Baseball Slights Buck O'Neil Again

They've forgotten you already, Buck!

I figured they would. I had no doubt Bud Selig and the lords of baseball would relegate you to an afterthought, just as they did in not allowing you to enter Cooperstown along with your brethren from "black baseball." They asked you to be the face and voice of the Negro Leagues. You obliged. Once you could no longer handle those high-profile duties, Selig and the lords forgot you.

What did you expect from them?

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

Cardinals Waste Wainright Gem

Adam Wainright deserved better.

In a perfect world, the 6-7 Cardinal righty would have been rewarded for a stellar pitching performance Thursday night against Los Angeles in Game 2 of the NLDS. Instead, he a earned a
no-decision that would eventually turn into a crushing Cardinal loss.

True, Wainright wasn't perfect, but pretty close. He allowed only three hits including a solo homer. His curve demonstrated serious bite and when he did get into trouble, he survived. How can this guy not win the Cy Young?

(Continue to Paul's Redbird Report)

Horns-Buffs: Game of the Weak

At the University of Colorado’s senior football banquet last December, Coach Dan Hawkins stated what he wanted from the 2009 Buffaloes.

"Ten wins and no excuses."

In March, Hawkins said: "It was a challenge to the team . . . I don’t ever want to back off excellence as the bar. I want to keep that bar high, that standard high.

"To me, the expectation of excellence, the standard of excellence, I always want it high. I want it present in their minds. I believe in that philosophy."

(Continue to The Wiz of Odds)

Auburn's Luck About to Change

Today’s lucky number as far as the Auburn Tigers are concerned is 5.

The Gene Chizik Era at Auburn has begun with five consecutive victories, which is as many victories as Chizik had in two seasons as head coach at Iowa State, where he was 5-19.

The five victories match the number of victories the Tigers had in 2008 when they finished 5-7, leading to Coach Tommy Tuberville’s departure and Chizik’s arrival.

(Continue to Rue's Rant)

USF's Leavitt Irked By Billboard

South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt is mad.

He's unhappy. He's irked, he's irritated.

So what's new?

This time, it's not the Tampa media, it's not his players or his staff. He's not really happy with his athletic department's marketing gurus.

While USF has this week to prepare for next Thursday's HUGE home game with Big East power Cincinnati, the marketing folks decided they'd brag in a big way.

The big way was a billboard at a major Tampa interstate location declaring USF's entry into what it proclaimed as Florida's "Big Four." The billboard displayed the logos of the University of Florida, Florida State and Miami and added USF.

(Continue to Running with the Bulls)

Buccaneers Stagger Into Philly

Call the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lowly and you'd be elevating their stature in the world.

When it comes to lowly, the Buccaneers have made it an art form through the first quarter of the NFL season.

If four losses in a row isn't enough to make you a non-believer, then how about this week's visit to Philadelphia?

In previous years, the Buccaneers have tormented the Eagles. They've been a nemesis for Philly-fan. But not this time. With Donovan McNabb back at quarterback and Brian Westbrook good to go, the Eagles are armed and ready.

The Buccaneers?

They are playing without using arms most of the time, especially when it comes to tackling.

(Continue to Buccaneer Bow Shots)

The Jets' Big Catch?

I think there's somebody other than Mark Sanchez who has to be breathing a big sigh of relief that the Jets got another weapon at the wide receiver position in Braylon Edwards. I can't wait to see how this acquisition helps their former (still current?) number one receiver, Jerricho Cotchery.
Cotchery has actually had a good season so far - very quiet, but productive (so quiet I didn't realize he had had some decent games). He's gone for 90, 87, 108, and 71-yard games (one touchdown) so far this season. It doesn't seem like he's been thrown to an awful lot. You might say he hasn't built up a relationship with Mark Sanchez...but I would argue that he hasn't had much of a chance.

Cotchery has been in a tough spot to this point. If you're the opposing team going up against the Jets, are you paying much attention to Cotchery, Chansi Stuckey, or David Clowney? I think you make Stuckey and Clowney and their combind 500 career receiving yards beat you, and you devote your coverage to Cotchery. I don't know if teams have been doing this, but if so, it's a wonder Cotchery has had the types of productive games he's had.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Arizona In Need of a Good Rush

The Arizona Cardinals offense is sick.

The symptoms? Stalled drives in the redzone, lack of big plays and disgruntled star receivers whose brothers tweet about the receiver being disgruntled, before saying he was just joking. Other symptoms can be frustration and---the most painful of them all---a 1-2 record.

The Cardinals haven't scored points like they are accustomed and they're beginning to wonder why. The signs of struggle have been there for some time and so has the cure. Rest and liquids cure the common cold and a strong running game can revive a struggling offense.

(Continue to Arizona Sportspage)

Football's State of the Union

With both the NFL and college football seasons a quarter of the way done (or more), there are some interesting and inverted trends developing in 2009.

