My Vote for Luckiest Guy...

Goes to Pittsburgh Steeler Fullback, Sean McHugh. Don't know much about the guy but this.

He was cut by the Detroit Lions right before the season started. Now think back to that day. You've just spent three seasons with the Lions and right before the season starts they cut you. You HAVE to be thinking about your career at that point, right. I mean, you were just told that you're not good enough for the worst team in the league. If the absolute dregs of the NFL don't want you, maybe its time to dust off the ol' college degree. I suppose the only consolation is that Matt Millen may have been the NFL's all time worst GM. But still...

Then, a few days later the Pittsburgh Steelers give you a call.

So instead of playing for the first 0-16 team in NFL history, you're in Tampa Bay playing for the Lombardi trophy. Talk about making the leap from worst to first.

Ain't life grand?

Feeling Randy

So I'm reading this link from CNN.SI about top football free agents (good news/bad news for this Rams fan, no Rams on the list. Soooo, half-full says at least we won't be losing any top players, half-empty says maybe that's because we don't have any top players).

Number two is Patriots WR Randy Moss. Blurb starts with,

Moss comes off his best season in half a decade and took a liking to the New England environment.

Which gets me thinking, Moss set the NFL record for TD's by a receiver last year. So, what did he do 5 years ago that was better than that? To my way of thinking Moss is coming off his best season ever!

I know, I know quibbling over sports writing is like quibbling over plot in a Jean Claude Van Damme movie, but still.

Baseball Fever

While traveling last week I watched some of the Roger Clemens Congressional testimony. Oh my was it bad. Not anything about the "issue," rather what was said.

For the record, no fan of Roger am I. Anyone who would sell their wife out, well I say you're not the Greatest American Hero.

But apparently, I'm alone in my lack of Roger worship. Lets look at Congress' words to the man accused of cheating at his sport, tampering with a witness and lying to Congress.

From Rep. William Lacy Clay,

A colleague of mine, Mr. Capuano of Massachusetts, wants to know what uniform you're going to wear to the Hall of Fame.

Yes, I see how that addresses the issues at hand. Excellent and biting questioning Mr. Clay.

Says Rep Virginia Foxx,

You appear to me about the same size in all those photos," offered Foxx, addressing Clemens without mentioning the source of the material. "It doesn't appear [your] size changed much.

Well, that's enough for me. A couple of pictures provided by Mr Clemens show him favorably, and the scientific eye of the Honorable Foxx says "alls good." May as well wrap up.

If only there was some silver lining in all of this for Mr Clemens. Oh, good here's one. From Rep Elanor Norton from DC,

All I can say, Mr. Clemens, is I'm sure you're going to heaven.

Well at least he'll have that.

There's a long speech here about maybe that part of the problem with our country today is that people who can throw a ball real hard reduce the leaders of said country to giddy school girls.

But my favorite is reserved for the Chair, Rep Henry Waxman.

I'm sorry we had the hearing. I regret that we had the hearing.

You and me both brother, you and me both. But I wonder why we had this hearing? Why would Mr Waxman feel compelled to utilize the awesome power of a congressional hearing, spend loads of taxpayer money, and waste his, presumably, valuable time when we're at war, facing a recession, in the midst of a homeowner meltdown, etc. Why, why get involved in a game? Who has the ability to command such an act? Did this come at the behest of the President? From the Speaker of the House? Who? Mr Waxman says it came from an even more powerful figure,

The only reason we had the hearing was because Roger Clemens and his lawyers insisted on it.

So the guy who can throw a ball real hard insisted that the leaders of our nation drop what they're doing right now and listen to him. And they did. Really? Can I do this if I feel wronged? Can I summon a congressional hearing? Can all those homeowners call a hearing? I have real problems with the "Protect America Act" can I demand a hearing? I didn't know we could do that. But I get the feeling "we" can't.

If you'll excuse me, I have to go into a dark room and cry.

Football Gods v. God in Super Bowl MMVII

First things first. This is why I love the internet, check out this site. It's an actual Roman Numeral converter. Awesome.

Anyway, on with the show.

Every year I read articles like this about the NFL cracking down on churches showing the Super Bowl on large screen TVs.

