WBRS Sports Blog

Cam Cameron took Ted Ginn #9 overall in this year's NFL Draft. In this clip he addresses the Miami faithful and attempts to justify taking the Buckeye speedster instead of say Brady Quinn. The Miami fans don't seem to pleased with Cameron or the pick (plenty of boos from the crowd)

Flope Divac was the King of the Flop. He was an innovator when it came to taking phantom fouls. I wish there were some statistic that calculated flops per game because Vlade would barely edge out Raja Bell as the most prolific of all-time.

Anyways, Vlade is presently accused of doing an off-the-court flop of sorts, as he is being sued for allegedly selling counterfeit Gucci and Fendi products out of his L'Image Beauty Boutique, a store owned by Vlade and his wife, in Sacramento.

The suit claims that the store - which advertises on its Web site that it sells "high-end skin care lines," "celebrity must-haves" and "treasures, which until now have only been found in Europe, New York and Los Angeles" - was knowingly selling counterfeit products it purchased from a disreputable dealer and sold at exorbitant markups to unsuspecting customers.

At first I took this story with a grain of salt, assuming that this was just another erroneous, untrue lawsuit. But apparently Vlade's store has a past of selling fradulent products.

The suit follows a federal lawsuit filed last year by Gucci against L'Image that claimed the store was selling fake Gucci items. That case is pending in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.

I was rather stunned when I found out about this story. I assume Vlade isn't ignorant about the fact that these kind of actions are illegal in the United States, so he either has no regard for the law or he is in some sort of dire financial state. Considering the fact that Vlade earned over $80 million in his playing days, I assume he just doesn't care that he's breaking the law.

Hopefully this kind of reckless entrepreneurial decision-making doesn't progress much further. If it does though, Vlade can always just flee the country. I'm pretty sure there is still a spot in the Serbia & Montenegro army reserved for him.

'Ello, comrades. Ukraine not weak! In more relevant news, my name is Ted, and I often write here, although if you look hard enough, you can find my writings throughout the cyber world. I like to spread myself pretty thin.

So there was a search warrant issued for Michael Vick's property.

The search warrant was granted by the Surry County Circuit Court. A state task force went to the property searching for a person that they believed may be on the property, but the person was not Vick. Investigators would not reveal the name of the person they were searching for.

"When they had a chance to go to the site, they discovered animal neglect," Surry County Administrator Tyrone Franklin.

Franklin said that the dogs appeared to be hungry and forgotten.

The most ridiculous thing about this is that...

Early reports indicate that Vick was allegedly running a dog-fighting and cockfighting operation from the back of the home. The Virginia Animal Fighting Taskforce was on the scene. Authorities report that Vick had been under investigation for several years for illegal animal fighting.

Unbelievable Michael. Truly unbelievable.

Yesterday Michael Vick was about to turn it all around. After all the bad publicity (Ron Mexico, water bottle, flipping the bird) he was about to receive some good publicity. Or at least that was the plan...

The Falcons quarterback was scheduled to lobby on Capitol Hill, hoping to persuade lawmakers to increase funding for after-school programs. But Vick missed a connecting flight in Atlanta and failed to show for his Tuesday morning appearance.

Vick's publicist, Susan Bass, said it wasn't his fault. The quarterback was in Tampa, Fla., on Monday to play in teammate Warrick Dunn's charity golf tournament, then caught a flight to Atlanta that was supposed to arrive in time for him to make another flight to Washington's Reagan National Airport.

But the AirTran flight was late leaving Tampa, Vick missed his connection and wound up stuck in Atlanta, Bass said.

``He was really mad,'' she said. ``He was on the plane and everything, but the plane didn't come in until late.''

Not only was it bad enough that Vick missed his flight but AirTran claims that Vick wasn't even scheduled for the supposed flight that he missed.

AirTran, which has an endorsement deal with Vick, gave a different account of Vick's travel arrangements. While acknowledging that the flight from Florida was late getting into Atlanta, causing him to miss his 8:35 p.m. connection, airline spokesman Tad Hutcheson said the player was booked on a 10:50 p.m. flight.

Vick failed to show and the flight left Atlanta with about 20 empty seats, Hutcheson said.

To get caught in a lie like that, wow. I really think Bass needs to enroll with Kim Etheredge in Publicist 101.

