Coverin' The Spread

An Intuitive Sports Blog Coupled with an Effective and Affordable Pick Service

WTF of the Week

Aug 25

Posted by CTS in Golf, WTF of the Week | No Comments

Don’t you just hate it when you have something really important to wake up for and you oversleep? I know you do, but I also bet that it never cost you $10,000,000. Well it could for Jim Furyk.

Furyk was scheduled to participate in this morning’s pro-am at The Barclay’s in a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m.

Furyk found out at 7:23 this morning that his cell phone had died overnight and that his alarm clock never went off. Furyk quickly threw on some clothes and shoes (no socks or belt) and hauled it to the golf course. Furyk arrived at 7:35 a.m. only to find out that he had been disqualified from the first of four FedEx Cup playoff events.

The PGA adopted the DQ rule in 2004 after many golfers were missing the Wednesday pro-am for reasons that were often suspect. Furyk currently sits at third place for the $10 million purse and will likely drop in the standings after missing the first event of the playoff.

 ”I’m kicking myself,” Furyk said. “I have a way of climbing into situations that are all my fault.” Furyk will be kicking himself much harder if he falls just short of the largest purse in golf.

Tags: , , ,

NFL Quarterback Power Rankings 2010

Aug 25

Posted by CTS in Columns, Football | 2 Comments

1. Peyton Manning – Manning is coming off his NFL record fourth MVP in ’09, returning all of his weapons, and is looking for a new contract that could keep him a Colt for life. Scary to think but Manning is primed for one of the best seasons of his career.

2. Drew Brees - I guess you can say 2009 was a decent year for Brees with 34 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, over 4300 yards, a QB rating of 109.6, and a Super Bowl ring. Now if he can only do it all again in ’10.

3. Tom Brady – Brady hasn’t lost a step since coming off knee surgery in ’08. The only reason Tom Terrific sits at number three is because of the seasons Brees and Manning had in ’09.

4. Aaron Rodgers – My pick for league MVP in 2010. Rodgers has his first playoff game under his belt, an overtime loss to Arizona in which the fifth year pro was 28-42 for 423 yards, a pick, and 4 TD’s. Look for Rodgers to get his first playoff win in ’10 and make everyone in Wisconsin forget about his predecessor.

5. Philip Rivers – Rivers is coming off back-to-back 4,000 yard seasons but continues to struggle in the postseason. Rivers has a postseason career passer rating of 79.2 compared to a career regular season rating of 95.8. If Rivers ever wants to be mentioned among the elite QB’s of the game, he will have to start winning in January.

6. Ben Roethlisberger – While it’s hard to put a two-time Super Bowl winning QB out of the top four, Big Ben will only have 10-12 games to get Pittsburgh back into the postseason for a shot at number three.

7. Brett Favre – Sorry Favre fans but Brett’s 7 interceptions and 107.2 QB rating he recorded last season likely won’t happen again in ’10. In the previous four seasons Favre had 79 interceptions with a QB rating of only 80. Those numbers coupled with an iffy ankle and an absent Sidney Rice for half the season do not fair well for the soon-to-be 41-year-old.

8. Eli Manning – Eli had the best season of his career in ’09 throwing for over 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns. Manning has the most underrated receiving core in the league and Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nix are primed to have big seasons alongside veteran Steve Smith in ’10.

9. Tony Romo – There is little difference between a guy like Romo and Philip Rivers. Both are great regular season quarterbacks, both have the most talented skill positions in their conference, and both struggle in January. The biggest difference between the two is that Rivers has three postseason victories compared to Romo’s one.

10. Matt Schaub – Matt Schaub threw for over 3,000 yards in ’09 and that’s only if you don’t count the NFL’s leading receiver Andre Johnson’s yards. If the Texans can get any sort of a running game going in ’10, Houston has a great shot of making the postseason for the first time in the franchise’s history.

