College Football's Most Important Rivalry

Before you get too caught up in the hype leading up to this weekend's made-up conference championship games that have been foisted on the public in order to better the fill the coffers of major conferences, or you start thinking about the scintillating quarterback duel in Southern California, I thought I would remind you about the most important game being played Saturday. This one won't decide who plays in the Rose Bowl (which, by the way, should never have joined the BCS and destroying the beauty of its Pac-10 -Big 10 match up), and will have no bearing on the national championship, something about which we college football fans and the media obsess far too much. No, this one is about something far more important: duty, honor, country, you know - real values.

Yes, folks, it's the 106th edition of the Army-Navy game and it appears to have gotten off to a rousing start. You see, Navy woke up this morning to discover the Commander in Chief trophy that is theirs by reason of their win last year over Army and Air Force is missing. It was moved from its usual position under locked glass to the Navy locker room, but in its place this morning was a note that read:

"Before we win the football game on Saturday, we thought we would take the trophy. By the time you read this, it will be halfway to West Point."

You have to love those Cadets. Just another chapter in the prank filled history of Army-Navy Week.

NFL May Take Game to London Next Season

Fresh off the success in Mexico this season, the NFL appears to be eyeing what will be newly completed Wembley Stadium in London for a regular season game next season. The Mayor of London, the flamboyant Ken Livingstone, has been lobbying the NFL to bring the game to London and, at least the Times believes he has succeeded. The likely candidates for teams are the Giants, who managed to steal an extra home game from the Saints this year and either the Bucs, due to Malcolm Glazer's ownership of Manchester United, or the Patriots, due to Robert Kraft's interest in potential ownership of Liverpool. The Patriots would certainly draw less protest than would the Bucs, as any appearance by Glazer or his team will no doubt draw plenty of Man U fans still angry over his purchase of the club.

Bowl Business - Big East Thanks Notre Dame

The interconnectedness of the bowls is sometimes amazing. The domino effect of Notre Dame's win over Stanford illustrates not only how so many of the bowls are connected but how, until next year, so much money was riding on the performance of the Irish in that game. A win and the Irish go to the Fiesta Bowl for a $17 million payday that, of course, is shared with no one. Lose, and Notre Dame goes to the Gator Bowl for a payout in the neighborhood of $2.5 million. Not too shabby to be sure, but a loss of almost $14.5 million. That's a big chunk of change riding on the performance of a bunch of 18-21 year olds.

Now that ND has won and secured the expected Fiesta Bowl bid, the Gator Bowl has extended a bid to Louisville. Had the Irish lost, that bid would have gone to Notre Dame and presumably the Cardinals would have fallen to the Meineke Car Care Bowl, if not the Insight Bowl in Phoenix, leaving the Car Bowl for Rutgers. With Stanford's loss, the Pac-10 is unable to fill all its slots and the ACC stepped in to fill the breach. Had Stanford beat Notre Dame to become bowl eligible, the Pac-10 would have filled its slots, and the ACC would have been left with a surplus of bowl eligible teams.

The spot opposite Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl has been the subject of intense media speculation and not inconsiderable lobbying. Most of the media seem to believe, as do I, that the Fiesta will ignore its ties to the Pac-10 and choose Ohio State. If so, that will move every Big 10 team up one slot in bowl order and leave the Big 10 one school short of filling its bowl slots. The Motor City Bowl will have an opening, unless UConn upsets Louisville on Saturday thus becoming bowl eligible. In that case, the Big East will have enough bowl eligible teams to pick up its conditional Motor City bid. Are you following me here? See how complicated this all gets?
Just think, at least one and maybe more bowls are going to be proposed for next year. The Big East is in discussions about a bowl in Toronto to be played in what was formerly called the SkyDome.

Back to the Gator Bowl for a moment. The ACC representative won't be chosen until after this weekend, pending the results of the ACC Championship game. Why? If Va. Tech were to inexplicably lose somehow to FSU, then the Hokies would go to the Gator Bowl. If not, it's likely to be Miami, even though Miami coach Larry Coker would rather not play Louisville since the Cards are on Miami's schedule in 2006. The choice would then reveberate throughout the ACC picks down the line from the Peach Bowl on down.

Meanwhile, the not so mighty SEC is unable to fill all of its slots this year and the Big XII will just fill all of its slots. The coalition conferences will be supplying at large teams this year to fill some of the slots that the six BCS conferences are unable to fill, but things are still fluid and there is only one week left to play with only championship games and a few other games in the Big East and Pac-10 left to be played.

Unaccredited Miami High School Helps Athletes Qualify

Miami and surrounding Dade County is one of the largest recruiting hotbeds for high school football in the country. It's not surprising, then, to also find it on the leading edge of new ways to bend if not break NCAA rules. The latest scam to come out of South Florida: a correspondence high school through which an athlete can raise his grade point average miraculously in a few short weeks.

