The caption above says it all.  Let's get this season started today.  College football is back and needs to be.  I'm sick and tired of the following football coverage. . .95%  Mike Vick's going to jail. . .5% Preseason NFL games where guys that will be bagging my groceries in two weeks are deciding the outcome of a completely insignificant event.  C'mon NCAA football.  America needs you now more than ever!!!

Moments ago Barry Bonds belted a full count fastball into the 4th row of the right centerfield stands to become baseball's all-time leading homerun hitter.  Homerun number 756 was greated by amazing positive fan reaction, and amazingly, a video salute to Barry by the one and only Henry Aaron. 

Hank showed his class, which had been questioned recently, toward a man who truly deserves any praise that he recieves.  Barry Bonds is one of the three greatest hitters of all-time, and the greatest player since Willie Mays himself. 

I've said often that Barry's unfair treatment by many fans and the media is the reason I started this blog over a year and a half ago.  It's only fitting that I say goodbye to the Fox community on the night that my guy becomes THE GUY on the MLB homerun list.  Hats off to you Barry!  You deserved nothing but accolades on this night.  Let me be the first on this blog site to congratulate you!

The questions have seemed endless in the days leading up to the creshendo that was the Spurs 4th title in 9 years last night.  Are they a dynasty? 

To understand if they are or not, we must first understand what a "dynasty" is.

Webster defines "dynasty" as a succession of rulers of the same line of descent, or a powerful group or family that maintains its position for a considerable time.  The world of sports obviously uses the second definition when throwing around such a powerful word.  Are the Spurs a dynasty?  They are not even close according to Webster.

The key phrase in this definition is "maintains its position for a considerable time".  The Spurs have never even maintained their position as champions for two consecutive seasons.  San Antonio supporters may point out the overall depth and toughness of the West as support for their claim.  The mere fact that they've won the West so many times should count for something shouldn't it?  It does count toward their historical significance in NBA lore, but a dynasty they are not.

Sports fans and writers throw this word around as if it meant, "really good for more than a couple of seasons".  That only cheapens the few real dynasties the sports world has seen.  These are the only true dynasties in sports history:

1 - 1956-1969 Boston Celtics won 13 championships in a 15 year span including eight in a row from 1958-1966.  Loaded with Hall of Fame players, and the NBA head coach of all coaches, the Celtics defined dynasty for the NBA for all time.

2-  1936-1943 New York Yankees won 6 championships in eight years.  This stretch saw the end of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and the beginning of Joe DiMaggio.  Featuring Murder's Row and legendary pitching, the Yankees claimed the fans of New York from the Giants and Dodgers, never to give them back.

3-  1947-1962 New York Yankees won 10 titles in 16 years including five in a row from 1949-1953.  This era of Yankee dominance brought about Mickey Mantle, Maris' 61, Larson's no-hitter, and other moments that live forever in the annals of baseball history. 

4-  1964-1975 UCLA men's basetball cut the nets down 10 times in a 12 year span including seven consecutive titles from 1967-1973.  Jabbar, Walton, Johnson, Wooden, and others decorate the college basketball history books like no one has before or since.  They tought the people of Lexington, KY and the rest of the country what dominance really was.

5- 1956-1960 and 1976-1979 Montreal Canadians won five and four straight Stanley Cups respectively.  "Toe" Blake led the early version to success behind legends like Rocket Richard,  Jacques Plante, and Henri Richard.  Scotty Bowman raised the Cup behind the "new blood" of Guy LeFluer, Ken Dryden, and Rick Chartraw.  The Canadians and Yankees are the team with the best arguement of haveing two seperate dynasties, since some of the players carried over for the Yankees.

That's it.  That's the list.  Any attempt to include others only lessons the greatness of the aforementioned teams.  Many will try to include the Bulls of the 1990's, but the arguement would be better to support Jordan as an individual more than the team.  The two great Houston teams between their three-peats eliminates them from the conversation.  The Rockets were great in the middle, thus ending their run of a "considerable time". 

(Information was gathered from nhl.com, nba.com, mlb.com, and ucla.edu)

"Delaware. . .We're in Delaware. . .Delaware."  As Mike Myers spoke these words in the film "Wayne's World", millions doubled over in laughter while delighting in that which they knew nothing about, the state of Delaware.  I was one of the few that did not delight in the jab at my home state.  My birthplace was being mocked.  My home being embarrassed in front of what had become the global following of the iconic Saturday Night Live character.  Was I being a little to sensitive?  Yes.  Should I have lightened up?  Yes, but I still didn't like it.

