Sports Quick Hits - 7/25 - Lockout Over/Stars Overseas?

Well, it's a little late today, but with this edition of Sports Quick Hits, you can know that the NFL Lockout is Over! Almost. It's still pending the formality of the players vote, which at this points looks like it'll be a majority agreement with the owners unless something dramatic changes. With that vote, the NFL and NFL Players committees, who worked until 3am this morning, have expedited the NFL time line. If the deal is accepted today, here's what will happen:

Monday, 7/25 - The NFL will announce teams can go to 90-man rosters and will distribute official free agent lists. So, expect to see a bunch of big names, and we'll also get clarification on guys like Logan Mankins and Vincent Jackson, and whether or not their franchise tags will stick.

Tuesday, 7/26 - Teams can begin negotiating with drafted rookies and undrafted college free agents beginning at 10am. All signed players are allowed into team facilities, with 10 teams beginning training camp. To keep teams from having additional practices, all teams may begin camp only 15 days prior to their first preseason game. Teams may begin resigning their own free agents and start negotiations with unrestricted free agents and begin trade talks. However, transactions involving unrestricted free agents and trades cannot be reported to the league office until Friday the 29th, so you may have to wait a few days to see some new faces on your favorite team's roster.

Wednesday, 7/27 - Ten more teams are allowed to report to training camp, and ten more will report Thursday with the Jets and Texans reporting on Sunday.

Thursday, 7/28 - Teams can begin to cut players currently under contract to get back under the new $120M salary cap. Teams must spend at least 89% of that total in cash contracts, or $106.8M). Presently, there are 8 teams over the cap. Those teams and the amounts over are as follows:

Dallas Cowboys - $18.9M over
New York Giants - $11.3M over
Oakland Raiders - $10M over
Pittsburgh Steelers - $10M over
Minnesota Vikings - $5.1M over
Indianapolis Colts - $2.7M over
New York Jets - $1.2M over

Among some of the notable players likely to be cut due to high salaries are: Reggie Bush, Saints; Shawn Andrews, Giants; Flozell Adams, Steelers; Marion Barber, Cowboys; Vince Young, Titans; Donovan McNabb, Redskins; and Vernon Carey, Dolphins. Note that this list doesn't include players like Peyton Manning and Santonio Holmes, who are unrestricted free agents whose contracts will come off their respective teams books should they leave. Those two are unlikely, but there will be a lot of guys in flux the next 4 days.

Friday, 7/29 - All teams can file all new transactions (signed unrestricted free agents, rookie contracts, and trades) with the NFL League Office starting at 6pm.

August 4th - Deadline for recertification of NFLPA and ratification of new Collective Bargaining Agreement by the players.

As much as I hate to dole out kudos to these two, but my hats off to Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith for taking over these negotiations the last two weeks. And lastly, I think you have to ask the owners, was it worth it? I think not, and I think that's plenty evident by teams hurting badly on season ticket sales.

MLB
Just when the MLB trade deadline is approaching and some of the races are getting hot, the NFL seemingly solves its lockout issues. Buzzkill for baseball. Anyways, there are some great races going on. Here's my top 3.

1) NL Central - this one is sort of by default, as the first place Pirates, also tied with the Cardinals and Brewers, all have worse records than every other first place team in the Majors and are all also worse than 4 of the second place teams around the majors. The Reds are also 3 games back and won back-to-back games for the first time in a month last night. I'd expect some serious deals to go on in this division over the coming days.

2) AL Central - don't look now but Ozzie Guillen's White Sox are hard-charging and just two games below .500 and just 4.5 out of first after a dreadful start. Detroit holds a two game lead over the Indians, who just won't seem to go away. I think this remains a 3 horse race to the bitter end.

3) NL Wild-Card - the Braves have a 4 game lead over Arizona right now, but Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, the New York Mets, and Washington Nationals are all within 10 games of the Braves.

Other Sports

A lot of NBA guys are looking overseas. Deron Williams already signed with a team in Turkey, and that squad is currently in talks with Kobe Bryant. Dwight Howard has eyed teams in Europe, Turkey, and maybe biggest of all, China, in order to improve his game overseas while the NBA Lockout is in effect.

Terrelle Pryor, the former Ohio State QB, may not be allowed to be in the Supplemental Draft, which still has yet to have a date set for it, as he left Ohio State under his own volition, as opposed to being ruled academically ineligible or being kicked out of school for unforseen circumstances.

Lastly, and this one is for Chizzy, I'll go ahead and call the Eagles trading Kevin Kolb to the Arizona Cardinals for CB Dominique Rogers-Cromartie and a draft pick. Book that one for Friday night.

