Sports Talk, Rumors and Other Contrarian Insights

I love reading ESPN.com’s resident MLB expert and snarky a-hole, Keith Law.  Here are some prized excerpts from yesterdays chat:

This one was after a discussion in which Keith Law said he wanted an amateur free agency over a MLB draft:

Joe-NJ

“I would greatly prefer some form of amateur free agency to a slotted draft” Didn’t know you were a Yankees fan
Klaw?
(2:58 PM)

KLAW: Yeah, they’ve really cleaned up in international free agency, signing Chapman, Iglesias, Sano, Ynoa, and now Echevarria … oh, wait, they didn’t sign any of those guys. Please pick up the shattered remains of your point before you exit the chat.

Or this one…

harry (aberdeen)

Do you realize how big a jerk you come off as in these chats? You make it seem like it’s the last thing you want to be doing.There’s a difference between being witty and downright rude.
Klaw
(3:09 PM)

KLAW: I realize that 1-2% of the people reading this chat won’t be smart enough to realize how much of what I write is tongue in cheek. Wait, was that witty, or just downright rude? I won’t tell you which one I was going for.

And this was my favorite:

Scot (TX)

Why do you enjoy making babies cry?
Klaw
(3:16 PM)

KLAW: I use their tears in my sourdough bread starter.

“Hey, Whose your four?”

“What upsets do you have?”

These statements have an unquestioned meaning every March, as the entire sports world becomes engulfed with bracket fever.

Every sports talk show and outlet in the United States seems to be analyzing the brackets and discussing who got screwed and who didn’t deserve to be in the tourney.

Another subject is being discussed too: tournament expansion.

In general, there appears to be a consensus among the sports personalities of relevance (I’m not saying LitB isn’t relevant, of course we are, we just lack distribution…and ANY ad budget) that tournament expansion is the worse idea since the electric car and a round world.

I disagree.

I think the tournament should be expanded. The more the merrier.

Many people seem to act as if the tournament is some sort of holy entity that shouldn’t be changed and has always been perfect.

But it isn’t, and it hasn’t always been this way.

When the tournament began in 1939, eight teams participated. It is forgotten that the NIT was originally the more prestigious tournament, and that the NCAA was considered a lesser event.

This thinking actually prevented the meeting of two of the country’s best players-George Mikan’s Depaul squad played in the NIT, while Bob Kurland’s Oklahoma team played in the NCAA tournament.

George Mikan

It was in the 1970’s that the tournament began to ascend to its place as the preeminent college basketball championship.

It was in 1973, that the UCLA Bruins, led by Bill Walton, would defeat Memphis State on Monday night national television.

In 1975, the tournament would expand for the first time, allowing 32 at-large bids, and one winner from every conference. This was to make-up for the problems in the tournament that did not allow teams like Maryland in 1974, from participating in the tournament despite being ranked #4 in the nation, due to its failure to win the ACC Championship.

Expansion would take place again in 1979 to 40 teams, then again 1980 to 48 teams, then to 53 teams in 1983, and finally to the field of 64 in 1985. The play-in game was added in 2001, technically bringing the field to 65 teams.

If it were not for that expansion, the North Carolina State team of 1983 would not have made the tournament.

We wouldn’t have Lorenzo Charles’ time expiring dunk. We wouldn’t have Jim Valvano running around the court. We wouldn’t have one of the greatest moments in college basketball history.

Lorenzo Charles dunks to lead NC State to the National Title

Expansion over the years is what brought people to college basketball. It is what has made the NCAA tournament possilbly the second greatest sporting event in the US landscape, trumped only by the Super Bowl.

By bringing more teams into the mix, you allow Cinderella stories to happen, and the fact of the matter is that people like to see that in the tournament.

Expanding the field also makes more people interested in the tournament. By allowing more teams the opportunity to play in a post-season that matters (come on, let’s face it, but no one cares about the NIT), more fans will be brought to the game and it will grow.

Which leads to the ultimate reason for expansion, more fans equals more money.

Plain and simple.

The NCAA television contract is up this year, and one great negotiating tool is to show how more revenue can be generated by increasing the number of teams.

And that makes sense, and it will make the tournament more interesting, too.

The more teams in the tourney means more people are interested and the more people you bring into the pool, the more money that the tournament can generate for schools. That revenue will help continue to grow the game in-spite of increasing parity due to early departures by star players to the NBA.

