Day: September 21, 2006

Alex Rodriguez: born to be a Cub

September 21, 2006 / David Medsker

I never thought I’d say this, but I feel sorry for Alex Rodriguez. His stat line is sitting at .284-106-34-116-14, and everyone in New York thinks he’s a bum. Sure, he won the MVP last year, but that was last year. What has he done for the Bronx faithful lately? He’s knocked in only 116 runs. Lousy bum.

And where do all bums go to play? The north side of Chicago.

The Yankees should trade Alex Rodriguez to the Cubs. Here’s what I’m thinking: Send the Yankees Felix Pie, the highly touted outfield prospect (Damon, Sheff and Godzilla aren’t going to play forever), third base prospect Scotty Moore (currently batting .318 with an OPS of 1.082), and former golden boy Mark Prior, and we’ll take A-Rod and stabilize that tense Yankee clubhouse. Of course, Georgie boy will have to send over about $10 million for each year left on A-Rod’s contract. The Tribune Co. may be filthy rich, but they haven’t lost sight of the value of a dollar. Ask any Cub fan, they’ll tell you.

Tell me the Yankees wouldn’t love to have Mark Prior. He’s not injury-prone (though he is admittedly that) so much as snakebitten, suffering from accidents as much as injuries. Get him in the hands of a pitching coach that knows what he’s doing – and more importantly, get him off the Cubs, where he will never live up to his unreasonably high promise – and the sky’s the limit. Even better, the Cubs can put A-Rod back at shortstop, a position at which he’s far more comfortable. Re-sign Juan Pierre, and you have a lineup like this:

1) Juan Pierre CF
2) Ryan Theriot 2B (have you seen this kid? Wow)
3) Derrek Lee 1B
4) Alex Rodriguez SS
5) Aramis Ramirez 3B
6) Michael Barrett C
7) Jacque Jones RF
8) Matt Murton LF

That lineup is going to score a boatload of runs, which is good, because the Cubs aren’t going to have a single 100-run hitter for the year, and that, sirs, is pathetic.

Yes, I know this is all a big, big pipe dream. The Yankees, postseason struggles be damned, would be fools to get rid of Alex Rodriguez. But if there is one thing that all Cubs fans have in abundance, it’s hope. And I hope to see A-Rod wearing Cubbie blue next season.

MLB

Reggie Bush Claims He Made $100,000 Through USC Work-Study Program

September 21, 2006 / John Paulsen

This, of course, is a headline from the good folks over at The Onion. The article is hilarious – here are a few excerpts:

“During my time at USC, I managed not only to carry a full 12-unit course load every semester while playing Division I football, but I also worked as many as 15 simultaneous work-study jobs that allowed me the opportunity to provide food, clothing, and shelter for my family with a little spending money left over,” Bush said, reading from a prepared statement at the Saints training facility. Bush also added that, on average, the university’s work-study jobs paid $6.50 an hour. “I did not, I repeat, did not earn a dime for my play on the field.”
Bush added: “I used the same focus, intensity, and relentless effort to shelve over 450,000 books as a librarian’s assistant at the East Asian Library, Gerontology Library, and Hoose Library Of Philosophy that I did to help lead the Trojans to the 2004 national championship.”
“Whenever I would show a clip and the sound wouldn’t work, it was always Reggie who would sprint the 40 yards from the audio-visual center in 4.2 seconds flat,” said history professor Niles Langford. “And since I’m a real dumbbell with these electronics, believe me, he earned his money.”
Bush said that he was able to purchase a 45-inch high-definition flat-screen television, rent his posh downtown apartment, and buy his friends the newest pair of Air Jordans by “working [his] butt off at the Carl’s Jr. in the student union, taking lecture notes for disabled students six times a week, and working the Sunday-morning shift as a security guard at Trojan Hall.”
“Reggie paid strict attention to those who entered and exited the dorm, making sure the guest policy was upheld and honored,” said dorm supervisor Alex Valinsky. “Under his watch, nearly 17,000 guest violations were recorded.”
“Easily a school record,” Valinsky added. “Better even than O.J.’s work guarding faculty parking.”
The biggest charge against Bush—the question of his family’s ability to move from their small San Diego apartment to a $757,000 home in Spring Valley during Bush’s junior year—could, according to Bush, be explained by his “cushy” job in the Student Activities Office, which Bush admits was “pretty easy,” saying he “literally did nothing for $11 an hour.”
“When I find the shoebox with all of my time sheets and pay stubs, I will be vindicated of any wrongdoing,” Bush’s statement concluded. “Unfortunately, most of these hundreds of boxes seem to contain new pairs of shoes, but they have to turn up sooner or later.”

The Onion always manages to make the absurd even more absurd.