Sure it's April, but at the moment the Baltimore Orioles find themselves in a rather unusual place: leading in the wild-card race and a mere 1.5 games back in the AL East. It appears as if some of the Orioles are willing to do anything to stay in the playoff picture. Specifically, in an attempt to unify the bullpen, "the Orioles' relievers have decided to grow mustaches as another symbol of team unity."

"You like it? It looks kind of trashy," John Parrish said. "It feels kind of funny," Parrish said. "I've never had one this long."

While the stache was originally sported only by relievers, it has spread!

Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff and Jay Gibbons are among the position players who have decided to grow one.

But let's not get too crazy here..

"The facial hair policy doesn't allow for mustaches to extend beyond the corners of the mouth."

Is it possible Jermaine O'Neal has played his last game in a Pacers' uniform? On Thursday, O'Neal claimed that if the franchise plans to rebuild, they can use him to acquire players.

O'Neal plans to meet with Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh sometime this week to discuss his future. Potential trading partners could include Minnesota, New York, Los Angeles and Denver.

The Pacers seem to have remained stagnant over the past few seasons. Sure moves were made but there is no significant direction or progress being made.

Out of the potential trades that could be discussed this summer, I think the most intriguing by far is a Lakers-Pacers trade involving Jermaine O'Neal for Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and Maurice Evans. I get why the Lakers didn't pull the trigger on a Kidd for Bynum deal this season. Kidd is an aging veteran and teaming him up with Kobe wouldn't have brought the Lakers into serious title contention anyways, so why trade away a supposedly future stud in Bynum. However I do believe Jermaine O'Neal could be that reliable second scorer and the low post-scoring presence the team currently lacks, to get the Lakers much closer to the Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix echelon than where they currently sit.

The playoffs are here so lets do some picking!

FIRST ROUND

Western Conference

Dallas over Golden State in 5

Phoenix over Los Angeles in 6

San Antonio over Denver in 6

Houston over Utah in 7


Eastern Conference

Detroit over Orlando in 4

Cleveland over Washington in 4

Chicago over Miami in 7

New Jersey over Toronto in 5


SECOND ROUND

Western Conference

Dallas over Houston in 6

San Antonio over Phoenix in 7


Eastern Conference

Detroit over Chicago in 6

Cleveland over New Jersey in 7


CONFERENCE FINALS

Western Conference

Dallas over San Antonio in 7


Eastern Conference

Detroit over Cleveland in 6


NBA FINALS

Dallas over Detroit in 6

Let's just go straight to it...

Most Valuable Player

MVP: Dirk Nowitzki
Runner-Up: Steve Nash

Surprisingly enough, Nash's 2007 season was even better than his previous two MVP seasons. However, I think the voters will have a problem with giving Steve Nash 3 MVPS in a row. Besides, Dirk has been fantastic this season and more importantly he lead his team to 67 wins and one of the best regular seasons ever.

Rookie of the Year:

ROY: Brandon Roy
Runner-Up: Andrea Bargnani

A no-brainer here. Roy was clearly the best and most productive rookie this season.

Coach of the Year:

COY: Avery Johnson
Runner-Up: Sam Mitchell

I was about to give it to Sam Mitchell. Then I remembered his team plays in the East. By the way, did anybody else notice Avery's all-time coaching record is 143-39?

Most Improved Player:

MIP: Monta Ellis
Runner-Up: Kevin Martin

Both candidates are worthy of the award but I'm giving it to Ellis cause without him I don't think the Warriors are in the playoffs.

Defensive Player of the Year:

DPY: Marcus Camby
Runner-Up: Bruce Bowen

I honestly believed the season Marcus Camby plays a full season is the season he wins Defensive Player of the Year. He came close enough tallying 70 games this year. And nobody can deny this award to a guy who averaged 11.7 RPG, 3.3 BPG, and 1.2 SPG.

6th Man of the Year:

6MOY: Leandro Barbosa
Runner-Up: Manu Ginobli

Whenever Steve Nash checks out of the game the Phoenix Suns miss a beat. If anyone other backup point guard besides Barbosa was replacing Nash, that small beat would become something far more catastrophic.

All-NBA Teams

First Team

G: Steve Nash
G: Kobe Bryant
F: Lebron James
F: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Tim Duncan

Second Team

G: Gilbert Arenas
G: Tracy McGrady
F: Carmelo Anthony
F: Chris Bosh
C: Amare Stoudemire

Third Team

G: Vince Carter
G: Dwyane Wade
F: Carlos Boozer
F: Kevin Garnett
C: Dwight Howard

Have a great Friday and enjoy this youtube clip! I recommend sound for this one.

