Jan 2010
Buss Role in Kiffin Deal Defies Logic
01/13/10 23:32 Filed in: College
Football
Today's revelation that Lakers' owner and sc grad
Jerry Buss paid the University of Tennessee the
goodly sum of $800,000 as a buy-out of Lane Kiffin's
contract is an eye-opener.
Draconian NCAA rules make penny-ante "offenses" into felonies, but this is legal?
sc, the second largest private land-owner in Los Angeles County and the beneficiary of untold riches generated by virtue of the illegal activities of its men's athletic department really does need all this economic help from its fan base. Heaven forbid they would have to pay this, or gee, what if Kiffin had to pay this himself, like, well, ANY OTHER COACH breaching a contract would have had to?
Draconian NCAA rules make penny-ante "offenses" into felonies, but this is legal?
sc, the second largest private land-owner in Los Angeles County and the beneficiary of untold riches generated by virtue of the illegal activities of its men's athletic department really does need all this economic help from its fan base. Heaven forbid they would have to pay this, or gee, what if Kiffin had to pay this himself, like, well, ANY OTHER COACH breaching a contract would have had to?
theHoundDawg
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Breaking News - Lane Kiffin New Head Brain Surgeon
01/12/10 19:28 Filed in: College
Football
Power Shift Coming in AL West?
01/12/10 15:42 Filed in: Baseball
The Angels have dominated the AL West for most of the
past decade, but free-agent losses in Anaheim and
open checkbooks in Seattle and Texas may mean tougher
times for Mike Scioscia's guys this coming season.
The Angels can still field a dangerous offensive team and stellar defensive crew, despite the losses of Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero. Maicer Izturis won't miss a step defensively at third, but he is not the top of the lineup catalyst the team has had for so long in Figgins. With a history of yearly injuries limiting the playing time of Howie Kendricks, Erick Aybar, Figgins, and Isturis himself, not having an Isturis as a fill-in for all three positions will be a major detriment to the team. Perennial prospect Brandon Wood may finally see some playing time in that role, but can he do the job defensively? Guerrero suffered through an injury-plagued 2009 and replacement Hideki Matsui who also limped through a poor early 2009 contributed significantly to the scumstripes' stretch run and was, somehow, World Series MVP.
It is on the mound where the Angels 2010 fortunes will be decided. Since he was brought up form the minors in July, 2002 and led the Angels to the World Championship, John Lackey has been the warhorse and ace that the Angels have relied on to anchor their starting staff. They now have to make due without him. Jared Weaver will have to step into the "Ace" role, and Joe Saunders and a hopefully healthy Scott Kazmir will form a formidable top three. A return to form for Earvin Santana could take care of one of the other starting spots, but there is no answer on the current roster to adequately fill the final spot. Trouble will we brewing if May comes around and the fifth starter comes from among Sean O'Sullivan, Bobby Mosebach and Anthony Ortega, who appear to be in line for the spot. A far better choice, from pitchers currently on the roster, would be Matt Palmer.
Questions also abound in the bullpen, where the hot and cold Brian Fuentes is still the stopper, and the very questionable Fernando Rodney has been signed to keep him on his toes while filling the set-up spot, though a healthy Scott Shields should be able to re-take that spot.
More troubling than foreseeable Angel deficiencies is the improvement made in Seattle and Texas.
Throughout his AL tenure, Guerrero has done more offensively against the Rangers than any player has against any other team in baseball. He loves to hit in Arlington, and if he stays healthy, he should have a monster season. Texas' young starters were very impressive the last half of 2009, and their young staff anchored by 17-game winner Scott Feldman figures to continue to improve. Former Angel spot lefty Darren Oliver returns to Texas and will be a big addition to their pen.
The question mark that they will also rely on is Rich Harden. More on that later.
Seattle traded for Cliff Lee and now boasts probably the top one-two starting punch in the AL in Lee and Félix Hernández. They've added Figgins and another former Angel in Casey Kotchman for the infield corners, and will get a full season from one of the most underrated players in the game, shortstop Jack Wilson. They've also added Milton Bradley to the outfield. More on that later.