11. Carson Palmer – Palmer may have the hardest job in the NFL this season with the self-proclaimed “Batman and Robin” splitting out wide. Minus Trent Edwards, QB’s have had great success with Terrell Owens in Owens’ first season and look for Palmer to do the same. What happens after the 2010 season is anyone’s guess.

12. Donovan McNabb – Not saying that Kevin Kolb won’t be a solid signal caller, but trading McNabb to the Redskins and facing him twice a year could quickly make Philly fans realize how special of a player they had for 11 years.

13. Joe Flacco – Flacco and the Ravens are thinking Super Bowl in 2010. Last season Flacco threw for over 3,600 yards and 21 touchdowns to lead Baltimore to an 11-5 regular season and a playoff victory over Tom Brady and the Pats in Foxboro. The addition of Anquan Boldin could be just what Flacco and the Ravens’ offense need to get over the hump and challenge Indianapolis for a spot in Cowboys Stadium in February.

14. Matt Ryan – After an absolutely incredible rookie season in ’08 that saw the third overall pick throw for 3,440 with just 11 picks and a playoff appearance, Ryan suffered in ’09 from the proverbial sophomore slump. A healthy Michael Turner returning to the Atlanta offense should take much of the load off Ryan this season and and allow the Falcons to battle the Saints for the NFC South crown.

15. Vince Young – Last season Young took an 0-6 Titans club to an impressive 8-8 record after he took over for Kerry Collins following a 59-0 defeat at New England. Young has a very inexperienced receiving core with second year pro Kenny Britt and rookie Damian Williams, but Young likes his chemistry with Britt and expects big things from the pair in 2010.

16. David Garrard – One of the most underrated QB’s in the game today, Garrard is actually coming off a Pro Bowl season in 2009. The Pro Bowl was probably the only game in which anybody actually saw Garrard play as all of his games in Jacksonville were blacked out locally. Garrard has thrown for over 7,000 yards the last two seasons with just 23 interceptions combined.

17. Chad Henne – Fins owner Stephen Ross said this off-season that Chad Henne could go down as the greatest QB in Miami’s history. I’m not sure if he’ll be quite as good as that Marino fellow but the addition of Brandon Marshall gives Henne and the Dolphins a legitimate chance at a Lombardi trophy in the near future; something number 13 never accomplished.

18. Matt Hasselbeck – Don’t give up on Hasselbeck just yet. Last season Hasselbeck broke his ribs in week 2 and played through that pain for the majority of the season. In just 14 injury riddled games, the 3x Pro Bowler still threw for over 3,000 yards and new coach Pete Carroll should breathe new life into the 34-year-old in 2010.

19. Jay Cutler – Very few quarterbacks in the league have the upside that Cutler does. The addition of Mike Martz as offensive coordinator only increases this upside. Now if only we could all forget about Cutler’s 26 interception season of ’09.

20. Matt Moore – It will be very intriguing to see what Moore can do in a full season under center. In five games as the Panthers starting quarterback last year, Moore went 4-1 with a QB rating of 103. With Steve Smith being the only proven pass catcher on the roster, Moore will not give you many fantasy points but should prolong the Jimmy Clausen era in Carolina for at least the 2010 season.

21. Kevin Kolb – The verdict is not yet in on Kevin Kolb. The fourth year pro has only 130 attempts so far in his brief career as Donovan McNabb’s backup but you have got to think Andy Reid knew what he was doing when he let his trusted quarterback take his talents to D.C. With a talented group of young receivers in Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson, don’t be surprised if Kolb and the Eagles challenge for a playoff spot in the NFC.

22. Jason Campbell – A new start was exactly what Campbell needed and was looking for. Too bad the coveted fresh start is in Oakland. Nonetheless, a huge upgrade from JaMarcus Russell.

23. Kyle Orton – Orton had the best season of his career last year throwing for 3800 yards and 21 touchdowns. Now we get to see how Orton performs without the safety net of Brandon Marshall. 

