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      SEC losses another star, as Georgia’s Houston opts for NFL draft

      January 17, 2011 /

      Chris Low of ESPN.com reports that Georgia All-SEC outside linebacker Justin Houston has decided to declare early for the NFL draft. Houston finished second in the SEC this season with 10 sacks, which gave him 17.5 sacks over the past two seasons.

      Houston is the latest SEC underclassmen to turn pro over the past month. Teammate A.J. Green announced last week that he was skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft, which means the Bulldogs will lose four linebackers and their star receiver this offseason. (Darryl Gamble and Akeem Dent were seniors, while Marcus Dowtin is transferring to another school.)

      Late last week, quarterback Cam Newton and defensive tackle Nick Fairley of Auburn decided to forego their senior seasons and enter the draft. Kentucky will also be without Randall Cobb next season, while Alabama will lose running back Mark Ingram, receiver Julio Jones and defensive end Marcell Dareus to the NFL.

      Fairley could have company in the top 5 if scouts view fellow SEC player Ryan Mallett (Arkansas) as a top selection. At 6-6 and 238 pounds, Mallett certainly has the size and arm strength to develop into a starting quarterback at the next level, but some have questioned his inability to close out big games and lead his team in crunch time.

      LSU’s Patrick Peterson and Stevan Ridley are two more names that the SEC will lose this offseason, but the conference is always producing new talent. It will repopulate.

      College Football, External Sports, NFL

      Cardinals want Pujols’ deal to be less than eight years?

      January 17, 2011 /
      Colorado Rockies catcher Miguel Olivo is struck in the head with a bat by St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols in the first inning in St. Louis on October 1, 2010. Olivo left the game and went to a local hospital to be checked. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

      SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the Cardinals want Albert Pujols’ contract extension to be eight years or less.

      The baseball people who are closely following the talks see this situation as difficult to predict and say the early signs are that the sides aren’t all that close to a deal at present. Despite a quick deadline and a lack of proof that there’s serious progress to date, a majority of baseball people still figure the sides will work it out, partly because of the belief that Pujols is worth more to St. Louis than anyone else, and the lack of an obvious outside suitor for an Alex Rodriguez-type deal (see below).

      While neither side is talking publicly, early word is that Pujols has used A-Rod’s contract, the richest in baseball and one that guarantees him least $275 million over 10 years (and could be worth as much as $305 million if he hits all his landmark home-run numbers), as the only comp. That comes as no surprise as Pujols is widely considered the best player in the game.

      The Cardinals, meanwhile, are said to have initially suggested a contract that would guarantee Pujols at least a bit less than $200 million. The exact particulars of their offer or offers aren’t known, but there is a belief around the game that the Cardinals are hoping to keep the deal to seven years or less. In an interview with SI.com at the winter meetings, Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt strongly suggested he had no intention of making a 10-year offer and opined that the Yankees had to “regret” such a deal.

      Rotoworld.com writes that Pujols’ camp wants a new deal done by spring training or else they will begin planning for the 2012 free agency period. The Cardinals don’t want that, but they still have to be somewhat fiscally responsible.

      Obviously they want their superstar to be a Cardinal for life, but St. Louis isn’t a big market club. The Cards don’t want to shell out $300 million over the course of 10 years to retain Pujols, only to watch the Cubs or Reds win the NL Central every season because they can’t field a team around him.

      External Sports, MLB

      PlayoffBlitz’s Week 2 Results

      January 17, 2011 /

      Last week, I finished a (miserable) second-to-last in PlayoffBlitz’s playoff fantasy contest. I did a little better this week with Cutler at QB (41 points), Mendenhall (17) and Forte (14) at RB and a decent output from Santonio Holmes (9). Tony Gonzalez (0 points) killed me and the Chicago defense (2 points) was pretty brutal in a great matchup with the Seahawks.

      I’m now in 17th out of 23 entries. Anthony Stalter (a.k.a. Against The Spread) moved ahead of me with Aaron Rodgers (43 points), Greg Jennings (14) and Todd Heap (11). He’s sitting in 15th with two weeks to play.