Both these teams should be vastly improved, but is what they did enough, and were all of the acquisitions wise ones? Enough - no. Wise - no. The Angels still feature significantly more talent across their roster than either Seattle or Texas, and with Mike Scioscia calling the shots have a built in advantage. But the real reason the Angels will repeat as AL West champs is this. A year ago, all the experts said the Chicago Cubs were the team to beat in the National League. I said - and you can look it up in my pre-season picks from last year - that "No team that relies on Milton Bradley or Rich Harden will ever win anything." This proved correct last year, and will be true again this year. Seattle cannot win a division title if they have to rely on Bradley, nor can Texas relying on Harden.
The Angels can still field a dangerous offensive team and stellar defensive crew, despite the losses of Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero. Maicer Izturis won't miss a step defensively at third, but he is not the top of the lineup catalyst the team has had for so long in Figgins. With a history of yearly injuries limiting the playing time of Howie Kendricks, Erick Aybar, Figgins, and Isturis himself, not having an Isturis as a fill-in for all three positions will be a major detriment to the team. Perennial prospect Brandon Wood may finally see some playing time in that role, but can he do the job defensively? Guerrero suffered through an injury-plagued 2009 and replacement Hideki Matsui who also limped through a poor early 2009 contributed significantly to the scumstripes' stretch run and was, somehow, World Series MVP.
It is on the mound where the Angels 2010 fortunes will be decided. Since he was brought up form the minors in July, 2002 and led the Angels to the World Championship, John Lackey has been the warhorse and ace that the Angels have relied on to anchor their starting staff. They now have to make due without him. Jared Weaver will have to step into the "Ace" role, and Joe Saunders and a hopefully healthy Scott Kazmir will form a formidable top three. A return to form for Earvin Santana could take care of one of the other starting spots, but there is no answer on the current roster to adequately fill the final spot. Trouble will we brewing if May comes around and the fifth starter comes from among Sean O'Sullivan, Bobby Mosebach and Anthony Ortega, who appear to be in line for the spot. A far better choice, from pitchers currently on the roster, would be Matt Palmer.
Questions also abound in the bullpen, where the hot and cold Brian Fuentes is still the stopper, and the very questionable Fernando Rodney has been signed to keep him on his toes while filling the set-up spot, though a healthy Scott Shields should be able to re-take that spot.
More troubling than foreseeable Angel deficiencies is the improvement made in Seattle and Texas.
Throughout his AL tenure, Guerrero has done more offensively against the Rangers than any player has against any other team in baseball. He loves to hit in Arlington, and if he stays healthy, he should have a monster season. Texas' young starters were very impressive the last half of 2009, and their young staff anchored by 17-game winner Scott Feldman figures to continue to improve. Former Angel spot lefty Darren Oliver returns to Texas and will be a big addition to their pen.
The question mark that they will also rely on is Rich Harden. More on that later.
Seattle traded for Cliff Lee and now boasts probably the top one-two starting punch in the AL in Lee and Félix Hernández. They've added Figgins and another former Angel in Casey Kotchman for the infield corners, and will get a full season from one of the most underrated players in the game, shortstop Jack Wilson. They've also added Milton Bradley to the outfield. More on that later.
Both these teams should be vastly improved, but is what they did enough, and were all of the acquisitions wise ones? Enough - no. Wise - no. The Angels still feature significantly more talent across their roster than either Seattle or Texas, and with Mike Scioscia calling the shots have a built in advantage. But the real reason the Angels will repeat as AL West champs is this. A year ago, all the experts said the Chicago Cubs were the team to beat in the National League. I said - and you can look it up in my pre-season picks from last year - that "No team that relies on Milton Bradley or Rich Harden will ever win anything." This proved correct last year, and will be true again this year. Seattle cannot win a division title if they have to rely on Bradley, nor can Texas relying on Harden.
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theHoundDawg
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Petey's Tear Jerker Ignores NCAA and Dave Watson Lawsuit
01/11/10 23:12 Filed in: College
Football | NFL
We won't have petey to kick around anymore.
The white-haired phantom of the truth delivered his well-rehersed goodbye to his brain-washed brain surgeon minions today, pulling more wool over their eyes. Funny how he never mentioned throwing his undees into a suitcase and running to the airport, a few steps ahead of the NCAA and all those lawyers aching to take his deposition.
Turns out that he is about to be deposed not only in the r bush civil case, but also in a million dollar damage case brought by the victim in former assistant Dave Watson's felony-DUI auto accident, a case in which Petey may well have some personal liability. As finally reported today by local TV news following the article on SI.com, Watson, addicted to painkillers and other meds, was provided thousands of pills by sc football team physicians and an sc auto whch he used to maim an innocent bystander, all under the watchful eye, and apparent knowledge, of petey. Petey's knowledge and acquiesence may well mean that some of the $35 Mil in Seahawk money he'll be pocketing will end up paying for this guy's ongoing surgeries and pain & suffering.
