Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 408 of 1503)

      The Top 10 Conference Shake-Ups

      June 15, 2010 /

      Real Clear Sports compiled a top 10 ranking of the biggest conference shakeups in college sports. At No. 1 is the conference that has been talked about the most recently, the Big 12.

      The existence of the Big 12 is now in jeopardy because other conferences can offer more money through television deals. The irony is that that is why the Big 12 was formed in the first place.

      The Southwest Conference was in trouble due to greed and the fact that one-time power Southern Methodist University had never recovered after receiving the “Death Penalty” from the NCAA in 1986. The Big Eight saw the opportunity to swoop in and expand its television audience into the state of Texas, with huge markets in Dallas and Houston. In 1994 the Big Eight cannibalized half of the old SWC (adding Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor) and became the Big 12.

      But in reality it was Texas that really swooped in to form the Big 12. The headquarters for the conference not only moved from Kansas City to Dallas, with a Texan at the helm, but it considered itself a new conference, leaving all the history of the former Big Eight behind. A lopsided deal favoring the University of Texas left traditional power Nebraska feeling jilted, triggering the latest round of conference realignment that the Big 12 nearly did not survive.

      You can check out the rest of the site’s top 10 here.

      It’s easy to forget how conferences came to be, so it’s interesting to take a walk down memory lane. How quickly we forget that Penn State and Florida State used to be independents, Miami used to be in the Big East and most of the current Mountain West used to be in the WAC (which once again was robbed by the MWC when Boise State recently decided to bolt).

      Speaking of the Mountain West, the addition of Boise State will only help them gain full BCS privileges soon, including an automatic bid for the conference champion and a greater share of the bowl payout. The conference has been held back due to how the average computer rank of every team in the conference at the end of the regular season has been so low. But assuming the Broncos don’t drop off the face of the earth with their play, that won’t be a problem soon enough. (TCU, Utah and BYU will also have to stay competitive too, of course.)


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      College Basketball, College Football, External Sports

      End of the line for Chipper Jones

      June 15, 2010 /

      In 1995, Chipper Jones led all major league rookies in RBI (86), games played (145), games started (123), plate appearances (602), at bats (524) and runs scored (87). He also finished second that season for the Rookie of the Year award behind Dodgers’ pitcher Hideo Nomo.

      Fifteen years later, Jones appears ready to hang ‘em up for good.

      Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hasn’t confirmed the news, but writes via his Twitter page that he’s heard from two people that Jones is set to announce his retirement at the end of the season. If he does, he’ll leave baseball with six All-Star selections, two Silver Slugger Awards, one NL MVP trophy, one NL batting title and a World Series ring on his career resume.

      It shouldn’t be a shock to anyone that Jones plans to retire. After batting .264 and committing more errors than any third baseman in baseball in 2009, he thought about hanging up his cleats last year. Thanks in part to a finger injury, he hasn’t hit well this season either and it appears that he knows the writing is on the wall.

      If he does decide to retire, something that I’ll always miss about Chipper is his consistency. He’s never posted awe-inspiring power numbers, yet he usually posted between 25-40 home runs during his prime. His career batting average is also over .300, which is still more impressive to me than a player that finishes his career with 600 home runs. As far as anyone knows, he’s also never been accused of taking steroids either.

      Considering the era he played in, that should gain him unwavering respect in most fans’ eyes.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      Parcells the reason Texans passed on Bush?

      June 15, 2010 /

      According to a report by Yahoo! Sports columnist Jason Cole, the reason why the Texans passed on Reggie Bush in the 2006 NFL Draft was partly because of the NCAA’s potential investigation of him at USC and partly because of former Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells.

      Unknown fact: People around the Houston Texans often say the specter of an NCAA investigation of former USC running back Reggie Bush(notes) had much to do with the decision by the team to take defensive end Mario Williams(notes) over Bush. Bush scared the Texans by not returning calls right away after news of possible violations was broken by Yahoo! Sports. That’s partially true, but the clincher in the deal was a bit of advice from then Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, a high-placed NFL source said recently. Parcells weighed in on the matter after being contacted by Texans owner Bob McNair.

