MLB All-Star Teams (Done the right way)

Taking a break from the return of the dummy known as Manny Ramirez, I bring you my American and National League All-Star teams. I’ve followed the rules of having 33 players on each roster, a player from every team and selected those that are deserving whether they will play or not. Hopefully the real selections this Sunday will be made correctly and there won’t be any snubs (there will be though). And yes if you haven’t heard, Manny is back. Good grief.

American League

Pitchers
Minnesota Twins Joe Nathan
LA Angels Brian Fuentes
New York Yankees Mariano Rivera
Boston Red Sox Jonathan Papelbon
Toronto Blue Jays Roy Halladay
Texas Rangers Kevin Millwood
Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez
LA Angels Jered Weaver
*Kansas City Royals Zack Greinke
Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander
Detroit Tigers Edwin Jackson
Boston Red Sox Josh Beckett
Cleveland Indians Cliff Lee

Notable omissions: There are many more closers I could choose, but I think four is good enough. You have to remember if this goes extra innings, you need at least two starters to go the distance. Unfortunately it happened last year, but it was still a great game nonetheless. Cleveland’s Cliff Lee I included mainly because of his ERA (2.92) on a losing team. Probably no Cy Young this year, but he is an All-Star in my mind. Detroit’s Edwin Jackson only has 6 wins, but his ERA (2.49) is second only to Greinke. The rest I can’t leave off the roster simply because they are so good.

Catchers
Cleveland Indians Victor Martinez
*Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer

Notable omissions: The only ones of mention are A.J. Pierzynski of the White Sox and Mike Napoli of the Angels. If Martinez was having a poor season like last year, then I would go with one of those two I just mentioned. How can you go against these two?

Infielders
*2B Toronto Blue Jays Aaron Hill
2B Texas Rangers Ian Kinsler
*SS Tampa Bay Rays Jason Bartlett
*3B Tampa Bay Rays Evan Longoria
SS New York Yankees Derek Jeter
1B Minnesota Twins Justin Morneau
*1B Detroit Tigers Miguel Cabrera
1B Boston Red Sox Kevin Youkilis
2B Oakland Athletics Adam Kennedy
3B LA Angels Chone Figgins

Notable omissions: Yes, Kennedy over Pedroia. Why? Following the rules. Kennedy is the only Athletic on the roster. He is the leader in batting at .291 for Oakland and was batting well over .300 for quite some time this season. Mark Teixeira is well deserving, but not anywhere near a .300 batting average. Morneau, Youkilis, and Cabrera are. Scott Rolen and Brandon Inge are having All-Star seasons. Great numbers, but I have seen Figgins more. He will be an asset if he is on the All-Star team. He can play anywhere and will be a great weapon off the bench for Joe Maddon. He was the bench coach of the Angels before his time at Tampa Bay.

Outfielders
Toronto Blue Jays Adam Lind
*Tampa Bay Rays Carl Crawford
Tampa Bay Rays Ben Zobrist
*Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki
Minnesota Twins Jason Kubel
*LA Angels Torii Hunter
Chicago White Sox Jermaine Dye
Baltimore Orioles Adam Jones

Notable omissions: Only Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury and the Angels Juan Rivera were the toughest ones. If you haven’t heard of Ben Zobrist. You will now. The numbers he has been putting up are phenomenal. Get used to seeing Adam Jones here. He is a younger version of Torii Hunter. Jason Kubel and Adam Lind are having breakout years. I’m satisfied with this group and don’t be surprised if this comes close to the actual roster.

National League

Pitchers
Los Angeles Dodgers Jonathan Broxton
New York Mets Francisco Rodriguez
San Diego Padres Heath Bell
Milwaukee Brewers Trevor Hoffman
St. Louis Cardinals Ryan Franklin
*San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum
San Francisco Giants Matt Cain
New York Mets Johan Santana
Los Angeles Dodgers Chad Billingsley
Florida Marlins Josh Johnson
Colorado Rockies Aaron Cook
Chicago Cubs Ted Lilly
Arizona D’Backs Dan Haren

Notable omissions: This was by far the hardest position in either league to choose. Here is who I left out who were deserving: Javier Vazquez, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Cordero, Huston Street, Jason Marquis, Yovani Gallardo. Now you see my dilemma. Lilly is the only deserving Cub. That’s why he is here. Too many good closers in this league. To exclude any of the ones I picked would be a sham.

