Minnesota Vikings

The team that almost went to the Super Bowl a year ago, is 3-6. Let's repeat that shall we, the team that almost went to the Super Bowl, marching down the field to go to the Super Bowl, hasn't been the same since that interception was thrown by Favre is 3-6 and not going anywhere. That's right, Stick a Fork in the Minnesota Vikings, cause they are Done! The Vikes have had a lot of injuries this year, Griffin is out, Rice has been out all year, Berrian makes makes more money than my family and extended family will make in lifetime in just 6 years. I wish he would have stayed a Bear, because he has been worthless in the last 2 seasons. Then there was Randy Moss that returned to help the Vikes and Childress dumped him in like 4 weeks. He would have helped today, you know why, because the Vikings had a bunch of backup WR's running around with Percy Harvin until he got hurt. THANK YOU BRAD CHILDRESS FOR ALL THE MEMORIES. Not just this season, lets go back before Favre shall we. Your buddy ol' pal T-Jack. Boy he was great draft pick. T-Jack would look awesome one week and look like Rex Grossman the next. Childress hasn't done a thing since he took over the Vikes. Favre did that last season, that wasn't Childress, that was a hall of fame QB leading a team. I think its time for Childress to be let go of his duties. the Vikes have had some injuries, but it shouldn't be this bad. This season hasn't helped the Viking Organization either on trying to get a new stadium, pretty sure a Super Bowl Contending team would have been good idea.
Then there is Favre. The guy can play, he has had some great comebacks and great games with the Vikes. His highest career passing game is with the Vikes, not the Packers. But in the end, Favre will either be in my nightmares throwing TD's in a Packer uniform or turning the ball over in a Vikes uniform. He will always be a Packer, but I will always get the satisfaction of him a year ago lighting the Packers up in a Vikings uniform, gotta love it, I hope I see it again next weekend.

State of Iowa Hawkeye Football on Nov. 14, 2010

So on November 14, 2010 the Iowa Hawkeye Football team is 7-3 with a one loss Ohio State Buckeye team coming to Iowa City this Saturday. The Iowa Hawkeyes came into the 2010 season as a favorite to with the Big Ten title along with Ohio State. This game was glowing on the schedule back in August, but a lot has happened since August to the Black and Gold. Back in August we didn't know how all the running backs were going to get enough touches with Robinson and Wegher returning after stellar performances last year and Jewell Hampton returning as well off of a injury. Wegher decided to do other things, Hampton got hurt versus Arizona and Robinson has been carrying the load all year with some help from Marcus Coker. The Iowa Hawkeyes laid an egg in the first half versus Arizona and almost fought back and won, but came up short. The Hawkeyes then lost to Wisconsin after Wisconsin knocked off then #1 Ohio State, but the Badgers were to tough and down-right physical for Iowa. The offensive line of Wisconsin owned the so called top rated defensive line of the Hawkeyes. Iowa then some how absolutely destroyed Michigan State the next week, but barely survived in Bloomington, Indiana. The Hawkeyes then went on to Northwestern, a team that has beaten Iowa quite a bit of late, and yet the Iowa Hawkeyes continued to struggle against the same spread that Northwestern has been running for the past 10 years.
This Iowa Hawkeye football team has so much talent, and lost some very good football players from last years team that are now playing on Sundays. The defensive line was suppose to be the strength for the Hawkeyes this year lead by Adrian Clayborn. The defensive line has been average at best. Not sure if they read too many preseason magazines about how great they are or what, but I haven't seen all the sacks and pure domination that I witnessed a year ago. I started to believe that it was the linebackers we had a year ago, by them being gone, and was making the defensive line not look as good. But this past saturday, I saw Persa getting 9 seconds at times to make a throw, and of course their was always a wide open WR at the sideline and with a defender 10 yards away. The Iowa defense was known for 6 seconds of hell, right now its 6 seconds of do what ever you want. Its not brain surgery of what Northwestern wants to do, I have been seeing them do the same thing over and over for years, yet Iowa doesn't do anything to fix it. The bend but don't break defense works in most situations, but when you are giving WR's with 10 yard cushions, they are going to catch the ball every time. When WR's are running crossing routes, LB's are not going to be able to run with them, they are LB's, not CB's.
The thing that has disappointed me a lot this year as well, is we have never had the talent we have at the WR position, yet we don't use them enough or have any strategic game plan to expose the opponents secondary. Iowa could have passed all day on Wisconsin secondary, but they didn't. Keenan Davis was a big-time WR recruit out of Cedar Rapids, and is in his second year, and hasn't made the impact that I thought he would have. The last stud WR to come out of Cedar Rapids chose Michigan over Iowa at the time, and now I know why, because he was used and progressed quickly there. What I don't get, is its the same WR coach that Arrington had at Michigan that Davis has at Iowa. The Iowa offense should be more explosive, but maybe we are so conservative, that it is what it is.
I believe for the Iowa Hawkeyes to not have a dissappointing season or underachieving season, they need to beat Ohio State this Saturday in Kinnick. Kinnick stadium was a nightmare for teams back in 2002-2005 runs. Wisconsin came in and won in Kinnick this year, but Iowa has been playing much better at home. Iowa has nothing to lose at this point, the Big Ten title is out of reach this year, might as well mess it up and take the giant of the Big Ten with you. Ohio State is very beatable, and frankly I'm just sick and tired of hearing about how good they are. Its time for this Hawkeye team, to step it up a notch, be the team we all thought they would be, and take THE Ohio State Buckeyes out!

IOWA VS. WISCONSIN

HUGE game to take place in Legendary Kinnick Stadium Saturday at 2:30pm on ABC. Shonn Greene will be the honorary Captain for the Iowa Hawkeyes this week. Shonn Greene has a highlight video on Youtube of what he did to the Badgers last time they were in Kinnick.
Wisconsin is a lot like Iowa, they want to run first, then pass. Its going to be a good old fashion Big Ten smash mouth football, and may even include some raindrops. The battle is going to be in the trenches between the Wisconsin big-o-offensive line and Iowa's defensive line. Iowa did very well last year in Camp Randall, and Iowa has done well versus Wisconsin in the last decade, especially in big games. 2004 Iowa beat Wisconsin at home to win a share of the Big Ten title. Iowa beat Wisconsin at Camp Randall in Barry Alvarez's last game as head coach of the Badgers. Tomorrow will be a big spot too, and its in Kinnick Stadium. This will be the game were Rick Stanzi is going to have to play very well as Wisconsin will load the box to stop the run, and Stanzi's WR's could be too much for an average Wisconsin secondary. Iowa's offensive line will need to protect Stanzi and open some holes for Adam Robinson. Wisconsin has a good defensive line as well, so that will be key for the Hawks to establish a run game.
I think the biggest factory is coaching. Ferentz teams make great adjustments, and as long as Iowa doesn't give up a Special Teams touchdown or spot Wisconsin 14 points right away, they should be fine. Iowa was down to Wisconsin last year and fought back at Camp Randall.
I fully expect the 12th man of Kinnick Stadium to be very loud tomorrow and looking foward to it.

Lets keep the BULL (Heartland Trophy) in its rightful place in Iowa City, and lets take down the Roadkill Sewer Rats of Madison.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!

Patriots-Vikings in Trade Talks to Send Moss Back Home

The Minnesota Vikings are in serious trade talks with the New England Patriots in having Randy Moss traded to the Vikings were he started his career. The Vikings couldn't get a trade worked out with the San Diego Chargers for Vincent Jackson as the Chargers GM wanted a little too much for Jackson which will end up hurting the Chargers later when he walks at the end of the year and they have nothing for him.
If I am the Wilf family I do everything and anything to get Randy Moss back in a Vikings uniform. Brett Favre wanted Moss in Green Bay when he signed with New England, well he might get his chance this time. It appears that the Vikings just have to work out the money for Moss for an extension on his contract, but if they do have to give some draft picks up, do it. If you have to send Berrian, do it. Do whatever it takes to get him in Minneapolis by tomorrow evening. How awesome will be that I can break out my Randy Moss Vikings jersey again if this deal gets done. Who would have ever thought 5 years ago that Bret Favre would be a Viking, and then Randy Moss would come back as well, no way would I believe it, but it just might happen. SKOL VIKINGS!!!!

