Because Everyone Else Does It...

Count me among the thousands of football wonks out there who think they can predict the first round of the NFL Draft. It's an exercise in futility to be sure, but what the hell, I'll take a shot.

I'll spare you my analysis because that would make for a seriously long-winded piece. But keep in mind that the picks I've made do not reflect trades that I think will happen.

So without further ado, here goes nothing.

1. Miami Dolphins - Jake Long - OT - Michigan

2. St. Louis Rams - Chris Long - DE - Virginia

3. Atlanta Falcons - Matt Ryan - QB - Boston College

4. Oakland Raiders - Darren McFadden - RB - Arkansas



5. Kansas City Chiefs - Glenn Dorsey - DT - LSU

6. New York Jets - Vernon Gholston - DE - Ohio State


7. New England Patriots - Brandon Albert - OG - Virginia

8. Baltimore Ravens - Leodis McKelvin - CB - Troy

9. Cincinnati Bengals - Keith Rivers - LB - USC

10. New Orleans Saints - Sedrick Ellis - DE - USC

11. Buffalo Bills - Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie - CB - Tennessee State

12. Denver Broncos - Derrick Harvey - DE - Florida

13. Carolina Panthers - Reshard Mendenhall - RB - Illinois

14. Chicago Bears - Ryan Clady - OT - Boise State

15. Detroit Lions - Jeff Otah - OT - Pittsburgh

16. Arizona Cardinals - Aqib Talib - CB - Kansas



17. Kansas City Chiefs - Chris Williams - OT - Vanderbilt

18. Houston Texans - Kentwan Balmer - DT - North Carolina

19. Philadelphia Eagles - Devin Thomas - WR - Michigan State

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Jerod Mayo - LB - Tennessee

21. Washington Redskins - Kenny Phillips - S - Miami

22. Dallas Cowboys - Limas Sweed - WR - Texas

23. Pittsburgh Steelers - Phillip Merling - DE - Clemson

24. Tennessee Titans - Malcolm Kelly - WR - Oklahoma

25. Seattle Seahawks - Gosder Cherilus - OT - Boston College

26. Jacksonville Jaguars - Lawrence Jackson - DE - USC

27. San Diego Chargers - Jonathan Stewart - RB - Oregon

28. Dallas Cowboys - Felix Jones - RB - Arkansas

29. San Francisco 49ers - DeSean Jackson - WR - California



30. Green Bay Packers - Brandon Flowers - CB - Virginia Tech

31. New York Giants - Dan Connor - LB - Penn State


That's it, that's the list. I'll be back on Monday to make fun of myself for being so wrong about these picks. Hey at least I'll get number one right.

Frustrating Sunday, Painful Tuesday

Update 4/16/08: It was reported last night that Tiger Woods underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage in his left knee. That's the same knee he's had surgery on twice before.

This setback means Woods will miss the Wachovia Championship as well as the Players Championship before hopefully returning in June for the U.S. Open.

As it is with any athlete, the great equalizer is injury, and in Woods' case would appear to be the only thing that could stand between him and every meaningful record in the game of golf.

No one knows for sure how long Woods has been dealing with the injury, some say it's been since the middle of last year. But the fact that he has won already three times on tour in 2008 is just another of his amazing athletic feats.

There is probably not another athlete that is tougher than Woods mentally, and I have little doubt that he'll be able to recover physically and return to form quickly. However it is a concern that this knee problem continues to flare up.

Anyone who has ever had knee problems knows that it never really gets better and eventually it just becomes a matter of mitigating the pain on a daily basis. Given Woods' freakish workout and practice habits you have to wonder how continued knee issues might impact his unequalled preparation.

That said, the last time Woods had surgery on the knee he returned to win three of the first four events he entered.

The one thing that I think the knee problems rule out in the future is the Champions Tour for Woods once he turns 50. My guess is that he'll be too busy with outside ventures and family to be able to commit himself the way he would want to to that tour, and the knee will probably make it an even easier decision.

Luckily for us it'll be a long time before that happens.

-Doc

Like he had so many times before, Tiger Woods stood over a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th green at The Masters. And like so many times before the putt dropped.

Only this time it was quite different.

As Woods put the finishing touch on what was by most accounts the most frustrating four days he's ever experienced around the hallowed grounds of Augusta National, Woods gave the birdie a sarcastic wave as if to say, "oh sure, now you go in".

It was just one of those weeks for the world's best player. A week in which his brief moments of brilliance, like the long birdie on the 11th Sunday afternoon that looked like it might signal a Tiger-charge, were eclipsed by untimely mistakes.

In the end Woods recorded his fifth runner-up finish in a major, which is certainly nothing to scoff at. However, when your expectations are as high as his, anything less than a fifth green jacket was going to be a disappointment.

Give all the credit in the world to South Africa's Trevor Immelman for putting together a very Woods-like performance, leading the tournament wire-to-wire and minimizing his mistakes on Sunday to make sure he locked up his first major championship.

Unlike Woods, Immelman followed his brief lapses in solid play with timely moments of brilliance. Interestingly enough it was the 11th hole for Immelman that proved to be his turning point shortly after most thought it would be Woods'.



After playing safe and missing his approach to the treacherous hole to the right, Immelman came up well short on the fringe with his pitch shot. Staring bogey or worse dead in the eye, Immelman canned the long par putt and ultimately stemmed the growing Woods-tide.

Even a terrible tee shot on the par-3 16th hole from Immelman that inexplicably found the water was not enough for Woods to take advantage of down the stretch.

A short miss for birdie on the par-5 13th seemed to signal the end for Woods, and an even worse bogey on the 14th ended any hope of a Sunday comeback as well as Woods' march towards the calendar year Grand Slam.

While it's little consolation for Woods, the end result of The Masters points out just how amazing his accomplishments to this point have been and just how slim the margin between winning and losing on the PGA Tour really is.

Woods' four-day performance at Augusta was one of the flattest, most uninspiring of his career at a major championship. Rivaled only by his lone missed cut at a major in his professional career, two years ago at the U.S. Open, shortly after the death of his father.

And yet as poorly as he performed in the big, tournament-changing moments this week he still managed to find a way to finish second alone and shoot one of the better rounds of the day on Sunday.

It'll be several weeks before we get to see Woods back out on the course, and that's probably a good thing for those of us who are admitted Tiger wonks, because if history has shown us anything about him it's that he'll figure out what went wrong and bust his Tiger-ass to fix the problem and move forward with a vengeance.

Woods' next major challenge comes in June at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, a course Woods has owned over the years. This week showed that nothing is for certain in golf, but if I were the field I would prepare my runner-up speeches ASAP.

A Sad Turn Of Events

At every turn they were asked about it. And at every turn they shrugged it off as nothing more than a meaningless statistic that in the end would not cost them a National Championship.

But alas, in the end, it was Memphis' inability to knock down free throws that ultimately led to their demise in the biggest game of the season.

For all the world it didn't look like it would end up this way as the Tigers had managed to can nearly 70% of their free throws throughout the tournament. All the while laughing off criticisms from the media that it was their Achilles heel.

They dominated three of the best teams in college basketball along the way in Michigan State, Texas and UCLA and did it all with the style and swagger of a team that knew it was the best in all the land.

Sure that mentality probably rubbed some people the wrong way and caused those people to rejoice when it all came crashing down around the deflated Tigers in overtime, but make no mistake that this was a truly great Memphis team.

It's a shame really that their head coach, John Calipari, basically disappeared on them for the last ten minutes of the game. Choosing to allow his players to run clock and improvise as opposed to structuring the game's final moments in an effort to keep their heads in the game.

It's also a shame that the best player in the tournament, Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, probably played his last game at the collegiate level. I'm not saying he should stay in school, I just think it would be fun to see this Memphis team give it another run next year.