In this article, the New York Times exposes University High School, an unaccredited correspondence high school in Miami, that has been used by several area football players to raise their grade point averages in core courses to enable them to qualify to play as freshmen under NCAA guidelines. Several issues jump out after reading this article. Why does an admissions office at a university not question a kid presenting a transcript showing a sudden transfer midway through his senior year to University High, especially if he is taking an unusually heavy workload there? Why did the NCAA clearinghouse approve an unaccredited correspondence school when it applied for approval? How did Tennessee approve it after they took the trouble to go to Miami and check it out? Why did no one else bother to take the time and trouble Tennessee did? Why did it take this long for Myles Brand to act on correspondence schools?

Manchester United Jerseys will Sport a New Look

As if the departure of captain and catalyst Roy Keane last week was not enough trouble for Manchester United, earlier this week Vodafone informed the club that it was terminating it jersey sponsorship two years earlier than anticipated. Since the sponsorship was bringing in about 9 million pounds a year, its termination is no small matter to Malcolm Glazer and the Red Devil brain trust.

The troubles at Man U don't end there. Their Champions League hopes are hanging on by a thread - well, actually by the need for a victory at Benfica in Lisbon. Anything less than an outright win, and Manchester is eliminated from the Champions League without getting out of the group stage and the loss of the additional revenue that entails.

With the heavy debt that Glazer took on in buying the club, any lost opportunity creates problems. His business plan anticipated not just qualifying for Champions League play every year, but advancing beyond the group stage of the competition. Failing to do that and failing to replace Vodafone as a jersey sponsor with a comparable paying sponsor will place in serious doubt Glazer's ability to meet his obligations. That may pave the way for the hedge funds that provided a portion of the financing to become his ownership partners. If the Manchester United fans didn't care much for Glazer as an owner, I suspect that they'll like hedge fund managers significantly less.

Man U's troubles won't be easily solved. Winning will help, but that is only a start. Its place in the soccer universe may just not be what it was in the 90s and the business plan that Glazer devised relied on that place. Without it, and the revenue that came with it, he may not be able to hold on to the club for long.

Ecclestone Sells Interest in Formula One

Bernie Eccelstone, the man who has long dominated Formula One racing, has reached an agreement to sell his 25% interest in the company which controls Formula One to a new company formed by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. CVC has also reached an agreement to purchase the interests owned by one of the three banks owning the remaining 75% and is negotiating with the others. CVC is not new to motorsports, as it owns the company that controls MotoGP, the international motorcycling circuit.

The sale is subject to the approval of the European Commission and FIA, the international sanctioning body for Formula One. What is most intriguing about this sale to fans of Grand Prix racing is whether the entrance of CVC to the F1 scene will bring back the five manufacturers who have announced plans to begin their own circuit in 2008, after years of frustration with Ecclestone. The five, BMW, Mercedes, Renault, Honda and Toyota have formed the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association in conjunction with their operating partner iSe. In reaction to the announcement of the sale, the GPMA indicated that planning for 2008 will continue but "we look forward to entering into a constructive dialogue". Fans can only hope that the constructive dialogue will result in an agreement that will bring the GPMA back to the track in 2008 now that Ecclestone appears to be gone. F1 racing will not be the same if there is only one or at most two alternative manufacturers to Ferrari.

Marlins Threaten to Move

Now that the Florida Marlins plans for a new baseball only stadium next to the Orange Bowl have collapsed, the team has pulled out the "Get out of town" card. Today, the Marlins announced that the team has received the approval of Major League Baseball to investigate its options in other cities. Marlins President Dave Samson said that did not preclude staying in South Florida but it did mean there would be no deal in the City of Miami and no extension of the lease at Dolphins Stadium. The Marlins want a baseball only facility.

The immediate impact of the announcement has already been felt as the team has begun the payroll dump that inevitably follows any such announcement. Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell have been shipped to Boston for prospects. Expect more of the same.

If you have any questions about how the Marlins arrived at this sad state of affairs, I refer you to this excellent column by Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard. He has quite accurately explained the pathetic support the Marlins have received from the South Florida sports fans and public officials, all the while putting on the field championship teams., worthy of far, far better. It's a shame really, but I guess South Florida just isn't a baseball town. So, maybe it will be better than if the Marlins move to someplace that will appreciate them and support them in the manner to which they would like to become accustomed.

The Battle for the Hockey Players Union Rages On

The latest blast in the ongoing conflict in the National Hockey League Players Association was triggered by the resignation of the second highest ranking senior ex-player Steve Larmer. It was bad enough for morale that a popular union official like Larmer felt the need to resign because of the administration of executive director Ted Saskin. That he did so by publishing his letter on the website made matters even worse for Saskin.

