They're Crazy

Word is that Mark Cuban is part of a group that is investigating the formation of a new professional football league, to compete with the NFL. This league would begin with eight teams, and would play on Friday nights.

Cuban has a good point: the NFL salary cap drives down the salaries of players drafted in the third round and lower. He sees where the new league could offer those players more money, and can build their league around them. They don't see the need to start a bidding war for stars, like the AFL and the USFL. Like NFL scouts, they see plenty of quality players chosen on the second day of the draft.

However, I'm not sure if there is a market for another pro league. First, there are stadium issues, as most quality stadiums are occupied by NFL teams. There are a handful of universities willing to rent out their stadiums (are you listening, SMU, Rice, and U of Houston?), and there are the old reliables of Birmingham, Memphis, and Orlando (I think Birmingham has had a team in every pro league not called the AFL or NFL). Second, who is going to televise this league? The NFL is on every broadcast network except ABC, whose sports department is now owned by NFL TV partner ESPN. Friday nights are a wasteland for networks, but what network is going to risk the wrath of the NFL by televising its competitor? I guess they could join the NHL in anonymity by playing on Versus. Third, playing on Friday nights in most of the country is suicide. Friday nights are traditionally reserved for high school football. Will a second-rate pro team in the South or Midwest be able to compete with lower-priced high school football? I don't think so. There would be a TV audience, as Friday night college games draw viewers. However, pro games from empty stadiums get really dull really quick. Ask the XFL or USFL.

I like renegade football leagues. I loved the USFL in the 80's. I watched one week of the XFL, then turned it off like the rest of America. However, unlike Mark Cuban, I don't see enough remaining market for pro football to justify the creation of a new league.

Good luck with all that..

Stanley Cup, Eh?

Flying under the radar, at least in this country, are the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Hockey still exists, and the NHL is still in business, in spite of their lockout of two years ago. In the United States (outside of NHL cities), hockey gets lower TV ratings than poker, and is less popular than tractor pulls. It is a great spectator sport that has not translated well to TV. Now that the league is no longer seen on ESPN, the league has become out of sight and out of mind to most sports fans.

The Stanley Cup Finals begin Monday night just outside of Disneyland in Anaheim. Canada's Team, the Ottawa Senators, face the 57 Freeway's Team, the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks are no longer Mighty, as Disney sold the team a couple of years ago, and they are simply the Anaheim Ducks. Games 1 & 2 are on TV in the US, just barely, as they will be on Versus (way up the dial on digital cable and satellite). The remaining games will be on NBC, as long as there is no horse racing pre-game show. (NBC last Saturday left the Senators-Sabres playoff game before overtime to go to the Preakness pre-race show. The pre-race show got much better ratings than hockey) It's still a big deal in the Great White North, though.

These teams have not played since January 2006. What kind of league plays an 82-game schedule, but doesn't let every team play each other at least once or twice? In the NBA, even the Lakers have to play the Charlotte Bobcats twice.

I still like hockey. I can't bring myself to root for the Ducks, as I'm still a Dallas Stars fan. Go Sens!

Ugly Uniform of the Day

This is painful, but I have to be fair.

College baseball is pretty far off the radar of everyone except the most rabid college sports fans. The competition is pretty good, especially when rivalries from football and basketball spill over to the diamond. The caliber of play is somewhere around low minor league quality, as college programs have 11.7 total scholarships to offer to the whole team, and are competing with major league organizations and their large bonuses offered to high draft picks. College baseball, overall, is a fun sport, though not nearly as popular as football or basketball.

Here is the painful part. Anyone that knows me knows that there are really only four things that are important to me: God, my family, the Oklahoma Sooners, and America. Sometimes, those priorities get mixed up. So, it pains me to throw the Sooners under the bus. But, I have to.

OU has broken out these black baseball uniforms. There are two major strikes against them: 1) black for a school that does not have it as a primary color, and 2) the red stripe under the arm and down the side of the jersey. Nike really stunk up the joint here. Someone at Nike needs to be drawn up and quartered.

Berry Tramel, lead columnist for The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City, hits it right on the mark in this video/column (link is to the video-column is in the list to the right). The Sooners should wear crimson and cream. They should not wear black. Black is for their cousins in Stillwater.

Nike and OU better not try this in football or basketball. Black does not go with crimson and cream, no matter how cool anyone thinks it may be.

Ugly Uniform of the Day-Sort Of

It's a slow time of year, as my major sports interests, the NFL, college football, and college basketball are out of season.