Catchers
San Francisco Giants Bengie Molina
*Atlanta Braves Brian McCann

Notable Omissions: Bengie’s brother Yadier Molina is having an okay season. Frankly I could have gone either way with the Molina brothers. I feel Bengie is the better hitter. Colorado’s Chris Iannetta is having a good season, but not good enough to get in this year.

Infielders
2B Pittsburgh Pirates Freddy Sanchez
*1B St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols
1B San Diego Padres Adrian Gonzalez
3B San Francisco Giants Pablo Sandoval
*2B Philadelphia Phillies Chase Utley
*3B New York Mets David Wright
1B Milwaukee Brewers Prince Fielder
2B Los Angeles Dodgers Orlando Hudson
SS Houston Astros Miguel Tejada
*SS Florida Marlins Hanley Ramirez
2B Cincinnati Reds Brandon Phillips

Notable omissions: Plenty that were left off in this category. First base is the worst. Todd Helton and Ryan Howard sorry. Third base, just as bad. Chipper Jones and Mark Reynolds again sorry. Phillips, Sanchez and Tejada are the lone representatives for their team. This is another tough choice, but that pitching staff was crazy hard.

Outfielders
Washington Nationals Adam Dunn
*Philadelphia Phillies Raul Ibanez
*New York Mets Carlos Beltran
*Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun
Colorado Rockies Brad Hawpe
Arizona D’Backs Justin Upton
Los Angeles Dodgers Matt Kemp

Notable omissions: Houston could have Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence represent them, but Adam Dunn is the only National selected and Matt Kemp is more deserving. If Kemp doesn’t have the season he is having, the Dodgers are not in first place anymore. Upton is flying well below the radar and Hawpe is the reason for the Rockies summer surge. A weak position in the National League, but this seems to be the likely group to be selected.

note: * – asterisk indicates starter

Big Week in the NBA

In the midst of a week when Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson all past away. I’ve had to take a step back. Not to go into seclusion, but to just think about the important things and really appreciate life and what it brings. Ed was a pioneer and an American patriot. Farrah was an icon and battled through a terminal illness. Michael was and will always be the “King of Pop.” You can say what you want about the non-musical side of him, but you can’t diminish the impact on music and entertainment he had and always will have.

The NBA Draft usually has more trades happening and a better talent pool. This year was different and instead of the Draft being the headline, it was what happened before the Draft. Four trades happened that will change the balance of power and bring new contenders to the forefront.

San Antonio Spurs acquire Richard Jefferson

The Spurs made the first move by getting Jefferson from Milwaukee for Fabricio Oberto, Kurt Thomas and Bruce Bowen. Now Milwaukee will most likely not keep Thomas or Bowen and San Antonio will probably get them back. It’s a win-win for the Spurs which now are legitimately the second best team in the West. Yes, it’s early, but San Antonio needed to get a little younger and have someone else who can attack the basket other than Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili. This makes the Spurs a threat even when some thought this past season was their last shot to win again with this group.

Washington Wizards acquire two scoring guards

Washington really helped themselves by giving Minnesota its first round pick (No. 5 overall), Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, and Oleksiy Pecherov for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. Not a bad trade if your the Wizards. Giving up that pick in this year’s draft plus some dead weight in the frontcourt now creates a very deep team in the Eastern Conference. The potential starting lineup of: Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood with Foye, Miller, Nick Young, Andray Blatche, and JaVale McGee off the bench. A ten player rotation is a very rare thing in today’s NBA. The Wizards immediately become contenders with this deal and assuming they are healthy, they will compete for the conference title.

