Colts decision

Benched

Count the Clarion Content in the camp with those who believe the Colts made a mistake by taking their foot off of the proverbial pedal in the third quarter last night. Leading 15-10 the Colts sent Payton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Jeff Saturday, Dallas Clark and Joseph Addai to the bench. The Jets rallied to win against the third string quarterback, Curtis Painter, and a slew of other back-ups. In the process the Colts lost their undefeated season. They stopped their NFL record 23 game winning streak. They played, in the Clarion Content's opinion, a most dangerous game with their momentum.

Chris Carter was on ESPN radio this morning espousing much the same point of view. The Chargers are rolling. The Patriots looked terrific yesterday and Brady maybe rounding into form at just the right time. Conversely, how much do the Colts play their starters next week, if they pulled them after one drive in the third quarter this week? Their organizational logic would dictate they play them even less. Then as it would play out, the Colts would have a bye-week for the best regular season record in the AFC. Suddenly, they would be playing their first full game of live football in a month in the divisional round of the playoffs. A month of cadillacing and they are supposed to be ready to go against a battle hardened foe immediately? The Clarion Content finds this to be an unwise plan.

We think they evidence is with us, too. Peyton Manning came into the league in 1998. However, he didn't really put it together until 2002. We will give Manning a bye for his first five season as he learned the ropes and went 0-2 in the playoffs. But even since then, the Colts organizational philosophy to take their foot off the pedal late in the regular season has yielded one Super Bowl win in a seven year run with unarguably one of the all-time great quarterbacks. The Colts playoff record over that stretch is a lackluster 7 up and 6 down. They have not won the AFC other than in the Super Bowl winning season. Time will tell of course, but the Clarion Content thinks that the Colts made a mistake sacrificing invaluable momentum by lifting the starters yesterday and losing.

Nets moving forward

Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards

Despite all of the Clarion Content's negativity it appears the New Jersey Nets are moving forward in their efforts to move to Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards. There are still hurdles to clear. The first shovel full of dirt won't be turned in time to interest free-agent LeBron James, but developer and Nets owner, Bruce Ratner, signed 640 documents relating to the closing on the project yesterday, according to a report in the New York Times. The Times also noted that $511 million in tax-exempt bonds for the planned arena were put into an escrow account. The state of New York petitioned courts to condemn large parts of the 22-acre site, including some parcels owned by residents who oppose the project and the state’s autocratic and unconstitutional use of eminent domain.

NBA at the quarter pole: Part II the West

Welcome to the second half of our thoughts, comments and notes on the NBA at one quarter of the way through the regular season. See part I about the NBA Leastern Conference here. The NBA Western conference is stacked by comparison, topped by the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

In our view, as we told you in our NBA preview, we think the Lakers took a step back in replacing Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest. It has been hard to tell with the patty cake schedule they have had so far, playing 17 of their first 21 games at home, where they have gone 15-2. Kobe broke his finger last night in the first quarter and spent the second half throwing in shots left handed. They cannot be discounted because of Bryant and their battle-tested core of Fisher, Odom and Gasol. How much they get out of Bynum and Artest will determine if they can go the distance again. The Clarion Content isn't rooting for them to win the title, and isn't betting on them either, but we surely wouldn't be interested in wagering against them.

The only two teams we could see taking out the Lakers before the finals are from Texas. The first one is an oldie but goodie, the Spurs, if everyone somehow comes through the season healthy, look mighty dangerous. After an awful 4 up and 6 down start they are 7-3 in their last ten. Richard Jefferson is shooting nearly 46% from the field. Tim Duncan is shooting a sweet 55% per. DeJuan Blair is growing up a little every game. He exploded for 18 and 11 boards last week against the Celtics. Antonio McDyess has yet to contribute much, but like Duncan and Ginobili it is simply about surviving the regular season for McDyess. The Spurs have been managing all of their minutes cautiously.

The other Texas team that we think could threaten the Lakers is not the Mavs. It is rather the Houston Rockets. The Rockets have won 5 of 6, including a victory over Lebron and the Cavs. They are playing nearly .600 ball. Laker exile, Trevor Ariza looks like a steal, averaging 17.7 points per game. It should be noted the Clarion Content has loved Ariza since he was a Knick. Without Yao and McGrady, the Rockets are sharing the ball, Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry are tossing in 17.1 and 16.3 a game respectively. Battier continues to play his glue game. They lead the Spurs by a game and trail the Mavs by 2.5 games. Although nobody wants to get caught in the eight spot and have to face the Lakers right out of the gate, it is better than being on the outside looking in on the playoffs.

Denver's inconsistent effort and George Karl's temper make the Nuggets a prime candidate for implosion. It is just a question of when. The Hornets have already blown up. Byron Scott got fired, Chris Paul plays every game pissed. Absent an ownership change the franchise seems doomed. Paul looms as the top free agent candidate for the 2011 off-season. A position he has to prefer to competing with LeBron, D-Wade, Stoudemaire and Bosh this off-season. Portland coming off the Greg Oden disaster will struggle to make the playoffs. The Zombie Sonics led by the brilliance of Durant are up and coming, they have a shot at the eight seed. Memphis and Sacramento tie for the semi-prestigious, "Wow they don't suck as bad as we thought they did" award.

The two Western Conference teams we can't figure out, the Mavs and the Suns. Can we really get sucked into believing in either one of these teams again? Haven't we been down this road in the regular season with them before? Kidd and Nash are thirty-six and thirty-five respectively, they can't possibly hold-up, can they? At this point both squads are playing nearly .700 ball and would be slotted as the #3 and #4 seeds in the West. Nah, we are not buying it just yet.

NBA at the quarter pole: Part I, The Least

Home of the New Jersey Nets

A few thoughts, comments and notes on the NBA at one quarter of the way through the regular season. The Clarion Content noted in our NBA predictions that there was very little chance of anyone outside of Boston, Cleveland and Los Angeles celebrating an NBA title this season. Sorry Cleveland, but we have already narrowed that list to two contenders.

First... the NBA's Eastern Conference "The Least"

LeBron and Cavs have been up and down this season. Shaq has contributed little. They have lost to mediocre squads like Chicago, Washington, Charlotte and Memphis. Even the normally driven LeBron, periodically looks like he is thinking ahead to his impending free agency.

The Celtics, on the other hand, have leaped off the page. Rajan Rondo is an All-Star point guard, no doubt. KG finally appears fully healthy, although one has to wonder how he will hold-up with nearly 60 games to go before the playoffs start. Sheed is contributing off the bench. Eddie House is doing his Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson impersonation. They haven't even had Big Baby Davis on the squad yet, he was a valuable point scoring reserve last year.

Elsewhere the East is putridness. Don't be fooled by Orlando, who made a horrible call adding Vince Carter's chemistry and inconsistent effort to the mix. Is he already rubbing off on Rashard Lewis? Lewis started the season with a ten game suspension, and this week added to his list of accomplishments, refusing to go back in the game when told to by Coach Ron Jeremey, errr, Stan Van Gundy. Useful, Rashard, really useful. Dwight Howard still has no range and no moves. Last year's playoffs demonstrated that he is deadly from five feet and closer, but if teams can force his catches further away from the basket, he is a non-contributor. He is also woefully immature as a team leader, a problem on an Orlando squad lacking team discipline. Thrown-in the Vince Carter deal, Cal product Ryan Anderson has been terrific, averaging nearly eleven points in a mere nineteen minutes.

The bottom of the East is so bad that it appears as many as three sub .500 clubs could make the playoffs. The Milwaukee Bucks have cooled off after rookie Brandon Jennings' electrifying start to the season. The Bobcats appear poised under veteran carpetbagger Larry Brown to hang around the edges of the playoff race. The Bulls are underachieving and inconsistent in their focus and offense. The Pacers missing their best player Danny Granger, but may be developing something for the future. Rookie Tyler Hansbrough, from the University of North Carolina, has been getting more minutes and been producing with them. Last night he had a career high 21 points. Indy has also been getting production of late out of 7 foot Georgetown alum, second year player, Roy Hibbert. These bottom feeders along with Le Bullet and the Knicks should be grasping for that final playoff spot and the right to get swept by the Celtics in the first round.

