Woody Hayes vs. Jim Tressel

Read the following Cleveland Plain Dealer article before reading this post:
http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2011/05/woody_and_the_vest_--_two_coac_1.html

Bill Livingston has been writing in the sports section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer for quite some time, and I have been reading his articles for quite a few years as well. I would just like to say that this article, though very brief, was one of my absolute favorite works of his since I can remember evaluating them.

Cleveland Browns Draft Breakdown

Over the weekend the Cleveland Browns participated in the 2011 NFL Rookie Draft along with the other 31 teams in the league.
1.) The Browns traded their 6th overall pick in the first round to the Atlanta Falcons, in return the Falcons gave the Browns their first round pick (27th overall), second round pick and 4th round pick in this year's draft and first and fourth round picks in next year's draft.
2.) The Browns made another trade on Day 1 of the draft. Swapping first round picks with the Kansas City Chiefs and moving from 27th to 21st in round one. With that pick the Browns selected defensive lineman Phil Taylor from Baylor University.
3.) Additionally, the Browns added another defensive lineman Jabaal Sheard from University of Pittsburgh and wide receiver Greg Little from University of North Carolina on Day 2.

NFL Lockout Reinstated

After a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of ending the lockout last week, just a few days before the 2011 Rookie Draft, another ruling was passed in a seperate court that officially reinstated the conditions of the initial lockout. So, as far as the newly drafted rookies go, they are not allowed to sign contracts or meet with their new cocaches and teammates. Additionally, teams may not sign any undrafted or regular free agents that remain on the market. No telling what is going to happen now!

Cleveland Indians Fast Start!

The fighting wig-wammers of the Cuyahoga finished the month of April with an 18-8 record. The franchise's best start since before 2002. Fan favorite Grady Sizemore came back in the middle of the month and jolted the team with his new burst of energy. Big bopper Travis Hafner has returned to his playing form from 3 or 4 years ago. Asdrubal Cabrera has truly begun to flourish as a legitamate threat at the plate to opposing pitchers. Additionally, the Tribe swept 4 three game series from various opponents during the month. A full breakdown of the team's successes can be found at the following link...videos included.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/_/name/cle/cleveland-indians

NFL Security Staff Gets Beefed Up

Tennessee Titans players were met at the door of the team's training facility by what they called "excessive" security. The full article can be found here: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6443628.

"The security detail may not be needed in the future. The NFL sent a memo to clubs saying players can resume voluntary workouts at facilities, meet with coaches and go over playbooks starting Friday. The Titans haven't had a chance to meet as a team with new coach Mike Munchak or pick up playbooks, a crucial delay for a franchise trying to rebound from a 6-10 season."

This passage from the article strikes me as the most odd out of all the other parts.

2011 Master's of Golf In Review

As we sit a couple weeks out from the 2011 Master's tournament I can't help but ask the question? Who won? Does anybody remember? (Hint: It wasn't Tiger Woods) Anybody? I didn't think so. The winner was a South African by the name of Charl Schwartzel. Oh yeah! I remember him now... NOT!

My 2011 NFL Mock Draft

Pick 1- Carolina- Cam Newton QB Auburn
Pick 2- Denver- Marcel Dareus DT Alabama
Pick 3- Buffalo- Von Miller LB Texas A&M
Pick 4- Cincinnatti- Patrick Peterson CB LSU
Pick 5- Arizona- Robert Quinn DE UNC
Pick 6- Cleveland- A.J. Green WR Georgia
Pick 7- San Francisco- Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri
Pick 8- Tennessee- Nick Fairley DT Auburn
Pick 9- Dallas- Tyron Smith OL USC
Pick 10- Washington- Jake Locker QB Washington
Pick 11- Houston- Prince Amukamara CB Nebraska
Pick 12- Minnesota- J.J. Watt DE Wisconsin
Pick 13- Detroit- Aldon Smith DE/LB Missouri
Pick 14- St. Louis- Julio Jones WR Alabama
Pick 15- Miami- Ryan Kerrigan DE Purdue
Pick 16- Jacksonville- Brooks Reed DE Arizona
Pick 17- New England- Anthony Costanzo OL Boston College
Pick 18- San Diego- Cameron Heyward DL Ohio State
Pick 19- New York Giants- Gabe Carimi OL Wisconsin
Pick 20- Tampa Bay- Cameron Jordan DE California
Pick 21- Kansas City- Nate Solder OL Colorado
Pick 22- Indianapolis- Mike Pouncey OL Florida
Pick 23- Philadelphia- Jimmy Smith CB Colorado
Pick 24- New Orleans- Da'Quan Bowers DE Clemson
Pick 25- Seattle- Muhammad Wilkerson DT Temple
Pick 26- Baltimore- Akeem Ayers DE/LB UCLA
Pick 27- Atlanta- Justin Houstin DE/LB Georgia
Pick 28- New England- Mark Ingrahm RB Alabama
Pick 29- Chicago- Derek Sherrod OL Mississippi
Pick 30- New York Jets- Marvin Austin DT UNC
Pick 31- Pittsburgh- Aaron Williams DB Texas
Pick 32- Green Bay- Corey Liuget DT Illinois