My Favorite NBA Team

I know that we are in Football season and loving every minute of it. But of course Lebron had to have some air time about how the race card is being used on him and his "DECISION". Give me a break dude, you are the biggest crybaby millionaire that I have never met. I'm sure all those who walked before you didn't deal with way worse race issues than what you deal with. Can Lebron find an excuse for everything? I think he is realizing that he will never win as many titles as Jordan or Kobe, and that every tag line for him is a fail. The "Chosen one", "The King", "We are all Witnesses" to what I am not sure of yet. Maybe if the Heat don't win the title this year it will be because on Oct. 1st Slacker Sports wrote bad things about Baby Lebron. Somebody call Harold Minor and let him know that the Baby Jordan tag has been removed and Lebron wants it, except he is not worthy to have the Jordan part, so it will be just Baby Lebron. So I don't really follow an NBA team, the Bulls were my team when MJ & Pippen played, and the Bulls destroyed there franchise for like 11 years, so it kind of killed it for me. I do like watching playoffs, but regular season doesn't do a whole lot for me. But I am declaring on this day that my favorite team will be whoever the Heat are playing. I don't want to see the Heat win a title, and in fact nothing would be better than a 1st round exit in the playoffs. That whole 3 man show they had in Miami was great if it was the WWE, where was the other Miami Heat members? Apparently they are so good, they are going to play 3 on 5 this season. Nothing says look at me like that production. I remember the Bulls as a team doing parades and stuff, but they were winning titles, and doing it at the end of the season. I don't recall MJ, Pippen and fill in the blank having a 3 man concert at the United Center saying look at how cool we are, we are NBA players that are good, and we are going to win it all, not just once, like 15 times. Good Luck 29 other NBA teams, I will be rooting you on.

The State of Hawkeye Nation

Last Saturday night the Iowa Football team had about everything that could go wrong, went wrong. Anytime you spot a team 14 points to start and have your special teams play not so special you shouldn't win. On top of that the Hawks were playing in front of a hostile crowd, and everything I have read and seen thanks to Youtube you would have thought Iowa was playing in the Arizona Prison League. I am pretty sure that I will never attend a game down there, but i'm pretty sure after this past Saturday Iowa will never return there for a non-conference game. Apparently in Arizona sportsmanship doesn't exist. I know not everything is perfect in Iowa City either, but I have never witnessed in my 15 years as a season ticket holder to Iowa the things I saw and heard on Youtube of the treatment Iowa fans received at Arizona. Between there fans constantly using profanity towards Iowa fans and this includes kids and 80 year old Iowa fans as well. There fans were verbally threatening Iowa Fans, and continued after the game when the media was trying to talk to Iowa coaches and players at the endzone. But this is the same school that was throwing objects at Oregon Fans and players just a year ago, knocking an Oregon Cheerleader out with a water bottle that was thrown. So stay classy Arizona, maybe we will get to see you again in Pasadena, thankfully that will be a neutral site game and not inside the prison walls of Arizona Stadium.
But Back to the Hawkeyes. So Iowa has lost a game where everything went wrong that could go wrong. One thing about the Ferentz era is when Iowa loses a game, they improve quite a bit for the next game. This lose to Arizona does nothing to the goal of winning the Big Ten Conference title. In 2002 Iowa lost to Iowa State, and in 2004 Iowa lost to Arizona State which was a brutual beat down of 44-7. So the goal or prize is still obtainable. Iowa does lose Jewell Hampton for the year, but Marcus Coker the freshman from Maryland will get to showcase what he can do as Adam Robinson's backup. We never knew what Shonn Greene was going to be able to do, and we didn't know what Robinson, and Brandon Wegher were going to be able to do last year either, yet Iowa was just fine. Under Ferentz the motto has always been next man in, so that is what they will do, and move on.

Slacker Sports is now on Twitter

Thats right, Slacker Sports is on Twitter as of today (8/28/10). I have so many thoughts and points throughout the day, so I thought I would bring Slacker sports to twitter. Maybe this will help expand Slacker Sports. Over the past year Slacker Sports has had visitors from Spain, Netherlands, Brazil, Canada, and many more countries. Slacker Sports gets visitors from many states as well. For some reason Slacker Sports is a hit in Tennessee. The tag is SlackerSports for Twitter.

Quick Hits

There are a couple of the things that I would like to touch on. The Florida Gators, Chad Ocho Cinco, and Marcus Jordan, the son of Michael Jordan.

Earlier this week the Florida Gators had 2 freshman by the names of Ronald Powell, and Dominque Easley boycott practice. Apparently these 2 highly taunted freshman players were upset at the way they were treated by the coaches on special teams on Monday night. It gets better, these 2 along with Sharif Floyd were center of attention on media day because these 3 highly taunted players made comments that make head coaches cringe. Dominque told the media that Ronald was like Chris Bosh, Sharif is like Dwayne Wade, and I am like Lebron James. Yes, 3 players that are freshman who haven't even played a snap of Division 1 football is comparing themselves to 3 players that are professional athletes and are all-stars. All I have to say is I am thankful that I will never hear something like that out of Iowa City. So Dominque and Ronald got their feelings hurt at practice on monday night, then boycotted practice, and even threatened to transfer. I don't care if you are a highly touted 5 star recruit coming in, last time I checked you are at one of the best programs in the SEC, and country. The head coach has won some titles, they are called National Titles, and he has won everywhere he has been. So for you, who hasn't proven anything yet, to think you are all high and mighty. If my name was Urban Meyer, I would say bye bye, good luck at Central Florida, because nobody is going to want you now, have fun competing for Conference USA titles while us Gators will be playing for National Titles. Urban Meyer did say that "you have 25 new guys and they think they will dominate like they did in high school. They have no idea what is about to hit them".What has happened to these kids? I got yelled at by the coaches, and teammates at times in high school, and I still showed up the next day.

If you ever wanted to know why Michael Jordan's son's will never be NBA stars, I have the answer. Most star athletes have to work hard to get where they are. Some have to work extremely hard because they may not have the same freakish talent. Couple examples, about 8 years ago, you could say Tracy McGrady has the same talent as Kobe Bryant. Differences is Kobe worked harder, found that mental edge, and became a star. McGrady I don't think did anything, but sign contracts for a lot of money. Kobe wanted to win, McGrady seemed find playing for less talented teams for more money. So Marcus Jordan had put on his twitter account that he spent $35,000 in one night at Haze nightclub in Las Vegas. The 19 year old sophomore guard at Central Florida is being investigated by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Marcus doesn't have to work hard to make the NBA, he is already living like a NBA millionaire. Michael may want to cut back his allowance.

Here is a positive story that nobody will tell you because they only report the bad. Chad Ocho Cinco has his own Cereal that is coming out Sept. 7th at Kroger Grocery Stores and on-line. All proceeds go to Feed The Children program. He may be an ego-maniac, but he is doing something good too.

1st Annual Big 12 Conference Preview

I will be doing a Big Ten Conference Preview that is more in depth than the Big 12. I was not far off at all with my predictions with the Big Ten a year ago. We will see how I do with the Big 12 as I don't know it as well as the Big Ten, but here it is.

Big 12 North
1. Nebraska. They are lucky they are in the North, they might as well have a bulls-eye on their helmet, every team and away fans will want to beat Nebraska for leaving the conference.
2.  Missouri - They return quite a few players, will be much better this year, and Pinkel will show that he can coach somewhat.
3. Colorado - Its now or never for coach Hawkins. He has a lot of players coming back from a disappointing season in 09, but his job is on the line this year thanks to the paycheck written by PAC-10.
4. K-State - Wildcats have a big powerful Running back that will be their key player, but its still K-State.
5. Iowa State - They are coming off of a 7-6 season and a bowl win in Paul Rhoads first year, call it a miracle, but not happening this year. They play at Iowa, and get Oklahoma and Texas back to back weekends, you won't find another program that gets that every time like ISU does. They will be better than Kansas though.
6. Kansas -They are back to being a basketball school, at least for now. They did land Turner Gill as their new head coach, he did an outstanding job at Buffalo, apparently he likes coaching at the worst locations in the country.