When it comes to sports, Delaware folks have two passions.  We have some of the best baseball in the country historically.  We've turned out many NBA players.  But the passion in my state runs deep for football and NASCAR.  Everybody loves football, so that doesn't make us special.  However, NASCAR does.

Our capital, Dover, has hosted  Nextel Cup events every year since July 6, 1969.  On that day, the King, Richard Petty, cut the proverbial ribbon and made the inaugural trip to victory lane.  Unfortunately, I was still 9 years in the making.  Since then, names like Harry Gant, Kyle Petty, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, David Person, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and others have won at the infamous "Monster Mile".

What's special about this track and our two races is that it, for two days of the year, makes our state significant.  Maybe it is only to fans of motorsports, but we aren't a punchline anymore.  We aren't one of those New England states (a mistake many people make who aren't from our area).  We mean something.  We matter.  We belong on the national sports platform, if only for two days. 

As wonderful an event as this is for our local economy and psychology, I have never been able to attend a race at Dover in the past.  I choose to attend my local church on Sunday and do not let other things come before that.  However, this year, God smiled on me, and sent rain on our one mile concrete playground.  So, for the first time, this Delaware boy gets to attend the most significant thing that happens in our state since Caesar Rodney rode his pony up to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence.  To borrow the words from the great Darrell Waltrip. . .

BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY.  I'M GOING RACING TOMORROW BOYS!!!

Not only that, but the last race I attended was at Pocono in 1998, one year before my favorite driver, Tony Stewart, became a Cup regular.  So, I'm seeing my favorite driver for the first time, on my home track, for the first time.  Life is good!

Let's go SMOKE!!!!

Build, verb - To form by combining materials or parts; construct

Answers.com defines the word "build" as seen above.  Everyone is trying to build something.  Whether it be a happy home, strong relationships, a better self, or creating a new idea or new product at your job, we all try to build things.  For many, these tasks are ones that could never be completed.  However, in the sports world, the end of every season marks that some group, program, organization, etc. has done what they set out to do.  They have built a champion. 

Fans always think that they know their teams the best.  We feel like we know the leagues our teams play in.  We feel like, if just given that chance, we could build a champion.  When building a house, the foundation is key.  The age-old sports question is now being posed to you.  Who would you build a team around?  Remember, you aren't selecting the best player in the league.  You are choosing the building block for your franchise.

The rule is simply this, the player must be active.  Please give a rationale as to why you would make this person the cornerstone of your franchise, so we, the blogosphere, can argue with you.  In a loving way of course!  This particular blog is about the NFL.  Next will be the MLB, followed by NBA, and concluded with a less conventional NASCAR post.  Get your thoughts and your hammer ready.  Let's build.

Impact Positions

The NFL may be the easiest of the pro sports league to build a winner quickly, because of free agency and the salary cap.  However, it may be the hardest to select one player to start building around because football is the ultimate team game.  Peyton Manning can't take a football and go "Game 5 Lebron" on the Patriots.  He must have blocking, receiving, a running game, and a defense in order to allow him to use his skills and be successful.  With this in mind, the positions that the NFL scouts value the most are QB, LT, and DE.  When starting a franchise, it's difficult to get a fan base excited about a left tackle or a defensive end.  Ask the Texan fans if you don't believe me.  Their first ever pick in the expansion draft was LT Tony Boselli, who was injured shortly after that and never played a down for the Texans.  As far as D-end goes, two words, Mario Williams.  He may be a great player someday, but fans will never forget the two "skill" guys who they passed on.  Therefore, I'm taking a QB.

Age

We've learned in the last 10 years that NFL teams can go from rags to riches in an extremely short period of time.  It's easy to think that instant NFL success should happen when one watches the number of teams who do improve quickly.  Both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers were playing in their Conference's championship game in year two of their existance.  However, most expansion teams, like the Texans and every expansion team before them save the two mentioned earlier, take a much longer road.  With that in mind, players like Donovan McNabb (turns 31 this year), Peyton Manning (31), and Tom Brady (turns 30 in August) are too old to be my cornerstones.  I want the QB that will get me to and win my franchises first Super Bowl.  Carson Palmer turns 28 in December, and he's on the my "fringe" of guys that may be too old.  If it takes five years, which historically is around when teams make the playoffs for the first time, he'd then be 33.  How much longer would he have, especially with his health risks?  I have to pass on Palmer as well.

