WVU Sues Rodriguez for $4 Million Buyout

Rich Rodriguez began work as Michigan's new football coach today watching the Big Blue practice for their upcoming Capital One Bowl appearance against Florida. Back home in West Virginia, his former employer was busy too. Busy filing suit to collect $4 million which WVU alleges that Rod owes pursuant to the terms of his contract as a buyout to leave West Virginia to take the job at Michigan. Under the terms of his contract, he was to pay the $4 million in two payments over two years, the first due in 30 days following the termination of his contract.

WVU alleges that Coach Rod has no intention of making the payments and has anticipatorily breached the contract. Rodriguez, I expect, will claim that West Virgina failed to live up to promises made to him last year when he turned down Alabama to stay in Morgantown. If this case is not settled, as would be likely, anticipate the court hearings to be brutal. I don't think the WVU administration will want Rodriguez on the stand testifying under oath to all of the promises made to him to induce him to stay - it could prove embarrassing. Expect a settlement.

Pats-Giants to Be on NBC, CBS, NFL Network

After spending weeks proclaiming that there were no circumstances under which they would cave into pressure, the NFL did just that today and allowed Saturday's potentially historic game between undefeated New England and the New Jersey Giants to be simulcast on both NBC and CBS. It will be the first game ever broadcast on three television networks at the same time. You may recall that the first Super Bowl was broadcast on both NBC and CBS, although at the time it wasn't called that.

"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement after the league announced it was reversing course. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."

Pressure was mounting on the league from not just fans but Congress as both the Chairman and ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Goodell threatening the league's antitrust exemption. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts has also been pressuring the league on the same grounds. You can draw your own conclusions as to what ultimately forced the decision, but bad press, fan unrest and pressure from Congress all played a part. Carping from Kerry is one thing, letters from the Chair and Ranking Member carry weight.

If you live in New England, you will actually have four choices of broadcasts, as the NFL had agreed to a local simulcast under existing policy. There is a dispute about the local simulcast in the New York market. Channel 9, WWOR, is claiming exclusivity as the only over the air broadcast outlet in New York City. The NFL has not responded to that claim. Neither the Boston nor Manchester, NH station is asserting a similar claim.

The NFL has hopefully learned its lesson from this experience. Next season we hope while it may use the schedule to leverage cable providers to carry the NFL Network, it will do so judiciously and not reserve the potential "games of the season" for itself. Flex scheduling may need to be built into the NFL Network schedule even though it presents some logistical challenges, as the league will have to show flexibility to its broadcast partners, while still reserving some clout to use against the cable providers if carriage issues have not been resolved. Hopefully, for all concerned, cooler heads will prevail and the league and the cable companies will settle their issues between now and next season.

NBC: More Reason for Crewcut to Worry About His Job

You know how bad Notre Dame was this past season so there little reason for me to rehash the details. I mean 3-9 just doesn't cut it under the Golden Dome. Now, Domers will tell you that it was to be expected because after all ND was playing all those freshman and sophomores. Next year, they will all have experience and things will be better.

Crewcut better hope so. Sure, he has the security of the 10 year contract Notre Dame foolishly gave him in the glow of the blazing start of his first season. However, now that he has stumbled to a worst record than the one that got Ty Willingham fired he has reason to be concerned. NBC has given him even more reason to be concerned. It seems that the Irish's sugar daddy is taking a bath since the team has gone into the tank. Ratings for Irish football in 2007 were less than half what they were in 2005 and NBC was forced to offer advertisers loads of givebacks to keep them happy and ponying up for next year.

Since the contract runs until 2010, ND's $9 million a year is not in immediate danger, but another season like this one will see NBC asking to begin negotiations on the renewal early and the bidding will be much lower. Expect NBC's ad rates for next season to be markedly less than this season's $55,000-$80,000, which will only further the expectation of NBC executives for a lower renewal. It's pressure Crewcut probably doesn't need, but that's what comes with the territory.

Christmas Links

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it today and for those of you who might be looking for something to read to pass the time today here are few links to stories of interest:

The New York Times has an article on St. John's basketball player Rob Thomas, whose dyslexia remained undiagnosed until he was 17, when he passed a note to his English teacher that said "I cannot read or write" and "please don't turn your back on me". His struggle to succeed is heartwarming but raises questions about why he is in college reading at a middle school grade level.

