MySpace Sports

This is interesting: MySpace and Scout Are Getting Married

I wrote last week about the meltdown of the network known as Scout.com. Apparently, they are in the process of merging with Myspace.com. Both entities are owned by the News Corporation, owner of the Fox network.

I have a MySpace account. I don't do much with it, and I don't go there that often. I do get many random friend requests there from twenty-something young women, often looking for love in all the wrong places. It is obviously spam, as my wife is in my profile picture with me. They definitely don't know me. I put the "Deny" button to good use in those cases.

This is synergy with Fox attitude. Now, I can go to a site for my favorite team, or for a team I don't even care about, and receive friend requests from random women all over the world. That's what the Internet is all about. Yeah, right. Fox can laugh all the way to the bank, if Scout doesn't blow up first.

Actually, the comment from the great Brian Bishop, publisher of OU Insider, is more accurate: "Imagine that -- you'll now be crossing paths with your fourth grader as you visit your favorite team site. That's not exactly the affiliation we wanted when we signed on with Scout."

Once again, if you're an OU fan, and you're looking for the best independent source for OU information, go to OU Insider.

Ugly Uniform of the Day

Wyoming has some redeeming qualities. It has lots of wide open spaces, lots of pastures and mountains, and fewer people than the city of Fort Worth. It is a place where the Wild West still exists.

There is only one university in the entire state: the University of Wyoming in Laramie. There is no Wyoming State, Wyoming Tech, or Wyoming A&M. Nor is there a Northwestern Wyoming State University, or a Dick Cheney State University.

The Cowboys have some ugly colors: brown and gold. For their sake, I wish they didn't have colors that looked like the land.

These football uniforms are just plain ugly. Sports Illustrated recently gave them a ranking of the second ugliest uniform in college football, right behind Oregon. If they played a home game in the mud, we'd barely know it, because the mud would blend right in with the uniform.

The good people of Wyoming deserve better.

Declaration of Independence

A big change was made today at my favorite college message board, OUInsider.com. The site has been part of the Scout.com network, until today, when the publishers of OU Insider reached the end of their contract with Scout, and broke away from Scout. There was much rejoicing in the Sooner Nation.

Scout.com and Rivals.com are networks of independent websites and magazines, providing premium recruiting content, and both pay and free message boards. Rivals is primarily a college site, while Scout is a network of both college and pro sites, dominated by college ones. Independent publishers partner with Scout to provide content, while Scout hosts the website and message boards. Scout also publishes fan magazines for many schools. Scout is now owned by Fox Interactive Media.

The Scout network has taken some major hits this year. Three of their most popular sites have declared their independence and have broken away from Scout, for various reasons. The leading sites for Ohio State (Bucknuts), Florida (Gator Country), and Oklahoma (OUInsider) have all broken away from Scout, and none have departed on good terms. The USC fan site, WeAreSC.com, has announced their departure. Word is that sites for Stanford and Texas are soon to follow. There have been differences of opinion on content for each of the sites, as the publishers did not experience the freedom they desired for each of their sites. Furthermore, Scout moved all their sites away from the popular EZboards platform, to their own message board software. This was met with anger from the masses. Currently, the leading site left on Scout is InsideCarolina.com, a North Carolina fan site.

This is a bitter divorce, and Gator Country, Bucknuts, The Bootleg (Stanford), OUInsider, and Inside Texas are now party to a lawsuit against Scout, due to disagreements over the terms and length of contracts, unpaid advertising monies, and major customer service issues. Scout is in danger of losing a large portion of their subscriber base. Ohio State, Florida, USC, and OU represent four of the last seven national football champions.

I applaud today's move by OUInsider. I lurk there every day, but rarely post. I have found a lot of independent sites that I find superior to a lot of what is found on the Scout and Rivals networks. This is purely a matter of opinion, because I don't subscribe to recruiting information, and only peruse message boards. Some good independent sites belong to schools such as TCU (KillerFrogs.com), Baylor (BaylorFans.com), Texas A&M (Texags.com), Nebraska (Huskerpedia.com), Arkansas (Hogville.net), and Virginia Tech (TechSideline.com).

Good luck to the new OUInsider.com!

One Championship Down, Another To Go

The Anaheim Ducks put the Ottawa Senators out of their misery tonight, winning Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals, 6-2, and winning the Cup, 4 games to 1. The Ducks kicked the Sens all the way back to Canada. The series really wasn't close. As a result, there are riots in Newport Beach tonight. Not really. The Ducks' players can now shave their Grizzly Adams-style beards, since the playoffs are over.

The hockey finals ended tonight just in time for the beginning of the NBA Finals, which start tomorrow night in San Antonio. The Spurs go for their fourth championship in nine years over the upstart Cleveland Cavaliers, a/k/a LeBron James And A Bunch Of Guys. LeBron will be worth watching, all by himself. But, the Spurs will be too tough for them. The championship will go to a team on I-35. Problem is, it's not the Mavericks (remember them?). Spurs win in six.

