Earlier this week, I got an email from the Chicago Bulls saying that former Chicago Tribune basketball writer Sam Smith is back writing for bulls.com. Smith was bought out at the Tribune in April. Congratulations to a wonderful basketball mind, and I look forward to reading his wonderful take on the NBA
After undergoing surgery on his wrist to repair a torn ligament, Washington Wizards center Brenden Haywood could miss the entire season. The team said he will will spend 2½ months in a cast before starting rehabilitation and will be out four to six months. With Gilbert Arenas out until December or January after undergoing his 3rd knee operation in the last 1 1/2 half years, this is a damaging blow to the Wizards, a team expected to make some noise in the East. How they fare without those 2 is to be seen, but it doesn’t look good.
NEW YORK — The baseball players’ union says it has found evidence teams acted in concert against signing Barry Bonds but it reached an agreement with the commissioner’s office to delay the filing of any grievance.
The union expressed concern in May about the lack of offers to the home run king. Filing a grievance would trigger proceedings before arbitrator Shyam Das.
While Tony Romo recovers from a broken pinkie and the Dallas Cowboys have to deal with yet another suspension to Pacman Jones, owner Jerry Jones is still going strong. Yesterday, the Cowboys acquired Roy Williams and a 7th round pick in the 2009 draft from the Detroit Lions in return for 1st, 3rd, and 6th round picks in the 2009 draft. And no, I am not talking about the horse collar tackling Roy Williams who plays safety, I’m talking about the WR Roy Williams. Additionally, Jones gave him a 5 year, $45 million extension, with more than $20 million in guaranteed money.
With Romo out, this deal provides backup QB Brad Johnson with another target to help the Cowboys offense. Additionally, this move should help Terrell Owens, as he should get less double coverage now. According to Jones, when he informed T.O. of the trade, he was “ecstatic.” This deal also gives Dallas a true #2 WR they have not had since cutting Ohio State alum Terry Glenn. When Romo returns from his injury, with T.O., Williams, Patrick Crayton, Jason Whitten, Miles Austin, Marion Barber III, and Felix Jones, along with a massive offensive line, this will be a very explosive Cowboys offense. How they do in the interim remains to be seen, this move puzzles me. Jerry Jones paid a pretty high price to get him, giving up the draft picks and then the money to keep him, and with Terrence Newman and Pacman Jones out on defense, more offense doesn’t seem to be the Cowboys biggest priority. But this certainly helps the offense.
It’s official: Pacman Jones will never learn. After his reinstatement following being suspended for the entire 2007 season, I thought Pacman was a changed man. I wanted to believe it. I really did. He said he never had a good support group, as no male in his family lived past age 25. He befriended Deion Sanders, Tank Johnson and other Cowboys players and surrounded himself with better people.
And then 6 weeks after commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Pacman, he gets into an alcohol-related scuffle with one of the four bodyguards the Cowboys assigned to be around Pacman 24/7, that were in essence, babysitters. And Goodell took notice, suspending the cornerback for at least 4 games without pay. Goodell said he will determine how long the suspension ultimately will be following the Cowboys week 11 game vs. the Redskins on November 16.
This suspension also means that the Cowboys will get back the 6th round pick in the 2009 draft that they sent to Tennessee when they traded for Jones. They will also get the Titans 5th round pick next year. With Pro Bowl cornerback Terrance Newman out for another month or so after surgery to repair a sports hernia, and QB Tony Romo out with a broken pinkie, this could be a severe blow to the Cowboys playoff hopes.
So long, Pacman. It was nice knowing you. Goodell clearly said reinstatement was contingent on following terms of the probation, one of which was no alcohol-related incidents, and obviously stay out of trouble. He obviously will never learn. I think it’s time this scumbag gets thrown out of the league forever. Among the many scuffles this scumbag has had with the law, thanks to this waste of sperm, who decided it would be cool to make it rain with his own money, and then attack people for deciding to pick it up, there is a man who is paralyzed and will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I hope Pacman gets a lifetime ban with no appeal and no chance to ever return.
Add a broken pinkie on Tony Romo’s throwing (right) hand to the list of all the wild things that happened at the end of regulation and in overtime of Sunday’s wild Cowboys-Cardinals game. In the Cowboys loss, Sunday, it turns out that Romo broke his pinkie, and could be out for up to a month. If he misses a month, he will miss 3 games, this Sunday at St. Louis, the following week vs. Tampa, and then a trip to the Meadowlands to face the G-Men. The Cowboys have their bye after that. With the Cowboys at 4-2, and 1-1 in divisional play, this could be a damaging blow to the Cowboys. 40-year old Brad Johnson will replace Romo. Johnson has not started a game since 2006.
11 seconds to go. Kyle Orton just completed a brilliant 77 yard drive, spanning 11 plays to put the Bears up by 1. It seemed like the Bears had won the game. Until the Lovie Smith decided to give the game away.
The Lovetron decided to squib kick the ball on the ensuing kickoff. After a return by the Falcons, and a pass from Matt Ryan to Ohio State alum Michael Jenkins, with 1 second left, the Falcons kicked the game winning FG. Why did Lovie call for a squib in that spot!? He was asking to lose the game in that spot. In that spot, where you need a field goal, you don’t squib it, hoping to get time run off the clock, you boot it and make the other team go 80+ yards. 11 seconds and 80+ yards is a lot harder to get into field goal range than 6 seconds and 55 yards. Now, if a touchdown is needed in that spot, a squib kick is understandable, as 55 yards is still pretty far, and the squib takes time off the clock. Brilliant management by the Lovetron. Thanks to his ineptitude, this team that could easily be 6-0 right now is 3-3, tied for first with the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. FIRE LOVIE SMITH!!
