Darft Thoughts

I'm not a much of a Draftnik. Oh, I like to see who got picked and what teams picked up players and I'll read a few post draft analysis by NFL writers I follow like Peter King, Len Pasquarelli, and a few others but I just don't get into the endless watching of it on TV. I know it's become a big spectacle and draws enormous ratings but it's just doesn't make for good TV. How much Mel Kiper can any human take in one sitting?

Anyway, the most obvious storyline coming out of yesterday's first three rounds is the freefall endured by Brady Quinn. You almost have to feel sorry for the guy, sitting in the green room watching for those lonely hours as team after team passed on him. Must have been hard to take. My buddy Darren Rovell estimates, with good reason I think, that it cost Quinn $17 million in guaranteed money yesterday and he's lucky it wasn't considerably more. If the Browns had not been able to pull off the trade that let them back into the first round at 22, Brady could have fallen considerably further. I guess this proves that being groomed by the Crewcut isn't the surefire route to fame and fortune that it's cracked up to be. Jimmy Clausen should be concerned.

One other big first day loser was running Michael Bush of Louisville. Slotted before the draft as a possible late first round to a second round pick as the third running back behind Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch, Bush went undrafted through the first three rounds as teams seemed to be wary of his recovery from a broken leg suffered in the third quarter of the Cardinals season opener against Kentucky. Despite strong statements from his doctor attesting to his "99%" recovery and a workout video showing the pace of his recovery, it is apparent that teams believed he was too much of a risk for the the first day.

What is it about the Lions and wide receivers? I know Calvin Johnson is the only can't miss prospect in this draft but when you're the Lions and have as many holes to fill as they have, I don't think you start with wide receiver - especially not for the fourth time in five drafts (or is it the third time in four drafts, it's so many now I get confused). There were much better fits for higher needs on the board - like, I don't know, any of the next five or six picks perhaps.

The Year of the Yao

I watched an excellent movie tonight that is a few years old. It's a documentary on Yao Ming's first year in the NBA called The Year of the Yao and relates just how difficult that transition from China to America and the NBA was for Yao. You read all the time how hard it is for kids to manage the transition from high school or just a year or two of college to the riches of the NBA but multiply that with the language barrier (English, basketball and hip hop) and the cultural shock of the Western consumer culture, well it's more than you can reasonably expect someone to overcome in one year. That's what makes his adjustment and rookie performance so amazing and his continued improvement so noteworthy. I recommend the movie if you get the chance to see it. It was on Sundance Channel earlier this month and I would expect Sundance to repeat it soon. Here's a trailer I found on youtube to give you a preview:

NASCAR: WWE on Wheels?

Now, I have to admit up front that I'm not much of an auto racing fan. I mean, I just don't get it. I don' t see the attraction in watching cars go around in circles for three hours and I really don't understand how you can watch it on TV. It's not just NASCAR I mean, Indy, Formula One, Champ- it doesn't really matter to me they're all about the same. I know all you race car fans out there will tell me that I just don't get it. Well, I admit it. I don't. Now, if you could bet on it, I could understand but without a pari-mutuel machine at the track, what's the point?

Anyway, that's not the point of this post. Apparently, even one of the NASCAR drivers is now questioning the legitimacy of the enterprise. This week, on his Sirius radio show, two-time Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart likened NASCAR to professional wrestling. This came after dominating last week's race throughout much of the race only to lose to Jeff Gordon after a late exchange of leads. He complained about four cautions for debris on the track.

"It's like playing God," he said on his Sirius Satellite Radio program. "They can almost dictate the race instead of the drivers doing it. It's happened too many times this year."

He went on to say that fans are complaining and NASCAR isn't listening:

"I guess NASCAR thinks, 'Hey, wrestling worked, and it was for the most part staged, so I guess it's going to work in racing, too,'" he said. "I can't understand how long the fans are going to let NASCAR treat them like they're stupid before the fans finally turn on NASCAR.

"I don't know that they've run a fair race all year."

One thing you can say for NASCAR, at least off the track they're never boring.