Really, expanding the field is a great way to help fight off the ‘one and done’ problem that schools have with star players leaving after their freshman year.

John Wall: You think he's stinking around another year?

And it will help protect the NCAA from the possibility that the ‘one and done’ rule might not exist in two years.

With the NBA headed to a lock-out in the coming year, one of the concessions owners might have to give-up to players is the rule requiring players to play in college.

If you are going to cut the salary of players 33%, then players will naturally ask for one more year of potential earnings back.

With the expanded field, the lack of stars will be trumped by the bigger and more varied competition. The NCAA tournament can survive without the stars. They are nice for ratings during the regular season, but once the tournament comes, people are rooting for teams and stories, not players.

It’s easy if you are a college power to hate the idea, but spend sometime outside the tournament after completing a tough year in your conference and doing reasonably well, all to be told your left out, while the winner of the Horizon League is guaranteed a spot.

That’s not right.

The team that goes 10-6 in a power conference would beat that league champion 8 out of 10 times.

And with the amount of teams in NCAA Division 1 increasing since 1985, there is a need to expand the tournament. In 1985 there were 282 men’s basketball programs in D1; today there are 347, and that number is increasing.

It also helps solve the deficiency in the way wins are looked at by the tournament committee.

If a team defeats a number one, like Texas this year, that win is completely devalued if that number one ends up collapsing later in the season.

But if a team loses to a team that was considered sub-par early in the season, and then that team improves later, climbing the rankings, the win from early in the season is not given its fair weight.

This would allow all the teams to get a chance to come to the party that deserve to be there.

It would allow the teams that have good years in their conferences, such as William and Mary, but play in a conference that either doesn’t get respect or have the ability to schedule the big power teams, a chance to compete in the tournament.

And that would be good for the game.

Change is a good thing.

The world cup is approaching, nearly ninety days away and after watching our A squad verse the Dutch and realize that half our team is hurt i was worried. The U.S. National Team Blog had this update:

Fulham, as you may know by now, has deemed Clint Dempsey’s knee healed enough for the Yank star to travel to Thursday’s UEFA Cup match at Juventus. And AC Milan, according to ESPN producer and friend of the blog Shaw Brown, has deemed Oguchi Onyewu fit enough to start training with the team this week. Espn.com

Apparently Charlie Davies is back in France with his team and hopes to start training again by the end of next week which is pretty amazing since he broke his leg in that car crash about eight months ago. Stuart Holden will probably not be on the roster which does suck, but the fact is after a gloomy winter things are starting to brighten up for our world cup team especially if you compare them to the drama ridden English team who also has still not declared a starting goalie.

All in all I am really starting to get excited because I think we have a great team, maybe not better than ‘02, but definitely a weaker group. If we can continue to get healthy this will hopefully be the best world cup ever.

Welcome back to lostintheboxes for the monday morning wake-up call. If you haven’t been able to tell, the site is starting to find a pattern and most of our content will be brought to you Monday thru Friday. Parlay Pete will be running all week long, but it has not gone unnoticed that most people visit during their work hours. So, without further ado, some things to talk about this fine Monday Morning:

-Washington Wizards forward Josh Howard, recently acquired in the trade with the Dallas Mavericks for Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler, had an interesting tidbit come out about him this week.

The report, written by ESPN on Friday, said that Josh Howard was moved because he was too hung over to play on January 20th. After that game, which the Mavericks at the time said Howard had a stomach illness, Howard did not start again for the Mavericks.

Howard, when asked about the report, told the AP that he was not going to respond to a ‘lie.’

My take: I was not so sure what I thought about Howard, but now, I totally love this guy. Why the Mavericks have to hate on the lifestlye? It’s not so easy being filthy rich with everyone wanting his money. He’s GOT to live the life of a balla in order to protect himself.

If sipping on Courvoisier is a crime, then why isn’t it ilegal? J-Howard, just keep sipping on that gin and juice.

The article by ESPN is here.

-Tony Kornheiser, of Sportstalk 980 and Pardon the Interruption, stirred some controversey with his ESPN employer this past week.