A couple of interesting tidbits about this particular article. First, somehow sports bars are exempt from this rule but not churches? How'd that happen? Seriously? How has this passed by all the "cross bearers" in Congress? What an opportunity for face time. And where's Huck? Come on man, take up the cause. Get back in the game with this Hail Mary (yes, I wrote that). This whole thing practically writes itself, NFL v. Churches, NFL allows bars to show the game on the big screen but not churches, the angels (oops, I mean "angles") are endless. I mean this controversy could run on FOX in a continuous loop, Hannity and O'Reilly would fight a death match over who got more upset. How's this not a bigger deal?

The second part is why is the flock taking this lying down? Is the NFL so powerful that the church and church goers aren't challenging this? Why no boycotts, no letters, no outrage, no...anything? Normally, if you mess with church you get the horns*. Yet here, there's just a sort of...acceptance. I feel like I read an article everyday about how churches and/or religion is attacked/shortchanged and Dobson or some else is on the air face a fury on the attack. I mean, Bill O'Reilly had his whole "War on Christmas" gig based on the words "Happy Holidays" but the NFL giving the finger to churches is met with less than a shrug. This could be a whole new book for the "Culture Warrior" (man I never, ever get tired of that book cover). I'm just confused. This should be a marketing dis-ASTER for the NFL. No one, and I mean no one else shuts down church functions. Yet the NFL gets away with it year after year.

I honestly don't have an answer, not even a theory. I just bewildered.

By the way, I'm taking the Giants and the points (But I'm taking a huge risk that Manning doesn't fall apart. If he has one pick or less I'm good, two to five, I'm toast. But at least I'm not betting on the over-rated Brady, right Stalin?).

*Did you get the Jericho reference?

Gambling and "the Market"

Big controversy in the NBA as one of their refs, Tim Donaghy is accused of fixing games, and no that doesn't mean helping to bring back the mid-range jumper. He's accused of working with Mafia types to skew the the points scored in games, specifically effecting the over/under line.

But what I find more interesting is that he was able to pull this off. According to ESPN,

research into Donaghy's last two seasons supports Bell's claims. In the 66 games Donaghy refereed in the 2005-06 season, the two teams in his games combined to score an average of 196.8 points. The average over/under, according to BoDog.com, was 186.6, a difference of almost 10 points.

In 2006-07, Donaghy refereed 73 games. In those contests, the two teams combined to score 201.37 points and the average over/under was 187.9 points, a difference of more than 13 points per game.

"Vegas is too good for that to happen," Bell said. "The standard range should be somewhere around five or six, maybe. Not 10 or 13."

Mr Bell is right, Vegas is too good for that. But what's more interesting is that Vegas was not too good to price this information into the spreads of games worked by Mr Donaghy. After all, the spreads are public, and are viewable by millions of people, not just gamblers. So are the referee schedules. Again, from the article,

At the start of the 2007 calendar year, Bell said, there were 10 straight games in which Donaghy was part of the officiating crew and the point spread moved a point and a half or more before tip-off, indicating big money had been wagered on the game. In those 10 contests, according to Bell, the big money won all 10 times.

So, clearly, someone was getting the benefit, but not the whole market. The market failed to notice that for 10 straight games, and for two seasons, games refereed by Mr Donaghy hit the over by a large margin. With all information publicly available, millions of dollars wagered, and tens of millions of observers this free market should have bid up the over/under line to reflect the "Donaghy Effect." Markets are not supposed to leave "cash on the table" or unexploited profit opportunity. Yet the market missed this. Badly.

Why?

Because, despite what textbooks and Cliff Note versions of Adam Smith tell us, markets are not perfectly efficient. They do leave "cash on the table" and miss significant events and signals. This is not a dig on "the Market" rather a reality check. The Market is the best thing going, but its not perfect, not by a long way. Some folks treat it like it is and get confused when its not. Take the old joke about an old economist and a young economist walking down the sidewalk. The young economist says, "look, a $100 dollar bill on the ground" and goes to pick it up. The old economist stops him and says, "its not real, if it were, someone would have picked it up by now." If economic theory as commonly stated were right, the market should have recognized the number of overs hit when Donaghy refereed, I mean, it had two years to find this information. Even more telling, figuring out the "Donaghy Effect" did not require any inside information, or archaic math equations or intense skulduggery. It was decidedly straight forward.

This is why stock pickers can beat the market, this is why entrepreneurs can succeed, and why people make profits. Its not that the "The" Market is perfect, its that the market is flawed. It's the "Free" Market that allows people to succeed in "The" Market. Remember this next time someone tells you that things are "priced into the stock" or whatever. That, and sometimes simpler is better.