If this team reminded me of any other from college basketball's past, it would have to be the 1991 UNLV squad led by Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anderson and Anderson Hunt.



That team had throttled any and all challengers on its way to the Final Four, but were beaten by Duke in the national semifinal after a string of late game mistakes and misses at the free throw line cost them as well.

Like many, I would argue that UNLV had the better team that year, but on that night for whatever reason it just wasn't there for them. I would also argue that while Kansas is certainly deserving of the big prize and they have a great team, I would take Memphis' kids in the same situation 9 out of 10 times.

In the end of course, that's what it all comes down to, the fact that they are indeed just kids.

Kids that can be taken out of their games and kids that on any given night can and will exhibit all the signs of nervousness no matter how many big games they had won before.

You've heard of saving your best for last. In Memphis' case they sadly saved their worst for last and rather than remembering how good they were, all anyone will remember is how they gave away the National Championship.

The Unholy Trio

If you're a true sports fan you have teams and schools that you truly can't stand.

If you're a member of the Red Sox Nation you hate the Yankees. You went to THE Ohio State University? You probably can't stand the sight of maize and blue.

For me there are three which hold a special spot on my sporting dart board and nothing brings me more pleasure than to see them fail at every turn.

They are the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Duke Blue Devils basketball team and the entire Stanford University athletic department. Those three teams/programs irk me in ways that non-sports fans can't understand.

Seeing them succeed no matter how heart-warming the story at the time, absolutely makes my skin crawl. And if that sounds a little over the top, it is. But I have perfectly good reasons for all three.

First and foremost are the Dodgers, who I have been groomed to hate over my 27 years on this earth like no other team in sports. I am a Giants fan through and through, and that's really all you need to know about that.

Second would be Stanford, which when compared to my father's alma mater Cal, stands as the bastion of spoiled-brat schools where as long as you can afford it, you can go there. Oh, and I want to burn that stupid tree to the ground, or beat the tar out of it like Cal's mascot Oskie did.




Last, but certainly not least, would be the Duke Blue Devils and their men's basketball program. When I first got into college basketball I was a fan of Michigan's Fab Five who, with their baggy shorts and black socks, stood in stark contrast to the lily white, buttoned-down Dukies.

There's just something so off-putting about those guys, and before you go calling me a racist, I've never like their black players either.

The strangest thing however is that while in general I've got running vendettas against all three, there still manages to be something about them that I admire, and even(gulp) like.

You know what I'm talking about. Vikings fans hate the Packers, but most of them have a healthy respect for Brett Favre. And as much as Red Sox fans want to see the Yankees go down in flames, most of them recognize the effort and classiness of Derek Jeter.

So here now, the "unholy trio" of things that I actually like about the Dodgers, Stanford and Duke. I feel dirty just saying that.


Vin Scully - Play-by-Play Announcer:



A huge part of truly enjoying a baseball game on television or on the radio is the ability of the play-by-play man working the booth.

In some places, like San Diego, people are forced to choke down the over-the-top and hardly-accurate musings of guys like Matt Vasgersian. However in Los Angeles fans are treated to the silky smooth tones of one of the greatest sportscasters of all time, Vin Scully.

Sure Scully is getting up there in age and he will sometimes butcher a player's name, but no one tells the story of a baseball game like Scully.

The man has forgotten more about baseball than most of us will ever know. He's steeped in anecdotes about players both past and present, and listening to him wax poetic about a funny moment or a dramatic play is truly a treat for those of us who love the game.

On top of that he's still a sharp baseball mind, who pays attention to what's going on in the game and does so much homework that often he'll be able to give you a full bio on players who don't even play for the Dodgers.

In an era of broadcasting that is fully in love with the three man booth and semi-illiterate former players as color commentators, Scully commands his one man show like no other.

As much as I hate the Dodgers and all that they stand for on the field of play, it is an honor to sit down to a Giants/Dodgers tilt with Scully behind the mic.

Mike Krzyzewski - Head Coach:



As fully annoying as I happen to find the Duke players, their head coach is another matter completely.

Krzyzewski is the model of what a collegiate coach should be. Dignified, classy, intense and a wonderful teacher of the game. Coach K is as interested in growing quality young men as he is in developing big time basketball players.

On the court, his pressure defense and precision offense are what make the collegiate game stand out from it's professional brethren, and no one does it better.

There are a few coaches in big time collegiate athletics who I would gladly send my child to play for, safe in the knowledge that they will truly get an education in both sports and life. Tennessee's Pat Summitt, Washington's Tyrone Willingham and Zrzyzewski would top that list.

Too many coaches are in it to win at any cost and in the process neglect to give all of their kids, from the stars to the walk-ons, the best of themselves as people. This is not the case with Coach K, which you can tell by the relationships he keeps with his former players.

Few things in sports bug me like watching Duke trampling ACC opponents, but I can certainly appreciate the efforts of Coach K both on and off the court.

Tiger Woods - #1 Golfer in the World:

This one proves that even the best have at least one fatal flaw, and for the greatest golfer of all time (that's right, I said it), it happens to be his choice of school.

If you've read my blog at all you know how much I love to watch Woods play and he is easily one of my top 5 athletes of all time. Still, it irks me that of all the places in the world (or the West Coast for that matter), Woods chose to go to Stanford.

I suppose I understand the decision given the school's prowess on the national collegiate golfing scene, but that doesn't excuse the lapse in judgment.

You don't need me to tell you about all the amazing things Woods has accomplished on the golf course, and for all the scrutiny he gets for not taking many political stances off of it, his Tiger Woods Foundation has done more to help kids around the country than most star athletes.

Even though watching him freak out during the Stanford/Arizona basketball game in 2004 was truly annoying, Woods is the man without question.

A Damn Shame

Word out of San Francisco today is that AT&T Park, the "house that Barry built" as I like to call it, will no longer feature the likeness or record numbers that the greatest player in franchise history achieved while he was a member of the organization.

While I can understand the removal of Bonds' image on the left field wall that signified his pursuit of the all-time home run record, I am quite upset that the team will not be displaying the number 762 inside the ballpark.

762 of course being the number of home runs that Bonds has hit to this point in his career; a career that appears to be over as no team has expressed real interest in the 43-year-old slugger.

Think what you want about Barry, but the fact remains that he is the all-time home run leader and for the one place in the country where he is beloved to basically disavow any connection to him is unfortunate.

In fact, not only do I think they should feature his record number prominently inside the park, but should he sign with another team at some point they should be updating it as he adds to the record total.

It's the least they could do after their shotty handling of his departure from the team, which included a preemptive announcement from owner Peter Magowan that Bonds would not be asked back in 2008.

"We're very respectful, at least I am, appreciative of all the contributions he made to the Giants over all that long period of time, but the time came when we needed to go in a new direction," Magowan told reporters.

A new direction I understand, because on the field the team has more than its fair share of holes to fill. But it's a disgrace in my opinion to not pay tribute to the man that single-handedly changed the fortunes of a franchise that was not all that far away from relocating to Florida prior to his arrival.

How quickly people forget that it was Bonds who energized a half-dead fan base and led the Giants to 103 wins in 1993.

It was Bonds who carried the team to the World Series in 2002.

And it was Bonds whose performance from the time he signed spurred the Giants to the third-most wins in all of baseball from 1993 through 2004.

How quickly they forget.



There is a way however that Magowan and the Giants can rectify this situation and make it clear that they're not simply bowing to Major League Baseball or letting legal concerns take away from just how much Bonds meant to the team and the city of San Francisco.

And that way is to erect a statue of Bonds alongside the one of his godfather Willie Mays, so that every time a person walks into that glorious ballpark they know exactly who it was that put it there.

Wow!

