80% Healthy?!

Athletes recovering from injury are often self-proclaimed (or proclaimed by trainers or coaches) as X% healthy. What exactly does that mean?

In ESPN’s day two coverage of the NFL draft, Sao Paolantonio reported that a member of the Dolphins organization proclaimed Ted Ginn as 75-80%, but then said he would be unable to participate in next week’s spring practice, and would likely wear an ankle-protecting boot for at least 6 more weeks.

So, what’s 0%?...dead? Or maybe being dead can get as high as a 40%, so long as your bones and muscles are still intact, reserving a 0% for someone who is dead, cremated, sprinkled overboard across the Pacific, and ingested by plankton?

Seriously, you’re not 80% healthy (regarding one’s ability to play professional football), if you can’t play football!

In my opinion, an athlete whose injury prevents him from being able to play should be rated as 0% (or simply “injured”), and a 100% healthy rating should be given to someone who is unaffected by injury.

I’m reminded of Tom Barnsten’s infamous 8 out of 10 rating of The Incredible Hulk movie, which makes me assume that his scale would reserve a 0 out of 10 rating for burning in the fires of Hell for eternity.

I'm Already Losing Interest

Isn't part of playing on the road the requirement to stay in hotels, practice at the opponent's facility, and be away from home? The NBA playoffs are already feeling drug out after there were three days between the first two games of the Bulls-Heat first-round series. After Saturday's afternoon game the Heat hopped a plane to fly back to Miami--because they wanted to practice at their own facility and sleep in their own beds--and returned Tuesday in time for Game 2 in Chicago. Ridiculous. The NBA claims they need at least a couple days between games when they relocate cities so this situation has no excuse (as if extending the first round to best of seven wasn't bad enough). And they wonder why people gradually stop caring about the NBA playoffs...

(This kind of weak-ass schedule just reinforces my growing belief that baseball truly is a superior sport.)

MLB Predictions

(It may be a couple weeks late, but here are my final standing predictions as decided before the season started.)

AL East
1. Yankees--lineup is simply too solid to bet against.
2. Red Sox--pitching will carry them while Dice-K won't be best starter
3. Blue Jays--the dark horse I always pull for in this division has to settle for 3rd
4. Devil Rays--as Lou Brown would say, "there may be a couple future all-stars in there"
5. Orioles--this team needs to make a move or two to even be legit

AL Central
1. White Sox--rockstar rotation returns to form after off year while A.J. and Co. find a way to return to playoffs
2. Indians--after two straight years of barely missing the cut they miss it again and lose WC to Boston
3. Twins--barely edge Detroit because of Santana's 20+ wins...again,
4. Tigers--a bold pick to bet against young Tigers, I just don't see a repeat season
5. Royals--sadly enough, stuck in cellar again because Central is just too damn good

AL West
1. Angels--they win division only because someone has to
2. Athletics--they place second in the division only because someone has to
3. Rangers--Sammy "Corky" Sosa gets to 600 as highlight of season
4. Mariners--I say good riddance to Jeff Weaver as he struggles without the magic touch of Dave Duncan

NL East
1. Mets--hate to say it, but a new powerhouse in National League will emerge with Reyes/Beltran putting up MVP numbers
2. Braves--will come in a very close second as Braves bounce back to claim WC
3. Phillies--Ryan Howard proves to be a fluke (a la Adrien Beltre) as Chase Utley doesn't live up to guady contract
4. Marlins--very young team will show improvement but not make playoffs for another year or two
5. Nationals--see Orioles above

NL Central
1. Cardinals--defending champs' shaky pitching backed by lineup of usual suspects while Pujols does business as always
2. Brewers--pitching rotation rebounds from injury, Brew Crew youngsters mature, and Italian Sausage wins race
3. Cubs--good offseason moves (Lilly+Floyd) only take Cubbies so far if franchise hopes still hang on two lost causes (Wood+Prior)
4. Reds--Griffey has good year but Arroyo and Harang remain question marks
5. Pirates--Bucs avoid cellar again...barely
6. Astros--quite a load placed on Oswalt's shoulders as aging team waits out Biggio's 3000th hit and Clemens' decision (to sign elsewhere)