As for the NBA. Maybe it should fully embrace gambling. Rather than spend all that time and money to monitor players and refs, let the market of gamblers inform the NBA of what's expected. When reality deviates from what that market expects, points, fouls, wins, player stats, etc then that should signal that something may be up. Focus on what millions of participants, with money on the line, have calculated. It's a bigger and better model than anything created on the NBA's budget of time and money. Had the NBA done that, they would have noticed the "Donaghy Effect" long before an informant tipped off the FBI.

To come full circle markets work. You just have to understand what that means.

A True Cheating Zero Policy

Lots of talk over the last few days about cheating. Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen was just kicked out of the race, SI.com writer Michael Bamberger just posted a piece on the subject. Everyone laments "what to do?"

Long time fans of the H-Blog (Hi Ma) know that this is the place to come to for solutions. And today I present the solution for cheating. Get ready.

It's very simple. If you're caught cheating (using banned substances, corked bats, scuffed balls, whatever) you are not merely penalized or suspended, your career statistics are erased and you start from zero. No one wants to waste time wondering when you started cheating, or how often, so you just start over. Get busted for steroids and your career sack total now reads "0." Use a corked bat, your career home runs and hits..."0." You get the drift.

The reward for cheating, increased stats, increased salary, increased endorsements, records, all outweigh the penalty of getting caught. So the incentive is clearly to cheat. If Sammy Sosa, or Barry Bonds know that all their stats will go to zero if they are caught cheating, then the incentive clearly shifts to, "Not worth it." Which is where it should be.

You could even run a cheesy ad campaign "Cheating makes you a zero." I picture it as a GI Joe bit, with Scarlett and Gung Ho saying it to a group of kids, then adding "Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. GI Joeeeeeeee" This is why I'm here.

License Re-Vicked

The court of public opinion has officially condemned Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick. Under Federal Indictment for running a dog fighting ring, Mr Vick is now dealing with that accusation (and as of now, that's all it is).

Nike decided not to release the latest version of Mr Vick's shoe.

PETA and the HSPCA are on him like an angry linebacker. From Dan Shannon, an assistant director of campaigns for PETA. "We don't think their 'wait and see' attitude goes far enough." I assume by "wait and see" they mean "wait and see" if he's actually found guilty of the crimes he's accused of committing. But, honestly, I get Mr Shannon's emotion. I totally disagree with his request, but it's not at all surprising that he wants to destroy a man before he's been found guilty. However, when a US Senator jumps on the "guilty until proven innocent" bandwagon I get a little more chilled. Says Sen John Kerry (D-MA)

On behalf of millions of sports fans and dog lovers, I urge you to treat Mr. Vick's dogfighting indictment with the very serious attention it deserves and suspend him from the league until the resolution of legal proceedings.

But wouldn't suspending him before he's found guilty just mean that the allegation is equivalent to guilt? I get that "innocent until proven guilty" is not explicitly stated in the USC, but the principle is about as American as any principle gets. For Mr Kerry to jump ahead of due process, which is spelled out, and urge the suspension of Mr Vick before the trial even begins is a tad alarming. Using Mr Kerry's logic, any accusation should result in penalty. Not sure I can endorse that. (Quick aside, Mr Kerry repeatedly condemned Mr Bush's handling of Guantanamo Bay -rightly so- but is OK with punishing Mr Vick based on nothing more than accusations. Not the same, certainly, but very similar.)

Finally, the NFL acted. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "temporarily" suspended Mr Vick, telling him to stay away from training camp. Yes, Mr Vick will still get his pay, but is that the point? He will lose training time with his teammates, the suspension will certainly give the air of guilt to those same teammates, and the combined effect of both of those actions will certainly affect his on field performance (assuming an actual suspension isn't in the works). That will cost him, and that cost is potentially huge (if he loses his contract that alone is $130 mil, add in the fact that his endorsement value decreases if he's not on the field, and it ramps up from there). Of all the third parties involved, I feel most for Mr Goodell. It's an almost impossible situation. Allow Mr Vick to continue as if nothing happened and your fans go nuts, hurting the image and revenue of the league (his primary responsibility). Suspend Mr Vick and you set yourself up for having to answer why any player accused of any misdeed isn't similarly treated. Keep in mind, the NFL is a league where drug and sexual abuse allegations occur yearly. The next time a player is accused of sexual abuse, Mr Goodell will find himself having to explain why dogs get more attention than women. At least if he sticks to the "due process" clause, he avoids that. Furthermore, I believe, most American's will eventually understand and respect that path. Over the short term its easier to suspend Mr Vick, but its wrong, and will open up a whole new can of worms. (When I say "wrong" I mean it in the civic sense. I know that the NFL has the clauses built into all contracts to make the move. It's contractually correct, but civicly suspect.)