90 Days Same as Cash

Sound familiar? Sure, you've heard it all over late night TV - 90 days same as cash - a common refrain on the 11:00 news. It's the staple of the late night TV commercial from all of the local furniture and appliance stores and soon from your friendly neighborhood baseball team??

That's right, especially if you live in Atlanta, home of the former East Division champion forever Atlanta Braves, now a mere half game back of the Mets and forced to turn to gimmicks to sell season tickets. The Braves become the first team in major league baseball to offer free interest free financing for season tickets. The plan is offered through GE Money on sales of $199 and up. So, blue light special on Braves tickets, aisle four.

T. Boone's Insurance Plan Spreads

This was inevitable. According to a story I saw today on the Chronicle of Higher Education website, which is unfortunately by subscription only, there is great interest in athletic departments around the country in Oklahoma State's life insurance funding program designed by booster-in-chief T. Boone Pickens. At least 40 universities are interested in the program, including two each from the SEC, the Big 12 and the ACC and four from the Pac-10. In addition, Oklahoma State is now expanding the program beyond athletics to, hold it now, the academic side of the institution where the OSU Foundation which raises money for all of the university's colleges recently began exploring its own program. It hopes to get 50-100 people that might set up $5 million policies instead of the $10 million policies that the athletic department established. There is no end to the number of boosters who are willing to put their lives on the line for the dear old alma mater.

The Bionic Gridiron

Readers of a certain age, or fans of TV Land, will recall Lee Majors as the $6,000,000 Man, also known as the Bionic Man. In that long ago fantasy, he played a character whose body had been reconstructed with machines, thus the bionic man, and was now a super being.

A form of Bionics has come to football in the form of GPS. It does not give us a superhuman, that now presents itself not through machines but generally through drugs, but it gives us never before accessible readings about the human body performance during game conditions, and it isn't happening on the American gridiron. No, it is first occurring in Australian Rules Football, that somewhat odd game of footy that most of us know from late night/early morning viewing on one of the myriad ESPN channels.

Right now, assuming the AFL lifts its restrictions against GPS units, the technology is available to deliver every step, heartbeat and yard covered by a player and have that information beamed instantaneously to the coaches on the sideline for immediate evaluation of the player's condition and monitoring of the numbers in real time. The coach and team physician and trainers can establish bright lines ahead of the game and once those are reached, a player can be immediately substituted.

Now, this might work better in a sport of constant motion like Aussie Rules Football or soccer, where those bright lines and "on the fly" substitution decisions are more important than American football, but the technology would work just the same. It is the technology and its implications that must be considered. I believe that FIFA has rules in place that would prohibit the use of these GPS devices and I'm not quite sure of the applicability to American football. However, that said, the readings would still, I think, be of some value - particularly as to heart rate and perhaps lung capacity. It is technology that is coming and the NFL should consider how it intends to respond.

THE Man in MLS

Sunday's cover story in the New York Times Business section featured an interesting (and lengthy by normal NYT standards) look at the most important man in MLS. No, I don't mean Beckham, I mean the man who pays his salary - Philip Anschutz. Right now, Anschutz, through AEG is down to only three MLS teams: the Galaxy, the Fire and the defending champion Dynamo. At one time, he owned as many as five in a pre-expansion league of eight. Certainly would have made for interesting bets, had he been so inclined.

The main take away from the article is that Anschutz is not at all afraid of making "bet the company" bets, so long as those risks he takes are calculated ones. Despite the inherent contradictory nature of that statement, I don't think there is any contradiction in that at all. Once he is comfortable with the macro business and economic picture, then he and his business staff work on the fundamentals of the business target. Then, he will make the investment. So far, those bets have paid off more often than not.

I recommend the article. The portrait make for interesting reading and while I'm not convinced that Anschutz is quite the media visionary that MLS Don Garber makes him out to be in the article, he has kept the faith in soccer throughout the history of MLS, led the fight for the Beckham Rule, implemented it with its namesake and looks poised to implement it again in Chicago with former World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane. He is not afraid to commit huge dollars to implement a strategy he believes to be sound, with a payoff anticipated to be years down the round. He takes a global view of sports, as seen in his moves not only in MLS but in his quick embrace of European play by the NHL (sending his Kings to play the Ducks next year in his Millenium Dome in London perhaps as a precursor to a world club championship). Anschutz deserves a great deal of the credit for the ultimate success of soccer in the US and for that (and bringing us Becks and Posh) soccer fans should thank him.