NL West
1. Dodgers--this rotation will make claim as best in baseball even without Maddux
2. Diamondbacks--return of Randy Johnson results in more wins
3. Padres--anyone think Maddux will retire a Pad?
4. Rockies--the Blue Jays of the National League, a team I always cheer on for some odd reason
5. Giants--lost Schmidt, gave all their money to Zito, and franchise still revolves around Barroid Bonds--could be a long season for bay area fans

And my go-out-on-a-limb awards:

AL MVP: Jim Thome--in my opinion, one of the great hitters in the game today, will take ChiSox back to ALCS
NL MVP: Carlos Beltran--will become more consistant and thrive off having good hitters around him
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana--OK, not really going out on a limb, but until he shows otherwise, he may be the best pitcher in baseball
NL Cy Young: Roy Oswalt--repeats last year's good stats even on last place team and gets nod this year (apologies to my man, Carpenter)
AL Comeback Player of Year: Sammy Sosa--how's this for a ridiculous pick?
NL Comeback Player of Year: Ben Sheets--falls short of Cy Young but puts together solid/complete season

Damn, It Feels Good to be a Cyclone

After the Big Dance ended, Fox Sports released its newest collegiate basketball+football rankings. I’ve listed their rankings below, which is a ranking of a school’s combination of basketball and football programs. The rank in ( ) is last year's rank. The article can be found at http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/6585188 and additionally gives their rationale for the top 25 teams.

Before I get to the list, let me just point out a few quick notes about our Cyclones:

- Of the 65 BCS Conference teams, only 3 rank worse than ISU
Baylor
Northwestern
Colorado
- Of all 119 teams, only 8 dropped from last year farther than ISU
UConn
NC State
Miami OH
Northwestern
UAB
UTEP
Colorado
LA Tech
- Finally, just take a look at some of the schools ranked higher than ISU:
29. Hawaii
49. Akron
55. Air Force
62. Tulsa
70. San Diego State
71. Fresno State
73. Toledo
75. Central Michigan
76. Western Michigan
82. Kent State (maybe I'm just ignorant, but the ONLY thing I know of Kent State is the 70's war protest/massacre)


So, here’s the list:

1. Florida (7)
2. Ohio State (2)
3. Wisconsin (8)
4. Louisville (20)
5. Texas A&M (35)
6. USC (27)
7. Texas (1)
8. BYU (50)
9. Notre Dame (22)
10. UCLA (4)
11. Virginia Tech (41)
12. Tennessee (25)
13. Maryland (44)
14. Boston College (6)
15. Kentucky (54)
16. Georgia Tech (71)
17. Oregon (53)
18. Arkansas (57)
19. Texas Tech (58)
20. Nevada (9)
21. Purdue (85)
22. West Virginia (5)
23. Michigan (16)
24. Clemson (21)
25. Oklahoma State (73)
26. Kansas (17)27. LSU (3)
28. Boise State (80)
29. Hawaii (78)30. Pittsburgh (26)
31. Washington State (93)
32. Oklahoma (10)
33. Wake Forest (75)
34. North Carolina (18)
35. Arizona (46)
36. Auburn (32)
37. Kansas State (66)
38. Alabama (12)
56. Indiana (56)
40. Virginia (33)
41. Georgia (31)
42. Michigan State (29)
43. Cal (14)
44. Florida State (19)
45. Nebraska (42)
46. Missouri (65)
47. Rutgers (43)
48. South Carolina (30)
49. Akron (36)
50. Houston (49)
51. Iowa (11)
52. Memphis (13)
53. UNLV (84)
54. Vanderbilt (60)
55. Air Force (64)
56. Illinois (51)
57. Syracuse (63)
58. Southern Miss (102)
59. Washington (55)
60. Duke (52)
61. Ohio (83)
62. Tulsa (76)
63. Oregon State (92)
64. Penn State (28)
65. TCU (98)
66. Miami (Fla.) (24)
67. South Florida (99)
68. Ole Miss (94)
69. Cincinnati (59)
70. San Diego State (61)
71. Fresno State (62)
72. Mississippi State (82)
73. Toledo (72)
74. UConn (23)
75. Central Michigan (114)
76. Western Michigan (95)
77. Arizona State (70)
78. NC State (15)
79. New Mexico State (91)
80. Minnesota (39)
81. Stanford (67)
82. Kent State (79)
83. Utah (77)
84. Iowa State (40)
85. Navy (108)
86. Utah State (69)
87. Middle Tennessee (89)
88. UCF (87)
89. Troy (110)
90. Rice (105)
91. San Jose State (116)
92. North Texas (104)
93. Wyoming (97)
94. New Mexico (74)
95. Colorado State (81)
96. Florida Atlantic (106)
97. Southern Methodist (109)
98. Miami (Ohio) (48)
99. Baylor (90)
100. Northwestern (37)
101. UL-Monroe (112)
102. UAB (47)
103. Arkansas State (101)
104. Tulane (111)
105. Marshall (103)
106. UTEP (38)
107. Colorado (34)
108. East Carolina (113)
109. Northern Illinois (68)
110. Temple (86)
111. UL-Lafayette (88)
112. Louisiana Tech (45)
113. Ball State (107)
114. Army (118)
115. Bowling Green (100)
116. Buffalo (96)
117. Idaho (119)
118. Eastern Michigan (117)
119. Florida International (115)