The Washington Post checks in on soccer wunderkind Freddy Adu, who has found a place and success at Benfica in Lisbon and Portugal's First Division. Darren, looks like Freddy's going to make it in Europe after all.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution looked at the incentives the BCS coaches have on the line when their teams take the field come next week. Les Miles has the most money at stake and yo can see why he turned down Big Blue who is notoriously cheap.

Speaking of the AJC, it confirmed my worst fears, and those of many baseball fans, that Mitchell Report will prove to be little more than a fleeting PR move since Selig will not lose his job as the owners are really only concerned with baseball's finances and fans keep coming and TV keeps paying so Bud's job is secure.

USA Today reports that the four major organizing bodies in pro tennis will sponsor an independent commission to analyze and report on the sport's gambling and match-fixing problem and how to combat it.

That's it for now, and probably for today, although I might be back later if I find time and something worth writing about. For now, enjoy your holiday or time off, as the case may be.

Trouble Brewing

I'm going to depart slightly from sports for a minute to touch on a problem close to most every sports fan's heart: beer. If you are like an ever increasing number of discerning drinkers who have chose to drink small craft beers, lately you may have had trouble finding your favorite beer. If you drink beer made by larger brewers, either regional or the giants like Anheuser Busch or Miller, then you probably have noticed price increases ranging from modest in the case of the big boys to significant for the smaller brewers. The culprit has been the rising cost of energy. It seems that the hops growers in the Pacific Northwest realized that with the dramatic rise in the price of corn for use in biofuels, they can make more money plowing under their hops fields and growing corn. The same is becoming true for barley farmers. So, as America wrongly places its alternative fuels bets on corn based ethanol instead of other biofuels that are more environmentally friendly and economical to produce, beer drinkers are collateral damage.

HT The Big Picture

Let's Hear It for the Owls

As the college bowl season kicks off, we will be subjected to endless discussion about how the BCS has failed to live it up to its purpose and how college football powers that be are depriving the fans of their God given right to see a national championship won on the field in a championship playoff run by the NCAA just like all those other sports nobody watches. Well, count me as old fashioned, but I happen to like the bowls in all their corporate sponsored, gaudy blazered, convention and tourist bureau touting glory. The kids playing in the games have fun, most of them get a trip to a decent vacation destination and the fans of those teams enjoy themselves. So what's the harm?

What's the big deal about a national championship anyway? Who said college sports is about winning national titles? It's supposed to be about the experience remember. Now, I'm not that naive that I don't think winning is important, but I remember when winning the conference was far more important than winning the national championship and I don't think that was a bad thing.

Anyway, that wasn't the real purpose of this post. If you want to know why bowls, even the so-called lesser bowls taking place before Christmas, are still important at least to those who are involved, look no further than the Super Dome. Yes, New Orleans is hosting three bowls this season, but no matter what LSU and Ohio State do in January, they won't be anymore excited to win than the FAU Owls were to win their first bowl game last night. The Owls, playing in their first bowl as champions of the Sun Belt in only their third season in Division IA and only their seventh season of football, convincingly beat Memphis to hand Howard Schnellenberger his fifth bowl win against no defeats, this one at the age of 73.

For FAU, this game is more than a culmination to a great season, it's the beginning of a new tradition. Next year, the Owls return 18 of 22 starters and the school has launched a drive to build a new on campus 30,000 seat stadium. With the Miami Hurricanes and the Miami Dolphins in free fall and FIU having won only one game this season, FAU is primed to break out into the glare of the South Florida media market. The man with the pipe will be there to guide the Owls along the way. History suggests this bowl game will be only the first of many. Congrats Howard.

Site Upgrades; Light Posting

Posting has been light this past week and will be light over the next week or so as I have been focused on some family matters. This week will be spent on much needed site upgrades looking towards the unveiling of a new and vastly improved site sometime around the first of year. In the meantime, I will post news as and when time permits. Continue to talk amongst yourselves about bowls, polls, coaching changes ( two of the worst coaching searches I have ever seen in Arkansas and Ann Arbor) Mitchell Reports and fallout (is there really a difference between Clemens and Bonds other than color)and whatever else strikes your fancy and I will check in from time to time.

From TD to Doughnuts

When the average NFL player retires. the fans believe that he retires to a life of luxury with no worries about his next meal or what to do with the rest of his life. After all, in the minds of the fans, he has made millions of dollars playing football, has been represented by high priced agents and lawyers, so why would he need to worry?