Ever since last year when Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan called timeout right before the ball was snapped on a field goal try, coaches in the NFL and NCAA have been copying the tactic. Lots of people call the tactic Bush League and call for the rule to be changed so that a coach can’t call timeout on a field goal the instant before the ball is snapped. The results of the October 12 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals is exhibit 1 on why the rule should be legal:
The Cowboys were trailing the Cardinals by 3 late in regulation. With 22 seconds left and the Cowboys on their own 31, Romo hooked up with Jason Whitten on a 30-yard pass. After a frantic dash to spike the ball, 4 seconds were left, and the Cardinals were called for off-sides, moving the ball up to the Arizona 34. After massive confusion and some delays, play resumed with 4 seconds to go and the Cowboys lining up to kick a 52-yard FG. Arizona was able to break through the line and block Nick Folk’s kick, and win the game. Or so it seemed. Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt called timeout before the kick, nullifying the block. On the 2nd attempt, Folk barely made it, to send the game into OT.
Why do people seem to forget that everything has another side to it? In this case, icing the kicker can backfire. Additionally, kickers have said they don’t mind the icing timeout, it gives them a little extra time to focus and gauge the conditions. And with this method, as opposed to the traditional icing, where you call the timeout while the kicker is lining up for the kick, you’re giving the kicker a practice kick, letting him get the bad one out of the way.
Over the summer, I read an article in the Chicago Sun-Times by Greg Couch about how the Bulls make huge profits. He even cited an article in Forbes magazine that mentioned of the profits. I am posting this now, because I have been lazy, and hadn’t gotten around to posting it, but here is the link:
Not only have the Chicago Bulls survived the departure of Michael Jordan, but they have thrived since the superstar retired (financially at least). The Bulls have been the NBA’s most profitable team this decade thanks to a huge fan base and low payrolls. The team has averaged $46 million in operating profits the past eight seasons versus a league average of $7 million. Only the Lakers have been in the same stratosphere when it comes to profits. The Bulls have consistently drawn more than 20,000 fans a game to the United Center, and led the league in attendance last season for the first time since 1999-2000.
It’s not just a big fan base and low prices, it’s ticket prices that are the 4th-highest in the league, and an owner in Jerry Reinsdorf who is a cheapskate who refuses to pay the luxury tax to help build a title contender (see Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol). Thank you for exposing Reinsdorf as the cheapskate he is, Mr. Couch.
Since April 2006, when the Cubs gave Derrek Lee a $65 million contract, they have spent $543 million on contracts since then. In addition to the 65M for Lee, they spent 38.5M on Scott Eyre, Ryan Dempster, and Bob Howry, the 300M spree in the 06-07 off-season, with 136M to Alfonso Soriano, 75M to Aramis Ramirez, 40M to Ted Lilly, 21M to Jason Marquis, 13M to Mark DeRosa, and 15M on other little parts, 91.5M to Carlos Zambrano, and 48M to Kosuke Fukudome. With the impending sale of the Cubs, I decided to do some crunching and see how much of that the Tribune Co. is paying, and how much will be left over for the new owner, when the team is sold: (Salaries and signing bonuses paid that year counted in salary)
Scott Eyre: 11M
Bob Howry: 12M
Ryan Dempster: 15.5M
Mark DeRosa: 7.5M combined in 2007 and 2008.
2006:
Derrek Lee: 13M
2007:
Lee: 13M
Alfonso Soriano: 17M
Aramis Ramirez: 13M
Jason Marquis: 4.75M
Ted Lilly: 9M
Other parts: 15M
2008:
Lee: 13M
Soriano: 13M
Ramirez: 14M
Kosuke Fukudome: 12M
Carlos Zambrano: 20M
Lilly: 7M
Marquis: 6.375M
So so far, the Tribune Co. has spent 216.125M out of those 543M
For 2009, the Cubs have the following big salaries committed (as of right now):
Lee: 13M
Soriano: 16M
Ramirez: 15.65M
Kosuke Fukudome: 12M
Carlos Zambrano: 17.75M
Lilly: 12M
Marquis: 9.875M
DeRosa: 5.5M
That’s 101.775M committed to 8 players next year. At the rate this sale is moving, the Tribune Co. is probably on the hook for that money. That will be $317.9M of the 543M they spend
And if the sale goes past 2009, here is 2010:
Lee: 13M
Soriano: 18M
Ramirez: 15.75M
Kosuke Fukudome: 12M
Carlos Zambrano: 17.875M
Lilly: 12M
That’s $88.625M to those 6 in 2010, bringing the Trib’s tab to 406.525
At this point, Lee’s contract and Lilly’s contract will have expired. Soriano will have 72M left on his deal, Fukudome 12M, and Ramirez and Zambrano around 25M each. So everyone’s complaining about how the Tribune Co. is spending the new owner’s money is wrong. They’ve spent more than 200M of their spree, and their tab will cross $300M if the team is not sold in 2009. Look for an update of this as the free agent market unfolds. Oh, and check out http://www.mlb4u.com/ for baseball news. That site is great, and it’s where I got the year by year salaries from.