Maybe we should re-focus on baseball.

Oh Well, Better Luck Next Year...

Pardon the absence from the blogosphere, but I've been in Paris, France for two months with limited internet connectivity and even less awareness of the American sporting world. (Needless to say, the BBC doesn't show NCAA highlights.) Over that span I've compiled a list of posts to touch on but most are outdated and of little interest.
So I'll begin with the final standings from the "ISU FH Gulk!" NCAA Tourney Challenge and the individual ESPN percentiles. Kudos to Sport for a second consecutive victory. Kudos to Krull for picking the champ. Kudos to Seth for losing to 97.4 percent of the submitted brackets. (Is it not obvious Seth and I have been out-of-country?)

1) Port (Macaulay Gulkin) 80.0
2) Top Seeds 72.1
3) Hertel (Loosen Up Your Buttocks) 69.3
4) Zenisek (It's March Madness Baby!) 67.9
5) Krull (Brokeback Bracket) 63.5
6) Fischer (J. Voss & the SoHos) 58.9
7) Williams (Ka-Diss Mary Claire) 14.4
8) Guiter (No Means Yes) 9.8
9) Alberty (The Foreign Devil) 2.6

Baseball Begins for 2007

Well the season is well underway with many headlines making news already.

Will Bonds catch Aaron?
(I say not this year)

Is Dice-K as good as the hype?
(Only time will tell)

How good is the AL Central?
(Best in the league in a long time)

What the heck is Roger Clemens going to do?
(Come back when he feels like it)

I expect to get some predictions done here this weekend while I'm home and get back on the blogging trail here soon.

In the meantime - Go South Side!

March Madness Sugestions

The NCAA Men’s BBall Tourney is often considered one of, if not the greatest sporting event. Other contenders I would offer are: The World Cup, The Rider Cup (golf match up between USA and Europe), and any game of college football.

Between this year and last, I’ve compiled a list of ways to make March Madness even better (who am I kidding…I really just want to gripe).

Here’s what I came up with (in a countdown style):

#10a: 35 Second Shot Clock
35 seconds is just too long. 24 seconds is just too short. For god’s sake, let’s just make it 30 seconds. It’s not like 30 seconds is some obscure measure of time.

Along with this, I also like the 8 seconds backcourt violation (as opposed to 10). I don’t think I saw a game this year or last when a team was called for a backcourt time violation. And while I’m ranting, shouldn’t this backcourt violation be “timed” by the clock, rather than some ref who’s walking to one tempo, watching the ball bounce at another tempo, and is then expected to keep perfect seconds with his hand. It would be easy to have a clock and buzzer for this infraction – similar to the shot clock (or even integrated into the shot clock).