Larmer charges that Saskin has taken the union back to the days of former boss Alan Eagleson who was convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison. He said the organization had taken steps back to the Eagleson days "where a select few made decisions for the group." He went on to describe Saskin's hiring after the previous union executive director Bob Goodenow resignation following the end of the lockout, as follows:

"When Bob was asked to step down in late July, some members of the executive committee hired Ted right away. They did so relying on information given to them by Ted. They did not follow the Constitution or the Bylaws. They were misled and made a wrong decision."

Saskin's response Larmer's charges have been consistent with his past responses to everything else that has been brought up, according to an email published in the Toronto Globe and Mail ..."he has not received accurate information on recent events and has never discussed any of his concerns with me or other Executive Committee members before he decided to resign."

Nevertheless, according to a team by team poll conducted by the Globe and Mail, it appears that Saskin has enough support to keep his job. The poll reveals that 19 teams and executive committee members, the required majority, but just barely, of the 37 eligible voters in the secret ballot re-vote conducted over the last two months have supported Saskin. There is still one big "IF" that stands in the way of the finality of that vote. The dissident faction has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging among other things that the original Saskin appointment violated the union's constitution and US labor laws. They will also contend that the re-vote is invalid since the original appointment was invalid and the whole process has been tainted. Nevertheless, barring the NLRB's ordering a new election or a different result or process, it appears that Saskin will finally be allowed to formally take office as executive director of the union. That will not silence the dissident group, nor will end the NLRB action.

The Southern California Angels May Move to Where?

As the litigation of the name of the baseball team the plays in Anaheim and won the American League West drags on, the owner of that team is beginning to wonder where the team should play. Having your landlord sue you can engender that kind of questioning, you know. Arte Moreno is not feeling a lot of love for Anaheim these days.

On the one hand, the Angels are one of baseball's success stories. Back to back division titles for the first time, attendance over the 3,000,000 mark in 2005, the reigning AL Cy Young award winner and season ticket sales up to 28,000 with 38% coming from outside of Orange County. Yes, times are good in Angel land. Except that is when it comes to Angel Stadium and the relations with the City of Anaheim.

There is the little troublesome issue of that name thing. You remember that lease provision. The one that obligates the team name to "include the name Anaheim therein". Ah, yes the clause that has given rise to Mr. Moreno's litigation problems and will cause him to pay $4 to $5 million on legal bills, more than he paid his bullpen, which could account for the problems his relief pitchers has last season. Moreno has raised the spectre of moving the team if things with the city can't be worked out, but how real that threat is to be taken is questionable. Leaving in the short term is not credible. The team's financial picture has never looked better.

As noted above, the Angels are drawing fans like never before and expect 50% of those to be from outside Orange County within two years. They recently got a television deal on par with the Dodgers and the only remaining question is the future condition of the stadium. The Angels lease expires in 2016 at which time the stadium will be the fourth oldest in the majors. Without an agreement with Anaheim on the litigation, no agreement could be reached on the future of the stadium. That is the threat Moreno seems to be brandishing and that threat may be real.

Premiership and European Commission in Deal on TV Rights

For years the European Commission has believed that the monopoly on television broadcast rights the English Premier League has granted to BSkyB, a subsidiary of News Corp (also the owner of Fox) was an illegal restraint of trade and violated European Commission rules. The Premiership has been fighting with the Commission for that same period. The television rights deal is up for renewal in 2007 and the Commission has demanded an end to the Sky monopoly.

The Premiership and the Commission reached a deal last week that ends the monopoly while preserving enough of the dominance of the rights for Sky to ensure that it will continue to pay a premium. It wasn't easy and the Premier League clubs and Sky used a great deal of political capital to get what they wanted. The question remains to be seen if it will be worth it.

From early analysis of the deal, it appears that both Sky and the clubs should be winners. The clubs should be able to introduce just enough of a competition for the rights to ensure that Sky will pay premium rates and Sky will not have to give up more than about 15% of the games to any other media organization. The loser in all this would seem to be the European Commission who for all of its saber rattling over the years, basically caved in to political pressure from the British government and negotiated the slightest possible dilution of the rights consistent with their position. Hardly groundbreaking antitrust enforcement, is it.

Taking Advantage of the TO Situation

I'm back from my travels so posting should be a bit more regular again. I came across a great example of taking advantage of every marketing opportunity that falls in your lap. The Philadelphia Soul are a one year old Arena Football League team in, naturally, Philadelphia whose primary marketing campaign last year focused on part owner Bon Jovi. New General Manager Rich Lisk, trained by Vince McMahon at the WWE took advantage of the Terrell Owens situation by quickly printed up and distributing 1,000 tee shirts that read on the front: "WE DON'T WANT TO EITHER" and on the back had the team name and logo. The result was a ton of free publicity including a plug on Monday Night Football. You simply can't buy that kind of marketing - especially not on an Arena League budget.