Just when you think you've seen it all from Tiger Woods, he does something that defies whatever explanation of his exploits that you may have had before.

Such was the case Sunday afternoon when the world's number one player captured his fifth straight PGA Tour win, and seventh in a row overall, by sinking a 25-foot, downhill left-to-right slider on the 18th hole of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

As the tournament host watched from greenside, Woods erupted into a never-before-seen from him celebration, complete with a slam of his hat, a la Fred Funk (shouldn't he owe the Funk-ster a royalty check for that?), and bicep-flexing crowd-pump (I just made that up).

Meanwhile his closest competitor, 45-year-old Bart Bryant, could only chuckle in awe as he watched his hopes of qualifying for the Masters swallowed up by the all-encompassing force that is Tiger Woods.

You have to feel for Bryant who became the first player not named Phil Mickelson in quite some time stand up to Woods shot-for-shot on a Sunday.

Throughout Sunday's final round as players like Vijay Singh and Sean O'Hair made crucial mistakes, it was Bryant who played nearly mistake-free golf in very Tiger-like manner, forcing Woods to make birdie on a hole that had surrendered only four up to that point in the round.

Early on in the tournament Tiger by his own admission was struggling to find his swing and it seemed he would finally be a bit of a non-factor in a tournament. Don't forget that it was at this same tournament last year that he limped down the stretch with a backside 43 on Sunday while Singh took home the trophy.

But instead of putting him in a hole on Saturday, the rest of the field allowed Woods to ride an up-and-down round of 66 into a tie for the lead heading into Sunday. That mistake would of course prove fatal to the field's chances.

Honestly though, should we be surprised? Should it come as some sort of shock that Woods once again proved why he is the most dominant athlete of our time (sorry MJ)?

Well no, of course not. But that doesn't mean that we can't gasp in awe of his overwhelming virtuosity and revel in the knowledge that as amazing as this latest moment was he will undoubtedly give us many more in the future.

I for one can't wait to see what's next.

A Plea From A True Fan

As you have probably noticed, I am a die hard San Francisco Giants fan. They are the one franchise in all of sports (sorry Niners) that I feel truly connected to on an emotional level.

Anyone who knows me knows that the one and only time I cried over a sporting event was game six of the 2002 World Series. Five run lead with eight outs to go. Russ Ortiz on cruise control. Thanks Dusty.

Honestly just thinking about it makes me well up from time to time.

Anyway, I'm getting off track.

Fast forward to 2008 and my how far my Giants have fallen. Gone are the days when opposing teams would have to account for the force of nature that was Barry Bonds. He always made them a legit threat, no matter how bad they seemed to be.

Unfortunately the comfort zone that having Barry around created, led to a philosophy of building with older players to win now, instead of keeping an eye on the future and acquiring young talent to step in when the time came.



Sure they've developed an impressive array of pitching prospects lately, but as Matt Cain's 7-16 record with a 3.65 ERA in 2007 showed, you have to be able to score runs.

To hammer home just how bad they are this year, in a recent ESPN.com fantasy baseball article they posed the question, "Does the 'offense' make every Giant unownable?"

While I still think Cain and uber-sensation Tim Lincecum have value, the question is a legitimate one.

Luckily for the Giants they have the perfect opportunity in front of them to get their young guys regular playing time. "Prospects" like Kevin Frandsen, Dan Ortmeier, Fred Lewis and Nate Shierholtz have been held back long enough by the win-now attitude.

Except for the most dilusional of fans, no one expects them to be any good, what better time could their be to find out what they have in terms of young position players?

But instead of that they insist on hanging onto aging vets like Ray Durham, Rich Aurilia and Dave Roberts, all three of whom I like and respect as ball players, but this is not their time and should not be their team.

Consider that as prospects go, none of the guys the Giants have are all that young. Frandsen, who projects as a part-time third and second baseman by manager Bruce Bochy, is 25 years old.



Lewis, who has flashed his impressive set of tools on a number of occasions only to get sent back to the minors, is 27 and out of options. He'll be backing up Roberts in left and Randy Winn in right.

Shierholtz is 24 and because he still has options figures to be the odd man out and be sent back to Triple-A despite being arguably the most talented of the bunch.

Add in speedsters Eugenio Velez (25) and Rajai Davis (27) and you have a group of guys with skills but no place to play with the team set up as it is right now.

Non-roster invitee Brian Bocock (23) looks like he might get some early season playing time, but will be replaced by 40-something Omar Vizquel as soon as the veteran shortstop gets healthy.

Only Ortmeier (26) is assured of regular playing time as the team's starting first baseman heading into the season.

Look around the big leagues right now and you see an overflow of young talent getting the opportunity to play, and that's no fluke.

More and more organizations are realizing that the young guys can contribute to a winner and if nothing else can be served better in many cases by getting their feet wet at the highest level.

What could it possibly hurt for the Giants to go young all over the field and find out once and for all if this group of guys can play in the big leagues and be solid regulars?

If I were running things my opening day lineup would look like this:

C - Bengie Molina
1B - Dan Ortmeier
2B - Kevin Frandsen
SS - Omar Vizquel (if healthy)
3B - Eugenio Velez
LF - Fred Lewis
CF - Aaron Rowand
RF - Randy Winn



Sure, that lineup squeezes out guys like Durham, Aurilia and Roberts, but in order to move forward and build for a future without Barry, I feel it's necessary to start now.

That lineup would at least showcase some speed and playmaking ability with Velez and Lewis both above-average runners and base stealers. Something Bochy and the Giants front office have been promising since it was decided Barry would not be back.

Everyone in baseball knows the Giants are going to be one of the least exciting teams in baseball in 2008. The least they could do is give their fans a reason to be hopeful and play the young guys.

A Return To Glory?

My childhood, like many who grew up around the country, was tied to a ballpark whose identity had as much to do with its name as it did with the team(s) who played there.

Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium, Fenway, The Metrodome and the list goes on and on. But for me that park was know simply as Candlestick.

It's where the 49ers of the 1980's and early 90's dominated on their way to five Super Bowl wins in five tries and where my love for the San Francisco Giants was born. And while the Giants have since moved out and the Niners continue to try and do the same, the place has seen more than it's share of wonderful moments.

From Joe Montana and Dwight Clark starring in 'The Catch' to the first of Barry Bonds' five MVP seasons as a Giant in 1993, Candlestick was home to some of the greatest athletes and teams of all-time.



While it will never be the most visually stunning park, it's semi-impossible to get to bay-side location and subsequent havoc-inducing swirling winds adds to its charm and uniqueness. Hell, the thing survived the last big earthquake to hit the Bay Area in 1989. That has to count for something right?

Over the last several years naming rights for "The Stick" have been sold to various companies, most notably Monster.com which has held the rights for the last four years.

With Monster.com's contact running out the powers that be have finally decided to do what has always been best for the venerable old yard and will go back to calling it Candlestick once again. Not only that, but they've stated publicly that they will not pursue naming rights in the foreseeable future.



This news obviously came as music to my ears and I must admit tugged on the old heart strings more than a little bit.

Any sports fan over the age of 25 will tell you that all of the corporate-named stadiums, while ubiquitous, simply don't have the same kind of character and sentimental value as those listed above.

How much cooler does it sound to say, "lets go catch a ball game at Fenway," as opposed to, "lets go see a game at The Comcast Center"?

I'd say Fenway wins in Mike Tyson-esque, first-round knockout fashion.

So thank you to whoever made the decision to return to the rightful name of the ballpark of my youth. Now lets hope the 49ers themselves can turn back the clock and become a winner once again.

Unbeatable?

The Patriots couldn't pull it off. The Memphis Tigers couldn't get the job done. Hell, not a single team in Division I-A football could do it and the National Championship was won by a two-loss LSU team.

