Friday Wrap-up

(Due to international cliche laws, the phrase "I must break you" will not be used to caption this picture)

- Chris Arreola weighs in at 251 to be destroyed at the hands of Vitali Klitschko (252). (Bad Left Hook)

- Dana White's mouth finally costs him; "Rampage" Jackson calls it quits. (Sherdog)

- Steve Spurrier defends Jevan Snead...for real this time. (Yahoo! Sports)

- The Cleveland Browns show some fight for the first time this season, in the locker room. (ESPN)

- Why Gretzky and Coyotes were destined to fail from the start. (Puck Daddy)

- Red Sox fan teacher demands his student turn his Yankees shirt inside-out. Optimal smart ass response: I can't hear you from the top of the division. (Syracuse.com)

- Students arrested for after school "UFC" styled backyard brawls. Jimmy's "tennis bruises" finally begin to make sense to clueless parents. (Connecticut Post)

Must See Games of the Weekend

Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees (Friday, 7 PM) - Monster softball suggestion to start the weekend. Boston's more or less surrendered the AL East to the Yankees but it's still Sox/Yanks nonetheless. The only other option is going to bed early to be well rested for football on Saturday and Sunday.

Miami (FL) vs. Virginia Tech (Saturday, 3:30 PM ABC) - Is the "U" really back? Can the Hokies actually show up and stop someone on defense? Will Jacory Harris force his way into the Heisman conversation? You know it's a strange year when the ACC provides one of the best in-conference match ups we'll see all season.

Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots (Sunday, 1 P.M) - Theoretically, the Pats should be 0-2 coming in to a tough game against the rejuvenated Falcons. As it stands, they're 1-1 and are trying to figure out the mystery of their missing MVP quarterback. Never underestimate the power of desperation to bring about a stellar performance. Against the Falcons, nothing less than a stellar performance will probably cost New England in the "loss" column.

New Orleans Saints vs. Buffalo Bills (Sunday, 4:05 P.M. FOX) - The Drew Brees air show comes to Buffalo to test a defense that has shown a tendancy to give up big plays. Through 2 games, the Bills have almost given away a game late in the 4th, and actually given away a game in the 4th with less than tight defense. It may not be super competitive for very long, but it's always fun to watch Brees and Co. throw the rock around for 60 minutes.

Sorry Brett, no one believes what you say anymore

(Every time Brett tells a lie, he touches his right shoulder. It's science, look it up)

The Vikings are winning games and Brett Favre isn't the focal point of the team. Uh oh, time to force yourself back into the spotlight, right Brett?

After the Jets were fined for not adding Favre to the injury list last season, Brett told reporters yesterday that he thinks it was wrong the league to fine them. "They did everything that I felt they were supposed to" he said after calling the fines "very unfair".

Hate to break it to you Brett, but if you thought that the Jets did what they were supposed to with you, you wouldn't have said anything in the first place. Unfortunately, based on everything that has happened over the past few years, you have to take every sound bite with a grain of salt. When he says that he holds no hard feelings toward the team and that he was simply explaining what happened with his throwing shoulder last season when he brought up the Jets' failure to report, it has now become almost impossible to believe him.

Again, if Favre hadn't said anything about the Jets and their injury report, nothing would have ever come of it. But as it stands, the Jets and former coach Mangini are now out a combined $125,000 because of his simple explanation. Is it wrong what the Jets did; absolutely. Did Brett really need to throw them under the bus like did; absolutely not. This is just the lastest chapter in the "Brett Favre is more important than the team" saga. Do you really think every team in the NFL doesn't do the same thing? Give me a break; Tom Brady could be walking around with his throwing shoulder dragging on the ground and Belichick wouldn't report it. But, because Favre feels personally offended or wronged by the situation, heads up for the wheels!

Consider this, how much of a role did Favre have in the Jets not placing him on the injury report? We all know that he has the mentality (or ego, which ever you prefer) that he can play through anything, and always has. So, is it beyond the realm of possibility that he told the Jets he wasn't really injured and that they didn't need to list him as injured? This is Brett Favre we're talking about here, it's been at least 3 years since you could take something he says at face value.