Bowl Roulette Ends

The game of Bowl Roulette being played for the 2006 season and beyond came to an end this week, I believe, as the Big East and the Big XII signed up with the EV1.net Houston Bowl. For the Big East, the Houston Bowl will replace the Insight Bowl as its fourth bowl and it marks a continuing arrangement for the Big XII. In terms of bowl selection, it is a complicated arrangement that works in conjunction with the Big East and the Big XII's Gator Bowl and Sun Bowl arrangements, with Houston getting the selection following those bowls. At the end of the day, it should mean increased status for the Houston Bowl and a better payout for the Big East than the Insight Bowl provided, as well as securing the missing fourth bowl that was lost when the Insight Bowl arrangement was lost.

The Big East is also looking to form a relationship with a bowl game that is being planned for Toronto. The game has not yet been certified by NCAA and the arrangements have not been finalized. Ultimately, the Big East would also like a bowl game in New York. One had been planned for the ill-fated West Side Stadium project that the Jets had planned in Manhattan. However, with that project shelved, the Big Apple Bowl now looks to be at least five years away, with its location likely to be the new Giants/Jets Stadium (whose name is to be determined and no doubt sold to the highest bidder)

Business of Baseball Report

The Hardball Times Business of Baseball Weekly Report was published today and can be found here. Among the topics covered this week are the Washington DC lease situation, Reggie Jackson's interest in the Twins and the new MLB drug policy. It's always worth checking out and this week is no exception.

Kings to Vegas?

It's not just on the court that the Sacramento Kings are having difficulties this season. Apparently, those losses are mounting at the business office as well as the Kings have lost at least four sponsors this season. The inability of the Kings to come to some type of agreement with Sacramento on the development of a new arena to replace an aging Arco leads many to suspect that the Kings may well be the team headed to Las Vegas, where the Maloof family owns the Palms among other business interests. With the upcoming NBA All Star Game to be played in Las Vegas, it's clear that Commissioner David Stern is testing the waters. While the issue of gambling on NBA games will still have to be worked out, if the possibility of moving the Kings is real, I would think that Vegas Mayor Goodman, with his ties to the casino industry, ought to be able to get a deal done.

NCAA Blog

The NCAA has begun a new blog and you should check it out here.

MLB and Union Agree to New Steroids Penalties

Under the threat of Congressional interference, Major League Baseball and the Players Association announced an agreement today to amend the collective bargaining agreement and impose stiffer sanctions for the use of performance enhancing substances Essentially, Bud Selig got his way. Starting next season, a player failing a drug test will be suspending for 50 games the first time, 100 games the second time and will be subject to a "lifetime" ban the third time. I put lifetime in quotes because the player may petition for reinstatement after two years of presumably "clean" living.

In addition, the plan gives MLB the right to test for amphetamine use for the first time. The penalties for speed are not as severe. They are: mandatory testing after the first offense, 25 games after the second, 80 games for the third and a punishment in the discretion of the Commissioner for the fourth, which presumably could include a lifetime ban.

So, what do we now have as a result of this deal? My question for Selig and Don Fehr and anyone else involved in this whole sordid affair is why give anyone three strikes? If you truly believe performance enhancing substances such as anabolic steroids are not only wrong but dangerous, isn't one strike enough? Shouldn't you just give a player one mistake and one chance to come clean and continue playing and then, if he's caught again, he's out. Why do you need to give players three and four chances to do the wrong thing to themselves, to baseball and to the kids who follow them and try to be like them.

The best thing that could happen to baseball, indeed all sports at all levels, would be to put an end to the stigma that performances are tainted by the stain of performance enhancing substances. While this new policy is certainly better than the joke of a policy that is in place now, it is far from what is needed to clean up the game once and for all. What baseball and every sport needs to do is implement mandatory surprise and random drug testing with first time penalties amounting to suspensions of not less than one year and second time penalties of a lifetime ban, with no possibility of a reinstatement. Athletes have to understand that the program is to be taken seriously. There needs to be outside control of the testing process, so there is little possibility that results can be altered or controlled by anyone who might have a vested interest. The major professional sports, with the support of the International Olympic Committee and FIFA, should fund the World Anti-Doping Agency at a level sufficient to permit it to maintain research activities at a level high enough to keep pace with those who would develop the substances that it is trying to prevent athletes from using.

