UUOTD-Saturday

Nike makes a good shoe. Their influence is worldwide. They didn't become the world's largest athletic shoe manufacturer by accident. They finance college athletic departments to the tune of millions of dollars per year.

As good as their shoes are, they have room for improvement in their uniform designs. The company is based in Oregon, and founder Phil Knight is a benefactor of his alma mater, the University of Oregon. UO has made multiple appearances in this blog for their ugly uniforms. Now, it's their archrival's turn.

Oregon State is rolling out these funky new uniforms next year. They don't have psychedelic helmets, but they have a lot of different combinations of orange and black with these. The orange jersey on the left is particularly glaring. With the stripes and font, these look weird. I read a message board where they were compared with bikinis.

The "Civil War" between UO and OSU-West will be interesting this year. Who knows what kind of uniform combinations will be rolled out that day. Deep within the bowels of Nike headquarters, there is a happy mad scientist.

Ugh.

The Ultimate Draft Geek

Today is one of my favorite days, the NFL draft. I purposely do not get into all of the pre-draft hype, as there is just way too much information to process. If I had more time to become a draft "expert", I would blog on it. I do enjoy, though, the wheeling and dealing that comes with draft day, and the spectacle that draft day has become. The draft is one of those things where the bang-to-hype ratio is not out of whack.

I cannot watch the draft without thinking about the late Joel Buchsbaum. I remember him most from his appearances on Norm Hitzges' show on KLIF radio in Dallas. He was a long-time regular on radio shows in St. Louis and Houston, and was a full-time draft analyst for Pro Football Weekly.

Buchsbaum was the unlikeliest of sources. He rarely left his Brooklyn apartment, except to work out at his local gym once per week. Manhattan was a long trip for him, much less Chicago or any other city. He never went to scouting combines, and never traveled out of New York City. He really only met his employers and sources personally at the draft. Nonetheless, many in the pro football community felt close to him. He was constantly on the phone with scouts, and reviewed an endless amount of tape in his apartment. He never married, and lived in an apartment next door to his parents in Brooklyn. He refused to have his picture published with his articles. He was a total recluse, yet was a fountain of information for NFL coaches and management.

He was most known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the NFL draft. Coaches, general managers, and scouts trusted his knowledge of players. If there was a third-string deep snapper from McNeese State, Buchsbaum knew something about him. He would go on radio shows and rattle off endless amounts of information on players and anyone remotely considered a prospect.

The great John McClain of the Houston Chronicle became close to Buchsbaum in his later years. He has some more great comments on him this week, here and here, including a rare photo from his draft lair in Brooklyn.

He passed away in 2002 at the age of 48. At the 2003 scouting combine, a memorial service was held for him, which was attended by a host of NFL coaches, general managers, scouts, and media. Among the speakers at the memorial was Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who considered him a close friend, though he never met him personally.

He is still missed. He unknowingly helped make the NFL draft what it is today.

My hat is off to anyone that can make a living from being a draft geek.

UUOTD

The Boston Red Sox have been wearing a green jersey with a green cap on St. Patrick's Day for a few years. This normally falls during spring training. Last week, the Red Sox decided to honor the passing of Celtics great Red Auerbach by wearing the green jerseys against the Yankees. The sentiments are appreciated, but this is just making a mockery of what was once Celtic Pride.

This look is just plain gross. The Celtics are green. The Red Sox are not. At least they didn't wear green socks.

Yuck.

Ugly Uniform of the Day

It's been a while since there's been a UUOTD, as last week was no time to be throwing any team under the bus. But, UUOTD returns with a vengeance today.

The Atlanta Hawks aren't playing right now. They don't play past the middle of April, because they only play in the pre-season and in the regular season. They don't play in the playoffs. We'll hear from them next in the draft lottery, when they hope to get lucky with a ping-pong ball and get one of the top two picks in the draft. The Hawks are one of the worst franchises in professional sports. They have not made the playoffs since the Clinton Administration. Don't totally give up, though, Atlanta. The Dallas Mavericks were once the laughing stock of the NBA.