#10b: Get the Coaches Off the Court
If any part of the coach’s shoe touches the inbounds line, automatic T! This gripe actually applies to accurate officiating of all “lesser” infractions, including: a player stepping on the line when guarding the inbounds pass, stepping in the lane before ball leaves the free-throw shooter’s hands, and of course, traveling. These violations are called in elementary school…so why aren’t they called in college?

#9: The Play-in-Game
Just try to remember as many play-in-game participants as you can. Now try to remember the losers of this game.

Even if a play-in-game winner went on to beat a no.1 seed, it would do more harm than good, because the one guy who picked the perfect bracket would have had to pick “TBD” to win! How is that legit?! You don’t even know who it is you’re picking to win.

By the way, having a #10a and #10b was a joke to illustrate how stupid the play in game is.

#8: Commercials
For the most part, the commercials are tolerable…but only for the first 5 showings. CBS and her advertising affiliates need to remember that the people who watch these games typically watch a lot of them, and airing the same commercial to the same people in the double-digit qtys is probably more likely to result in product boycotts than a successful advertising campaign.

Here’s a simple rule for commercial creators: don’t air your commercial until you’ve watched it 10 times on full volume while enduring a massive hang-over.

#7: Whining about the 66th – 70th Teams that Didn’t Make the Tourney
Here’s another simple rule: before making a claim that some team was neglected by the selection committee, you must list ALL of the teams that this “deserving” team lost to.

This rule also applies to any head coach before making a statement about how stunned and disappointed he is and how he must go tell his poor players that “life just isn’t fair.” Give me a break! If you wanted to get in that bad, then you shouldn’t have lost to all of those terrible opponents! Even with a shitty season, almost all teams at least have a chance to suck it up and win 3 or 4 straight games and win their conference tourney for an automatic bid. If you can’t even do that, then get the “f” off my TV!

And ESPN (especially Dickey V) just fuel this nonsense every year! After the bracket is released on Selection Sunday, there are 32 match-ups that they could be promoting, predicting, and giving insight too…which is 20 times more interesting than hearing about some poor team that didn’t make it. So why do they spend 60% of Bracketology whining about some poor small school that will never get its chance to go and get demolished in the first round?

#6: Letting a Shot’s Outcome Determine a Foul
Whether or not a player fouls another has nothing to do with whether or not the ball goes in the basket! So why do refs consistently wait until it’s clear that the ball won’t go in before calling a foul? It is absurd. It’s always been absurd. It will always be absurd.

#5 CBS – No Sister Network(s)
ABC has ABC, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN U, and ESPN Classic.
FOX has FOX, FSN, and FX
NBC has NBC, USA
CBS has CBS.

If any of the other broadcasters aired the tourney, we’d either see double, triple, or all of the games.

#4 Replay monitor
OK, I’ve had enough of this…and I’m not alone here. Seeing the large asses of 3 refs as they gather around an I-pod sized monitor with stopwatches trying to determine whether the ball went out of bounds with 3.3, 3.2, 3.1, or 1.2 seconds is outrageous. There was a game this year when they didn’t even give the ball to the right team – the replay showed that the ball went off of the other guy! But there they are, taking 6 minutes of real time to try to accurately determine how much time should be “fairly” put back on the clock before they give the wrong team one more chance to win.

#3 Show All Replays of All Fouls!
Yet another simple rule: If a foul was called and the action has stopped, show the replay.

This especially applies to shooting fouls. When a player is on the line, I have next to no interest to watch him wait for the ball, watch the ref tell the players “2 shots”, watch the coach pace, watch the players as they get into position outside the lane, or watch players check into the game for other players. For the love of St. Peter, just show the replay of the foul. There’s more than enough time to do it, and it’s not like we’d be missing real high octane action!

And when the replay is shown, I would like (just once) a commentator to wait until the replay is actually shown before telling us what the replay shows. Commentators always jump the gun on making their decision to support the ref’s call. As a replay is being shown, they will be saying how it was a good call, even though the replay clearly shows that it wasn’t! If they would just wait and watch the replay without pre-judgment that the ref was right, they would dramatically reduce their dumbassness.