Intangables

I want a great, young, impact player who is a leader.  I want my cornerstone to be fun to watch.  I want him to be under center.  I want the players, coaches, and fans to KNOW who will get it done in crunch time.  I want a winner.  I want a model citizen.  I don't want the young people in my stadium to ask my season ticket holders what the word "felony" means.  I want a face.  I want an active member of our community.  I want a throwback.  I want a tough guy who will never let his team down in the effort department.  Most of all, I want a winner.

Ladies and Gentlemen, to start the NFL's newest franchise, more than any other player, I want the 2006 NFL Rookie of the Year.  I want Vince Young!

 Who do you want?

Beantown is still trying to recover from the shock that was the NBA draft lottery, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest.  Each time the NBA's most historically significant team looks as if it cannot get any worse, the four-leaf clover finds yet another way to yield bad luck.  The death of Reggie Lewis, the injury plagued end of Larry, McHale, and the Chief, the selling of the proverbial soul for Pitino, trading Chauncey Billips, and the loss of the Oden/Durant sweepstakes are all events that any franchise would struggle to over come.  Adding them all up, the sum is utter NBA disaster and disarray.  Then 30+ year old NBA fans things back to his/her childhood and views the present state of the Celtics as "unfathomable".  How could the 16 time World Champs have possibly fallen this far?  How could the karma have changed so suddenly and so violently?  The end of every dynasty has a dramatic event, a turning point, a singular event that may seem innocent at the time, but proves to be the undoing of the seemingly immovable object.  Enter Len Bias.

Just eleven days prior to the untimely and tragic death of Maryland legend Len Bias, the Celtics had won their 16th NBA Championship, far and away the most in NBA history at that time.  The Celtics happend upon the #2 pick in the upcoming draft in a trade that sent Gerald Henderson to Seattle.  This was truly "the best of times" for a franchise that had seen better times than any team in league history.  Bird, McHale, and Parrish were in their respective primes, Jabbar was nearing the end in Los Angeles, and Celtics were primed to get a player who could work into the rotation slowly and take over for Bird when he decided to pass the torch. 

The draft featured two "sure-fire" NBA stars.  The first was the 7'0" center from North Carolina, Brad Daugherty, while the second was a tremendously gifted 6'8 swingman from Maryland, Len Bias (if this begins to sound eerily familiar. . .).  Cleveland, with the first pick, did what any team would do, taking the safer pick in the center.  This left Boston with the player that some publications at the time called the best forward prospect of all time.  The Celtics were set. . .so they thought.

The newly selected Bias celebrated his fame and fortune with his friends.  An evening of crack-cocaine later, Bias is no longer with us, and the wheels of age, injuries, and other unexplainable turns of misfortune lead the Celtics to, what Dickens' calls, the "worst of times". 

Outside of the drafting of Paul Pierce, and the historic comeback win in game 3 of the 2002 playoffs vs. the Nets, it's hard to find anything good that has happened for Red's bunch.  Nothing remains of the Celtic dynasty.  Red, the Garden, and Hall of Fame rosters seem closer to the Devil Rays future.  The Celtics have even watched the Miami Heat, who didn't exist at the time of their last title, and the Red Sox. . .THE RED SOX win world championships since.  Oh how the mighty have fallen.

As the last few days and weeks have rolled by in the world of sports, I have made two observations.  The first is that some of the most amazing things have been happening.  Things that a true sports fan lives to see.  We've had fantastic finishes, great team and player stories, as well as historically significant individual efforts.  There has also been things that have dominated headlines that are nowhere near "newsworthy".  The crime in this is that many fans' attentions are being diverted to this garbage, and missing these wonderful events in sports. 

As a teacher, I always assume that when people behave inappropriately it's because they don't know what the appropriate action is.  Therefore you, the fan, will no longer need to miss the unmissable.  I, XEA76, will help you navigate your way through the trash and find the treasure.