The 2009-10 Nets will not challenge the Sixers 9 up and 73 down all-time NBA record for suckatation. There are too many other bad teams and the boys from East Rutherford are gradually getting healthy. They have, however, already imploded their chances at signing LeBron. And, the Clarion Content would still bet they never play a home game in Brooklyn.

It should be noted that we can hardly get a handle on the Atlanta Hawks. The have a passel full of talent. The have Bob Knight disciple Coach Mike Woodson running the show. Could they be for real? They are off to a strong 16 up and 6 down start.

Channeling Sam Bowie

Greg Oden continued this week, if you will forgive the pun, dear readers, down a trail blazed by former Portland center, Sam Bowie. Oden's injury plagued career, following a dubious drafting ahead of a more talented, but smaller player, parallels Bowie's career thus far. Oden was selected ahead of the scoring sensation of the Zombie Sonics, Kevin Durant. Bowie was selected ahead of the six time title winner, Michael Jordan.

Oden missed rookie season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee. Last year Oden missed six games after injuring his right foot in the season opener, then was out for 14 games after the All-Star break with a bone chip in his left knee. Oden like Bowie showed warning signs of being injury prone in college. (His legs aren't the same length, for goodness sake!)

Bowie had missed two full seasons at Kentucky with a stress fracture in his left shinbone. After being drafted second by the Blazers, behind Olajuwon and ahead of Jordan, he played most of his rookie season before severe and repeated leg injuries limited Bowie to only 63 games over the next three seasons.

LPGA members

The Clarion Content has been generally following the story of the LPGA tours collapse. We knew that they had fired their commissioner. We knew that they had lost a significant number of tournaments from next year's schedule. (They have lost nearly 30% of the events from the 2009 schedule.) We see LPGA golf as the vanguard of wider teetering of revenue streams and value across the sports world. If we are right, athletes everywhere should beware, and put a few dollars in the bank. Much of our previous discussion of sport's economics in an era of cratering balance sheets had been about ownership's losses and vulnerabilities.

We just recently saw an article about LPGA tour pros in the New York Times that made us sit-up and take notice. The article was about Reilley Rankin, a LPGA tour pro who earned more than $400,000 a mere two years ago. Last year Rankin wasn't even breaking even on her expenses. She earned about $73k as the 100th player on the tour's money list. Of course, the competitive pressure to score well and finish high was intensified tremendously. She needed financial help from her family to finish the year. The same issue has occurred for a number of other golfers according to the New York Times, including Jamie Hullett who is working in her family's store to help make ends meet. Male golfers have to-date been insulated. The number 100 player on the men's PGA tour, Ted Purdy earned $838k. (Feminism's work is clearly not yet completed.)

The LPGA has been decimated by the loss of advertising revenue and sponsorship. Baseball, basketball, NASCAR, and cycling to name but a few have been facing smaller, but similar troubles. Just as the financial woes of the LPGA have bled through to its players, chances are these other sports will see the same thing occur.

Wie

The Clarion Content had not even gotten the chance to congratulate long time whipping post Michelle Wie on winning her first professional tournament before she pulled another stunt. The much hyped, minimally accomplished Wie followed her first LPGA tournament victory with a "withdraw." She ostensibly turned her ankle in an encounter with an overzealous fan. She quit after one round leaving the fans, sponsors, and the cratering L.P.G.A. at the Houstonian Golf and Country Club without her marquee name. She shot an even par 72 in windy conditions, six shots behind thirty-time LPGA tour winner Lorena Ochoa.

The Good and the Bad of college football

This weekend is a perfect exemplar of the good and the bad of college football. In Durham, North Carolina, the staff of the Clarion Content is hanging on breathlessly hoping that somehow, some way the Duke Blue Devils can pull out a road upset against the all-world athletes of Miami of Florida. Were Duke able to pull off the win, they would remain bowl eligible going into their final game of the season against Wake Forest.

This is the good. The argument is that every game matters. Michigan versus Ohio State today, records aside, the game still has serious bragging rights at stake. Just because coach Rich Rodriguez is a trainwreck at Michigan does not make the game less valuable to the Big Blue alumni. You think Ohio State's fans want to win any less just because Michigan is terrible? The fact that Michigan is about to complete it's first back to back sub .500 seasons in more than 40 years would just make it all the more frustrating for Buckeye backers were their team to lose.

Despite our interest here in Duke, and the great rivalry game the midwest, or even other matches of consequence like North Carolina vying for bowl seedings versus Boston College in Chestnut Hill, or Arizona and Oregon meeting in a PAC-10 match-up, there is a problem. It does not infect the great PA battle between Lafayette and Leigh, which has the Lafayette Leopards hoping for a big win to secure an at-large bid into the Division I-AA, playoffs. And there it is! The geniuses that run the BCS refuse to allow any semblance of on the field battle for the national championship of Division I.

This beauty contest/gymnastics/figure skating method of voting for the best team rather than deciding it on the field incentivizes awfulness. This weak, whoops, week, #1 Florida is playing Florida International of the Sun Belt Conference. #2 Alamaba is playing Chattanooga of the Southern Conference. As of this moment they lead by a combined 80 to 3. Cupcakes for all! Even Texas with a potentially more legitimate opponent from the Big 12, has lucked into, the 1 up and 5 down in conference, Kansas Jayhawks. There is but a single match-up of top 25 teams, the Stanford-Cal game. This is the bad of college football. And its pretty putrid, because...

The faux national championship is securely in the hands of the judges. Boise State and TCU may be preemptively ruled out. Sorry. The winner of SEC conference title game is guaranteed a spot, allegedly. Cincinnati is be punished for being from the least favored of eligible conferences. Who is the best team? How would anyone know?

The Clarion Content would love to watch the coaching savvy of Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson in an eight team playoff. Too bad.

Break up the Hawks?!?

Talk about a sentence we never thought we would write, break up the Hawks? But, believe it or not, the Hawks are hottest team in the NBA right now. Does anyone in the sports apathetic city of Atlanta care? Who knows.

But the Hawks, led by Joe Johnson, are rolling. They own the NBA's best record at 9 wins and 2 losses. The ended Portland's six game winning streak last night in OT. (A streak that incidentally coincided with the Clarion Content's criticism of the Trail Blazers.) The Hawks have now beaten Portland twice. Last night they dominated Portland's highly touted inside duo, LaMarcus Aldridge, the fourth player drafted in 2006, and Greg Oden, the first player drafted in 2007. Aldridge and Oden combined for 29 points and 16 boards. The Hawks Al Horford and Josh Smith had 35 points and 26 boards. The Hawks outscored Portland 56-38 in the lane.

Atlanta has also beaten the Eastern Conference favorite Boston Celtics this season and blew out another quality opponent, the Denver Nuggets.

The Knicks are so awful

Cool enough by itself?

The Knicks are terrible. As the Clarion Content warned preseason this Knicks team could challenge for the worst record in franchise history. They are already off to the worst start in franchise history, an ignominious 1 up and 9 down. They are so bad, Knicks fans can hardly gain any pleasure in smirking at the even more putrid Nets, who lost last night on a D-Wade buzzer beater to fall to 0 and 10.

So the Nets suck worse. But when one's team hardly tries, plays no defense, and lacks a cohesive plan on offense, it is hard to watch. The Knicks allow opponents to shoot better than 50% from the field. They have yet to have a single game where they have topped the 50% mark for their own shooting percentage. The Knicks are getting stomped by more than ten points per game. Mike D'Antoni has been an unmitigated disaster as coach, General Manager Donnie Walsh should have seen that coming. D'Antoni rode Steve Nash's coattails in Phoenix, and was consistently overmatched and outcoached in the playoffs.