24. Matthew Stafford - How can anyone succeed taking over a 0-16 squad? Stafford proved last season that he has the leadership, toughness, and many of the intangibles to be a Pro Bowl quarterback in this league. With Calvin Johnson as his primary target for years to come, look for Stafford to be in the Pro Bowl sooner rather than later.

25. Matt Cassel – Cassel was sacked 42 times last season ranking fourth in the NFL. In 2008 with New England, Cassel lead the entire NFL in sacks with 47. If Cassel is ever going to be a legitimate starter he will have to learn to stay on his feet.

26. Alex Smith – After missing the entire 2008 season, Smith played well after taking over the starting duties from Shaun Hill completing 60% of his passes with a 3-2 touchdown to interception ratio. This will be the first season of Smith’s career in which he won’t have a new offensive coordinator which should bode well for the former number one overall pick.

27. Matt Leinart – After Monday’s lackluster preseason performance against the Titans, Leinart blamed his poor play on the Titans’ blitzes. Hate to tell you Matt, but blitzes are part of the game. If you can’t beat the blitz, you can’t play quarterback in the NFL. That probably has a lot to do with why the former first round pick is challenging Derek Anderson for the starting job.

28. Trent Edwards – The subtraction of T.O. and the addition of C.J. Spiller should make things a little easier for Edwards in 2010. Lee Evans is still one of the best receivers in the game.

29. Mark Sanchez – With all of the hype the Jets are getting coming into the 2010 season, it seems like everyone is forgetting who their quarterback is. In Sanchez’s rookie season he threw for only 12 touchdowns with 20 interceptions for a QB Rating of just 63 on a team good enough to go to the AFC Championship game. If the Colts play their starters in week 16 and eliminate New York from the playoffs, I believe people would have a different opinion on the Jets and Sanchez.

30. Josh Freeman – Hard to judge a rookie quarterback on a poor team but Freeman showed flashes at times last season in wins versus the Packers and the Saints. As good as Freeman was in those couple of games, the rookie still threw 18 picks in nine starts.

31. Jake Delhomme – What have you done for me lately is a popular saying in the NFL. Delhomme followed his six interception playoff game in ’08 with a ’09 season of 18 picks to just eight touchdowns in eleven starts. Good luck in Cleveland, Jake.

32. Sam Bradford/ A.J. Feeley - Too bad for Sam that A.J. hurt his shoulder Saturday night. An inexperienced offensive line coupled with the worst receiving corps in the league suggests that the best spot for Bradford this season is on the bench. Good thing for Sam that head coach Steve Spagnuolo has since said Feeley will remain the starter despite the injury.

-scf

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Small Market Success: 6 Puny Payrolls (& The Yankees) Sit Atop Their Division

Aug 19

Posted by CTS in Baseball, Columns | 1 Comment

The New York Yankees’ 2010 payroll is $206,333,389 with the average player making over $8.25 million this season. New York has more than double the payroll of 22 of the remaining 29 ballclubs and more than triple the payroll of seven other teams. Not one of the other seven clubs who has a salary of over $100 million currently sits atop their division.

The Minnesota Twins are the biggest spenders, besides the Yankees, that lead their division. How much are the Twins spending this season you ask? $97 million which ranks them eleventh in the majors. As a matter of fact, the only other division leader that can come close to the Twins payroll is the Braves and they have shelled out $84 million this season ranking them right in the middle of the pack at fifteenth in the bigs.

A-Rod, Jeter, Tex, & CC: $101 Million Combined in '10

The NL Central leading Reds are next in line with a payroll of $72 million ranking them nineteenth. Following the Reds is the club that is tied with the Yanks atop the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are twenty-first in MLB with a payroll just under $72 million, more than $134 million less than their AL East counterpart New York.