Leave it to the greatest athlete in the world today to toss his swoosh-emblazoned hat in the ring and embark on a quest to complete the rare undefeated season.

Blasphemy you say? No golfer could make it through the PGA Tour season without losing a single tournament. The fields are too deep and too many things could go wrong along the way for that to every happen.

Or could it?

While I agree that the likelihood of Tiger Woods ripping off 13 or so more wins, including all four of golf's major championships is quite low. Something tells me that the man himself believes in his heart that he could accomplish the seemingly impossible, and that means a lot.

He's already admitted that he thinks completing the regular season Grand Slam is within his reach and when asked if he could eclipse Byron Nelson's record of 11 straight wins he simply grinned and replied, "Mmm Hmm" as if to say, "you ain't seen nothing yet".

Consider that Woods already owns PGA Tour win streaks of six and seven in a row and his current streak of four is actually six if you count his wins at the Target World Challenge and earlier this year in Dubai, both of which boasted high-quality fields.

In fact that "strength of schedule" may be the one thing that keeps Woods from running the table in 2008 as it has been his custom to only play the highest profile events with the deepest fields in golf.

That coupled with the uncertain nature of the game would seem to put the undefeated season outside of his considerable reach.

Personally I don't think it's all that outandish to believe that Woods could win every time out in 2008. In his three starts so far he's won in a myriad of ways from run-away victories at the Buick Invitational and the Championship Match at the World Match Play, to stirring comebacks in Dubai and the first round of the World Match Play.

His stats are nearly as impressive as his ability to gut out wins so far in 2008.

Woods ranks first on the PGA Tour in greens in regulation, putting average, scoring average and average birdies per round. All while ranking 176th in total driving. Which means when he gets his driver warmed up he really could be unbeatable.

People will of course point to the erratic nature of his driver as ultimately the reason why he couldn't possibly remain undefeated in 2008, but I would argue that he can only get better (he finished 45th in 2007 in total driving) and when that inevitablity finally comes to pass he will be so far out ahead of everyone else that it won't matter if he misses some fairways.

I'm not going to walk out on the plank here and say that it's a foregone conclusion that Woods will run the table, but should this streak continue through April and the Masters and then into June and U.S. Open one would have to concede that an undefeated season is a real possibilty for a man that up to this point has done nothing but exceed expectations at every turn.

Enough Already

There's been a Mitchell Report, multiple hearings on Capitol Hill and several press conference apologies from numerous players involved in the steroid era in baseball. And to be honest I've had enough.

I've had enough of the fans, congressmen, media members and countless others standing on their soap boxes, bemoaning the former national pastime and acting as if this is the first (or last) time something has gone awry in baseball.

At this point I think we all need to reconcile ourselves with the fact that a very large percentage of players since the 90's have used some sort of performance enhancing substance in an attempt to keep up with the competition or get ahead of it.

Some of the names involved of course are bigger than others, but as a select few seem to garner all the headlines in the ongoing "war on roids" we need to keep in mind that the problem and the solution to the problem lay directly at the feet of the game itself.

It shouldn't be the job of congress to get involved, especially in a world with so many issues that need to be addressed. Just think of what our government could do if they got as riled up about the unnecessary war we're currently fighting instead of wasting their time brow-beating Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee.

Watching those senators go after Clemens and McNamee with fire in their eyes and all the seriousness of a murder trial should have been a wake up call to those watching of just how backward and screwy our priorities are in the United States.



Honestly, I can't be the only one who thinks it's time to move on here. The court of public opinion has been adjourned and we know that we can't really trust anybody any more no matter how much we want to. That's a sad statement to be sure, but in the end I'm not losing sleep over it and in fact I find myself anxiously awaiting the start of a new season.

So while the uppity will inevitably remain that way when it comes to performance enhancing drugs, I will be too consumed with the rebuilding project that is the San Francisco Giants as well as all the other on-field happenings to have time for what has become the most tiresome issue in sports.

A Real Deal

I hate to keep piling on the Twins here, so I'll make this short.

The Baltimore Orioles completed a trade today that sent their ace lefty, Erik Bedard, to the Seattle Mariners for five players including former top prospect, outfielder Adam Jones. And I bring this up to point out just how painfully short the Twins came up in their trading of Johan Santana.

Don't get me wrong here, I love Bedard as a pitcher and in 2007 he had a career year striking out 221 batters in only 182 innings. But as great as he was for a bad Orioles team in 2007, his body of work pales in comparison to Santana's.

Last year marked the first time Bedard struck out 200+ batters in a season. Santana has accomplished that feat four years in a row since becoming a full time starter in 2004.

Bedard posted a career-best 3.16 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 2007. Santana's career-bests in those categories are 2.61(2004) and 0.92(2004) respectively. Not to mention the fact that Santana is a two-time Cy Young Award winner while Bedard's best finish in the race for the coveted award was 5th which came last year.

Both are 28 years old and Bedard is actually eight days older than Santana, but still with all that the Orioles were able to extract a ready-right-now talent like Jones as well as a top flight lefty reliever in George Sherrill who will most likely compete for the closer job in Baltimore.

On top of that the Orioles landed a trio of minor league pitchers, all of whom ranked in the Mariners top 18 prospects according to Baseball America's 2008 Prospect Handbook.



Granted the three pitchers the Twins landed in the Santana trade ranked among the Mets top seven prospects, but Baltimore's ability to bring in a guy like Jones, who will most likely be the team's starting center fielder, is where they beat the Twins in moving their ace.

No one except those intimately involved in the negotiations knows what circumstances led to the Twins basically being left with no other choice but to take the deal with the Mets, but one thing is for certain and that is that the Orioles managed to do what the Twins could not and get fair market value for one of the best pitchers in the game.

Dealing in Uncertainty

Of all the things former Twins GM Terry Ryan taught his successor Bill Smith one of them was clearly not the ability to be a shrewd negotiator.

After dangling the game's most dominant pitcher in front of both the Yankees and Red Sox for several months and successfully pitting them against one another in a bidding war of sorts, Smith didn't just drop the ball, he threw it over the fence with the scary dog on the other side.

Instead of capitalizing on the opportunity to add ready-right-now young stars like Phil Hughes or Jacoby Ellsbury, Smith decided to hold out for a better offer and in the meantime allowed both the Yankees and Red Sox to reconsider letting their most prized prospects go.

What Smith was left with was the other New York team, the Mets, and an offer that somehow did not include their top prospect Fernando Martinez. Staring straight in the face of losing Johan Santana for nothing more than two first round draft picks, Smith pulled the trigger on a deal that according to the experts was no better than the fourth best deal he could have gotten for his 28-year-old ace.

That of course is the bad news.



The good news is that in return for Santana the Twins were able to add four youngsters, each with the potential to be pretty good players. 22-year-old center fielder Carlos Gomez would have to be considered the "centerpiece" of the deal and gives the Twins a potential legit replacement for the departed Torii Hunter.

The three pitchers in the deal vary in potential stardom, but all ranked among the Mets' top 10 prospects and two of them project as #2 or #3 starters.

Like any deal of this nature, where one team gives up a bona fide superstar in return for prospects who have little to no big league experience, no one can say for sure that the Twins in this case got the short end of the deal.

But lets face facts here, on the surface the Twins not only got the short end of the deal, they should be ashamed of themselves for either not doing more to keep the best pitcher in baseball or getting at least one reasonably sure thing back in return.

Forget what the Minnesota spin doctors are going to tell you over the next weeks and months, this was not a good deal for the Twins. At best, by 2010 each of the four players the Twins got for Santana will be in the big leagues and two of them will be very good. Not great like the player they gave up, but very good.

They're going to try and sell you on the signings of Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer as well as the acquisition of star-to-be Delmon Young. All nice moves to be sure, but the reality of the situation is that even with the money being spent on those guys the Twins payroll will actually go down in 2008.