Just so PETA stays off my back. I have two dogs, and the idea of dog fighting makes me ill. If Mr Vick is found guilty (and for the record, that's my bet), he will find no defender here. My point is that due process is not on a sliding scale of heinousness of accused crime. It's not, "speeding ticket = due process" and "dog fighting = destruction of reputation and earning power." At some point, as a nation, we need to decide if American core principles are indeed core principles. If they are, then someone accused of dog fighting, or terrorism, should have the same rights as someone accused of shoplifting or fraud.

I say let Mr Vick play until he's found guilty. Then drop the hammer.

Con-Vick?

I know, I know, Michael Vick hasn't been convicted of anything (and you won't see me jumping on, I just couldn't resist the title, and I have dibs on "Con-Vick-ted" if he goes down). However, things are heating up for young Michael as the feds have taken up the investigation into his alleged role in running a dog fighting ring.

Quick aside for a rant. ESPN Page 2 writer Bill Simmons argues that every professional sports team should hire a VP of Common Sense to keep GM's from making boneheaded moves-an idea I love. I also think that every pro athlete should make a member of his "posse" the official Jimmy the Cricket-or JC. After Mr Vick's run in with Miami Airport Security, he should have immediately hired a JC. Then said JC could have told Mr Vick that when you're a pro quarterback with a $130 million contract, maybe, just maybe, you should let the whole illegal dog fighting ring runner gig go. I think all athletes could benefit from a JC, probably wouldn't even have to pay much for the service, and in any case, what the JC saves in fines and public humiliation would surely cover their salary.

Anyway, all this hullabaloo around Mr Vick allegedly running an illegal dog fighting ring led to him abruptly canceling his annual camp, a move that is sure to enhance his reputation with the fans (apparently he's going for the rare "killer of dogs and children's dreams" combo).

Also, the same article has some excepts from a letter that Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank sent to season ticket holders, more of the letter here. Anyway, anytime you have to send a letter that asks, after defending your star QB from public persecution, that

"In the meantime, we want you to realize there are many examples of our organization impacting our community in a very positive manner."

And you also have to point out

the many charitable functions in which Atlanta players participate, and points out that the Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation has to date provided more than $10 million in grants to Georgia-based nonprofit organizations.

You know things have gone horribly wrong for your organization and that you're in the midst of a PR nightmare. Keep in mind, all of this comes after a very disappointing season where you unexpectedly missed the playoffs and had to fire your head coach.

Again, I have no idea if he's guilty of anything other than really poor judgment in friends and hangouts, but things are going very badly for him right now. At a minimum, how can he concentrate on his job with a federal investigation hanging over him, and knowing that anyone who defends him will wind up like Washington Redskins RB Clinton Portis. And he needs to concentrate after last years set-back season. As of now, Vick's all alone and under the blade.

For those of you who care deeply about the topic of dog fighting, here's a link to the Humane Society's campaign against Amazon.com. Apparently Amazon.com sells dogfighting videos and Cock Fighting magazines.

Hollow Apology Award Nominee

Washington Redskins RB Clinton Portis rushed (heh) to the aid of Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick who is charged with hosting dog fights at his Atlanta home. So Portis, in an interview says,

"I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not," Portis said. "But it's his property; it's his dogs. If that's what he wants to do, do it."

And later about a Vick conviction,

"Then I think he got cheated. ... You're putting him behind bars for no reason — over a dog fight."

It's about here where Portis' agent and the Washington Redskins lose their lunch. My bet is the conversation went something like this. "Hey dumbass, have you had one too many concussions? Do we need have your head actually examined? Do you realize that our fans loooooove dogs? Do you want little Johnny fan who loves his best friend Rover to think you like watching dogs fight to the death? How 'bout Bubba fan who hunts with his dog on Saturday's and watches the 'Skins on Sunday? There are probably more dogs in NFL households than people, and you just alienated all of their owners. You're on tape laughing over a bloody illegal sport involving man's best friend. What company do you think will now call you and ask a dog killer to push their product? You gotta fix this, and now!"*

Then Tim Hardaway called to thank him.