Becks Sparks $13 Mil in Galaxy Sales; Pays for Self

When the Los Angeles Galaxy signing of David Beckham to a reported $250 million contract was first announced, most commentators thought that Galaxy management had lost complete control of their senses. Oh sure, he would be a great conversation piece and Posh would be a hit with all the Hollywood tabs, but could AEG cover anything close to its investment?

According to this story from Bloomberg, it looks like AEG knew what it was doing after all. So far, the Galaxy have brought in over $13 million in sales directly attributable to the Beckham signing covering his direct salary for the next two seasons. Remember, the $250 million number was reached by adding in all of his contingencies and all of the money he could possibly make from the control of his image as a member of the Galaxy, control he didn't have as a member of Real Madrid.

It's not just Beckham and the Galaxy that expect to benefit either, as Becks creates a global market for MLS product that didn't exist before he joined the league. Adidas merchandise sales are expected to at least triple and likely to do far better than that. With the addition of other foreign players to MLS as a result of the Beckham Rule, specifically the Argentinian soccer deity Guillermo Barros Schelotto to the Columbus Crew and the Mexican favorite Cuauhtemoc Blanco to the Chicago Fire, merchandise sales in those countries should skyrocket. As a marketing force, MLS may finally just be coming into its own.

Texas - Oklahoma at Cotton Bowl Until 2015

The Cotton Bowl has scored a major victory in its fight to stay relevant in the Dallas market as Cotton Bowl officials and the Dallas Mayor are set to announce today that the Red River Shootout will continue to be staged at the venerable stadium through 2015. Texas and Oklahoma had been considering moving their annual game to the new Cowboys Stadium being built to replace the existing Cowboys Stadium following the expiration of their existing contract with the Cotton Bowl in 2010. This renewal is the first bit of good news for the Cotton Bowl in some time. The bowl game bearing the stadium's name announced earlier this year its intention to move to the new Cowboys Stadium in two years.

Baseball Values: What's Your Team Worth?

Forbes has just released its annual estimate of the value of Major League Baseball clubs and there are not too many surprises. The Yankees lead the list again, with a value of $1.2 billion, while claiming an operating deficit of $25 million. The Mets, helped by the rights fee generated from its own regional sports channel now in operation, nudged out the Red Sox for second place valued at $736 million to the Red Sox $724 million.

While the Cubs are valued at only $592 million, that will likely be a significantly higher number in next year's edition following the sale of the club at the end of the season. If the sale were actually at that number, most everyone would think the buyer will have gotten a great bargain, as many observers believe that the Cubs, with Wrigley Field and the 25% interest in Comcast Sportsnet included, will fetch near $800 million or more.

The takeaway from the valuation list is the importance of the local television rights fees to the value of the franchise. Four of the top five highest valued franchises all own their own regional sports networks. The exception being the Dodgers who derive almost as much from the sale of local over the air broadcast rights as most teams with ownership interest get from their own networks.

The driver of value is local media rights, except in the case of the Kansas City Royals whose value is driven more by the hand-outs it receives under MLB's revenue sharing formula than it is by its local media rights. The Royals prove to be the exceptions to MLB's valuation rules, just as they are the exceptions to most of baseball's other general principles, including how to put a winning team on the field and how to maintain a loyal fan base.

The First Basket

I've been cleaning out my email today and came across a message I had been saving to write about and, well, it had gotten stuck in the back and forgotten, sort of like the subject of the movie this email is about. You see, it's all about a new movie that is now scheduled for its world premiere on April 22, but had a "sneak premiere" at Brandeis University just last week. The movie is entitled The First Basket and chronicles the rich history of Jewish basketball players in America, with a sidetrip to Israel. Here is a clip from the movie that will be an introduction to the story.