To me that reality, especially with a brand new ballpark opening up, is just not good enough for a fan base that is as loyal and deserving of a winning baseball team as the one here in the Twin Cities.

What the Twins basically did was tell their fans that they have no intention of competing until 2010 at the absolute earliest and most likely it'll be longer than that in a division as stacked as the AL Central.



By most accounts the best deal the Twins had the opportunity to jump on was a deal with the Yankees that would have included the 21-year-old Hughes and 23-year-old Melky Cabrera and a lineup that could have looked like this:

SS Adam Everett, CF Melky Cabrera, C Joe Mauer, 1B Justin Morneau, RF Michael Cuddyer, LF Delmon Young, DH Jason Kubel/Craig Monroe, 3B Mike Lamb and 2B Brendan Harris

And a starting pitching rotation like this:

Francisco Liriano, Phil Hughes, Scott Baker, Boof Bonser and Kevin Slowey

Combine that with a very solid bullpen anchored by closer Joe Nathan (who could also be gone sooner rather than later) and you have a team that in my opinion could at least compete in the AL Central and is still young enough to be good when the new park opens in 2010.

Instead the Twins will have to try several options in center field including Gomez, Denard Span and Jason Pridie, none of which are proven big league players like Cabrera.

The rotation also takes a hit without a top flight, big league ready talent like Hughes and most likely will have to depend on one of several Triple-A graduates or a low-level free agent like Josh Fogg.

Don't get me wrong here, the Twins are my favorite American League team to be sure, but I can't get behind this trade and am truly disappointed the Twins didn't do better for themselves and their fans.

Quick Hits...

Been a few days since my last post, so here are a few Quick Hits covering the week in sports...

The Stunner Down Under:



No, the stunner I'm talking about is not Novak Djokovic's upset of world number one Roger Federer, but rather the leggy Russian blonde named Maria who captured her third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open without losing a set.

Most people don't know this about me, but I am a big tennis fan. Growing up with a tennis-playing father and older brother it was kind of hard not to be. So I have to say it was refreshing to see the now 20-year-old Maria Sharapova beat the best players in the world on her way to the championship.

After winning her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon at age 17 I was sure that Sharapova would take her place among the game's elite shortly thereafter. But personal troubles and an inability to harness her game caused her to come up short more often than not over the last few years.

This Sharapova however was clearly a different person and a different player as she showed the ability to dominate as she did against world number one Justine Henin, as well as win without her "A" game as she did against Serbian star Jelena Jankovic.

The men's game has long been dogged by the lack of true superstar player/personalities, save of course for Federer and his French Open-foil Rafael Nadal. And as Serena and Venus Williams have battled injury and inconsistency, the once star-studded women's game has started to become just as bland.

That looks like it's about to change however as a focused and renewed Sharapova seems ready to take her game to the next level. Fair or unfair, it's always a good thing for women's sports (and tennis in particular) to have at least one attractive superstar to draw in the casual viewership, and Sharapova's statuesque physique is quite easy on the eyes if I do say so myself.

Personally I'm very excited to see what she can accomplish from here on out as beyond her good looks Sharapova's game has evolved into one of both power and control. It would not shock me if she won at least one more Grand Slam this year and overtook Henin as the best player in the game.

Welcome Back:



This just in, Tiger Woods is pretty good.

As I write this the best player the game has ever seen is taking an eight shot lead onto the first tee of the Buick Invitational to start what should be a victory lap around Torrey Pines. The win will be Woods' fourth straight at the event, a feat he's also accomplished at Bay Hill, the site of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The win will be his 62nd on the PGA Tour and will put him in a tie with Palmer for the fourth most wins all-time.

The fact that he's on his way to another win really isn't the story however. No, the real story is in the idea that some how he's managed to become even more dominant than he was last year, and perhaps more dominant than he's ever been before (the year 2000 included).

I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but anyone who has watched him over the first few days of the Buick and knows anything about golf can see just how far out ahead of the field he is.

It had been reported during golf's off-season that Tiger had become comfortable with his latest round of swing tweaks and had started to devote more of his time to his putting stroke which apparently was not up to par with his own super-human expectations.

The work has clearly paid off this week as it seems every time he touches his Scotty Cameron to his Nike One Platinum the ball has a real chance of going in the hole. Through three rounds he's only hit 47% of the fairways and still he has an eight shot lead.

Think about what he's going to do once he shakes the rust off his game (hahaha, rust) and starts hitting a more customary 60% or so. Over the last month Tiger has stated that he thinks winning the calendar year Grand Slam is possible, as well as topping Byron Nelson's streak of 12 straight PGA Tour wins.

In the past Tiger would have deflected talk of such feats, saying that it would be special if he could do that, but never coming right and saying it could be done. If I were Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, or any of the other best players in the world I would be scared out of my Foot Joys hearing stuff like that from a guy like Tiger.

They say when he's on everyone else is just playing for second place. We should get used to hearing that quite a bit in 2008.

Pitching? Who Needs Pitching?:



During his time as GM for the Minnesota Twins, Terry Ryan was considered one of the best in the game. Ryan built that reputation by building teams that won with a solid mix of pitching and defense, even at times at the expense of offense.

Which is why the first few months of new GM Bill Smith's tenure has been a bit odd to say the least. Regardless of what the homer-ish local media would have you believe, the Twins are quickly going down a path that is leading them further and further away from the success they had in the first half of this decade.

Don't get me wrong, signing former AL MVP Justin Morneau to a contract extension was a solid move and locking up strong-armed right fielder Michael Cuddyer was nice to see as well. But it's been the team's willingness to part with some of the best arms in the game that is troubling to me.

It started with the trade of Matt Garza to the Tampa Bay Rays for outfielder Delmon Young. On the surface it seems like a good trade and it certainly was an even one if you believe Garza is ready to take off as I do.

But with teams like the Tigers, Indians and White Sox all sporting big time offensive lineups it seems to me if you're the Twins you'd want to combat that with top of the line pitching and avoid a slug-fest.

Not having Garza around is one thing, but now the impending trade of Johan Santana and the seeming unwillingness of the organization to lock up closer Joe Nathan, a team once known for it's big time pitching is looking square in the face of a starting rotation of Francisco Liriano (big time injury concern), Boof Bonser, Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker and a Triple-A grad of your choice.

It's not going to matter how good people think the bullpen is going to be with that kind of staff in front of them. Perhaps Liriano can make a full recovery and regain his dominant form, but even then they have nothing but a staff full of #3 starters and worse behind him.

If Smith has any sense at all he'll beg and plead for the Yankees to re-enter the fray as it pertains to Santana in the hopes that he can pry Phil Hughes away from the Bronx Bombers. However recent reports have the Mets as the leading candidate to land the best left-handed starter in the game and their best offer centers around outfield prospects.

Unless Twins ownership decides suddenly in the next year or two to up the payroll and attempt to land a few more top notch offensive talents I fear they will get caught in between so to speak, with neither the offensive firepower nor the pitching prowess to match up with the best teams in the American League or their own division for that matter.

Give Me a Break:



Tom Brady spotted with a boot. Tom Brady spotted with flowers. Tom Brady not at practice. Tom Brady uses a port-o-potty. OK, I made that last one up.

But this is what I hate about the two week layoff between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl. All the non-stop non-news generated by the media is so overwhelmingly annoying that I can't believe I'm dedicating space on my blog to even mention it.

You want more compelling Super Sunday action? Think the game has become more about the ads and the halftime show and less about the final score? I know I do and the remedy is clear to me.

Play the game the Sunday following the AFC and NFC Championship games and you accomplish two things. First you avoid the off-field crap news that always dominates the off week, and second you allow the natural momentum of each team to carry over into what should be the biggest game of the year.