Joe Buck appeared on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday and was asked how he would call Barry Bonds' 756th Home Run. Not only does the fictitious call express his true feelings about Bonds breaking the record, but after hearing the clip I was extremely surprised to find out that Joe Buck actually has a sense of humor. Definitely worth a listen.

Well Madison Square Garden has quite the sexual harassment case on their hands, and this time Isiah Thomas is not involved! This particular incident involves Courtney Prince, an ex-New York Ranger cheerleader (also known as Rangers City Skaters), who is suing Madison Square Garden after claiming that she was fired from her job in 2004 after complaining that she was sexually harassed by a New York Rangers executive. According to her at least, this executive approached her at a West Village bar and tried to convince her to join him in a 3-some. It looks like this unnamed executive failed in his attempt.

However the story doesn't end there, today Madison Square Garden attorneys made a desperate effort to prevent the case from going to trial, insisting that the former Rangers City Skater was actually fired because of her very very very strong enthusiasm towards sex and the fact that this obsession perturbed most of her co-employees:

In the sweeping counterattack, Garden attorney Melissa Rodriguez said Prince's behavior "is not surprising as she suffered from bipolar disorder, a classic symptom of which is hypersexuality."

The skaters claim Prince pretended to simulate sex on the ice during one practice and regularly coached skaters to appear more "f---able." She also grabbed other skaters' breasts and used explicit terms to describe their anatomy, the skaters said.

Prince's "crass sexual behavior" sowed discontent among the troupe of performers, including the former lead in "Disney on Ice," according to the court papers. Prince used language more likely heard in an NHL locker room to impress upon fellow skaters that looks were more important than skating, they said.

So how exactly did Prince coach the other skaters on how to "appear more f---able"?

"She said that we needed to make the audience feel like they want to be in your pants," skater Heather Gornall said in her affidavit.

"Play up your chest at the game... where [sic] a good bra, you can even pad it a bit if you feel the need," Prince allegedly wrote in a September 2003 e-mail to Gornall before her first game.

Wow. It will be really interesting to see how this one plays out. It doesn't seem like this woman should have a hard time finding work though. With her sexually-inclined attitude I'm sure she would be welcome at any strip club/brothel. And is it me or does Prince's actions seem just all too hypocritical? I wouldn't expect a woman who acts this way at work to turn down a ménage à trois with a Rangers executive.

With each passing day, it appears more and more probable that majority owner Clay Bennett is going to move his SuperSonics out of Seattle.

“We’re going to evaluate that,” Sonics majority owner Clay Bennett said Tuesday of the possibility of the team paying its way out of the final two years of its KeyArena lease in Seattle, which runs through 2010.

Bennett said the Sonics likely will honor the lease only through “a legal exercise.”

“That may or may not mean the team will play there,” Bennett said, knowing Seattle’s 40-year-old NBA team is obligated to stay in the city for just one more season. “I’m not sure it makes sense to play there if it comes to pass that relocation (is imminent).”

The Sonics did not file a relocation application with the NBA before a March 1 deadline, so they are obligated to play in Seattle during the 2007-08 season — but not beyond.

So, assuming they are moved after the 2007-08 season and you were Clay Bennett, where would you move the Sonics?

There aren't too many incidents in sports that are as entertaining or juicy as two athletes in an off-the-court/field confrontation. While this has become somewhat of a common theme in sports lately, the athlete and former athlete conflict is a less frequent, but equally enjoyable dispute. The most recent one involves former 9-team NBAer Robert Pack and current Dallas Cowboys WR Terry Glenn.

Glenn claims that he agreed to purchase Pack's home from him for $2.6 million, however Pack is now not only unwillingly to leave his home, but he claims that such an agreement never even occurred.

"Mr. Glenn, who still wants to purchase the house, said he paid a $50,000 escrow fee and that the parties had agreed to an April 4 closing date, according to Denton County court documents filed last week. Mr. Glenn’s attorneys wrote they were later notified that Mr. Pack did not believe a contract existed.

At a court hearing Monday, Mr. Glenn and his wife, Monica, sought a temporary injunction that would prevent Mr. Pack from selling the house to a third party. Mr. Pack's attorney Robert Yale said the court denied their request.

The Glenns' lawsuit against Mr. Pack for breach of contract will continue. The Glenns' attorney, Daryl K. Washington, could not be reached for comment.