With that said, the Hawks are gone right now, but not forgotten. Their third jersey is a mixture of Del Monte mustard and Heinz ketchup. That combination fits on a hot dog, but not on a uniform. Ugly, ugly, ugly. The only saving grace to this look is that it is not one of their primary uniforms.

Would you like some chips with that hot dog?

I'm glad I'm not an Oscar Mayer wiener.

Eye gouge rating: two

You Know It's A Big Deal When...

...you have an Official Automobile.

The NFL Draft is this weekend in New York. Hummer, for at least the second year in a row, is the official automobile. It's not the official car of the league, or of any particular team. It's the official car of the draft.

It fits, as a lot of young men officially become millionaires on that day, and can afford to buy multiple Hummers. Plus, a lot of the type of people that would buy a Hummer are most likely interested in the NFL draft.

The draft has come a long way, when it has an official anything. At one time, the draft was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Now, the draft capitalizes on the popularity of anything connected with the NFL. Plus, people are starved for the NFL, as it has been almost three months since the Super Bowl.

Pictured above is Reggie Bush, who received not one, but two Hummer H2's for becoming the second pick in last year's draft. This was a legal gift, unlike what he has been accused of receiving during his college days at USC. On the Hummers, though: will the #3 pick in Saturday's draft get three Hummer H3's?

A Two-Team League

Baseball's biggest rivalry has been on stage this weekend, as the hated Yankees have invaded Fenway Park in Boston. Fox and ESPN have been all over this, as would be expected.

Both franchises view themselves as the most popular teams in baseball. The networks definitely view them that way. Both teams do have legions of fans, both in the Northeast, and across the country.

On the other hand, when baseball was attempting geographic realignment a few years ago, there were no volunteers to go to the American League. Only the Milwaukee Brewers changed leagues, and they went to the National League. (I'm too young to remember the Milwaukee Braves in the NL, but it's still unstable to see the Brew Crew in the NL-they belong back in the AL)

An off-the-wall suggestion, that will never see the light of day: Let every team, except Boston and the Yankees, move to the National League. Then, let Boston and the Yankees have the American League to themselves, and play every game against each other. The networks would jump at the chance to show Boston vs. New York every night. Plus, one of them would be guaranteed a spot in the World Series, increasing the value of the major leagues' TV contract.

Most teams would probably rather be in the National League anyway, so this will satisfy some franchises on that end, as well.

I hate both the Red Sox and the Yankees. I've always hated the Yankees, but I'm getting to where I despise the Red Sox even more.

This is a silly idea, but one that some in baseball would probably like. TV executives would love it.

Baseball is a talking sport.

Pickin' Cotton

I am a little stunned. The greatest rivalry in college football, the OU-Texas game, is staying at the Cotton Bowl until 2015. City of Dallas officials are set to announce the deal at a Friday press conference on the 50-yard-line at the decaying old stadium.

The city of Dallas is promising to increase the amount of money paid to OU and Texas, as well as to Grambling and Prairie View, who also play at the Cotton Bowl during the Texas State Fair. The city has recently approved $30 million in bond money for improvements to the stadium, in an effort to attract more college football games. The stadium is losing the Cotton Bowl game to the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, as the bowl game attempts to crack the lineup of the BCS.

At first glance, this looks like Dallas is putting lipstick on a pig. The stadium is a dump, and will still be a dump after the city puts $30 million into it. They plan to rip out the chairs, replace them with bench seating, and to increase capacity to 90,000. I wonder if $30 million is a good investment to attract four or five college football games per year. OU-Texas brings in plenty of out of town visitors, but how will a neutral site game between Oklahoma State and Texas A&M fly at the Cotton Bowl? (How about that: the Ag Bowl presented by John Deere, live from the State Fair!) Or, Notre Dame vs. Baylor? (OK, I know, Notre Dame sells out everywhere they play...)

The stadium doesn't have to be a total palace for college football fans to be happy with it. All that most fans ask for are working toilets and leg room, two things that have been in short supply at the Cotton Bowl in recent years.

This is the city of Dallas we're dealing with, so I'll believe Cotton Bowl renovations when I see them. But, it looks like some people in Big D are seeing some light, even if it's too little, too late.

By the way, OU-Texas belongs at the State Fair, as long as the stadium isn't falling down. I'd hate to see it rotate between Norman and Austin.