Cleveland Cavaliers get their big man

Now Cleveland had to make a trade or sign a big man before next season, no, before the July 4th weekend. The rumor was that Shaq would be heading to C-town, but it was still in the beginning stages a few weeks ago. How time flies. Cleveland got the Diesel by giving Phoenix Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic and a second round pick in this year’s draft. This looks awfully similar to the deal that would’ve brought Shaq back in February. Actually, it is the same deal. Why it didn’t happen then will be a mystery, but it will be interesting to see how this works. Cleveland better not think their done. They still need a scoring Power Forward to take pressure off of Shaq and LeBron. A good start, but not a championship move.

Orlando reloads by getting another All-Star

The Magic pulled off a trade that many didn’t see coming until Draft day. Orlando acquired Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson from New Jersey while giving the Nets Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, and Tony Battie. This sent signals all over the league that Hedo Turkoglu was not going to return to the Magic. Orlando will not be able to stay under a reasonable payroll level with Carter and resigning Turkoglu. Will this hurt or help Orlando going into next season? Won’t know until they make more moves if there are any left to make. Right now I would say this does help them, but Vince needs to shake the label of “it’s about me.” That’s just the impression a lot of people in the league have of him. This will definitely motivate him now that he is playing for a contender and this should help Dwight Howard knowing that there is somebody who can score 20+ points a game every game. The Magic are still the favorites, but Cleveland and Washington made moves before this one. Seems to be a reactionary move by Orlando.

Winners and Losers of Draft Day

My winners for the NBA Draft 2009 are San Antonio, Indiana, and the Clippers. The Spurs, not counting the Jefferson trade, got great value in the second round getting Pittsburgh forward DeJuan Blair. This guy was a potential lottery pick at the beginning of this and fell all the way to the 37th pick. The Spurs didn’t care at that point and gladly nabbed him. The Pacers some say reached getting Tyler Hansbrough at 13 overall. I on the other hand think that was a great pick. As was their second round pick of A.J. Price from UConn. Hansbrough brings that toughness executive Larry Bird and coach Jim O’Brien are looking for and Price brings scoring and energy off the bench. The Clippers really had no choice in taking Blake Griffin. He really is the only sure thing in this draft. They will probably find a way to screw this up, but in the meantime, Blake will be a great player in this league wherever he plays.

My losers on Draft day are Cleveland, Minnesota, and Sacramento. The Cavaliers passed on DeJuan Blair and took an unknown in Christian Eyenga from the Republic of Congo. No help right now and instead a player that will not be here for a year or two. Minnesota made great picks in Jonny Flynn and Wayne Ellington in the first round. Ricky Rubio on the other hand was not a great pick. Memphis, Oklahoma and Sacramento passed on him because of his unwillingness to play in a small market. That didn’t stop the Wolves who took him and Flynn back to back with the thinking of playing them together. Not a wise move in my book. Two point guards who can’t hit a shot from the outside doesn’t equal championship. The Kings passed on a point guard that they sorely needed and took a shooting guard who played the point in college. Tyreke Evans is a great player and will become a great player in the NBA. It just doesn’t fit the need for the Kings. They already have Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia as their shooting guards. Evans is not a shooter, but can get to the basket. The problem is size. Too small to be the small forward and not quick enough to play the point. Questionable picks for these three.

Sosa Tests Positive, Stallworth Sentenced and Suspended, Marshall wants out of Denver

Sammy was caught in 2003

Well it has happened again for the third time this season, a well known MLB player has been proven to have tested positive for a banned substance. We don’t know what that substance is with Sammy Sosa’s test, but does it really matter at this point. Sammy will be eating these words from a couple weeks ago,”I will calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Don’t I have the numbers to be inducted?”

You better “calmly wait” for a long time and perhaps never expect to get in. I am tired of talking about this topic. I really am. I’m only doing this out of respect for the game that I love so much and the fact that most don’t seem to get why we need to talk about this. For the record they should just reveal the rest of those names on that testing survey in 2003. If those names will eventually be leaked, then just let it out. Having it done this way helps no one. Two questions will now come up every time a player is caught. Will he be voted in the Hall of Fame? Will Baseball ever recover?