      Looking ahead, I’m in a tough spot at QB, as I’ve already used both NFC QBs. So I have to pick between Mark Sanchez and Ben Roethlisberger and hope that I don’t pick the winning QB. Otherwise, I’ll be without a QB in the final week, and that’s not good. I’ve also already used the top WR for all four teams (Jennings, Holmes, Knox and Wallace), so I’ll need to choose my wideouts wisely. These are four very good defenses, so I’m not sure how many fantasy points will be scored going forward.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Why isn’t NBATV running Red Zone Channel-like coverage of the 13 MLK Day games?

      January 17, 2011 /

      Early last year, I wrote a post about how I’d fix the NBA. Looking at the slate of MLK Day games (13 in all), I assumed NBATV would be running buzzer to buzzer coverage, looking in on the competitive games and tight finishes. But right now they’re running a documentary about Dikembe Mutombo. Go figure. Anyway, here’s an excerpt of that post:

      The lottery idea was actually the way the NBA used to do things, and they should go back to it. Tanking at the end of the season is one of the biggest problems with today’s NBA.

      As for the length of the season, I wouldn’t stop at cutting just four games. I’d go with a 66-game season. Every team would play each of its division rivals four times (16 games) and all the other teams twice, once at home and once away (50 games). Cutting back on the regular season would make it matter again. Right now, it’s rare for a regular season game to hold much significance.

      Fewer games would also mean more schedule flexibility, so I’d set it up so that NBA teams would only play on certain days, say Tuesday (to avoid Mondays during football season), Friday and Saturday. That means there would be 15 games on each night, so NBATV could bounce around from game to game like the Red Zone Channel catching the best action and furious finishes. This would generate interest in the league and make fantasy basketball more appealing. Fantasy football is something that has really helped the NFL increase its popularity over the last decade.

      Lastly, I’d cut guaranteed contracts down to a max of four years to re-sign a team’s own players and three years for free agents. This would limit the impact of mistakes, and while I agree with Houston GM Daryl Morey that it’s not a system that favors the prepared, it would increase parity by allowing teams to recover from mistakes more quickly, which is another thing that makes the NFL so popular. (Mediocre teams would benefit from a lottery system that would give equal opportunity to win the #1 pick to all of the non-playoff teams, so you win some and you lose some.)

      Of course, this is all a pipe dream. David Stern exudes confidence and whenever someone asks him about something that’s wrong about the NBA, he spins it the other way. They aren’t going to cut the regular season back because it would mean less revenue at the box office for the owners. That means that my idea of “NBA Nights” will never happen, and that means that fantasy basketball will continue to flounder.

      The league is doing well enough that Stern and the owners will be reluctant to make any significant changes to the structure. The four-year max contract is a possibility, however, as the owners and players have to agree on a new CBA and shorter contracts are one of the things that the owners are pushing.

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Done for good this time? Favre officially files for retirement.

      January 17, 2011 /
      Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre walks off the field after te game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago on November 14, 2010. The Bears won 27-13. UPI/Brian Kersey

      It appears as though Brett Favre is serious this time about hanging ‘em up for good.

      According to a report by FOX Sports’ Alex Marvez, Favre filed retirement papers with the NFL and is set to walk away from the game for good. Of course, he also filed his retirement papers in February of 2009 and then managed to play two more seasons, so one never knows with him.

      But the timing is right if he does officially retire. He proved in ‘09 that he could still play at an elite level, but he took a beating both on and off the field this past season. He once again dealt with an assortment of injuries and it’s clear that his 41-year-old body can’t withstand the punishment anymore. When you also factor in what has happened off the field, it’s probably best if Favre doesn’t pull another about-face and return next year.

      For those who think Favre will always be remembered for the Jenn Sterger scandal, let me remind you that only the minority talk about Michael Jordan’s days as a Washington Wizard or discusses his rumored issues with gambling. People remember O.J. Simpson more for his off-field antics, but that’s because the man was caught up in a murder trial (and later for going to prison for attempted robbery).

      People in Green Bay will never forget how he retired his way to Minnesota, but they’ll also forever be grateful for the many great moments he gave them while wearing a Packer helmet (which include a Super Bowl victory). He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and while some believe he tarnished his legacy over these past couple of years, others will talk about his greatness on the field without ever mentioning the name Jenn Sterger or criticizing him for his offseason fickleness.

      That said, I still won’t believe he’s officially retired until Week 1 of the 2011 season rolls around and he’s not in uniform. And even then…

      External Sports, NFL

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