Big 12 South
1. Oklahoma - The Sooners return from a season they would like to forget by punishing everybody. They are lead by a QB that got an early start to his career due to Sam Bradford getting hurt last year, and that will pay off big time for the Sooners.
2. Texas - Not this year for the Longhorns, they will be coming in with a QB that got National Title experience, but not a season like the Sooners QB. Texas won off the field this year in keeping the Big 12 together and filling up their bank account, so they will be easy on others this year.
3. Texas A&M - They are A&M, they are content for being middle of the pack when they could be as big or bigger than the 2 above them. If they would have went to the SEC, they would have become the powerhouse of the state, but they like being little brother to Texas, so enjoy being average.
4. Texas Tech - They are going from Air attack to Ground attack. Tommy Tuberville was very successful at Auburn, we will see how he does in West Texas, and changing a team's philosophy big time.
5. Baylor - This is really their chance to shine and go to a bowl game. They could be number #4 in the south this year, but when you are use to losing, and losing a lot, its hard to change the culture. 
6. Oklahoma State - This team lost a lot of talent, and its going to be a long year in Stillwater. You may not see a team drop as much as this team from one year to the next.

Oklahoma will win the last Big 12 Conference Title game in Dallas, TX over Nebraska who will be going to the Big Ten next year.
 

NCAA Football Probations are Not Fair

You may be saying, whats wrong with NCAA probations. Here is the problem I have with it, take USC Trojans. They got handed a 2 year bowl probation, and limited scholarships that they can give out. Most people are saying finally something is being done with USC, they cheat and now it has been proven. Here is my issue with it, they are being punished for things that happened when Reggie Bush played there. Reggie Bush is going on year 5 of his NFL career. He has been playing pro football for over 4 seasons going on 5. There isn't one player at USC that was even there when Reggie Bush was there, yet they have to pay the punishment while Reggie Bush is in a 6 year $52.5 million contract. Seems fair doesn't it? It makes no sense whatsoever. The head Coach Pete Carroll even left USC for the Seattle Seahawks. So the player and the head  coach that were present during the so-called violation are not affected by it, just the kids that were playing high school football when it took place. I understand that the University should be penalized if they were aware, but to punish players that had nothing to do with it while the player that had everything to do with it is sitting in a multi-million dollar mansion playing in the NFL gets nothing? That doesn't cut it for me.

Spain Goes for First World Cup on Sunday

Spain beat Germany on Wednesday 1-0 to go on to the World Cup Final this Sunday against the Netherlands. For Americans, its hard for us to truly know what this is like for most of these countries. We have NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB. We get so connected to our regional teams in those leagues that sometimes when we have a USA team competing we still don't have that National pride that other countries have. When we watch Team USA basketball, I think we expect to win, and if we don't it doesn't bother us like our team losing the NBA Finals does. If my Cubs are having a bad season AKA like right now, then I can focus on Football coming up and it starts before baseball even ends. Soccer in Spain is a way of life, its pride, and they believe they are the best in the world, and they won't hear it otherwise. I spent 2 weeks in Spain in May. I attended a Soccer promotion they had going on at a park, and people in Sevilla were excited then for the World Cup. While I was in Spain, Athletico Madrid won a Europa League Cup, Barcelona FC won the Spanish League title, and Sevilla FC won the Copa Del Rey Cup. I didn't need ESPN Sportscenter to inform me, because their was people celebrating in the streets. Their was fireworks, car horns, and screaming in the streets. Chipiona, Spain is 697 miles from Barcelona, 12 hour drive. Yet their was a car parade of fans hanging out their windows screaming of joy and honking their horns as they drive down every street to let everyone know that Barcelona FC had won the title over Real Madrid. They don't have other sports to get into, this is it. Spain is good in Basketball, but it has nothing on Soccer. They live and breath soccer. Its their national past time, and they have a very rich tradition in Soccer, just have never been able to put it all together to get into the World Cup Final, let alone win it. But on Sunday, a Nation that is very proud, will try to prove to the world they are the best Nation in the game of Soccer. They will be patient, and will control the ball to wear down their opponent, and strike when the opportunity is there. You will not find a better passing team than the Spaniards. They make the game look easy, and have a great skill of dribbling the ball. Spain will feature their scoring machine David Villa who has had a wonderful World Cup. Xavi Hernandez is known as the World's best mid-fielder and he shows why every time he touches it down by the goal in traffic. If Spain can get their other superstar Fernando Torres who has been struggling to score, if they can get him going, its going to be all red and yellow in the streets of Spain all night Sunday into Monday.

Spain's national team (Bottem L-R) Santiago Cazorla, Xavier Hernandez, David Villa, Marcos Senna, Raul Albiol, and (Top L-R) Iker Casillas, Joan Capdevila, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Xabier Alonso and Fernando Torres pose for a team picture during the FIFA2010 World Cup Qualifier match between Spain and Turkey at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on March 28, 2009 in Madrid, Spain. Spain won the match 1-0.

(March 28, 2009 - Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images Europe)

Lebron Could Never Top the Legacy of MJ in Chicago

Lebron James will be playing for Miami Heat next year. Not the Cavs, Bulls, Nets, Knicks, and everybody else who thought they had a shot. Personally, I think Chicago would have been a good choice for Lebron, they have a lot of potential in the future with their young players. One problem for Lebron, Michael Jordan. You can't fill his shoes, you shouldn't even be allowed to wear his jersey number, and you will never win 6 titles like he did. Lebron could never live with the fact that he would never live up to Jordan. He would be reminded daily with the statue outside the United Center, and the banners above him. The fans of Chicago would support Lebron, but it would never be what Jordan was to the city of Chicago.
Cleveland's owner has thrown Lebron under the bus by saying he quit on the team Vs. the Celtics in the playoffs. Yet he would have been ecstatic if the same Lebron would have chosen Cleveland yesterday over Miami, the same player who apparently quit. Cleveland will go back to being an average if not below average franchise, plus who would go there after the owner bad mouthed a player that brought more money to him and his franchise. People in Cleveland also need to realize that most athletes don't play for their hometown in professional sports, so get over it.
I think Lebron was over the top with his Decision making and national TV spotlight, but apparently it was all for a good cause and money was given to Boys and Girls Club. Lebron would have gotten more money going elsewhere, so it wasn't about money as he will have the same amount as Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. I think Lebron has a huge ego, most stars do, so it will be interesting to see how the 3 of them will co-exist on the same team, wanting their touches. What is crazy in the whole deal is most mega stars don't switch teams, and by going to Miami he may win some titles, but I don't see Miami being his last stop. I think Lebron wants to make sure he gets a title as soon as he can, but I think he knows by winning it with 2 other All-Stars in a different city will not feel the same as if he would have won in Cleveland.

If he truly wanted to be in the class of Jordan and Kobe, I think he should have went to New York. If the Knicks get Carmelo Anthony next year, he could have already been there and formed the foundation with Stoudamire. Making New York City relevant again would be huge for the NBA, and would have boosted his career and legacy if he could win a title there. But maybe in 5 years he will go to New York City, because I'm pretty sure Cleveland will not want him back.

Zambrano Is Out Of Control!!!!!!!

Carlos Zambrano will make $18 million this season while he has a record of 3-6 5.66 ERA. This has been a common theme with the Chicago Cubs, players making a lot of money and not producing numbers to equal the pay they receive. He is making $18 million dollars, and is not even ranked in the top 100 in the MLB with that ERA.  That is only half the problem, the other half is between his ears. Zambrano has had anger issues for a while now, and it finally became an issue when he went ballistic and Derek Lee called him out on it. So Zambrano is suspended indefinitely and he should be, but what do you do with him? He makes a lot of money, and his numbers are Triple-A numbers. You can't send a $18 million dollar a season player to Triple-A Iowa, you just can't. I think the Cubs should hold onto him a for a little bit, see if he can start to pitch good again, and then trade him. Right now he is worth less than he has ever been, so don't trade yet, and don't release him, this is a business, you got to get a return for the guy if you can. Last year it was Milton Bradley, and this year its Carlos Zambrano. I think its Cub fans turn to be ballistic about this so called product of a baseball team. Instead of the famous White flag with the Blue "W" flying, it should just be WHITE!