Sports Quick Hits - Hard Labor Edition

Happy All-Star Break to all baseball fans out there; hopefully your team has played better than my Reds have of late. Just to let you know, if you're missing Chizzy, he's still in preparation for the bar exam, and probably won't be back until August, so you'll have to bear with me for the remainder of the month. I myself am thinking about taking the plunge into law school...yikes, right? But that's a ways off still, if I go through with it. Onto more sports related things, and perhaps some of the best news we've received yet in the NFL Lockout, so we'll start and end there, as there's not much news going on in the sports world besides the lockout this week.

NFL
Reports surfaced today that a new CBA could be reached between the players and owners in the NFL lockout, and could be ratified by owners as early as July 21st. In order to pass, 75% of the owners, i.e. 24 of the 32, must vote in favor of it. While the revenue-sharing issues amongst owners aren't at the forefront this time around, if I had to bet on two owners who would vote no, it'd be the same two as the last time around: Cincinnati's Mike Brown, and Buffalo's Ralph Wilson.

It's rumored that the last sticking issue, and quite frankly in my opinion, the most surprising, is the rookie wage scale and rookie contract length issue. The owners want to be able to sign first round picks for 5 years, which I get since they're still shelling out big bucks to 21, 22, and 23 year olds who've never set foot on an NFL field. On the other hand, if the current players are getting to free agency after 4 accrued seasons of service, shouldn't it be the same for the rookies? I think so. The players have already made several concessions and hopefully the owners will see that with respect to the rookie wage/contract length issue and not muck up the negotiation process.

Now, with the potential ratification date on the 21st, it appears that the only football lost, other than the 50 plus workouts, OTAs, mini-camps, and rookie tryout camps that have already been lost, would be the Hall of Fame Game on August 7th, between the Chicago Bears and the St. Louis Rams. Here's what the truncated league calendar would look like:

July 21st - CBA ratification and date to start educating teams (i.e. GMs, coaches, players, staff, etc.) on new collective bargaining agreement and voluntary training.

July 25th - Begin signing period for undrafted rookies and re-signing of teams free agents. For example, teams can sign any undrafted rookie free agents, but wouldn't be able to sign others free agents - meaning at this point, teams could only re-sign their own players, the Dolphins couldn't make a call to Ahmad Bradshaw, for example.

July 28th - League Year Opens, free agency begins. At this point, all those players waiting on huge pay days: Nnamdi Asomugha, DeAngelo Williams, Ahmad Bradshaw, Sidney Rice, etc are now set to meet with any NFL team if they haven't re-signed with their 2010 team.

At this stage, most, if not all teams begin training camp. This is typically the normal start time anyway, but they'll have been without said OTAs, rookie camps, mini-camps, etc.

August 2nd - Teams must set max rosters at 90 players.

August 3rd - Deadline for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets from their current NFL team. At this point, it would be those players who are slated for free agency that haven't accrued 4 seasons of play.

August 7th - Deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers in the form of draft picks or player compensation. I don't think there's that many huge restricted free agent names out there, but it could be interesting to watch.

August 12th - Deadline for drafted rookies to sign. I think this is a good step, as it forces both teams and players (and their agents) to negotiate deals quickly. Given the truncated timetable, I'd imagine most rookies are signed relatively quickly once the market is set on rookie contracts. I can't imagine any lengthy holdouts as we've seen over the past few years with players like Michael Crabtree, JaMarcus Russell, and David Pollack.

August 16th - Restricted free agency period ends.

August 29th - Deadline for players to report to camp. If players fail to report they're to be listed in the reserver, non-football injury list, or PUP (physically unable to perform list) until week 6 of the season.

At this point, I think it'd be assumed that the trade deadline would be the same as usual, also typically around week 6 of the NFL season.

All things considered, I think the timetable is fair as it gives each NFL team a chance to take care of the easier things first, like signing UDFAs and bringing back their own free agent players before getting into restricted free agency and teams making runs at unrestricted free agents.

I've still not seen word on franchise tags applied to players prior to the lockout, for instance, Patriots G Logan Mankins. Teams would still be able to use a franchise tag and possibly a transition tag as well, and would get to use those coinciding with restricted free agency's deadlines.

In other news:
Adam "Pacman" Jones was arrested in Cincinnati over the weekend on disorderly conduct charges. Though he claims he wasn't drunk, I've got it on good authority that he's been frequenting a particular bar with fellow Bengal Frostee Rucker, and Reds P Aroldis Champan, and on more than one occasion, Jones has been carried out of the bar and had a cab paid to take him home. I don't think he'll ever learn.