The Memphis Griz Make a Difference

Lost in all the media frenzy about the totally unimportant, yet wall to wall 24 hour OJ Simpson trial like dissection of the dress code was the announcement by the usually media savvy NBA of its most important campaign in years: NBA Cares. Why the maestro of public relations that is David Stern chose to bury this worthwhile program in the shark infested talkfest of the dress code, only he knows.

Anyway, for those of you who may never have heard, NBA Cares is a league wide program to raise and contribute $100 million to charity and to donate more than 1 million hands on service hours to the community. One franchise that would be worth emulating in this effort is the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies have raised more than $17 million in dollars and pledges but it is far more than their fund raising skills that makes what they do impressive. The team targets its efforts into areas that will do the most good and that will bring publicity to the causes it supports. Two of its most visible efforts are both downtown are related to kids: Grizzlies Academy and Grizzlies' House. The school is a charter school which the team supports sufficiently to free it from having to raise other funds. Grizzlies' House is a family residence on the campus of St. Jude Hospital, sort of like a Ronald McDonald House. What the team brings besides money is publicity and the involvement of the players, who make visits to the folks staying at Grizzlies' House and are involved in programs at Grizzlies Academy.

We hear enough about the thugs and the problem children that supposedly populate the NBA. What we don't hear about are the owners and players who attempt to make this kind of difference in their community. I'm not trying to be a pollyana and say this is the way the entire league acts. It is simply how the owners of the Grizzlies operate and how some members of the Grizzlies choose to interact with the public. Hopefully, NBA Cares will energize more of the NBA community to act the same way.

Checketts Gives up on Blues

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported today the Dave Checketts has pulled out of his negotiations to buy the St. Louis Blues after deciding that the $150 million asking price, which he originally agreed to pay, was too much. His 30 day exclusive negotiating window ended at the end of October but was extended by the Blues, apparently to no avail. Now, it seems the club will be back on the block and there may be several local groups who might be interested in buying, albeit at a lower price than the original $150 million asking price.

Toronto Joins MLS

At the MLS owners meetings held today in advance of MLS Cup X being played tomorrow at Pizza Hut Park, Toronto's application for an expansion franchise was approved. The team will be owned as previously discussed by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the owner of the Maple Leafs and the Raptors and will play in a new soccer specific stadium to be constructed at Exhibition Park, the site of the Blue Jays original stadium. A formal announcement of their acceptance into the league will take place once certain details of the stadium are finalized.

Also discussed at today's meeting were the possible relocation of the Kansas City and San Jose franchises, both of which are on the sale block. It is highly likely that one of them will relocate to Houston. Several cities were at the meeting to discuss expansion bids for 2007. The expansion price for the one additional team to be added in 2007 was set at $15 million.

In an interesting development, Commissioner Don Garber has been in discussions with the Mexican League to create a form of Champions League competition between the two leagues. It would be a welcome addition to the calendar once they are able to work out all the details. I think people, especially Mexican League fans in both countries, may be pleasantly surprised at how well MLS teams acquit themselves in the competition - especially if it takes several years to get it up and going.

NCAA Says No to Chief Illiniwek

The University of Illinois failed to convince the NCAA staff review committee that its mascot, Chief Illiniwek, was not hostile and abusive Native American imagery. As a result, the review committee upheld the placement of Illinois on the list of restricted schools.

The rationale behind the staff review committee's action is not entirely clear. In a statement issued by the NCAA, Senior Vice President Bernard Franklin stated that the staff review committee found no new information relative to the mascot. He further stated that the committee found that over the last decade the battle over the mascot had intensified. Opponents of the Chief had grown in number and found "national platforms for their argument that the broad range of Native Americans perceives the Chief'’s '‘fancy dance'’ a demeaning interpretation of their own customs and traditions. Media accounts, letters and e-mail continue to document instances of hostile behavior toward those who oppose the use of Chief Illiniwek."

I'm not too sure what to make of that argument. It doesn't really address the issue of whether the Chief, or the use of a Native American in feathered headdress, which the committee noted some Illini teams also do, is hostile and abusive. It merely states that some individuals have been subjected to hostile treatment for opposing the use of Chief Illiniwek. I don't believe the two are necessarily the same, but the NCAA is quick to equate them.

On a more positive note for Illini fans and the University, the NCAA did accept Illinois' argument that the Illini nickname is closely associated with the name of the state and not with Native Americans and accepted Illinois' appeal on this point. However, not to be content with just that, the NCAA ordered Illinois to conduct education sessions to help the public and its fans "understand the origin of the term and the lack of any direct association with Native Americans." These guys just won't quit.

The University has not yet decided whether it will file a further appeal of the decision concerning Chief Illinwek.

BlogPoll Week 11

The official Blog Poll for Week 11 is now out. Not surprisingly, at least to me, we have a new number 3, moving up three spots the 'Canes of Miami. Falling four spots were the Hokies to seventh and falling hard were the once mighty Bruins of UCLA, dropping 10 spots all the way to 15.