The reality of life after retirement is far different for most players. The superstars probably fit the fan stereotype and really don't have to worry. other than finding meaningful activities to fill up the days. However, on retirement the average NFL player has only been in the league for three years and has not earned enough to last the rest of his life. He is not able to navigate the maze of disbility and benefits procedures that the NFL have established without professional help and needs to find a new way to make a living often without a college degree and woefully unprepared to enter the workforce. Within two years of retiring, 78 percent are bankrupt, divorced or jobless, according to GamesOver.org, an Oregon-based support group.

Yet, all is not without degrees of encouragement. There is a growing recognition of the problem and a commitment of the NFL and NFLPA to begin to address the issue. In addition to educational programs, the league and the union at long last have made significant changes to the disability plan which will go a long way towards relieving the burden on retired and disabled players who have had such difficulty in getting claims recognized. The changes include:

1. The addition of a medical director to advise the initial caims committee;
2. The addition of doctor panels in major metropolitan areas;
3. The addition of claims specialists to walk players through the application process over the phone;
4. Allowing trustess to vote by electronic ballot on appeals that arise between meetings;
5. Extending the review period to five years from three where the player is totally or permanently disabled
6. Providing all retired vested players with a prescription drug card.

These changes are long overdue and should make life much improved for the average retired NFL player. Some of them are so logical and so cheap or without cost that you have to wonder what took so long. In any event, it's a welcome development.

The doughnuts? Franco Harris, the great Steelers Hall of Fame running back, now owns and operates Super Bakery, Inc. which sells pre-made nutritionally enriched doughnuts and other baked goods.

Technical Problems

The blog seems to be having more than its normal share of technical problems as I'm getting frequent reports of links that don't work and error messages popping up with ever increasing frequency. Blogger seems to be having difficulty keeping the blog active and I'm now being forced to face the very real prospect of moving to a different software and host. It's something I have been contemplating for a while but the timetable is just being accelerated by Blogger's ever increasing problems.

So, what do y'all think? What is the best blogging software/content management system out there right now? Who does the best hosting job? Should I switch to WordPress or Typepad or should it be someone else entirely? I have been looking at both WordPress and Typepad and both seem to be excellent choices with similar templates. While WordPress is free, it doesn't allow ads, which is a problem as I have several that are long-term commitments. Typepad will allow them but has hosting fees. As with everything in life, there are tradeoffs. I welcome your suggestions, recommendations and war stories.

Despite Dolan's and Isiah's Best Efforts, Knicks Still Most Valuable

The Forbes report on the value of NBA franchises is out for this year and despite what you have been reading and hearing about the state of the league, the value of the typical franchise actually rose 6%. This in a year in which ratings for the NBA Finals were at an all time low; the league was rocked by a betting scandal involving a referee; Seattle filed suit against the Sonics to prevent the owners from moving the team to Oklahoma City; the Knicks were involved in a sexual harassment suit that exposed the ineptitude of team management for the world to see; and the Kobe Bryant circus continued in Hollywood.

Who would have guessed that values were up? Who would have imagined that not only would the Knicks maintain their ranking as the most valuable franchise, but the value of the team would rise amidst the travesty of the trial to a record breaking $608 million, despite losing $$42 million, on revenues of $196 million. Paying $18.5 in severance to Larry Brown surely didn't help the bottom line.

What the Forbes report demonstrated more clearly than ever is that the most valuable teams are those in big markets with rich local television deals, while the most profitable ones (and they are most definitely not the same clubs) are those that go far in the playoffs and have modest payrolls. What distinguishes the NBA from the NHL is that while both now have salary caps, the NHL is still driven primarily by ticket sales, as for the most part, local TV pacts do not bring large revenue, where in the NBA, it is local TV that can be the major driver of franchise value, particularly in the major markets. Tickets sales are important, but are almost a given in most markets. It is local TV, which is not shared, that is the difference maker.

For current NBA schedules and up to date information about where your team is playing this week, be sure to consult Doc's Sports NBA team schedules here.

Bowl Schools Show Significant Academic Achievement Gap

Every year about this time UCF issues its annual report on the academic performance of the football teams that qualified for bowls that year. This year's teams' performances look remarkably like last year's and that is nothing to brag about. The significant academic achievement gap between white athletes and African-American athletes shows no signs of progress even as the performance of football players as a group continues to outpace the male student body as a whole.