With that being said, it's also a slow time for uniforms. I did see something the other night that caught my eye.

My wife and I were eating dinner in the Seattle airport, and I saw this guy with this houndstooth baseball cap. Sure enough, it had the Alabama "A" on it.

I like Alabama. The Crimson Tide have a football tradition that is second to none, rivaling Notre Dame, USC, and Oklahoma. They packed their stadium with 90,000 people for their spring game. They have the Million Dollar Band, and the Four Million Dollar Coach, Nick Saban. However, there is an ongoing obsession with Bear Bryant. The Bear has been dead almost 25 years, and every coach is still expected to replace him. Paul "Bear" Bryant was greatness. But, he's been gone a long time.

This hat symbolizes that obsession. Bear Bryant was known for his houndstooth derby hat. This cap combines the houndstooth design with a baseball cap. Ugly. Bear Bryant wouldn't be caught dead in that. Come to think of it, Bear Bryant wouldn't be caught alive in it, either.

Somewhere, Nike is making some bucks off of this. I don't expect the Four Million Dollar Coach to wear this on the sideline this year, though.

The Super Bowl Is Coming

Today, on the fourth ballot, the NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XLV to Arlington. The 2001 game will be played at Jerryworld, the new stadium to be named later in Arlington.

This is one of the major reasons for the new stadium: attracting a Super Bowl. The Super Bowl will be good for business in North Texas.

I hope the Cowboys are a Super Bowl contender in four years. Maybe they will get to play a Super Bowl on their home field.

The Silver Boot

This weekend brings us interleague play in Major League Baseball. With that, comes the annual renewal of the battle for the Silver Boot, between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros.

The Rangers and Astros did not play each other in the regular season in the first four years of interleague play, because the Rangers were in the American League West, and the Astros are in the National League Central. Major League Baseball adjusted some schedules to allow the teams to play every year. Of course, the Rangers were promised the opportunity to move to the American League Central, but Tom Hicks chose not to hold baseball to that, and to remain in the American League West..I guess he doesn't mind staying up until 9:30 to watch his team play road games..but I digress. Anyway, the teams play three games this weekend in Houston, and will play three more later this season in Arlington. The Rangers won Friday night's game, 7-4.

The teams have played for the Silver Boot trophy for the last six years. It sounds and looks kinda silly, but if the owners like it, then we'll roll with it. Each team has won the Silver Boot three times. If the teams split the series, the boot goes to the team with the most total runs in the series. Ironically, the Rangers won the Silver Boot in 2005. The Astros went on to the World Series. I think the Rangers would rather go to the World Series than win a little trophy. Last year, the Astros won the trophy.

Though I now live in Houston, my loyalties are still with the Rangers. They may be forever mediocre, but they're still my team. Let's go win that Silver Boot!

What Is Up In The East?

The NBA Eastern Conference playoffs, just a few days ago, were looking like a two-team race. Both Detroit and Cleveland had swept their first round series, and had taken 3-0 leads in their second round series. They were on a collision course for a rematch of their playoff series from last year.

But, something happened on the way to DET vs. CLE. First, the Chicago Bulls won game 4 in Chicago, then surprised the Pistons last night in game 5 at the Palace. Then, the New Jersey Nets did the same thing to the Cavs, whipping the Fighting LeBrons in game 5 at the Q in Cleveland.

Something weird is going on in the East. The Bulls and the Nets aren't done yet.

Turn Back The Clock-More Cheesy Music

I had posted this briefly last week, but took it down, because I was unable to embed the Youtube video into the blog.

ABC carried NBA games up until 1974. There is a clip of their opening from 1973, with B.J. Thomas (or someone that sounds like him) singing this cheesy theme song, ending in "Timeout for the NBA Game Of The Week", with video of such NBA greats as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (with Milwaukee), Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West.

The owner of the video does not allow embedding, but he still has the video posted on YouTube. It is cheesier than a Kraft dinner.

NBA Game of the Week

He has other great video posted there, as well.

Good stuff...

BCS History At A Glance

We're still a long way from another college football season. And, the BCS is still a bunch of B.S. Nonetheless, it has become an even higher level of bowl game, and the prestige has increased along with the payouts. The upcoming season will be the 10th season of the BCS. Some interesting things I uncovered, while researching at College Football Data Warehouse:

The BCS has existed for 9 years.

38 different schools have been involved in BCS bowl games.

Nine different schools have won BCS national championships in the nine years of the BCS: Tennessee, Florida State, Oklahoma, Miami, Ohio State, LSU, USC, Texas, and Florida.