Worthy:  Derek Fisher

This guy flies 2/3 of the way across the U.S. to pray for his potentially dying child, support the mother of his child, and be there when a man needs to be there most.  When he knows all is safe, he flies back to Utah, suits up, and inspires his team to a huge OT win. 

Not Worthy:  Racially biased NBA officiating

You have to ask what the agenda is of any organization that would even support such a study.  Anyone who actually saw the raw numbers knows that the illedged discrepency of calls of officials to players of another race were not statiscally significant.  Translated, this is why all polls have a "margin of error".  The statistics were not so skewed that there appeared to be a problem, but there was a SLIGHT descrepency.  If you really want to help the racism problem, don't make it the issue everytime people that don't look the same are in the same room.

Worthy:  Barry Bonds

I started this blog over a year ago because of this man.  Barry is a jerk.  Barry MAY be a cheater (probably).  Having said that, Barry is the greatest baseball player I've ever seen, BAR NONE!  Baseball fans live their whole lives wanting to see records broken.  He's already broken the big one.  Now he's going for the #2 record in all of baseball, the all-time HR mark.  Don't miss this because of a stupid grudge.  This is what you want to tell your kids about.  If you ignore him, you make him a mystery to the next generation. Educate yourself about him.  Teach the kids why he's so good.  Explain why cheating is bad.  However, do not miss one of the most amazing feats by one of the five greatest baseball players of all time.

Not Worthy:  Curt Schilling

Speaking his name in public is difficult to do.  This is a guy who gives the media the quotes they want, so he gets a pass on being an ####.  He is not a Hall of Fame player.  That's right, being an outspoken member of the 2004 Red Sox doesn't make you one.  Sorry Kevin Millar.  I'm not sure any person in sports is less socially significant while being oblivious to that fact at the same time.  He thinks he's important.  He speaks for political candidates.  He's a social commentator.  And frankly, all the Beanbrains want him to do is get people out.  That's right Curt.  If you make the country less dependent on oil and have an ERA over 5.00, then Boston will hate you.  I promise.

Worthy:  Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Jr. is leaving the company his father founded.  NASCAR's biggest star with it's biggest sponsor is officially a free agent (at the end of the year).  This event really has no other worthy comparison.  There is no other athlete more popular, in his prime, and about to be persued by about 15 Nextel Cup teams, the idea of starting his own team, or even other racing outfits like the IRL or Formula One.  Junior is the biggest free agent in the history of American sports. 

Not Worthy:  Car of Tomorrow

NASCAR made it.  NASCAR uses it now.  NASCAR wants it full time in 2008.  That settles it.  Shut up and drive it.

Worthy:  Tiger Woods

Tiger is on another dominating run.  He's winning almost every tournament he signs up for.  He's back to his dominating form with his 15th different swing.  He got to the point in 2000 when he decided to compare himself to himself, and not to the other players.  Now he's back to being so far ahead of the field it's almost laughable.

Not Worthy:  Mike Vick

He's the biggest bust since Ryan Leaf.  He's a punk who's popularity so far supercedes his accomplishments that it's obsurd.  He's a great athlete who can't play QB.  He's a spoiled brat who has robbed me of the 60 seconds of my life that it took to write this blurb.  I'm out!

There is no doubt that the NBA playoffs are wonderful.  However, they just drag on ridiculously long.  The Baby Bulls will literally be the Adolescent Bulls by the time they actually take the floor against the Pistons.  So, let out your frustrations this weekend.  You have three magnificent events coming that are truly "must see" events that have nothing to do with Dr. Naismith or racist officials. 

Event One:

Game 5    New York Rangers vs. Buffalo Sabers

This has been an incredible series thus far with the toughness and will of the Rangers, behind King Henry (pictured), have evened this set at two games a piece with the talent-rich Sabers.  This matchup has featured two controversial reviewed goals (each team got one beneficial call), tremendous goaltending, skating, and hitting.  Jaromir Jagr has been amazing for the Rangers, while the Sabers have been their lightening fast selves for only spurts thusfar.  Should be fun the rest of the way.

Event Two:

133rd Kentucky Derby

Truly one of the greatest events of the year in any sport.  In all honesty, the field really includes too many horses to be a truly "great race".  However, the history and pagentry still makes it the "most exciting two minutes in all of sports".  I've got Hard Spun, so everyone please bet on the other horses to drive my payoff through the roof!