Last but not least we go to the 27th highest payroll and the 29th highest payroll. That would be the Texas Rangers and the San Diego Padres. Yes, they too sit atop the AL and NL West respectively. These two clubs combine for a payroll of just under $94 million. That $94 million would make up just 46% of the Yankees payroll and couldn’t even pay the salaries of Rodriguez, Sabathia, Jeter, and Teixeira. Those four overpaid stars combine for a salary of over $100 million in 2010.

So why all the success? Why can’t the Cubs or the Mets have this kind of success with a combined payroll of $278 million? First of all, K-Rod isn’t helping things for the Mets and we saw what the Cubs did with Derek Lee trading him and his $13 million salary to Atlanta Wednesday.

The reason for the success is a farm system approach of grooming players and making the right moves when it was time to clean house.

Teams like the Cubs and Mets are littered with players such as three $19 million men in Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, and Carlos Beltran. That’s almost $60 million that has gone to waste this season between those two ballclubs with all three players in extreme decline.

The press has applauded the Twins for years now as they have been able to have much success mainly through their two minor league products, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. The new M&M Boys each have their own AL MVP award and just recently the Twins were able to sign Joe Mauer to an eight year extension for the hometown discount of $23 million a year. That may not sound like much of a discount but that’s $10 milliona year less than A-Rod for a 27-year-old catcher with triple crown potential.

Teams such as the Reds and Rays have built up their team through their farm system as well and have refused to overpay free agents.

The Reds best pitcher and best hitter were both brought up through the farm system and because of it, Cincinnati is only paying Johnny Cueto and Joey Votto under $1 million combined in 2010. Moves like this have allowed Cinci to acquire key pieces to a championship such as 3B Scott Rolen and closer Francisco Cordero who makes more dough than anyone on the big red machine with a 2010 salary of $12 million.

Price & Longoria: $2.8 Million Combined in '10

The Rays are the best example of developing players through the farm system in order to obtain a smaller payroll. Arguably the three biggest stars on the team, (Evan Longoria, David Price, and B.J. Upton), all made their MLB debuts in Tampa Bay and in 2010 they will combine to make only $5.8 million.

The Padres and Rangers were fortunate enough to trade coveted, high-priced players in order to obtain the pieces that make up their success today.

At the trade deadline in 2007, the Rangers traded 1B Mark Teixeira to the Atlanta Braves for four prospects and C Jarrod Saltalamacchia . While Saltalamacchia’s stay in Texas wasn’t half as long as his name, the Rangers did acquire Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Elvis Andrus in the deal. In 2010, Harrison and Feliz have anchored a great Texas bullpen and Elvis Andrus is so good that he’s moved Gold Glove winner Michael Young over to 3B and the 21-year-old is batting .276 doing it.

Arguably the Padres’ two most important players, P Clayton Richard and 1B Adrian Gonzalez, were acquired through the trades of P Adam Eaton to Texas in ’05 and the trade of Cy Young winner Jake Peavy to the White Sox at the trade deadline last season.

Clayton Richard, who was involved in the Peavy trade, is 11-5 this season for San Diego with a 3.69 ERA and a measley salary of $423,700. Peavy is currently 7-6 with a 4.63 ERA and a $15 million salary. Advantage: San Diego.

This small market success is not uncommon. The Yankees and the Red Sox are the only two teams of the past decade to win a World Series title with a payroll over $100 million.

In 2003, the Florida Marlins and their miniscule payroll of $48.7 million were able to defeat the New York Yankees and their payroll of $125.9 million. I am not saying that the Padres or the Reds can do the same thing as the Marlins, but stranger things have happened. Money sure doesn’t hurt, but it also doesn’t guarantee a thing in today’s game of baseball balance from top to bottom of the payroll rankings.

-scf

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sorry College Football Fans: 10 Reasons why the NFL’s the Best

Aug 17

Posted by CTS in Columns, Football | 1 Comment

College football fans are some of the most loyal, passionate, hardcore fans there are on the planet. In places such as the Deep South and pretty much any part of Texas, football is a religion and the number one topic 365 days out of the year. For those of you in the regions that fit this category and all major college football fans across America, I respect you but I have to break something to you: the true entertainment is on Sundays.