Florida State has appeared in the most BCS bowls, with six. The Seminoles have only won one of those bowl games.

USC and Ohio State have won the most BCS bowls, with four wins each.

Florida State has lost the most BCS bowls, with five. Hey, at least they got there.

Three schools from outside BCS conferences have appeared in BCS bowls. Notre Dame has a special deal with the BCS. They have appeared in, and been spanked in, three different BCS games. Can you say not ready for prime time? On the other hand, Utah and Boise State have both capped undefeated seasons with victories in the Fiesta Bowl.

The following schools have appeared in the BCS:
ACC: Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Wake Forest
Big East: Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Louisville
Big Ten: Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, Iowa, Illinois
Big XII: Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Colorado, Kansas State
SEC: Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama
Pac-10: USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, UCLA, Stanford
Notre Dame
Non-BCS: Utah, Boise State

The BCS is a poor imitation of a playoff, but it's all we have at this time.

Looking forward to the next BCS National Championship game next January in the Big Easy...

Rumor of the Day

There is a rumor out there that Shaquille O'Neal will be traded to the Mavericks.

Shaq to Dallas?

This would be cool. Shaq doesn't feel like busting it for an 82-game regular season. The Mavs don't need him for that. However, they can sure use Shaq, even if it's 36-year old Shaq in the twilight of his career, in the playoffs.

If nothing else, it would make for good radio, as Shaq would be united with his friend Corby from The Ticket.

Turn Back The Clock: Moody Madness Edition

The Dallas Mavericks' season may be over prematurely, but the Mavs live on, thanks to YouTube.

The Mavs made their first playoff appearance in 1984, against the Seattle Supersonics. The teams were tied at 2-2 in a best-of-5 series, when the series moved back to Dallas. Reunion Arena was booked, as the Mavs were not expected to still be playing. So, the series shifted to Moody Coliseum at SMU. Moody is an old, underrated pit of an arena where the fans are on top of the action. 10,000 fans packed into the old barn to watch the Mavs defeat the Sonics, 105-104 in overtime. This was their first win in a playoff series.

This is a CBS recap of the series, highlighted by a review of the deciding Game 5.

UUOTD-Thursday

Nike has thrown some really hideous uniforms out there in the last few years. Perhaps their most infamous unis were worn on only one weekend in 2005.

Both Florida and Virginia Tech wore orange on one shoulder of these home jerseys. These met with such outrage that neither school dared to wear them again. Nike was so embarrassed that they did not dare to try this with any other school.

These are awful. Eye-gouge rating: Two

(note: the VT player being pile-driven by guys from the "U" is no relation to the author of this blog)

Ugly Uniform of the Day

This will make another appearance during football season, but this one is so bad, it deserves mention now.

The Philadelphia Eagles are entering their 75th season in 2007. In honor of the occasion, they will, for one game, wear these replicas of their 1933 uniforms. The Eagles will wear them on September 23 against the Detroit Lions.

Jevon Kearse is shown modeling these fine pieces of high fashion. They look like something UCLA would have worn.

Blech.

Turning Back The Clock Again

More classic video from the folks at CBS and YouTube...

This is the opening of Game 5 of the 1976 NBA World Championship Series, between the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns. The Celtics were heavy favorites, but had lost two games in Phoenix, and were tied 2-2 with the upstart Suns. This game is regarded by many as the greatest game in the history of the league, with the Celtics winning in triple overtime. The Celtics then went out to Phoenix and closed out the Suns in Game 6.

Some things to notice:

1) Young Brent Musburger.
2) Rick Barry. Now better known as Jon and Brent's dad, he was a great player in his own right. On this night, however, he appears on CBS with a toupee, and with this baby blue leisure suit, unbuttoned, with a huge cross hanging around his neck. Classic.
3) CBS had an ex-ref doing commentary, in Mendy Rudolph. Imagine if ABC/ESPN hired say, Joey Crawford, to do commentary.
4) The red checked jackets Mendy Rudolph and Sonny Hill are wearing on camera. Nice.

Not on this clip: the sixth man for the Celtics, none other than Don Nelson.

Good stuff.

Guess Who Else Is On Vacation

How do you lose Game 7 at home? That's what the Houston Rockets did tonight. Therefore, one side of the Western Conference playoffs is between the Utah Jazz and the Golden State Warriors. Bizarre.

As a Dallas Mavericks fan, I can say: At least Houston had a Game 7.

Looking forward to that series between San Antonio and Phoenix...

Turn Back the Clock

From the archives of CBS, ESPN Classic, and YouTube...