The film charts basketball's Jewish history from its beginnings as a means of integrating and assimilating an immigrant population from Eastern Europe, through the semi-pro barnstorming teams of the 1920's. It focuses on the New York City collegiate game of the 1940s and 1950s and the beginnings of the NBA and moves on through to the present with visits from the Jewish Jordan, Tamir Goodman and Euroleague power Maccabi Tel Aviv. A film well worth seeing should it arrive in your neighborhood. Look for it at a Jewish film festival near you. To give you another taste of what you'll see, here's a clip of Holyland Hoops.

Supreme Court Hears Recruiting Case

The US Supreme Court waded into the muck of high school recruiting yesterday, hearing a case from Tennessee that has bounced around the federal courts for the last ten years, now making its second appearance before the august nine. The case involves a charge of illegal recruiting leveled against Brentwood Academy, a private school in Nashville, by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association as a result of letters and phone calls made by the football coach to parents of 12 incoming students about spring practice. The students had all signed contracts to enroll in the school in the fall.

The TSSAA charged the school with violating its rules against recruiting and fined it$3,000, placed the school on four years probation and banned it from post-season competition for two years. Brentwood filed suit, charging the TSSAA with violating its First Amendment rights to free speech, which is an admittedly novel approach to a defense to recruiting violations. You can read a recap of yesterday's oral arguments at the SCOTUSblog here.

The Court has been asked to overturn its earlier ruling that the TSSAA is a state actor which would essentially eliminate the need to address the First Amendment question at all. If the TSSAA is not a state actor, then the First Amendment does not apply and there is no longer any tricky constitutional issues to be considered.

While the make-up of the Court has changed since it last considered this case six years ago and the last ruling was a 5-4 decision with Justice O'Connor in the majority, I think the Court will not overturn its earlier decision but find a way to overturn the lower courts to support the TSSAA. It will not want to allow unfettered recruiting of middle school students and will find a way to support efforts to regulate it.

I should note however that the line-up of interest groups here poses difficulties for the Bush appointees. The administration supports the TSSAA and the participating in the oral argument on its behalf. However, the Association of Christian Schools, a major Bush administration support group and one that was likely a key supporter of both the Chief Justice and Alito during the nomination process, supports Brentwood. Now, I'm not saying that support like that would ever influence a justice's opinion but I'm just saying.

OKCee Ya Sonics???

The Washington Legislature has dealt a near fatal blow to the hopes of Sonics owners and supporters for a new arena and the likelihood of the Sonics and the WBNA Storm remaining in the Emerald City. When it became apparent that the votes were not there, the House and Senate leaders announced that they would not be bringing anything to a vote during this session of the legislature.

Principal owner Clay Bennett announced that the team was likely to leave the Puget Sound area after this third straight legislative defeat although his statement did not indicate that a move was immediate. In fact, the team will definitely be in Seattle for the 2007-08 season; it's following that season that remains in the air.

There is some thought the Governor, who strongly backs a new arena might yet call the legislature into special session before the Sonics November deadline to deal solely with the arena issue, if the Governor and the King County Executive have been able to do enough arm twisting in the meantime. That is probably the only hope at this point for keeping the Sonics in Seattle.

Barring a last minute legislative reprieve, expect to see Clay Bennett exercise the clause in his purchase agreement allowing him to move the team if a new arena has not been agreed upon by October 31, 2007. The Sonics will likely be in Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season and asking the Oklahoma City fathers for substantial upgrades to the Ford Center well before then.

Carnival of the NBA

The 43rd and incredibly talented Idol edition of the Carnival of the NBA is now up at Reds Army. Get over there now and check it out.

Yahoo to Buy Rivals??

According to this report from paidContent.org, Yahoo is set to buy Rivals.com for a purchase price expected to be north of $100 million. While the purchase certainly makes sense, the price, if true, is simply staggering, considering both Rivals existing competitors - Scout and others - as well as the relatively small moat around its principal business of high school and college recruiting information. Scout was purchased by Fox in September, 2005 for only (and I use that word relatively) about $60 million and Rivals reach is certainly not that much greater to justify the significantly higher price.