For the six year period of the current report, 64% of white football players graduated compared to 50% of African-Americans. That 14% percent gap is up 1% from a year ago. 42% of bowl bound schools graduated less than half of their African-American football players, yet 88% of those schools reported a better than 50% graduation rate for their players. Do the math and see how many were reporting substantially higher than 50% of their white players graduating.

Four schools, Wake Forest, Boston College, Air Force and Navy, managed to graduate 90% or better of their players, and, of those four, only BC, with 90% managed to graduate 90% of its black players. The other three graduated 89%, 84% and 89%, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, the lowest overall football team scores were reported by Georgia, Texas, Michigan State, and Oklahoma at 41%, 42%, 43% and 44%. African-American graduation rate was even sorrier, with Georgia at 29%, Texas at 30%, MSU at 35% and the Sooners at a relatively successful 40%.

The numbers involved in the study are not encouraging. Despite increased emphasis being placed on academic performance by the NCAA and substantially increased spending by schools on academic support, no discernible increase in academic performance is yet evident. It may be that it is too early to see the benefits of those investments as these numbers are still several seasons old. Nevertheless, it only adds fuel to the fire raging around the NCAA and the arms race now going on in collegiate athletics.

50 Top Academic/Athletic Programs

Came across an interesting ranking of the fifty top combined academic-athletic college programs in the country as compiled by Stack magazine. Stack is a publication dedicated to high school athletes and features articles on how to improve their performance. It ranked the nation's top Division I colleges on the performance of their entire athletic department and for academic performance used that old standby, the US News and World Report ranking.

Guess who came in first - I have to admit to being surprised. In rankings of this type, my first guess is always either Stanford, the annual winner of the Directors' Cup or UCLA, who seems to field more teams that win more championships than anyone else, Both schools, with Stanford having a clear edge, have the academic ranking to boot - Stanford being number 4 in US News. But, no, t'was not to be as UNC came out the winner, buoyed by its number one rankings in men's and women's basketball and baseball and three other top five rankings to beat out Texas. Stanford was third followed by UCLA, with Duke fifth. The full list can be found here. It must really eat at the Blue Devils to see UNC number one, especially in a ranking that includes academics.

By the way fellow Cat fans, Northwestern came in tied for 23 with a Florida State - it would have been even higher if Stack had included women's lacrosse in its numbers. NU, after all, is the home of the three-time defending national champs.

My Own Hockey Team?

It was inevitable following the success of myfootballclub.com, which I have discussed in this space on several occasions, that someone in North America would try and copy the idea. It was logical to think that football was not going to be the sport as outside the Arena League and its own minor league Arena2, there is not a very viable minor league system. So, hockey or baseball would be the logical choices, since minor league basketball is either controlled by the NBA or too chaotic (see the ABA) to be worth the time necessary to coordinate this type of project. So, who went first? It seems that a couple of Canadian hockey fans emigrated to the Dominican have launched myownhockeyteam.com

The game plan is a direct clone of the plan in place in England - buy a minor league club and run it by the wisdom of the crowds. Now, I don't know how many fans outside of Canada really want to own a junior hockey team but then what do I know?

Me, I'm investigating the American securities laws to see if I can spearhead a similar project to buy a minor league baseball club. I'll update you when I hear back from the lawyers.

Predators Sale Approved

The long, winding road to the end of ownership of the Nashville Predators by Craig Leipold finally appears to be at hand and the winner, for now, is Middle Tennessee. The NHL Board of Governors yesterday approved the sale of the Preds to a group of mostly local businessmen headed by venture capitalist David Freeman for $193 million. The deal will likely close on Monday although a new lease, crucial to the success of the Preds' operation, will not be approved by the Nashville Metro Council for another couple of weeks. The deal is contingent on the new lease being approved and how that squares with an early closing, I'm not entirely certain. I suppose Freeman and his group has some fairly good assurances from the Council as to how the vote will go down.

The pending sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning was not on the agenda and whether that deal will be approved prior to the December 31 drop dead date in the deal is an open question. There is no currently scheduled Board of Governors meeting for December although Bettman could call one or a vote could be held by phone. The deadline could of course be extended by Lightning owner Bill Davidson, as well. We'll just have to wait and see how that one plays out. Let's hope it doesn't' take as long as the Predators.