This is the intro to Game 7 of the 1975 Western Conference Finals, between the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors. This is a long time before hip-hop and the NBA became intertwined with each other. Heck, this is even slightly before disco. Some things to notice:

1) The cheesy opening intro music, complete with lyrics and 70's-style silhouette animation. "You'll see the best in basketball, when you watch the NBA..when you watch the NBA on CBS.."
2) A young Brent Musburger, when he was becoming the voice of EVERYTHING for CBS. He was better then, before his ego got in the way. He's now been with ABC/ESPN longer than he was with CBS, but ESPN has cheapened him by placing him on those spare Tuesday night Big Ten games, among other things. He is, however, filling the shoes of the once-great Keith Jackson on college football, and is the subject of a drinking game.
3) The Bulls in the Western Conference? Yes, they were. The Bulls and Milwaukee were in the Western Conference until 1980, when the Dallas Mavericks came into the league. When the Mavs came into the NBA, Houston and San Antonio moved to the West with them, and the Bulls and Bucks went east.

This video clip is really good stuff. By the way, the Warriors went on to win this game, then won the championship in the next round by sweeping the Washington Bullets, four games to none.

Knee-Jerk

The Mavs are down 12 with 6:39 to go in the 3rd quarter. It doesn't look good.

When in the world are the Warriors going to stop hitting 3's? Everything they throw up goes in the hoop.

Ouch!

4th quarter update: Mavs still down 23. I'm going to bed.

Where's Dirk? He's sure not in Oakland tonight.

League Of Nations

Recent years have brought us the description of fan bases as (Your Team Here) Nation. These are not nations in the sovereign sense, but definitely every bit as tribal as any ethnic group. Many fans identify with teams deeply, just as they would with a country or ethnic group.

I do not know the origin of (Your Team Here) Nation. I first heard it in 1995, when new football coach Howard Schnellenberger referred to Oklahoma fans as the Sooner Nation. That was the only thing I liked about Howard's reign in Norman. Now, it seems there are more (Your Team Here) Nations than there are Native American tribes. Kentucky has the Big Blue Nation. Texas has Burnt Orange Nation. Virginia Tech has the Hokie Nation. Boston has Red Sox Nation. Florida uses Gator Nation as a marketing tool for its entire university, calling itself The Foundation for the Gator Nation, marketing itself to Florida residents and fans that never went to school there.

I think all of this is pretty funny. It reminds me of a guy I saw on a Kentucky message board, who is currently serving our country in Iraq. He used as a signature on his posts: "Fighting in Iraq for the Big Blue Nation. And, the United States, too".

As long as another civil war doesn't break out, it's pretty cool.

Stayin' Alive

Up 21 in the first half. Down 9 with less than 3 minutes to play. I can't handle the suspense any longer. Great 15-0 run by the Mavs to close it out. (or was it a meltdown by Golden State-those 3's aren't going to fall forever)

Back to California for Game 6..

Ugly Uniform of the Day

I caught these threads while watching this past weekend's coverage of the NFL Draft.

The University of Pittsburgh wore these all-gold threads last year in their season finale vs. Louisville. They played like puke, losing to the conference champion Cardinals, 48-24. Worse than that, they looked like puke in these uniforms. This combination just doesn't work. Yuck.

At least they didn't wear an all-gold version of the shade of gold they wore in the 70's and 80's. (Pictured is an autographed replica of Tony Dorsett's helmet) That would have looked like butterscotch candy.

Train Wreck

There is a train wreck of Biblical proportions occurring in the NBA playoffs.

The Dallas Mavericks, winners of 67 games in the regular season, are down 3 games to 1 in their first round playoff series with the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors. Over the weekend, the Mavs lost two winnable games near the City by the Bay. I cannot describe how upset I am with them.

The Mavericks are on track to totally blow two entire seasons. Last season, they won the first two games in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, then blew a lead late in Game 3, as they lost the last four games of the series and the title to the Heat. While that was embarrassing and disheartening, the little Mavs bounced back to post the third best regular season record in the history of the league. At this point, though, that doesn't matter. They're getting their butts kicked by ex-coach Don Nelson and the Golden State Warriors. The window for a championship is closing, faster than the Road Runner can say, "Beep, Beep".

This series is not over. This team is capable of winning three games in a row, in spite of the matchup problems. After all, this team had a 17-game winning streak and two 12-game winning streaks.