The tragedy is that the Knicks, without a first round pick, are pinning their hopes for the future on their ability to recruit free agents. When your franchise stinks to high heaven, how are you going to talk the best people into coming there? Strictly because the Garden is the coolest arena in the league? And New York City is the coolest city in the land? We hope so.

It is a tough time to be a Knicks fan.

Yuri Foreman wins 154lb title

The New Champ

Yuri Foreman spent a quiet Sabbath day in his Las Vegas hotel room, no television, no phone calls, no work. After sundown he went out and whipped the favored title holder, thirty-four year-old southpaw, Daniel Santos of Puerto Rico. Foreman is now an undefeated 28 and 0. He won by a three to nil decision. Rousing the crowd waiting on the main event, Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto, he knocked Santos down in the second round and again in the final round, when the veteran Santos, trailing on the judges' cards, knew he had to go for the knockout.

Interesting Sports links

We have a couple quick interesting sports links for your perusal, dear readers. They both come from the New York Times. The first was sent our way by a reader, recently returned to the Durham area from a sojourn to Boston. He must of known it would hit our spot, because the article is both about politics and the Yankees!

Did you know that the Yankees last eight World Series victories took place on the Democrats’ watch, during the terms of Presidents John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton? Or how about that they never won the World Series during the terms of President Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Bush I or Bush II? Remarkable coincidence? We dunno, but we might have changed our baseball predictions had we heard this stat preseason. It surely makes sense that an Obama presidency would propel a Yankees run to the title.

Read the article by King George II's former press secretary, Ari Fleischer here in the New York Times.

From an article by a Jewish guy, to an article about a Jewish guy, the Times published an interesting piece about (believe it or not) a Jewish boxer fighting for the World Boxing Association championship at 154 pounds Saturday, on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto match at the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas.

Yuri Foreman is 27-0 as a professional fighter. He lives in Brooklyn, but has traveled a long road, growing up poor in Belarus and immigrating later with his family to Israel. He learned to box in the slums of Haifa. Readers of the late Red Smith will attest that Foreman is neither the first, nor the best Jewish boxer ever. Who can forget "Battling" Levinsky, Charlie Gellman, Abe "the Little Hebrew" Atell, Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom, Barney Ross and Ruby Goldstein? It has however been a long minute, the Golden Age of Jewish boxers was before WW II, since we heard that one was fighting for a world title.

Read the whole story here.

Michigan, not much to like

The Clarion Content found one more reason to dislike the University of Michigan athletic department yesterday. Two different students reported incidents with retiring Athletic Director, Bill Martin. The school's department of public safety reported a brusque Martin shoved past one and in an another case grabbed a student's windbreaker.

The Associated Press report says,

Michigan student Jackie Turner says she told Martin he needed a pass to enter the regents guest area of the press box Sept. 12 during a game against Notre Dame. She said he pushed her shoulder and walked past her.

"Honey, I am the athletic director," Turner quoted him as saying, according to a university report on the incident.

On Oct. 17, Eastern Michigan student Arif Khan said he told Martin and a female companion they needed passes to enter the area after a game against Delaware State. Khan said Martin grabbed his jacket.

"I am the athletic director, I can go in," Khan quoted Martin as telling him.

Sounds like a nice guy. This is the jerk who brought in the slimeball football coach, Rich Rodriguez. Well, it is not like one might expect anything low out of the Michigan athletic department.

Ole Miss tries to ban chant

The University of Mississippi long considered a bastion of the old South is trying to change a tradition. Ole Miss was the site of a bloody standoff, less than fifty years ago, when in 1962 it admitted its first black student, James Meredith. The university still has to address its reputation and legacy. Six years ago the university got rid of its on-field mascot, Colonel Rebel, a white-haired old man who carried a cane and resembled a plantation owner. Now the school is trying to mover further out of the shadow of its old image.

The school is trying to ban the chanting of the phrase, 'The South Will Rise Again,' at the end of the marching band's medley 'From Dixie With Love.' The school's chancellor has suggested replacing the traditional chant, with 'To hell with LSU.' No luck yet. Some students are willing to go along with change, others are resisting. The medley played by the school band is based on the Confederate Army's fight song, "Dixie," blended with the Union Army's "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The song itself may have to be banned to end the chant.

Read the whole story here.

Oden over Durant

Is there anyone out there still defending the drafting of Greg Oden ahead of Kevin Durant? The Clarion Content hopes not. Oden is averaging a measly 6.8 points per game. He is grabbing a handful of boards, 9.8 per game, and blocking a couple of shots, 2.2 game, but if that is what he is!?! A defensive rebounding specialist who's career peak is below that of Ben Wallace. Egads, what an egregious decision to draft him ahead of the electric Kevin Durant. 25.3 points per game last year, a contender to win the scoring title this year, even if hasn't shot a lick yet.

It says here that Trail Blazers mini run peaked last year at a first round playoff loss. Portland coach Nate McMillan is already calling out Oden and the team for a lack of effort, "We're not playing as hard as we need to win games." And he lit up his interior players for their lack of defense rotation and hustle,"We broke down and they were able to get to the paint and get layups without our bigs stepping in to help." McMillan indicated it was a problem morphing into a bad pattern.

See ya back at the lottery Portland, and don't do anything dumb like picking Oden over Durant or you will be right back here again.

American sport is devouring itself

Failing to learn the lesson of the golden goose the greed of those who run American sports is devouring the very games that sustain them. We discussed this motif in an article earlier this week about the starting times of baseball games. Those in charge of baseball are worrying about the highest possible advertising revenues today, rather than whether or not the potential fans of tomorrow will be allowed to stay up late enough to watch the game. We have railed against the ridiculous ticket prices at Yankee stadium for some of the same reasons. It is doubly disgusting to price the average fan out of the ballpark when your stadium's construction was publicly financed.

Columnist Bob Hebert makes a plea along the same lines here in the New York Times.

NBA Preview

The Clarion Content's Sports Editor is excited because it is easy to write a short and sweet NBA basketball preview this year. There are only five teams with any shot at contending for the NBA title. In the East the contenders are: the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. In the West, it is the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs. It says here that the winner of the Western Finals is going to take the crown. The West is beating the East.

The Celtics are going to be dragged down by Garnett's body betraying him, even with point guard Rajan Rondo excelling. It will not be enough, Ray Allen is another year older, too. Getting 'Sheed helps Boston, but he is aging and slower as well, unless Garnett finds the fountain of youth, the Celts can't go the distance. The Cavs have the best player in the league, LeBron James. Despite King James's superlative efforts, it is simply not physically possible to win it alone in the NBA. Long Shaq supporters, the Clarion Content has been losing faith lately. How will an aging, immobile Shaq handle playing second fiddle? Our fear is that this isn't the same Shaq that D-Wade got to play with, that Shaq had a bit more left in the tank. The Orlando Magic are the wild card. We cannot believe that Vince Carter will suddenly morph into a successful, driven NBA basketball player. We have followed from him from Chapel Hill to Toronto to East Rutherford, why now? But if somehow it did happen... If the light went on and it clicked for Vince, the Magic would have to be the favorites in the East. Right now, we see them as the third fiddle.

The West is where it is at! Firstly the defending champs, the Lakers, play there. Second Tim Duncan has a lot more left on the odometer, than the other big guy with four rings on his fingers, Shaq. Ginobli's heath is a big concern for the Spurs.

We have been waiting for months to say it, but we believe that Ron Artest is a down grade from Trevor Ariza, Lakers fans! Ariza was unstoppable off the dribble, shooting lights out from 3 point line, comfortable being low on the totem pole. Artest is crazy and high maintenance. Heck, he hadn't even played a game and he had already introduced Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian. Excitement happens around old Ron Artest, just not the good kind. Plus his offensive game has deteriorated with his foot speed. He is also no longer the lights out defender he once was. Kobe, as dedicated and determined as he is, has played 200 plus games in the past two seasons.