So then Portis released this statement through the team,

"In the recent interview I gave concerning dog fighting, I want to make it clear I do not take part in dog fighting or condone dog fighting in any manner"

Maybe one of the least believable apologies I've heard. Maybe he was just going for some street cred, or trying to help a buddy and it backfired. But you can decide for yourself which view he really holds, and how sincere he is with his apology.

As far as Vick, if I own the Falcons, at some point I have to question the decision making ability of my franchise QB.

*What I say about dog fighting in this post is not based on any extensive research, what I'm describing is the perception of dog fighting.

Strategy 101 - Mavs 98

In NBA news the top seeded Dallas Mavericks who won a whopping 67 games and tied the league record for double digit win streaks with three find themselves down 3-1 in a best of seven against eighth (or last) seed Golden State Warriors who qualified for the big dance on the last day (and made the playoffs for the first time in 13, yes 13, years).

But here's what everyone is missing, and it really explains just about everything. In the second to last game of the season, the Mavs played the Warriors. By way of background, the Mavs had long since qualified as the top seed and the Warriors had to win to make the playoffs. Also, the Warriors had beat the Mavs in 5 of their last 6 match-ups including the first two matches this year. If the Mavs win they stop the Warriors from sweeping them and they knock the Warriors out of the tourney. What does Dallas Coach Avery Johnson do? He rests Dallas' best player and MVP candidate Dirk Nowitski, one of the leagues best sixth men Jerry Stackhouse, All-Star Josh Howard, and starting center Eric Dampier. He plays starting guard Jason Terry 18 minutes and starting point guard Devon Harris 16 minutes, starting neither. In fact, he didn't start a single regular season starter in the game, and the Mavs lost. Need to rest the big guys for the playoffs right?

Wrong. Now the Mavs have to go at least seven games to win, which is probably longer than their next opponent will go if, and its a very big "if" at this point, they win the next three. How's that for "rest." Plus the anxiety, doubt and stress that the team is handling now. had Dallas won that late regular season game, they probably would have played the LA Clippers, a team they own. Probably would have gone 4-1, rested, and created some momentum going into the next round. Now, well now they're in trouble.

Look, there's one rule in any competition anywhere. When you have a chance to take you're opponent out...take them out. Go for the jugular, put a steak in their heart, whatever metaphor you like, when you have a chance to defeat your opponent, defeat them. Taking Golden State out with two games to go sends a message to the rest of the league that you have a killer instinct. That you won't play games when it comes to winning, or hurting your opponent, and that you're for real. I'm not saying that the Mavs would have beat the Warriors in that game, but the game plan they went in with guaranteed that they would lose. Not only that, but a sweep, no matter how crafted, only gives a surging team even more confidence. If a team is giving you as much problems as Golden State gives the Mavs, then you have to try to take them out when it doesn't matter so you don't have to face them when it does. The whole episode shows that the Mavs don't understand what it take to be a champion. It also shows a shocking lack of understanding on one of the most basic strategies in sports.

The Mavs had one of the greatest collapses in NBA Finals history last year and they're on the verge of one of the greatest season collapses in NBA history this year. At some point its not a fluke.

I'm a Mavs fan, I hope they win, but I also acknowledge that its hard to root for any team that acts like this.

It's so simple, when you have a chance to win, take it. Don't hope, don't wait, don't get clever. Just take it.

The NBGay?

Also tempted to go with, "The NBA, I love this gaym!"

Anyway, the most recent entry for the "Is This Really News" is a twofer.

One, Former NBA center John Amaechi is gay. What? Homosexuals play sports? Someone alert the media! Oh, someone already did.

Two, the newsworthy (?) reaction. Former NBA Point Guard Tim Hardaway said,

You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States.

Wait, some people don't like gays? Quick someone alert the media! Oh, someone already did. Seriously, with the thousands of players who have played the game, one guy says something, something real and honest by the way, and it gets treated like it means anything. And of course Hardaway's real reaction comes complete with a fake apology.