There may well be a major stumbling block in the road to a closing, however. According to TechCrunch, the issue of Rival's CEO prior involvement in old securities fraud issues with a prior company may lead to problems with the purchase. Of course, if those issues have been fully disclosed to Yahoo, as seems likely, they may be of no consequence at this point.

Yahoo may be overpaying but it is probably a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things as far as Yahoo's business goes. The acquisition makes sense for Yahoo and will certainly strengthen Yahoo Sports, which already has a content relationship with Rivals. Securing that relationship and an additional sticky content is certainly a good idea; the price is just awfully high.

An Unusual and Deserving Sullivan Award Winner

George Vescey profiles (Select) this year's Sullivan Award winner, an award given annually to the best American amatuer athlete. The award has been won recently by Sarah Hughes, Paul Hamm, and JJ Redick. This year, for the first time ever, the award went to a paralympian, swimmer Jessica Long. . She won nine gold medals at the International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championships last year in Durban and is a favorite for Beijing. She holds the world record in 12 events. Take that Michael Phelps.

Chicago 2016

Get ready Chicago - Olympic fever is ready to start. The US Olympic Committee this afternoon chose Chicago, in an upset, to represent the US in bidding for the 2016 Summer Games. The Chicago bid, from a city that has never hosted an Olympics, is backed by $32 million in donations and centered around a $336 million Olympic Stadium. The freshness of the bid won over the USOC and is likely to play heavily into the strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the IOC as well. After the heartland of America is relative virgin territory for the marketing machine that is the modern day Olympic movement, with the Olympics not having been held in the American Midwest since St. Louis in 1908.

Heroes of the Week

Individual Division: Reds Manager Jerry Narron for upholding playing standards and imposing discipline (a truly novel concept in the Queen City -see Bengals rap sheet). He wasn't watching as Edwin Encarnacion stood in the batter's box and watched his popup get caught the other night, but when he saw the replay on the video board, Narron promptly pulled Encarnacion in the bottom of the second. "If I had been watching him, he would never had taken the field," Narron said. That, my friends, is management to warm the hearts of anyone who is trying to teach kids how to play the game the right way. To his credit, Encarnacion never objected to being pulled, never threw a tantrum or acted out in the myriad of other ways one might have expected a me first big leaguer to have acted these days.

Athlete Division: The biggest golf story of the weekend was not the epic Masters meltdown of the world's premier golfers of Zach Johnson's final round putt-down of Tiger. No, it was something even rarer than a Woods loss of a major on a Sunday. In Chico, California, Elsie McLean knocked a ball in from 100 yards out on the fourth hole at Bidwell Park golf course, scoring her first hole in one ever. So, why is that so amazing, beyond the fact that she scored a hole-in-one? Well, Elsie happens to be 102 years young and the oldest golfer ever to record an ace. I'm stunned since I can no longer even manage to play a hole much less a round and she's got nearly, well , I don't want to think about how many years on me.

Team Division: The Philadelphia Eagles announced that they reimburse their employees who purchase wind energy, becoming the first organization to pick up this cost for their employees. It's an interesting initiative and one that I hope can gather momentum not just in the Philadelphia area but across the country in the push towards alternative energy and especially renewable energy.

Navy Gets 2007's First Bowl Bid

Before the first kickoff, Navy has accepted the 2007 season's first bowl bid, reaching an agreement with the Poinsettia Bowl to play in this year's game against a team from the Mountain West providing that Navy wins 6 games and is bowl eligible. That is good news for the Big East, which reclaims its bid to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, which was taken by Navy last year.

Better Late than Never

At 2:30 this afternoon the North Carolina Attorney General is expected to announce that the state will drop all charges against the three Duke lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a stripper at a team party last year. Considering the way the case was handled from day one, the charges should never have been brought in the first place. This is long overdue and the only fair result. Now, let's hope the North Carolina Supreme Court follows through, does the right thing and imposes significant sanctions, if not disbars, Mike Nifong, the Durham District Attorney who so disgraced his office in his handling of this case.