#2 Too Many Time-Outs
Each team should have it’s qty of timeouts reduced by half (at least). Not only would this make close games more bearable to watch, but it would reward well-coached teams that actually prepare in advance for end-of-game situations.

#1 No Game Clock – Play to 80
Here’s what I propose:

· First team to reach 80 wins. You must win by 3.
· Automatic long TV timeouts would be scheduled for when the first team reaches 20, 40, 60 and 80 points…with the “40 point break” being equivalent to halftime.
· The shot clock still exists (30 seconds as mentioned above).
· Each team would still get a certain number of timeouts (probably 2 per team per half). Each timeout would be a long, TV timeout.
· If a team reaches 80 but has not won by 3, then (after the automatic TV timeout has taken effect) all remaining timeouts would be lost. Therefore, the 80+ action is completely timeout free.

For the most part, the game wouldn’t really be different. Teams are still equally motivated to play good offense, defense, shoot good shots, commit few turnovers, rebound, etc. The difference comes during end of game situations. This is how the end of games would be different:
1. No team is ever truly out of the game until it’s over. Teams would make furious comebacks, but rather than being fueled by the other team’s missed free-throws, comebacks must be fueled by furious defense.
2. The end of games would be fantastic. There are bound to be close games that end in back and forth epics of neither team being able to shake the other. If you’ve played ping pong before, you probably remember at least some games that went back and forth at the end.
3. No game would ever come down to who has the ball with less than 35 seconds left on the clock…which really just comes down to random, coincidental timing. This new system would be a much fairer and more entertaining.

Well, that’s it for my suggestions. And if you were curious…YES, my gripes do stem from bitterness of correctly picking only 2 of the Elite 8 and getting blanked on my Final 4 picks!

Re: Star Treatment and "Dumb Rules"

I have NEVER seen such a blatant display of star treatment as I did in the Tennessee – Ohio State sweet 16 match-up.

With about 2 minutes left in the game, Greg Oden got cut on his chin and blood started noticeably dripping onto his white jersey. The officials then stopped the action and forced him to the sideline, presumably to stop the bleeding and change his jersey.

What happens next blew me away: He stood in front of his bench for about 3 seconds, and proceeded to calmly walk back onto the court. The scorers table buzzed him in, and the officials didn’t say a word. He didn’t change his jersey nor stop the bleeding. In fact, during all remaining timeouts during the final 2 minutes (roughly 27 of them), he went straight to the trainers who continued to clean his wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. New blood spots continued to appear throughout the game.

It is impossible to argue that the refs didn’t consciously ignore the rules to aid a star player in a big game. It’s one thing to not make a call during the final seconds of utter chaos…but this was a conscious decision made during a dead ball.

Maybe this is also a dumb rule, but the final 2 minutes of a sweet 16 game is NOT the time to make a stand against it.

Ironically, this year before the tourney, the officials announced that they would enforce the rules to the letter of the law…

Re: Best of the NBA

Agreed on the all-star commentating team.

While I have washed my hand since it’s glorious shaking of Sager’s, the moment will live forever in my heart – me telling him I’m his biggest fan, and him uttering “Jesus! How do these people find me!?”

Wouldn't Sager make the perfect Halloween costume! Easy, not too attention-grabbing, and absolutely hilarious to those who get it.

ISU All-Century Team

Iowa State University is providing the public the privelage of determining the best Cyclone basketball players of the past century. Go here to vote. Thanks to Sport for the tip (and he'd tell you to be sure to check Paul Shirley's name).


In other news, ISU is leading the ESPN School Spirit national poll. I consider it just acknowledgement to be one of the 22 schools available and am glad to see Hilton Coliseum recognized as one of the toughest arenas in college hoops.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up...

Minnesota High School wrestling is being put on hold after 24 wrestlers contracted a type of herpes. No, this isn't taken from The Onion sports page. Already regarded by some as being a bit too homosexual of a sport for their taste, this can't help but add fuel to the wise-cracking fire. Here at "Just A Bit Outside" we value the great sport of wrestling and agree there is absolutely nothing gay about a bunch of dudes giving each other herpes. How'd I guess the original carrier was a Corn Husker?