The Women's World Cup Team made it past Brazil and into the semi-finals against France. Go USA, but man, women's soccer is very slow and tough to watch!

I'm not really interested in the Home Run Derby. Much like the NBA's dunk contest, there's hardly ever many big names in it, and without steroids, it's just not the same as seeing Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds just go yard.

Chiefs OLB, and former Patriots OLB, Mike Vrabel will retire and return to Ohio State to become linebackers coach. I wish you well Mike Vrabel, but why go back now? I have to think that most, if not all, of that staff will be gone after 2011 when Ohio State makes a run at Bo Pelini, a former Buckeye, or Urban Meyer, who just moved to Columbus. All things considered though, you had a great NFL career and should do what you want.

Sports Quick Hits

Hope you had a great 4th of July Weekend! I had a great time golfing at Beavercreek Country Club and at JM's wedding. Chizzy's Cards beat my Reds last nigth, 1-0, on an infield hit. And now, Albert Pujols might be back tonight. Wow! More on that in a second. With Major League Baseball a week away from the All-Star Break, this is really kind of a dead-time in sports. Wimbeldon just finished and the Women's World Cup is still ongoing, but that's about it. Here's a quick look at the top stories in the sports world.

MLB
While it's hard for me to say who the best baseball player I've ever seen play is, especially since so many were on the juice during the 1990s and early 2000s, I'd have to narrow the list down quite a bit. My candidates, including all positions would be as follows, in no particular order:

- Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis Cardinals
- Ken Griffey Jr, OF, Seattle Mariners (and only his time with the Mariners)
- Mariano Rivera, CP, New York Yankees
- Frank Thomas, 1B, Chicago White Sox
- Greg Maddux, SP, Atlanta Braves
- Tony Gwynn, OF, San Diego Padres

Of those, you have a dominant starting pitcher in Maddux, and this might be my favorite state of all-time, who only threw a 3-0 count 17 times in his entire career. Mariano Rivera is the best closer we've ever seen, or will ever see. Ken Griffey Jr, if not for injuries, might have or be close to having all the records in the books for HRs. Frank Thomas and Tony Gwynn could flat out rake and both were big human beings, Thomas more so than Gwynn. And then we have Albert Pujols, who could potentially start the Reds vs. Cards game tonight, just 15 days after breaking his wrist. Just incredible, and I'll have a full-length article about Pujols soon. It's a big week in the NL Central as the Brewers just continue to lose on the road, the Reds play both St. Louis and Milwaukee, and the Pirates are still in the thick of things. Makes for an interesting second half in a tight division.

NFL
Yep, the lockout's still in effect, but more meetings are scheduled for this week. The Hall of Fame Game, slated to be played by the Rams and Bears on August 7th, is slated to be on track. While despite talks nearly disintegrating last week, a source says an agreement is likely to be achieved, just not this week. Hmmm, where have we heard that before. Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, along with the lead negotiating teams will be back to have face-to-face discussions this Thursday and Friday. Strictly my opinion here, but those two days could make or break the potential CBA deal. I think we'll have a clear understanding of who soon a deal can be done or how far apart the two sides really are by Saturday.

The retired players have also filed a class-action lawsuit and want a seat at the negotiating table as well. The named plaintiffs are some big-time names: Carl Eller, famed defensive lineman from the Vikings "Purple People Eaters" defense; Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers; Marcus Allen of the Raiders and Chiefs; and Paul Krause of the Redskins and Vikings.

NBA
Another lockout here, and the first thing to go, much like the NFL was free agency. Starting July 1st, the NBA's traditional free agency opening day, came and went without any transactions. Everyone's favorite uncled, Charles Barkley offered this quote regarding the lockout situation:

"It's going to get ugly. I've already been on the record saying I don't think they're going to play at all next season."

That my friends, would be turrrrible.

NHL
NHL free agency is in full swing, and a familiar name popped up in an unfamiliar place. Jaromir Jagr, who most know from his days with the Pittsburgh Penguins (maybe some might remember him with the Rangers also) ended up signing with the rival Philadelphia Flyers, for a one year $3.9M deal. The 1999 league MVP played the last three seasons in Russia. I think this is pretty odd as Jagr won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins playing along side the great Mario Lemieux, now the Penguins owner. Something smells a little fishy here.

Tennis
Maria Sharapova made a nice run in climbing back to the top 6 in the world, but she fell short in the Wimbeldon Final, losing 6-3, 6-4 to Petra Kvitova. On the men's side, Roger Federer went out early, and Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in the final to claim his first Wimbeldon Championship and a cool $7.5M. He's got a 48-1 record this year, losing only to Federer in the French Open last month. Djokovic was 0-4 in grand slam tournaments against Rafael Nadal until beating him in England.