But, it is so easy to knee-jerk over this thing, and that's what I'm doing here. If the Mavs blow this golden opportunity, where do they go from here? Does Mark Cuban fire Avery Johnson after winning 67 games? Do the Mavs trade Dirk Nowitzki after a possible MVP season? Heck, does Cuban get sick of it all, and cash out and sell the team?

This is bad. Really bad.

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.

Message Board Thread of the Day

In Kentucky, Big Blue Nation is still abuzz with the hiring of the program's latest high priest, Billy Clyde Gillispie. However, that is not the only change in the Kentucky athletic department.

Catspause.com currently has a two page thread on the athletic director's reassignment of the longtime secretary in the basketball office.

Basketball Secretary Reassigned

This is probably good for her. She wouldn't want to try to keep up with a coach that calls up players at 3 A.M. just to chat, and that sends 8,000 text messages per month.

Only in Kentucky would it be a big deal for an athletic department secretary to be reassigned.

Message Board Thread of the Day

Something I spend way too much time doing is reading internet message boards. The Internet has produced a new type of armchair fan. The Web has provided a place where people can go, anonymously, and post their feelings (and schtick) among people of like mind (or of unlike mind). Anybody with a screen name and a password can say whatever they want to, whether it makes sense or not, and whether it makes them look smart or not. Some people look really wise on the Internet. Others look really foolish.

I am entertained by reading the message boards of different universities. I read them more than I should. I get a lot of information from them, as do legitimate journalists. A lot of what is said in these forums turns out to be true. Just like you can't believe everything you hear, you can't believe everything you read on the Internet. However, many of these Internet communities do a good job of keeping fellow posters accountable for truth.

From time to time, I am going to post a thread from an Internet message board that I find interesting. Sometimes, it will be informative. Other times, it will be entertaining. Coaches hate message boards, and the rumors that they can sometimes produce, as well as the pressure they can create. I like them. I enjoy reading them.

Billy Gillispie left Texas A&M for Kentucky last week. According to some, he was looking for a place to go as early as last year. Some are saying that he had agreed to take the Arkansas job, before he decided to wait on Kentucky. There are those that are saying that Frank Broyles was so sure Gillispie was going to Arkansas, that he had made plans in February to fire coach Stan Heath at the end of the season. Once Billy G turned down Arkansas, the Hogs were looking bad. According to others, Gillispie was playing Arkansas and Texas A&M off of each other, while pushing for the Kentucky job all along.

There are two threads from Texags.com that are enlightening. One discusses a blog entry from this morning by the Houston Chronicle's John P. Lopez. Lopez takes the side of Gillispie in this mess.

Texags on Lopez Blog

Another Texags thread is by a poster with the handle of "Ball Gravy". He throws Gillispie under the bus over the weekend with some of the first information on Gillispie's flirtation with Arkansas. Apparently, Ball Gravy has a source in the athletic department. The thread was locked for a time, then was reopened as the allegations appeared more true.

Ball Gravy on Gillispie and Arkansas

Where there's a soap opera, there you will find Arkansas in the middle of it. Actually, this one belongs more to the Aggies.

Ugly Uniform of the Day

I was watching SportsCenter last night, and they were showing highlights of the Mets-Braves game. There were some loud uniforms being worn, and I thought they were orange jerseys, like the Mets wear on occasion in spring training. I thought these were the most awful things. I looked closer, and the Mets were wearing gray. The game was in Atlanta, and the Braves were wearing red.

This red is louder than a fire truck. It does not fit the Braves. The Braves need to wear white at home, and gray on the road. Red is a minor, complementary color for them.

This franchise went through a phase in the 70's and 80's where they wore both powder and royal blue. They weren't very good then, except for one good year in '82. The Braves' dynasty of the 90's and 2000's coincided with their return to the Milwaukee Braves uniforms.

Apparently, these red jerseys are their Sunday uniform. The Sunday cap, with the "A" and the tomahawk isn't real great, either.

Braves: Go back to basics, quickly.

The Cleveland Indians of Milwaukee (at least for three days)

One of the drawbacks of the 162-game, 162-date schedule is that baseball season starts really, really early. The regular season began last week, on April 2. While that's not a problem in places like southern California, it can raise some issues in other parts of the country.

The Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Indians attempted to play a four-game series this past weekend in Cleveland. Attempt is the operative word here. The city of Cleveland got hit by a massive snowstorm over the weekend. The teams played Friday night into the top of the 5th inning, but, with Cleveland leading 4-0, but with the bases loaded for Seattle, Mariners manager Mike Hargrove complained to the umpires about visibility in the falling snow. So, the game was wiped away, to be rescheduled for Saturday. They didn't play Saturday, as there were three inches of snow and ice on the field. So, they tried to play a doubleheader on Sunday. No luck. Finally, they had a scheduled doubleheader for today. Still snowed out.

