C
8: Andy LaRoche - 3B

Lineup Grade: B+

I am not 100% sure if this is what the exact line up order will be come opening day, but this is the eight batters the opposition will face. Through free agency, the Dodgers attempted to go out and add some more power to their line-up via Andruw Jones. This team has almost revamped its power numbers from last year, along with the addition of Jones comes Matt Kemp and James Loney, two young players with a ton of talent and above average power. Russ Martin is the glue that holds this line-up together, a jack of all trades if you will. Martin will likely move up in the line-up (probably the 2 hold) in an effort to get more players on base and create RBI opportunities for the 3-6 hitters. I can also see Loney (a .300+ hitter in limited action last year) moving up to the 5 hole in an effort to give Jones further line-up protection. All in all, this line up appears to have little holes, with a nice balance of speed, power, and average.

Probable Rotation:

No. 1: Brad Penny
No. 2: Derek Lowe
No. 3: Chad Billingsley
No. 4: Hiroki Kuroda
No. 5: Jason Schmidt
Closer: Takashi Saito
Setup: Jonathan Broxton

Rotation Grade: B-

The Dodgers clearly have some talent in thier rotation, but the only problem is that do not have a clear ace on this staff. Penny, Lowe, and Billingsley can both produce great starts and are very consistent, but neither are able to instill enough confidence to say "If we had one game to win, who would do it for us?". Once could say that Brad Penny would qualify as this team's ace, but as every fantasy owner knows, Penny starts off strong and begins to trail off after the All Star break. It will be interesting to see how Kuroda moves up and down in this rotation. Rounding off the bottom is Jason Schmidt, who desperately needs a bounce-back year after the horrendous outing he gave last year. Closing out games (for now) is Takaski Saito, as consistent as they come. But waiting in the wings is a young stud in Broxton and it will be intriguing to see if he begins to take over more games this season. Overall, the rotation is pretty mediocre: unspectacular, doesn't WOW anyone, but consistent enough to contend.

Predicted 2008 Finish: 85-77 3rd Place in the NL West

As it has been said, the NL West is a 3 team race this season, but unfortunately for the Dodgers, I see them being on the outide looking in. Although the line up is sound and they bring in a great manager, the rotation is still shaky and without a clear ace to lead the team to the playoffs, I see Dodger fans watching the postseason at home.

Basketball Power Ranks - The Homestretch

1. 1. Tennessee. 25-2. They have now achieved the school’s highest ranking in history for the second week in a row(#2 then, #1 now). And they were able to end Memphis’ undefeated streak, guaranteeing the ’76 Hoosiers retain their record for at least another year. One of the biggest things to take away from their defeat of #1 Memphis: Chris Lofton only had to contribute 7 points.

2. North Carolina. 25-2. Even without Ty Lawson, the Tarheels manage to stay in the hunt for the ACC title, thanks in large part to Lawson’s stand-in, Quentin Thomas. The emergence of Thomas means they will become that much deeper when Lawson returns. And Hansbrough continues to lead his team in a way that, in my opinion, makes him the player of the year. If your team is on the bubble and isn't at least competing for your conference title, I don't think you deserve the award. UNC and Hansbrough are almost a guaranteed 1-seed, and should go into the final game of the year tied atop the ACC. Meanwhile, Michael Beasley and his K-State squad have work to do to get into the tourney, and are not on the Big 12 radar.

3. 3. Memphis. 26-1. They might have lost a game, but it is their only loss this season. Things like this are generally good for teams, though, as the higher you climb the harder you can fall (See: NE Patriots). Expectations can weigh heavily on an undefeated team; Memphis no longer bears that burden, but they still have a dangerous combo of talented guards and solid post play.

4. 4. UCLA. 24-3. Quite a few teams could occupy this spot, and of all these teams, UCLA has the more excusable losses. Losses to streaky cross-town rival USC and solid Texas, a freakish L at Washington, and 24 wins in the process is o.k. in a season that is anybody’s for the taking. They are still deep, talented, and battle-tested from previous Final Four runs.

5. 5. Duke. 23-3. Getting beat by a team for the first time in a half-century never looks good, but the Blue Devils can certainly regroup and should be able to welcome UNC to Cameron on March 8^th for a de-facto ACC title game. Unfortunately for the Dookies, their team leaders in blocks and rebounds are a pair of 6-4 guards, so the question remains: where is their post presence?

6. 6. Kansas. 24-3. This very talented and athletic team has suddenly lost 3 of its last 7 games, and is looking up at Texas in the Big 12. Michael Beasley & Co. could conceivably roll into Lawrence and make some more history next week. Good thing they don’t actually play K-State in Africa. I don’t doubt they are still very good and very dangerous, but is this a flare-up of Bill Self Syndrome??

8. Indiana, 23-4 & Texas, 23-4. (TIE) Not very similar teams otherwise, but Aarmon Basset has been doing his best D.J. Augustin impression lately. IU’s stellar guard play, plus a post game that has been strengthened by the emergence of Kyle Taber and better contributions from DeAndre Thomas, will allow this team to go deep if they can focus their feelings about the Sampson situation and use it as motivation. Texas is now in the Big 12 driver’s seat, but they must still play K-State, and close out their season against OK State, who just upended Kansas.

9. Georgetown. 22-4. They have been overshadowed in the Big East by resurgent UConn and Louisville, but they still sit atop the conference and control their own destiny. The final two games of their season, at Marquette and home against Louisville, are must-wins if they want to win the conference outright. I truly believe that when Roy Hibbert is on, this team can play with anyone, easily. But that question is more easily asked that answered.

10. Xavier. 24-4. They may be a “mid-major” but their schedule looks like anything but. Playing games against Indiana, Tennessee, and Kansas State is no easy task for anyone, but Xavier boasts an outstanding resume right ahead of tournament time. Could their coach become a prime target for the Indiana faithful?

Scientology gets "Rick Roll'd"

So my friend in Richmond just informed me that the "Church" of Scientology recently opened a new franchise or whatever you call it in the River City, my former home. I was pretty disturbed because Scientology is little more than a pyramid scheme gone horribly, horribly mad with power. However, I was relieved to know that the level-headed people of Richmond have been extremely pissed and taken to protesting the storefront, which is located on some prime real estate in the cities' most popular shopping area.