Other Sports
South Carolina won its second straight College Baseball World Series over SEC rival Florida.

The US Women's World Cup team is 2-0 and has a big one against Sweden, also 2-0, on Wednesday night. A win there means the US would avoid having to play Brazil in the knockout stage.

Joey Chestnut won the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest downing 62 yesterday.

Derek Jeter returned last night and was hitless against the Indians. He remains just 6 shy of 3,000 for his career.

That's all for this weeks edition of Sports Quick Hits. I'll have some NFL Draft Grades for you throughout the week.

Sport Quick Hits - KD & Brooklyn Decker? Almost...

Sorry for the delay in getting this posted today. Chizzy is off in New York and I've been swamped with work and other things. Other things being booking a trip to Vegas, getting ready for JM's wedding this weekend, and dusting off the golf clubs for 18 holes on Friday. Now, onto the Quick Hits. With the NBA and NHL Finals and Drafts concluded, there's really not much sports wise to concentrate on other than baseball, so let's start there.

MLB
I had time to read through Sports Illustrated while waiting for my car in the shop this past weekend (nothing major, so no worries) and came across an article talking about Derek Jeter and his chase for his 3,000th career hit. Jeter will be come the 3rd youngest player to do it, and he should reach that milestone in the coming week. The article talked about how Jeter has used only one model of bat, and the same stance he's used since high school, throughout his entire career. It really is one of the quirkier swings you'll find, as he keeps his hands extremely tight into his boday. Having been so consistent since 1996, the Yankees are now frustrated at Jeter's propensity for hitting ground balls. Jeter admitted in the article he was pretty frustrated by his contract dispute this past offseason, so I think there's going to be something coming to a head with Jeter - most likely after he gets number 3,000.

Former Reds Manager Davey Johnson just won't go away. Jim Riggleman resigned as manager for the Washington Nationals, and they've hired Davey Johnson to fill in. Johnson hasn't managed in 11 years, and is 68 years old. With Johnson and McKeon now both battling the teams, and age, in the NL East, I'd like to make a notion that if they do indeed realign the divisions, that both the Marlins and Nationals be placed in the Southeast Retirement Home one.

The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court today. This comes just days before the June 30th deadline that had been imposed by Major League Baseball, and now basically ensures a settlement in the Dodgers ownership debate won't come any time soon. Commissioner Bud Selig condemned the move, and it should be known that the Commissioner can terminate the franchise, effectively telling Frank McCourt couldn't own the team. McCourt claims that he's got interim finances to hold the team over without stiffing players and staff. This saga just keeps getting uglier and uglier. Here's the in-depth story.

NFL
Updating my story from last week, the NFL and the Players Association will meet yet again this week. Players were given updates on the situation last week on the phones, presumably from DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA attroneys, and player reps, keeping them aware of the situation. Many athletes have hinted on Twitter and through other social media and communication sources, that a deal could happen in 3 weeks time. The Players Association and its attroneys met alone today in Minneapolis in an informational meeting about the situation. From what we've learned, from what little has been leaked out, the following concessions have been made:

- The owners will not include the potential for an 18 game season in this CBA, which I think is a damn good thing. There'd be too much crappy football by expanding the schedule.

- More benefits will go to the retired players pension fund and for medical and player safety studies. Again, another good thing.

- Players with a minimum of 4 years accrued experience will have the option to become an unrestricted free agent, rather than becoming a restricted free agent and having a tender (draft pick compensation) placed on them. It's not yet known what happens to players who've been franchise tagged, but there will be tags in the new CBA. Players who were tendered prior to the lockotu that have 4 years experience will become unrestricted free agents. That's big news for guys like Saints G Carl Nicks, a pair of RBs in Carolina's DeAngelo Williams, and the Giants Ahmad Bradshaw. Perhaps the biggest potential name, Patriots G Logan Mankins, is still an unknown as he was tagged prior to the lockout.

- Both sides are still determining how to splite the $9.3B pie that is NFL yearly revenue. The players' share would be very close to 50%, and the $1B in expense credits that the owners receive off the top (before any money is divided) would disappear. No word on team revenue sharing yet, as the 2006 CBA put in place a plan where the top 15 revenue generating teams (Cowboys, Patriots, Eagles, Redskins, Seahawks, etc.) would pool a percentage of their revenue and give it to the 17 bottom revenue generating teams (Bengals, Jaguars, Raiders, Vikings).