More NBA Crackdowns

In its quest to purify the league, NBA officials are considering instituting penalties for defensive "flops." Although I agree with it on principal because flopping is rather unprofessional and it pains me to see poor defense (and poor acting) rewarded when nothing illegal was done, I would rather see the referees focus more on the other kind of flop. I get much more aggravated watching guys pump fake their opponent into the air and then attemp to draw a foul in order to get to the free-throw line. I'm not talking about down low on the blocks, or if one player jumps into another, but rather when a player is about to shoot a perimeter shot and the defender jumps straight up into the air to the side of the shooter in an effort to contest the shot but would clearly avoid contact and the shooter knowingly leans into the defender to make it appear like a foul. It drives me crazy to see it rewarded with a whistle because the offender created the contact.

For instance, look at Sunday night's game between the Lakers and Spurs. It was a two-point game and Kobe Bryant took the desperation shot at the buzzer. Kobe, being a master at the crime detailed above, put up the jump-shot and on his way down flailed his arms uncontrollably, absolutely clocking Manu Ginobili right in the face. Kobe was suspended for one game because it is NBA policy that "striking a player above the shoulders is an automatic one-game suspension." Of course Kobe is outraged and the Tuesday night NBA Courtside crew can't believe it because "he didn't intend to hit him in the face." Noone refutes that because Manu isn't even in Kobe's line of sight, but he DID intend to recklessly swing his arms. I don't think it was malicious and I don't think he even planned on doing it. I honestly think it was out of habit. But don't take my word for it. I encourage you to view the play for yourself and tell me whether or not it was a natural movement. You will clearly see him unnaturally swing his arm after he realized the shot wasn't going to go in. And THAT's the problem with offensive flopping.

Futhermore, why punish defensive flopping? Just don't call it! Every time you see a play let go in which a player flops there is a guaranteed defensive breakdown along with an offensive player immediately wide open. I'd bet about 80% of non-called defensive flops result in points for the offense. An offensive flop does the opposite, it gives the culprit points (usually at the free-throw line).

The solution? Just swallow your whistle and let 'em play. On second thought, if you stopped calling all flops it would actually force them to play.

The Big XII-Pac 10 Challenge

Although long overdue, kudos for the Big XII and Pac 10 for finally getting this idea in motion. After annually keeping tabs on the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, I've thought for a long time the Big XII should consider approaching a conference to set up a similar matchup. I think it makes non-conference play more exciting and gives more opportunities for impressive wins on an NCAA Tournament resume. If anything, the Big Ten-ACC currently gets quite a bit of national exposure and it would be good for Big XII basketball. I also like the pick of hooking up with the Pac 10. The SEC might have been a bit more high profile, but this year the Pac 10 is arguably the best in basketball and I like the idea of one midwest conference taking on the east coast while the other midwest conference battles the west. Whereas the Big Ten has never beaten the ACC in the challenge, I think our two conferences are more evenly matched and it would be interesting. (This could also give us bragging rights over the Big Ten if we won our challenge.) Tune in next year.

The Mid-Winter Classic

I went online yesterday to see when NBA all-star voting ended (because I like to cast my ballot as close to the event as possible) and was shocked to see it already had days ago. I realize they need some preparation time, but an entire month in advance? A lot can happen in the span of a month. (Not to mention the ballots were opened three months in advance on Nov. 14th!)
Now, we've all expressed our disgust with ridiculous fan voting in the past, but I think this takes the cake: how the f *** could Shaquille O'Neal be starting?!?! As of the voting deadline, he had played in four games this season. Four. And he didn't even play well--his box score stats averaged per game:

14, 6.75, 1.25, 0.00, 1.00, 3.5 (pts, reb, ast, stl, blk, t.o.'s)

He could have played like that all year long and isn't near all-star worthy, let alone starting. Four f'ing games. I don't believe it.

On the other hand, it was great to see both Chris Bosh and Gilbert Arenas selected by the fans. I voted for Bosh last year because I think he is truly one of the most underrated guys in the league. Get some talent around him in Toronto and they will be on the rise. As for Gilbert, he's putting up ridiculous point totals while coming through in the clutch. The Wiz have the best record in the East and it's all owed to Agent 0.