Slow

I'm not blogging much this week.

I am absorbed by the Virginia Tech tragedy. I am 1100 miles away from it, and have only been to the campus once. I fell in love with the place. I do not know anyone there, though I am learning that I know people that know people that lost loved ones in the shooting. (Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? It's a really small world)

I am in awe of the spirit and resilience of the Hokie Nation.

I am having a hard time getting anything done. I'll be back up within a matter of time.

Let's Go, Hokies!

Today, We Are All Hokies

Message Board Threads Of The Day

Any site associated with Virginia Tech is being flooded with traffic today.

Tech Sideline is the largest VT site, and is not affiliated with the Rivals or Scout networks. It has crashed at least once today, and has become a large gathering place for Hokies.

The VT Rivals and Scout sites are smaller, but are drawing a record amount of traffic today. The Hokie Rivals board has already had over 2000 posts of condolence from fans of other schools.

An incredible mix of order and expression occurs during such a time as this. Fans of lots of different schools will have their own individual thread, as if they all migrated from their home board at one time. As I write, the VT Rivals site is stacked with condolence threads, mostly saying "Prayers from (your school here)".

Hokie Haven (Rivals)

VT Insider (Scout)

The Lounge (off-sports topic board) at Techsideline.com

Condolences

The Virginia Tech logo has been marked with my amateur editing job using Paint.

I've been to the campus. It's a great place, tucked into the New River Valley, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Virginia is one of my favorite places, having spent time there for both work and play.

My prayers go out to those impacted by this tragedy.

A Big Deal

Today is the 60th anniversary of the day when Jackie Robinson first played in a major league game. He was the first African-American to play in the major leagues.

Major League Baseball is pulling out all the stops to honor him, declaring today Jackie Robinson Day. His number 42 has already been retired by every major league team. Today, over 200 players are wearing number 42, including several entire teams.

ESPN has been promoting this non-stop for a week. Normally, I believe ESPN blows everything way out of proportion. I get really sick of their hype machine. But, I really don't mind this. This sea of acclaim is coming about 35 years too late.

Jackie Robinson paved the way for African-Americans to play and excel, not just in baseball, but in the NFL and NBA as well. Baseball was a really big deal in 1947, and race relations were not good. Jackie Robinson broke a lot of stereotypes and took a lot of heat as a pioneer.

This is a big deal.

Message Board Thread Of The Day

Out at USC, hip-hop star Romeo (formerly Lil' Romeo) has committed to play basketball for the Trojans, beginning in 2008. His father, Master P, tried for years to make an NBA roster, to no avail. Romeo has a friend, DeMar DeRozan, who is a highly recruited shooting guard prospect. It is rumored that USC is letting Romeo play for the Trojans in order to entice his best friend, DeRozan, to play for the Trojans.

USC is a football school. However, North Carolina is a basketball school, so there is lots of traffic on their basketball board at Inside Carolina.com. Their fans have some interesting comments on this situation here:

Romeo to USC

Here's a great post from the thread:

Come on, man. You can't be serious. With this news on Lil Romeo, USC is quickly becoming a joke and a circus. (O.J.) Mayo lets his "friend" do his business deals with Floyd. I wonder how much Master P is going to be involved with Floyd? Maybe Floyd can get a record deal next? What's next for USC? Jay-Z as an assistant manager? Tattoo artist sitting on the bench during the games? Drinking Gatorade out of a pimp cup? Maybe Floyd will let them skip practice so they can do movies?.....

USC is attempting to become "Showtime". There was only one "Showtime": the Lakers.

Here is the USC take on the situation: WeAreSC.com

UUOTD-Steel City Edition

Last night, I was watching SportsCenter, and I immediately wanted to post this. However, there was already an ugly uniform yesterday, so it gave me something to post later.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have began wearing a red alternate jersey on Friday nights. Red can be a pirate color, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have made it work well. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates' colors are black and gold, just as the other Pittsburgh teams are.

I couldn't find any decent pictures from last night's game, as the Pirates lost to the Giants, and Barry Bonds hit two home runs, so the coverage was all about Bonds and the Giants. They are wearing this red jersey with their black caps and white pants. Not only is the jersey ugly, but it doesn't match the rest of their uniform.