- No fees for the players would come from designated shares, but rather the entire pool of revenue and teams would have a salary cap floor, from which their minimum salary cap must be above. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ownership, the Glazer family, who partially operates soccer power Manchester United, is $1.7B in debt, and consequently have docked payroll for the Buccaneers. Well, they're going to be forced to spend now, and it's rumored they'll be $70-80M under the cap, but no word on how much they'll have to spend to get to the floor. Either way, that number is staggering. Good luck if you get into a bidding war with them for say, CB Nnamdi Asomugha.

Lastly, both sides have agreed there will be a rookie wage scale, we just have no idea what the max salary would be. It's been rumored that the NFL will adopt an NBA style "ladder" where each draft picks salary is pre-determined. This means that the number 1 overall pick can earn 'X' amount of dollars and each subsequent pick earns a predetermined amount less than that 1st pick and goes down the line.

Got all that? Good. John Clayton reported on ESPN last week that there could be a meeting July 7th or 8th in which the owners would meet to ratify the proposed new CBA and end the lockout. Here's to hoping!

NBA
I missed the first few picks of the NBA Draft, but watched more of it than I ever have. Cavs fans got Kyrie Irving from Duke and Tristan Thompson from Texas with their two picks in the top 5. Good luck winning with those two. Hey, at least they also acquired two future 2nd round picks in a trade with Orlando. There were more foreign-born players drafted in the 1st round than ever before. A case of Dirk Fever perhaps? I think so.

The NBA is also about to head into a lockout. Bummer. I actually enjoyed watching the NBA more this season than I have since Michael Jordan wore the 23 jersey for the Chicago Bulls. The first time around. Here's a trivia question for you. Most people know that Michael Jordan wore his famous 23. He also wore 45 after coming back from baseball. But, did you know that Michael Jordan, for one game, wore another number? His jersey was lost prior to a game in Orlando. Post in the comments section what you think it was and I'll tell you if you're right. There's no prize for Googling it. Here's to hoping the NBA's lockout is no where near as potentially ugly as the NFL's got for a time. Something tells me that David Stern being in charge will make things a little more difficult than DeMaurice Smith has made things in the NFL's labor dispute.

NHL
Chizzy posted a great article several weeks ago about franchises abandoning their cities and relocating to new towns. The Winnipeg Jets were one of those franchises. Well, now they're back. Or is it the Atlanta Thrashers moving north? I don't know, but I do know that either way the NHL is planning on a massive realignment in the 2012-13 season. I think the NFL did a pretty good job in 2002 when the Houston Texans came into the league, though some of the divisions are a little mixed up geographically to keep the rivalries going. I mean, you don't think of Indianapolis as a southern city do you?

Anyway, as for the NHL's proposed realignment, the league plans to create 4 divisions; two with eight teams and two with seven teams. Several teams like the Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators, and Columbus Blue Jackets are hoping to be moved into what is now the Eastern Conference. The proposed plan is likely to be finalized in this December's Board of Governor's Meeting.

In other news:
Former Florida Gator LB Channing Crowder hinted that he sold all of his Florida Gator jerseys to Jacksonville businessmen during his career in Gainesville. Crowder was drafted by Miami in 2005, and made the comments on his weekly radio show in Miami.

Another former Dolphin and former West Virginia Mountaineer QB Pat White will play football this season for the UFL's Virginia Destroyers. This after White retired from the Kansas City Royals minor league affiliate earlier this year.

Keeping with the college football theme here, Wisconsin RB Zack Brown will be transferring to Pitt. Brown has already graduated from Wisconsin, but only played 3 seasons, so he'll be immediately eligible to play for the Panthers. The Badgers will get a gift though as extremely talented N.C. State QB Russell Wilson will be transferring to Wisconsin. A shortstop who played two season in the Colorado Rockies organization, has given up on baseball, and will be able to play immediately at Wisconsin as he'll be taking graduate classes. He reportedly chose Wisconsin over Auburn, I'm guessing because Auburn gave all of its spending cash to Cecil Newton. Sorry, I had to.

Both Williams sisters knocked out of Wimbeldon already? Serena bowed out today. I honestly can't remember seeing a Wimbeldon not won by one of those two, though I admit, I usually don't watch tennis all that much. However, I did meet Andy Roddick as he came to the restaurant where I worked at during college when he was in Cincinnati for the Western & Southern Open. Unfortunately, he didn't have Brooklyn Decker with him, though I have met Vanessa Minillo...she's not bad either.

