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.

After finding that Pacman Jones did not violate his contract while getting into a scuffle with his bodyguard, the Dallas Cowboys said Pacman will play today.

However, the league is conducting their own investigation, and is expected to make a ruling next week. Any suspension would be a serious blow both to Pacman’s NFL future, and the Cowboys, who will be without cornerback Terrance Newman until at-least mid-November after undergoing surgery to fix a sports hernia.

Monta Ellis is a moron. Now he will pay for it. Literally and figuratively. After tearing his deltoid ligament in his left ankle over the summer in a moped accident and then lying to the team about it, the Golden State Warriors made a moron pay, suspending Ellis for 30 games without pay for violating his new 6 year, $66 million deal by riding a moped.

Paragraph 12 of the NBA’s uniform player contract prohibits players from engaging “in any activity that a reasonable person would recognize as involving or exposing the participant to a substantial risk of bodily injury,” including “driving or riding a motorcycle or moped.”

Why an NBA player has a moped or motorcycle with him to begin with, I don’t know. Your contract prohibits it, so why do you have one? And when you have at least $100 million in salary and endorsements in front of you, why do you ride one and risk getting killed? Look at Jay Williams. He played just 1 season in the NBA, and then he almost killed himself on a motorcycle and is now out of basketball for good, and he only got to make about $5 million.

Additionally, Ellis lied to the team at first. He said he hurt it playing pickup ball. You should have known better than that. A torn deltoid ligament and cuts and abrasions don’t happen while playing basketball. At least make up something plausible, like riding a bicycle.

The Warriors are going to count their 4 pre-season games in the suspension, so Ellis will be suspended for the first 26 games of the season, ending after their Dec. 17 game. It is unclear whether or not Ellis will be able to play by then anyways. If I was in charge, I would not have suspended Ellis, since he is going to probably be out until then anyways, but rather, I would not have paid him for each game he missed.

I guess a year-long suspension hasn’t done Pacman much good. According to Dallas police, early Wednesday morning, Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones got into fight with one of his bodyguards at downtown hotel. The po-po said that no one will be charged for the incident.

Apparently after incidents in strips clubs, bars, hotels, nightclubs, altercations with people, law enforcement, a confiscated car that he later had to buy back, and a triple shooting that has left a man in a wheelchair for life, Jones didn’t learn his lesson. Only after his means of making a living and earning money were endangered did Jones stop doing these things. The NFL has yet to make a decision to suspend Jones, but they are investigating the matter

After being caught with marijuana and women in their room, in violation of the program’s no-visitors rules, at the NBA’s rookie transition program, Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were expelled from the program.

It turns out, NBA Commissioner David Stern was the one who expelled them. Upon finding out about what they did, Stern was enraged.

According to sources, Chalmers and Arthur were caught in Arthur’s room at the Doral Arrowwood resort in Rye Brook when a smoke alarm went off Wednesday at about 2 a.m. Hotel management went to the room, but the players refused to allow them in.

Management then left to get security, which used its own key to enter the room minutes later. Once inside, security found Chalmers, Arthur and at least two women. There was a strong stench of marijuana in the room, and one person was in the bathroom with the door locked, repeatedly flushing the toilet, sources said.

The police were called to the room, which they searched, but neither marijuana nor drug paraphernalia was found. Representatives from the players’ association were also on the scene by that time.

Chalmers and Arthur were allowed to spend the night at the resort and were seemingly planning to attend a kickoff address by Stern later Wednesday morning. But after being told of the violations shortly before beginning his speech, Stern immediately had the players removed from their rooms.

According to several reports, Stern was livid. And that anger was evident. Stern mentioned the 2 players by name, and told the other 67 rookies in attendance that they were thrown out and would be forced to attend the 2009 session. They will also be fined $20,000 and could start the season on the suspended list.

Congratulations to David Stern for taking a stand and throwing out these morons. How hard is it to wait for 4 days anyways to smoke pot and hit it with some pussy? I hope these morons get massive suspensions.

Is this really happening, or is just a dream? Let me pinch myself to find out. OUCH! Oh my! It’s real! I really am seeing Ocho Cinco on Chad Johnson’s jersey.

After legally changing his name to Chad Ocho Cinco, the NFL has finally recognized it, and for all business related to the Cincinnati Bengals and the NFL, Chad Johnson will from now on be referred to as Chad Ocho Cinco, and that includes the name Ocho Cinco on the back of his #85 jersey, starting with this Sunday’s game. I am in complete and utter shock that the NFL would agree to go through this. I’m speechless.

9-year-old Jericho Scott from New Haven, Connecticut is a really good baseball player. In fact, he’s too good that he’s no longer allowed to pitch in his youth baseball league.

The action is all you need to know. This is one of the dumbest, saddest things I have ever seen in my life. So because this kid is so dominant, that no one can beat him, they decide to beat him by banning him? BRILLIANT LOGIC!! Is this where we’re at in society today? Banning someone because he is too good? When someone is gifted like this, isn’t it in everyone’s best interests to further those gifts? What good is this going to do for the kid? What if this kid is a future MLB Superstar, the next Randy Johnson or Greg Maddux or Tommy John or Cy Young or some other 300 game winner, pitching legend? Why are we denying him that chance? What is moving him up and letting him get battered by kids older than him going to do? It will destroy him, scar him for life. What if this was done to Michael Jordan, Brett Favre, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, and all the other great sporting legends we have?

Scott’s mom is taking legal action against the league. I fully support her doing so. I hope she kicks their ass and the people who decided to ban this kid are looking at the help wanted ads when she is done with those scumbags. This makes me want to puke

Who knew that pulling yourself up the dugout bench could lead to injury? That sounds like a Cubbie Occurrence. Only it didn’t happen to the Cubs. Just ask Jered Weaver of the LA Angels, and he can tell you all about it

“I went to push to get up and gripped where the staples in the upholstery come together, and it just got me. It sliced me pretty good. It felt like a paper cut, but a lot deeper.”

Thankfully, the cuts Weaver suffered to the tips of his middle and ring fingers will not require stitches, and he won’t be out for an extended period of time, but he will miss his next start. And thankfully the Angels can afford it, as they are running away with the AL West.