Event Three

De La Hoya vs. Mayweather

The fight that will save boxing?  I'm not sure it's going to be that good, but it should be an exciting fight at least.  This is a battle between someone who hasn't beaten many great fighters (Mayweather) vs. a guy who has always been overrated in the eyes of the public (Oscar).  Boxing is only as strong as the heavyweight division, which is sad.  Outside of Ali and Joe Louis, ALL of your historically great fighters were lighter.  The middleweight division is truly boxing's most classic division.  Having said that, look for De La Hoya to be a bit overmatched in this one.  Oscar will battle until the end, but it won't be enough.

This is going to be a special weekend, with or without basketball.  Keep in mind, if you have anything left on Sunday, check out Game 6 of the Rangers/Sabers series.  You'll thank me later!  Enjoy it!  Drink it in; it always goes down smooth.  Stay classy sports fans.  (Compliments of Ron Burgandy)

As a Yankee fan, I've had the priviledge of watching Mariano Rivera more than most people.  I remember him struggling as a young starter in 1995.  While setting up John Wetteland, he anchored a bullpen that allowed me to experience my first Yankee championship as a freshman in college in 1996.  Since becoming the closer in 1997, he's been on the mound in both my most charished and painful Yankee memories.  He's given up big hits to people like Sandy Alomar Jr., David Ortiz, and Luis Gonzalez to name a few. 

 Mo has also shut down these same men, along with literally hundreds of others in the same time period.  Mariano Rivera runs a close second to Derek Jeter as my favorite Yankee.  Metallica's "Enter Sandman" give me goose-bumps everytime I hear it both at the Stadium and in my car.  Mo is my guy!

It now pains me to publically admit what I've felt has been coming for two seasons now.  Mariano is coming to the end. 

The most remarkable thing about Rivera's career, in my opinion, is that he has had all of this success while basically using one pitch, the cutter.  When he first came into the league, Yankee fans remember, his style was to "stair-step" the four-seam fastball.  Strike one was at the knees.  Strike two was at the belt.  Strike three was a swing and miss at a letter high fastball.  It was about 1998 when the cutter came the pitch du jour, and the rest is history.  Now, sadly, Rivera may be as well.

When a pitcher throws one pitch, usually he's bagging groceries at the A&P.  However, Rivera was nasty enough to make it happen.  Now, the velocity is waning.  The desire to prove something is gone.  As the Barenaked Ladies sang, "It's all been done". 

Now the Yankees have done what they have refused to do in the Steinbrenner era.  They've held on too long to a player because of his past accomplishments.  Rivera hasn't yet had a season that doesn't meet his standards.  This may be the first, and because of that, it may be his last.  What a sad thing to say.

It is being reported that former and now current Creighton basketball coach Dana Altman has taken his old job back.  This, of course, makes Altman to Arkansas what Belichick is to the Jets,  a former coach that never actually "coached" his former team.  There is certainly a major problem right now in the Arkansas athletic department.  They seem to be unable to keep big name coaches and players intrigued enough to stay with the program.  Despite many rumors and speculation as to why this seems to be the case, the real problem is a lack of reality by the athletic department.

The University believes that it should be a top 10 football and basketball program each and every year.  These are great goals, but when they become and expectation, they become a hinderance to a program that is farther away from Corey Beck and Corliss Williamson than it realizes.  Arkansas reportedly offered the basketball position to coaches like:  Bill Self, John Calipari, Billy Gillespie, Tim Floyd, and Tom Crean before agreeing with Altman (source: ESPN.com).  These are all relatively established coaches at programs that are currently as strong, if not significantly stronger than Arkansas right now.  Why should they take the Arkansas job?  Obviously, these men couldn't find a reason either, so Arkansas is still and again coachless. 

Arkansas needs to "get real".  They need a young, energetic coach that can take a team that is ready to win to the second weekend of the tournament.  Arkansas needs to take a chance of a "small-name".  The Hogs should look no further than their hated rivals in Austin.  The new Arkansas head coach should be Russ Springman, assistant coach of the Texas Longhorns.