I can't begin to describe how ugly this is. I was ready to gouge two eyes out. This red made it look like they were trying to bleed the normal white home uniforms. They are ruining a good look.

This uniform is like this franchise for the last decade and a half: bad, really bad. Ugh!

Dominoes Falling Down, or The Coaching Carousel

We are on the back end of college basketball coach hiring season. Coaches get fired, jobs open up, and coaches move up the proverbial ladder.

In December, Minnesota fired Dan Monson as head coach. He has since landed on his feet at Long Beach State. This set off the following set of moves:

Tubby Smith left Kentucky for Minnesota
Billy Gillispie left Texas A&M for Kentucky
Mark Turgeon left Wichita State for Texas A&M
Gregg Marshall left Winthrop for Wichita State

Winthrop is now on the clock.

By the way, Marshall agreed to a contract with a $750,000 base salary at Wichita State. WICHITA STATE! They are spending some serious cash. Marshall has been holding out for a bigger job for a while, and I thought he was holding out for a job in the SEC or ACC.

The coaching carousel is always interesting.

Ugly Uniform Of The Day-Hockey Retro Edition

The Vancouver Canucks have a legacy of ugly uniforms. None are worse than their home jerseys, worn from 1978-1985.

These are the infamous "V" jerseys. There is a multi-colored "V" coming down from the neck, with no logo. The road version is not quite as bad, since it was a black jersey. The home version, however, was hideous. There was no white, only a mustard yellow that would fit well in the German Bundesliga.

Any uniform is an improvement over this one. This is one of the worst uniforms in the history of sports, and probably the worst one in the history of the NHL.

At least Wayne Gretzky was dominating the NHL at that time, and the Canucks didn't even smell a Stanley Cup with those uniforms.

Hockey and Bets

I totally forgot that the Dallas Stars were playing the Vancouver Canucks last night in Game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Being in Houston, we got the Rockets' game on our version of Fox Sports Net, and I'm not sure if the game was on Versus (why did the NHL leave ESPN?).

The Stars have always been good for at least one multiple overtime game during the playoffs in a Western city. I've stayed up numerous times watching those things. There is nothing like playoff overtime hockey, especially when the game runs past midnight.

Last night took the cake. The Stars played in Vancouver, and the game started at 9 PM Central Time. When the Canucks won in the fourth overtime, it was 2:30 AM in Dallas. Wow.

Also on the subject of hockey: the Premier of British Columbia (similar to a governor in the States) has bet Texas governor Rick Perry 20.10 pounds of B.C. beef on the outcome of the series. Premier Gordon Campbell said: "I'm betting Gov. Perry 20.10 pounds of B.C. beef that we'll defeat the Stars and advance to the Western Conference semifinals, and also to remind him that B.C. is hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games." I have not seen word from Governor Perry as of yet. I'm thinking his reaction is: "What's hockey? Do they play it at Texas A&M?" and, "Where's British Columbia?"

Perry was challenged to a similar bet a few years ago by the governor of New Jersey, when the San Antonio Spurs and New Jersey Nets played for the NBA title. He responded: "There is nothing in New Jersey that we'd want." Perry does, however, participate in friendly bets with the Oklahoma governor over the annual Oklahoma-Texas football game. This is in spite of his affiliation with UT's archrival, Texas A&M.

Give me more hockey.

Message Board Thread of the Day

Actually, it's an entire message board.

The TCU site at Rivals.com is lightly visited. The message boards there get very little traffic, as the best TCU internet coverage and discussion is at www.killerfrogs.com.

The TCU basketball program has been mediocre at best in the last few years. Thus, bad basketball team + little fan interest + lightly visited site = dead message board. Enter the Big Blue Nation.

Kentucky fans have taken over the TCU board at rivals.com. This is priceless:

Kentucky Horned Frogs

Strange things happen when you have basketball fans from a basketball school take over the hoops board of a football school.

I spent 14 years in Fort Worth. I like TCU. I have several friends that went there. But, this is funny.

In spite of all that, Go Frogs!

(special thanks to Truzenzuzex at A Sea Of Blue for the mention in the blog today..)