"As an African-American, I know all too well the negative thoughts and feelings hatred and bigotry cause," Hardaway said Thursday in a statement issued by his agent. "I regret and apologize for the statements that I made that have certainly caused the same kinds of feelings and reactions. I especially apologize to my fans, friends and family in Miami and Chicago. I am committed to examining my feelings and will recognize, appreciate and respect the differences among people in our society. I regret any embarrassment I have caused the league on the eve of one of their greatest annual events."

I'm sure Mr Hardaway stayed up all night, reaching deep into his feelings, to craft that apology. However, I do have to say that when I first read his apology, I thought he was leaping out of the frying pan into the fire with his "As an African-American" intro, given how the AA community is chafing at comparing their struggle with gay rights. But so far so good. Also, no one seems to be wading into the fact that Mr Hardaway's comments are even less "shocking" given that he is African-American, a group that is statistically less tolerant of homosexuality than the rest of America (which, by the way, explains much of the gay baiting that the GOP's did during the last election cycle, it was an attempt, in part, to split the AA community away from the Dems - but I digress). Nor has their been any discussion about the fact that some people actually feel this way.

None of this is news. Seriously, you could see this whole thing coming, action/reactions style from a mile away. Granted, ESPN treated it like their own private Anna Nicole story, endless coverage, debate among talking heads, "breaking news," etc, but to me, that's even more proof that none of this is remotely "newsworthy."

I'll wrap all of this up by noting that clearly the best way to handle intolerance is to be intolerant. NBA Commissioner David Stern banned Mr Hardaway from all NBA related events during the All-Star break. Says Mr Stern,

"It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours."

I guess the league can't make former players attend "sensitivity classes." Side bet alert. Look for Mr Hardaway to do something like that to get back into the NBA's good graces, especially as his Hall of Fame votes start coming around.

Actually, I'm going to put on a follow up wrapper, a bonus pack if you will. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has the correct perspective. Coming out after you retire isn't a big deal. The real trailblazer will be the man who comes out while he's still playing.

See, that would be news.

SNL writers read the H-Blog, you should too.

Simply put, reading the H-Blog not only keeps you ahead of the news media, but ahead of the comedy media too.

Check out this new Saturday Night Live segment called "Really." It "borrows" heavily from my earlier post about Michael Vick's "issues" in Miami.

OK, fine, the jokes were lay-ups, and they did them better. But still, my ball was in the hoop first.

Vick-tim?

Atlanta Falcon's QB Michael Vick was relieved of his water bottle at Miami International Airport Wednesday. Was it because of the silly new rule banning liquids? Nope. It was because it had a "secret compartment" that had "a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana."

Looks like Vick's decision making off the field is as questionable as it is on.

One, Vick's got loads of cash. It's not like the Mary J is only sold in Miami. Just wait 'till you get wherever you're going and buy some there. Better still, Vick's a multi-millionaire with loads of people on his payroll, have someone from the entourage do it so you're not even close to the action (Limbaugh, as much as I like to nail him, had that figured out). But to be his own Wacky Weed mule? That's just not thinking. Why take the personal risk of getting caught with a dime bag at an airport. Everyone knows they screen, they screen for drugs, knives, guns, bombs and...

LIQUIDS! According to the SI story, "The compartment was hidden by the bottle's label so that it appeared to be a full bottle of water when held upright." So Vick's genius plot to smuggle his oregano was to hide it in a water bottle that was rigged to look "full." Did he miss the 27 signs saying that you can't bring liquids onto a plane anymore? That bottle was guaranteed to be searched, emptied and/or confiscated. His "plan" had zero chance of success. Why not just smuggle the stuff in a device rigged to look like a loaded gun?

If I'm Falcon's ownership I immediately trade Vick. Not because of the Marijuana, but because he's clearly a moron.

Sports does imitate life

The Gators trounce The Ohio State University 41-14. Lets recap the H-Blogs projections. Me: Gators 75-3, Muscles Gators 38-23, Stalin OSU 31-17, and by the by, the line was OSU by 7.5. This plays out almost exactly like real life.

I have it right, but get too excited and overshoot the goal (Gators cover and win big), Stalin falls victim to conventional wisdom, overstates even that by claiming that OSU not only wins but covers big and is wrong on all counts (no cover, no win, not even close), Muscles quietly gets it right (Gators cover), beats the pundits (Gators win) and gets closest to reality (far and away the closest to the real score). So for all you H-Blog fans (Hi Ma!), tune in to me if you want to be passionately right (think Braveheart), tune into Muscles if you want to be right - outright (think King Robert the Bruce), and tune into Stalin if you want an exaggerated version of the conventional wisdom that is so often wrong, or more simply, if you want to be passionately wrong (think Prince Charles).