The Cubs are 9.5 games behind the Cincinnati Reds for first place. And yes I said the Reds, and that is the thing, nobody is running away from the pack in this division. It has been an average division, but the Cubs are trying to gain ground on Pittsburgh who is 16.5 games out of first. Pittsburgh is a 34% winning team, yet they have beaten the Cubs 9 out of 12 games this year. I'm convinced that Triple-A Iowa could beat Chicago in a best of seven series. Pittsburgh is no different than a Triple-A team, and they have been since the day they lost Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. Its like Major League 3 when the Salt Lake City Buzz beat the Minnesota Twins. The Cubs are just like that Twins team in that movie. The movie wasn't good, so don't bother wasting your Netflix one movie at a time on that thing. Its time to clear house in Chicago. The General Manager has made his last bad decision. I like Soriano, but he is way over paid. The Cubs are #3 in MLB in payroll behind Yankees, and Red Sox. 11 teams in the National League have a better record than the Cubs, and 10 teams in the American League making it 21 teams ahead of them. The Kansas City Royals only have one more loss than the Cubs, and have the same amount of wins. I can only name one Royals player and that is Zach Grienke because he won the Cy Young Last year. Living in Des Moines, there is a huge difference between the Cubs franchise and the Royals franchise. One is a classic car, and the other is a Dodge Neon, but right now they are both sitting in the junk yard, just one has a lot more money sitting in it.

THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND

Manute Bol died on Saturday due to severe kidney trouble and a painful skin condition at the age of 47. The 7 foot 7 inch shot-blocker played 10 seasons in the NBA. He was from Sudan and did a lot of humanitarian work in Africa after his NBA career ended. Manute averaged 2.6 points per game, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.3 blocked shots. In his rookie season (1985-1986) Bol appeared in 80 games and recorded a career-high 5.0 blocks per game. His total of 397 blocks set the NBA rookie record. During Bol's last season in Philadelphia, Bol enjoyed a memorable night while playing against former teammate Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns. Bol hit 6 of 12 three pointers all in the 2nd half  in a losing effort against the Suns.
Fans became a fan of Bol's by yelling for him to shoot when he got the ball. Manute would shoot from 3 point range more often than you would think. In 1988-89 season, when he played for the Golden State Warriors,  he shot a career-high 91 three pointers and made 20 of them. I truly wish I could have seen Manute Bol play in person. That would have been a highlight in my sports memory bank, especially if it was court side seats.

In 1987, Bullets drafted 5 ft 3 in. Point Guard Muggsy Bogues. Bullets had the Tallest and shortest player in the NBA.

Bol was very active in charitable causes throughout his career. In fact, he said he spent much of the money he made during a 10-year NBA career supporting various causes related to his war-ravaged nation of birth, Sudan. He frequently visited Sudanese refugee camps, where he was treated like royalty. In 2001 Bol was offered a post as minister of sport by the Sudanese government. Bol, who was Christian, refused because one of the pre-conditions was converting to Islam. Later Bol was hindered from leaving the country by the Sudanese government, who accused him of supporting the Dinka-led Christian rebels, the Sudan People's Liberation Army. The Sudanese government refused to grant him an exit visa unless he came back with more money. Assistance by supporters in the United States, including Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, raised money to provide Bol with plane tickets to Cairo, Egypt. After 6 months of negotiations with U.S. consulate officials regarding refugee status, Bol and his family were finally able to leave Egypt and return to the United States.



Reference:
http://www.focusdep.com/articles/Society/NBA_Star_Now_Refugee

Every Team in The Big 12 Are All Heading in Different Directions

It has been a very crazy couple of days with Colorado joining the PAC-10 and Nebraska joining the Big Ten. I love college football, and to me this is exciting. My brain is over stimulated with the possibilities of teams joining the Big Ten and other conferences. This is what we do know at this point is the Big 12 has become the Big 10 in reality with the 10 teams left. Dan Beebe the commissioner of the Big 12 stated yesterday in a teleconference that the conference can do very well with the 10 teams they have, and could actually get a better TV deal than they currently have. That is not going to happen. Its been rumored all week that Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State will leave for the PAC-10 to make it a 16 team mega conference. Their has been some reports that Texas A&M may join the SEC instead. Maybe then Baylor would get into the PAC-10, otherwise they are going to be left out. Missouri has been talked about for a long time as a team to join the Big Ten. At this time, Big Ten is not looking at any other Big 12 schools, but that could change as fast as a green light. Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and Missouri have to look for whats best for them as well. Kansas Athletic Director(AD) who was an AD at UCONN has apparently contacted the Big East. The Big East had their conference raided several years ago by the ACC. The Big East doesn't want that to happen again, so they are somewhat proactive and have discussed the possibility of having those remaining Big 12 North teams join the Big East for Football. Geographical it doesn't make sense, but neither does Texas and the Pacific. The Big East is way too big for basketball already to have those schools join because the Big East has a lot of teams that either participate in D-1AA football or don't play football at all. The other option is for the Big 12 to try to add teams, maybe get Arkansas to leave the SEC, and maybe try and add TCU, Utah, BYU, Memphis and Tulsa. That doesn't make the conference very strong football wise, but they would be able to keep their Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bid.
I think next week when the Big 12 South teams decide to leave the conference, that it will be too much, and that the Big 12 will end up folding. Then I think you would see the Big Ten go ahead and grab Missouri, and the other schools will start looking for conference affiliations. The left over schools would make the Mountain West Conference a lot stronger by joining. Boise State just joined the Mountain West as well. Kansas is a powerhouse for basketball, so its hard to imagine them in a lower conference, but the Mountain West would probably gain BCS status if the Big 12 no longer exists. For those who are not aware, Kansas and K-State are a packaged deal due to their state law. So you take one, you got to take the other.
For Iowa State fans, I think Iowa State would fit into the Mountain West pretty good. They would probably be more competitive in that conference in football, and basketball.
Next week when Texas decides what its going to do, then we will know more. College sports is a business, and football is the money maker. The Big Ten created the Big Ten Network and that generates $22 million dollars a year to each University. That is evenly divided, so Northwestern takes home as much as Ohio State. In the Big 12, Texas was taking home about $10-12 million, while Iowa State and some other schools got $6 million. That is where Missouri and Nebraska have been feed up with Texas coming to the Big 8 to make it 12, and getting more money than them. Texas will tell you that they are on TV more, so they deserve that money. To me that is just like baseball. The rich get richer. The Yankees will always be competitive and the Royals will struggle. The money is night and day between the two. Iowa State needs the money more than powerhouse Texas. So Nebraska likes how Big Ten does it, and you can't blame them. Jamie Pollard this week spoke out how ISU fans who have cable or satellite are paying the University of Iowa. That's an Iowa State/Big 12 problem. They could have created a TV network, but they didn't. That's not the Big Ten's problem.
For those who are worried about traditions like Nebraska/Missouri, Nebraska/Colorado, and potentially ISU/Missouri. The Brewers use to be an American League team and had the Twins and White Sox as rivals. They are now a National League team and have become rivals with the Cubs.The Seahawks use to play the Raiders, Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos every year. They switched over to the National league and play Rams, 49ers, and Cardinals now. Things happen, change happens, and we move on.

Nebraska to Big Ten Officially

The University of Nebraska has accepted the invitation to join the Big Ten Conference. With Colorado's departure yesterday, this leaves the Big 12 conference at 10 teams, and the Big Ten is now at 12 teams. More news to come later about conference realignment, because its happening quickly, even Boise State is moving to the Mountain West reportedly from the WAC.

PAC-10 Conference Wants to Expand to 16 Possibly

Word came out on Friday afternoon that the Big 12 Conference may be splitting up. Their has been the talk of Missouri and Nebraska potentially joining the Big Ten Conference as they are expanding. PAC-10 Conference is having meetings this weekend and their has been reports that they would like to take some teams from the Big 12 Conference. Nobody knows for sure what teams, but rumors are Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Colorado. Leaving Kansas, K-State, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa State alone. Those schools then could ask BYU, Utah, TCU, and Colorado State to leave the Mountain West Conference, but that would make the conference weak, and most think Missouri and Nebraska would join the Big Ten for sure then. The Big Ten would still reach out to Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame to make the conference go to 16. If that all happens with Pac-10 and Big Ten expanding, look for the SEC then to grab Miami, Florida State, Clemson, and Georgia Tech to move them to 16. Then the ACC would grab some schools from the Big East. But when the dust would settle, there would still be teams like Kansas, K-state, Baylor and Iowa State. Kansas would need to be in a big conference, due to their basketball program, so maybe they jump into the Big Ten and Rutgers or Pittsburgh goes to the ACC. Time is up on Notre Dame being an Independent program. If it becomes 4 major conferences of 16 teams, Notre Dame will have no power as an Independent. The Big Ten Network would pay them more than their Current NBC deal, times have changed Golden Domers. Personally I want Notre Dame in the Big Ten. I like the sound of Notre Dame at Iowa on ABC. I like the sounds of Nebraska coming to Kinnick too and starting a rivalry with them. Iowa State may no longer be a BCS school when the dust settles, and nobody knows when this will happen, if it happens. Their is strong indication that it will.