There is no word on make-up dates for this series. This was Seattle's only scheduled trip to Cleveland this season.

To add insult to injury for the fans of CLE, the Indians have moved this week's Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to Milwaukee. It seems Milwaukee has a retractable roof over their park. This is also the only scheduled visit by the Angels to Cleveland this season. On top of that, the fans of CLE lose three opportunities to see their team this season.

Baseball has an absolutely absurd schedule. I understand that both the players' union (due to rest) and the owners (more playing dates=more money) desire to stay away from the scheduled doubleheader. This forces the regular season into early April. Also, the regular season currently ends at the very end of September, with three rounds of playoffs extending through the entire month of October. All of this leads to some crazy weather at both the beginning and end of the season. Baseball games should not be in a position to be snowed out.

There are two simple solutions, neither of which will happen in my lifetime: 1) Go back to the 154-game schedule, and sprinkle a few doubleheaders into the calendar. This will allow for opening day to be held no earlier than mid-April. 2) Play all games in the first two weeks of the season in covered ballparks or warm-weather cities. There is always the possibility of freak weather such as last weekend's snow flurries and freezing weather in Arlington, Texas. However, it is not fair to the players, or even the fans, in places like Cleveland or Chicago to play or watch in almost guaranteed frigid conditions.

To add another lack of sense to the situation, this is the only visit by both the Mariners and Angels to Cleveland this year. I have no problem with the unbalanced schedule, allowing teams to play more games against division rivals. However, the lords of baseball can at least schedule these games at both the beginning and end of the season. Scheduling division games early can at least offer more opportunities for make-up later in the season.

As it is, the Mariners could spend two or as many as four off-days making road trips into Cleveland to make up this series. Good luck working all that out.

And baseball wonders why it is no longer this country's leading sport.

Where Do We Go From Here?

This blog has been up since August of 2006. It's been a lot of fun blogging through the football and college basketball seasons.

We are now in, what is for me, the off-season when it comes to sports. Football season is over, and college basketball season is over.

I'm not going away, but I am refocusing. The NBA playoffs are coming up. Baseball season has began. I can't quite get into baseball yet, and I wouldn't care at all if I didn't have a fantasy team. Baseball is a talking sport, however, and I expect to talk about it some time. Football is just around the corner.

There is always something to blog about. I plan to keep up. I can't promise 5-6 posts per day, but I plan to keep up. This blog isn't going away.

Billy Clyde, Part 2

Last week, this blog wrote of a bidding war between Texas A&M and Arkansas for the services of one Billy Clyde Gillispie as basketball coach. The bidding war did not really materialize, as A&M offered him a raise, and he did not return the Hogs' calls to interview for their open head coaching job.

But, a funny thing happened as the Aggie Board of Regents was approving the new contract. Gillispie agreed to it, but decided not to sign it? Why? Because he knew he had a chance at the Kentucky job. Kentucky went after Billy Donovan first, was rebuffed, then turned to Gillispie. This morning, the Big Blue hired Gillispie as head coach.

This is a good fit. Gillispie is a tireless recruiter. He helped recruit great teams at Tulsa and Illinois, before becoming head coach at UTEP and Texas A&M. He performed quick turnarounds at two schools that were nothing but easy. He is an extreme workaholic. According to a story last month in the Dallas Morning News, he stays up all night watching film, and is known to call other coaches at 2 A.M. He usually does not make time to fix or go out for breakfast, choosing to grab peanut butter crackers and Dr Pepper on the way to the office. He has a 3,000 square foot house that rarely has food in the pantry or refrigerator. Recently, he went six months without grocery shopping. He is supremely committed to basketball, and makes fun of himself for his failed eight-year marriage. (His poor ex-wife. She was married to him when he was coaching in high school and junior college, not making any money, then he chose basketball over her. He happened to become a multi-millionaire as a result) His one outside interest appears to be horse racing. Kentucky is an obvious attraction.

The Big Blue Nation is equally obsessed with winning. They just ran off a coach because he was only making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament, and was finishing 4th in the SEC East.

I wonder, if in 1994, while he was an assistant coach at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, that he even dreamed he would be the coach at Kentucky. I doubt if it even crossed his mind when he took his first head coaching job at UTEP. UTEP to A&M to Kentucky in six years is quite a career progression.