I’m sure the Deep South category is appalled at the fact that anything can be more popular than their beloved Razorbacks, Volunteers, or Crimson Tide. That being said NFL waters do not run very deep in the south between teams such as Jacksonville, Tennessee, or Carolina. In football crazy towns such as Dallas and New Orleans, where you have to go blindfolded in order to avoid seeing an LSU or Texas fan every four seconds, the Cowboys and the Saints reign supreme when it comes to importance and popularity. Ask any LSU alum who hails from the Big Easy what was bigger: 2 LSU BCS Championships or the Saints winning the Super Bowl? That would be a no-brainer in favor of who dat.

NCAA fans are going to argue with things such as tradition, crowd noise, marching bands, Lee Corso, and being able to dress like JT Bowtie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrfUKZ1BGUQ) while being accompanied by a straight 10 who is at least four points out of your league while getting obnoxiously hammered on bourbon cheering on a bunch of fellow classmates you’ve never met before all while trying not to ruin your favorite pair of team-colored slacks.

While that sounds like a heck of a good time, there is a reason the Super Bowl’s ratings will always blow the BCS Championships’ ratings out of the water. There’s a reason that the Cowboys/Bengals preseason game was watched by three times as many viewers as the nationally televised Red Sox/Yankees game during August in a pennant race. There’s a reason why as much as you think you hate the three year daily coverage of the Brett Favre saga, you continue to watch and continue to discuss how much you hate it. In fact, there are plenty of reasons why the NFL is more popular than college football. Here are 10 of them.

1.  Rules – College football is way too lenient with their rulebook. The NCAA allows only one foot to be in bounds, first downs stop the clock and there is absolutely no celebration whatsoever. A perfect example is an official throwing a flag on Washington QB Jake Locker for throwing the ball up in the air after scoring a game-tying touchdown in the last minute against a ranked and favored BYU club in 2008. The touchdown put the Huskies within one point of the Cougars but because of the 15 yard celebration penalty by Locker, the extra point attempt was blocked by BYU and the Cougars escaped Husky Stadium with a 28-27 victory.

2.  Schedule – There are no gimmes in the NFL, period. The only conference that can say their conference has no gimmes is the SEC and even the mighty Crimson Tide has San Jose State, Duke, and Georgia State on their schedule in 2010. Nick Saban’s B Team would beat each one of these squads by four touchdowns without even breaking a sweat. In the NFL, every Sunday is a test and there is not a single game that can be penciled in as a W. Last season the 1-15 St. Louis Rams were one play away from defeating the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints as Mark Bulger’s game-winning TD pass fell incomplete in the end zone at the buzzer. NCAA fans will site Appalachian State as an example but what fans tend to forget is that Michigan suffered their worst home loss in the history of the program the following week as Oregon blasted the maze and blue 39-7. Also, in the NFL teams get to play each of their rivals twice a year and if the teams don’t happen to be in the same division, the NFL is going to schedule the two teams to meet. A perfect example is that the Patriots and Colts will face each other this year for the eighth straight season. One of college football’s most storied rivalries, OU/Nebraska, do not even play in the same conference and even when they did they still didn’t face each other every season.

3.  Cheerleaders – In the NCAA the cheerleaders wear sweaters and long sleeves and half of them are not even girls! The NFL has professional dancers who wear close to nothing even when the temperatures are near freezing and are always facing the fans. No chants or cheers or boys in the NFL; just beautiful women getting paid to stay in shape and look good for the camera.

4.  Monday Night Football – Seriously, do I really have to list reasons why MNF is better than Thursday Night football? As the ads say “Everyone watches on Monday Night”. Thursday nights are filled with teams who just want to be on television so they schedule their game for Thursday so a small percentage of the nation will get to see their school. Half of the viewers watching some midseason ACC or Big East match-up on Thursday night are watching solely because they have a gambling addiction and think they can get a jumpstart on the weekend by throwing down cash on NC State or South Florida. MNF is where the real action is and what football fan do you know that isn’t watching on Monday Night? Last but not least, could you imagine Hank Williams Jr. inviting all his rowdy friends over for Thursday Night? I didn’t think so.