In the college game, anybody can beat anyone else anywhere at any given time. BYU beat Oklahoma, who lost to Miami, who beat Florida State, who beat BYU badly in Provo. That’s parity.

In the NFL, there are about a half-dozen teams who’re clearly better than the rest, and the players on the league’s lesser teams have a better chance of beating their wives after a 38-14 loss than beating any of the division leaders. There are five undefeateds and an astonishing six winless teams in the NFL right now, and half of last year’s playoff teams are a combined 6-16 at the NFL quarter pole. The Bengals should be undefeated, while the Patriots should be 1-3. That’s disparity.

(Continue to Sport Imitates Life)

Keep Rose Out of Hall of Fame

All of us sportswriters are in this virtual press box at World Sports Blogs, so it makes it kind of difficult to really get to know one another on this budding site.

I mean, there's no free buffets, locker rooms, or lame press conferences where we can congregate, laugh at coaches' canned quotes, shoot the bull, or, better yet, argue with each other.

With that admittedly murky backdrop, I am now going to publicly disagree with one of our better columnists, Justice B. Hill.

Disclosure: I do not know Mr. Hill, and have never argued with him before.
I do know good, thought-provoking copy when I read it, however, and felt compelled today to take the other side of the man's well-penned assertion that Pete Rose deserves a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

(Continue to The Grill Room)

How Curt Flood 'Ruined' Sports

Today is the 40th anniversary of what seemed like a fairly big, but hardly earthshaking, baseball trade: Curt Flood, Tim McCarver and two others to the Philadelphia Phillies; Dick Allen and two others to the St. Louis Cardinals. Pretty cut-and-dried. Until Flood refused to report and then asked the commissioner to make him … a free agent.

We all know what happened after that, and if you don’t, check out a series of stories on Fanhouse, including a pair that I wrote.

And then check out some of the comments on those stories, then decide whether you agree with them. Flood is, in fact, the Father of Free Agency … and four full decades later (technically, three and a half, because it wasn’t fully granted for baseball players until 1975), it’s still held as gospel by a stunning percentage of fans that free agency “ruined baseball.’’ Or, more comprehensively, “ruined sports.’’

(Continue to The Steele Drum)

Good Riddance to Braylon Edwards

Braylon Edwards came to Cleveland in 2005 totting more baggage than a Pullman porter. He was a Michigan man, and Michigan men don't receive the warmest of receptions in what is Ohio State country.

Yet Browns fans aren't so closed-minded as not to give a Michigan man like Edwards a chance to prove his mettle, even if doing so might offend the late Woody Hayes. For they wouldn't care if the man came straight from the netherworld if he could throw, catch or tackle.

It didn't take long to discover that Edwards, a No. 1 draft choice, couldn't do any of these at an elite level.

He never blossomed into the football star people hoped he would become. While his talk was big and bold and brash, his play was small and inconsistent, which is to be expected from somebody who once suited up for the Maize and Blue.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

NFL Sensory Overload

What an incredibly busy two weeks these have been, with cross-country flights, short weeks coming off and leading up to Monday Night Football games and a season-ending injury to the 2008 runner-up for NFL MVP.

So with that being said, this mid-week post will be a lot shorter than my usual posts, and I will start out by sharing the results of my Week 4 picks. I went 10-3 on the week, missing the Denver upset of Dallas, the Jacksonville win over Tennessee and the Patriots holding off the Ravens at home. For the season the NFL Guru is 28-15 for winning percentage of .651, and that is without any picks in Week 1 as I simply previewed each team, division and conference.

Now for a few more quick observations and comments:

(Continue to NFL Guru)

A Team Effort Propels Yankees

It wasn’t just important that the Yankees defeated the Twins, 7-2, in Game 1 of the American League Division Series Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

What was impressive is the way the won, because if this team is going to win its first World Series title since 2000, it will need to have contributions from every one.

Wednesday night, they did.

There were the usual suspects that delivered big in October for the Yankees. Derek Jeter had a home run, scored three runs, knocked in two more. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth. They did what they’re supposed to do in October.

(Continue to New York Minute)

Phils 10 Wins Away from Repeat

Hearing nearly 50,000 people chanting "Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee" in the 9th inning at Citizens Bank Park gave me goosebumps. It also helped the Phillies starting pitcher dig deep and finish off the Rockies in a 5-1 win after he threw 113 pitches.

If Harry Kalas were alive he might have said at the end of Game 1, "Cliff Lee, You are the MAN!"

Cliff Lee: 6 hits, 1 run (late in the ninth), 5 strikeouts, and (most importantly) 0 WALKS. Not to mention he went 1-2 from the plate and recorded the first stolen base of his career.

(Continue to Philadelphia Sports Scene)