Court records indicate Mr. Pack had fallen behind in mortgage payments for the house, located in the 5600 block of Masters Court in Flower Mound’s gated Tour 18 community north of Grapevine Lake. In one filing, Mr. Pack wrote he had about $300,000 in equity."

$300,000 in equity? That's it? You can only wonder how Pack managed to spend nearly all of the more than $24 million he earned throughout his NBA career.

New owner, new philosophy, new rules, not so new behavior. And now for some not so shocking news...an NFL player was arrested, but it wasn't Pacman Jones or a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.

"Minnesota Vikings cornerback Cedric Griffin was freed on $50 bail after being arrested early Sunday in downtown Minneapolis and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, authorities said."

Misdemeanor disorderly conduct. What a vague term. Now to what Griffin really did...

Two witnesses told KSTP-TV that the Vikings cornerback was thrown out of the Spin nightclub for not pulling up his pants. The club has a dress code requiring that pants not sag below the waist.

A class act indeed. Griffin should just be thankful that football, not basketball, is his sport...I have a feeling he would have a problem with Commish Stern and his NBA dress-code he enforces all season long.

After things apparently didn't work out or even get started with Romo and Jessica Simpson, according to Star Magazine, a gossip magazine (WE CAN'T EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH) Romo and Underwood are getting married:

The couple, who started dating soon after the Country Music Award-winning singer appeared at a Cowboys game to sing the “Star Spangled Banner” on Thanksgiving Day in 2005, plan to marry on, Thanksgiving! “Tony’s family all loved Carrie and told him not to let this one get away,’ says an insider. “And he’s not.”

If this is actually true, congrats Tony. Carrie Underwood sure as hell ain't a bad Plan B.

I'm sure most of you are aware of the ESPN Fantasy Baseball situation. If not, Deadspin can fill you in. However, in order to compensate infuriated fantasy baseballers who have lost the first two weeks of the fantasy baseball season, ESPN is allocating 6 free months of ESPN Insider to already current subscribers who also signed up to play fantasy baseball this season with ESPN.

ESPN announced this through an e-mail that I (as well as every other current ESPN Insider subscriber who has an ESPN fantasy team) received last evening.

This is an act of desperation by ESPN, one motivated not to save face, but to keep all ESPN leagues from moving to Yahoo or CBS Sportsline.

So what am I doing? Accepting ESPN's free 6 month extension on my Insider account...and then moving to Yahoo for my fantasy league anyways.

Here is the e-mail I received from ESPN:


Dear ESPN Fantasy Baseball Player,

As a current Insider, we want you to know that we value you as a fan of ESPN and are committed to providing you the best fantasy baseball experience possible. We apologize for the problems you have experienced with Fantasy Baseball and hope that you will take full advantage of our offer to receive six (6) additional months of Insider for free.

To activate this offer, please click on the link below. When your current subscription is up you'll still have six more months to enjoy Insider - and all the predictive expert analysis and content you have come to value - for free.

https://r.espn.go.com/espn/
purchase?productOfferId=flbin
promo&discountCode=ESPNXAFLOMKO

We thank you for your patience as we resolved the issues with our fantasy game. If you have any questions about this offer or about the problems at the start of the fantasy baseball season, please do not hesitate to contact our customer service center at 1-888-549-ESPN or baseball@fantasygames.go.com, or check out our FAQs.

Sincerely,

The ESPN.com Fantasy Team

Yesterday was a historic day in high school athletics as the Texas Senate approved a student drug-testing program which includes randomly testing thousands of Texas high school athletes for steroids.

The program, approved on a 28-2 vote, would start in the 2007-08 school year, and it would require an estimated 22,000 student athletes to submit to steroid testing. A positive result would force the student to be suspended from competition for at least 30 days. A second positive test would sideline the student for one year, and a third would result in a permanent ban from extracurricular sports.

The decision to test high school student athletes can be viewed in both a positive and negative light. Not only does this ensure a cleaner and safer athletic environment, but students that may be tempted to try steroids will more likely shoot down such an urge for fear of failing the random test. And from a health standpoint, less students using steroids is definitely a good thing.

At the same time, it is a sad thing that the studies indicate that steroid-use is prevalent enough in high school athletics that such a test is now necessary. This really manifests the fact that our youth have seen the correlation between athletic success and steroid use. See: Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire.

More info about the testing...