Springman has been working with Rick Barnes for nine years as an assitant coach.  He also worked with Billy Donovan at Florida for two seasons as a strength coach.  Springman has been exposed to two extremely successful systems of both recruiting and on-court production.  Kevin Durant keeps raving about Springman, and the role Russ has played in his personal success.  Springman has the exposure to big-time games and players to lead a program in the right direction.  On the down side, Springman has never been a Division I head basketball coach, but Arkansas is ready to win now.  This is the time to take a chance, and build a program behind someone the players can believe in.  Arkansas is hungry to recapture past glory.  Springman is hungry to prove himself worthy to be considered among his mentors as a great head coach.  This is the move the could lead both man and program to where they want to go.

(source: TexasSports.com)

NFL G.M.'s have to be the slowest learners of anyone.  This back-up QB as the-answer-to-all-of-your-problems phenomenon is ridiculously stupid.  A team as bad as the Texans gives up two second round choices, which are usually end up as starters in thier first or second years in the league, to get a guy with two NFL starts.  The most amazing thing about this is that often times these "must have" back-ups usually back-up starters that aren't that good to begin with.

Case #1 - Jay Fiedler

After one start in 1999, he signs on with the Miami Dolphins to be the man.  In that 1999 season, he appeared in seven games with that one start.  He went 61-for-94 for 656 yards with two TDs and two INTs.  Wanna build your franchise around that?  Miami did!  Ask them how that worked out.  Before he left for South Beach, Fiedler was the back-up to Mark Brunell in Jacksonville.  Many are thinking this was Brunell's hayday.  He led Jacksonville to the AFC championship game in the 1999 season right?  Yes, however, a great defense and running game led the Jags that season.  Brunell himself had only a 58.7% completion rate with 14 TDs against nine INTs.  Not exactly Marino.  You would think if Fiedler was Marino, he could beat out a guy with those numbers.

Case #2 - Rob Johnson

Everyone's favorite rags to riches story.  The scene shifts back to 1997, Jacksonville, Florda.  Rob Johnson, again after only one start, posts a QB rating of 111.9, which over a career would make him the GREATEST QB OF ALL-TIME!!!  With opportunity for greatness knocking, and Jim Kelly running out the back door, Buffalo makes the power play to land Johnson.  The 1997 Buffalo Bills stumbled to a 6-10 record under Marv Levy and QB Todd Collins.  Desperation is understandable for the once great franchise.  So they jump on what seems to be the best available prospect.  Not so much!  Once again, Johnson was available because he couldn't crack the position held by Mark Brunell.  In Brunell's defense, his 1997 was much better than his 1999.  He had a QB rating of over 90, but still fewer than 20 TDs and 3281 yards.  Again, Brunell was a good player, but if Johnson was Jim Kelly, he would've been starting.  Both the Bills and Dolphins are still struggling to find signal-callers to this day.

Case #3 - Matt Schaub?

If Schaub were nearly as good as some would have you believe, couldn't he beat out Mike "the Hype" Vick?  Vick has never been a 3000 yard passer, never had a passer rating over 81.6, never had more than 20 TD throws.  Vick is the most overrated athlete in the HISTORY OF THE PLANET! 

I really hope Schaub works out.  I hope he's better than Vick, but again, if he were, wouldn't he be the starting QB in Atlanta?  If he's Vick or worse, then don't look for the Texans to win in the playoffs for at least the next six years.  It takes at least that long to overcome a mistake at the QB position.  Right Houston, Miami, Buffalo, and Cleveland?

The thing that makes the NCAA basketball tournament the best sporting event in the world is that the madness never ends.  Yesterday's selections for the tournament launched what is simply the greatest three weeks in all of sports.  You've heard all of the controversy, here are the facts about what will transpire shortly:

• Florida is the best team in the nation and deserves the #1 overall seed.  They breezed through the SEC tournament and return five starters from the team that cut the nets down 49 weeks ago. 
• Ohio State will be the first #1 seed to lose.  They are a team that has managed to have an all-world big man and never give him the ball.  It's truly amazing it you've never seen them play. 
• Kansas is actually the most talented team in the tournament, but they won't win it all.  Kansas has no clue who should take the last shot in a close game.  The pressure of the tournament has a tendency to expose people who don't have the killer instinct.  Kansas doesn't have a player with that, so they will lose.
• Arkansas SHOULD have made the tournament.  Arkansas is 6-1 this season in single elimination, neutral floor, tournament style games.  The win in the Old ####e classic (defeating West Virginia and Southern Illinois) and the runner-up run in the SEC tournament (defeating Mississippi State and Vandy) show that they are tournament tough.  When you add that with strength of schedule and RPI, it's a no-brainer.  Also don't forget that Arkansas beat Vandy in the last game of the season.  Beating a "lock" team twice in five days says it all.
• Texas with Kevin Durant looks a lot like Syracuse with Carmelo Anthony.  The difference is, Durant is better!
• Davidson will beat Maryland.  Maryland is one of those teams that some people have them winning the whole show while others have them one and done.  I live in that Maryland "market" so maybe the title hype is just local garbage.  Anyway, there may not be a team that looks better on certain nights and worse on others.  Teams like that usually fold like a tent in the tournament.  This Terps team is no exception.
• Don't believe the Winthrop hype.  They will not beat Notre Dame.  Notre Dame has the balance and three point shooting to beat teams a lot better than Winthrop.  Oregon, you have been warned!
• Kansas vs. UCLA will be the game of the tournament in the regional final.
• If you're desperate for a Final Four sleeper, look no further than Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee Vols.  Can you imagine how much that guy would sweat under the bright lights in Hotlanta?
• Mid-majors do not deserve seeds higher than six!  Southern Illinois will prove that and not make the Sweet 16.  (Side note:  DIckey Vitale had the audacity to say that Arkansas's best win this year was against S. Illinois.  He then went on to say that Arkansas should beat them because "they're Arkansas".  You can't have it both ways Dickey V.  Your mid-majors either are legit or not.  Hint:  They're not!)
• The Final Four will be:  Florida, UCLA, Georgetown, Tennessee
• Florida beats Georgetown to win the whole show
• Isiah Thomas leads the mighty Knicks to the playoffs  (bonus pick).

Philosophers say that we live in the post-modern era.  Post-modernism is a belief that the only absolute truth that exists in the world is that there is no absolute truth.  Despite the glaring philosophical contradiction that Stevie Wonder could see, many people endorse this way of viewing the world.  "What you do is up to you, and what I do is none of your business" they say.  If this is your world-view, that's fine with me (hints of relativism are all over that statement), but its amazing at how relative we are with our morals in sports.

NASCAR found that Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, and Michael Waltrip all qualified with illegal cars on Sunday.   The punishment for the crimes of Kahne and Kenseth's teams were reported by the Charlotte Observer as suspensions for each team's crew chief.  It amazes me that NASCAR refuses to park cars and teams for races.  I'm not sure that these violations would warrant such a punishment, but the bottom line is that such a punishment isn't even an option.  Sure, they say it is, but Kasey Kahne would have to attack and kill Dale Earnhardt Jr. to ever be suspended from a race.  NASCAR has gotten neck-deep with these sponsors to the point that they run the show.  You will NEVER see a race without a Home Depot, Dupont, Lowe's, Budweiser, or Dodge sponsored car.  At least not because NASCAR made that decision.  That fact doesn't even consider the star power of the former champions and superstars that carry the corporate torch for the aforementioned companies.  It's amazing that so many fans turn the other cheek to rules violations in NASCAR.  The unspoken motto of most crew chiefs in the sport is, "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'".  Everyone seems to be fine with that, even when the large portion of the fan base resides in the "morally conservative" South of the U.S. 

Then, of course, there is baseball.  A sport in which anyone who has ever touched a bottle, vitamin, beer, or even baby, is under tremendous scrutiny and su####ion.  Why?  Are they both cheating?  Yes.  It amazes me that steriod use is considered the ultimate form of cheating in sports.  The steriod rule reminds me of what Jerry Seinfeld says about the helmet law.  He finds it humorous that we would have a law that functions to protect a brain that is functioning so poorly that it doesn't protect itself.  I agree.  When race cars are too fast, they put lives in danger of more than just their drivers.  When athletes juice, who are they really harming?  Your post-modern mind should now kick in and say, "They aren't hurting me, so what they are doing is fine."  However, it doesn't say that at all.  You want to be noble.  You want to be the helmet law.  You want to protect that athlete that is so starved for money and fame, that he/she will literally kill himself/herself to get it. 