Conversely, the Spurs got way better in the off-season, in addition to getting a long rest when they lost early. This year, Richard Jefferson was the NBA acquisition of the off-season, he can light it up from 3 or off the dribble. He hustles, is willing to play defense and comes with minimal ego and baggage. Jefferson is far easier going, for example, than the already bitching Andre Miller in Portland. Jefferson had to put up with prima donnas J. Kidd and Carter in the swamps of Jersey and he was a huge success. The Spurs also added the most NBA ready rookie this side of Blake Griffin, Pitt's DeJuan Blair, and they hoovered up veteran Antonio McDyess for big man depth. Look out!

The Spurs look like the pick from here. The Lakers will push them to the brink in the Western Conference Finals. A couple more quick hitting predictions: the Knicks will win no more than 35 games. The Nets are never moving to Brooklyn. The Timberwolves will be better than people think, perhaps even stealing the eight seed in the ultra-competitive West. Comeback we are most excited to see: Gilbert Arenas with le Bullet. Comeback we are least excited to see: Greg Oden with the Portland Milktoasters.

Need more? Bill Simmons done wrote a terrific in-depth NBA column in two parts. Click here. Just because we came to similar conclusions doesn't mean we copied or worked together, it may just be the thinking on a pretty obvious season that is likely ensue.

One more reason to root

Need one more reason to root for Duke football? As a team the football squad has maintained a collective 3.0+ Grade Point Average in each of the last three semesters consecutively. This is not an Auburn situation where the kids are getting inflated grades from classes they don't attend. There are no fluff Parks and Recreation Management majors offered at Duke, unlike some large state institutions.

Count the Clarion Content in as a supporter.

Ridiculous and awful

Is there any other way to classify the fools who write the Major League Baseball schedule? When what was once the national pastime has six remaining fans in 2025, the bankrupt owners will look back and rue the Bud Selig era. The litany of Selig calamities is endless from the ignore the steroids home run chase, to the tied All-Star game, to changing the rules of the game in the middle of the World Series, Selig has shown he was maxed out in his abilities back when he was selling used cars.

As part of his legacy of idiocy and disaster Selig wants to insure no one watches the MLB playoffs, at least not a whole game. Can there been any other reason for starting Game 6 of the playoffs at 8.20pm on a Sunday night? Hey asswipe, do think most kids parents let them stay up past 10pm on a school night? Do you think anyone under 16 will see past the fourth inning tonight? (Most of adults have to work Monday morning, too, dumbass.) This is sad because ALCS has been a fascinating series, although defined more by its miscues than its great plays.

This too is the fault of the conceited MLB schedule makers. Taking a hint from the folks who write the college bowl schedule, baseball has insured that its playoff teams have an inordinate amount of days off that is never replicated during the regular season. (The Yanks and Angles have played 8 times in the last 20 days!) Thus when games are finally contested, mistakes abound. Games are, as Tori Hunter noted, played like exhibitions rather than like the regular season. Why not right? Baseball's moronic leadership has teams play through driving rainstorms in the playoffs that would never be consider acceptable conditions during the regular season! Integrity means nothing to these dopes!

The rationale for this schedule and playing in these absurd conditions, hotel rooms! Are you f*ing kidding? The whole country and the sport has to suffer because Selig and entourage are worried about rescheduling their hotel rooms? You have got to be joking. The League Championship Series are being played in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia and your excuse for this pathetic schedule is a lack of hotel rooms? Patently false and intelligence insulting, Car Salesman Selig. At the Clarion Content, we can buy that maybe at the last minute you won't be able to rebook the presidential suite at swank Manhattan hotels, but you couldn't rebook for something in Jersey or out on Long Island?!? Say you can't and you are a LIAR! Check out the Motel 6 or the Econo Lodge, jerk. Got the same problem in Philly? Hey book a room in Delaware, a-holes, the whole metro area isn't out of rooms, and we know it. So now, one is talking about sacrificing the integrity of the game so Selig and entourage don't have to commute too far to games.

What we should be talking about is the ritual sacrifice of Bud Selig to the baseball gods, it may be the only way to bring the game back from the brink.

Raiders Coach Tom Cable won't be prosecuted

The Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable won't be prosecuted for allegedly busting assistant coach Randy Hanson's jaw. The Napa County district attorney Gary Lieberstein said he could not prosecute the case based on the evidence he had gathered, stories and testimony had changed too many times. Raiders owner Al Davis must have gotten to the witnesses. The three other assistant coaches in the room could not corroborate Hanson's story.

There was an altercation or a near altercation. Hanson, reportedly Al Davis's spy in the coaches' meetings, definitely had his jaw broken. After months, not much more than that can be definitively said.

Read a NorCal take on the situation here in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rent a Player

Josh Boone...............Eduardo Najera..............Brook Lopez


When we say "Rent a Player" we are not talking about the usual late season deal, where a team far out of contention sends an expensive salaried, but soon to be free agent, player to a team near the top of the standings, to "rent." Nope. We are talking about there is a New Jersey Nets season ticket package that includes renting a player! Weddings, Christmas, BBQs, bring your favorite Net along. Wow, now we might actually be enthused about a LeBron to the Nets deal.

The plan is $25k buys you four courtside tickets for 10 games, parking, access to a private lounge with free food and beverages at the game and--- a one-hour appearance by a Nets player of your choice at your home, office, school or party. That's right spice up your kids Bar Mitzvah with Josh Boone or Rafer Alston! Want to entertain those Chinese clients your company has been so assiduously courting, how about bringing chairman Yi Jianlian to the next mixer! Can't get a clown for your three year olds bash, next best thing, Brook Lopez!

Perhaps this why the Nets have been collecting players of all different ethnicities, origins and backgrounds. Its Cinco de Mayo, let's see if anyone wants to rent Eduardo Najera. And what better way to spice up your daughter's Sweet Sixteen than to invite the 22 year old, 6ft. 7in. Chris Douglas-Roberts!?! Can we imagine what Shawn Kemp or Calvin Murphy might have done for their teams popularity in this scenario? Egads.

The New Jersey Nets, brilliant!

No, no, no, no the NBA isn't about to financial implode for lack of ticket sales or anything, teams are just offering these kind of promotions to be "cool" to their fans. Really.

Bad day on the golf course

Water Hazard, indeed!

The old saw used to go, "The worst day on the golf course is better than any day in the office." There is a poor fellow who played a round of golf in Beaufort, South Carolina last week who would disagree.

At Ocean Creek Golf Course in Beaufort County, S.C., a man leaned over a water hazard to retrieve his wayward ball. Suddenly, a 10ft long alligator appeared with a mission of its own. The man lost his arm in the struggle before his golf partners were able to free him. Golf course workers killed the unsuspecting animal and retrieved the fellow's arm in hopes of reattachment. No word from the golf course or the hospital on whether or not that was successful. The man is in stable condition.

A Knicks flop

In the immortal words of Nancy Kerrigan, "Why? Why?" Why couldn't the Knicks braintrust see that Danilo Gallinari was a flop waiting to happen? A soft, nineteen year-old, Italian jeans model was going to play in the NBA? This is the franchise that brought us Frederic Weis! They couldn't see this coming?!? After an awful rookie season that ended with back pain, a six point per game average and a mere 28 games played, Gallinari has been stinking it up this pre-season again. He is shooting a scintillating 21% from the field.

Gallinari is one more reason why we doubt Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni. He was the primary endorser of this pick. The Knicks could have had the electric point guard D.J. Augustin, the guy we at the Clarion Content wanted, or the goofy, but hugely effective center the Nets found, Brook Lopez. At least Lopez has height, and had played competitive college basketball. Modeling Italian jeans and being a heartthrob were Gallinari's primary qualifications.

We were very glad that the Knicks re-signed David Lee and Nate Robinson. We think Coach Mike D'Antoni road Steve Nash's coattails for years in Phoenix. D'Antoni found ways to lose in the playoffs. This year, he and the Knicks will miss the playoffs even in the pathetic Eastern Conference.