Under his bill, the random tests must pick up at least 3 percent of the UIL athletes in Texas every year, and tests must be administered at no less than 30 percent of the high schools in the state. There are about 733,000 high school athletes in Texas.

This is without a doubt a great step forward in the fight to decrease the amount of performance enhancing drugs in high school locker rooms.

Devin Hester may have a 100 in the speed category in the new Madden 2008, but he has about a 0 in the singing category.

It doesn't seem like too many people in Baltimore care about the Orioles. This is evidenced by a significant lack of fans showing up to the ballpark throughout the 2006 season. In fact, last season the Orioles were 25th in stadium percent capacity filled. One would think that the Orioles' front office would eagerly beg, let alone allow, any interested media member to come to Camden Yards, in hope that their media coverage would bring more fans to the stadium. But apparently logical thinking isn't a part of the plan in Baltimore...

This is the case as the Orioles rejected the press credential application of now enraged local sports personality, Nestor Aparicio. A press release by WNST expressed the anger of Aparicio, radio host and also owner of 1570 AM WNST in Baltimore:

"It's just amazing that every single year, when you think it can't get any worse, it does," Aparicio said in a blog on his website, www.wnst.net. "Are they honestly trying to say that we're not a legitimate media entity, after we've covered every major sporting event in this country for 15 years? Is it a personal attack? Is it an attempt to punish us for being honest in our assessment of the Orioles franchise? I really don't know. But one of our chief complaints as an organization and as fans -- and every employee in my company grew up an Orioles fan -- has been the lack of professionalism and accountability from Peter Angelos and his franchise. This is a prime example.

Aparicio believes the rejection of the press credential comes as a result of a personal vendetta Angelos and the Orioles have against him for organizing a "Free the Birds" protest last season when the WNST staff led nearly 2,000 fans to exit simultaneously during a September 21st game last season, "designed to bring to light the plight of Orioles fans everywhere and the economic damage being done to the downtown area around the ballpark, which has suffered along with the Orioles' decade-long fall from grace."

"I would hate to think that Mr. Angelos would want to suppress free speech or punish true Orioles fans like myself and my staff at WNST," Aparicio said. "I have loved the Orioles for 38 years and I have 23 years of being honest and accountable in the media. My track record speaks for itself. To deny WNST or any specific person on our staff a press credential is wrong. To repress free speech is wrong."

Maybe if the Orioles' front office stopped acting like fascists, by denying press credentials to local media members who are critical of the franchise, and instead figured out how to win ball games, not only would the critics go away but more fans would start showing up as well.

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. I will be traveling today, so here are some good links I recommend.

K-Rod's foreign substance was actually residue from the rosin bag.

Steve Nash was interviewed by Playboy.

D-Wade is back.

John Pelphrey is the next piece to fall in the college coaching domino game.

Happy Gilmore + SHOOTER - Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Enjoy this little clip...Happy Gilmore meets Shooter. (couresy of Break.com)

Not only did Ricky Williams file for reinstatement with the NFL yesterday, but he also admitted that he hasn't smoked marijuanna "in maybe three years". On the Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, Williams described his marijuana use not as recreational but as "self-medicating for stress." Williams elaborated on the subject explaining that, "stress levels got really high. The only thing that really helped was to go home, relax on the couch, roll up a joint and take a couple of puffs." Williams went on to claim that perhaps the most stressful aspect of being an NFL running back was the physical pain he experienced each and every day.

Whether or not you advocate the legalization of marijuanna, Williams' explanation for his use of the drug makes it seem like a legitimate remedy for the stresses a professional athlete experiences. Stresses, both physically and mentally, that the average sports fan simply cannot relate to.

Given that, I ask you, the sports fan, if you would be bothered if you found out that the best player on your favorite team smoked marijuanna once or twice a week?

Welcome to the first weekly segment here at WBRS Sports Blog. Each and every Friday Mikey C. and I (Mini Me) will bicker and banter about the week's hottest sports topic.

This week's topic: Should Billy Donovan have left Florida to go to Kentucky?

Mini Me:
Because the four studs are going pro, and Humprhey and Richard are graduating, Billy Donovan will be starting over fresh at Florida. The majority of his championship team is gone and many fresh-faced Gators will be playing next year. If Donovan is going to have to start over anyways, now would have been the ideal time to move to Kentucky, a place not only with more prestige and tradition, but also a school where Donovan could have been the king of the campus. It has become abundantly clear that no matter how well he does at Florida, he will always come second to football. Do we need any more proof than the fact that after coaching the Gators to a title in 2006, this past year Florida basketball averaged an attendance that ranked 31st in the country, while Kentucky ranked 1st? Donovan has the coaching ability and he could be even more successful recruiting kids to come to a school like Kentucky, one known for its basketball.