I don't feel cheated by Barry Bonds.  I don't feel cheated by Kasey Kahne.  If Kasey Kahne's team deems it necessary to bend the rules to make him more competitive, then install rules that discourage that.  NASCAR does that.  If Barry Bonds wants to use a substance that, until recently, wasn't even banned by MLB and hurt himself, so be it.  He can be the Homerun King, while suffering through health problems and a lower quality of life.  That's his choice.  My question to you is.  If Barry is only hurting himself, and Kasey, Matt, and Michael are putting others at risk as well as not risking nearly as much from a personal, physical standpoint, who has committed the greater crime?  Barry will be tarnished physically, emotionally, and publically for the rest of his life.  Kahne and Kenseth won't even miss a race.  What gives? 

Is there anyway that Jr. ends up at DEI at season's end?  It seems like Jr. woke up and finally realized that he is the biggest star and NASCAR and has more leverage than any athlete in the history of professional sports.  Jr. is the man in NASCAR.  What makes that more amazing than anything is that this popularity has come with a moderate amount of success.  The NBA equivilent would be if Jeffrey Jordan, Michael's son, entered the league and played at a Paul Pierce level, but got LeBron James endorsements and attention.  Don't get me wrong.  Paul Pierce is a great player, but he's no LeBron, D-Wade, KG, or Tim Duncan.  Much like Jr. is great, but he's not Stewart, Johnson, or Gordon.

Having said all of that, with the addition of Toyota, who seems to be willing to pay any price to make a major splash in the sport, Dale is NASCAR's first A-Rod type free agent.  Anyone will pay anything to have him as the face of their team.  Anyone except maybe his jealous stepmommy. 

Here are Dale's 2008 options:

1)  Stay at DEI as the majority owner of the company and remain the face of NASCAR as we know it.

2)  Join a team like Hendrick or Roush with the proven ability to win championships with multiple teams and drivers.  This way, he can begin to build a legacy outside of his father (if that's even possible).

3)  Join a Toyota team, take Budweiser with him, and create a major shift in the power and influence of the newest and most controversial manufactoring brand in NASCAR history.

Whatever Dale chooses, he brings a marketability and economic power with him that no human being has ever had in any sport.  Good luck in the negotiations Dale.  The sport anxiously awaits.

What do you think he'll do?  What would you do?

Tomorrow is National Signing Day for all of you already-football-starved folks out there.  We have finally reached a time where football is so popular that people will latch on to something that is about as irrelevant as my top 25 most played list on my IPOD just because it's about football.  ESPN.com has an entire page dedicated to tomorrow's college football "event".  Don't be fooled folks, this is not an event.

We all (especially Arkansas fans like myself) remember the circus a month and a half ago surrounding Mitch Mustain's mother, along with two other highly touted freshmen's parents questioning the role of their children to Arkansas A.D. Frank Broyles.  Why was this a story you ask.  Tomorrow is the reason.  We give stardom away to college kids, even high school kids now because we are so determined to find the "next one".  Without this hype, Mustain and the others would be seen for what they are, spoiled, overhyped brats who are nothing more than a backup QB, blocking TE, and fast, no hands WR.  We can't enjoy the greatness that is Peyton Manning for one week without digging out Tom Lugginbill's rankings of the incoming freshman prospects to find out who will steal Manning's throne in 2015.  Let me tell you something folks, HE DOESN'T KNOW who will be great at the college level.  Even more, you don't know either!  You won't know until these kids play the game.

I'm so sick of hearing about these recruiting classes.  How many years did we hear about Texas's incoming class?  We heard all about it until they got beat by 50 in the Red River Shootout from about 1998-2004 (give or take a year or two).  Can we please give it a rest?  Can we please reserve news for. . . well. . .NEWS?  These are glorified children that are about to start playing a young man's game.  Some will be great, others will never be heard from again.

If you are interested in what happens tomorrow, I challenge you to do one thing.  Print off your little ESPN top 150 list and save it.  Four years from now, when you watch the NFL Draft (and you will because anyone who cares about signing day would absolutely treat the NFL Draft like Christmas morning) take out your list and see how it stacks up.  See how many people go in the first round.  See how many get drafted at all.  I guarentee that you will look at the list and say, "Boy, I really wasted a lot of time worrying about which school Noel Devine was going to attend."  You're right.  You did.  I'm trying to help you save that time.  You'd be much better off taking Martin Lawrence's advice and having a Coke and a smile.  It will last a lot longer.