A Little Cherry On Top

(warning: 7 minute video)

NBC gave those of us in the U.S. a treat on Monday night, as the great Don Cherry was their guest during the second intermission of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Cherry, also known as "Grapes", is known for his "Coach's Corner" segments on the CBC's Hockey Night In Canada. He is known for loud suits and bombastic commentary. He is the king of the hot sports opinion. Cherry once got in hot water for suggesting that most players that wore helmet visors were French-Canadians or Europeans. He is a defender of old-school Canadian hockey. He has also been known to register hot political opinions, coming out in favor of the U.S. war in Iraq, definitely a minority opinion north of the 45th parallel. Nonetheless, he was rated 7th in a poll to determine the Greatest Canadians of all time, for a series broadcast on CBC. Coach's Corner is must-see TV on Saturday nights in Canada during the hockey season. Don Cherry is an icon north of the border.

Last night, Cherry threw down some hot sports opinions in favor of fighting. He made the point that TV ratings would be up in the U.S. if more fighting were allowed. I never thought about it, but he has a point. Hockey's ratings can't be much worse than what they are now. What is the fastest growing sport in the U.S.? Ultimate Fighting Championships. Americans love violence. Hockey can meet that demand. Brett Hull, in this video, went along with him.

I disagree with Grapes on one thing, though: Brett Hull's Stanley Cup-winning goal was legitimate. Here's to the 1999 Stanley Cup Champion Dallas Stars!

Props

Props go out to some universities for athletic excellence:

Tonight, the Tennessee Lady Vols have the first of two chances to win the NCAA national women's softball championship. They lead Arizona, 1-0, in a best-of-three series. The Lady Vols have already won the women's national championship in basketball. It's not quite what Florida did in football and men's basketball, but it's still quite an achievement, if the Lady Vols take care of business.

There are, in essence, five sports that get the majority of media exposure in college athletics. All five of these get quality airtime on the ESPN family of networks, with football and men's basketball getting the majority of the exposure. Women's basketball, men's baseball, and women's softball have developed their own followings, as well. There are three schools that qualified for post-season play in all five sports: Ohio State (they of the $100,000,000 athletic budget), Louisville, and Texas A&M. Props to the Buckeyes, Cardinals, and Aggies.

Update: Tennessee didn't win the national championship in softball. Arizona won two games in a row over the Lady Vols, to win the national championship.

Ugly Uniform of the Day

This, by all means, is one of the most hideous uniforms in the history of football.

The Orlando Thunder played in the World League of American Football, the predecessor of NFL Europe. They lasted all of two seasons, 1991 and 1992. They are best known for these electric green jerseys. Can you say: LOUD? These probably would glow in the dark, if given the chance.

That part of Florida is known for the high amount of lightning strikes. Obviously, someone's brain was struck by lightning when these uniforms were designed.

Lee Corso was the general manager of the team for part of their existence. I don't know if the uniforms were his idea, but he'd be a good person to blame.

Be glad these jerseys never made it to the NFL.

On The Roady

The bowl game in Boise is already the laughing stock of the college football world. Events of this week did not help them.

The Boise bowl game signed a three-year naming rights deal with Roady's Truck Stops. The game will be called the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl.

Humanitarian is nice. It was the original title of the bowl game, taking its name from the Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in Boise. But Roady's?

I have to admit, I had never heard of Roady's Truck Stops. According to their website, it is a chain of independent truck stops.

It's bad enough that teams have to go to the cold and snow of Boise to play in a bowl game on the blue turf. Now, they have to deal with the embarrassment of playing in the Truck Stop Bowl. This makes the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl look high-class. The Weed Eater Bowl is still a laughing stock, though Weed Eater hasn't sponsored the bowl in several years.

A coach will get fired for taking his team to the Roady's Truck Stop bowl this year. Of course, Miami went to this bowl last year, and Larry Coker was fired.

Would you like regular, or diesel?

This Guy's Awesome

LeBron James is the real deal. If there were any doubts, they went away tonight. LeBron scored 48 points in tonight's Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated Detroit, 109-107 in double overtime. He scored 29 of the last 30, and the last 25 points of the game for Cleveland. It was a truly awesome performance. At times, it looked like LeBron was taking on the Pistons all by himself. The Cavs have a cast of spares surrounding the great LeBron James.

The Cavs now lead the series, 3 games to 2, with a potential series-clincher Saturday night in Cleveland. The Cavs have never been to the NBA Finals. The city of Cleveland has not had a team play for a championship since 1997, when the Indians lost to the Marlins in the World Series. However, a Cleveland team has not won a championship since 1964, when the Browns won the NFL championship. That was before the Super Bowl came along. It was also before I was born.

Thanks to a guy from Akron, Cleveland has a chance.

Ya gotta look out for CLE...

By the way, what is Chris Webber doing wearing the number 84?

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.