King Felix

The Clarion Content is annoyed that the baseball playoffs suddenly have to take two days off before starting the League Championship Series in the middle of what has already been an exciting October. But we will concede the reality of modern stadium scheduling, note that the NFL has already moved the start times of some games to avoid conflicts with the MLB playoffs, and accept this interlude to write about one of the other baseball stories of the season that we never quite had the chance to get to, the American League Cy Young award.

Incidentally, despite the terrific season turned in by Derek Jeter, the incomparable Joe Mauer clearly deserves to win the A.L. MVP. The A.L. Cy Young is a much more complicated debate. The Yankees C.C. Sabathia led the league in wins with 19. He lost eight and compares poorly with the other contenders in ERA at 3.37. But what also hurt Sabathia's candidacy was that he played for the spectacular 100 win Yankees. How hard was it to win? His team led the league in offense. Sabathia's out, he need to win 22 or 23 to have a case.

And that brings us to the next candidate, the Royals Zack Greinke. Greinke, by way of comparison, pitched for a 65 win Kansas City team that tied for the A.L.'s worst record. Greinke also led the A.L. in ERA. Greinke won only 16 games, but the next most wins that anyone had on the Royals was Brian Bannister's seven. Eeeeew.

We can't rule Greinke out, but how does he compare to last year's winner Toronto's Roy 'Doc' Halladay? This year Halladay won 17 games, one more than Greinke with a 2.79 ERA to Greinke's 2.16. They both pitched around 230 innings. Hallday threw four shutouts to Greinke three. Halladay's team was barely better than Greinke's, finishing a modest 5 games ahead of the Royals in the league standings. Last year when Halladay won the Cy Young he had 20 wins. Although a bad precedent was set by giving the 2006 N.L. Cy Young to Brandon Webb, the Clarion Content is loathe to give the award to someone with only 16 wins.

If we had a vote, we believe we would cast it for the Seattle Mariners 'King' Felix Hernandez. He finished second in the league with a 2.49 ERA. He led the league with 19 wins. He didn't play for a super team. The Mariners without Felix's brilliant 19 up and 5 down would have been six games under .500. Nobody else won more than seven games on the Mariners. Hernandez's .792 winning percentage was the A.L.'s best. The thing that really sealed it for the Clarion Content was his sterling finish. Greinke was 4-0 out of the gate with a 0.84 ERA, but 12-8 the rest of the way. King Felix was Hernandez went 15-2 with a 1.98 ERA after mid-May.

A close race, but our vote goes to Hernandez, with Greinke second, and Halladay third. Sabathia can luxuriate in the fact that he is the only one of the four still pitching this season.

Rush Limbaugh and the Rams

The Rams new principal owners? In the name of Georgia Frontiere, what?!?

The Clarion Content is not unilaterally declaring that Rush Limbaugh should not be allowed to own the the NFL's St. Louis Rams. We would only suggest that the NFL think long and hard about the wisdom of including a person like Limbaugh in their exclusive group. How long ago did baseball exclude Marge Schott for her bigotry?

Limbaugh does not deny saying, "I mean, let's face it, we didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark."

Nor does he deny saying, "Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."

It is a free country and we are big believers in free speech. But the NFL, as a private entity, has the right to impose its own standards and limits on appropriate conduct. They certainly impose their standards on their largely black player base. Limbaugh seems like the kind of character we might not include (were it up to us).

Then again, the NBA is about to let a Russian billionaire, who built his nickel under the Kremlin's shady watch after dubiously acquiring a monopoly, buy into the Nets. Standards everywhere are green first, everything else second.

If we were Rams fans, we might be worried about the deleterious effects of allowing Dave Checketts near our franchise, too.

Duke Football

Duke football went on the road yesterday to North Carolina State's Carter-Finely Stadium. The boys in blue out executed the Wolfpack in all phases of the game. The result was a 49-28 Duke victory. Duke was led by senior quarterback Thad Lewis who was a remarkable 40 of 50 for 459 yards and 5 touchdown passes. He even added one more TD on foot.

Duke Coach David Cutcliffe said it was the best performance he had ever seen by one of his quarterbacks. As the Greensboro News-Record noted, that is quite a list, "Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Erik Ainge, Heath Shuler and Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton." Duke shut its offense down in the fourth quarter, going conservative or Lewis might have thrown for 600 yards! Following a close game at home versus national powerhouse and championship contender Virginia Tech, Duke said all week there were no moral victories. They wanted this one.

And they got it. They snapped all sorts of streaks in the process including; 8 straight ACC losses, 16 years since they had beat NC State, their first ACC road win in 6 years and their first win at NC State since 1984! QB Thad Lewis is now the all-time touchdown pass leader in Blue Devil history and is tied for 6th all-time in ACC history. The Sporting News led its coverage of the best in college football this week with the Duke quarterback. Wow!

Let's go Duke!

The Proof is in the pudding

Alex Rodriguez closed out his regular season with a bang today, setting an American League record with seven RBIs in a single inning. Rodriguez homered in his first at-bat of the regular season and as it turned out, he homered in last at-bat of the regular season, too. Rodriguez has always been a tremendous regular season player.

But, alas, A-Fraud, the proof is in the pudding. No matter how many homers he hits and runs he drives in, his legacy will come down to his post-season performance. Career-to-date he has been a choking loser. The playoffs start this week, and if there ever was a season where all the pressure wasn't on Rodriguez, it is this one. Teammate Mark Teixera tied for the A.L. lead in homers and led the league in RBIs. Can A-Rodriguez finally succeed now that he is in a supporting role?

We doubt it. Rather we see A-Fraud likely to play as tight as ever, and if the Yankees somehow lose a Game One his nerves infecting the rest of the team. The Yankees will need timely hitting and some good starting pitching to succeed in the post-season. They are heavy favorites, but without much cause other than the best record in the regular season. The Yankees specialize in beating up weaklings, but struggle against quality opponents. The Yanks were 14 up and 14 down against their playoff rivals the Red Sox and Angels, and a gaudy .665 and 44 games over .500 against everybody else. Ace starter C.C. Sabathia has a history of coming up small in the playoffs. #2 start A.J. Burnett couldn't be more maddeningly inconsistent. #3 starter Andy Pettitt and closer Mariano Rivera, greats that they are, are no longer the players they were a decade ago, which was the last time the Yankees won a World Series.

Orioles retain Trembley

We have to admit it, there was audible laughter at the Clarion Content's Sports Desk when we read that the Baltimore Orioles elected to retain Dave Trembley as manager. Fresh off of a thirteen game losing streak, in a year where they may just barely avoid losing 100 games, they brought the manager back? This was coming back from a 2008 season where they won a meager 68 and dropped 93, closing that season a scintillating 1 and 9.

This is what Orioles owner Peter Angelos is selling his dedicated fan base? Orioles fans may not be responding. In the fourteen games prior to the losing streak the O's averaged a bare 19,000 fans in paid attendance. Paid (and announced) attendance for crummy teams is alway higher than the actual number of fannies in the seats, as many tickets are pre-sold as part of season long packages and counted as attendance. Camden Yards is only sixteen years old, it is not like they can start clamoring for a new stadium to bring the fans back. The O's may be in for a long dark turn, can we say (shudder) Pittsburgh Pirates, anyone?

The Mets get it

The New York Mets get it. They have lowered ticket prices going into next season on almost every seat in the building. The Clarion Content is very excited to see somebody in the New York Metro area responding to the reality of the economic situation. We spent last off-season and much of this year excoriating the Yankees for their ridiculous gilded ticket prices. The Mets lost over 90 games this season and they have played to near empty houses in their brand spanking new stadium down the stretch. The Mets ownership, who took a double whammy, between the economy and Bernie Madoff, answered in the best way possible, taking care of the consumer, the fan, the little guy.

Let's go Mets!