UPDATE: As expected, the charges have been dropped and the case is now officially closed. At his 2:30 news conference, Attorney General Roy Cooper declared the three former players "innocent of these charges" and accused Nifong of overreaching. Two quotes from the press conference should suffice to give you the essence of the investigation by the AG's office:

This case shows the enormous consequences of over-reaching by a prosecutor,” Cooper said. “The Durham District Attorney pushed forward unchecked. There were many moments in this case where caution would have served better than bravado.”

"We believe that these cases were the result of a tragic rush to accuse and a failure to verify serious allegations," Cooper said

It couldn't be said much better than that, especially that last part I hope the North Carolina Supreme Court is listening.

The Next Top Cub: Eight with a Shot

Now that it's official that the Cubbies will be sold at the end of the season, Chicago's favorite guessing game is who is going to be the lucky buyer? Who gets to shell out anywhere between $700-900 million to own the Cubbies, Wrigley Field, a 25% interest in Comcast SportsNet Chicago and the best brand in Chicago and one of the tops in sports? Well, there are probably anywhere from 15 to 20 possible buyers, but here are the seven front runners, in alphabetical order ( and no Darren, HRH Sheik Mohammed isn't one of them):

1. Thomas Begel, Chairman of TMB Industries, a Chicago private equity firm

2. Ron Burkle, Bill Clinton's best friend, the runner-up in the Tribune Co. bidding, still interested in buying the LA Times with Eli Broad, was a bidder for the Washington Nationals

3. John Canning Jr. Chairman and CEO of Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago private equity firm and most importantly a past and current minority investor in the Milwaukee Brewers (note especially the past investor, i.e. part of Bud Selig's group)

4. Jerry Colangelo. Chicago native, Chairman and CEO of the Phoenix Suns and former CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks has close ties to Selig

5. Mark Cuban. Pittsburgh native and billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has expressed his interest in buying the Cubs - would need help getting approval from Selig

6. Don Levin. Owner of the AHL Chicago Wolves has transformed the franchise to the point where it will on occasion outdraw the Blackhawks, has actively pursued the Cubs for months.

7. Larry Levy. Chairman of Levy Restaurants, a leading food service concessionaire at ballparks around the country, which would certainly give him an understanding of, and influence in, baseball's councils.

8. Bill Murray. Chicago native, actor and minor league baseball team owner and die-hard Cubs fan. Most likely not a principal owner candidate but definitely someone who will be a participating investor in almost anyone's group who will ask him.

Ryan Howard: The Next Big

When you reach the top of the food chain in the sports world, fame and fortune await. The larger your personality and the more positive image you project, the greater the fortune awaits as you leverage your fame into endorsement deals with corporate America. No one has done it better than Tiger Woods - ever. He earned an estimated $90 million last year from endorsements, far outpacing everyone else. Traditionally, baseball players have lagged far behind other professional athletes in the endorsement game, with only Derek Jeter making the top ten of most marketable athletes in a recent survey conducted by Sports Business Daily of marketing executives. He placed fourth.

Ryan Howard has the potential to break through and find himself on that list in the next couple of years. He has several attributes going for him that could see him become the next breakout star. First and foremost, he is a big-time hitter and America loves sluggers. Baseball players that can hit the long ball and keep it up year after year become darlings, no matter what they did to get there. That brings us to Howard's other major attribute: his wholesomeness. He is a natural for food companies or national chain like Whole Foods, were it ever to decide it wanted a celebrity endorser from the sports world. He has a commercial coming out with Subway but that is just the beginning. Another big year at the plate and the sky is the limit for Howard.

Fathead just added Howard to its stable of stars. Get your Ryan Howard Fathead here.

Huggy Bear Goes Home

Perhaps lost in the shuffle of the news that Billy D is staying at Florida, the 04s are leaving and Billy Gillispie is going to Kentucky, is the news that Hugs is pulling up stakes at the Little Apple after just one year and high tailing it to Morgantown to succeed John Beilien. Now, on the surface it's easy understand Huggins decision. After all, he was born in Morgantown and believe it or not, actually holds two, that's right, two degrees from West Virginia University. So, going back to coach his alma mater is practically a no brainer, right?