I am all for protesting a dangerous cult when it tries to establish itself in your town, so you can imagine my delight when said protest takes the form of standing outside of the building BLASTING Rick Astley's 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" with a set of huge speakers. Apparently Scientology protestors all over the country have been using this tactic, known simply as the "Rick Roll". Here's a clip of Rick Rolling in Seattle (its really loud so adjust your volume).



I've also attached a clip of Astley himself in his truly unforgettable video for the song. Whats that? You thought these smooth sounds were coming from some soulful black crooner a la Teddy Pendergrass?

Think again my friends. He appears to be a 17 year old British red head who possibly recorded this song while on holiday from his studies at Cambridge. The funniest line in this song is the first one: "we're no strangers to love"....you sure about that? cuz dude looks like vagina repellent from my view.

Colorado Rockies 2008 Preview

Last year the Rockies made a cinderella run to the World Series with one of the youngest teams in the NL. Do they have the talent to make another run to the fall classic? Lets take a look at how the Rock Show looks heading into 2008.

2007 Finish: 90-73, 2nd place in NL West

Key Acquisitions: Luiz Vizcaino (RP), Kip Wells (SP), Marcus Giles (2b), Scott Podsednik (CF)

Key Losses: LaTroy Hawkins (RP), Kazuo Matsui (2b), Josh Fogg (SP)

Probable Opening Day Lineup:

1) Willy Taveras - CF

2) Troy Tulowitzki - SS

3) Matt Holliday - LF

4) Todd Helton - 1b

5) Garrett Atkins - 3b

6) Brad Hawpe - RF

7) Yorvit Torrealba - C

8) Jayson Nix - 2b

Lineup Grade: A-... Any team that plays 81 games is going to have a good offense. But the Rockies lineup is loaded with a great mix of speed, power and patience. Other than Philly, there may be no greater 2-5 hitters in the National League. And if Willy Taveras can provide adequate leadoff production, the Rockies may score 900 runs this year.

Probable Rotation

1) Jeff Francis

2) Aaron Cook

3) Ubaldo Jimenez

4) Jason Hirsh

5) Kip Wells

Rotation Grade: B-... Just as Coors Field greatly affects hitting, it also does with pitching. For years the Rockies overpayed for starters who were destroyed in the thin mountain air. Now though they have developed some solid young arms for much cheaper, and those starters did better than any Rockies staff in team history. Jeff Francis and Aaron Cook are solid if unspectacular, but the real key to the rotation is Ubaldo Jimenez. He made a huge difference down the stretch and has the most talent of any of the starters, but he pitched a lot of innings last year and will have to be monitored carefully.

2008 Outlook: The young Rockies grew up before our eyes last year, winning 14 of their last 15 regular season games and then advancing all the way to the World Series. Its going to be hard to duplicate such success, and the NL West has many improved teams. But the core of a successful team is in place, and the Rockies know how to win after surviving the crucible of September and October last year. It always comes down to pitching for the Rockies, and this is probably the most optimistic the team has ever been about the staff it has assembled, which means the team will stay competitive all year long.

Predicted 2008 Finish: 89-73. The NL West looks like a three team race for the division between the Rockies, Dodgers and Diamondbacks. Out of those three teams, the Rockies may have the least questions to answer, and should contend for the division title at best, and be a large player in the Wild Card race at worst.

Black Friday

Excellent Dan Wetzel column that really hits the main talking points about Kelvin Sampson and his tenure at IU.

Ron Burgundy Interviews Tom Izzo

"ah yes, Magical Johnson"

Stupid kids with ice cream should not sit courtside

Young Swole was appalled by the actions he saw take place in Denver last night. During a crucial game between the Celtics and the Nuggets, a little kid at courtside spilled ice cream all over the court because he was not paying attention to the action. Instead he was focused on his giant bowl of ice cream and did not see Rajon Rondo headed towards him chasing after a loose ball on the sidelines. The result was a giant mess of ice cream all over the court and the kid covered in ice cream, which caused him to start crying as he was escorted from his seat.

Now Young Swole is all for enjoying a tasty treat at the ballgame, but there should be certain rules to follow when you sit in the front row. First of all, it is a privelige to be sitting this close to the action. To be that close to some of the greatest players in the world is an amazing opportunity. Therefore all attention should be paid to the actions on the court, and minimal attention to distractions like food or cell phones. Secondly, parents have to raise their kids better, so that they know how to behave at a game. The ice cream incident happened with about 30 seconds left in the half. Why didnt the dad wait until halftime to get his kid ice cream, ensuring that his son would not miss any of the action that was taking place right in front of him? Swole's bet is that the dad was too busy dicking around on his blackberry, and didnt want to be distracted by his kid, so he bought the kid ice cream in hopes he'd leave him alone. And while the kid looked like a bitch for crying about his spilt ice cream, the dad comes off even worse because he's the one who taught that kid how to be such a bitch.

Courtside etiquette has reached an all-time low in the NBA. When Swole was at a Hawks game a couple weeks ago, he saw empty seats along the court for long stretches of the game. And at the few times when the entire crowd got rowdy and stood up, the dopes in the front stayed seated, oblivious to the excitement occurring smack dab in front of them. Now the Denver Incident has given the NBA another black eye. For years we've known that older fans sit in the front row mostly just to brag about how rich they are, instead of following the game. But if the younger fans are so disinterested in the game taking place right in front of them, and would rather focus on a bowl of dippin' dots, then the NBA is in serious trouble. Swole advises that anyone with courtside seats is going to ignore the game in front of them, they should give the tickets to someone who actually gives a fuck about the actual game, as opposed to emails and nachos and unimportant text messages, someone like His Swoleness.

Tragic Hero?

Say goodbye to Coach Kelvin Sampson.

ESPN is reporting the obvious: that Sampson is almost inevitably gone before Saturday's game with Northwestern.

Everyone in Hoosier Nation must realize it at this point. It isn't, nor has it ever been, about wins and losses. It's about lying and truthfulness and character and integrity. All the things athletics, especially collegiate athletics, are supposedly about.