Revolutionary Ladies

The past month saw two notable and under-publicized achievements in women's tennis. In a scene that produced some delightfully joyous photos, Kim Clisters became the first mother to win a Grand Slam tournament in 27 years (since Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon in 1980). Clisters accepted post match hugs from her eighteen month old daughter Jada after winning the U.S. Open last month. Score one for motherhood!


Evonne Goolagong Cawley.......................Billie Jean King

Yesterday Japan's Kimiko Date Krumm became the oldest winner of a WTA Tour tournament since Billie Jean King in 1983. Date Krum, nearly thirty-nine, won the Korean Open, beating top-seeded Daniela Hantuchova along the way. King was thirty-nine and seven months. It was Date Krum's eighth career title. For perspective, the last one was thirteen years ago over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Congratulations.

Rapid Fire Reaction

A few quick thoughts from the Sports Editor having just watched the Tennessee Titans fall to 0-3 at the surprising New York Jets. As you know if you read the Clarion Content's AFC preview we didn't buy into the Jets and rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. Sanchez has the limitations you might expect of green rookie, the Jets missed their last nine third down conversion attempts. The Jets defense is stout. They are built around solid linebackers, led by Bart Scott and David Harris. They have all world might-mite safety Jim Leonhard, and a great scheme. With Kris Jenkins still healthy and playing at nose tackle, they are a dominating bunch especially at home where the deafening crowd sounds like a college stadium.

The long overrated Kerry Collins wasn't up to the task for the Titans. The play calling, influenced by trailing throughout the fourth quarter, negated one of Tennessee's best players super quick running back Kris Johnson. Collins was incomplete on his last thirteen pass attempts (to be fair there were a couple drops). He looked like a statue getting demolished by a bulldozer against the Jets blitz. Tennessee deep behind the eight ball, out of the gate 0-3, all three losses in conference, needs to give some thought to going to Vince Young (as we Twittered during the game).

*Just a sidenote, it was an awful abuse of its monopoly by the NFL and their partner Fox Sports to deny the city of Detroit the opportunity to watch their team's first victory in two years. The game was blacked-out on local television, in a city with 30% plus unemployment, because they did not sell out the game tickets. Sport's greed will yet be visited by comeuppance.

Old Master

The old master, Pedro Martinez, still has it. He is 5 and 0 since returning to MLB. The Phillies are 7 and 0 in the games he has started. He is pitching to a 2.87 ERA. Scintillating hardly even begins to cover it. Sunday evening he threw eight innings of shutout ball, yielding a bare six hits in a tense 1-0 victory over the Mets. The Clarion Content would love to see Pedro, one of our all-time favs, get starts for the Phils in postseason.

Football Preview, Part I, the AFC

The Clarion Content is attempting to shorten our football preview from some of the notoriously long pieces we have penned in the past. It is also noteworthy before reading these predictions to recall that the Clarion Content picked the Yankees to miss the playoffs, the Cubs to win the N.L. Central and the Tigers to finish last in the A.L. Central. Last year in the knockout pool, the Sports Editor tried to get creative and picked the Detroit Lions to win in week one. You know how that went. So suffice it say that these predictions are for entertainment purposes only.


This looks like a Super QB...


AFC West

The worst division in the American Football Conference, featuring two rookie coaches and the Raiders. Like most, the Clarion Contents likes the Chargers to win the division.


1st---San Diego Chargers over 10

Shawn Merriman was just trying to stop Tia Tequilla from driving. As long as he is
rushing the quarterback and Phillip Rivers is under center the Chargers will be hard to beat. We think LD will have something of a comeback year.

2nd---Denver Broncos over 6.5

The Clarion Content likes Kyle Orton a lot more than most. His regular season record looks good. It would help if rookie running back out of Georgia, Knowshon Moreno lit it up.

3rd---Kansas City Chiefs under 6

Tough call who will be worse, Chiefs or Raiders. Firing the offensive coordinator, risky. Counting on Larry Johnson when the going gets tough, riskier. How will Matt Cassell do with less talent around him? He will surely wish the Chiefs kept tight end Tony Gonzales.

4th---Oakland Raiders under 5.5

The Clarion Content was feeling halfway okay about the Raiders until the focus became Tom Cable's uppercut. Then we heard Ja'Marcus Russell the quarterback reported to camp at nearly 300 pounds, and the Raiders still cut Jeff Garcia. Worst news for old school Raiders fans this week, learning from Bill Simmons column that Al Davis's mom lived to be 103.



AFC Central

A tough top of the division for Carson Palmer and the Bengals to breakthrough.

1st---Pittsburgh Steelers over 10.5

Can Ben Roethlisberger stay healthy all season, holding the ball as long as he does? Fast Willie Parker looks a little slow a foot. Troy Polamalu has been bitten by the Madden curse...

2nd---Baltimore Ravens over 8.5

The Clarion Content loves the young guys Joe Flacco and Ray Rice. If Ed Reed isn't the best safety in the division in just might be because there are two future Hall of Fame safeties in this division.

3rd---Cincinnati Bengals over 6.5

We would love to see Marvin Lewis and his team succeed. Palmer is a good quarterback. How much talent to the have around him? It didn't help that Bengals fatty offensive lineman Andre Smith held out, then broke his foot two days after reporting. Look for a career season from Laveranues Coles and breakout year from fullback Brian Leonard.

4th---Cleveland Browns under 7

How fast is Eric Mangini going to wear out his welcome? Six games? Eight? He already painted over a mural of Browns greats and alienated the local media. Brady Quinn is set up to fail. The defense looks terrible. The competition looks tough.



AFC South

Perhaps the hardest division to figure. The Jacksonville Jaguars are? The Colts without Tony Dungy will? The Titans led by Kerry Collins can? And all the experts like Houston...

1st place---Tennessee Titans over 9

Even if Kerry Collins, gets hurt with think Vince Young is poised to succeed. We love Kris Johnson and their defense, led by Keith Bullock.

2nd place---Indianapolis Colts under 10

They will miss Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy. The offensive line has question marks. The defense is vulnerable.

3rd place---Jacksonville Jaguars over 8

We like David Garrard more than most. We worry about Marcus Jones Drew holding up while getting all the carries, but if he can, look out. The Jags fans are the most likely to screwed by the NFL TV blackout rules. Sorry the bottom fell out of the economy, but, no, no you can't watch your team on TV.

4th place---Houston Texans under 8

The best fourth place team in the conference. They have stars on both sides of the ball. Too bad Andre Johnson can't play quarterback and wideout. Their defensive line gets pressure on people, but the Texans are just a find a way to lose games kind of team, even after exiling Sage Rosenfelds. Is it coach Gary Kubiak?



AFC East

All four of these teams can't finish over .500 can they? Even the Jets with a rookie quarterback and new coach could still be halfway decent. Tom Brady's return makes all the difference.

1st place---New England Patriots under 11.5

Could there be a little slippage in New England? There has appeared to be some defensively over the last couple of years. Won't Brady be a little rusty? We'd be shocked if the Pats won the Lombardi Trophy this year.

2nd place---Miami Dolphins over 7

We like the wildcat offense, especially now that they have added former WVU quarterback Pat White. Good defense, good running game, Bill Parcells picking the players, what's not to like? Did you know Chad Pennington has led his team to the playoffs every year of his career that he has played ten healthy games?

3rd place---Buffalo Bills over 7.5

We like Trent Edwards. We like the defense. Will TO help or hurt? If he is the good TO, he and Lee Evans could be a terrific wideout combo. Dick Jauron gets the most out of his teams' talent.

4th place---The New York Jets under 7

This was a good defense already and then they added Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard. But can the offense keep up? Thomas Jones is slowing. They don't have a true number one receiver, much as we like Jerricho Cotchery. And no less than Pete Carroll said rookie QB Mark Sanchez should have stayed in school.

Football Preview, Part II, the NFC

This looks like a Super QB...