5.  Overtime – The sudden death system, as flawed as it may be, is a much more entertaining overtime than the college game. In the NFL the game could end on any play so every fan is constantly on the edge of their seat. Not only that, but the NFL actually plays real football with kickoffs, punts and the whole shebang. Starting on the 25 yard line is no way to play football and much less exciting. Touchdowns are not near as big of deal in the college game. Fans are much more excited on a defensive stop than they are on a 20 yard touchdown pass. Also, in the NCAA many games seem to be never ending with 5, 6, and even 7 overtimes on occasion. Now that the NFL has adjusted their playoff overtime rules where you can only be beaten by a touchdown instead of a field goal, there is no debate on which overtime is the best.

6.  Fantasy Football – Fantasy Football is a $1 billion a year business that millions of Americans play every season. Research suggests that anywhere from 19-27 million people play fantasy football in a given year. This number is so broad because everyone from ESPN to FOX to CBS to Sprint to Yahoo offers fantasy football leagues. Fantasy Football is a great way for fans to stay intrigued long after their favorite team has been eliminated from postseason contention. Fantasy owners are able to get excited for a week 17 Detroit/Tampa Bay match-up that they would otherwise not even check the score for. While some argue that it’s hard to root for a player on your fantasy team if he’s facing your real team, that doesn’t seem to bother many fantasy owners. This sure doesn’t bother Redskins tight end Chris Cooley who plays in four different fantasy leagues as an NFL player.

7.  Hard Knocks – HBO’s series Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets is the most intriguing show on television for sports fans. Hard Knocks gives football fans an inside look at an NFL training camp from the rookies to the coaching staff to the executives and even to the un-drafted long shots who are leaving it all on the practice field trying to make an NFL roster. ESPN has a similar type show with a weeklong all-access look at the Alabama Crimson Tide. The main difference between the two shows is the storylines. ESPN gives the viewer no looks at position battles, family and off the field life, or rookie/freshman hazing. HBO gives the viewer all of this and more. Everything’s included from the Jets’ fullback position battle to Darrelle Revis’ holdout and contract dispute to Rex Ryan being fined every time he indulges in his pile of snacks and treats. Because Hard Knocks is on HBO, the viewer also gets to listen to real “coach talk” as every F-bomb Ryan drops is heard while ESPN cuts to a different shot every time Nick Saban becomes angry.

8.  Quality of Play – This may be the main reason why Sundays are better than Saturdays. The players in the NFL are bigger, faster, and stronger. The hits are harder, the play is crisper, and the total speed of the game is much faster than any match-up between college powerhouses. College football can have its’ option offenses and power running attacks. That kind of stuff doesn’t work in the NFL. There are no defensive ends in the NFL who a team can run the option at nor is there a rushing attack powerful enough to hide its’ quarterback. In the NFL all of your flaws will be exposed and offensive and defensive coordinators alike must counter those flaws, not hide them.

9.  Playoff System – In the NFL, teams play for the right to go to the championship. In college, teams are voted on then put into a computer to determine who should play in the biggest game of the year. What is that all about? Forget the “Plus 1” or any other idiotic system the NCAA can think of to prevent playing more games to determine a champion. A playoff system is used by every major pro sport and even the NCAA uses a playoff system for its’ baseball, soccer, hockey, and basketball champion. So why not football? Almost the entire month of December is left wide open so why not fill those weeks in with playoffs? The Big 10 season is often finished before Thanksgiving leaving some teams idle for six full weeks before getting to play in a bowl game. There is no excuse for this. The NFL Playoffs is the most exciting month of the year for me, and nothing in sports beats championship Sunday. The two biggest football games of the year are played on the same day to see who gets to play in the Super Bowl. I could only imagine how great a final four could be in college football. This is one thing the NCAA must fix, and fix fast.