Watching the game tonight got me a bit choked up in the final moments. Here was this man's last game as coach of a top-5 NCAA basketball program? Partially for phone calls, mostly for lying. Perhaps lying about a little "overzealous recruiting" as one of the dumbest announcers in sports, Brent Musberger, put it? He lost because he wanted to stay competitive in the cut-throat recruiting world, and even when caught once, he couldn't quit. He wasn't giving out $100 handshakes, no-show jobs to parents, houses or cars to stand-out players. He just wanted to talk to these kids and get them to play Sooner and Hoosier basketball. You have to feel a bit of sympathy for the guy.

His results are very respectable, but his methods were tainted. Just like frequent reader Young Illiniwek's favorite President: Richard Nixon. Successful, but shady. And for similar reasons, he must go. I think the general sentiment in Hoosier Nation is comparable to that in the U.S.A. during Nixon's resignation, too. General disbelief, pity, anger, but with a strange acceptance, too.

Maybe a baseball analogy is better: some people get crucified, like Pete Rose or Kelvin Sampson, while others get off relatively easy, like Andy Pettite, Bryan Roberts, Jason Giambi, etc. Can you really say that what Sampson has done, events and Oklahoma AND IU considered, is worse that happened under John Calipari's watch at UMass, where their Final Four appearance has an asterisk next to it?

IU will move on, probably with Dan Dakich, maybe, just maybe (but not likely), with Kelvin Sampson. And maybe they'll go far this year. But unless they win it all, and perhaps even if they do, this year will go down as one of the darkest in IU history. Maybe even worse than the year 2000. We just have to stand up and face it like true fans, and support the program. And hope that looking back in a few decades, the Hoosiers regroup from this with a new leader and new purpose, and hopefully minimal NCAA infractions.

Western Conference 2nd Half Preview

Probably the most dramatic sports landscape to watch this spring will be the Western Conference in the NBA. 9 teams have a legitimate shot at 50 wins, and any of them could reach the finals, or be going home after the first win. What lies ahead out west? GDB breaks it down.

Power Rankings (In order of Projected Finish)

1. Phoenix 37-16. Wednesday night Shaq will debut for the Suns against the Lake Show. Finally we will get a glimpse of what the most talented team in the west will be like when the greatest center of the last 15 years is added to the mix. Shaq obviously is not the same player, but he still knows how to play with other good players, and if he can provide a defensive presence and get 10 boards a game, Phoenix is championship material.

2. Dallas 35-18. Jason Kidd is finally a Maverick, thank god that drama is over. This team is going to become much more explosive and will probably play at a faster tempo, but its going to be hard to match up with the teams with big frontcourts when the only big guys on the whole roster are Erick Dampier, Brandon Bass and soft ass Dirk Nowitzki. Kidd is going to help them in the regular season and will push them to the division title, but the Mavs may still need to add a big body to match up in the playoffs.

3. Utah 34-19. No team has been hotter over the last month than the Jazz. While Kyle Korver is nowhere near the player that the other teams in the west have added, he has fit in perfectly with the Jazz system by providing an outside shooting presence who can play off of Boozer's inside game and Deron Williams penetration. With so many question marks surrounding the other teams in the west, the Jazz might be as close to a sure thing as there is. Look for them to keep up their run of good play and win the Northwest Division.

4. San Antonio 34-17. The Spurs have looked about as ordinary as a 34-17 team can, but it would be stupid to ignore them in the playoffs. Tim Duncan is still one of the best big men in the league, Manu Ginobili is a cold-blooded assassin, and if Tony Parker is healthy he can control the tempo which becomes so important in the playoffs. This is the time of the season where the Spurs always start their push and you can never count a team with championship experience.

5. New Orleans 36-15. One of the most exciting teams in the league has made huge strides this season. Thanks to Chris Paul playing like an MVP, the Hornets have raced to the best record in the west. The problem is, many of the players on this team have never played in games with as much pressure as they will over the next few months. While a drop from 1 to 5 may not look good, this team will still be a factor in the playoffs regardless of who they face thanks to the brilliance of CP3.

6. Los Angeles Lakers 35-17. No team improved themselves by giving up as little as the Lakers did. Pau Gasol provides Kobe with his best low post option since Shaq left and when healthy the Lake Show may be the prohibitive favorites to emerge from the west. Unfortunately, Andrew Bynum is having trouble recovering from his knee injury and now Kobe has a torn ligament in his hand which will have a big effect on his game. As tough as the west is the Lakers cannot make a deep push without all their pieces healthy, which does not appear likely for the rest of this year.

7. Golden State 32-20. Simply because of the way this team plays, the Warriors will continue to win games and make the playoffs. There is no guard combo in the league better than Baron Davis and Monta Ellis. They control tempo so well that every game they play turns into a track meet, in which Golden State can beat anyone.

8. Denver 32-20. Young Swole is choosing Denver over Houston for two reasons. First, it appears they have more to offer in the Andre Miller sweepstakes than Houston does, and if the Nugs get a pass first point guard to go with their finishers they will be extremely dangerous. Second of all, Denver plays in a much easier division than the Rockets. They will be playing games against the Sonics and T'Wolves, while the Rockets have to battle the Mavs, Spurs and Hornets. As close as the west is this year, this difference in opponents could be the edge the Nugs need.

9. Houston 32-20. The second hottest team in the league is on pace to win over 50 games, and yet may come in 4th in their division. It finally appears that Yao and T-Mac have figured out how to play with each other. Unfortunately, its pretty much a given that one of them will miss extended games down the stretch with injury. But if those two can stay healthy, or if the Rockets add a reliable third contributor to compliment the big two, they could sneak into the playoffs.

10. Portland 28-24. The Blazers have tailed off as of late, as many predicted they would do. If they manage to win 45 games this year, this season will still be a great success. Portland can look forward to having maybe the best inside/out duo in the NBA since Kobe and Shaq were in LA next year when Greg Oden joins Brandon Roy, but they will have to do without a playoff appearance this year.

11. Sacramento 23-28. It appears that the firesale has begun in Sac-Town. Odds are Ron Artest will be moved before the trading deadline, possibly to Denver or Phoenix. After that happens this will become Kevin Martin's team which will make the Kings much less volatile but also not as good.