I wonder if Stalin will finally admit to being wrong on something?

UBlo May Be Wrong, but UBlo May Be Right

On whether "Coaches can bounce from college to pro and play the two off against each other", I remain from Missouri; on whether college players have the same rights as their coaches, this week's NCAA news shows that not only the college coaching profession, but also the universities' administrations and athletic departments, shut student-athletes out on both sides of that hyphen:

From economics professor Andrew Zimbalist, author of "The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business" [a redundancy, to be sure], in today's New York Times:

So, what’s going on? It’s the market. If universities want to get the best coaches, they have to pay the going rate.

Never mind that the presidents of large public universities generally have compensation packages of $200,000 to $700,000. Never mind that paying the football coach 5 to 15 times more than the college president (and many times more than the professors) sends a strange message to the student body about the institution’s priorities. Never mind that Article I of the N.C.A.A. Constitution affirms that academics have primacy over athletics. The market demands it.

What kind of a skewed market makes these demands? First, the players are not allowed to be compensated. Instead, the coaches walk off with the value produced by the “student-athletes.”

Although it can be argued that Mario Williams, Reggie Bush, and Vince Young walked off to the pros with at least their value in the NCAA, they of course left behind hundreds if not thousands of fellow players who won't.

Whether Gators All-SEC cornerback Ryan Smith will be among those players remains to be seen. He enters tomorrow's BCS National Championship Game as a top five pass-picker in '06, but Smith is the exception to an NCAA rule reinstated yesterday that prevents college athletes who have graduated--Smith's a former Ute with a sociology degree--from continuing their college careers immediately at another university.

Smith can go pro this coming season based on his breakout season as a Gator and the 21 hours of summer classes he passed to get off the bench at Utah and make it to Florida in time to play.

As Tampa Tribune Gators beat writer Andy Staples writes:

Sounds like a fair trade. Smith sits one season and plays two for Utah, helping the athletic department rake in far more than the scholarship money it gave Smith, and then moves to a better school with a better football program. He earned the degree faster than most of his fellow students, and he deserved a reward.

College coaches, including Florida’s Urban Meyer [at least before his former cornerback at Utah arrived in Gainesville], said the rule would usher in an era of free agency and would force coaches to begin recruiting players enrolled at other institutions. Guess what? They already do that. When a highly recruited player doesn’t get much playing time or clashes with a coach, word spreads. One way or another, coaches at other schools pass word along to that player that he would fare better at their school.

In most cases, that player isn’t in a position to graduate. I talk to these guys all the time, and many don’t belong in college in the first place. They aren’t a threat to graduate with eligibility remaining anyway.

So why not reward the players who can do the job on the field and in the classroom? According to the NCAA, only 25 players took advantage of the rule last year. Sounds like a real epidemic, doesn’t it. Sure, that number would have risen this year, but by how much? A hundred more players? Two hundred?

The presidents — including Florida’s Bernie Machen — caved on this one. To make life easier for their millionaire coaches, they chose to punish the true student-athletes.

'Fin-ished

ESPN.com's Pat Forde takes college coaching to school:

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. -- With Nick Saban en route to a coronation in Tuscaloosa, it's officially time to change the vocabulary used to describe college coaches.

"Integrity" is out. "Character" is out. "Teacher" is out. "Leader of men" is out.

"Liar" is in.

They're not going to tell the truth to us, but we can tell the truth about them. It's this: They'll say anything to get recruits on campus, and they'll say anything to get media members off their backs when angling for a different job. And the panting attempts by school administrators, fans, other coaches and many media members to portray them as men of superior moral fiber needs to stop.

Although Saban undoubtedly believes what I do--that his employment is the business of Dolphins owner Wayne Huzienga and himself--it's clear from Saban's comments that his khakis caught fire weeks ago, and the time since then has been an amusingly and disasterously hypocritical attempt to hide the smoke.

In any event, Forde's a fine writer.

Snarlin' Arlen

Is this the lesson Specter learned from '04 and his nail-biter of a re-election? This sorry, so-called populist, "forced-to-purchase" pap from the McCain playbook? A business offers its services on terms that consumers are free to pay for or to pass up. Why should the NFL be any different?