In reference to the first question we only have Mark McGwire as the example of if players from this era will be Hall of Famers. No more than 25 percent of the vote has gone to McGwire in his two years of eligibility. What makes this worse is that he was probably a Hall of Famer without the stuff, if he did use any. But it brings out a fact that most voters will not vote for anyone in this era. Whether if they in fact cheated or were suspected of cheating. There is no chance Sammy will be voted in on the first, second or even third year on the ballot. The maximum amount a player can be on the ballot is 25 years. Perhaps time will heal everything eventually, but I seriously doubt that.

Baseball will recover, only when those in power disappear. It has become clear to me that Commissioner Bud Selig will be looked back as the commissioner who looked the other way and became reactive only when the Federal Government threatened to get involved. He is confident in the testing program and its effectiveness, but can’t help to point out the double standard in Baseball. He can’t seem to understand why Baseball is scrutinized more for positive tests when the NFL gets a free pass. Well, I’m here to help you out commissioner. The NFL has always had an image of men beating the hell out of each other for a football and the sport relies on a much bigger roster where every player has to be at his best and whether you like it or not, people would be shocked if these guys aren’t on something. That has always been the image of the NFL. The overwhelming fact is that Baseball was labeled “America’s Past Time” at one point in its history. There as been an emphasis on the numbers. 3,000, 755, 61, we all know those numbers and who is behind them. You changed your image to the long ball and could care less about it’s past. For over a decade we did buy into that image, but it was flawed. Most people don’t like being lied to and they were lied to all these years. When Bud and Union boss Donald Fehr leave, it will be a step in the right direction. Really only the players will be able to heal the game. Be upfront when caught, and demand that the record be set straight so that this will never happen again.

Donte Stallworth gets 30 days and an indefinite Suspension

When the sentence was announced that Donte Stallworth was only going to get 30 days in jail. I was stunned at first. Then I heard the rest. Two years house arrest, suspended license for life 1,000 hours community service and eight years probation. After hearing that plus that the family of the man killed in this got a undisclosed settlement from Stallworth, I went from stunned to outraged. Once again someone works the system and gets away with killing someone. Whether it was with his car while drunk or with a knife, he still got away with it. Yes, he didn’t flee the scene and actually called 911. That’s very noble and rare in cases like this. I don’t know if the family is satisfied with this verdict, but it was indicated that they were not hell bent on pursuing a lot of criminal or civil action on Stallworth. I can respect that, but what has happened to our system when a man dies and that person involved only gets 30 days in a plea deal. Am I the only one with this opinion? Nick Adenhart and two others were killed earlier this year by a drunk driver with a suspended license. A fourth person survived, but has suffered tremendously. He is expected to make a full recovery, but at what cost? That drunk driver should not have able to drive and he will get the maximum punishment because the system screwed up and now has to make up for it. Commissioner Roger Goodell knows the severity of this and has acted appropriately in this case. Stallworth gone indefinitely. Was there any other way? It could be for the year or more, but it will be sending a big message to the rest of the league. No one is above the law and if you happen to get a lenient sentence, you will not see it from Roger Goodell.

Brandon Marshall wants to Stampede out of Denver

Now I didn’t like the fact that Jay Cutler got his wish after whining and complaining about his situation. All over his new coach (who should not have tried it) Josh McDaniels trying to grab his guy in Matt Cassell from New England. Josh should have been upfront with Jay and Jay should have dropped it and kept quiet. Now it has spread to his favorite target in wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Marshall says he requested a trade from owner Pat Bowlen and that Pat would try to honor that request. He hasn’t shown up to any mandatory mini camp programs and it appears he is serious about this trade demand. Denver better not make the same mistake twice. Keep quiet about it and don’t give in. Who says you have to? Brandon has one year left on his contract and is looking to get paid. Great, so is everyone else Brandon. You have probably already done too much damage, but you need to stay down and just play. They will pay only when you show up and play for them. The Broncos are like all the other 31 NFL teams. They pay players who show up and play. It’s a funny system, but that’s how it works. This doesn’t help your image either. You have a big wrap sheet and most teams won’t take you because of that. Your trying to put the hammer down on the Broncos when you don’t have a hammer to do it with. The ball is in the Broncos court Brandon. Play ball, stay out of trouble off the field and you will get paid.