12. LA Clippers 17-33. Its hard to believe the Clip Joint was in the 2nd round of the playoffs a mere 2 seasons ago. Now they are back to where we expect them to be, but Swole still feels there is talent on this team. If Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston can come back healthy next year, the Clippers could make a playoff push even in the rough and tumble west.

13. Minnesota 10-41. Don't look now but Al Jefferson may be turning into the best power forward in the whole NBA. Its sad he has such a garbage group of teammates around him, but if Kevin McHale can draft well this spring (thats a big if), the T'Wolves may be contending again in the near future.

14. Seattle 13-38. Fuck Clay Bennett, thats all Young Swole has to say about the Sonics.

15. Memphis 14-38. At this point I think its pretty safe to say that Uno the Beagle could run a team better than Chris Wallace. Young Swole would like to know what he sees in Kwame Brown that the rest of the world doesnt and adding Javaris Crittenton when he drafted Mike Conley 5th overall was a stroke of genius. At this pace, I'd expect the Memphis Tigers to beat the Grizzlies in a few years.

3 Players to watch in the 2nd half

1. Kobe Bryant. The best player in the NBA west of Cleveland is going to have to play the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his pinky. Nobody doubts his competitive nature, but this injury could seriously affect his shooting, and if Andrew Bynum doesn't come back as quick as scheduled its going to be hard for him to carry the offensive load with this injury.

2. Shaquille O'Neal. The biggest X factor, literally and metaphorically, in the whole league. If he stays on the court and controls the paint, Phoenix could finally make the finals. If he wears expensive suits more often than his jersey, the Suns could be out in the first round.

3. Andre Miller. Young Swole is well aware that he is in the Eastern Conference, yet odds are he is going to be moved, and two of his biggest suitors appear to be the Nuggets and Rockets. Denver is offering Kleiza, JR Smith and Nene, the Rockets are dangling Rafer Alson, Bonzi Wells and Shane Battier. If Miller ends up on one of these squads, they instantly become a title contender and make the west even that much tougher.

Swole's Second Half Prediction

The western conference could go in about 20 different directions in the next two months, and every single direction will be exciting. Young Swole thinks when it all shakes out, the Suns will defeat the Jazz in the conference finals and finally make the NBA Finals. Shaq's intelligence on the court is vastly underrated, and his presence alone will make Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire that much more dangerous. The Jazz have been playing the best basketball in the NBA lately, and Deron Williams keeps maturing into one of the best players in the entire league. They have the talent and the experience to get through the gauntlet and make the WC Finals. The Suns will win in 6 though and match up with Detroit in the finals.

This Is Awesome!

Check this out. You will not be sorry!

NBA Eastern Conference 2nd Half Preview

All-Star Weekend is over and with that begins the start of the 2nd half of the season. Lets preview what lies ahead in the East and see which teams will make the playoffs, and who's going fishing

Eastern Conference Power Rankings

1. Boston 41-9. Basketball is back in the Hub City, thanks to The Big Ticket and Jesus Shuttlesworth arriving in town. The Celtics had an amazing start to the season and are the only team left with less than ten losses. The Big 3 have done their job, but what has made this team formidable is the development of young guns like Rajon Rondo and Big Baby Davis as well as the veteran presence of Eddie House and James Posey. Questions remain however. Can the 3 big veterans stay healthy and have enough energy for a big postseason push? And will Rondo be good enough to carry the Celtics to the finals?

2. Detroit 39-13. Probably the most underrated team of the season so far. While Boston has gotten all the recognition, the Pistons are knocking on their doorstep while primed for a 60 win season. By integrating a much more solid bench along with the usual suspects in the starting lineups, Detroit will not only be fresher heading into the playoffs but have more matchups to exploit against the other teams in the east thanks to the larger and better rotation.

3. Orlando 33-21. Nobody better doubt Stan Van Gundy's coaching prowess after this season. After unfairly getting run out of Miami, and being the Magic's 2nd choice behind Billy Donovan, Stan the Man has only led the Magic to the division lead while helping develop players like Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu into all-star level contributors. They probably don't have enough to knock off the big 2, but they are set up to be one of the premier teams in the east for the next decade.

4. Cleveland 29-23. Want to know the difference between Lebron James and Dwyane Wade? Its being able to win 20 more games with little or no support behind you. While James has been the MVP of the league so far, he is going to need help from someone else on the squad to get this team anywhere near the playoffs. The Cavs either need to start Daniel Gibson, trade for Andre Miller, or hope that Varejao learned a jump shot while being hurt to have any chance of knocking off the top three teams in the east.

5. Toronto 28-23. The Raptors haven't been bad this year, but they have been dissapointing. After last year's breakthrough season, people were expecting them to be more than 5 games over .500 in the weak EC. The Rap Show does have the talent to make a push in the second half, but their just doesnt seem to be the same energy with the squad this year compared to last.

6. Washington 25-27. The Wizards limped into the All-Star Break, losing 8 of their last 10 games, but to be only 2 games under .500 with as many injuries as they've had is still impressive. If Agent Zero can assimilate in with the other guys when he comes back healthy, the Wiz may be the only team capable of pulling an upset in the first round of the playoffs.

7. Atlanta 21-28. The bottom of the Eastern Conference is so bad, that one trade could push any team into the playoffs. It looks like the Hawks got the jump by adding Mike Bibby who will help give a young team some leadership and some much improved point guard play.

8. Philadelphia 23-30. The Sixers are only going here because they finished the first half on a 5 game winning streak. But if they end up holding onto Andre Miller for the whole season, is there really anyone with the talent below them to pass them?

9. Chicago 21-31. The Bulls have been one of the biggest dissapointments in the entire league so far and yet they are only a game and a half out of the 8th spot. Maybe if Luol Deng can get healthy and Gordon and Hinrich make some jump shots they can salvage a lost season.

10. New Jersey 23-30. Nobody knows what this team will look like a week from now if Jason Kidd and Vince Carter get traded. What we do know is that they were a monumental dissapointment this season and blowing this team up and starting over is definitely the right move to make.

11. Indiana 21-32. Jermaine O'Neal continues to be a bitch, but the Pacers have actually been better than most thought. Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger have thrived in Jim O'Brien's 3-point system, but there isnt much else to inspire fan support in Indy.