Lastly, a bit of news semi-related to Chizzy and I's beloved Dayton Flyers. The University of Dayton, known to some as God's Country, and known to others as the second greatest place on earth behind Disney World, will host the NCAA Tournament's "First Four" in 2012 and 2013. The 2013 Tournament edition will mark the 75th anniversary of the NCAA Tournament. I attended all of the "First Four" games last year (thanks to Kimbo for the cheap tickets and sweet seats) and saw a Final Four team in VCU play. Hey, it was worth the $70 alone to know that there was a rumor Charlie Sheen, a Dayton native and fan of USC was in the house. He wasn't there, and as a result, USC didn't play with Tigerblood.

I'll be back tomorrow with the Chargers Draft Grade.

Sports Quick Hits - Memorial Day Edition

We at Two Guys Talking Sports hope you had a great Memorial Day Weekend and we would both like to thank our troops here and abroad that make the United States of America the greatest counry in the world. Thank you!

College Football

Perhaps in a somewhat ironic twist of fate, Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel resigned among many rumors and allegations of his players having received improper benefits, 5 of whom are already suspended for the first 5 games of the 2011 season. Now, we've found out that a Sports Illustrated article slated to hit newsstands this week has evidence of violations going back to 2002, including rigged raffles that gave prizes to potential Buckeye recruits. I guess we should've paid more attention to Stanley McClover's HBO segment during the Cam Newton saga. McClover, who played at Auburn, and then had a brief NFL career, was recruited by Ohio State. He claims to have received money from the Buckeyes, Michigan State, and at an LSU football camp. In the HBO special, he also claimed that Ohio State provided him with an empty dorm and multiple women whom he had his way with. I've heard several reports such practices were still operational as late as Solomon Thomas being recruited to Columbus.

All things considered, I think this is the right move by Jim Tressel, and unlike most Buckeye fans, this didn't come as a shock to me. I think he was going to be out one way or another sooner rather than later. It also lends credence to my crazy uncle's rumor about Bo Pelini, the current head coach at Nebraska. In a fit of "Buckeye fever" let's call it, after a big win circa 2007 if my memory serves me well here, my uncle (who is an alumni chapter president in a rather large city, and has personal ties to Archie Griffin and Gene Smith) called me up and said he'd heard a rumor that Tressel was going to retire after QB Terrelle Pryor left Ohio State, and the front-runner (Pelini was at LSU at the time) would be Bo Pelini, himself a former Buckeye. Just some food for thought, we'll see if it happens. Pelini 2012!

I won't miss Tressel as much as others will. My own grandmother said she'd have voted for him to be the Pope. I think know that everything he preached about integrity and doing the right thing just comes of as a sham and his resignation saved what little dignity he had left. While he brought a National Championship to Columbus, along with 3 National Championship Game appearances, multiple Big 10 titles, and a sterling record versus rival Michigan, his legacy will be for something else. I myself thought he was overrated and often got out-coached against better opponents, and he couldn't get the Buckeyes to win from behind if they trailed by more than 7 points (they weren't behind often as they played "weaker" non-conference opponents and the Big 10 took a pretty big dip in recent years) but he had a winning tenure. Now, as Ohio State's immediate future rests in the hands of Luke Fickell, we'll all be left to wonder what Tressel was really doing in Columbus.

MLB

The Florida Marlins would be in first place in any division except their own, and the AL Central. All those trades and non re-signing key players have allowed the Marlins to build from within and they have a ton of young talent. Hanley Ramirez, Mike Stanton, Emilio Bonafacio and others have contributed to a 30-22 record, and they have the look of a team that will contend next year, as they open a shiny new stadium near downtown Miami, as well.

No one in baseball is hotter than the Arizona Diamondbacks who've come out of nowhere in the NL West to take over 1st place this past weekend with a 30-24 record. However, a closer look at their coaching staff says that this maybe shouldn't be as much of a shock.

Manager - Don Mattingly
Batting Coach - Don Baylor
Pitching Coach - Charles Nagy (remember him Indians fans?)
First Base Coach - Eric Young
Third Base Coach - Matt Williams
Bench Coach - Alan Trammell
Special Assistant - Jerry Krause

That's like a mix of 1980s and 1990s All-Star teams. Maybe coaching really does make that big of a difference.

I'm going to go ahead and label the Milwaukee Brewers as pretenders right now. Until they've proven they can beat the Cincinnati Reds and play decent ball away from Miller Park, where they're 21-7 on the year and just 8-18 on the road, they're not going anywhere. And the Reds right now are colder than just about anyone or anything other than the draft going through Jim Tressel's office (sorry Chizzy, I had to).