NFC West

The worst division in the National Football Conference?


1st---Arizona Cardinals over 8.5

Even if Warner gets hurt.

2nd---San Francisco 49ers over 7

The Clarion Content loves Mike Singletary. We like gutsy former Maryland QB, S. Hill, too.

3rd---Seattle Seahawks under 7.5

Bad o-line, limited wideouts.

4th---St. Louis Rams under 5.5

Will challenge Detroit for the title of the worst team in football.



NFC Central

The most overrated division in football.

1st---Green Packers over 9

They will be consistently up and down.

2nd---Minnesota Vikings under 9

If Peterson stays healthy they will just miss the playoffs. If he gets hurt, look for under .500.

3rd---Chicago Bears under 8.5

Will the Jay Cutler acquisition really turn out to be even more overblown than the Favre signing? We think there is a good chance. The defense looks old and slow.

4th---Detroit Lions under 4.5

The citizens of Detroit have done exactly what to deserve this? We like Calvin Johnson. We not sure Matt Stafford has the accuracy and touch of a successful NFL starter.



NFC South

The ups and downs of this division are meteoric. The last two years the Clarion Content has picked the Panthers to the Super Bowl, we will quit jinxing them this year.

1st place---New Oreleans Saints over 9

Imagine the Chargers had Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, Ladamaian Tomlinson, Michael Turner and Darren Spoles at the same time! The Saints will score boatloads.

2nd place---Atlanta Falcons over 8.5

It was the fourth place schedule, right? Matt Ryan can't do that again, can he? Tony Gonzales was a huge addition.

3rd place---Carolina Panthers under 8.5

Last year's draft day trades and the off-season resigning of Julius Peppers hamstrung this franchise. Next year the bottom could fall out.

4th place---Tampa Bay Bucaneers under 6.5

We're not sold on the defense, the running game or the new coach.



NFC East

The best division in the NFC, maybe the league.

1st place---New York Giants over 10

Wide receiving corps has slipped, but great defense and running game will propel the G-men to a strong regular season.

2nd place---Philadelphia Eagles over 9.5

Is this the year Donovan McNabb goes back to the Super Bowl? The Eagles are loaded on both sides of the ball.

3rd place---Dallas Cowboys over 9

The race for third in this division is a battle for a playoff spot. Our hearts are with the Jason Campbell and the Skins, our heads say it be Jerry's Cowboys. Word on the street is the monstrous new Dallas stadium TV screen blocks the view from almost all but the lowest seats. Brilliant!

4th place---Washington Redskins over 8

If Portis stays healthy and they catch a few breaks, they could easily make the playoffs.

Cautionary Tale

Young men, be careful. That was the thought that assailed the Clarion Content's Sports Editor this morning when we saw brief item in the New York Times Sports page reading, "The Detroit Lions have gone to federal court to recover $6.1 million from the former receiver Charles Rogers."

Rogers was the second overall NFL draft pick in 2003 out of Michigan State. Only one incoming player in all the land was deemed better than Charles Rogers by the talent evaluators. He has been out of the NFL since the Lions released him in 2006 citing his work ethic. At the time he was coming off of his third violation of the NFL substance abuse policy which mandated a four game suspension.

Talent alone guarantees nothing.

NFL Twitter rules

The National Football League finalized its policy and announced rules governing its personnel, players and coaches twittering. The Clarion Content highlighted this story for you over in the Politics Section a few weeks back when discussing the Marine Corps ban on its personal twittering.

The NFL, rather than adopting an outright ban, has instituted a policy which says players, coaches and other team-affiliated personnel must refrain from tweeting 90 minutes before games and are not allowed to tweet after games until meeting with so-called "traditional" media outlets. (No tweeting until after the post-game press conferences.) These rules ostensibly apply to player agents and friends, too.

The league also said regarding media members twittering, "Longstanding policies prohibiting play-by-play descriptions of NFL games in progress apply fully to Twitter and other social media platforms. Internet sites may not post detailed information that approximates play-by-play during a game. While a game is in progress, any forms of accounts of the game must be sufficiently time-delayed and limited in amount (e.g., score updates with detail given only in quarterly game updates) so that the accredited organization's game coverage cannot be used as a substitute for, or otherwise approximate, authorized play-by-play accounts."

Read more here at CNet.news.

Petros and Money

Petros and Money do bang-up radio

The Clarion Content's Sports Editor has happened upon an excellent, new (to our offices) sports talk radio show. Here is a little background on what we listen to at the office. We have long been Jim Rome fans, since he was working on Extra Sports 690 in San Diego. We were also aficionados of the now broken up duo, Mike and the Mad Dog, long of sports radio 660 WFAN, New York City.

We still listen to Rome, the best interviewer doing sports talk radio, when the midday opportunity avails itself, he is on 12pm until 3pm locally in Durham. We stream WFAN's Mike Francesca from the station's website, though he takes half the Summer off and is replaced by lesser lights. We also enjoy the podcasts of ESPN's best writer and Jimmy Kimmel's pal, Bill Simmons.

It was just recently that our local sports talk radio station "620 the Bull" started carrying the syndicated Fox Radio show, "Petros and Money" which is hosted by KLAC AM 570 out of Los Angeles. These two guys are a hilarious combo. They have some of the modern, moderately vulgar humor of the Jim Rome show and Bill Simmons, as well as their pop culture references. Petros and Money are knowledgeable about their sports. They wear their homer-ism proudly on their respective sleeves for teams such as the LA Dodgers and the USC Trojans, which is an attitude and a mindset the Clarion Content respects.

They are funny, smart, big city perspective guys. They know how to cover a national story. They have some fascinating and creative bits including alternate personalities such as dating advice guru Lance Romance, a persona assumed by Petros Papadakis and Matt "Money" Smith's financial adviser alter-ego, Vance Finance, who distributes fiscal wisdom over their airwaves. They also do, "I'm a horse," Mondays and "Win Forever," Wednesdays with USC Coach Pete Carroll.

In Durham, they air at 7pm normally, unless the lowly, local station hacks are screwing up the programming with some kind of lame high school football show or Appalachian State football call-in garbage. Rarely does Durham feel more podunk than when this happens. Stand by while we get the injury report on the junior split-end for Wake Forest Rolesville High School. Let's talk about a Division I-AA football school that's more than 150 miles distant. Pul-leeze! We can't flip the dial fast enough. Unfortunately, we have yet to discover a place to stream Petros and Money. If any of you dear readers know, please advise us. Thanks!

Old Master shows young Jedi a trick or two

The old master, Pedro Martinez, showed the young Jedi, and odds-on Cy Young Award favorite, Tim Lincecum a thing or two the other night when he beat him and the San Francisco Giants, 2-1. Now pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies, Pedro is not quite his former self, but Friday night he was good enough. He struck nine and walked none. In an era sullied by cheating, Pedro Martinez is one baseball player the Clarion Content will tell the proverbial grandchildren we saw. For his career, opponents bat a mere .217 against Pedro. And only the Hall of Fame Yankee, Whitey Ford, has a higher all-time winning percentage than Pedro's .687. At his peak, he was must see, don't turn away for a pitch entertainment, and positively unhittable.

What if nobody came?

Empty seats follow the Pirates around...here in Houston

What if they played a game and nobody came? What if they played two and nobody came? The Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates attempted to answer this question earlier this week with a twin bill in the Queen City. The Yahoo blog the Big League Stew reported that no more than 2,000 people were in the 42,000 seat stadium, turning it into a giant echo chamber. The photo attached to the story is pretty amazing. A rookie by the name of Drew Stubbs was quoted as saying that the crowds reminded him of the Florida rookie instructional league.

The Clarion Content has been relentlessly hammering the theme that says there is an earthquake of economic comeuppance that is soon to be visited on American sports. This was another tiny tremor.