TK, who has been highly critical of Hannah Storm’s (who is an ESPN anchor) wardrobe choices (and who blames TK, she dresses like she has been blindfolded and throws darts at clothes in her closet and puts the pieces together). Kornheiser was quoted as saying:

“Hannah Storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. She’s got on red go-go boots and a catholic school plaid skirt … way too short for somebody in her 40s or maybe early 50s by now.” [She's 47.] “She’s got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body … I know she’s very good, and I’m not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won’t … but Hannah Storm … come on now! Stop! What are you doing

Kornheiser said on Friday’s show that he had called and apologized to Storm, but that he did not expect her to be coming over to dinner any time soon. Kornheiser kept joking that he was going to get suspended this week for his comments and enjoy his vacation on monday.

The Hannah Outfit that caused all the problems

My take: GO TK! She looks like stripper who is not willing to accept the fact that her best days are behind her and she keeps on embarassing herself. I’m not the biggest fan of Sportscenter these days (it feels like it is being programmed by ADD hopped up monkeys). Really, just do sports news! stop with all the ridiculous outfits…would you let Helen Keller answer an iron if she thought it was the phone? NO! so why would you let Storm go out in that outfit.

-Juan Dixon, former star of the University of Maryland, was kicked off his Spanish League team for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.

Dixon, who has been playing for spanish league team Unicaja, was suspended indefintely after the test.

Dixon has said that a second test will show he is clean and told Comcast Sportsnet to look at him, does it look like he has been on steroids?

(the Washington Post Article (click) here.)

'Roid Rager? Hmmm....

My Take: Did his Aunt Shelia swipe the steroids from Baltimore City?  Or did she just buy them with the gift cards that she took? Did she give Juan a new ‘workout’ regimen? It has not been an easy time for the Dixon family.  Maybe Juan should sit down with Bob Costas, admit that he took them, but say that it in NO way helped him.  Yea, I’d believe him too…I mean, every other athlete’s positive steroid test is wrong, why should his be any different.

-Lastly, the Strasburg Era Begins:  Let the hype machine roll.

Just watch this video:

The Nationals are tempering the expectations that are being placed on Strasburg. The Nats will not market Strasburg at all while he is in the minor leagues.  The idea is that the team does not want to add to the already unreasonable expectations, but that doesn’t mean his minor league teams won’t market him.

The Potomac Nationals figure that they will have Strasburg for 5 starts, and have begun to market ticket plans around those 5 starts.  If you want to know more about the plan check out Dan Steinbergs Sports Bog here.

The Man, The Myth, the Legend.

Also, if you want an interesting write-up on the entire Strasburg situation, check this out.

My Take: The very fact that the Nationals were selling Chien-Ming Wang jersey’s before they were selling Strasburg jerseys say’s that the Nationals are serious about this. (I mean, I’m glad they took a flier on Wang, but really? Most of those shirts are going to show up on the backs of kids in Feed The Children ads, along with 2009 Super Bowl Champions Indianapolis Colts t-shirts).

The Nats need to do this because the moon is going to be expected of this kid, and the last thing the Nats can do is put so much pressure on him that he does something stupid (i.e. plays Rockband until he HURTS HIMSELF) and is on the shelf, a la Jordan Zimmermann.

-Quick Note: Redskins Uniform change for 2010 is probably going to happen. Read here for the interesing article.

I love this uniform, guys:

Sweet!

The Golf Writers Association of America has chosen to boycott the Tiger Woods press conference on Friday.

The GWAA has decided that the inability to question Woods at this event is a dent in their credibility, and that the media should be allowed to question Woods.

Vartan Kupellian (how’s that for a name) said, “Simply put, this is all or none,” in regard to attending the press conference with full questioning privileges.

(Check out the article from Golf.com here.)

My take: WAY TO GO! I hope they blow off Tiger and I hope that they ignore him when the tour starts.

This isn’t about Tiger cheating on his wife anymore.  At least not to us, the general public.  Tiger only needs to settle his “transgressions” with Elin in the privacy of his own home (or maybe in her Swedish vacation island. Yes, I said ISLAND…look!).

Elin's Swedish Island. You have to take a ferryboat from Stockholm to reach it. Golf.com

What this is about now is Tiger realizing that he isn’t in control anymore.  The thing that makes me the angriest about this whole situation is how much he has manipulated the general public (and his family) into believing that he was one thing, while, in fact, being a  completely different person.  He was a living and breathing Jekyll and Hyde.