This is really troubling stuff coming from a player that was once universally respected by all football fans. Now we've reached a point where if Favre held a press conference and stated that the sky is blue, the sun rises in the morning and sets at night, and the grass is green, I'm going to have to take a look outside.

??? Alert: The Red Storm's Mascot

Not really sure what to say about this one. St. John's introduced it's new mascot, the Red Storm Thunderbird, over the weekend during the women's soccer games and it's...well...strange. The athletics department's press release cites the "yet to be named avian character" was the winner of a vote by students and fans. Now students get a chance to name the mascot via e-mail, with voting ending tomorrow.

A couple of questions. 1) Did St. John's really need a mascot, and 2) THIS was the best they could do? It looks like the love child of The Flash and the Iowa Hawkeye had the same prom experience as Carrie White (obscure reference, but if you get it, you know it's true).

The Red Storm are one of those teams that really don't need a mascot. The school has a pretty good history in sports and a mascot is just a marketing ploy that could be called "tacky" at best. Don't believe me? Fine, maybe Steely McBeam can tell you how pointless mascots are.

The "Great" Escape; Gretzky leaves Coyotes

(That's right Wayne, we don't want to watch the Coyotes either)

Hockey in the southwest? What could possibly go wrong?

If I may, is the correct answer "everything"?

If there has been a more tumultuous off-season for an NHL franchise that isn't lockout related, it's news to me. Coming off the wonderful PR news of a betting scandal involving the "Great One" and his assistant Rick Tocchet last season, the Coyotes attempted to battle attendance problems with hard liquor, have tied up bankruptcy court with an ongoing battle between ownership, the NHL, and prospective buyer Jim Balsillie, and have now produced the fastest coaching resignation and replacement ever. This morning, head coach Wayne Gretzky announced that he would be stepping down as coach and director of hockey operations. Only a few hours later, the team announced that Dave Tippett will be named the new head coach.

That makes sense, replace the only reason that people showed up to watch the Coyotes with the man who coached the ultra disappointing Dallas Stars last season and was ultimately fired. Don't kid yourself hockey fans, people weren't buying tickets to see Radim Vrbata and Shane Doan play; they were there to watch Wayne Gretzky stand behind the bench for a couple hours. Now that the one drawing point the Coyotes had is gone, Gary Bettman and the NHL should really reconsider Mr. Balsillie's offer to buy the team.

Up until now, Bettman has been adamantly opposed to even considering Balsillie as a new owner for the simple fact that he wants to relocate the team back to Canada.

So?

I could see the opposition if the team was flourishing in a new market, like Carolina, but the fact of the matter is they aren't. The Phoenix Coyotes have been basically a gimmick used by Commissioner Bettman as part of his plan to make hockey relevant with the major American sports. Of all of the teams that were brought in through expansion or relocation, its tough to say that the Coyotes have been anything other than the worst experiment in trying to develop a new market for the sport.

It's getting to be about the time for Bettman to admit that his master plan for American expansion has not been effective, and get back to promoting the sport where people care. The rumor is that Balsillie wants to relocate the Coyotes to Ontario in either Hamilton or give Toronto a second team. If the NHL brass actually cares about the sport and not just the bottom line, they should let him buy the team. This may not exactly be shocking news, but no one cares about hockey in Phoenix (or St. Petersberg and Tampa Bay, for that matter). Want to guess who cares about hockey; The people in Hamilton and Toronto!

The ball is in your court Mr. Bettman. Do you want continue to watch the Coyotes be the laughing stock/ongoing trainwreck of the NHL, or do you want to admit defeat in the southwest and allow someone else to pull this franchise out of the fire? I'll tell you one thing, it's probably a safe bet that people in Hamilton and Toronto are more concerned about the future of the Coyotes than the people in Phoenix. That's not a telling sign or anything.

Urban Meyer vs. Lane Kiffin: Scoring the war

Using a complete arbitrary scoring system developed entirely by me, here is how the ongoing battle between Florida and Tennessee coaches has gone so far...