Mets continue to deny they are strapped

The New York Mets baseball club continues to deny that they are having financial difficulties, but mounting evidence suggests otherwise. The Clarion Content had been down this road with you even before they let reliever Billy Wagner go to the Red Sox in a patently cost-cutting move. We didn't hit on that transaction because we thought it made baseball sense too. Wagner was an expensive loud-mouth on a team that was and is going nowhere. Getting him gone was a good idea.

The latest Mets maneuvering to cut costs came to our attention via the New York Times Richard Sandomir. It was not a player transaction. Rather the Mets are moving 75 prospects from the team’s program in the Florida instructional league to the Dominican Republic. The Mets, of course, claim that this is not a cost cutting move. However, there is no denying that there will be significant savings in the living and maintenance expenses for the franchise and the players. For example, the per diem the team doles out to the roster can be far less.

These are times when a great many organizations are trimming expenses. The Mets have no compelling reason to be different. It is only the continued rumors of the ownership's massive Madoff related losses that bring these moves under such scrutiny.

Nice work Arkansas

The smiling face of Arkansas Football

The Arkansas football program has to just feel right proud of itself about now. They have truly done some fascinating work in the last couple of years. Sure was a good call driving Houston Nutt out of town so you could bring in the classy Bobby Petrino, Razorbacks. Hope you enjoyed going 2 up and 6 down in the SEC last year. It probably wasn't too hard to swallow the irony of Coach Nutt going 9 and 4 and winning the Cotton Bowl with perennial SEC doormat, Ole Miss. Now this year, Coach Nutt has the Ole Miss Rebels ranked in the top ten in the preseason polls.

What? Arkansas expectations aren't quite that high? You don't say.

Well, at least you can say that all this running off Coach Nutt happened over what was a good cause. The ever-whining Mitch Mustain has done an admirable job holding down the third string quarterback job at USC. He holds a clipboard real well.

Nice work, Razorback-nation. Reap what you sow.

Doubles record

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell broke a five way tie for most consecutive season with 25 doubles or more by a third baseman. In doing so, he removed some illustrious names from the record books. They included three legendary Hall of Famers, Wade Boggs, George Brett and Brooks Robinson. These third sackers all had nine consecutive season with at least 25 doubles.

The fourth fellow involved in the record, Harland "Darkie" Clift was much more obscure. Mr. Clift toiled for St. Louis Browns and the Washington Senators between 1934 and 1945. Clift was quite a player in his time. He held the single season record for most home runs by a third baseman from 1937 until 1952. He also apparently had a great eye, drawing more than 100 walks for six straight years. An All-Star only once Clift was third in the league in triples in 1934 as a 21-year-old rookie, third in the league in homers for 1938 and second in the league in doubles in 1942. Now, he is on one less page of the record book.

Now that something you don't see every day

No two exactly alike?

The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies demonstrated one of the fundamentally great things about baseball yesterday. Baseball's continuing potential for uniqueness is almost endless. Of all the ways that baseball mimics life, this is one of the most pleasurable. In approximately, 173,000 baseball games played since 1900 never before has a team started a game with an inside the park home run and ended with an unassisted triple play.

With his team already trailing 6-0, centerfielder Angel Pagan led off the bottom of the first for the Mets with an inside the park home run. It was several hours later his teammate Jeff Francouer ended the game with a line drive to Phillies second sacker Eric Bruntlett. Bruntlett, who had made the misplays that led to the first and second, none out situation, recorded only the 15th unassisted triple play in major league baseball history. An unassisted triple play occurs when one defensive player records all three outs in an inning without help. As it did yesterday, it normally happens on a line drive to a middle infielder with a double steal underway. It is among baseball's rarest feats, just slightly rarer than the perfect game, just slightly more common than someone hitting two grand slam home runs in the same game. It had been merely 82 years since a game ended on an unassisted triple play.

Two other news and notes items from the Clarion Content's Sports Editor's desk.

First, it looks like the American League's Most Valuable Player race is coming down to the Yankee's MVP, as in, pick the most valuable Yankee and you have got the A.L. MVP. There is a groundswell of support in New York for Derek Jeter to get the award, as he has never won one. He is having a remarkable season in a Hall of Fame career. He is hitting .332, he trails only the mighty Ichiro in total base hits on the season, and is 5th in runs scored. He is playing better defense than he has in ages, stealing bases and providing the stability and consistency in a pressure packed Yankee clubhouse.

On the other side of the room, Mark Teixera has been impeccable. His Gold Glove caliber defense has made Jeter, Cano and the third baseman look so much better than old iron gloved Jason Giambi did. He is leading the team in homers and RBI, he is second in the American League in both categories. He is also second in total bases. It is hard to bet against the best player, on the best team for the MVP.

The other item from the sports desk is much less of a sure thing. For some reason we still have a feeling the Minnesota Twins are going to sneak up and steal the A.L. Central from the clutches of the Tigers and the White Sox. Those two teams have had a lot of time and chances to leave the Twinkies in the dust, but have been meandering around .500 for far too long. Minnesota is 4.5 games back entering play today. The White Sox have to face the Red Sox, while Tigers take on the A.L. West leading Angels. The Twins, on the other hand, open a set with the A.L. East cupcakes, the Baltimore Orioles. The Twins have the two best players of any of the teams in the Central, in Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. It says here they could be right there for first place by the beginning of next week and in the thick of the race the rest of the way.

New Cowboys Stadium

Jerry Jones

We got a few gripes with Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Despite a billion dollar budget the new Dallas Cowboys football stadium seems out of sync with the times. Jerry Jones and company also ignored an obvious physical flaw that surfaced in last night's pre-season game with the Tennessee Titans.

The way in which the stadium seems ludicrously out of touch with the times is the prices. Didn't Jerry Jones watch the debacle that has been Yankee stadium? The Clarion Content has followed the Yankee ticket story in detail, since the day they announced there were going to be $2,500 per game box seats. Jerry obviously doesn't read the Clarion Content, or apparently watch the news. Because if he did, he would realize that the richest folks and some of the biggest corporations in America got socked in the wallet over last twenty months plus. But not old Jerry, nope, he figures they still got mad cash stuffed in their mattresses. How do we know? Well, like we said the prices: at the new billion dollar Cowboys Stadium, Jerry figures if you got the jack to pay for a luxury box, you are ready to be soaked. In those luxury boxes food and drink is not free. In fact, a plain cheese pizza costs $100.00 and a six pack of domestic beer $67.00. Yes, you read those figures correctly, at Jerry's place, a six pack a beer and a cheese pizza is $167.00 after you kick down for the luxury boxes. If that isn't begging for comeuppance in these times, the Clarion Content doesn't know what is!

The other issue with the stadium also stems from Jones hubris. This one is an actual on field issue reported by the New York Times amongst others. The scoreboard is too low over the field. The Tennessee Titans back-up punter hit it with a kick last night forcing a do-over. Apparently, the "world's largest" jumbotron-scoreboard-thingamajig is hung too low. Better yet, the NY Times reports that Jones knew, helping set the height at ninety feet, even though tests showed that the Cowboys punter Mat McBriar showed he could clear regularly clear 100 feet.

Ingenious.

This is what a billion dollars bought?

The Mets are broke

What other conclusion can Mets fans draw? It was widely reported that their ownership, the Wilpon family, was among those most bilked by the nefarious financier Bernie Madoff. This man destroyed lives and institutions.

Apparently, the New York Metropolitans were part of the collateral damage. The Clarion Content is not referring to this year when injuries and a third-world clinic quality medical and training staff torpedoed the Mets season. Rather, we are talking about the obvious cash tightening that appears likely to follow the Mets far into the future.

The New York Times reports that despite an abysmally weak farm system, the Mets spent less money signing picks from the recent amateur draft than any other major league ball club. They spent less than the Pittsburgh Pirates, less than the Kansas City Royals. And as one might expect, they got what they paid for, they were one of only four teams that ended up with more than one top-10 pick unsigned. They had no first round pick and signed only seven of their first ten selections.

The future looks anything but green to Mets fans.