12. Milwaukee 19-34. For the talent they have, this team should be better. If Michael Redd and Mo Williams can stay healthy, this could be the team to go on a run in the 2nd half and sneak into the 8th seed in the east.

13. Charlotte 19-34. Drafting Emeka Okafor over Dwight Howard sure does look bad in hindsight doesn't it. As does drafting Sean May, Adam Morrison and re-signing Matt Carroll. This team should have never been created in the first place.

14. New York 15-37. One of the biggest disgraces in the league. They have some decent players, but none of them have the motivation to be any good. The best the Knicks fans can do is look forward to Lebron possibly joining their team in three years.

15. Miami 9-42. A flat out embarassment. I don't care how bad your teammates are, if you are as good as Dwyane Wade is, shouldn't your team have more than 9 wins? They'll probably just pack it in from here and hope for Michael Beasley in the draft.

3 Key Players in the 2nd half to watch

1. Kevin Garnett. KG has made a huge difference in Boston this year, bringing a winning attitude and unmatched intensity to a team that desperately needed it. The problem is that he has an abdominal injury that takes a long time to heal. While he did the right thing and rested it, there's no guarantee the injury won't flare up again. With KG in the lineup, the Celts can win the east. Without him, there's no way they're beating Detroit in a 7 game series.

2. Dwight Howard. The star of the all-star game now has the pressure to carry his team into the playoffs for the first time. While the tempest with his coach over playing defense seems to have passed, its a lot to ask of such a young player to lead his team on a deep run into the playoffs. But after seeing him this weekend, don't you feel that its at least possible?

3. Gilbert Arenas. Thanks to the weakness of the conference, the Wizards are still in good shape to make the playoffs even though Hibachi has missed the last 40 games. If he can come back healthy, the Wizards are going to have as much talent as any team in the east besides the top two, and could possibly make a run in the soft eastern conference.

Young Swole's 2nd half prediction

Its pretty safe to say that the Celtics and Pistons aren't going anywhere. What is to be seen though is what teams below them are going to step up. Can Lebron get any help in Cleveland? Can the Raptors make a 2nd half push, and can any on the bottom teams make a push to become a solid team? While Swole looks for the Wizards, Raptors and Hawks to have good 2nd halfs, there's no way the Conference final isn't going to be Celtics and Pistons. There's no other team remotely close to these two and this will be evident until they finally clash late in May.

San Diego Padres Preview

Sorry for the 24-hour delay in getting this out, but an absolutely brutal weekend in Bloomington forced me to push this back until my body had forgiven me.

So, without further delay, here are your 2008 San Diego Padres...

2007 Finish: 89-74, 3rd Place in the NL West

Key Acquisitions: Mark Prior, Randy Wolf, Jim Edmonds, Tadahito Iguchi

Key Losses: Mike Cameron, Milton Bradley

Probable Opening Day Lineup:
1) Brian Giles - RF
2) Tadahito Iguchi - 2B
3) Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B
4) Adrian Gonzalez - 1B
5) Khalil Greene - SS
6) Jim Edmonds - CF
7) Josh Bard - C
8) Scott Hairston - LF
9) Pitcher

Lineup Grade: C-...The Padres' lineup is representative of the offense in general, many serviceable middle-tier players, but they don't have any real superstars for the other hitters to fill in around or to compliment. None of these guys hits for average or has great speed, and none of them get on base terribly often. And other than Adrian Gonzalez, there isn't any power there to generate the type of instant offense a team like this needs to succeed. On the Padre's website, in response to a poll question about the teams greatest needs going into '08, well over half (63%) think the most pressing issue finding a more suitable left fielder.

Probable Rotation:
1) Jake Peavy
2) Chris Young
3) Greg Maddux
4) Randy Wolf
5) Mark Prior

Rotation Grade: A-...Any team with the 1-2 punch of Peavy and Young demands attention. Peavy is the reigning Cy Young winner, and probably would have defeated Johan Santana if Santana was with the Mets last year. He has four plus pitches and isn't afraid to throw any of them at any time. Chris Young has emerged during the last two seasons as one of baseballs best young pitchers. The Padres have surrounded these two guys with some great role-player/back of the rotation type of guys: the ageless Maddux, Wolf, and Prior. Prior and Wolf are coming off injuries, so there are question marks around them, but the potential is there for this to be the NL's best rotation. However, they also sport one of the best bullpens in the leauge, so they have the added security of being able to go to the pen early and often if they need to, and when they take leads into the later innings, have a very good chance of maintaining it.

2008 Outlook: The Padres will go as their offense goes. The pitching is good enough to hold their opponents to few runs, but their offense might still not be good enough to put them ahead in low-scoring games. This, coupled with the fact that they play in the NL's best division, doesn't bode well for their '08 playoff hopes. A mid-season trade for a big bat, or waiting to sign an impact hitter during free agency next year could allow the Pads to contend in the not-too-distant future.
Predicted 2008 Finish: 75-87, Third/Fourth Place in NL West
Offensive woes means the Pads and Dodgers will finish well behind the D-Backs and Rockies, but still ahead of the irrelevant Giants.

Dick Vitale's Throat Sounds Like He's Been Sucking Too Much D

Dick Vitale is always a man of emotion, but he needs to leave the analysis to the experts. He covered play by play for the IU/MSU game tonight (which the Hoosiers dominated) and sounded like a hoarse retard. I realize he just got throat surgery, but that doesn't excuse his outlandish and ridiculous comments all game long. No joke, 90 percent of the time he was talking was about how Kelvin Sampson is an embarrassment and needs to be fired tommorow. Whether that's true or not, he sounded like a broken record and refused to acknowledge the outstanding performance by IU and Sampson in the game. With all the distractions surrounding the contest with Sampson's recruiting violations, why did we need to hear about it the entire game. I realize that it's important, but wasn't there a fucking game going on? It made it nearly impossible to watch. Shut the fuck up old man river before I break your hip. Go HOOSIERS. Boiler Up Yours.