NBA

The NBA Finals start tonight, and while I may have lost in my bracket - I had the Lakers over the Bulls in 7 - not all is lost. It's actually a pretty compelling rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals where the Heat, behind Shaq and Dwyane Wade, defeated the Mavs 4-2. Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, etc all might be playing in their last NBA Finals. The Big 3 get a chance to prove that triumvirates can actually win in the NBA. LeBron's in his second NBA Finals, Bosh is in his first, and D-Wade gets to defend his 1-0 record.

I'm torn on who to root for. Dwyane Wade's one of my all-time favorite NBA Players, but I loathe LeBron James. Seriously, is their a bigger pansy in professional sports than the "King"? We'll see if he continues his abnormally good clutch play in the Finals. As for the Mavs, I've never really been a Jason Kidd fan, but how can you not appreciate Dirk Nowitzki? I mean, just check out this, this, and this with an assist from Steve Nash, and you'll know why I'm rooting for him. That, and he's just an offensive genius.

I guess when it comes down to it, I'm pulling for the Mavs, if only to see what kind of victory parade Mark Cuban would throw in Dallas. I mean, the players have HD television sets and PS3's in their lockers. I think he'd throw a helluva party. On the other hand, if I'm a betting man, give me Miami in 5. I think they've got it this year, and as much as I hate to type this, I think LeBron's going to guard Dirk and shut him down.

NFL

No real news to report here. NFL Network's showing their Top 100 players, and so far, I've got to say I'm sort of mixed. Donovan McNabb makes it but LeSean McCoy doesn't? Or the Bengals not landing any of the three between Andrew Whitworth (I personally don't think he deserves to be on the list), Jonathan Joseph, or Leon Hall? The last two certainly are worth serious consideration. I'll congratulate the Dolphins' Cameron Wake (63) and Brandon Marshall (61) for making the list, as well as left tackle Jake Long, who is on the list, but they haven't gotten that high yet.

Friday is NFL Armageddon day. The appeals process continues in the 8th Circut Court of Appeals in St. Louis. I went into this more in last week's Quick Hits edition, so I'll just let you form your own opinion of whose side to be on.

In my personal opinion, I'm supporting the players in this case, however , in order for there to be an NFL season this year, the following is what needs to happen:

1) DeMaurice Smith and the Players present a not-so-great case on Friday. DeMaurice Smith and his crazy antics are making him more the fall-guy every day.

2) The 8th Circut Rules in favor of the NFL by mid-July (reportedly the earlist a ruling would come down according to Adam Schefter).

3) This forces both parties to go back to the collective-bargaining process as Roger Goodell has wanted for some time now, and hammer out a deal that eliminates the potential for any 18-game schedule, agree on a salary cap and a rookie wage scale, provide better benefits and pension for retired players, and insert a clause that examines stupid rules - like everyone the NFL has come out with this offseason, such as kickoffs being moved to the 35 and the Steelers rule.

4) Agree on provisions for free agency for this year. Hopefully, this will allow for players who've accrued at least 4 NFL seasons to become unrestricted free agents.

5) Get back to Football. It's as simple as that. The fans want football.

Other Sports News

- Dan Wheldon won the Indianapolis 500 thanks to a wreck on the final lap.

- The NFLPA has formed its own Rookie Symposium for players to attend since the traditional one has been cancelled by the lockout.

- Albert Pujols, the consummate pro, will play 3rd base again tonight for the Cardinals.

- FC Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League with a 3-1 defeat of Manchester United over the weekend.

Sports Quick Hits

We apologize for the brief hiatus, but we're back in full action this week. Make sure you check in as I'll be handing out my way to early NFL Draft Grades in addition to my Top 10 College Football Players - to be posted later today - and my Top 10 College Football Games of 2011, coming later this week.

First and foremost, let's get this out of the way quickly. Jud, yes, you're Indians are better. If you can't tell, I lost a bet to an Indians fan this weekend as they swept my Reds...who are in a pseudo freefall because Dusty Baker loves him some Jonny Gomes and Edinson Volquez.

NFL

Not much news to report here, but Ravens ILB and league terror Ray Lewis said that if games are missed due to the lockout, "crime will rise". Go to the 1:15 mark in the video when Ray starts talking about the lockout. Say what you want, but Ray Lewis is a bad man, and a sure-fire Hall of Famer. He's also the most intimidating player in the league and one of my all-time favorite non-Dolphins.

To further update the lockout scenario, ESPN's Adam Schefter said that the next step is to really just wait and see what happens on June 3rd in the 8th District Court of Appeals. The players will present their case that day and Schefter says that we can expect the court to make an official ruling sometime in mid-July. Per Schefter, he said a source who told him before the lockout went into effect that there would only be a 5% chance that regular season games would be missed. He updated his report last Friday telling him that the same source, who is close to the litigation process, said that percentage is now between 30-40%. Yikes. In my personal opinion, the blame lays primarily at two circumstances.