Here is the letter Iowa State University released:

Dear Cyclone alumni, fans and friends of the University,


This week, we participated in the Big 12 Conference spring meetings in which a major topic of discussion was potential conference re-alignment. With the immense speculation and media attention given to this issue, we felt it was important for you to hear directly from us.

We believe the Big 12 Conference is the perfect fit for Iowa State University. We are committed to our membership in the Big 12, and we are optimistic that the conference will remain intact. However, we also recognize that the long-term viability of the Big 12 Conference is not in our control - it is in the hands of just a few of our fellow member institutions.

Iowa State and several other members of the Big 12 Conference are especially vulnerable under some of the re-alignment scenarios currently circulating, particularly one involving expansion of the Pac-10. We are doing everything in our power to represent the best interests of Iowa State in these discussions, but we also are sensitive to the huge uncertainty that has been created and recognize that the situation could evolve in directions that are not aligned with our interests.

We understand and share your concerns about Iowa State athletics and the Big 12 Conference. We are still optimistic that the Big 12 will remain intact and continue to be one of our nation's premier athletics conferences, but we must be ready to act if that does not prove to be the case. We will keep in touch as the situation unfolds, and we appreciate your understanding.

Go Cyclones!

Dr. Gregory Geoffroy
President

Jamie Pollard
Director of Athletics

Iowa State University Letter: http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=204955238&DB_OEM_ID=10700
 

Blackhawks Up 2-0

The City of Chicago was buzzing all weekend for Games 1 & 2 for the Stanley Cup and it didn't disappoint. Even the Jordan statue outside of the United Center was sporting the Blackhawks Jersey. The Madhouse on Madison lived up to it in both games as you could feel the excitement and the energy through the TV. Game one was a 6-5 win for Chicago and the game itself did very well TV rating wise. Game one was a back and forth shootout, and the Flyers coach pulled his goalie, but Chicago continued to stick with their guy. Both Goalies were a lot better 2 days later for Game 2 as Chicago won 2-1, but it was still very intense. As this series shifts to Philadelphia, expect the players to really start to show dislike for one another. In the other rounds both teams were playing teams they had been battling all season with. These 2 only faced each other once in the regular season, but they know each other all well and fine now. The Series is going to continue to be intense, and an adrenaline rush for 60 minutes. I think the Blackhawks are going to be raising the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years, and the City of Chicago deserves it, because after this series, its back to Cubs/White Sox until fall.

Game 3 Blackhawks at Flyers 7pm Central Time on Versus Network

Sharks Swallowed

The Chicago Blackhawks swept the San Jose Sharks to make the Stanley Cup Finals. The Sharks continue to be the best team in the regular season and then get taken out come playoff time. The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens last night to close out their series 4-1. The City of Brotherly Love VS. The Windy City. The Blackhawks are the favorite, and I feel they will win the Stanley Cup. The series begins this Saturday night in Chicago on NBC. The City of Chicago will be buzzing all week. But that is not the only thing that is buzzing in Chicago today.
Terrell Owens is flirting with the Chicago Bears. He has been hanging out with Jay Cutler and Greg Olsen. It appears that TO wants to be a Bear, and I'm pretty sure Cutler does too so that he actually has someone to play catch with. Lovie Smith is on the hot seat, and with the Packers supposedly the favorites next year in the NFC Central and Favre having surgery to play another year, its not looking good in Chi-town come fall. Sometimes coaches and organizations have to take a risk to be competitive or at least try. Don't be surprised if TO is a Bear come August.
The other big news of the day is that their is a report that Phil Jackson would be interested in the Chicago Bulls job, and I bet their is a catch to that. Lebron James has to become a Bull, then Phil would sign on the dotted line. Otherwise why leave LA and Kobe for Chicago or anywhere else. The Lebron James story may be the only story that actually will keep the Favre news away this summer.
If only the Cubs could get hot right now, then Chicago would be the Mecca of sports right now if its not already.
Things to come Soon: Craziest Sport in the world, and its deadly. Soccer(Futbol) in Spain.

Iowa State Basketball Update, Tasers/baseball, and Vacation.

Charles Boozer was placed in the Story County jail over the weekend for simple assault on a female. Charles Boozer will be a senior, but has agreed to finish the semester at Iowa State and transfer as well as seek treatment over the summer. So Iowa State lost a coach to a mid-major program that is actually in better shape and a better situation than ISU at the moment. ISU hires former player and legend as their new coach Fred Hoiberg which sets up to be a huge disaster if he isn't successful as it will tarnish his legacy. If he is successful then he will probably never leave either. With Boozer no longer on the team, that leaves Iowa State with 5 scholarship players. I didn't have to stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night to know that this is not good. As you know I am a Iowa Hawkeye fan, and you may think that I am only writing this story because its a negative one for my rival. But if this was Iowa Basketball, I would be writing the same story, I have taken some shots at the Iowa Basketball program as well with Lickliter being the coach, so its not one of those Hawkeyes taking a cheap shot at ISU, it is what it is. This is a Big 12 Conference program that doesn't have enough guys to scrimmage. They are going to have to grab some kids off campus or the local Jimmy John's in order to even practice. This isn't the Idaho Sunrise Valley Conference, this is the Big 12. They play Kansas, K-State, Texas, and Baylor. They are going to have to definitely hit the Junior Colleges, and the reality of it all is the players that are available right now are not going to be Gems. The only players left to not have signed yet are ones that are having academic problems and off the court issues. So good luck to Fred Hoiberg, he is going to need it.

In Other News: It doesn't matter if you are 17 or older, do not run onto a baseball field during a game. Apparently in Philadelphia they will taser you. Last night at the Cardinals/Phillies game, a 17 year old ran onto the field in the 8th inning and security tasered him. Their is a full investigation right now if he should have been tasered or not. The issue is this, you don't ever know what a person's intent is when they run onto the field. So if tasering somebody stops the incident immediately, I say go for it. I just hope that in 5 years from now, people won't be getting tasered for running onto the football field at Kinnick after Iowa has just knocked off a top ranked opponent, just because I don't want to be a victim of that.

Slacker Sports is going on Vacation. Their will not be any news for 2 weeks, as I will be out of the country and won't have a clue whats happening here. I could maybe cover the Seville/Barcelona soccer game, but I can't watch soccer on TV too long, and a ticket is like 154 Euros ($201.60). Soccer is kind of a big deal in Spain. I'm sure while I'm gone that the Cubs will go on a 14 game winning streak and the Cardinals will lose 14 games. Favre will have surgery and report that he feels 21 again. The Packers will move to Los Angeles to become the Angel City Stars of Los Angeles. The Celtics will have knocked off the Cleveland Cavs, and Lebron will be dealing with future questions. Lakers will be cruising towards the Finals. The Blackhawks will be looking to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. Vikings will break ground to build a new stadium in same location as Metrodome. And Milton Bradley will be banned from MLB after throwing every bat, every base, and all gatorade jugs at the home plate umpire for being called out on strikes and arguing it was a ball when the ball was right down the middle.

Iowa State Bailed Out? Timing is Very Bad

 Iowa State Basketball is probably at the worst point it can be in. It was bad yesterday, and today its even worse only because its April 27th. Usually when you lose a basketball coach its in March or early April. That is probably why Creighton took him so fast, their coach (Dana Altman) took the Oregon job on Saturday and Creighton contacted Greg McDermott on Sunday. ISU has only 6 scholarship players on the roster at the moment, and high expectations this past season to only win 4 conference games. Plus kids keep transferring from the program. They even go as far as saying they are only leaving to be close to home, and then pick a school even further from home than ISU was. They need to get some JUCO's or some High Schoolers for whatever reason haven't signed with anybody. This is not a good time to not have a coach. Kids will be leaving school soon for summer break, and its going to be interesting to see what they do in Ames. Nick Nurse was just hired on as the top assistant as he was the head coach of the Iowa Energy NBA-D League. The owner of Iowa Energy states that Nurse could have his job back, but I would think Jamie Pollard will maybe make him the Interim Head Coach for a year to make things easier, its not like their is a lot of coaches available right now that don't have baggage. Plus its not like coming to ISU will be a great job with only 6 players, you can't even practice with 6 guys. McDermott left for Creighton because he realized that things were not working at ISU, and he has a good track record in the Missouri Valley Conference when at University of Northern Iowa. Creighton is one of the top mid-major schools in the country. The play in a nice arena, huge following, and they pay very good as they are a private institution. Plus he will have decent team next year that just happens to be playing Iowa State at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines next year, the storyline for that just got a little better. So McDermott takes the Alford Flee and gets out of dodge from a BCS school for a mid-major saving face from a firing next year.