DEBATE!

NFL Lockout Ends?

A Federal District Court judge recently ended the NFL lockout. Or so we thought... The lockout may be reinstated even after one judge officially ended it in her court room. There are still many disagreements between the league and the player's union that need to be decided upon. But with the summer training camps quickly approaching players are finding it impossible to access their team's facilities to utilize the workout compounds. Where do you stand on the matter? Personally, I say let them play football!

THE WARLOCK

I know this topic has nothing to do with sports, but I have been on this Charlie Sheen kick lately and I just wanted to post an interview on my blog that he did with British talk show host Peirs Morgan. Enjoy!

Part 1... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSbeAQ4gd0E&feature=related
Part 2... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzHhiTbg7ZI&feature=related
Part 3... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9T2rzpgyDg&feature=related
Part 4... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEVe9z7IVgY&feature=related

NBA playoff Outlook

As the NBA playoffs are just getting started I figured I would take some time to weigh in on how I think this postseason will go down.

Winning first round matchups I have:
East- Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Miami
West - San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Los Angeles

Conference Semi winners:
East- Chicago And Miami
West- Oklahoma City And Los Angeles

Conference Champions:
East- Chicago
West- Los Angeles

NBA Champions - Chicago

NBA Playoff System

The current NBA playoff bracket can be seen here: http://espn.go.com/nba/bracket
The regular season league standings can be seen here: http://espn.go.com/nba/standings

Take a few minutes to look both pages over. Then continue on with the reading of this blog....

If you look at the records of each individual team in the playoffs from each conference you will notice a major discrepency in the wins-losses totals between the two conferences. And yes, historically the west has had a better overall group of teams, while the east usually lacks the depth thats its counterpart has. For example, the number 5 ranked team in the east would not even make the playoffs if they were in the west. And the inverse, the number 11 ranked team in the west would make the playoffs in the east as the 8th best team. If the playoff system was in place were the top 8 teams from the entire league where in place here is what the opening round matchups would look like:
1 Chicago Bulls (62-20) vs. 8 Orlando Magic (52-30)
4 LA Lakers (57-25) vs. 5 Dallas Mavericks (57-25)
3 Miami Heat (58-24) vs. 6 Boston Celtics (56-26)
2 San Antonio Spurs (61-21) vs. 7 Oklahoma City Thunder (55-27)

Suprise teams of the early MLB season...

The beginning of the Major League Baseball season has been chalk full of suprises, both good and bad. A quick breakdown of the current standings can be found at http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp?tcid=mm_mlb_standings.

The major suprise teams, in my opinion are:
1. Cleveland Indians (11-4)- Even though I am a die hard Tribe fan I did not expect this good of a start.
2. Colorado Rockies (12-3)- Another team that struggled last year off to a fast start.
3. Boston Red Sox (5-10)- Always a contender for a World Championship, struggling mightily thus far.

Chicago Cubs cut verteran pitcher in strange way..

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Cubs-blunder-even-in-cutting-48-million-bust-C?urn=mlb-wp1451

The above article gives the full details and opinions of the writer about the situation, but I just wanted to voice my opinion on the situation as well. First, allow me to point out the fact that I am not a Chicago Cubs fan, so this is written without and personal bias. It's not often that you see a veteran cut from a team during spring training but it is usually done because the player can no longer perform at the level required to be on a major league team, not bcecause he has "an attitude problem". Many organizations just deal with the player internally and try to fix the problems with the player's personal side. But, as the GM or manager of a professional team you have the responsibility of letting players know that they have either made the team or have been cut. Having an assistant coach take the emotional response from the player is not fair to him or the player. Because, after all, he did not make the final decision.