Lane Kiffin: Accuses Urban Meyer of recruiting violations and tells the world that Tennessee fans will be singing "Rocky Top all night long" after he beats Florida. - +50 for launching the first strike. (+10 bonus points added for calling out Mark Richt and Georgia as well)

Urban Meyer: Denies the allegations made by Kiffin...and he's right. - +75 for obvious reasons.

Lane Kiffin: Is demanded to make a public apology to the University of Florida for his remarks and does. - -40 for caving to the pressure. Be man, stand behind your idiocy!

Urban Meyer: Remains pretty silent about the Tennessee game in the lead up but says all the right things when pressed - -25 for the "we're just focused on the game, nothing else" cliche. Boring. Was looking at massive points if he said Tim Tebow will run one in and then dropkick the Vols mascot in celebration.

Urban Meyer vs. Lane Kiffin: Florida wins but doesn't even come close to covering the 30 point line. The coaches shake hands at midfield after the game. - Meyer +130 for winning the game, but it could have been much more if he actually covered. Kiffin +65 for making Tim Tebow look human in a losing effort.

Urban Meyer: While discussing his team's flu problem, claims that he thinks Kiffin's Vols were not playing to win the game - -43...if they weren't playing to win and you still couldn't get within a 1/3 of the predicted line, what does that say about your squad coach Meyer? I'm deducting 1/3 of your winning points as punishment for failing to cover the line.

Lane Kiffin: When asked to respond to Meyer's comments about the flu, he tells reporters that next time his team disappoints on the field he's going to use the sickness excuse too. - +75 for an epic burn off the top of his head. Possibly the best shot landed so far in the war just on originality alone.

So...as of right now the score stands...

Lane Kiffin - 150
Urban Meyer - 137

As a result of having the last word in the ongoing war, Kiffin takes a slight lead over the Gators coach. We can only hope that this back and forth keeps going for years to come, because this is too much to come to and end now.

There is a reason the Jags are getting blacked out by the NFL...

...they're really bad.

That is all.

The Yankees may have ruined Joba Chamberlain

Ah, the "Joba Rules", the brilliant long term plan of the New York Yankees management to protect their young fireballer. Not only was it a great plan to keep the 23 year old from overextending his arm, but it made some awesome t-shirts.

Oops, did I say "brilliant" and "great"? I meant "foolish" and "catastrophic".

Up until this season, there was some semblance of rhyme or reason to the Yankees' decision to limit his arm with an innings limit. When he was coming out of the bullpen, it is was understandable that it would be necessary to monitor his pitches to keep him from wearing out over 162 games. However, when Joba made the move to full time starter this season, the "rules" became more confused and complex than the infamous Obama-care flow chart.

Chamberlain came out after the All-Star break pitching like a man on fire, winning 4 straight games and looking like he had finally hit his stride as a starter. Then the clock struck midnight and the "Joba rules" limit kicked in after a loss to Seattle on August 16th. Joba didn't make his next start for 9 days; a decision that appears to have doomed the Yankees' prized prospect, at least for this season.

Since his 9 day hiatus from the mound at the end of August, the Chamberlain experiment has been an absolute train wreck. Joba has not been allowed to pitch anymore than 4 innings his last 6 starts and has looked downright terrible in every single one of them. In September alone, his ERA is north of 8 and he has an 0-2 record. Anyone who can't see that the long layoff and newly instituted innings limit clearly cannot understand the finicky nature of pitching.

Maybe more so than any other position in professional sports, starting pitchers are creatures of habit. On the mound every 5 days, throw around 100 pitches, get the hook from the manager, hit the whirlpool, repeat in that order for an entire season. When there is a wrinkle thrown in that routine, pitchers usually begin to struggle and it can be tough to get out of a funk. In the case of Chamberlian, the struggles have been more pronounced simply because the Yankees appear completely adverse to letting him work out of it. Take the game against the Rays on September 9th; Joba throws 55 pitches in 3.0 innings and gives up 2 runs (both in the 1st inning) on 3 hits. Then just as he begins to hit his stride by retiring 6 in a row after a difficult first, Girardi makes a switch. Why? Afraid he's going to throw his arm out? Joba a young man, he's not an aging pitcher who demands constant attention to his health.