San Francisco Giants Preview

2007 Season Finish: 71-91, Last Place in NL West

Key Acquisitions: Aaron Rowand

Key Losses: Barry Bonds, Pedro Feliz, Ryan Klesko

Probable Opening Day Lineup

1) Dave Roberts- LF

2) Kevin Frandsen- 3B

3) Randy Winn- RF

4) Bengie Molina- C

5) Aaron Rowand- CF

6) Ray Durham- 2B

7) Dan Ortmeier- 1B

8) Omar Vizquel- SS

9) Pitcher

Lineup Grade: F....You will very seldom see me give out a failing grade in these previews, but the fact is, this is probably the worst lineup in all of baseball. The Barry Bonds show is gone and so is any resemblance of power in this lineup. It's a pretty disgusting mix of babies and dinosaurs. The best hitter on the Giants is Aaron Rowand by a landslide. This guy was the 5th or 6th best hitter on Philadelphia last year. Rowand should have a solid season, but he's really the only bright spot. Winn is the best of a bunch of worn down vets that include Durham, Vizquel, Molina, and Roberts and the other members of the lineup have no more than 2 years of Major League experience. I can't even talk about this anymore, it makes me sick.

Probable Rotation

1) Matt Cain

2) Barry Zito

3) Tim Lincecum

4) Noah Lowry

5) Kevin Correia

Closer) Brian Wilson

Rotation Grade: B...It's a good thing this rotation is solid, because otherwise there'd really be no reason for anyone to go to AT&T Park. Zito was massively overpaid last year and the Giants are already regretting their investment in him. He can still pitch at a mediocre rate, so right now it's not a total waste, but two years from now this is going to start looking like the Rockies signing of Mike Hampton a couple of years ago. Cain ran into some tough luck in the first half of last year starting 2-9, but put together a nice run after the all-star break and finished at 7-16 (still good for the second most losses in the NL). He still didn't get any run support, but he was able to shut down opposing offenses enough to where he could pull out close wins. It appears that he will be able to carry some momentum in 2008 and he'll need to for the Giants to not embarrass themselves. We can't forget about young Timmy Lincecum. One of the most hyped pitching prospects in baseball last year had an up and down 2007. The kid looks no older than 18, but he showed maturity in many games and it's evident that he has a nasty array of pitches in his arsenal. If he can control his wicked fastball, he could be in for a breakout year.

2008 Season Outlook

Not only will the Giants most likely finish in the cellar of the National League West Division, they should contend for one of the worst records in baseball. Management in San Francisco left the cupboard completely bare and it looks like this team is going to suck large amounts of nuts for the next couple of years. Without Barry Bonds home run chase, there's really no reason to watch this team at all. The above average pitching staff should be able to carry this team to many wins, but without any legit hitters, it's going to be a long season by the bay.

Predicted Finish: 62-100, Last Place in NL West

MLB Team Previews

And so it begins.  The Brew Barons of Gimme Dat Brew have decided to break down the 2008 MLB Season with an inside look at all 30 teams.  We will give you the low down on Key Acquisitions and Losses, grade the lineup and rotation, and predict the fates of each squad.  Check in with GDB every day to see a new preview, all the way up until the beginning of the season.  The Countdown begins to the first game between the Red Sox and Athletics in Japan on March 25 and the Brew Barons will be with you every step of the way.  Our first week will feature teams from the NL West and from there we will lock in on every division in baseball.  Enjoy!

Congress is the opposite of Progress

I'm fucking sick of the government getting involved in sports.  These are games of entertainment.  While I realize the NBA, MLB, NFL, and other sports associations are businesses, what makes the US government think that they can get involved?   They are ruining the sports that I love and live for.  I want to watch my favorite players blast homers, pull off ridiculous dunks, and make crazy helmet catches.  Today was one of the most depressing days of sports that I can ever remember.  Forget the fact that the IU basketball team took a miserable home loss to Wisconsin.  The major story was the recruiting violations that Kelvin Sampson is experiencing outside of the court.  This makes me sick to my stomach and I wish we could focus on the basketball games and not the bullshit that goes on outside of the game.  After watching Sportscenter, I wanted to throw my TV out the window.  The three stories that I saw in a 30 minute viewing period were the Hoosier Recruiting Scandel, the Roger Clemens Steroid Incident, and the Spygate saga.  Now, I realize steroids are illegal in baseball, but why the fuck does this need to involve US Senators?  Stop wasting our tax dollars on this shit and focus on things that really matter, like crime, immigration, and war.  I saw Roger Clemens and some spectacled jamoke named McNamee blab on my screen for 20 minutes too long.  I can't wait for the games to begin.  This is already a weak time of the year for sports, so why does ESPN have to bog it down with bullshit that doesn't have anything to do with the games being played.  Even more absurd than the Roger Clemens trial is the Spygate shit.  Ok, we had to be subjected to this enough in September, but now it should be in the same place as the 2007 Patriots...history.  Why does some douchebag named Arlen Spector think that this tired old story need to be brought up again.  Does he have an election coming up?  Or does he just want his 15 minutes.  Clearly, he just doesn't want to do real work...like make our country better.  Stop wasting out time and money and do your job you worthless piece of shit.  Fuck you, and fuck the government for getting involved in the sports I love.

Interesting

http://thebiglead.com/?p=4613

"I shall return..."

I know many people are against this, and it has been suggested so many times in the last half-decade that this would otherwise be considered beating a dead horse, but in light of the actions of Kelvin Sampson, it almost seems to me like Divine Intervention has created the perfect scenario for the return of Robert Montgomery Knight.

When Sampson was hired, his resume of Final Four appearances, numerous 20-win seasons, Big 12 winning history, and Coach of the Year awards, not to mention taking us to the tournament, led many to believe that the possibility of Knight's return was dead.

However, this has turned into yet another example of why you should never say never. I truly believe rehiring Knight is the best, and possibly the only, way for IU to avert a serious crisis.

Sampson would never be fired or dismissed for anything other than breaking rules. He is simply too good a coach and gets too good of results. But now he is really, really in deep. Even if he is innocent of the alleged violations, trying to finish out the season under this cloud of doubt is futile.

And because the source of all of these problems is the one thing that Knight had a sterling reputation on: following the rules, dismissing Sampson and bringing in the most untouchable coach in NCAA history in terms of NCAA rules violations would be a step in the right direction.