NBA Launches Free Broadband Video

The NBA announced that it will soon start a free, advertiser supporter broadband video service, streaming game highlights direct to your computer. While the service does not yet include live game broadcasts, it does include highlights from games in progress, programming from NBA TV and the pre and post game show from TNT as well as additional programming from TNT. I think it is safe to assume that this is an experiment for the NBA and while the NBA expects this to be successful and profitable, it is likely to be only the first step in another platform for the distribution of live games. Assuming this is well received by both fans and sponsors, I would think that we should see games being distributed on broadband within the next three years.

BlogPoll Ballot Week 11

The changes this week are below the top, but not too far below. The 'Canes turkey bashing impressed me enough to boost them past the unbeaten but still offensively challenged Tide.

1. Southern Cal
2. Texas
3. Penn State
4. Miami (Florida)
5. Alabama
6. Louisiana State
7. Notre Dame
8. Virginia Tech
9. Ohio State
10. Oregon
11. Georgia
12. West Virginia
13. Texas Tech
14. Florida
15. Auburn
16. UCLA
17. Michigan
18. Florida State
19. Northwestern
20. Louisville
21. TCU
22. Colorado
23. Fresno State
24. Cal
25. Georgia Tech

Pirates Say ‘no thanks’ to Cuban

It's no great surprise that Mark Cuban tried to buy the baseball team that he used to cheer for while he grew up. What may be surprising is that he failed in his attempt. Cuban has acknowledged his attempt to buy the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the club's owners told him they weren't interested in selling, at least for what he offered.

The Pirates have been valued by Forbes at $218 million, which places them in the lower third of baseball teams. However, with a new, publicly financed ballpark, low payroll and a decent sports town, there is a great deal of upside there. A bargain hunter like Cuban, not to mention the fan in him, is bound to be attracted. I would think that we haven't heard the last of this one.

On the Road Again

Welcome to all the new visitors today and thanks to Deadspin for the recognition. I'll be on the road for the next week or so and I don't know how much internet access I will have. As a result, postings may be infrequent, or non-existent, for the next 6 or 7 days. I'll do what I can but I didn't want to leave you hanging while I was gone wondering why the space went dead all of a sudden.

Carnival of the Capitalists

The latest Carnival of the Capitalists is now up for your viewing pleasure. There are a lot of great posts this week and it is well worth your time to check it out.

San Jose to Chase the A's

San Jose city officials are trying to decide the best way to approach the voters for approval of a plan to build a downtown stadium in an effort to attract the Oakland A's to move to San Jose. There is only one problem - according to the constitution of Major League Baseball, San Jose is Giants territory. City officials are now faced with the classic chicken and egg question: do they wait until the A's get approval from MLB owners to potentially move to San Jose, or do they go to the voters and present the A's with an approved stadium package.

There's one more problem facing the San Jose city fathers and that is that Lew Wolf, the owner of the A's has not yet given up on his idea for a new stadium and real estate project in Oakland. Until that happens, talk of a new stadium in San Jose is nothing more than talk. However, what it does do is strengthen Wolf's hand in dealing with Oakland and Alameda County and perhaps make it easier for him to reach a deal to stay in Oakland. Meanwhile, the Giants have said little about the A's plans and even less about the potential of a move to San Jose.

However, San Jose has been seeking the A's for years now and it doesn't appear that there is anything particularly new about this latest effort other than the fact that a stadium site has been identified. Public approval by a referendum is still required and a ballot has yet to be scheduled. If and when the time comes for Wolf to approach the owners about moving to San Jose, you can be sure that many conversations with the Giants will have taken place. What the ultimate cost to the A's will be, of course, none of us may ever know.

What's Wrong with ESPN

What's happened to ESPN? It was once the realization of the sports fans dream - twenty four hour broadcasting of sporting events punctuated by SportsCenter with highlights of that day's games presented as serious sports journalism. Somehow, over the course of the last 25 years, ESPN lost its way.

Now, it has rediscovered the vowel in its name and forgotten the second letter. Oh sure the platform remains sports, but sports is now a vehicle instead of the raison d' etre that it should be. What is now wrong with ESPN has been captured well in this column in the New York Post. Not only has an entertainment ethos transformed the worldwide networks but they have adopted a smug, self reverent attitude that is helping to turn our kids, well, more specifically our teenage boys, into "young, remorseless wiseguys". The most troubling part of Mushnick's column is that he has spoken with about 50 ESPN staffers from throughout the company about the current trends in the company and not one, not one, is happy about it, yet it continues, and in fact, it grows worse by the day. The attitude and programming continue to spread across all the ESPN networks and ESPN, the Magazine,and as it does it becomes all pervasive and pernicious.