Making the transition to starter forced Joba to alter his pitching style from the max effort he showed out of the bullpen, to rationing his pitches and depending more on control than overpowering stuff. The man was used to coming out every night and throwing everything he had into his pitches, so why is the Yankees brass so concerned with him wearing his arm out in the rotation? And if Girardi and Co. never let Joba work out the jams he gets himself into, how is he ever supposed to figure out how to get out of them? It's not like he was entrusted with holding the lead as bridge to Mariano Rivera for almost 2 seasons...oh wait...

Not only have the Yankees brought a giant mess upon themselves this season, they could be dealing with a bigger problem in the future. Yankee fans better hope that the "Joba rules" haven't done permanent damage to the man entrusted with the future of their rotation.

Weekend Wrap-up: Little bit of everything

(This picture brought to you by the words "lopsided", "mismatch" and "beating")


1) Floyd Mayweather really needs to fight someone in his own weight class: Not trying to take anything away from "Money"'s performance against Marquez, because that was a technical boxing clinic if I've ever seen one. CompuBox stats had Mayweather landing a staggering 59% of his punches, while Marquez was made to look like an amateur with his 12% (!). Sad to say, but Max Kellerman put up a better fight trying to keep the microphone away from "Money" in the post-fight interview than Juan Manuel Marquez did in 12 rounds. There was absolutely no shock to the unanimous decision win for Floyd, but it does show that he really needs to take on a high level welterweight if he wants to be considered an all-time great. Yes he is undefeated, and yes he has some good wins, but the truth is he hasn't really fought someone qualified to be in with him since Carlos Baldomir in 2006. Oscar De La Hoya was at the end of his career at the time of the Mayweather bout, and Manny Pacquiao pretty much showed the world that Ricky Hatton cannot compete with the upper echelon of boxers.

The optimal solution: have Floyd fight the winner of Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. The problem: that fight won't happen for another 9-12 months if it ever will. The interim solution: have Floyd fight Shane Mosley early next year. The problem: Mosley has turned down a fight with Mayweather before and HBO has already booked him against Andre Berto in January. What this mean for fans: Another year of Mayweather crowing about being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world while he waits for a big money fight with another blown up lightweight.

2) Quick UFC 103 Recap - Underdogs rule the day: I'm not really sure what it is about undercard fights that causes me to struggle with picks. Maybe it's a lack of broad knowledge about the fighters; maybe it's pure bad luck; maybe it's just total apathy towards the majority of the fights on the undercard (leaning toward this one). Whatever it is, undercard fights have been destroying my pick record as of late. On the main card at 103, I went a respectable 4-1 with proper methods of victory in 2 of the bouts (Old Vitor is back!). The undercard, which was more sizable than usual as a method of countering Mayweather-Marquez; a positively atrocious 3-4 with one method of victory. Why did that happen?; of the 4 losses, 3 came at the hands of underdogs.

As for the card, there's only a few things I can take away from this card. 1) With Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt waiting in line for a middleweight title shot, there's almost no question that Vitor Belfort will be next for Anderson Silva. 2a) Cro Cop is done and, 2b) Junior Dos Santos is very close to contender status. This kid is a seriously talented fighter. 3) I grossly overestimated Martin Kampmann striking abilities. Jake Shields laid the blueprint to beat Daley and Kampmann burned it. There goes his title shot. 4) Mike Goldberg needs to buy a copy of Grey's Anatomy (the book, not the painfully overrated mess of a television show). Apparently, "gonads" is not a medical term in Goldy-land. I think a small part of my brain caught fire from that gem.

3) To be a fly on the wall...: ...at ESPN and see Mark May's face when Washington knocked off his true love, USC. This section of the blog is slowly devolving into a weekly "Mark May makes my head hurt" article. Due to a golf tournament that required I miss most of the day in college football, I am deeply saddened that I was unable to see the aftermath of the fall of Troy. If anyone has knowledge of any waterworks that may or may not have occurred on the set of ESPN, for the sake of my sanity I must know about them. As for the game, don't say I didn't say that Steve Sarkisian would do good things for the Huskies. You could see it in the LSU game to open the season; there is a new attitude in Spokane this season. What is it about another coach being able to maximize the potential of Tyrone Willingham recruits? (see: Quinn, Brady; Locker, Jake)