      …and?

      I wish Cole went into more detail as to what Parcells said to McNair, although obviously he didn’t have that information. Either way, it’s interesting to hear that Parcells shared his insight on the matter with another team’s owner. I’m not surprised that McNair took his advice, however.

      Parcells is widely known around the league as being one of the best talent evaluators to have ever worked in the NFL. It’s said that he can determine the strengths and weaknesses of a prospect within minutes of seeing the player workout, which is one of the many reasons he’s had so much success over the years.

      Of course, Bush’s athletic talent has never been questioned (outside of his inability to run consistently between the tackles). So if Parcells did weigh in, maybe he convinced McNair that Bush wouldn’t be worth the money and/or eventual trouble that could occur down the road once the NCAA investigated his situation at USC. (That said, it’s not like the investigation has had an impact on his NFL career.)

      Either way, if this report is true, it once again shows what kind of impact Parcells has made on the NFL throughout his career.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      Rangers talking to Astros about Oswalt?

      June 15, 2010 /

      Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk reported Monday evening that the Rangers and Astros were in discussions about pitcher Roy Oswalt. Calcaterra said that a major league source told him that the teams are “getting closer” to having a deal in place, although the sticking point was whether or not the Rangers could convince MLB to allow them to take on Oswalt’s salary.

      Shortly after Calcaterra’s report started making its rounds, the Fort Wayne Star Telegram debunked the rumor by saying there was no truth to it. The paper even quoted Texas GM Jon Daniels who said, “You can probably figure this one out,” in reference to the trade rumor being false.

      Calcaterra is standing by his report, although he tries to clarify things in an update by saying, “there is a difference between a deal happening and one being discussed.” He also acknowledged multiple times that the Rangers will have an “outrageously” difficult time completing a deal due to their financial constraints.

      Three weeks ago, I myself speculated about whether or not the Rangers would be a good fit for Oswalt. Seeing as how they a) were a contender, b) needed pitching and c) had the farm pieces to swing a deal, that they made a logical trade partner for the Astros. But as Calcaterra and other media outlets have noted, the Rangers have some major financial hurdles to overcome.

      We’ll just have to play the waiting game on this one. While Daniels’ comments make you believe a deal will never happen, this wouldn’t be the first time a GM is being coy about a trade rumor. I still think this story has legs.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      NFL Notes: Mankins requests trade, Dumervil signs tender & McRath busted for PEDs

      June 14, 2010 /

      – According to the Boston Herald and Patriots’ beat writer Mike Reiss, guard Logan Mankins has requested a trade in wake of his current contract situation. Says Makins: “I don’t need to be here anymore. This is about principle with me and keeping your word and how you treat people.”

      The Patriots aren’t big on handing out big contracts to guards (or anyone not named Tom Brady for that matter), but it’ll be interesting to see what approach they take now that Mankins has demanded a trade.

      – The NFL has suspended Titans linebacker Gerald McRath four games for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. He was expected to start this season after seeing extensive action last year as a rookie, but now it appears that David Thornton’s job is safe.

      Speaking of the Titans, Chris Johnson continues to stay away from mini-camp in hopes that the team will give him a new contract. A resolution doesn’t appear to be in sight, as the Titans wants him to play on his current deal, which still has three years remaining on it. Of course if CJ decides to holdout through training camp, Tennessee could be forced to pony up. Johnson is without a doubt their most productive player.

      – Elvis Dumervil signed his one-year, $3.168 million tender with the Broncos on Monday. The Denver Post’s Lindsay Jones writes that the two parties will continue to work on a long-term deal, which Dumervil deserves in wake of his performance last season.

      – The Vikings re-signed restricted free agent Ray Edwards to a one-year, $2.521 million deal. The defensive end had threatened last month to hold out, but apparently that was just a ploy in hopes of receiving long-term contract. Edwards recorded 51 tackles and 8.5 sacks last season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

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