Congrats to the NHL & NBA Champions

We saw the Penguins do on Friday what no one (including me) thought they could do. Beat the defending champs in Detroit. I mean no one gave them a chance. At least no one I heard or saw did. I figured they would at least make a game of it and also believed that if anyone could beat Detroit at home in a Game 7 no less, it would be Pittsburgh. Why you ask. Back in the semifinals, Pittsburgh went to Washington and beat down the Capitals in a Game 7 by the score of 6-2. Now the Red Wings could have won this game. A turnover and a defensive miscue led to the two goals scored by Pittsburgh. Detroit goalie Chris Osgood is as good as any other clutch playoff goalie. His record speaks for itself. Marc-Andre Fluery was magnificent right down to the wire. That diving save at the end will be his greatest moment. I mentioned to one of my brothers that who ever is going to win the Stanley Cup, will need to win at least one game on the road. It came down to Pittsburgh winning when it mattered.

Now the Penguins will have some decisions to make come July 1 for Free Agency. Key players eligible to leave: Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, Hal Gill, Philippe Boucher, and Rob Scuderi. Guerin might end up retiring now that he has name on the Cup for the second time. The other names mentioned were key parts to this championship team. If all of these names leave, I still think the Penguins have enough to still be contenders. Will they repeat though, doubtful. They could delve into the free agent pool to replace them, but you can’t buy a championship as we’ve seen in other sports. As predicted Sid the Kid has one down and many more to go through his still evolving career. He is only 21. Hard to believe.

The monkey has finally gotten off Kobe Bryant’s back and really the entire team’s. After last years Finals meltdown against the Boston Celtics, they were labeled soft, uninspired, wouldn’t show up when it mattered, just to name a few. They showed in these playoffs that even great teams are vulnerable. It is extremely hard to win a championship in any sport. This just proves that. Utah was a relative breeze and many think Houston should have been, but those that know basketball said that the Rockets exposed a Laker weakness in the pick and roll. Towards the end of that series, LA manned up and destroyed it to victory. Denver came in as hot as any playoff team and many were not going to be surprised to see them beat the Lakers. Denver tried to psych them out, but LA held their ground, found out that Denver couldn’t guard the paint and beat them in Denver to advance.

Kobe is one of three people responsible for this championship. The other two I’ll name shortly, but back to Kobe. The Finals brought out the best in Bryant. He didn’t have to score 40 points every game, passed the ball with great efficiency and was a true leader before our eyes. Michael Jordan didn’t win his first until 1991, seven years after he was drafted. Kobe had to wait four for his first and seven to win one without Shaq. He did acknowledge after the game that every team has a dynamic duo, referring to his days with Shaq, to win a championship. Those were great days that could have resulted in six possibly seven championships for the Lakers. To not dwell on the past, Kobe was in the same class as any other great basketball player without this title. Yes all those Kobe haters were not going to let it go, even though he was already showing signs of turning into a reliable passer and team leader. The mamba had to go through a lottery season, no big man (until the Gasol trade), and no Phillip to get to this point. Did Shaq have to go through all that to get his fourth. No, he had Dwayne Wade carry him to that title. Kobe almost left for the Clippers, but stayed through it and it resulted in the awakening of a possible dynasty in LA. I’m not saying that for a fact, just a possibility.