Please Mr. Bodenheimer, you've had your Business Week cover story, now you can quit ruining our network. Not only are you screwing up sports, but you are seriously playing with the psyches of our kids. The damage done to ESPN has to be coming from you since everyone Muschnick spoke to hates the changes, and he spoke to anchors, producers and high level executives. He concludes it had to be high reaching and it doesn't get higher than you. Just because you have the title and the bucks, don't think this is your network. It's not, it's ours. ESPN belongs to us because we made it. On paper and in the organization chart, you may answer to Bob Iger at Disney but actually you need to answer to us. We don't like what you're doing to our networks and we're telling you to stop. Listen before it's too late.

CBS To Buy CSTV

CBS announced today that it would acquire CSTV Networks, including CSTV cable network and the CSTV websites and internet operations. The acquisition will give CBS a full cable sports presence that it has lacked until now. It will also give ESPN another full-blown competitor and makes competition in the cable sports industry all the more interesting.

The acquisition demonstrates the attractiveness of the collegiate sports marketplace, which now has three national networks operating cable channels devoted solely to collegiate programming - ESPNU, CSTV and FOX College Sports.

An integral part of the CSTV package is the internet operation and website that CSTV operates. It operates the website for 250 colleges as well as its own fast growing site. With the added support of CBS, expect the CSTV site to grow even faster. I would also expect the CSTV cable channel to begin to receive CBS programming overflow, just as ESPNU does. CBS has long needed a cable outlet that it could use in the same manner that ABC and ESPN work together and that NBC uses USA and its other channels. While CBS had Spike, it was never quite the same. This addition will add heft to CBS sports programming and give CBS an additional outlet when it comes to bidding on rights to programming. I think this is an excellent move for CBS and can only strengthen its competitive position.

Olympic Sponsorship: What's It Worth?

This morning's Los Angeles Times carried an interesting article about what Bank of America does for Olympic athletes as a part of its $20 million sponsorship package with the US Olympic Committee. The bank contributes money to defray the expenses of athletes families attending the Games to watch their athletes compete. However, the major activity for the bank is the operation of the hospitality tent for the athletes families during the Games. Again, this activity is directed at defraying the costs of attendance for the families.

All of these activities are not really for public benefit. They are done to benefit the athletes and their families and are not highly publicized. Does the bank benefit? The bank believes that being an Olympic sponsor is a highly positive marketing activity. Studies referred to in the article seem to bear this out.

Do you buy Coke because of its association with the Olympics? Would you switch your bank account to Bank of America just because it did really nice things for America's Olympic athletes? Does any of this really matter to customers or are choices made on a more fundamentally business specific basis, such as convenient ATM machines, free checking or an ipod for a new account.

I have always wondered just how you could really measure the effect of "halo marketing". Just how effective is the type of marketing that is little more than wrapping the company in the American flag, or in the case the Olympic rings? For the introduction of a company or a new product to the public consciousness, I can see the benefit, but let's face it, a review of the Olympic roster will tell you that most of those companies will not be using Turin to introduce new products to the public. If not, what are they paying the enormous licensing fees to promote?

2006 will be a watershed year in sports marketing as it will feature not only the Turin Olympics but the World Cup. The sports marketing gurus will a have a field day selling companies on strategies to take maximum advantage of this dual opportunity. It may be that aside from the onsite opportunities for client entertainment, the best marketing that a company may do with both the Olympics and the World Cup is to treat them as nothing more than an great ad buying opportunity. Sponsorship just may not be worth the money.

Reds Get New Owners

The Cincinnati Reds announced today that a group of local businessmen with deep ties to baseball have purchased controlling interest in the Reds. The group is headed by Robert Castellini, who is a minority owner of the Cardinals, an interest he will have to sell. He is joined in the new group by a pair of brothers, Thomas Williams and William J. Williams, Jr., whose father and uncle were once major owners of the Reds.

Hopefully, for the sake of Reds fans, these new owners will infuse this once proud franchise with new life. It has for too long operated on a too small payroll, with management that has been unwilling to invest in development of players keeping those that were developed. It lost a very good young general manager in Jim Bowden, mostly due to the inability or unwillingness to pay him and spend money on players. There was probably also a power struggle under way with club president John Allen, whose contract expires at the end of next season. The timing will be right for the new owners to be able to clean house if they so choose.

Cincinnati is a great baseball town. Fans will support the team from throughout a four state region if the club gives them a team worth supporting. It doesn't take much either. Reds fans don't expect a Yankees payroll. They just want a competitive team; one that has not been eliminated from the division race before the season has even started. Let's just hope that Mr. Castellini and his new partners watched carefully how things were done in St. Louis so he can bring those practices to Cincinnati.