Anoather unanswered question as petey waives bye-bye is what part Tim Leiweke, maybe the most influential sports figure in LA, as CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, that built and operates Staples Center, Home Depot Center, and owns the LA Kings, as well as numerous sports venues and teams around the world, and who has a hand in the new LA Football Stadium about to be built by AEG Co-Owner Ed Roski in the City of Industry, had in his younger brother and Seahawk CEO Tod hiring petey?
The white-haired phantom of the truth delivered his well-rehersed goodbye to his brain-washed brain surgeon minions today, pulling more wool over their eyes. Funny how he never mentioned throwing his undees into a suitcase and running to the airport, a few steps ahead of the NCAA and all those lawyers aching to take his deposition.
Turns out that he is about to be deposed not only in the r bush civil case, but also in a million dollar damage case brought by the victim in former assistant Dave Watson's felony-DUI auto accident, a case in which Petey may well have some personal liability. As finally reported today by local TV news following the article on SI.com, Watson, addicted to painkillers and other meds, was provided thousands of pills by sc football team physicians and an sc auto whch he used to maim an innocent bystander, all under the watchful eye, and apparent knowledge, of petey. Petey's knowledge and acquiesence may well mean that some of the $35 Mil in Seahawk money he'll be pocketing will end up paying for this guy's ongoing surgeries and pain & suffering.
Anoather unanswered question as petey waives bye-bye is what part Tim Leiweke, maybe the most influential sports figure in LA, as CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, that built and operates Staples Center, Home Depot Center, and owns the LA Kings, as well as numerous sports venues and teams around the world, and who has a hand in the new LA Football Stadium about to be built by AEG Co-Owner Ed Roski in the City of Industry, had in his younger brother and Seahawk CEO Tod hiring petey?
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theHoundDawg
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NFL Playoffs Reveal Power Shifts
01/09/10 22:10 Filed in: NFL
As the first weekend of NFL Playoffs is half-over, a
few things seem clear.
Dallas and San Diego are the hot teams in the NFL. Dallas currently features almost every individual player reaching a peak performance level when it counts. I couldn't conceive of thinking this earlier this year but (similar to what I thought of the Yankees before the season and with what they did) I can see them getting to the SB, finishing the season just like Arizona did last year, but with more of a chance than Arizona had to win it all. San Diego is the AFC's hot team, and may well continue that streak to the season's final game.
It will be very interesting if these two teams do meet. Both have head coaches that were fabulous coordinators, absolute disasters in their prior head coaching jobs, and had poor starts with their current teams, but have learned to concentrate their own coaching in their areas of expertise, Wade on defense, Turner with Rivers and parts of the offense, and left other areas to other experts, and the results may be history. Kudos to two coaches I thought were in over their respective heads, both of whom I would have fired years ago, if I had been stupid enough to hire them in the first place.
Three teams that had long streaks of invincibility during the regular season, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and the King's Vikings, are all dead in the water. None of these teams has a chance to get to the Super Bowl. The King will end the Viking's season with an interception, and Indy and NO have turned the knob to "I Don't Care Cruise Control" and will never be able to regain their prior momentum.
It will be Green Bay or Dallas in the NFC, and San Diego is likely to face a real challenge from ... from .... well, if New England can field enough healthy players, only from them.
A word about the Eagles who embarrassed themselves so badly the past two weeks. I thinks there is a three-fold reason for their awful showing, and all should be obvious. First is the fact of so many injuries on defense, but the second was just as important to their collapse: The distraction and almost total lack of contribution of m vick. If McNabb is their QB, and his contract extension says he is, then they cannot bring vick back. If they keep him (read what I written about him in the past, and you'll know my feelings about that) it should only be as the starter. And in his best day he is not the QB a healthy McNabb is. Finally, if you look back to every important game the Eagles have played over the past six seasons, the difference maker in those games that they won as against the games they lost, was a healthy Brian Westbrook. Generally, if he plays, they win the tough games, but if he is hurt, they lose. (They should have handed him the ball more in the 2004 SB).