1) The owners intially low-balling the players in their first CBA proposal so badly and NOT revealing their financial needs. If they had shown the players side the full set of financial records and not just the Green Bay Packers, along with a set of doctered numbers in the owners favor, there could still be mediation.

2) DeMaurice Smith stabbing the owners in the eyes by not even reviewing the owners' second proposal. Smith new he would win in the courts in Minnesota with Judge Nelson, and he was banking on winning in the 8th District. Well, he lost, and while some will say it's due to partisan politics which I'll not delve into here, Smith's been reduced to playing Gary Glitter music at the University of Maryland's graduation ceremony.

I think if this is to end favorably for all parties, more mediation need to happen and the players need to bag DeMaurice Smith as their leader.

NBA

What got into Chris Bosh last night? The Heat big man dumped in 34 points on 13 of 18 shooting in Miami's 95-86 win to take the lead in the series 2-1. Bosh, who at times this season has been downright terrible, played the best game of his life last night, adding 5 boards and 2 assists.

The win puts the Heat in the driver's seat as the team who has won game 3 in the Eastern Conference Finals has gone onto win the series. Could we see a rematch of Dallas vs. Miami in the Finals?

Speaking of the Mavericks, they're up 2-1, and no one can seem to stop Dirk Nowitzki. My roommate and I were watching the game Saturday night, and just looking at the Mavs' roster...well, they better hope they win now because they're going to get really old, really soon.

The jilted ex-girlfriend of the NBA (Cleveland Cavaliers) couldn't have picked a worse year to land 2 top-five draft picks. Enis Kanter says hello. Cleveland, I hope you're all ready to "witness" the Kanter Show.

MLB

Felix Hernandez is really good. King Felix, who rarely gets the run support a Cy Young winner should get 6 runs from his Mariners in a 6-1 win over San Diego yesterday. His line for the game: 8.0 IP, 1ER on 6 hits, 0 walks, and he struckout 13.

I'm told there was some significance between the Cubs vs. Red Sox series. Whoops, I missed the whole darn thing. If there's two teams I hate hearing about almost as much as the Yankees, it's these two. They've won what, a combined 2 World Series in the last 100-some odd years?

My Reds were swept by a Cleveland Indian team that fielded a roster of players I'd never heard of besides Shin-Soo Choo. Granted, Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner or on the DL, but still, Cleveland looks like they've got a really solid, young team and I don't see them going away any time soon.

Does anyone else think Jose Bautista might be on steroids? He's batting a ridiculous .353 and has blasted 18 homeruns already this year to go with 31 RBIs. He's really come out of obscurity since last year. Just take a look at his stats:

2004 - In 64 games he batted .205 with 0 home runs and 2 RBIs.
2005 - In 31 games he batted .143 with 0 home runs and 1 RBI.
2006 - In 110 games he batted .210 with 16 home runs and 51 RBIs.
2007 - In 142 games he batted .254 with 15 home runs and 63 RBIs.
2008 - In 128 games he batted .238 with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs.
2009 - In 113 games he batted .235 with 13 home runs and 44 RBIs.
2010 - In 161 games he batted .260 with 54 home runs and 124 RBIs.

I'm sorry, but I just find in strikingly odd that a player whose batting average was hovering between .235 and .254 and averaging about 15 home runs just suddenly has started to figure it out the past two year. Call me cynical, but c'mon, look at the numbers.

Other Sports News

With apologies to Schwendy, I haven't watched any hockey since the Sharks eliminated the Red Wings in the second round. To be honest, I don't know much about any of the teams left other than the Sharks having Joe Thornton. However, they trail Vancouver 3-1 and Tampa Bay and Boston are tied at 2-2 with game 5 tonight.

Tennis stud Novak Djokovic is now 38-0 in 2011 as he advanced past Thiemo de Bakker in the French Open over the weekend. Djokovic is the second seed in the tournament.

Tiger Woods dropped to #12 in the world, the first time since 1997 he hasn't been ranked in the top 10 golfers. This was a week before then 21 year-old Tiger Woods won the Masters for the first of his 14 major titles.

Giovanni Ramirez, the top suspect in the Bryan Stow case, is being held on $1 million bail. Ramirez was apprehended Sunday morning during a Police S.W.A.T. team drug raid in the Rampar area of Los Angeles, 5 miles from Dodger Stadium. 20 detectives working the case are still looking for the second assailant and a woman who is rumored to have driven Ramirez and his accomplice away from Dodger Stadium.

University of Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box was found dead last week. He was unresponsive when police officers found him. Box was 22.