Sure there have been some close games following the two week layoff recently, but for my money the last two great Super Bowls were in 1999 and 2001 (Rams vs. Titans and Rams vs. Patriots respectively), and each came the Sunday after the conference championship games.

The year in between those two classic games? The 34-7 drubbing by the Ravens over the Giants that will be remembered more for the Ray Lewis stabbing incident during the week off than the game itself.

As much as I love the college game, even I will admit that the level of play suffers because of the long layoff between the end of the regular season and the bowl games, and the same is true in the NFL. Yeah, the week off helps some players get healthy, but overall the impact can be seen more in the sharpness (or lack thereof) of play from the two teams involved.

I know how much advertising people and network executives love to get the hype machine going, but for those of us who would rather see quality football it's clear that the week off is not a good thing.

Five to Watch in 2008

I love a good sports list and I know you do too. That's why here at "Quick Hits" I've decided to give you one of my own, the 2008 "Five to Watch" list.

This list includes guys you've heard of and guys perhaps you haven't, but what they all have in common is that they should impact the sporting world in 2008 and if they happen to play for your team you might want to take notice.

So without further ado...



Francisco Liriano - SP - Minnesota Twins

In case you forgot the lefty on the Twins staff with the nastiest stuff is not named Johan Santana, and with Santana most likely on his way out no player means quite as much to the success or failure of the Twins in 2008 than Liriano.

Liriano, you'll remember, burst onto the scene and into the national baseball consciousness in 2006 when he fanned 144 batters in 121 innings while posting a 2.16 ERA and earned a trip to the All-Star Game.

Just to point out how dominant Liriano was in 2006, if you added up his hits allowed, earned runs allowed and walks you'd get 150. Just six more than his strikeout total on the year.

The fact that he only became a starter in mid-May that year and only made one start in August and September respectively due to injury speaks to just how untouchable he was.

Liriano won 12 of his 16 starts and never gave up more than four earned runs in any start and struck out 10+ in a quarter of them. Combined with Santana the Twins boasted arguably the best one-two punch in baseball and the team's longest losing streak (5 games) came from May 14-18; Liriano made his first start on May 19th.

It's become clear that the Twins are going to move Santana at some point and after trading away Matt Garza they absolutely must have Liriano back at full strength if they hope to compete with guys like Boof Bonser, Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker filling out the rotation.

All signs point to Liriano being fully recovered from Tommy John surgery come the start of spring training and that's great news for Twins fans who last year suffered through the team's first losing season since 2000.

Terrelle Pryor - QB - Jeannette, PA (College Undecided)



If you aren't glued to Rivals.com like I am then you may not have heard of college football's next big thing, QB Terrelle Pryor of Jeannette, PA., who happens to be the #1 high school football recruit in all the land.

When new Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez decided to leave West Virginia for Ann Arbor the first person he called was Pryor.

Reports are Pryor has had to get a second cell phone to avoid the non-stop, day and night bombardment of calls and text messages from fans, coaches and media who all want to know what school will be the happy recipient of his signature on the dotted line of a scholarship.

Pryor says he'll decide on national signing day which is just over two weeks away, but signs point to one of two places, Ohio State and Michigan.

Wherever the 6'6" 235-pound Pryor decides to go he'll bring with him considerable dual-threat skills that helped him rack up 4,250 yards rushing and 4,249 yards passing over his high school career.



In addition to being ranked as the nation's top football recruit, Pryor is also ranked third in the country among small forwards in basketball. So it should come as no surprise that the schools on his short list include the aforementioned Buckeyes and the defending national champion Florida Gators who just happened to play one another in last year's national title game.

My guess is that Rodriguez and the Wolverines will ultimately win the battle over Pryor who could easily step in and be starting quarterback from day one in Rodriguez's read-option offense.

Anthony Kim - PGA Tour Professional - Age: 22



Lets face it, no one is going to overtake Tiger Woods in the world of professional golf any time soon. And as Tiger's closest pursuers like Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els get older and seem resigned to this fact it's all that much more refreshing when a young, American golfer steps up to take on the world's best.

No, Anthony Kim isn't going to reach #1 in the very near future, but don't tell him that. Last year the then 21-year-old Kim racked up four top-10 finishes after earning his tour card at qualifying school and by the end of 2007 was ranked 75th in the world with over $1.5 million in earnings.

Kim's final round scoring average in 2007 was a staggering 69.80, good for 7th on the PGA Tour and a testament to his ability to play well down the stretch. The next step of course is for Kim to give himself more opportunities close to the lead on Sunday.

Like many young players Kim can be erratic off the tee (134th in driving accuracy in 2007), but he can bomb it (12th in driving distance) and that can be a major weapon for him. More than stats however Kim has the attitude and short memory necessary for any player looking to score and ultimately win.

In addition to his golfing prowess, I have to admit it's nice to see a young American player who isn't lily white (Kim is of Korean descent). To me, Kim is the embodiment of what we were promised way back in 1996 when Tiger turned pro, and that is a more diverse PGA Tour in terms of non-white, American-born players.

In his first event of 2008 Kim finished T-3 which equals his second best finish on the PGA Tour. Watch for this talented youngster to pick off his first win at some point this season.

Evan Longoria - 3B - Tampa Bay Rays



When the Rays traded away one of their brightest young stars in right fielder Delmon Young, it seemed like a curious move. Getting rid of a 21-year-old who finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting isn't something you just do.

Luckily for the Rays (they dropped the "Devil") they have as much if not more young talent in their organization as any in baseball, and third baseman Evan Longoria is arguably the best of the bunch.

Drafted in 2006 out of Long Beach State, Longoria has risen quickly through the Rays farm system, making it all the way up to Triple-A Durham last season while hitting a combined .299 with 26 HRs and 95 RBIs between Durham and Double-A Montgomery in 2007.

No relation to smoking hot Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, Evan projects as the most coveted of hitters, those who not only hit for power but for average as well. He plays a solid third base and is noted for his competitiveness and leadership ability.

Ranked as the Rays top prospect for 2008 by Baseball America, Longoria could shed the "prospect" mantle with a strong spring training and is on the fast track to claiming the Rays starting third base job for years to come.

Chase Budinger - Shooting Guard - Arizona Wildcats



Everyone knows the big name guys like Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Eric Gordon and O.J. Mayo who seem primed to set the NBA on fire as soon as next year. One name that gets overlooked however is Arizona's sophomore standout Chase Budinger.

At 6'7" Budinger plays above the rim and also has legit NBA range, a combo scouts covet. As a freshman last season Budinger started all 30 games for the Wildcats and averaged 15.6 points per game in the ultra-competitive Pac-10.

So far this season he's averaging 17.1 points per game, and on a team loaded with players who have NBA potential, Budinger has established himself as arguably the Wildcats best player.

At 12-6 and looking strong, the Wildcats have already endured the loss of their head coach Lute Olsen who is on a leave of absence for the entire year and it's been the 19-year-old Budinger who by all accounts has stepped into a leadership role.

That mentality along with his ability to score have made him a top target for many teams in the 2008 NBA Draft should he choose to leave school early after this season. A rare athlete, Budinger was also named the MVP of the 2006 U.S. Junior Olympic Volleyball Tournament; a sport he's since given up.

Whatever Budinger chooses to do he might be overshadowed by bigger names, but as they say, talent rises to the top and Budinger is primed to take his talent all the way up.

Let Me Get This Straight...

Baseball is a game I love dearly.

I start looking forward to next season around mid-November and begin work on my fantasy draft cheat sheets in January. So suffice it to say that all the steroid issues surrounding it have left me with negative feelings toward the game as a whole. A feeling I'm not used to and can't say I'm very fond of.