Dallas and San Diego are the hot teams in the NFL. Dallas currently features almost every individual player reaching a peak performance level when it counts. I couldn't conceive of thinking this earlier this year but (similar to what I thought of the Yankees before the season and with what they did) I can see them getting to the SB, finishing the season just like Arizona did last year, but with more of a chance than Arizona had to win it all. San Diego is the AFC's hot team, and may well continue that streak to the season's final game.
It will be very interesting if these two teams do meet. Both have head coaches that were fabulous coordinators, absolute disasters in their prior head coaching jobs, and had poor starts with their current teams, but have learned to concentrate their own coaching in their areas of expertise, Wade on defense, Turner with Rivers and parts of the offense, and left other areas to other experts, and the results may be history. Kudos to two coaches I thought were in over their respective heads, both of whom I would have fired years ago, if I had been stupid enough to hire them in the first place.
Three teams that had long streaks of invincibility during the regular season, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and the King's Vikings, are all dead in the water. None of these teams has a chance to get to the Super Bowl. The King will end the Viking's season with an interception, and Indy and NO have turned the knob to "I Don't Care Cruise Control" and will never be able to regain their prior momentum.
It will be Green Bay or Dallas in the NFC, and San Diego is likely to face a real challenge from ... from .... well, if New England can field enough healthy players, only from them.
A word about the Eagles who embarrassed themselves so badly the past two weeks. I thinks there is a three-fold reason for their awful showing, and all should be obvious. First is the fact of so many injuries on defense, but the second was just as important to their collapse: The distraction and almost total lack of contribution of m vick. If McNabb is their QB, and his contract extension says he is, then they cannot bring vick back. If they keep him (read what I written about him in the past, and you'll know my feelings about that) it should only be as the starter. And in his best day he is not the QB a healthy McNabb is. Finally, if you look back to every important game the Eagles have played over the past six seasons, the difference maker in those games that they won as against the games they lost, was a healthy Brian Westbrook. Generally, if he plays, they win the tough games, but if he is hurt, they lose. (They should have handed him the ball more in the 2004 SB).
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theHoundDawg
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NCAA Closing In,... Petey Takes the Money and Runs
01/09/10 19:07 Filed in: NFL | College
Football
On vacation for a week, upon my return I was
overjoyed to see that the top rat was deserting the
brain surgeon ship, scooping up a reported cool $35
Mil for his get-a-way.
The NCAA cops are apparently closing in, and even if not, the civil court proceedings in the Crime-of-the-Century just received a major boost, with an appellate court ruling ordering both Petey and r bush to submit to depositions. If they lie under oath, then they should be prosecuted for purjury. If they tell the truth about bush and his family receiving more than $.5 Mil in illegal benefits during his last two years at sc, then the NCAA will have no choice but to strip the school of their 1-1/2 championships, and bush will have his Heisman revoked. On top of that, there will be serious TV and scholarship restrictions. Add on the Joe McKnight violations, and the major violations pending against Timmie and the basketball program, and the sc brain surgeons could be facing the DEATH PENALTY!
Perfect time for the cappo to take his leave, and his millions.
Question: Will Mike Garrett be honest with coaching prospects and tell them what will likely happen to the football program. If so, how likely will it be for a Mike Riley, Jeff Fisher or Jack del Rio to leave any of their current jobs to return to sc?
Oh, well, Mike, there is always Charlie Weis or Karl Dorrall.
The NCAA cops are apparently closing in, and even if not, the civil court proceedings in the Crime-of-the-Century just received a major boost, with an appellate court ruling ordering both Petey and r bush to submit to depositions. If they lie under oath, then they should be prosecuted for purjury. If they tell the truth about bush and his family receiving more than $.5 Mil in illegal benefits during his last two years at sc, then the NCAA will have no choice but to strip the school of their 1-1/2 championships, and bush will have his Heisman revoked. On top of that, there will be serious TV and scholarship restrictions. Add on the Joe McKnight violations, and the major violations pending against Timmie and the basketball program, and the sc brain surgeons could be facing the DEATH PENALTY!
Perfect time for the cappo to take his leave, and his millions.
Question: Will Mike Garrett be honest with coaching prospects and tell them what will likely happen to the football program. If so, how likely will it be for a Mike Riley, Jeff Fisher or Jack del Rio to leave any of their current jobs to return to sc?
Oh, well, Mike, there is always Charlie Weis or Karl Dorrall.
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theHoundDawg
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