Super Surprises of the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships

1. ZERO number one (#1) or number two (#2) seeds have qualified for the Final Four for the first time ever.
2. A number eleven (#11) seed, Virginia Commonwealth University, has reached the Final Four for only the third time ever.
3. Either an eight seed (8) or an eleven seed (11) will reach the Championship Game. Only on one other occasion has this happened. The 1985 Villinova Wildcats won the National Championship as an eight seed.

The 2011 MLB Season is Upon Us!

Ok all you crazy diamond dogs! We are on the verge of yet another exciting season on Major League Baseball. We've been getting a little bit of a taste of baseball and summer for close to a month now since teams have reported to spring training and began playing again. Here is an experts projections for the upcoming season: http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/12986252/27045267. I can't say I completely agree with him, but I would tend to agree on most selections.

Penn State Wrestling Wins NCAA Title!

Being an avid Ohio State Buckeye supporter this blog is very difficult for me to write. But as a wrestling enthusiast I was very excited to see a "new" team win the National Title.
Only 10 schools have won the Division 1 team trophy since 1950 and only 3 schools have split the championship trophies since 1989.
1.Penn State 2x's
2. Iowa 23x's
3. Minnesota 3x's
4. Oklahoma State 14x's
5. Arizona State 1x's
6. Iowa State 5x's
7. Oklahoma 6x's
8. Michigan State 1x's
9. Oklahoma A&M 3x's
10. Northern Iowa 1x's

Ethics in College Athletics

Some may laugh at this topic. But it's something that I want to discuss. With the many news reports and confessions coming out over the past year it makes me think people are taking collegiate athletics far too serious. I mean, these are young men and women who are, supposedly, playing because they love their respective sports. Now I can understand that we are all only human and we all make mistakes. But the lying and trying to hide those lies is what I do not accept. Recently, I was floored by the news that my favorite, most respected, college football coach and personal role model, Jim Tressel, was mentioned in a plot that I have previously mentioned. One thing that I think Coach did right was levy heavier sanctions upon himself because he does hold himself to much higher standards then many other coaches display regularly.

What's the probabolty that we won't have a 2011 NFL season?

As the title suggests, this post will be my take on the possibility of not playing NFL football in 2011. As an avid Cleveland Browns fan I continually think that "next year will be better" just like most of Cleveland. But a year with nothing going on would tear this city apart. I remember not having football to cheer for when the Browns were moved to Baltimore. With no end in site of the current labor disputes the season, though it is still months away, is in serious jeopardy. The league insists on conducting business as usual until any definitive decision has been made, but with the ending of the collective bargaining agreement and the players being placed in a "lockout" they are not allowed in team facilities. In my opinion, with the situation in such a dire position I would say the chances of NFL football being played this season is a 50% probability.

NFL Collective Barganing Agreement

As many of you who follow sports, specifically the NFL, know the current issues the league is facing with the expiration of the league's collective bargaining agreement. Players, owners, and the league as a whole entity are at a serious crossroad. Neither side of the table seems to be budging away from their respective positions any time soon. The fan's guide to the labor dispute can be found at the following link: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-laborquestions090810. This page poses many questions and answers to those questions that the fans can understand.

Media questioning of players after games

I feel that the players and coaches should be able to refuse media questioning sessions after games if they do not want to do it. Although this is not the case. Most players and coaches are required to meet with the media after games, win or lose. After a recent loss in the NCAA tournament this media session took place involving Kansas State University's standout player Jacob Pullen and his coach Frank Martin. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6239365

NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection

The process in which teams are selected for the field of 68 is a rather personal event. Humans, not computers, determine which teams are qualified for the field. The selection committee is made up of athletic directors and conference commisioners. The current selection committee can be found at the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_basketball_tournament_selection_process#Current_men.27s_committee_members

These 10 men create the field of 68 teams, their seedings, and the brackets.

NCAA All-Star Team Respreseting the USA in the Olympics?

This idea may not seem like a great idea to a lot of people. But in my opinion I think this would be very good for the Olympics in the future. You may say that we would never win anything! All I would have to do is remind you of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team. If you don't know anything about them check out the following links:
About the Team - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_on_Ice
Video of final minutes against the Soviets - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gfD134ED54&NR=1
A team of college all-stars beat the best team in the world after failing to do so in numerous attempts prior to that game. DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!?!