As pervasive as performance enhancing drugs have been in baseball for roughly the last 15 years I refuse to place the blame at the feet of any one player, but rather at the feet of those in charge of the game, namely the commissioner, the player's association and ownership.

So to hear today that Bud Selig was given an extension through 2012 thanks to a unanimous vote by the owners was surprising and upsetting to say the least.

Apparently I missed something along the way and amidst all the "outrage" and "disgust" over the state of the game and the tarnishing of records long held as the most sacred in all of sports. How exactly is it that a man who in no small way helped facilitate the "steroid era" not only doesn't get fired, but is given a new contract?

Forget the fact that the curmudgeonly Selig isn't exactly the most likable persona in sports, the man presided over a period in the game's history that outside of the days of racial segregation has to rank as one of the worst.

Meanwhile the players involved in the controversy, many of whom by the way weren't doing anything that was against the rules of the game when they did it, are finding themselves persecuted and punished by the game as well as the government.

I understand that economically speaking the game has never been as fruitful as it is right now. Sparkling new stadiums are popping up all over and attendance, as Selig relishes in pointing out at every turn, is at an all-time high.



That does not however excuse the fact that the game's commissioner conveniently looked the other way while the popularity of baseball was saved in no small way by the glorification of the long ball.

Just the other day Selig sat in front of a congressional committee, wasting taxpayer money in the process, and told them that as much as anyone he was to blame for what was going on during the "steroid era" in baseball.

"All of us have to take responsibility, starting with me," said Selig.

Now I was brought up understanding that along with responsibility came consequences for actions that betrayed those responsibilities. Apparently the same rules do not apply at the commissioner's office.

Instead the owners have decided to give Selig an opportunity to repair a legacy that in my opinion deserves to go down with the likes of Pete Rose and the 1919 White Sox as the most tarnished in the history of baseball.

What About Mooch?

The end of every football season brings with it the inevitable head coaching moves as guys get hired and fired all over pro and college football.

This week both the Dolphins and Ravens have made headlines concerning their own search for their next head man. And all that posturing got me to thinking, why am I not hearing former 49ers and Lions head coach Steve Mariucci's name mentioned with guys like Tony Sparano and Jason Garrett?

For those of you who don't remember, Mariucci last coached in the NFL in 2005 when he was fired by the Detroit Lions after a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Since then Mariucci has been working the analyst desk for the NFL Network and doing a fine job. But it seems to me his talent and resume as a head coach would be difficult to ignore for any team with an opening.

As a fan I have fond memories of Mariucci's tenure with the 49ers and to this day maintain that former GM Terry Donahue's decision to fire him after a 10-6 season and an NFC West crown set the team back at least five years.

When Mariucci was first hired by the 49ers he inherited a team of stars led by Steve Young and Jerry Rice and had great initial success going 25-7 in his first two seasons on the job. The next two years were not as kind however as the Niners best players aged and succumbed to injury.

The Niners went into free fall in 1999 and 2000, compiling a 10-22 mark over those two seasons and it would have been easy then to let Mariucci go. But the Niners showed their faith in the man that helped mold Brett Favre in Green Bay and that faith paid off.

Coaching up a total unknown in quarterback Jeff Garcia, Mariucci reversed the Niners fortunes yet again going 12-4 in 2000. Despite the fact that they were beaten by Favre and the Packers in the Wild Card playoffs that year, it seemed the Mariucci-led Niners were back.



They followed that campaign up by winning the NFC West and pulling off one of the greatest (albeit controversial) comebacks in playoff history, beating the New York Giants 39-38.

By then Garcia was a Pro Bowl caliber player and the team had started to put together a decent roster of players including Terrell Owens, Julian Peterson and Andre Carter. Things were looking good, and then just like that it was all over.

On January 15th, 2003, Mariucci was fired by the Niners after a falling out with Donahue. Less than a month later he was hired by the Detroit Lions and the Niners haven't posted a winning record since.

Sure Mariucci's record with the Lions left quite a bit to be desired, but much of that blame has to fall on GM Matt Millen and some of his terrible decisions. Trust me, you'd have a tough time winning with Joey Harrington as your starting quarterback too.

I remember Mariucci as a guy the Niners players seemed to rally around and as one of the more entertaining sound bytes in the league. A guy whose ability to keep things light off the field and play to his team's strengths on it was just the right combination for a professional coach in this day and age.

So why is it that no one seems interested in hiring a guy with the kind of solid credentials that Mariucci brings to the table? There have been rumors that he's not interested in stepping back into the spotlight again, but I have a hard time believing that given what I saw of his competitive fire when he was in San Francisco.

If not in the NFL then, why not at the college level? He spent one year as the head coach at Cal and led them to a bowl game and has been linked in the past to several schools including Michigan State and UCLA.

Why in heaven's name would someone hire Bobby Petrino before at least giving Mariucci a look? Oh wait, that's right, it's Arkansas.

Seriously though, I think he'd be perfect for the college game with his offensive mind, NFL background and effervescent personality he'd make a great recruiter and would be a guy that college kids would really respond to, much like Pete Carroll at USC.

Regardless of the situation, I personally would love to see Mariucci back on the sidelines and think it would be a shame if he remains behind a television desk for much longer.

Playoff Thoughts

Saturday was the calm before the storm during this past week's divisional playoff games in which both the New York Giants and San Diego Chargers pulled off big time upsets on their way to the conference championship games.

Here now are a few Quick Hits on the weekend's action...

Eli Becomes a Man(ning)

The stats haven't been gaudy and the wins haven't been overly impressive, but what Peyton's little brother has been able to do so far in the 2007 playoffs has been nothing short of awesome.

I'll admit it, I'm not a huge Eli Manning fan. Forcing his way out of San Diego after he was drafted by the Chargers and his subsequent no-shows in just about every big game up until this point had me thinking that the youngest of the Manning boys was more a product of the name on the back of his jersey as opposed to his talent.

Four touchdowns and zero interceptions in two playoff games later and my stance on young Eli has begun to change. What's been most impressive has been his poise in hostile environments, something he and the Giants have been able to overcome all year.

Without Jeremy Shockey and with a less-than-great running game behind him, Manning has finally figured out that he doesn't have to be his brother and attempt to take over games with his arm. Instead he's turned the corner as a game manager and seems more willing to take what the defense is giving him.

You add that to the stellar defensive efforts the Giants have been putting up and you get a quarterback and a team that has knocked off two division champs and now have an opportunity to take out a third in the Green Bay Packers.

Tony Ro-no



It's become the popular thing for analysts to compare Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo to Packers legend Brett Favre, and in some cases the comparisons are valid.

Both have that "gun-slinger" mentality and both seem to have the shortest memories in professional sports. If they were baseball players they'd be perfect closers, all attitude and stuff with no fear.

The difference however is experience and savvy; Favre has it, while Romo still has a ways to go. Jessica Simpson notwithstanding, Romo did not have one of his best days on Sunday and his sporadic play helped doom the Cowboys.

As Terrell Owens and his tears pointed out, it's not fair to single out Romo for the Cowboys' loss, but that's the nature of the position, too much praise and too much blame.

Don't worry Cowboys fans, Romo is still the man for you and if you stand by him I promise he will pay off. Very few guys are Joe Montana or Tom Brady and have playoff success right out of the gate, and don't forget Favre lost three straight playoff games against the Cowboys before finally making and winning a Super Bowl in 1996.

Dungy's Last Stand?



Lost in the stunning loss to the San Diego Chargers was the fact that this might have been the final game as head coach for one of the classiest men in professional sports, Tony Dungy.

He isn't a "genius" kind of guy like Bill Walsh was and he isn't a rah-rah kind of guy like Bill Cowher, what Dungy is however is the kind of distinguished, stand-up guy who earned the respect of his players and in turn earned the respect of the sporting community.