10.  Super Bowl – You know what the best thing about the NFL Playoffs is? That’s right the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the biggest game of the year in any sport in the western hemisphere and everyone watches. For all of you college football fanatics who think that college ball is still better than pro ball, here’s some numbers for you. During the 2010 BCS Championship game between two longtime college football powerhouses, Texas and Alabama, 28.5 million Americans watched the Tide roll to its’ thirteenth national title. A few weeks later in a Super Bowl between two small market teams in Indianapolis and New Orleans, 106.5 million Americans watched Tracy Porter and the Saints win their first Super Bowl in the franchises history. 78 million more Americans watched the NFL’s big game over the NCAA’s big game. More people even watched the Super Bowl last year than watched the final episode of M-A-S-H in 1983. That should put the issue of NFL vs. NCAA popularity to rest. Sorry college football fans but you just can’t beat the NFL.

-scf

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WTF of the Week

Aug 16

Posted by CTS in Baseball, WTF of the Week | No Comments

Sunday had to be one of the strangest days of the baseball season to date. Sunday saw the nicest guy in baseball, Armando Galarraga, get in a fight with not one but both of his two catchers as his Tigers were defeated by the White Sox and continued their fall from postseason contention. While Galarraga was blowing up, Reds shortstop Orlando Cabrera was feeding balls to umpires and collecting teammates sticks as he served as the bat-boy for Cincinnati. Cabrera is currently on the DL and said he wanted to contribute in any way he could. As odd as these two situations were, the biggest head scratcher of the day came in the Minnesota/Oakland game. Through seven innings Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey had a 1-0 lead and a no-no going against the A’s. When the bottom of the eighth arrived, Slowey was on the bench and the n0-n0 was no more. When Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was asked how could he possibly pull a guy who is two innings away from history, he justified his decision saying that Slowey was suffering from elbow tendonitis and after 106 pitches his day was done. All in all probably a smart move by Gardenhire as his Twins are battling the White Sox for the AL Central crown.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Both Sides of The Coin: Fame vs. The Numbers

Jul 27

Posted by CTS in Columns, Football | No Comments

It’s impossible to turn on the TV or check twitter without reading or hearing about the recent uniting of Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco, or as they like to put it: Batman and Robin.

It has certainly made for great discussion for the talking heads on ESPN, talk radio, blogosphere and twitterverse. Why wouldn’t it be?

You have the two loudest receivers of the past decade, who also happen to be two of the best. Both have television shows on VH1, “The T.O. Show and “The Ultimate Catch.” Both have been known to callout teammates, make for emotional and entertaining interviews, and both are very active on the celebrities favorite social network, twitter.

Man, I can’t wait to watch them play together. Great personalities and they are two of the top receivers in the league.

Well, not so much.

They were two of the best receivers in the league of the past decade, emphasis on past.

When you look at the other side of the coin -the numbers – you begin to realize this situation is great for pre-season discussion and entertainment, but I’m afraid that’s where it stops. When you examine the numbers or actual production, this doesn’t make business sense.

Let’s begin with the better of the two, the younger 32-year-old Ochocinco. Last season he was 26th in receptions behind names like Brent Celek of Philadelphia and Davon Bess of Miami. His yardage wasn’t much better at 20th overall, and he only made the top-10 in one major category, touchdowns, and he was tied with a few others at number 10.

Now to the 36-year-old T.Old, as Skip Bayless likes to put it. He didn’t even crack the top 30 in any major category. He was 48th in receptions, 33rd in yards, and 39th in TD’s. Not to mention, he has seen his numbers slide for the past four years. That has to be embarrassing for the front office of Cincinnati.