In the West it is hard to see an all-star five-man team without Dirk or Steve Nash, let alone without both. The conference is so forward heavy, I could see Dirk getting barely edged out, but Nash should be in ahead of Tracy McGrady. The Suns have the best record in the league and Nash is playing towards a third consecutive MVP, whereas McGrady is putting up his usual big numbers but this season has been more successful because Yao has elevated his game. Between Duncan, Garnett, and Dirk, who do you leave out? I'd have to go with Duncan because he really hasn't been as dominant this year. Tough call, though.

Well, my ballot might not have been allowed to cancel out one injustice submitted by Mr. Fan-of-Big-Names, but here it is anyways.

Eastern Conference:

PG: Gilbert Arenas: solid scorer with much to prove.

SG: Dwayne Wade: Sub-.500 record, but he's about all they got right now.

SF: LeBron James: like Wade, not a lot of help, but team still thriving.

PF: Chris Bosh: a poor man's Kevin Garnett.

C: Dwight Howard: boards like an animal and has young Magic in playoffs.

Western Conference

PG: Steve Nash: and to think the Suns almost didn't sign him because of his age.

SG: Kobe Bryant: noone expected the Baby Lakers to look this good and he can still take over games by himself.

SF: Dirk Nowitzki: would have recieved my vote for MVP last year and, as of now, would get it this year.

PF: Kevin Garnett: leading the league in rebounds for the fourth year in a row.

C: Marcus Camby: with absence of Ben Wallace, time to reward hardnosed defense.

*Reserves will come at a later date...

Non-Coast Bias

Throughout the entire college football season you hear the California sportswriters praise USC. Throughout the entire baseball season you hear the northeasterners speculate about the nations love of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Everyone knows both West Coast and East Coast biases exist, but while they are preoccupied battling eachother, the Midwest has flown in under the radar and proven its stake as a dominant player in the sporting world.
I was prompted to write this post after seeing time and time again Around The Horn contestant Jay Mariotti harrassed every time he brings up his city of Chicago, the most recent being a reference to Michael Jordan. Yet Bill Plaschke and J.A. Adante voice their love of USC and think the NBA revolves around the Lakers, Bob Ryan considers Boston the hotspot of sports, and Tim Cowlishaw claims loyalty to about any team south of the 40-degree lattitude line-- all usually going without criticism of regional favoritism. Any mention of Chicago and the other writers let out groans as Reali often mutes Jay. I think he has the right to claim some midwest superiority; let's evaluate:

-The current Superbowl matchup is between Chicago and Indianapolis. People wrote off Peyton because he isn't clutch. People wrote off the Bears because they had no offense. ESPN is wondering if Rex Grossman is the worst quarterback in Superbowl history. Yet, both teams just keep on winning.

-Five of the last six World Series participants were from the two Central Divisions with the past two winners (White Sox and Cardinals) coming from the heart of the midwest. Like the Bears, St. Louis was given the least chance to win it all and were supposed to get swept by the mighty Mets. The ChiSox went 11-1 in the postseason--that's dominance.

-As of today, four of the six teams in the Eastern Conference with winning records are in the Central Division. (And this is after Milwaukee hit a losing streak after its two best players were injured.) The Bulls, Pistons, and Cavs are expected to make title runs in June. I think the east coast's representation in the NBA might be the most pitiful in sports.

-The Missouri Valley Conference is quickly becoming regarded as the seventh "major" conference in NCAA basketball.

Now, I'm not saying the Midwest is the greatest region in sports, nor am I saying it will stay like this. All I'm saying is it would be nice to see a little recognition for its recent accomplishments. I enjoy seeing our teams represent well, especially with the Big Ten and Big XII down this year. However, the east coast still owns the NCAA Tourney (last six champs) and the West is still the power conference in the NBA, but at least the little guys from the land-locked "heart" of the country still have a surprise or two. Go ahead, Jay, let 'em boo you and fight over ownership of the free world...we'll just keep on winning.

Boo-Yah! Stuart, You Suck!