We all knew that Tiger acted like a whiny baby on the golf course.  We knew about the throwing of the clubs, the cursing and the chewing out fans with camera’s.  In Scotland, one of the tee-box caddies said that Tiger cursed like a sailor with kids around the two days he was hacking it up at Royal Turnberry.

It’s been Tiger’s world and we were all just invited.

And then we were lied too.

Now, Tiger wants to control it again.  He wants to be the one to tell us what we can know.  He wants to dictate what information we can have.  He wants to dictate the timing and delivery of the message.  I mean, he even is having this press conference at PGA Headquarters!

Come on PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem, DON’T condone this.  Tell Tiger your glad he is ready to talk, but don’t sit there and enable him to use the PGA as the vehicle for his message.  By letting him use the PGA headquarters, it almost makes it seem that the PGA is implicitly supporting Tiger’s behavior.

The PGA should tell Tiger they are happy to see him, but he has to pay for his own facility to have this ‘event’ and pay his way out of his own mess.

Instead, this feels like Tiger is just re-launching himself.  Introducing the new, improved Tiger 2010 model.  He wants us to pretend it has never happened and just go away.

Tiger, EVEN MARK MCGWIRE ANSWERED QUESTIONS!

McGwire: "I swear it didn't help hit those homeruns, do you believe me now?"

Tiger, until you are ready to be a man and answer questions from the public you lied too, then the should PGA talk about its stand-up golfers and not this dope.

The two week long Lifetime Special continues on, and to what should be no one’s surprise, beat American Idol last night in the ratings.

According to this tvbythenumbers.com article, American Idol lost a half-hour time slot to another program for the first time since 2004!

That is an unbelievable run for any program, but it is still hard to tell whether Idol is just slowing down, or the Olympics is really ‘gripping’ America. The numbers do speak for themselves as the Lifetime Special drew more than double the ratings share that Idol did.

This also might have to do with this guy:

Shaun White--The Flying Tomato

With the Olympics one true bonified star on television last night, even the casual sports fan might have been interested in checking out what he can do on the half pipe.

The other factor might be the lost chemistry on Idol between Paula and Simon. I think Fox is showing a little to much hubris believing that they can just plug in new personalities and just keep the show rolling.

Still, on the bright side for us and Idol, the Special will be over next week.

Before, I get into the “drama” of last night, check out this funny story and video that came up yesterday between Mike Milbury and Jeremy Roenick while discussing Alex Ovechkin. Milbury is such a tool. Check out the story on Dan Steinberg’s Sports Bog, my favorite Washingtonpost.com feature.

The winter Olympics had a “high point” of drama last night during the Men’s short program figure skating competition.

The Men’s Short Program Figure Skating Conversation?

Let that roll around on your tongue a bit.

The Winter Olympics are a complete joke. They have become nothing more than a two-week Lifetime Network special.

Let’s be honest, the only people who are watching this crap are middle-aged women. What guy is sitting down and getting pumped rooting for this guy:

Evan Lysacek, but really no one cares.

The Winter Olympics pumps dancing on ice down our throats because they KNOW that the casual sports fan isn’t watching it. They know who they’re demographic is and they have no problems with it.

Have you ever paid attention to the ads that run during these events. They show a ton of ads for Dove, dishwashing detergent and Vans. Not the shoes, I mean minivans.

MINIVANS PEOPLE!

The marketing is tailored to a 26-40 women demo, and that is fine, but don’t make me feel like I should care if this dope Lysacek wins anything.

The Olympics in Vancouver thus far have been a smash success for NBC in the ratings. According to tvbythenumbers.com, the Winter Olympics are up 25% this year compared to the 2006 games in Torino. Last night, American Idol was the only show that beat the Olympics, and it wasn’t by much. Click here for the tvbythenumbers.com story.

Idol barely beating the Olympics? That is a heavy weight of a tv show and it barely pulled off the victory.

Guess who watches Idol? Middle-aged women. No wonder the ratings were so close.

If the winter olympics really cared about the real sports fan, then NBC wouldn’t be putting the hockey games on CNBC and put the ice dancing and prancing on NBC prime time. Click here for the hockey broadcast debacle, as reported by The Sporting News.

My point: Real Sports fans, go into your hole and wait two weeks, it’s almost over.

In the spirit of all the NFL Mock Drafts going around, I decided to set up an ESPN Fantasy Draft, where the talent pool is all your favorite espn personalities, both past and present

First Overall

Jack Edwards, anchor/Bruins Play-By-Play Commentator

Jack Edwards, former ESPN personality, humanitarian

Why Jack Edwards?