Sure the Kentucky job casts a large spotlight, one open not only to pressure but intense scrutiny, yet the possible reward is too great to pass up. Donovan would have been viewed as the savior of the university, and would have gone down as one of the great college basketball coaches of all-time if he were to resurrect a program that hasn’t reached a Final Four since 1998. Wooden, Smith, Knight, Krzyzewski, Donovan? By going to Kentucky, Donovan’s name on that list could have become a reality.

Mikey C: Mike Miller. Jason Williams. David Lee. Udonis Haslem. Matt Walsh. Anthony Roberson. Donnell Harvey. Andrew DeClerq. These are just some of the players that Donovan has recruited and graduated from University of Florida since he arrived. Billy Donovan is a master recruiter and a fantastic coach. He built the Florida program up from nothing, at a time when it didn't have any sort of reputation. Before Donovan, the best player to have graduated Florida was Vernon Maxwell. Billy Donovan with a bunch of scholarships is a scary proposition for the rest of the SEC. He currently has one All-American (Nick Calethas #12 overall senior) committed for next season and he's in the running for Patrick Patterson (#14) as well.

Now I think it's clear that the rebuilding won't be too much of a challenge for Donovan, so the big difference comes down to where would he rather be: Florida or Kentucky? Mini Me, you brought up the attendance point, but both average 90% attendance rates; Rupp Arena is merely twice the size of the O'Connell Center. Personally, I think it's much easier to recruit a kid to sunny Florida then to middle-of-nowhere Kentucky. It also seems nicer for Donovan to live in Florida than Kentucky, but that might just be me. Also, think about the expectations. At Florida, Donovan can have 2-3 down seasons because there's still the glow of the championships. At Kentucky, he'll be knighted the savior, but given very little time to push Kentucky to the top. On Tuesday, there was a column in the Kentucky Kernel: "UK basketball fans' high expectations are hardly irrational." If Donovan doesn't make the Final Four within 3 years, he'll be out on his ass. I'd take the safe sunny route over Kentucky everyday.

Mini Me: Mikey C, I agree with you that Donovan won't have a difficult time rebuilding, no matter where he is. However, I do think from a coaching career standpoint it would have been significantly better for Donovan to rebuild at Kentucky. Yes, both Florida and Kentucky average 90% attendance rates but because Florida's fanbase and consequently arena is so small, 90% at Florida isn't near the same as 90% at Kentucky. Florida basketball will always play second fiddle to Florida football. And because of that while he remains at Florida Donovan will never garner the respect and power he deserves. Meanwhile, leading the transformation of a Kentucky program back to eliteness would transform him into a king of Lexington. This is a status Donovan is incapable of achieving at Florida.

Yes, greater expectations come along with the Kentucky job. But in my opinion it is worth it because of what success in Lexington could mean to Donovan's career and ultimately his legacy.

Mikey C: The key point for me revolves around is it better to be a builder or a restorer? At Florida, Donovan is building a legacy of success; at Kentucky, he would be charged with restoring a team to past glory. A mark of a great college coach to me is building a championship legacy at schools that didn't have one previously. If, we're talking about Florida as a football school, that must be attributed to Steve Spurrier who came in and had the most successful run of any Florida football coach, winning the school's first championship. Look at college basketball's coaching Mt. Rushmore (Dean Smith, John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski and Bobby Knight) and you'll find certain unifying themes: multiple championships and tenure of over 25 years. Furthermore, outside of Indiana, all took over schools with limited previous success. These coaches are forever linked with their schools and cast a large shadow for the remainder of history. Think of Roy Williams, Kelvin Sampson and Ben Howland. All are great coaches, yet none will ever be able to match their predecessors' legacy. They are merely restoring past grandeur, not creating a new history. Billy Donovan has a chance to become synonymous with Florida basketball and I think he's made the right choice in forging his own path rather than try to fill someone else's shoes.