What are the Vikings doing in the NFL Draft?

The Vikings gave up their draft pick in the 1st round to the Detroit Lions to take Detroit's 2nd pick in the second round. Along with that the Vikings swapped places with the Lions in the 4th round as the Lions had a earlier pick, and the Vikes get the Lions 7th Round pick. But the real story is they traded with the Lions, their NFC North opponent, and allowed the Lions to get a speedy quick running back that they will see twice a season. Are they not aware that you do not want your inter divisional opponents to get better. Maybe today the Vikes can trade their 2nd pick in the 2nd round to Green Bay or Chicago. Seriously Vikings!!!

Their is this great debate if they should take Jimmy Clausen (QB Notre Dame) or not with their pick tonight. The Vikes do need a QB, lets face it, Favre has one year left maybe, and then we need a QB. This is the perfect time to draft a guy, and let them sit back a year and watch and learn. So I think the Vikes should take a QB, but which one. Clausen has all the tools to be a good one, but his very cocky and can be lazy. Colt McCoy (QB Texas) works very hard and is accurate, but is not very big. It will be interesting to see what they do with the pick tonight, hopefully they don't trade it away.

Roethlisberger gets 6 game suspension, maybe 4

Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a 6 game suspension for breaking the NFL's personal conduct policy. If Ben has good behavior, it could be shortened to 4 games. Has the NFL become the Penal system. Is Roger Goodell (NFL Commissioner) really just a Prison Warden or Director of Parole. Michael Vick had the same kind of suspension. If you have good behavior, you can come back sooner. This is the NFL, not Pelican Bay. Do they all sit around the Gatorade cooler and state how they are all innocent, they just took the deal so that they could get a shorter sentence. So as long as Ben Roethlisberger stays away from college town bars, and motorcycles he will probably only miss 4 games. But the Steelers have traded for Byron Leftwich who played for Pittsburgh previously, and the Steelers have been listening to trade offers for Big Ben. So really the true sentence for his actions could be the loss of playing for the Steelers and having to start all over with a team like the Rams or Buccaneers. I think you should get a suspension, and it should be tough. I think the 6 game suspension is strict, and I don't like the motivational clause that if he does good he can come back after 4 games. These are grown adults here. Because if he would mess up again, its a whole new incident, so he would get an added suspension to the 6 game suspension. So really the 6 game suspension is really a 4 game if behavior is good and if not it will be 6 games plus whatever else is handed down. If Ben has another incident, Roger Goodell isn't going to say just complete the 6 game suspension.

Slacker Sports it is.

The final verdict is that Bac's Sports Talk was imploded for a new improved blog called Slacker Sports. The subject matter will not change one bit. Some things in the works to be coming will be a Sports Bucket List, the top 2 worst and best uniforms of the big 4 sports (NFL, MLB,NHL, NBA), the highly anticipated Big Ten Football preview, and I am thinking of doing a Slacker of the week poll question. Right now the poll question is all about the Chicago Cubs, and at times it will be the slacker of the week poll question. The poll is on the right side of the blog. I think Jason Marquis (Nationals) would be the Slacker this week anyways giving up 6 runs in the 1st inning to the Brewers. He couldn't retire the first 7 batters. No worries though, he is making $15 million for 2 years and is 0-3 with a 20.52 ERA so far this year.

Lets get down to business. What in the world has happened in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitols are the #1 seed and down 0-2 going to Montreal where Hockey is a birthright.
If you didn't believe me on the San Jose Sharks sports curse, you do now. They lost game 3 in overtime to Colorado by their own player scoring a goal on his teamate Nabokov. Yes, 51 seconds into overtime, Dan Boyle defenseman for the sharks backhanded the puck by the boards to clear it expecting it to go behind the goal, but instead it slipped between Nabokov's pads and the goal pipes. San Jose is down 1-2 in their series as they are the #1 seed in the West. Don't worry Boyle, my son who is 4 likes to kick the soccer ball into the other teams goal too. I guess whatever goal is closer and easier is the best option a the time.

Thinking of a New Title

The picture has nothing to do with this story other than its a great picture of what you may think is a great seat when looking at the ticket until you find your seat at Fenway Park in Boston. I have been thinking of changing my blog title from Bac's Sports Talk to Slacker Sports. No I'm not changing it so I can call it Formerly Known as Bac's Sports talk like Prince who I don't even recognize as a recording artist because he weirds me out. I think the title is fitting mostly because I am like most people who blog, I have a real job, this is just for fun. So I only do stories when I have the time due to family, job, and other stuff that goes on. So If I have time to announce right when Notre Dame hires a football coach or Iowa hires a basketball coach I do the story. But their are times when a story is big news and if I don't have time to due a subject on it, I just let it go. Like Tiger Woods at the Masters, for one you are at the wrong place if you think Golf is getting covered, I try not to be the 9am Storytime speaker at the local library. But anyways I am not going to shove a subject down your throat that ESPN, FOX, and every other news source has done already. Slacker sports would be fitting just because someone who would follow this for all sports news and then turn on Sportscenter would think whoever is in charge of this blog is a slacker, so that is why I think it would be a great change. But in all changes in life, their needs to be a vote. Sometimes in society, money dominates things like Sec Taylor Stadium in Des Moines is known as Principal Park now. It was a money issue, people didn't get to vote, Principal offered the Iowa Cubs a great amount of Money to have their name on the stadium, and that helped the Iowa Cubs make improvements to the stadium. If someone wants to offer me money, I will change it to whatever you want me to, but that's not happening, so we will vote on it instead. I want opinions so it doesn't turn out like Wrigley Field becoming AIG Field and nobody having a say. Please have a say by posting a comment.

And P.S. Slacker Sports wouldn't mean that Curling and Fishing would be the main topics.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Have Begun

Its that time of year. The second season has begun for the NHL, and like every year their are surprises already. Both the #1 seeds for the East and West have lost game 1 to the #8 seeds. The Washington Capitals lost in overtime last night to the Montreal Canadiens, and the San Jose Sharks lost to Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. Alexander Ovechkin didn't even get a shot off in the game, but don't expect that to happen again this series, he is only the best player in the NHL. I still expect the Capitals to win the 7 game series. The Sharks tend to underachieve every time they make the playoffs when they are a good seed. Back when they were #8 and #7 seeds they use to knock off the Redwings, but its like a curse. The Sharks do have bad karma, or a sports curse of some sorts, and I have felt it. When I started liking hockey, the San Jose Sharks came into the NHL and the marketing for them was genius. Sharks gear was everywhere, so I hopped on that train. During the early years of my Hockey fascination, I would attempt to have seasons with the Sharks on my Sega Genesis or Sony PlayStation, and for whatever reason I could never finish a season because something would happen and erase it. So I guess that maybe the Sharks are just cursed in the sports world. I was very impressed with the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 1 as they beat the Redwings, scoring all 3 goals on power plays against a team that is very good on penalty killing. Anytime a team beats Detroit they are a fan of mine. Plus it was cool to see all the folks wearing white T-shirts for a whiteout, keeping the tradition going that started when the Coyotes use to be the Winnipeg Jets. Coyotes play very physical, and fly across the ice. Its a very exciting style and it has worked for them as they are #4 seed when they were not very good just a year ago. I think the team to watch starts tonight, and that is the Chicago Blackhawks. They are absolutely loaded with talent, and the only issue they have is goaltending, but they were able to lock in the #2 seed, so we will see if the goaltending can be good enough throughout the playoffs. I think the Blackhawks will skate right through the Nashville Predators onto the second round.