While so many coaches (ahem... Bobby Petrino... ahem) preach a team-first attitude and a play for each other mentality, few embody those traits like Dungy. To a man his players would run through a wall for him and in this day and age of high-priced athletes shunning authority figures, that is a rare thing.

If Sunday was the last time we see Dungy on the sidelines it'll be a sad thing. But few deserve to choose their own path and do what makes them happy more than he does.

Player Haters

Here's the scenario. You're a good looking, successful bachelor with some time off from your daily grind and you want to spend some quality time with your woman in Mexico. Sounds nice huh?

Now imagine that your woman just happens to be Jessica Simpson. Sounds too good to be true doesn't it?

Well if your name happens to be Tony Romo and you're the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys you can make that dream come true and make all of us regular dudes Cowboy-blue with envy.

That's exactly what Romo did during the Cowboys off week and instead of getting love from every male with a pulse, Romo is instead being questioned for shifting his focus away from football to hang out poolside with one of the hottest women on the planet.

I know fans and media types want their athletic heroes to be all sports all the time, but I have news for you people, they're regular people just like us. Who are we to say a guy can't take a few days to relax and enjoy the company of a mega-hottie like Simpson?

Kudos to the Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips for giving his guys a little time away from what has been a grueling regular season to clear their heads and come back refreshed for a playoff run.

Of course people are going to bash Phillips and Romo should the Giants upset the Cowboys this weekend, but even if they do I don't think letting his guys get away from football for a while will be the reason.

These guys are professionals, the best at what they do, who spend the bulk of their lives preparing to play the game of football both during the season and in the off-season. No, if they lose it'll be because the Giants played better on that day, not because Tony Romo happens to date someone hotter and more famous than you do.

When you and I take advantage of our vacation days no one questions our ability to do our jobs upon our return. Why do we seem to think it's OK to bash these guys for not eating, drinking and sleeping football 24/7?

There has to be something more newsworthy going on than what "Tonessica" are doing in their free time. Perhaps people want to have something to blame a potential loss on, but trust me when I tell you that it's not just coach/player-speak when they tell you it's all about who executes on Sunday.

So Cowboys fans and all the Terry Bradshaw's of the world can rest their little player-hating heads, Romo will be just fine(not as fine as Jessica, of course) and he and the Cowboys will be ready to play come Sunday.

How Does it Feel?

I must admit, at first I was quite happy to see Roger Clemens named in the Mitchell Report. Not so much because I dislike Clemens, but his inclusion in that report meant that at least for a while the media would have another ultra-high profile whipping boy.

As the coverage of Clemens' alleged use has filled the headlines over the past week or so, I've found myself feeling a bit less joyous about the whole thing and quite a bit more understanding.

Understanding not of what Clemens must be going through as he trudges through public relations hell, but understanding of what his throngs of fans spread across the country must be feeling as they see their hero and favorite ballplayer called a cheater.

You see to this point the coverage and scrutiny of the other big names linked to steroids (i.e. McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro) has paled in comparison to that of the so-called "big fish", one Barry Lamar Bonds.

With the outing of Clemens by his former trainer, a star on the same level as Bonds has finally been dragged through the mud and had his dirty little secret aired for all to see. Refreshing to be sure, but not at all surprising.

What has been surprising, and pleasantly so, has been how hard the media has gone after Clemens. When the news first broke of Clemens' alleged steroid use I thought for sure the media would spin the story in Clemens' favor and give the 7-time Cy Young Award winner the benefit of the doubt.

And while the coverage hasn't had quite the witch hunt feel to it with Clemens as it has with Bonds, it's been very fair and at times very negative toward The Rocket.

Maybe at this point people will open their eyes to the bigger picture here, which is that steroid use in baseball has been more than widespread over the last 15 to 20 years and that the punching bag for the media and the court of public opinion should be major league baseball itself, not one or two individual players.

Classless, Clueless and Congratulations

A few Quick Hits on the bowl season so far...

Mark Richt runs it up:

Georgia head coach Mark Richt pulled two of what I considered to be the coolest moves of the 2007 college football season on his way to a 10-2 season and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.

At 5-2 with the Bulldogs season in the balance and facing the defending national champion Florida Gators, Richt sent his entire team out to the end zone after an early touchdown to send a message to the Gators that they were not going to be pushed around as they had in several previous meetings between the schools.

He knew they would get penalized and that people would talk trash about the tactics, but he realized that his team needed a boost.  The move propelled Georgia to a 42-30 win over Florida and helped inspire his team to five straight season ending wins.

The second pull from Richt's coaching grab bag of tricks came two weeks later against rival Auburn when Richt sent his team out in red jerseys, only to have them yank them off to reveal their rarely seen black jerseys.

Those moves had me thinking I really kind of liked Richt and how he was handling his players as he seemed to really understand motivation and knew how to keep things loose and have a good time, a la Pete Carroll at USC.

However after watching his team steamroll the Hawaii Warriors in the Sugar Bowl while Richt ordered passing plays and fourth down attempts in the fourth quarter with his team up 41-10, I lost quite a bit of respect for Georgia's head man.

Why do that?  What could there possibly be to prove?  People knew going in that it was going to take a big time effort for Hawaii to hang with an SEC school like Georgia and when the score got out of hand and Colt Brennan had been knocked out of the game there was no reason for Richt to keep the pedal to the floor.

The television announcers mentioned next year's pre-season polls as possible explanation for Richt running it up on Hawaii, but that's crap if you ask me.  

So too is the idea that Richt wanted to let his backup guys get some stats and find the end zone in a bowl game.  In fact there was no good reason to try and embarrass a team and a school who quite frankly was overmatched from the opening kickoff.

As entertaining as Richt's regular season antics may have been, in the end he proved to be nothing more than another classless college football coach who has little in mind besides his own ego.

Riley saves the day:

The California Golden Bears were one of the more disappointing teams in 2007, reaching number two in the country and then falling off the map and finishing 6-6.

Much of the blame for Cal's demise was placed on redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Riley who freaked out in the final seconds of a loss to Oregon State and cost Cal the chance to be the top ranked team in the country.

But it was none other than Riley who saved the Golden Bears in their bowl win over Air Force in relief of embattled starter Nate Longshore.

Just when it looked like Cal and Longshore were about to suffer another bad loss to an inferior team, head coach Jeff Tedford made the move he should have made weeks earlier and gave Riley his second chance.

All the kid did was go 16-of-19 for 269 yards and three passing touchdowns and ran for another score on his way to leading a 21-point comeback in the Bears' 42-36 win over the Falcons.

Why Tedford waited so long to finally make a move on Longshore is a mystery to me and most Cal fans who had such high hopes for their favorite team in 2007.  Thankfully it appears the starting job will not be handed to Longshore in 2008 as it was this past year.

Personally I can't wait to see what Riley can do with a whole season as the starting quarterback for the Bears as they look to put the disaster of the 2007 season behind them.

Henne and Hart go out winners:

I've never been a huge Chad Henne fan and I've never thought Mike Hart was overly impressive outside of his ability to hang onto the ball and get the tough yards.

Despite the fact that Hart doubled his career fumble total by putting the ball on the ground twice and Henne threw two interceptions in the Capital One Bowl against SEC powerhouse Florida, both of Michigan's senior leaders came up big when it mattered and led the Wolverines a 41-35 win.

Along with senior left tackle Jake Long, Henne and Hart came back to school to win a national championship with a team many considered one of the best in the country prior to the season.  But an opening season loss to Appalachian State sent the title hopes down the tubes and by seasons end Michigan would be unranked and searching for a new head coach.

But Henne and Hart rallied their teammates like the true leaders they are and to them I say congratulations on two stellar careers in the maize and blue.