The second man is General Manager Mitch Kupchak. Yes, the heir apparent to Jerry West who was destroyed in LA for the Shaq trade, but it resulted in Lamar Odom. He was hammered for drafting a project in Andrew Bynum with that lottery pick, who Kobe wanted no part of in the beginning. To his credit Bynum put in the work and has become a good center with the potential to be the best. Kupchak got plenty of offers for Bynum, but stayed firm and didn’t give into the pressure. Mitch turned it all around in February of 2008 trading essentially just Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol. Most one sided trade in any sport. More one sided than the Cowboys Herschel Walker deal in the NFL. That same year he traded Maurice Evans and Brian Cook to that Orlando Magic team for, wait for it, Trevor Ariza. The same Ariza who helped get the Lakers back into Game 4 of the NBA Finals. I give a third of the credit to this great GM. Yes he is a great GM. You can’t grade a General Manager of a team until a few years have passed on the deals he has made. It sucks to wait, so we do have to speculate as well. And we were all wrong. Kudos to Kupchak.

Finally, to Phil Jackson. Who now has the title, “Most Titles for a Coach Ever.” In any sport. That is crazy good. A ring for every finger now. For those to suggest that he got where he has was because of the players is valid. To say he did nothing is comical. This guy had to tell Michael to pass the ball every once in a while and good things will happen. He got MJ, Pippen and Rodman to win three titles in a row. That for me is worthy of greatness. But to get Kobe and Shaq to buy in when they wanted nothing to do with each other was a stroke of genius. I don’t know how he did it, but it worked. Now his next achievement was simple compared to the others. Get Kobe to trust in the coach. When Phil left LA the first time, he wrote in a book that Kobe was “uncoachable.” Damning words to Kobe Bryant no doubt. When the time came that the Lakers needed to rebuild fast, they and Kobe turned to Phil. Kobe knew that Phil would bring balance to this team and franchise in turmoil and it was rather quick. Phil Jackson has won 10 out of the last 19 NBA championships. Greatest NBA coach ever on that fact alone.

Congrats to me and JR’s favorite basketball team. This was a great season and I (as is JR I’m sure) am looking forward to another run at a title. Keep Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza in LA. Mitch, I have faith in you. To end the speculation on whether Phil is coming back, I’m going to take a page from Terrell Owen’s publicist. Phil has 12 million reasons to come back. One more year and one more ring wouldn’t hurt. Kobe was great before and is even greater now. These guys will be a force in the West for many years.

A Blog Post Becomes News, College Coach Quits, AFC East Best Division Ever?

Raul Ibanez Lashes Out

You know the world has changed when someone who works on a blog is put in the national spotlight. This week Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez commented on a blogger named Jerod Morris, who is the editor/founder for the site “Midwest Sports Fans.” Jerod posted a defense and an assumption of guilt in the same article of Ibanez using performance enhancing drugs. Now before I made up my mind on the matter, I went to the website, read the article which is linked for you if you wish to read it also. The article is rather long, but in it Jerod is defending Ibanez with a lot of statistical evidence and that he might have changed his training habits. Then towards the end, he starts to second guess his defense and then states,”And since I was not able to draw any absolute parallels between his prodigiously improved HR rate and his new ballpark’s hitter-friendliness, it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility that “other” performance enhancers could be part of the equation.”

The real kicker for me is two sentences later,

“Personally, I am withholding judgment until we see a full seasons’ worth of stats.”

Now you can make up your own mind and read the article yourself. Ibanez, who probably did not read or was not told of the whole post commented,

“I’ll come after people who defame or slander me, it’s pathetic and disgusting. There should be some accountability for people who put that out there.”
“You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool — anything you can test, I’ll give you back every dime I’ve ever made” if the test is positive, he added.