Monday Morning Quick Hits: Baseball Begins, Butler, & McNabb

The grass is green, the season is changing, and that means its time to start baseball. On Opening Day, all the stadiums are full, and everybody is in first place today (well actually the Yankees are in last due to their loss last night to the Redsox, that's too bad). Its time for families to come together, get hot dogs and sodas to enjoy this American past time. Nothing is better than enjoying the outside weather and taking in a baseball game. The Chicago Cubs will take on the Atlanta Braves today at 3:10pm Central on ESPN. This will be their first game of their journey to the NL Central Title. I can't wait to hear "Go CUBS Go"!

Butler will take on Duke tonight for the National Title game. Yes, Butler from the Horizon league is playing an ACC team for the National Title. This is what the NCAA tournament is all about. Nobody is saying Butler doesn't belong, because they do. They were a top 10 team in the country at the beginning of the year. They beat their opponents to get to the title game. Its not like NCAA D-1 Football where Boise State beats up on WAC opponents and then is mad that they don't get a shot at Alabama. Nobody wants to see that. If they had a playoff, everybody would accept it because they would have proven themselves against good talent, like Butler has in the tournament.

Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins last night. Nothing like trading your 11 year star QB to a team in your division. But Redskin fans don't get too excited. Its only for one year, then he will take over for the Vikings when Favre retires. That's what the Vikings do. In the past the Vikings have had Jim McMahon, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, Gus Frerotte, and now Favre. All at the end of their careers. Vikings don't know how to develop QB's, they leave that up to the rest of the NFL.

Barry Bonds signs 1 year, $10.5 Million with Cubs

The Chicago Cubs just threw in all their cards at the poker table with the Cardinals. Cubs said if you think your lineup is tough, wait until you see ours. Yes the Chicago Cubs, under new management have signed Barry Bonds to a 1 year $10.5 million dollar deal. Its actually a steal for the Cubs as he was making $20 million a year when he was in San Francisco. Bonds may not be a great outfielder anymore, but he can still swing the bat. Plus it can't get much worse that Soriano's crow-hop before he catches the ball style in Left field. Cubs expect that Bonds will get quite a bit of playing time, and will be a pinch hitter late in close games when needed. Cubs will be the team to beat in the NL Central as long as the pitching rotation is strong and the bats are swinging. Bonds was asked if he will be a distraction to the team with his federal cases and allegations of using steroids. Bonds stated, "Are you kidding me? They had Milton Bradley on this team last year." "This City has more things to worry about like the White Sox Manager being a hot-head, and the Bulls still looking for an identity since MJ left." Bonds hit 28 home runs and had a batting average of .276 in his last season to play in 2007. This story can only be found here, and have a great April 1st. P.S. The Cubs will win the NL Central regardless cause next year is HERE!

Fran McCaffrey is New Iowa Men's Basketball Coach

Fran McCaffrey from Siena has been named the new head coach at Iowa. It wasn't a big splash or what some would call a home run hire by Gary Barta. First of all their wasn't a lot of big name coaches out there right now, so its not realistic that Iowa was going to land a big name anyways. What I have seen in the last few weeks is a fan base fighting over who should be leading this team, and it hasn't stopped. Some say Forbes should have been the guy, or why didn't they interview Lavin. Forbes has been an assistant coach at Tennessee for a while with no Head Coaching experience at Division 1 level. Barta's job is to find the right guy and a lot of eyes are on Barta since his first hire didn't work, he couldn't afford to take that risk. Lavin has been a ESPN analyst for 6 years. My question is if he is so good, then why has he been doing that the last 6 years? Their have been good jobs open recently and he has stayed at ESPN. Pearl wasn't leaving Tennessee, he makes too much money already. Scott Drew has a great thing at Baylor, he almost made the Final Four, you are not going to leave that to build Iowa when he had to build Baylor. McCaffrey was interviewed for Seton Hall and St. John's. The word on the street was he wanted the Iowa job over those jobs. McCaffrey has done a great job every place he has coached, and has built the program. That is exactly what Iowa needs right now. Here are some things for Iowa fans to think about. Its kind of like recruiting football players, you never know how good the are until they have been here for about 3 years. Give this coach some time, its not like Iowa is loaded with talent right now. This reminds me of the Ferentz hire. It was a Hawkeye meltdown, 90% of Hawk fans felt that Bob Stoops should have been given the job and that Bowlsby fell asleep at the wheel. I wouldn't trade Ferentz for nobody. I didn't even know who he was when he was hired. But he has done an outstanding job here and hopefully will be here for a while. So instead of throwing the new coach under the bus 7 months before he even starts basketball practice, give the guy a shot. Everyone around Hawkeye Nation is so high strung because Lickliter was unsuccessful that they have it in their head that if we hire another mid-major it will be just like the last 2 guys. We are Hawkeye fans, and McCaffrey is our coach. We need to stand behind him and support him because we are Hawkeye fans. He is our guy and we need to rally behind him to get this thing turned around. As Fans we have an obligation too. Its our job to attend games and fill Carver again. Pitino couldn't get this thing turned around with 6,000 people attending home games. We have to do our part too. Iowa fans can be the greatest fans, just look at how we are for Football games. Its time to move forward and get this thing going. If you are not excited today for Iowa basketball, then go root for another team. You are either a Hawk or your Not!

NCAA Basketball Tourney Bracket

Its one of the traditional things to do every year, and that is filling out a NCAA Tourney Bracket. I fill one out every year just for fun and see how it compares to others. This year I didn't follow college basketball closely at all due to a certain program (Iowa) I follow was like watching paint dry. So I got some people together and we created a group to see how we do against each other. As we all now when it comes to filling out your bracket, your wife or girlfriend can fill one out and do just as good as you. You are a man, its a man's sport, so you feel like you are the top professor at MIT when filling out your bracket. Kansas will so beat University of Northern Iowa. Kansas is a veteran team and #1 overall, UNI is just a Missouri Valley Conference team. The wife or girlfriend would pick UNI because they like purple and KU's blue and red is boring. So you think she has no idea. Fast Forward to today, and Kansas is sitting at home watching UNI play Michigan State. So anybody has just as good of a guess as anybody. I fell into the trap of listening to all these analyst that make way more money than me on where the upsets will be and who will be dangerous. Now that the kool-aid no longer tastes good, I can tell you that the Big East is the most overrated basketball conference in the history of the NCAA tournament. West Virginia is the only team left on Friday March 26. Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Marquette, and Louisville all out. I want to take this time and thank you all for ruining my bracket. Yes I did gamble a bit, but their was a lot of let downs with this group. Georgetown I think thought they had a bye versus Ohio, because they were just outplayed. I gambled with Louisville, I thought they would take California, and Duke out. Instead they got beat by a California team that struggled in PAC-10 tournament, suspended a player, had to fly across the country, it was all setup for Louisville, and they blew it. In my group we all have Kansas playing Kentucky, 2 of us picked Kansas, and 2 others picked Kentucky. My only hope to get out of last place was for Syracuse to go to the Final Four, and they blew that last night to Butler. Two people had K-state and one had Pittsburgh. Of course the ones that had Syracuse or Pittsburgh going to Final Four had Villanova too. Another thank you to Big East Conference, job well done.
This year has seen a lot of upsets, if that is what you call it. This is the best 64 teams in the country, and a lot of times the tournament is about matchups. Temple and Wisconsin saw that when they played Cornell. Cornell did very well, as is Butler. UNI is going strong, and so is St. Mary's. The tournament will have a true champion, and that is why you play the game, because on any given night, it may destroy your bracket. Like a mid-major from Cedar Falls, IA knocking off the Kansas Jayhawks.

Spring Football Topic: Breaking the Rules at Michigan

So Rich Rodriguez at Michigan states that the coaches misunderstood the NCAA rules about the amount of hours the coaches could spend on coaching the football team. REALLY? Does anybody else buy this? You are telling me that you coached how many years at West Virginia, and you and your staff didn't get what the NCAA rule book states? RIGHT! Let me connect the dots for you then. My team is bad, we are not getting any better, and we have to play teams like Ohio State, Iowa, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin. I understand you are in a pressure cooker, Michigan is only the winningst college football program in the country. If Rich Rodriquez doesn't get Michigan turned around quickly, its going to see you bye-bye real quick. Michigan was already good, they just couldn't beat Ohio State at the end of the year. Now they have to practice overtime to beat Minnesota. Someone needs to tell Rich Rod that this is the Big Ten, not the Little East. Teams in the Big Ten follow NCAA rule books. This may be more clear now why he had so much success in the Little East. Maybe West Virginia was going over their minutes for coaches to player contacts. The NCAA rules are not a cell phone plan Rich Rod, you can't carry over your minutes from the off-season to the season.