He has what we call a shirt-tail connection to Kentucky. In 1987-88, he was the head basketball coach at Copperas Cove High School in Texas. His boss: athletic director/head football coach Hal Mumme, who went on to become head football coach at Kentucky before the program fell victim to scandal.

As for A&M, don't worry about the Aggies. They have gotten a taste of basketball success, and won't allow themselves to fall off the basketball map. And, Gillispie wouldn't have left there for just any job. Kentucky is not just any job. Most coaches would crawl to Lexington for that job, as Eddie Sutton said he would do in the 80's when he went there from Arkansas.

The Big Blue Nation is in good hands.

Should I Stay, or Should I Go?

That was asked of two well-known coaches today. One is staying, while the other is going.

Florida coach Billy Donovan, fresh off a repeat national championship, pulled his name out of consideration for the vacant Kentucky job today. He was believed to be the leading candidate. Kentucky is a good place to be for someone. Their tradition and facilities are second to none. However, coaching there is like coaching in a fishbowl, and every move is judged and analyzed by an entire state. It is similar to coaching football at a place like Oklahoma or Alabama. At Florida, Donovan is the basketball king. He has created his own tradition. And, he can hide in the shadow of football, when necessary. Donovan has mastered the art of coaching basketball at a football school in the South.


Going down the road, however, is the lovable Huggy Bear. Bob Huggins, fresh off his inagural season at Kansas State, accepted the job today at West Virginia, his alma mater. In one season, he restored relevance to the K-State program, barely missing the NCAA tournament. He also had a top recruiting class lined up for the upcoming season. All of that is in jeopardy at this time. Huggins was born in Morgantown, and played and coached at WVU. He is leaving K-State in a big lurch, but you can't blame the guy for going home. It'll be interesting to see if the Big East schedules a game between WVU and his former school, Cincinnati, in Cincinnati. He is still a hero there.

As The Hog Turns

The Arkansas athletic department continues to wallow in slop (pun intended).

A quick summary of recent events:

Athletic director Frank Broyles was forced to retire, but was allowed to stay until the end of the year.

Men's basketball coach Stan Heath was fired after taking his team to the last two NCAA tournaments. The Razorbacks were arguably the last team selected for the tournament, and were promptly pounded by USC.

In their search for a new coach, the Hogs zeroed in on Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie, who wouldn't return the Hogs' calls. The Razorbacks were forced to look in another direction.

Arkansas then hired Creighton coach Dana Altman to fill the position. On Monday afternoon, he was introduced at a press conference, but then had a change of heart. Apparently, he learned of academic issues and positive drug tests. So, Altman was on a plane that evening for Omaha, and returned to his position at Creighton. The Hogs, meanwhile find themselves looking again for a basketball coach.

On the football side, coach Houston Nutt, hated by many sections of the Razorback Nation, finds himself the target of this report. An Arkansas fan/booster, Thomas McAfee, made a Freedom of Information Act request for Nutt's email and cell phone records. The results are found here: The Nutt House.

Among the charges in the document are of Nutt's alleged affair with a Fayetteville TV news anchor, and his list of text messages to her. My question is (among others): why is he using the school-issued cell phone to text message his lady friend? He surely knows there are people out to get him, and that cell phone records are the type of thing that can be traced. Many of these messages happen to be during the weekend in which Nutt was with his wife, as they were burying her mother in Oklahoma.

Also included in the report is a copy of the infamous email from physical therapist Teresa Prewett to quarterback Mitch Mustain.

This is a circus that would make Barnum & Bailey proud. Razorback Nation is peeved, for good reason.

There is a great Arkansas message board (registration required) at www.hogville.net. Those guys pull no punches.

Ugly Uniform of the Day

UUOTD has been gone for several days, but not forgotten. It returns with a lemon-lime vengeance.

The Seattle SuperSonics have been wearing this yellow version of their updated look, modeled after their classic uniforms of the late 70's-early 80's. The white version looks fine, and the green version looks fine.

The yellow version leaves a lot to be desired. They look like five bottles of ReaLemon juice out on the court. The NBA is not a place for lemonade or lemon juice.

The Sonics are having arena issues, and are in danger of leaving Seattle. They have been purchased by a group from my hometown of Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City, the temporary home of the Hornets, is also the corporate headquarters of Sonic Drive-Ins. The possibility exists for the Sonics to move to Oklahoma. Surely the Oklahoma City Sonics wouldn't wear a uniform scheme designed to match Sonic. Let's see, what do I choose: lemon juice, or an extra-long chili cheese coney?