Malek Leads Nats Front-Runners

Today's Washington Post kicked off the first in a series of articles examining the groups vying for ownership of the Nationals by taking a look at the presumed front runner, the group led by venture capitalist and longtime Bush confidante Fred Malek. Any group that includes the former presidential campaign chairman for Bush 41 and a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers with W has to be considered as a leading candidate, if not "the" leading candidate for the big prize. When you add the Democratic glamor of Vernon Jordan Jr. and the rock star status of Colin Powell, it's easy to see why this group is the odds on favorite.

So, what exactly is working against them? Male's group, it appears, doesn't exactly play well with others. There are rumors that the group has been orchestrating a media and political campaign against fellow bidders, something that is strictly against Bud Selig's play nice, play quiet orders. Now of course there is no solid evidence to support these accusations, but with this group's past experience, who would expect them to be sloppy enough to leave fingerprints?

So, the real question remains is this the right group for Washington? There is no question that this collection of names has the money and the conncetions to get things done. What it doesn't have is any real baseball experience other than Malek's time with the Rangers, most of which was spent as a passive investor. What the Nationals need is someone to make sure the stadium project is a success and someone who can perhaps renegotiate the absolutely ludicrous cable television give away to Peter Angelos that Selig awarded him for the regional cable rights. Is this the group to do that? There is nothing they have done publicly that would indicate that they are. I think the Nationals and Washington can probably do better.

BlogPoll Ballot Week 10

Here's this week's ballot in the BlogPoll. No change at the top as the Trojans just keep on truckin towards that LA showdown with the Bruins for the trip cross-town to the Rose Bowl.

1. Southern Cal
2. Texas
3. Virginia Tech
4. Alabama
5. UCLA
6. Miami (Florida)
7. Louisiana State
8. Notre Dame
9. Penn State
10. Georgia
11. Florida State
12. Oregon
13. West Virginia
14. Florida
15.Wisconsin
16. Auburn
17. Ohio State
18. Texas Tech
19. Boston College
20. Louisville
21. TCU
22. Cal
23. Virginia
24. Michigan
25. Northwestern

Aston Villa on the Block?

Aston Villa has confirmed that it has received a "preliminary approach" from a group prepared to buy the club for 64.4 million pounds. The group is led by Irish brothers Brian and Luke Comer, who made their fortune in real estate. The group was put together by Aston born businessman and lifelong Villa follower Michael Neville.

Under the offer, Villa would almost immediately vault into the upper reaches of the Premiership at least in terms of its ability to compete for players in the transfer market. The club would become a susidiary of the Comer brothers real estate company and would be guaranteed 20% of the Comer's annual profits from property development. That revenue stream should be sufficient to allow Villa to at least compete with Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool in the transfer market, even if it doesn't permit it to take on Chelsea.

The Comer brothers have shown no previous interest in football although they have sporting interests. Luke Comer has a long-term involvement in horse racing, as an owner, trainer and stud owner. He has a stud farm in Ireland and has trained a runner in the Epsom Derby, although Cashel Bay finished 12th. His brother Brian is a golfer and owns a golf course in England where he and Luke live.

The Comer brothers' real estate company has been involved in many rehab projects, turning rundown buildings into luxury apartments and business complexes, primarily in London. It appears that they intend to take on yet one more rehab project; this time in Birmingham.

Redesigning the PGA Tour

As the Tour Championship approaches this week, more details are beginning to emerge on the PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem's plans to restructure the Tour. As I've previously discussed, the Tour has been considering shortening the season and instituting a points race following the majors that will culminate in the Tour Championship. Now, it appears that Finchem wants to elevate the status of three other tournaments, giving the Tour a major event every month from April to August. Those three are the Barclays Classic in New York, the Deustche Bank Classic outside Boston and the Western Open in Chicago, which so far does not have a sponsor. Note that all three are in major metropolitan areas. That is not an accident.

Another calendar shift under consideration is moving the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone to the week before the PGA rather than the week after. The effect of this switch would be that the "big boys", like Tiger and Mickelson would have to play in six events in seven weeks. I think it's safe to say that Tiger has signed off this entire idea and Phil I'm sure has too.

Finchem has seen the television ratings and knows that there is a significant drop after September. He also knows that if there is compelling golf, people will watch - even in football season. The proof of that was in the Presidents Cup. The changes in the Tour are designed to generate compelling golf all the way up through September and then to take a break until the following year. It makes a great deal of sense from a television standpoint. It also makes sense from the perspective of the leading players who want to take those months off. For the rest of the golfers there will continue to be tournaments to give them an opportunity to finish in the top 125 and keep their Tour card. All in all, I think Finchem has a winner here.