Help Wanted

The University of Iowa is looking for a new basketball coach. One that will bring a fan base back to Hawkeye-Carver Arena. One that will get the fans excited about basketball again. One that can recruit kids to compete in the Big Ten Conference night in and night out. One that brings a style of play that brings energy to the players and fans in the building. Not a lethargic brand of basketball that makes you fall asleep, and makes players not interested.
Who is that guy? Who can rebuild the program that forced a guy out that only took his team to the Sweet Sixteen, but has been a mess ever since. I have seen many names on message boards that are impressive, but can they really do it? Lets look at something for a minute. Tom Davis had a long career at Iowa. Had success, but the University thought recruiting was slipping and the program could do better. So he leaves, takes a break, and enters at Drake University that was a total disaster. He builds them up, hands the keys to his son, and they win the Missouri Valley Conference. I would say he was successful. Steve Alford, most sought after coach from Missouri State, Coach of the Year. Starts off pretty good at Iowa, but then starts to lose close games, player issues off the court, rubbed people the wrong way, takes the free get out of jail card to New Mexico. Has New Mexico a #3 seed in this years NCAA Tournament and has a good recruiting class next year. Todd Lickliter comes to Iowa with great success at Butler, wins coach of the Year just like Alford prior to coming to Iowa. 3 losing seasons, and this year was the worst in Iowa History, sorry coach you may be a good person, but the basketball program is in the toilet. Obviously Iowa has basketball facilities coming to help the program, and Iowa will now be up to date very soon with the rest of the league. The thing that scares me, is I'm not confident anybody can build the program because we have seen successful people come to Iowa and fail, then go to other programs and be successful. So either we are a good learning lesson for coaches, or we are a graveyard for up and coming coaches. 2 coaches that were coaches of the year failed at Iowa. So do not get this year's coach of the year please. Maybe Davis, Alford, and Lickliter were successful at Mid-Major programs because the pressure isn't the same. Coach McDermott was a great coach at University of Northern Iowa. He goes to Iowa State and its a train wreck. Ben Jacobson has done very well at the University of Northern Iowa, but people are saying the same thing about him as they were saying about McDermott prior to Iowa State.
Another option is a top assistant coach at a top program. Kansas, Purdue, and Tennessee have been mentioned for their top assistant. Problem there is no track record. They have no wins or losses. Some may say, they are great recruiters. Are they great recruiters, or is it because the head coach has a good program, or the head coach is involved as well. I would hope you are a good recruiter at Kansas, I could recruit for Kansas.
I would like for Iowa to get a coach that has proven themselves at a major conference. Just some names are Bruce Pearl of Tennessee, Buzz Williams at Marquette, and Kevin Stallings at Vanderbilt. Pearl is not coming folks unless he hates Tennessee. We are not going to pay him what Ferentz makes, deal with it. Williams would be familiar with mid west, same climate as Milwaukee, and may see Iowa as a better chance long run in Big Ten than Marquette in Big East. Stallings wanted a big conference gig, and he has that. Not sure he would leave Vanderbilt who is stable to save Iowa.
Some others to ponder if you want mid-major or up and coming coaches. Josh Pastner at Memphis, worked under Lute Olson at Arizona and Calipari at Memphis. Has #1 recruiting class coming to Memphis, problem is Memphis is a hot bed, and most of those kids probably wouldn't get in at Iowa due to academic standards. Tony Barbee of UTEP. Has done very well at UTEP, and will probably be coaching somewhere else next year as he will be sought after. Keno Davis at Providence. Did well at Drake, brings the Davis system, but allows players to do more in that system. Still unproven at Providence, would be a gamble. Ben Jacobson at UNI. He has been successful at UNI, some say he has a swagger and a look of a top basketball program and could recruit because of it. But its a gamble, and McDermott at ISU doesn't help him. Jacobson has showed that he is a very good game day coach with good decision making throughout the game. His teams are known to score coming out of timeouts or out of bounds possessions.
Nobody knows who will get the keys, but everybody will have a strong opinion on who should.

That's Not OK Mr. Pollard

I feel that this needs to be shared. I feel that all the college fans of the state of Iowa should have knowledge about this. I am a Hawkeye fan, but even though I am a Hawkeye fan, this e-mail that Mr. Pollard sent back to this Iowa State Fan was not appropriate. You can make the judgement yourself. I just feel that someone in that position of Athletic Director of a University in a major conference should not be responding back to fans in the manner he did. Here is the e-mail that was sent to Mr. Pollard and then Pollard's response.

Dear Mr. Pollard,

I am writing you today in regards to the state of the basketball program. I find it troubling that you continue to allow the program that I have watched for as long as I can remember fall into the shambles that it has. I remember watching players like Fred Hoiberg, Marcus Fizer, Jamal Tinsley, and so many more work Hilton Magic. I have watched almost all the games this year, and other then parts of the Texas game, I have not felt that "Magic" since you hired Greg McDermott. In fact, the ticket I bought for the Missouri game will be the last I purchase from your program until there is a change. It is sickening to me to watch the end of Iowa State Basketball games. You can point to the close games and say that they mean something. But every time I watch a close game, I know they are going to lose. I get that sick feeling in my gut because I know whats going to happen. Coach McDermott has shown no ability to coach at the end of the game. No team he has coached has ever shown that they have any capability to win a game in the clutch. Probably because he makes no adjustments during any game I have ever watched. Clearly the strategy he coaches by is not one that will win today, or tomorrow, or any other day in the Big 12 conference. To compound the issue, you are allowing him to basically start his tenure over. More then likely, next year there will be no Craig Brackins. There will be no Marques Gilstrap. Why Mr. Pollard should I buy a ticket to any game next year? To watch Scott Christophersen get burned by players from Kansas, Kansas State, and Texas again? Or better to watch Diante Garrett dribble the ball off his foot five times a game? The only success that Coach McDermott has had is to run off his best players. It sure seems like Mike Taylor and Wesley Johnson seem to be doing fine with their new coaches.It makes me sick that you are allowing this joke to continue. You are poking the eye of the greats that built this program into the dynasty it was. I feel bad for the likes of Johnny Orr, Jeff Grayer, Barry Stevens, Jeff Hornacek and every other person who poured their heart and soul into this program only to watch you allow it be driven back into the ground. I feel bad for them, and for all the rest of the fans of this program who are forced to put up with this sick joke. I see no improvement and until I do I will not be putting any of my money into your program. In fact, allowing for this hideous nightmare to continue not only should Greg McDermott be worried about his job, but you too, Mr. Pollard.

Sincerely,
Matt Rainey
Urbandale, Iowa


From: jbp@iastate.edu
To: Matt Rainey Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 08:43:32 -0600Subject: RE: State of the Mens Basketball Program.

Dear Matt,Thank you for your email. Several thoughts for your to ponder.
1. Yesterday I received over a hundred emails following our letter to ticket holders and donors. Interesting enough, of all the emails I received, the only negative one was from you. Glad to know that your feelings are not shared by the majority of other Cyclone fans.

2. Although I appreciate your passion and desire to write me, I only wish you had the same passion in helping be part of the solution by joining the Cyclone Club or being a season ticket holder. Our records indicate you have never made a donation, purchased season tickets or even purchased a single game ticket from our department. Unfortunately, athletics is like politics - people have a lot of answers but never many solutions.

3. For someone who claims to be a Cyclone fan for as long as you can remember, it it amusing to me that you never have supported the program that you so claim to love. Rather than spending time worrying about what Orr, Grayer, Hornacek, and others would think - I think you should be more worried about yourself. Your email is actually rather embarrassing given your lack of action.Thanks again for your email. I do appreciate it. I also hope you give some thought to my question about joining the Cyclone Club or purchasing season tickets. You can't expect better results if all you are willing to do is sit on the sidelines and write an email to the Athletics Director.

Go Cyclones!



Letter was sent to Steve Deace and Jon Miller of KXNO radio in Des Moines, IA.
http://kxno.com/pages/miller-deace.html