Mini Me: Kelvin Sampson shortly followed Bobby Knight. Roy Williams shortly followed Dean Smith. Donovan would have followed Tubby Smith, certainly not a member of college basketball's Mt. Rushmore. Kentucky has had success in the past, but not continued success since the glory days of Adolph Rupp. If Donovan had left Florida why couldn't he have coached at Kentucky for more than 25 years? I think he could have, which ultimately could have led to a spot on Mt. Rushmore, college basketball edition.

Mikey C: To be fair to Tubby, he is one of only 11 active coaches to have won a national championship. On the other hand, Donovan is one of only 11 coaches ever to win more than one national championship. For me, it all comes down to whether you want to do something nobody has ever done before or whether you want to try and walk in someone else's shoes. I'd rather build a new legacy than resurrect an old one. I'd rather be a Krzyzewski than a Roy Williams and I think Donovan agrees.

Mini Me: I don't really think the Roy Williams analogy is applicable in this instance. Roy Williams arrived at North Carolina with Dean Smith still in the mind's of the Tar Heel faithful. I don't think that would be the case with Billy Donovan in regard to Adolph Rupp. I don't think Donovan would be walking in anyone's shadows. Further, it wasn't like Roy Williams all by himself resurrected the UNC basketball program. I mean for heaven's sake, he won a title primarily using Matt Doherty's players. Even if the Roy Williams situation is applicable, I don't think we could make such a comparison until after he spent 20-25 years coaching at UNC.

In end, Donovan remains at Florida. Only time will tell whether or not Donovan will have continued success (relative to what he has had thus far) in Florida, and if he does, whether or not he will receive the proper praise and attention from Florida fans.

Do you think Donovan made the right decision in staying in Florida?

Should Donovan Have Stayed in Gainesville?
	Yes, Florida is the right place for him
	No, he should have moved on to Kentucky
pollcode.com free polls

Remember the Create-A-Player feature on Madden Football games? You would be bored you would try to create the perfect player, a 300 pound running back with 3.3 speed? No matter what features you gave him, the best he could possibly receive in each skill category was a rating of 99. Well finally a skill rating of 100 will exist....in the speed category for Devin Hester.

That's right, Devin Hester's speed category will be a perfect 100 in the new 2008 Madden 08 Football game.

"That's just about the best thing you could have told me. It's an honor -- I don't know what to say, really."

In my opinion this may have been a little too premature. You don't just hand out the first 100-rating like that. I would have expected the Madden people to need to see greatness for at least a few years before privileging Madden Hester with such an honor. Regardless, 100-Speed Hester still isn't as fast as Tecmo Bo, even if it is impossible to be faster than 100-Speed...that is until they give someone 101 as their speed.

The way Tiger Woods has been playing lately (2 wins in 4 events, finishing 9th and 22nd in the other two tournaments) it is kind of hard to pick against him in this year's Masters...but that is exactly the question of the day. Are you taking Tiger or the field in the 2007 Masters?

Dear NCAA,

Thanks to you I didn't watch the championship game last night. I didn't get to see the Florida Gators repeat, Joakim Noah clap after every play (no matter how minuscule each particular play was), or Greg Oden prove he isn't really overrated. Why? Because you scheduled the NCAA Championship game the same night as the first Passover Seder dinner. Instead of sitting on my coach experiencing that one shining moment, I spent the evening with a 3-year old cousin sitting on my lap as about 20 family members and I sat around a table reading and singing the Passover Seder for 3 hours.

Naturally I tried to TIVO the game but of course that plan failed when I decided to watch a little bit of the Rangers-Angels game while I waited for the championship game to finish up. Of course as I was about to change the tv over to the TIVO, the Ranger announcers decided, without warning, to inform me that Florida did indeed repeat. Shortly after a few expletives, I received a bombardment of text messages from my "gentile" friends, who were pissed off that Joakim Noah had added another championship to his collegiate resume.

In conclusion, if you could not schedule the NCAA Championship game during Passover anytime in the near future, it would be greatly appreciated by Jews everwhere.

April is here and with it comes baseball and hope of greatness in diamonds across the country (Washington, Kansas City and Seattle excluded). If last year proved anything, it’s that the World Series can match a team barely above .500 with one picked to finish fourth in a bad division. A phenomenal rookie class brought a new crop of rising stars and more are on the way. The shroud of steroids seems to be dissipating, though a potential HGH scandal may be just around the corner. A number of vets are approaching key milestones: Tom Glavine is at 290 wins, Craig Biggio is at 2,930 hits and Trevor Hoffman could be the first to break 500 saves. In addition, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez are within the 500 HR barrier and of course, the big countdown involves everybody’s favorite villain, Barry Bonds, who is only 22 HRs away from Aaron’s career record. The mix of veterans still performing at high levels with an influx of young stars like Hanley Ramirez, David Wright, Justin Verlander and the intrigue of Daisuke Matsuzaka makes this one of the most exciting times to be a baseball fan. So without further adieu, let’s begin working through the divisions.