Well, let's ask Kansas State athletic director Tim Weiser, who helped rescue Huggy Bear's career after he was unceremoniously dumped by the University of Cincinnati:

"I asked him, 'Bob, do you think leaving now is the right thing to do?' And he said, 'No,'" athletic director Tim Weiser said Thursday at a news conference. "Then I said, 'How many times in your life have you known what the right thing is to do and not done it?' And he said, 'Never.'"

While I may not believe Hugs answered truthfully to Weiser's question, there's little question he lied this time. Loyalty is apparently not a word that rates too highly with Huggins. While we're talking about loyalty, or truthfulness, let's talk about the high profile recruits Hugs lured to the bright lights of Manhattan, uh, Kansas. The Bill Walkers and Michael Beasleys, recruits of a caliber that had never looked at Kansas State before and will never look at Kansas State again, but may be stuck for a short period due to Huggins breaking his word to them.

He convinced Walker, a surefire high school All American, to enroll early to get a jump on his college career, due in part to Walker's high school problems. As a result, if Walker wants to follow Huggins to WVU, he will have to sit out a year as a transfer student. Consensus high school player of the year Beasley is a bit better off, as he can follow Hugs if he wants and if KSU releases him from his letter of intent. Of course, why he would want to follow someone whose word is so worthless is another story.

The coaching carousel is an object lesson in why high school players should consider either: (a) not signing until the end of the spring signing period of their senior year so they can see where all the coaches land, or (b) not signing a letter of intent but rather a grant in aid which binds the school and not the student. The letter of intent is a one way document that binds the student which is why there is all the pressure to sign it. It is not required and if more high profile recruits resist it, there may be a move to change its terms to make it more reasonable and fair to the students. I doubt it since it's written and administered by coaches but there is always hope.

Arsenal - Rapids Ties Closer as Kroenke Buys In

The buying frenzy just won't stop. The latest North American billionaire to buy a piece of the English Premier League is Colorado Rapids owner Stan Kroenke, who yesterday purchased the 9,9% stake in Arsenal held by ITV, after last week denying any interest in purchasing the club. In February, the two clubs struck up a working partnership which some had speculated was a prelude to a possible Kroenke takeover. While Arsenal's major holders are denying any interest in selling, the possibility still remains that they could be convinced to do for the right price. With the move to Emirates Stadium this season, Arsenal looks poised to have its most profitable year yet and as the new EPL television contracts come on line, together with the expanding stadium revenues, the club should be highly profitable for years to come.

MLB to Put Extra Innings on Cable After All

It looks like Senator John Kerry won't have to shell out money for a satellite dish to mar the beauty of his Boston town house after all. Bowing to pressure from the Senator and angry baseball fans, Major League Baseball and iN Demand, owned by Comcast, Cox and Time Warner, reached an agreement yesterday to allow the cable operators to carry the Extra Innings package of out of market baseball games for the next seven years that had previously been awarded to Direct TV on an exclusive basis. That award had provoked outrage among baseball fans and prompted Senator Kerry to hold a Congressional hearing and urge the FCC to begin an investigation.

The deal announced yesterday also includes the proposed Baseball Network scheduled for launch in 2009. In Demand and Direct TV will each equity in the proposed of about 16%. iN Demand will offer the Extra Innings package to cable systems nationwide and those that pick it up will also be required to take distribution of the Baseball Network. MLB will still get the $100 million a year for 7 years announced at the time of the Direct TV deal, now split between Direct TV and iN Demand. When MLB Network launches, instead of 10 million homes, it will launch with at least 40 million.

The lengthy negotiations centered over how much distribution the Baseball Network would have and on which tier the cable operators would be required to place the new network when it launched. iN Demand claimed higher distribution than Direct TV although MLB wanted the same percentage of homes that Direct TV promised, which was a far higher number than iN Demand was prepared to deliver. The agreement should satisfy baseball fans even as it diminishes a major marketing advantage of Direct TV.

