Wednesday, July 21, 2010

07/21 Quickie: USC, Lou, SEC, More

Let’s start with this: It’s not enough for USC to return Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy -- now, it’s on the Heisman Trust to give the Trophy to the player who deserved it: Vince Young.

Meanwhile: Can someone point to the part of Pat Haden’s resume that would minimally qualify him for a job like Athletic Director?

Oh, that’s ideal: Take a corrupt program and put the guy with no actual experience in charge. Haden’s interpretation of “compliance” is fluffing Notre Dame as a TV “analyst.”

This whole agent-crackdown by the NCAA feels like an overreaction. It is cynical to say “It’s widespread and that’s that,” but is this really a rock that the NCAA wants to turn over?

(Question: If UNC’s Marvin Austin was eligible for the past NFL Draft, where would he have gone? Well, he’s projected as a mid-1st pick in 2011, so let’s say no lower than mid-2nd. It’s probably even more severe for Alabama’s Marcel Dareus, projected as a high-1st in 2011.)

I’m with Joe Sheehan: Lou Piniella should be in the Hall of Fame. The job he did with the Reds in 1990 is one of the great single-season managerial jobs in recent memory.

I’m partial to Lou: My baseball glove was a Piniella model, and a former girlfriend’s dad was very close to Lou; somewhere, I have a signed ball, made out to the two of us.

It’s a double-whammy for me: Ryne Sandberg is my all-time favorite player, and he appears to be the leading contender for the Cubs job next season. He better get seasoned up fast.

Are the Phillies about to trade for Roy Oswalt? Because when you say that they are in the market for another top-line pitcher, the list is pretty short.

Link of the Day: OK, the ending of the Giants-Dodgers game was totally convoluted. Luckily, Rob Neyer can make as much sense of it as anyone -- but some things are still left unclear.

Of course Brad Childress and Brett Favre didn’t discuss some kind of actual deadline. That would undermine the entire process of the enabling.

I should always stay away from hockey analysis, but I’m not sure what the NHL is thinking in rejecting Ilya Kovalchuk’s unprecedented 17-year deal with the Devils. Can’t see how the net result of teams locking in their stars for the rest of their careers is a bad thing.

Given that they already have two combo guards, are the Warriors signing Jeremy Lin for the local marketing value? Nothing inherently wrong with that -- btw, he played well enough in Summer League to merit a roster spot, regardless of potential jersey sales -- but I’d appreciate it if they at least acknowledged it.

Jimmy Johnson as a contestant on Survivor: Nicaragua? I just don’t see Jimmy putting himself in a position where he might have to get off his boat. Let alone mess up his hair. (Also: Doesn’t Fox have a problem with Johnson appearing on a signature CBS show? If Johnson wants to be a reality-TV star, can’t Fox make that happen for him?)

Looking ahead to today’s big story: SEC Media Days, the king of all college media days. Last year’s total “Teclipse” won’t be matched, and it feels like the recent NCAA/agent run-ins involving Florida and Alabama -- only the two biggest teams in the league, with the two biggest star coaches -- will be the big topic of conversation. Can’t we just talk about how awesome John Brantley will be?

-- D.S.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sorry to hear about your departure from Sporting Blog...I have been a fan since Pge 2's heyday...good to see you still writing here...