College Football, NFL

The Billy Volek story comes to light

September 21, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

In 2003, former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair fell victim to a variety of injuries. The Titans backup at the time was Billy Volek – a former undrafted rookie free agent from Fresno State that the team signed in 2000.

Volek stepped in to the starting role and played in a total of seven games that season in ‘03. His completion percentage was 63.8, he threw four touchdowns, no interceptions and finished the season with a QB rating of 101.4.

That season opened up eyes in the Tennessee organization that the kid could play. In 2004, the Titans fought off other teams for the rights to keep the free agent to be, and thought of Volek as an eventual replacement for McNair.

Fast forward to this past offseason when Tennessee essentially tossed McNair out on the streets (a player who had served the franchise well for over 10 seasons) and handed the starting role over to Volek.

Now granted, the Titans did select NCAA National Championship winner Vince Young of Texas with the third overall pick in April’s draft, but head coach Jeff Fisher was adamant that Volek was his man.

However, something happened between then and last week, when Tennessee traded Volek to the San Diego Chargers for a sixth round pick and a ham sandwich.

What happened to the guy everybody in Tennessee thought would be McNair’s replacement?

In a story posted on Tennessean.com on Wednesday, Volek wanted to know the same thing:

“If you want to point the finger at me, point the finger at me. I am fine with that. But let me know why I am not playing, and that never happened here. No one told me. Yes, I leave with some bitterness. But I am trying to think of the good times. And I am excited about my new opportunity.”
“When Steve left, I was told it was my job, but I was never told I earned it. I was always told I inherited it. I remember Coach (Jeff) Fisher floating that out there, and that bothered me,” Volek said.

The story doesn’t end there.

Fisher, a man who is regarded in high standards by many NFL officials and someone who normally doesn’t speak on in-house issues, responded to Volek’s comments with a barrage of slams on his former QB in a follow-up Tennessean.com article:

“I never at anytime in my career have gone into such detail (about a trade). But I felt the responsibility, as Billy felt he was thrown under the bus,” Fisher said. “Billy threw this organization under the bus, along with a number of his teammates.”
“He was untruthful with me, untruthful with his head coach, about where he was and what he was doing. So we started off on the wrong page there, and that did not sit well with me,” Fisher said.

In the same interview, Fisher goes on to say that after the team signed veteran quarterback Kerry Collins before the final preseason game, Volek marched into Fisher and general manager Floyd Reese’s office and demanded a trade.

The most intriguing quote from Fisher’s interview was the comment about Volek lying to the head coach.

Fisher wouldn’t go into detail about what Volek lied about, but gauging from the little Fisher did unveil, maybe the quarterback wasn’t preparing for the season like a starter normally would (whether that means studying the playbook, getting into playing shape or being a leader in the locker room).

This is all speculation of course, but perhaps Volek didn’t show the kind of desire or work ethic in demonstrating that he wanted to be more than just the backup. Volek did say that Fisher told him he inherited the position – he didn’t earn it.

The man mum on the situation in both of these articles is Norm Chow, the Titans offensive coordinator. Something tells me he is behind the story as well – maybe he and Volek weren’t on the same page, which led to Fisher saying he was lied to about where the quarterback “was”?

Regardless of what really happened in Tennessee with Billy Volek, it’s interesting that Fisher has admitted that the quarterback was on bad terms in the organization. Because I found it a little odd that all of a sudden after a few bad preseason games the Titans gave up on him and delegated the guy to third string once Collins was signed.

Maybe Volek was a bad egg?

NFL

College Game of the Week: (#12) Notre Dame at Michigan State

September 21, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

In honor of the 2006 College Football Season, Bullz-Eye.com will preview an up-and-coming game of the week, each week, for the entire length of the NCAA season.

Each week a game will be highlighted and broken down by each teams strengths and weaknesses vs. its opponent. Plus, no preview would be complete without a forecasted score – you’ll find a prediction on the game at Bullz-Eye.com as well.

On tap this week: (#12) Notre Dame at Michigan State.

College Football, General Sports

NFL Game of the Week: Jacksonville at Indianapolis

September 21, 2006 / Anthony Stalter

Great games flood the NFL schedule in week three, but what game is worthy of Game of the Week on Bullz-Eye.com?

Chicago travels to Minnesota for a early battle for NFC North supremecy, while the Steelers look to bounce back from their Monday night loss to the Jaguars as they welcome the Bengals. Seahawks at Giants maybe?

All great games, but nothing compares to two undefeated teams that are specialized on one side of the ball.

One contest will be plucked off the schedule every week and broken down by each teams strengths and weaknesses vs. its opponent. Plus, no preview would be complete without a forecasted score – you’ll find a prediction on the game at Bullz-Eye.com as well.

On tap for Week 3: Jaguars (2-0) at Colts (2-0).

General Sports, NFL