Not to mention The General isn't coaching anymore, thanks to a well-timed mid-season exit. And he already knows there is some excellent fishing in Southern Indiana. Plus I hear the HPER is looking for some extra people to teach H105: Bass Fishing next fall.

He could come in to replace both Greenspan and Sampson, a la Tom Osborne.

In the immortal words of Princess Leia: "Help us Bobby Knight, you're our only hope!"

UPDATE

There will be a 5p.m. (eastern time) press conference where IU Athletic Director Rick Greenspan will address the controversy of the day.

Blood in the Water

Right now events surrounding the Kelvin Sampson/Oklahoma/Indiana violations are unfolding too quickly for anything I write to be relovant even twenty minutes from now, but I will quote two very cogent posts from different websites that I have seen today. These are posts from random IU fans and bloggers:

"Alan" in the idsnews.com basketblog says:

"People are overreacting. Let’s put this into perspective. A prestigious football school with a tradition similar to that of IU’s in basketball, Florida State, had a massive cheating scandal in which 30 of the players were ineligible for the bowl game. This was messing with grades; it wasn’t phone calls. Phone calls, a t-shirt, and a backpack are minor compared to messing with grades. Also, let’s look at the Ohio State scandal in 2002. Ohio State got in trouble for a player receiving benefits and commiting academic fraud. The NCAA came down hard, but when you compare academic fraud and benefits to phone calls of POTENTIAL players, it is minor. People are also being too critical of Sampson. He isn’t Bobby Knight; he will never be Bobby Kinght. To paraphrase Rick Pitino, Coach Knight ain’t walking through that door people. Also, if Coach Knight did this, the same people calling for Sampson’s head would be defending the General. Let’s actually unite around our players and team and beat the hell out of Wisconsin tonight.

Also for those interested, there is a handful of successful programs that have been put on probation recently, such as Oklahoma football, Kansas basketball, and Ohio State football. All these probations occured during the current coach’s tenure. Bob Stoops, Jim Tressel, and Bill Self all still have their jobs. People need to relax and chill out."

And "Rikki-tikka-tava" on peegs.com says:

Allegation analysis: Emphasis on "Allegations".

1. That Sampson, Meyer and Senderoff failed to comply with sanctions imposed on Sampson for impermissible recruiting calls he made while he was a coach at Oklahoma. Those sanctions followed Sampson to IU when he came here in May of 2006. Sampson and Senderoff are alleged to have jointly participated in telephone calls at a time when Sampson was prohibited from being present or taking part when staff members made recruiting calls. Senderoff and Meyer are alleged to have made about 100 calls that exceeded the sanction limits. Senderoff resigned his position Oct. 30.

- We knew all this already, yes? Nothing new here.

2. That Senderoff and Meyer placed "at least 25 telephone calls" to nine potential recruits that exceeded NCAA limits even if no sanctions had been in place.

- Senderoff & Meyer, not Sampson for what that's worth.

3. That Sampson "acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he knowingly violated recruiting restrictions imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions," and that he "failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing the institution and the NCAA enforcement staff false or misleading information," and that he "failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance within the men's basketball program and failed to monitor the activities regarding compliance of one or more of his assistant coaches."

- Absent any specificity it seems like this is a reiteration of Allegation #1.

4. That Senderoff "acted contrary to the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he knowingly violated recruiting restrictions imposed by the NCAA Committee on Infractions," and that he "failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing the institution false or misleading information."

Senderoff again, not Sampson.

5. That Sampson and Meyer engaged in an impermissible recruiting contact during a two-day sports camp held at Assembly Hall on June 30 and July 1, 2007, and that Meyer provided the potential recruit with an impermissible benefit at least one T-shirt and drawstring backpack.

Big whoop. Sounds like if he'd been given the backpack and T-shirt 24 or 48 hours later no violation would have in fact occurred. yawn...

Sorry boys and girls but I can't see what the fuss is all about other than the fact that the NCAA has alleged 5 major violations against IU for the first in 47 years. This is to say that there doesn't seem to be anything in said allegation that represents new evidence of misconduct beyond what was revealed six months ago. There is language about "false and misleading" which can be variously interpreted to indicate willful and malicious prevarication or imperfect memory depending on one's bent (or the available evidence of which we have none), as well as an allegation that at least some of these improprieties took place "knowingly". Aside from that, and in the absence of any specific detail, hardly earth-shaking news.

I'm sticking with Coach Sampson and IU at least until such time as they indicate they're not sticking with each other and/or I see something that reveals more than a formal rehash of what we already knew, and I've had a chance to hear what Coach and the University have to say about it. And I happen to think that most of you calling for Coach's immediate firing are pathetic...sure many of you will say the same or worse about me, but much as I am disappointed by Coach's problems with staying within the lines regarding phone contacts, to characterize his and his staff's transgression's as "major" violations as compared to paying/bribing players, their families or buying them cars and such, forget it. Condone it, no way, but cashier Sampson over it while bewailing the irreparable harm done to the University - no chance, at least not until Coach and the University respond.

Most important three games of the season this week beginning tonight. IU hasn't abandoned Sampson and neither will I. Go Hoosiers, Go IU!

Down with the Sickness

Well Young Swole went to an Atlanta Hawks game, and in the process drank a little too much lean and has been sick ever since. Thankfully this happened on one of the slowest sports weekends of the year, but enough went on that The Swole One still has some observations to make:

1. Nothing is more annoying than the MC guy at basketball games who is in charge of running the contests during timeouts. The guy at the Hawks game was rude and insulting to the contestants all while basically screaming into the microphone, so that people in East Point could probably hear him. Seriously, if the furthest you got in life is a dude in charge of a promotion at a basketball game, don't you think you'd have a little better attitude. The Hawks need to ship him to the NBDL.

2. The highlight of the Hawks game by far was when Harry the Hawk threw a giant cake in some bitches face. While this sort of hijinks has been going on at sporting events for years, what made it priceless was the hoe's reaction to getting lit up by Harry. Since it was her birthday, she was all dressed up and ready to get freaky in Buckhead later that night, and yet now she was covered in various colors of frosting and cake spackle. Too bad for her, too good for the rest of us.