Update, 10:10 pm CDT: Thanks to the guys at The Cats' Pause, this blog experienced a record day of traffic. With two hours left in the day, this blog has had 1,550 visits. This is a record, breaking the record set by Arkansas fans in January when I posted the email sent by a friend of Hog football coach Houston Nutt to QB Mitch Mustain. The Big Blue Nation has been a lot of fun today. Thank you, Kentucky!

A Palace?

I am going to take a few minutes and write on something that matters to very few people outside a few square miles in Oklahoma.

My high school alma mater, Tecumseh High School in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, is in the process of building a new football stadium. A bond issue was passed last year, and they are building a 3,000 seat stadium immediately north of the high school. This stadium is sorely needed, as they are currently playing on a 70-year old field that now holds maybe 1500 people, and has very little parking, forcing fans to park in the surrounding neighborhood. The current field also only has a small dressing room, barely big enough for one team. The home team buses from the practice field at the school, where they dress for games. The teams cram into the small building at halftime for adjustments. I apologize for not having pictures, but it's really just three square blocks in a neighborhood with a football field on it.

The school has been on the cusp of moving to a higher classification for years, and now expects to move up in the next realignment. Therefore, the urgency has been demonstrated for a new facility, 30 years in the making/dreaming.

This isn't a really huge deal to most, but they are doing some things right with this stadium. First, some of the bleachers on the home side will have chairbacks. This is standard fare at a lot of high schools, but is something foreign to Tecumseh. Also, there will be Field Turf at the new stadium, as purchased by the school board last night. That is somewhat normal for a lot of schools in Texas (even some one-high school towns in classes 3A & 4A), but it is still unusual in Oklahoma. Schools there don't spend quite the bucks on football like they do in Texas. There are probably only a handful of schools in Oklahoma with artificial turf, and probably none of Tecumseh's size. Initially, I don't see the use, as they don't have a soccer team, nor do they have a second high school with which to share the stadium. But, it's a nice feature, well-deserved for a school which has had sub-par facilities for so long. And, the coach or maintenance workers will be glad to not have to mow grass in the summer.

My hat is off to them. They are building a facility they can be proud of. It is long-awaited and well-deserved.

Update: A video preview of the new facility is posted above.

Wacca, Wacca, Wacca....

...was the noise as Pac-man ate the dots on the classic video game played for hours by those of us that are children of the 80's.

Today, Pacman is a suspended NFL cornerback. Adam "Pacman" Jones of the Tennessee Titans was suspended for an entire season by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Jones has been arrested 10 times in the last two years for various offenses.

The most well-known of these offenses occurred during NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas. Jones is alleged to have been involved in an altercation with an exotic dancer at a local strip club. According to the club's co-owner, Jones approached the stage with a garbage bag filled with approximately $81,000 in one-dollar bills. Jones proceeded to throw the money into the air over the exotic dancers for a dramatic effect, an act known as "making it rain" or performing a "rain dance". Becoming enraged when one of the dancers began taking the money without his permission, Jones grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head on the stage. A security guard intervened and scuffled with members of Jones' entourage of half a dozen people, during which time Jones allegedly bit the guard on the lower leg. Jones then allegedly threatened the guard's life. After the patrons of the club exited, the club owner says a person in Jones' entourage returned with a gun and fired into a crowd, hitting three people, including the security guard involved in the earlier skirmish. Although the guard was shot twice, one of the people hit, former professional wrestler Tommy Urbanski, was paralyzed from the waist down. Jones maintains that he did not know the shooter, although the club's owner insists that Jones did. On March 26, 2007 the Las Vegas Police recommended to the city's district attorney that Jones be charged with one count of felony coercion and also a misdemeanor count of battery and a misdemeanor count of threat to life. (thanks to Wikipedia for the details)

Also suspended today, for eight games, was Jones' college teammate and Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry. Henry has been arrested four times in the last two years for various offenses.

This is a good move. The league has instituted a tougher personal conduct policy, with encouragement from the players' union. The NFL needs to keep its off-field reputation clean in order to remain the most popular (and only growing) major spectator sport in America.

Props to Commissioner Goodell.