4) If he isn't already, Jahvid Best should be the front runner for the Heisman: After a weekend that saw both of the favorites for the Heisman, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy, struggle mightily against opponents they should have handled easily, the Golden Bears' running back personally dispatched Minnesota. Best rushed 26 times for 131 yards (a 5.0 average) and 5 TD's to spoil the Gophers' opening of their new stadium. He's not exactly a household name (as evidenced by CBS's sports desk hosts' inability to even pronounce his name), but if you look at the numbers objectively, he almost has to be the favorite. So far this season, Best has accounted for 8 TD's on the ground and 1 receiving. His 9 total TD's is more than 1 more than Tim Tebow (air and ground), and 2 more than Colt McCoy (air and ground). Add this to the fact that he didn't get to pad his stats against teams that are barely considered FBS teams like Florida and Texas, and I think we've got a new leader. If the Heisman is truly given to the player who is the best in a single season, as opposed to an entire career, as of right now it's hard to argue against Jahvid Best.

5) Notre Dame's schedule doesn't look so weak anymore does it?: Am I allowed more than one Mark May barb in one week? Actually, I don't really care if I am or not, I'm sending out another one. Remember that awful schedule the Irish have that a high school varsity football team should be embarrassed to be playing? Take another look at it now; it almost seems that Boston College is the easiest game on the schedule now. Better than expected UConn and Stanford, a Navy team that took THE Ohio State to the wall, USC and the team that just knocked them off, Washington? Not loaded with a ton of cream puffs any more is it? It's a shame that the Irish had to lose Michael Floyd for the season now because their BCS hopes may have rested in his very capable hands.

6) Penn State...National Title game...mark it down: Another week, another Nittany Lions win. None of the other contenders to make it to the title game have really impressed me enough to back off my pick. The march to Pasadena rolls on...

7) I can't imagine why San Diego fans hate Norv Turner?: For some reason I just can't put my finger on it. Could it be the decision to kick a field goal on 3rd and goal with :10 seconds left? Maybe it was the decision to get Darren Sproles planted by Ray Lewis on 4th and 2 with the game on the line? Is it the ability to squander 400+ passing yards from Philip Rivers? Someone help, the lack of understanding is killing me.

8) If the Saints are going to make the playoffs, it isn't going to be easy: Is there a more fun team to watch in the NFL than the Saints? Drew Brees goes out and tosses the ball around like there is only 8 men on defense every week, even against good defenses, and the defense does just enough to win. However, the road to the playoffs may be a bit treacherous for Drew Brees and company. The Saints have the Jets, Giants, Falcons (twice), Dallas and New England standing between them and a postseason berth. The good thing about playing these teams; with the exception of one game versus Atlanta, all of these games will be played at the Superdome. It's a tough road ahead, but if New Orleans can perform well in these games, not only will they make the playoffs, they could be the favorites to win it all. Extra note: Darren Sharper's pick-six against the Eagles was the slowest interception returned for a touchdown I've ever seen. Not sure what was worse about it; Sharper's geriatric dash to the endzone or the Eagles being completely unable to actually catch and tackle him.

9) With the 1st pick in the 2010 NFL Draft...: ...the Cleveland Browns select ____. Wow is this team bad. The 0-19 streaking Detroit Lions think the Browns are awful. The Rams think Eric Mangini's offense is inept. Kansas City's defensive coordinator thinks their defense is too porous. Ok, I'm done, you should get the point by now. This team couldn't find the endzone if every o-lineman had a GPS installed on the back of their helmets. 6 points against Denver's defense? Not surprising when Brady Quinn is getting run over almost double digit times a game and Jamal Lewis is their #1 running back. Maybe this guy could have helped. Isn't hindsight fun?

10) Herschel Walker signs with Strikeforce MMA...: I demand Walker versus Ryan Leaf as the under card to Fedor vs. Brett Rogers on CBS! Winner fights for the "Former Pro Athlete Determined to Embarrass Themselves in a Sport They Have No Business In" world title against the reigning champion. There's a pretty good precedent for this sort of thing; guess how it ended?