Why NOT Jack Edwards.

This man single handidly help bring popularity to sports on ESPN that were not nearly as popular on the American sports landscape as they are today.

Soccer, anyone?

That was Jack Edwards making the call in the 2002 World Cup when the United States made a thrilling run to the elite 8 of the soccer world.

What voice do you remember ringing in your ears during the hockey broadcasts of ESPN yore? Why Jack Edwards again.

And, do not forget his brilliant work calling baseball games throughout the 1990’s.

All in all, Jack Edwards was a man among boys. Don’t forget, I haven’t even mentioned the hair.

Edward’s coif of hair is to a sports anchor as running a good 40-time is to a wide reciever, and this man did not dissapoint (or as I call it, “pull a Warrick”).

Prowess, command (of the english language), control and spirit. That is why Jack Edwards goes #1.

Second Pick

Kenny Mayne, Humorist and all around great-guy

The Mayne Event

Kenny Mayne was the funniest person on Sportscenter, until ABC starting milking it and the jokes began to become contrived.

The best line ever: “That is his 62 homerun, not in one game, that would be a record.”

Dry wit and dead pan timing would be an asset to any sports team struggling to find its voice.

Mayne will provide an instant spark and is the exact type of player you look for at #2.

Third Pick

Charlie Steiner, Super Orator and Great Beard

The Stein Line, Son

Part of the BEST sportscenter commercial EVER.

Fourth Pick

Barry Melrose, Hair-do of the Century

Many have tried, but few have succeeded at copying this Mullet.

The man.

The myth.

The mullet.

That say’s it all about the most brilliant hockey commentator on ESPN this side of Buccicross.

Melrose haristyles would inspire many knock-offs (see below), but would never be duplicated.

Barry's Impact on the league is undeniable

Melrose might not have had so much luck with the Lightning, but my theory is that the team threw their games because they missed his witty and pithy commentary.

Its Melrose Place, and we are all watching, and that is exactly what you want in a 4th pick.

Fifth Pick

Peter Gammons, Wunderkind

This man slow's down for no one

Whoever is picking here is thrilled to get this multi-faceted talent.  The only reason for his fall is his age, but he has shown time and again that health concerns cannot keep this man down from covering baseball and covering it better than 99% of the rest of the world.  There is a reason that this guy is in Cooperstown, and this is a huge steal at 5.

Sixth Pick

Karl Ravech, Great Barbeque Guest

This photo says it all

He coined one of my favorite lines ever, “put your tray tables in the upright position, because this ball is ready for take-off.”  He turned Baseball Tonight into an art form and made me watch every night.  He is a great guy.

And with the skills to save babies from burning buildings, while talking classical art, Karl Ravech would be a versatile asset to any team.

Seventh Pick

Rich Eisen, Funny Man, Funny Legend

The Best Receeding Hairline in Sports

This guy was funny.  That’s all I really remember about him, but I mean humor can go a long way in the television biz.  It’s why he was snapped up by the NFL Network when it was launched.  A steal this low in the draft.  Eisen also was the inspiration for the “Ray” Ghostbusters Action Figure.

Rich Eisen? No, it's Ray Stanz

Eighth Pick

Sage Steele, Her brother played for the Ravens

This pick will be like the Raiders popping Darius Heyward-Bey 7th, but hear me out.  Sage Steele was on Comcast Sportsnet in the DC area long before her ESPN career, and I really liked her work.  They have yet been able to replace her on CSN, which has shown her value to the team.  She would be an asset to any team that get’s her.

Ninth Pick

Tim Kurkijan , the best smarted man in the room. Period.

Tim Kurkijan. There is little to be said about this man that hasn’t been said before.  Any team that get’s him will get a tireless worker and a super-intelligent player.  What he lacks in physical attributes, he will quickly make up in the film room.  He made looking up information that no one cares about an artform.  That is why he goes in the top 10.

Tenth Pick

Harold Reynolds, The best PLAYA on the team

Reynolds isn’t a player, he just likes to crush a lot.  This guy knows how to swipe more than bases.  Even after getting canned by ESPN on sexual harrasment allegations, he sweet talked his way onto the MLB Network.  Now, that’s versatility that no team could pass up.