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      Phillies emerging as the favorite to acquire Halladay?

      December 11, 2009 /

      SI.com’s Tom Verducci writes that the Phillies are the emerging favorite to acquire Blue Jays’ ace Roy Halladay.

      After almost a decade in which democracy ruled in the NL, Philadelphia is becoming the Yankees of its league: the king who wants more. Already the two-time league champion, the Phillies, given their aggressiveness and stockpile of young talent, are emerging as the favorite to land Toronto ace Roy Halladay. Anybody want to pick against the Phillies being the NL’s first three-peat champ since the 1942-44 Cardinals if Cole Hamels is their number three pitcher behind Halladay and Cliff Lee?

      “They’ve been very aggressive,” one baseball source said about the Phillies’ pursuit of Halladay. “They’re putting together a package, even if they need another team. They’re trying to find the players [on other teams] the Blue Jays want to get it done.”

      Hmm, one day the Angels are the frontrunners and now the Phillies are. The biggest storyline of the MLB winter meetings is only getting more intriguing.

      This is an interesting report because on one hand, a rotation of Halladay, Lee and Hamels would be unbelievable and would make Philadelphia the perennial favorite to repeat as NL champions. But on the other hand, do they really want to give up more of their farm system?

      The other question is whether or not they would sign Halladay to a long-term deal if they did acquire him. It wouldn’t make much sense to trade away most of your farm to acquire Halladay for just one season, would it?


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      MLB

      Week 14 Top 5 Observations: Browns 13, Steelers 6

      December 10, 2009 /

      Here are five quick-hit observations from the Browns’ upset win over the Steelers in Week 14.

      1. The Steelers are done.
      The defending champs are done, folks. A five-game losing streak, capped off by their ugliest loss of the season, has ensured that Pittsburgh won’t be playing in the postseason come January. One would have thought that the Steelers would be able to get up for a game against the one-win Browns when their backs were against the wall, but then again “one” would be wrong.

      2. The Browns didn’t just win – they dominated.
      For those that missed the broadcast because it was on the NFL Network, let me assure you that the Steelers didn’t beat themselves: They got their asses handed to them. It’s strange to say, but the better team won tonight. Cleveland came out more focused, more determined and flat out took a victory from the Steelers. The Browns’ defensive effort tonight was absolutely outstanding, as they suffocated Pittsburgh’s running game and sacked Ben Roethlisberger eight times. For as much heat as Eric Mangini has taken this season (and deservedly so), the Browns have played hard the past couple weeks and they deserved a win tonight.

      3. Cleveland’s young secondary was excellent.
      Something that will be lost in the stat sheet was how well the Browns’ secondary played. Cleveland’s defense might have racked up eight sacks, but most of those were because of the outstanding coverage. Big Ben simply didn’t have open receivers to throw to, which resulted in him double and triple clutching to avoid throwing into coverage. Pittsburgh’s offensive line didn’t play as badly as the sacks would indicate, or at least not from a pass protection standpoint. The Browns’ pass defense was just that good.

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      NFL

      Notre Dame hires Brian Kelly to be next head coach, Cincinnati players upset

      December 10, 2009 /

      According to ESPN.com, Notre Dame signed Brian Kelly to a five-year deal to become the school’s next head coach. Kelly will not coach Cincinnati when the program takes on Florida in the Sugar Bowl early next month.

      The news didn’t play well with Kelly’s current team. Bearcat players were led into a meeting room, where Kelly told them he was leaving and thanked them for making his opportunity possible. One minute into the meeting, the door opened and receiver Mardy Gilyard walked out angry and alone, save his MVP trophy.

      “He went for the money,” Gilyard told The Associated Press. “I’m fairly disgusted with the situation, that they let it last this long.”

      Players weren’t told of Kelly’s decision until the banquet ended, nearly three hours after the news first broke. A few blinked back tears as they left.

      “We already knew what he was going to say. We weren’t giving him a round of applause or anything,” tight end Ben Guidugli said. “It’s like somebody turned their back on us. We brought this whole thing this far. We’ve come this far. To have someone walk out now is disappointing.”

      Kelly did the exact same thing to his former players at Central Michigan before their bowl game in 2006 after the Chippewas won the MAC Championship. And just like in 2006 when he coached CMU in its bowl game, offensive coordinator Jeff Quinn will fill in for Kelly at the Sugar Bowl.