AL EAST

Key Questions:
How does Matsuzaka fare once he’s been through the league?
Do the Yankees have the pitching depth to be as strong as they’ve been in previous years?
Can the Blue Jays win on days Burnett and Halladay don’t pitch?
Do Baltimore’s young arms start to turn the corner in year two under Mazzone?
How quickly will Tampa Bay’s young bats grow up?

Predicted order of finish:
Boston (101-61)
New York (93-69)
Toronto (86-76)
Tampa Bay (72-90)
Baltimore (69-93)

Top Rookie: Dice-K Matsuzaka
Break-out Star: Alex Rios
MVP: David Ortiz
Cy Young: A.J. Burnett

AL CENTRAL

Key Questions:
How much does Kenny Rogers “leadership” mean to the Detroit staff?
What explicative will Ozzie Guillen use this year and who will be the target?
Will Twins fans perfect their rain dance for non-Johan starts?
Is 2004 Jhonny Peralta (.885 OPS) or the 2005 edition (.708 OPS) the real one? And why is the “h” before the “o”?
Will Alex Gordon give Royals fans hope for the first time in years?

Predicted order of finish:
Detroit (91-71)
Chicago (88-74)
Minnesota (85-77)
Cleveland (84-78)
Kansas City (63-99)

Top Rookie: Alex Gordon
Break-out Star: Josh Barfield
MVP: Johan Santana
Cy Young: Johan Santana

AL WEST

Key Questions:
Who will provide Vlad’s line-up protection?
Can Rich Harden survive a full season injury-free?
Is Hank Blalock a player on the decline or merely inconsistent?
If Felix Hernandez strikes out players in Seattle and the Mariners don’t win, does it make a sound?

Predicted order of finish:
Anaheim (92-70)
A’s (85-77)
Rangers (81-81)
Seattle (66-96)

Top Rookie: Travis Buck
Break-out Star: Howie Kendrick
MVP: Vladimir Guerrero
Cy Young: John Lackey

NL EAST

Key Questions:
Will Brett Myers and Cole Hamels take the next step to become the best twosome in the NL?
Do the Mets have enough hitting to overcome their question-mark filled rotation?
Can Kelly Johnson and Scott Thorman provide adequate offense on the right side of the Braves infield?
With Josh Johnson already out, how many of the Marlins young arms will make it through the season?
What’s worse – the Nationals rotation or their line-up?

Predicted order of finish:
Philadelphia (94-68)
New York (84-78)
Atlanta (83-79)
Florida (78-84)
Washington (58-104)

Top Rookie: Scott Thorman
Break-out star: Cole Hamels
Cy Young: Brett Myers
MVP: Ryan Howard

NL CENTRAL

Who will walk fewer batters: Ben Sheets (1.89BB/9) or David Bush (1.86BB/9)?
Will Roy Oswalt get the run support to get back to 20 wins?
How well will Adam Wainwright’s conversion to starting go?
Who will have a higher BA – Carlos Zambrano or Cesar Izturis?
Will the public finally recognize Aaron Harang as one of the league’s top 10 pitchers?
Can the crop of young pitchers + Bay/LaRoche create any sense of optimism in Pittsburgh?

Predicted order of finish:

Milwaukee (88-74)
Houston (81-81)
St. Louis (79-83)
Chicago (74-88)
Cincinnati (74-88)
Pittsburgh (67-95)

Top Rookie: Donald Veal (Cubs midseason call-up)
Break-out star: Luke Scott
Cy Young: Roy Oswalt
MVP: Prince Fielder

NL WEST

Predicted order of finish

San Diego (90-72)
Los Angeles (88-74)
Arizona (82-80)
San Francisco (78-84)
Colorado (76-86)

Top Rookie: Kevin Kouzmanoff
Break-out star: Matt Cain
Cy Young: Jake Peavy
MVP: Kouzmanoff

POSTSEASON

Divisional Round

Anaheim over New York
Boston over Detroit
Philadelphia over Los Angeles
San Diego over