NCAA "Student" Athletes

The topic of NCAA "student" athletes in something that has always bothered me personally. Even though I know many of the young men and women who compete in the NCAA are in fact wonderful students there are many that are not. Simply looking at the Division 1 level I am a bit concerned with the way star athletes are given preferential treatment when it comes to enrollment, grades, etc. In my own personal experiences, I was denied admittance into The Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus. While a few athletes, who have since dropped out of college, were granted admission to the main campus. There seems to be a double standard for athletes at major college campuses all around the country.

NCAA Athletic Scholarships

The topic of NCAA scholarships and their availibility is a rather touchy subject to many aspiring athletes. The amount of scholarships granted by the NCAA to each sport varies based on the number of athletes in the sport and the number of teams each sport has across the country. Take a look at the discrepincy of scholarship availibility based on each sport for men and women at this link: http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/scholarships_by_sport.htm

Expand the March Madness field?

There has long been talk about expanding the field of 65 to something larger. In my personal opinion there is no need for the field of 65 to be expanded. With over 300 D-I mens basketball programs in the country it is quite an achievement to be considered among the nations 65 best. It is truly considered an honor by many small schools who have had successful enough seasons to be chosen by the selection committee. If the field was expanded it would put less importance on regular season success of many large school teams because they would just assume an automatic qualification because they are bigger than, and in their minds better, than many small schools. I'd leave it how it is. 65 teams is interesting, entertaining, and exciting.

NCAA Mega-Conferences

With the recent merging and blending of NCAA athletic conferences a thought crossed my mind: What would happen if there were just a few Mega-Conferences? Assuming that the mega-conferences would revolve around the existing major conferences I would suspect they would be the current Big-Ten, which is made up of midwest teams. The PAC-Ten, which is pacific/western located teams. The SEC, which is made up of schools located in the southeastern United States. The Big East, which is made up of teams in the eastern part of the country. Many schools in the country can be placed into one of these four conferences geographically. What would the conferences look like though?

College Football BCS Playoff System

There has been talk of having a playoff system in Division 1 NCAA football for quite some time now. In my opinion I think it would be an awesome thing for college football to determine a true National Champion. In my searches on the internet I came across a website that had the bracket laid out for this 8-team playoff system for the 2010 season. The link is http://www.sportsgrid.com/ncaa-football/2010-bcs-bracket/ . I really believe that this would be the best way to keep the major bowl games in place while crowning a TRUE National Champion!

Loyalty in Professional Sports: Myth or Reality?

In this era of mega stars and mega pay the one-town athlete is almost non-existent. And that is a terrible shame. The obvious first choice to talk about would be LeBron James. He was a hometown kid when he played for the Cavaliers. But leaving all the basketball talent aside for this discussion, it was always his dream to play for the Cavs. But when the "fit hit the shan" (think about that for a second), he took off for greener pastures. This isn't just being done by individual players, it is also being done by teams and organizations as well. For example, Albert Pujols, who is arguably one of the best baseball players today and possibly one of the best when his career is over, has reportedly asked for a 10 year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals (he is only 31 years old). Pujols has spent his entire career in St. Louis and has brought them great amounts of success. If I am the management team in St. Louis I give him whatever he asks for because he wants to remain loyal. Shouldn't loyalty be rewarded?

NBA Super Teams

With the recent discussions of Carmelo Anthony possibly being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers I began to think about what the NBA would be if there were just a few "super teams". Call me old fashioned, but I prefer the day when most teams were highly competitive. The day when there were no "odds-on-favorites" to win a championship before the season started. If each city had a superstar player and a mediocre supporting cast I feel games would be more exciting every night. I have no interest watching teams like Boston, Miami, LAL, etc.

Super Bowl XLV

After watching the Super Bowl last night I began to think about lack of genuine emotion in professional sports. In my opinion pro athletes do not SEEM to care as much about winning and losing as a college athlete. I know this is not true for most athletes, but in my opinion I could never congratulate my opponent with a smile or a laugh after I just got beat. These athletes do have a competetive drive, there is no doubting that, but after the final buzzer sounds this intensity seems to disappear. I just don't understand it!