Now if Ibanez tests positive in the future, I will be shocked. You don’t say things like that, unless you have nothing to hide. I believe Jerod put up a good defense for Ibanez with the stats and the competition he has faced so far. It should be noted that this article was started with a buddy of his saying that Ibanez is on steroids and Jerod putting this post up to defend Ibanez. Jerod was invited on the “Outside the Lines” program on ESPN, which is also linked for you to see, to discuss what he posted with Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Gonzalez, who broke the story and Fox Sports Baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal. This was a great debate and it really brought to the forefront the issue of standards in the media and the media’s responsibility. This should be applied to the internet bloggers, tweeters and whatever else they want to call themselves. I know that I have written before and spoken about my opinions on the steroid users in Baseball. Key word, “users.” I do not speculate about guys numbers on this blog or talk about them on the air without having facts. To speculate without facts is wrong in my opinion. That was Jerod Morris’s mistake. To state that he will wait for a full seasons stats is a little disingenuous. Why even try to defend the guy in the beginning of the post if your going to come back to that assumption? Jerod is the editor of this blog. Edit your own posts from time to time. This does bring blogs to the spotlight, but for the wrong reasons.

USC Basketball Coach Tim Floyd Resigns

Now I don’t want to sound like a know it all, but I did mention on May 29, “USC and their coach Tim Floyd will soon be punished for the O.J. Mayo scandal involving money and gifts.” Well apparently Tim Floyd acted before the punishment came down. Now I don’t know if he did give $1,000 to a former O.J. Mayo associate named Rodney Guilloryto sway Mayo into coming to USC. It does seem odd that Floyd would bolt before an investigation was complete. Again, I’m not assuming guilt. What’s even weirder about this is that USC AD Mike Garrett was not the first to get the letter. The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi first reported the letter. In that letter Floyd explains his resignation,”Unfortunately, I no longer feel I can offer the level of enthusiasm to my duties that is deserved by the university, my coaching staff, my players, their families, and the supporters of Southern Cal. I always promised my self and my family that if I ever felt I could no longer give my full enthusiasm to a job, that I should leave it to others who could. I intend to contact my coaching staff and my players in coming days and weeks to tell them how much each of them means to me. I wish the best to USC and to my successor.”

Now this is a lose lose for everyone involved. Well, except for Mayo who is now in the NBA. Floyd is going to be presumed guilty in resigning before punishment came down. He left that program hanging and possibly damaged for years to come. I don’t see any big time coaches, employed or unemployed taking this job. But, stranger things have happened in college basketball. Mike Garrett has a lot on his table including a still ongoing investigation in the football program with Reggie Bush. Things could get worse for USC.

Rex Ryan vs. The AFC East

I am a huge fan of Rex Ryan. Ever since he was hired by the Jets, he has made some great comments. I don’t have the exact comment, but it was something like, if you knock one of our guys out, were gonna send two of yours to the hospital. That was during his first press conference. He has kept quiet since. Now with OTA’s starting this month, he came out and said,”I’m not here to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings.”

Nice quote. And that’s the way he should react to his division rival. Now Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder took offense to Ryan thinking that New England was the team to beat and cracked back crowning Rex Ryan the Super Bowl champs of the OTA’s. Beautiful rebuttal Channing. Ryan of course had to respond, thankfully, with this great bit,

“I don’t know this Channing Crowder, All I know is that he’s all tatted up, so I guess I ought to be nervous about him. He’s right about one thing: I am a first-time head coach, but I’ve been around the game all my life. I’m no different than I’ve ever been, just that more people are listening. The other thing is I think he’s wrong because I do think you win in June, I think you win with your preparation and all that kind of stuff. If I was younger, I’d probably handle him myself.”

Easy Rex, Channing is a couple decades younger than you. Now Mr. Crowder was not going to take this lying down. He promptly sounded off,

“Oh, Lord have mercy, what’s wrong with him? Now he’s talking about preparation? We play them twice this year. If he wants to be prepared, shouldn’t he know the starting middle linebackers of his division rival? He says he’d take care of me if he was younger? I’d have beat the hell out of that big old joker. Or if he really wants to get retro, my daddy or my uncle could have handled him. Don’t get big. Win with preparation? Start watching some tape and learn who your rival is. Come on now.”

This so called feud has for the most part come to an end, but I can’t wait for the NFL season to start. The AFC East is the best division ever. I will be watching every game with great anticipation. Rex Ryan hasn’t commented on the Bills yet. T.O., watch out cause your next when training camp starts.