Greatness

This blog would not be complete without paying homage to the greatness of Eddie Robinson. The former Grambling coach died early today at the age of 88.

Coach Robinson began coaching at Grambling in 1941, retiring in 1997. He was the first college football coach to reach 400 wins, retiring with a record of 408-165-15. More than 200 of his players went on to play in the National Football League.

Robinson began during the days of segregation, when he would have to make ham sandwiches for his players because they could not eat in whites-only restaurants on road trips. He was originally a one-man band, coaching without any assistant coaches and doing his own field maintenance. He built a program that graduated 80% of its players and sent numerous alumni to the NFL.

Any attention given to his life and his passing is very well deserved.

The Megaprogram, Basketball, and the BCS

Did you know...

In the last 25 years, only six schools not currently in BCS conferences have qualified for the Final Four:

UNLV (1987, 1990-National Champions, 1991)
Utah (1998-national runner-up)
Memphis (1985)
Houston (1982, 1983, 1984)
UMass (1996)
George Mason (2006)

Of those schools, only George Mason has been to a Final Four in this decade.

Of those schools, UNLV, Memphis, and UMass were caught cheating and later put on probation.

When they made their appearances in the 1980's, Houston and the former Memphis State were in "power" conferences of that day, the Southwest and Metro conferences, respectively.

Memphis would probably be off this list and in the Big East (BCS) if they were 300 miles east and in the Eastern Time Zone, to join their traditional rivals Louisville and Cincinnati.

It's really hard for a school in a middle-to-lower tier conference to get to the Final Four, especially without being caught cheating. In many ways, it's easier for a middle-of-the road team from a big conference to get on a run in the Tournament and advance.

George Mason's run in last year's tournament was a huge, huge, huge accomplishment.

Money will buy lots of things. Things like coaches, practice facilities, recruiting budgets, and chartered planes for road trips. Big money is generated through big-time football.

Now, more than ever, football (especially the BCS) drives the bus.

This Guy Gets It

Dr. Bernie Machen, president of the University of Florida, is trying to lead a movement for a college football playoff. He has some hot sports opinions on lower-level programs in big conferences raking in the cash, while good programs in lesser conferences suffer. He also has some words for the Big Ten and Pac-10.

A College President With A Brain

Dr. Machen was formerly the president of the University of Utah, and has hired Urban Meyer as football coach at both Utah and Florida.

He gets it. Good luck to him as he tries to incite a revolution.

Gatorland

Or, more accurately, Gatorworld.

The Florida Gators, as expected by many, repeated as national champions tonight. Even more impressively, Florida has become the first school to win national championships in football and basketball in the same school year.

It's the Gators' world. We just live in it.

Now comes the fun part. Coach Billy Donovan will be making a ton more money. The question is, will it be coming from Gainesville, or from Lexington?

What Could Have Been

Four years ago, the top high school player in America was in the state of Ohio. There was a guy at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron that was filling up gyms wherever he went. He was identified at an early age as "the next Jordan". He had so many agents and shoe companies after him that college was not even an option.

But, just what if this guy had gone to college? He wouldn't have stayed at home to play for the Akron Zips. There's a good chance he would have gone down the road to play for The Ohio State University. Imagine LeBron James in college. Even more farfetched: what if he would have stayed for four years?

Wait a minute, though. LeBron wisely took the money and turned pro. And, TOSU wound up with a stud in Greg Oden, thanks to the NBA, and their new rule requiring players to be 20 years old before they are drafted. So, TOSU is playing for a national championship tonight.

Both parties are better off, after all.

One Shining Moment

Spring started on March 21st, but it doesn't really start in earnest until tonight, between 10:30 and 11:00 PM Central time. Spring begins after the end of the NCAA national championship, when CBS plays "One Shining Moment".

CBS has run a video montage to "One Shining Moment" for around the last 20 years or so. The song is kinda cheesy, but the tournament is incomplete without it. In its own way, it also serves as a signal that winter is over, and that spring is here.

CBS has tried to trick it up in various ways over the years, so in some years, it's better than others. In the past, the late Luther Vandross has sung the song. Teddy Pendergrass has sung it even more often.

Looking forward to what CBS puts out there tonight...

Football Schools, Basketball Schools, continued

On the brink of tonight's national championship game between Florida and TOSU, Pat Forde weighs in:

ESPN.com

The era of the megaprogram is upon us.

What if Kentucky and North Carolina met in the BCS National Championship Game? We have its equivalent tonight. It'll be a good game.