The same front office who has already addressed the glaring problem of 2009: more receivers. The Bengals acquired Antonio Bryant from the Buccaneers and used three of their nine selections in the 2010 draft to take receivers. Two of their top three were TE from Oklahoma Jermain Gresham and WR from Texas Jordan Shipley. They went on to select previously-hyped Dezmon Briscoe of Kansas in the 6th round, who saw his stock fall only because of injuries. The Adam Shefters of the world were giving them praise for an impressive offseason.

But apparently a good offseason wasn’t enough. The front office was persuaded by three of the most important figureheads in the Bengals organization: their quarterback, number one receiver and head coach. Well Palmer, Ochocinco and Lewis are all putting their reputations on the line for this likely failed marriage.

I think Skip Bayless said it best on twitter on Monday by responding to Chad’s tweet about calling himself Robin and T.O. Batman. Skip so eloquently said:

RealSkipBayless @OGOchoCinco: If you’re Robin, T.Old is Alfred.

-rew

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pete Carroll and College Football’s Corrupt Landscape

Jul 21

Posted by CTS in Columns, Football | No Comments

Pete Carroll is simply unbelievable at what he does. I’m not referring to coaching, recruiting, winning over the press or any of what many people think makes Pete Carroll successful. Pete Carroll is quite possibly the best bull-shitter in the game.

And the sad part is people buy it. Every recruit believed his act, media and fans bought into it, and even the USC compliance somehow approved of having 100+ people at each practice including celebrities, NFL players, and of course agents.

Now that USC is under probation his recruits don’t get to go to bowl games, his former AD got fired, his former school and player (Bush) are being ridiculed and stripped of victories, trophies, etc and where is ol’ Pete?

Well Pete left before the sanctions, doubled his salary, works half the time, and is in a more prestigious league. Has anyone stopped to realize how ridiculous that is? In what other circumstance could this happen with hardly any buzz or questions asked. He and the king of all shadiness, Coach Cal must be sharing secrets.

Don’t get me wrong I applaud Pete Carroll’s support of charities like A Better LA and his feel-good stories on Gameday narrated by Tom Rinaldi, but this shouldn’t cover up the fact that Pete took the easy way out and left USC high and dry.

After the most recent example of someone suffering after Carroll left, his former AD Mike Garrett getting fired, Carroll had this to say on twitter:

“Wish pat haden the very best in taking over as USC AD! I’ll support in any way. Congrats!”

Be more specific Pete. By support in any way do you mean I’ll help you get fired too! Wake up Pete, you and Tim Floyd’s crooked ass are the reasons Mike Garrett got fired!

Carroll is part of what makes college sports so corrupt today. He was the root of the problem at USC but he hasn’t and will not be punished. The same thing is going on right now in all of college football with agents hounding the nation’s top players. The agents don’t get punished so why should they care?

The NCAA has made a valiant effort to make recruiting as clean as possible, and it has certainly improved since the days of Miami players living like NFL stars. Sure there are still plenty of loop holes that allow scrubs like Lane Kiffin to take commitments from 14 year olds, but the point is, its improving and it all started with the NCAA.

On the other side of the coin, the NFL has to step up to the plate and make the roof of their problem, the agents, accountable. In the wake of investigations in North Carolina, South Carolina, and most recently, Alabama – its obvious that this issue needs to be put to rest. The only foreseeable way to keep future NFL stars like Marcel Dareus and Marvin Austin from going to agent parties in Miami is to make the agents liable.

Nick Saban has come out and suggested that if an agent is caught contacting a player then the agent should be stripped of their rights to ever represent a player in the NFL again. And I say kudos to Coach Saban, and I guarantee you if you asked the reputable agents in the NFL, they would certainly agree. The NFL already has the most difficult licensing protocol in place for agents in professional sports, but that obviously isn’t enough.

Hopefully Roger Goodell and the players union will listen to the likes of Nick Saban and punish the hell out of busch league agents who take advantage of 19 year old kids who have never dreamed of going to a party in Miami.

-rew

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,