3. Congratulations NHL, you are the new soccer. Swole says this because it seems that the only highlights of hockey that people see anymore are when there is a giant fight, or something disturbing or gruesome happens. We saw this with Richard Zednik having his jugular cut in a game on Sunday. Swole would guess that this is probably the most played highlight from the entire NHL season, at the expense of a great play by someone like Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin. Usually soccer is only treated like this in the states. If there is a hooligan brawl or some other negative event at a soccer game, you best believe it will be shown all across America, yet stellar play is hardly ever shown. Now at least soccer has a friend in the "forgotten and misrepresented" sports discussion.

4. Speaking of US Soccer, it was awesome seeing our future ballers stepping up to play Mexico to a 2-2 tie. In his first start with the national team, phenom Jozy Altidore scored a beautiful goal, and repeatedly torched Mexican Captain and FC Barcelona mainstay Rafa Marquez. Along with Altidore, we also got to see players like Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber and yes Freddy Adu earn valuable experience. Young Swole hopes that these guys will be the foundation for the US World Cup team in 2010 instead of the same old retreads that simply do not have the talent to bother the world's best squads.

5. Young Swole is worried that this ridiculous Roger Clemens story is going to spill into spring training and the start of the regular season. It was one thing to put up with this dickhead while he was playing, but now he's even more insufferable in trying to claim his innocence. Memo to the Rocket, we all know you did the juice so shut the fuck up and let us move on from hearing about you.

6. For my friends in the midwest, Young Swole feels your pain. It has been a brutal winter season across the midwest and it may get worse for 2 reasons. First, that shot of cold air that you've been feeling since Saturday is not even the main thrust of arctic air sitting north of us. Sooner or later that is going to come south, and it could last even longer than this cold blast did. Second of all, with all the cold and snow, the chances for extensive flooding this spring are high. While everyone wants a warmup, you should hope for a gradual one, so that snowmelt does not occur all at once. If it does, you may see ice-jammed rivers block the flow of all that snowmelt, creating severe flooding all across the midwest.

7. You know an event is worthless when it involves superstar NFL players and still nobody gives a crap about it. The Pro Bowl is nothing but a waste of space on the sports landscape.

8. Thank god the writers strike is over. Hopefully this means that shows like "Temptation Island 2" and "Dance War: Team Bruno versus Team Carrie Ann" (a Cicero favorite) will be soon replaced by 24 and the like.

Look for a first-half NBA Recap on Thursday, and then the start of GDB's baseball team previews this weekend, plus more college hoops analysis as the road to March Madness switches into the fast lane. Back to the meds for Swole.

Basketball Power Ranks: Shit Gets Wierd

Memphis vs. The Field? Maybe.

1. Memphis, 22-0. Are they the best team? Until someone beats them, yes. They are the only squad with a big fat zero in the loss column, but could they sustain that without Dorsey? I say no, but Dorsey isn't going anywhere yet. And neither is Memphis from the #1 spot. However, I retain my suspicions about a team whose conference schedule consists of teams like SMU, Rice, and UA-B. Putting the hurt on a Mike Davis team doesn't say much.

2. Duke, 21-1. Any questions I had about this team being a legit contender were answered when the went into the Dean Dome and dominated. Pardon my alliteration. But seriously, it looks like Greg Paulus has decided to play during Duke's conference schedule, something he barely did for the first part of the season. Shrewed coaching, multiple threats on the floor, the demeanor that comes from having the DUKE target on your back and STILL continuing to win...this team has it all.

3. Kansas, 23-1. Much like Duke, this team has weapons at all positions. Any one (or more) of their players can have career nights during any given game. They Gayhawks sit atop what is arguably the nation's toughest conference this season, and as a result are highly-battle tested and will be formidable deep into march. If they can emerge from their remaining schedule (plenty of road games and three games against Top 25 teams) unscathed they will be tough to beat or to pick against.

4. North Carolina, 21-2. Yeah yeah, they lost at home to Duke. Guess what? So has every other team that has played basketball over the last twenty years. Two things suggest that the Duke victory is no reason to drop this team out of the top five: the TarHeels' floor general Ty Lawson didn't play in the Duke game, and they still have Tyler Hansbrough. He's knarsty.

5. Tennessee, 21-2. A close win against a reeling LSU program gives me more reason to doubt the Vols as a serious contender. That they only scored 47 points against an LSU team which allows an average of 76 points to its opponents is cause for concern, but with the wide open pack of teams trailing the top four, I'm calling the Vols the best of the rest.

6. UCLA, 20-2. Sure they are a great team. Yes Love and Collison are spectacular. But I have watched several of the Bruins' games this season and don't see them as an intense, inspired team that can make the tourney their playground and win the damn thing. Call me a hater. You will be right.

7. Xavier, 18-4. The Musketeers are emerging as the cream of a legit A-10 crop. They have a half-dozen players averaging double-figures per game, and Drew Lavender is a special talent on this very dangerous team. However, great wins over Indiana and K-State are tainted by losses to teams like Miami(OH), Temple, and Arizona St.

8. Texas, 19-4. The Horns continue to roll through the Big 12, as Augustin and Abrams are as good as advertised. A mild scare at Iowa State today is no cause for concern, as road wins in BCS conferences are never easy to come by. Back-to-back losses to quality Big Ten teams Michigan St. and Wisconsin raise questions about how they would fare during the long road to the Final Four, but the most serious concern is the lack of a post presence to compliment Connor Atchley.

9. Indiana, 19-3. Yeah, I said it. So what? Their game at Illinois proves the Hoosiers can win in the most hostile of environments, and no one can deny that they have all the pieces: prolific scorer(Gordon), post presence (DJ White), speedy point guard (Bassett) and a whole host of dangerous, quality supporting cast members (Crawford, Ellis, Stemler, Thomas). Can they put the pieces together to play their best b-ball in the spring? Only time will tell. But upcoming games against Purdue and Michigan State will be very telling.

10. Butler, 21-2. A.J. Graves is the shit. Today's win against Wisconsin-Green Bay isn't. Much like Xavier, Butler has shown they can dominate their lesser-than-worthy competition, but can they do it against the name-brands they are sure to face in the tourney?

Also receiving votes: Georgetown, Stanford, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Purdue