Winners: MLB, Baseball fans, Senator Kerry; Losers: Direct TV (although it does save $50 million a year)

The Blink of an Eye

Do you know how long a 91 mile per hour fastball takes to travel from the pitcher to the plate? It takes less than one-half second. Imagine that. You have that blink of an eye to react and decide if it's a ball or a strike, if it's worth swinging at or taking, if it's a fastball or a curve, a slider or a splitter. Imagine also that you have only a that fraction of a second to determine if the ball is coming over the plate or aiming straight for your head and you better hit the dirt instead of the ball.

Adam Greenberg, a young outfielder for the Chicago Cubs in his first major league at-bat had just one-half second to make that call and the ball was just slightly off course. As Adam turned away from the pitch, he hit him in the head and in that instant, his major league career may have flashed before his eyes.

In a good piece for the New York Times, Barry Bearak chronicles Adam's struggle to overcome the injury he suffered that day, which turned out to be as much mental and emotional as physical, in his effort to return to the majors. The Cubs sent him back to the minors when he returned to the team after spending time at the club's training facility, but then released him at the end of the season. He then caught on with the Dodgers and toiled in their minor league system last year. This season he is playing with the Wichita Wranglers, the AA club of the Kansas City Royals and is still optimistic about his chances of returning to the majors.

The story is a good read and I recommend it to you. Adam is an inspiration in his attitude and his spirit. He has a dream and he is willing to keep fighting for it. On top of that, there just aren't that many Jewish major league ballplayers, so I have to root for him, even if he did go to Carolina.

Allen Reunites Arena and Blazers

Guess Paul Allen really doesn't plan on moving the Blazers to Seattle. Today, word comes via the Sports Business Radio Blog, that he has repurchased the Rose Garden from the creditors that had obtained it when Allen bankrupted the arena a few years ago. As a result, the arena and the team are now reunited under Allen's ownership making the Blazers a more viable financial entity, at least if Allen finds someone capable to run the team. He is currently searching for a new team president and given Allen's past history with the club, that individual better be awfully good.

Cubs Now Officially On the Block

Mark Cuban, it's your bid. The Tribune Company announced this morning that the Chicago Cubs will be sold at the end of the season as a part of the plan to take the company private in a deal led by Chicago billionaire real estate magnate Sam Zell. The Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Newsday among many other media properties will sell the Cubs and its 25% interest in Comcast Sportsnet Chicago, which it helped start, which will carry 72 Cubs this season. There is no word on plans to sell superstation WGN, or WGN radio, which also carry Cubs games.

The likely asking price for the Cubs will be north of $500 million. Forbes estimated the Cubs to be worth about $450 million last year but with market escalation and an actual bidding war, the actual sales price should easily top $500 million. Remember this, the Cubs are more than a baseball team, they are an icon - a trophy property in real estate parlance and as such will command a premium price. That premium will only grow exponentially depending on the number of bidders Zell and the Tribune Co. are able to attract.

WTO Says US Campaign Against Online Gaming Illegal

The World Trade Organization upheld its earlier decision that the United States ban on online gambling was illegal and violated international trade regulations in a case brought by the western Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. The WTO found the US ban discriminatory in that it allows for Internet gambling on horse racing on sites maintained by American companies, including those operated by racetrack owners Churchill Downs and Magna Entertainment.

The US acknowledged the decision but did not indicate that it would do anything different to comply with the panel's ruling. The US has two options to bring itself into compliance: either permit Americans to gamble over foreign-based sites or eliminate exceptions for off-track betting on horses, including over the Internet.

It's likely the Bush Administration will do nothing. It will probably risk the imposition of trade sanctions from Antigua and Barbuda rather than lift the restriction on Internet gambling, which now would require an act of Congress. There is movement in Congress to repeal the recently enacted ban on Internet gambling as Representative Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Committee which would deal with the matter has promised to introduce repeal legislation. The chances of passage are unclear at this point and the White House has taken no public position on the repeal.

HT to the wizardofodds.com