Lately I've been watching Stump the Schwab, the sports-based trivia game show, on a regular basis. It is a very educational show with some amazing displays of knowledge. However, it gets tougher to watch almost daily due to Stuart Scott and his horrible hosting job. He makes horrible jokes, feeds Schwabs ego to ridiculous proportions, and tries his damnest to act/talk black. Any one who reads ESPN.com regularly can tell you that Scoop Jackson plays the role of the "token angry black guy" who thinks everything is a racial issue, and I'm wondering why he hasn't gone up to Stuart and bitchslapped him and told him to knock that shit off. It sounds completely unnatural and downright embarrassing. He's also tried to patent the expression "boo-yah!" and exploding fist bump. (Yesterday during the second round, after a contestant scored, Stuart tried to be a comedic smart ass by asking him if he could add 4 and 11 together, and his sarcastic response was, "I went to college, Stu." Then, I guess because Stu thought the guy was trying to upstage him, said, in all seriousness, "So did I, except I make a paycheck with lots and lots of zeroes on it", making for possibly the most unwarranted and awkward game show moment I've ever seen.) Searching on the internet for "Stump the Schwab" resulted in an amazing number of blogs and websites really laying into him, so I know I'm not the only one. The game show aside, he says the same shit during Sportscenter and I don't know how he's lasted this long. If ESPN gets rid of excellent baseball analyst Harold Reynolds for a minor sexual harrassment accusation, surely they should drop Stuart on grounds he's a dumbass.

Star Treatment and "Dumb Rules"

I was disappointed last night when NBA on TNT featured Charles Barkley alongside Marv Albert as the colorman tagteam for the riveting Kings-Lakers game. I usually listen to what Charles has to say, as he sometimes gives a unique perspective and isn't afraid to say it as it is, but last night I got a bit fed up. In the past I've heard him complain about referees holding every player to the same standards because he is a true believer of giving superstars preferential treatment (just like he received during his playing days). The play in question:

The Kings go up by four after a big fourth quarter rally of good defense and solid pick-and-rolls. After the Lakers hit a quick three, Sacto tries to inbound the ball, specifically to Kevin Martin who is a 91% free-throw shooter this season. Kobe knows this, so to prevent Martin from getting the ball he wraps him up from behind with both arms blatently across his chest and holds him back. Dick Bavetta calls a dead ball foul which results in one free-throw plus the ball.

Of course this sends Kobe into a frenzy, but it was Barkley who just couldn't believe that foul was called. He went on about how out of line Bavetta was for calling a dead ball foul, especially on Mr. Kobe Bryant. After literally a couple minutes of Barkley complaining that the refs should have let the play go and then just call an ordinary two-shot foul like LA wanted and how it reminded him of college basketball when he hates seeing refs call an intentional foul, Marv finally had enough and said, "But Charles, isn't that the rule?" His response? "Yeah, it's a rule, but a dumb rule. Sports are full of rules that shouldn't be followed and that's one they shouldn't have called." I laughed at Marv's next sarcastic question: "Is that what you're doing tonight, rewriting the rules?"

I should note that this all comes shortly after Ron Artest fouled out of the game for grabbing Kobe's jersey and holding him back to prevent him from getting the ball. Charles comments, "Yeah, it's a foul. But that's tough to foul out Ron Artest with that call." Frankly, I don't care what name's on your jersey, and it's good to see the refs don't either.

(Rather than a new post, I'll take this time to express how absurd it is the new "stricter" technical foul policy just doesn't apply to Kobe Bryant. Yes, both Duncan and Nowitzki complain an awful lot and get away with it, but not as much as Kobe. It's almost comical how much he whines to the refs. In fact, last night with the Lakers down by two towards the end of regulation, he tried some out of control spin move (in which I don't think he ever even saw the basket) right into two defenders who just stood their ground, expecting the whistle, and when it didn't come he turned to the officials with his arms outstretched and started yelling, even though the ball was still very much in play and his team was still hustling after it. This happens all the time, whenever he misses a contested shot, gets stripped of the ball, or gets called for a hand-check. Again, am I biased? Yes. Does that mean I'm wrong? No.)

UPDATE: The Onion on Kobe.