      None of this should surprise anyone seeing as how Kelly and Notre Dame spoke last week. Kelly has won everywhere he’s been and that’s exactly what the Irish seek right now: A winner. He turned Grand Valley State into a D-II powerhouse, brought a MAC championship to Mt. Pleasant and made Cincinnati a national title contender. He has become the hottest name in college football and if his track record is any indication of how he’ll do in South Bend, he’ll be very successful turning the Notre Dame program around.

      That said, it’s disappointing that yet another college coach turned his back on his players to advance his career. But that’s reality. Players come and go every four years (or less) and coaches have to job hop in order to further their careers. It’s not an ideal format, but I get it.

      Kelly will have his work cut out for him. Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate (ND’s best players) have decided to enter April’s NFL draft and the Irish are void of talent on the defensive side of the ball. But again, if there’s one man that can turn around Notre Dame’s misfortunes, it might just be Kelly.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Here comes Tyreke!

      December 10, 2009 /

      When it comes to the rookie class, Brandon Jennings has dominated the headlines, and for good reason. His 55-point outburst against Golden State was quite the coming out party and his 22.1 ppg average in November was far and away tops amongst rookies, right?

      Not so fast.

      Rather quietly, Tyreke Evans has put together a nice month and a half. Here’s a comparison:

      Jennings: 21p, 6a, 4r, 42% FG, 44% 3PT, 1.1s, 3.0t
      Evans: 20p, 5a, 5r, 46% FG, 26% 3PT, 1.5s, 3.0t

      Aside from Jennings’ superior accuracy from long range, those numbers are pretty similar. Evans has been playing more off guard since Kevin Martin has been sidelined, but the Kings are still starting him at the point. In December, he’s averaging 24-5-6 and is shooting 51% from the field. After his hot start, Jennings has cooled off, averaging 19-3-6 this month, while shooting just 39% from the field. He has only hit 9 of 31 threes in December (29%).

      The Kings are a surprising 9-12, while the Bucks are a less surprising 10-11. Evans is much stronger and is probably better suited to the rigors of an NBA season (though it should be noted that he has missed a game this season, while Jennings has not). Meanwhile, Jennings attacks the defense with quickness using more of a finesse game (pull up jumpers, crafty layups, teardrops) to score. It’s going to be interesting to see these two guards battle for status as the ROY frontrunner, and what happens when Blake Griffin returns. Also, can Evans keep up this pace with Kevin Martin back in the lineup?

      We will see.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Is Brady Quinn finally turning the corner?

      December 10, 2009 /

      One game doesn’t define a player’s potential or future, and neither do three games.

      That said, I’m intrigued by the play of Brady Quinn these past three weeks, especially considering how brutal he looked on Monday Night Football against the Ravens four weeks ago.

      In his putrid effort that fateful Monday night, Quinn couldn’t even keep the ball in-bounds on desperation heaves down the field. He struggled with accuracy, turnovers, decision-making and everything else that comes with being a quarterback. He was awful, brutal, terrible – atrocious. He was so bad that I even wrote this in my recap of the game:

      Brady Quinn is bad, so bad that it’s safe to say that he has zero chance of becoming anything resembling a decent starting quarterback in the NFL.

      Ouch.

      Since that point, however, Brady has thrown seven touchdowns and zero interceptions over a three-game span. Thanks to Jerome Harrison taking over the starting running back duties and Cleveland’s use of the no-huddle offense, Quinn has been solid. In fact, he’s looked like a completely different quarterback than he did earlier in the season.

      But alas, here comes another prime time opportunity for Quinn, and against another division rival no less. The Browns take on the Steelers tonight – a team that has a habit of making quarterbacks look silly. Granted, this isn’t the same Pittsburgh defense we’re accustomed to seeing and its loss last week to Oakland proves that. But this is a team in desperate need of a win after losing four straight, and is trying to keep their fading playoff hopes alive.

      It would be nice to see Quinn continue to develop his craft. If he is turning the corner, then he’ll need to prove that he can have success against a tough opponent in prime time. Again, one game doesn’t decide anything. But confidence and consistency mean so much to a young quarterback, so his performance tonight is bigger than one would think.

      I’m neither a Browns nor a Steelers fan, but here’s hoping the kid puts on a good show tonight.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

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