Resurrecting the Blog

I'm baaaaaaack....

What has inspired me, after a nearly year-long layoff, to resurrect this blog today? This story, from Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel and Adrian Wojnarowski, which alleges that the University of Connecticut may have violated NCAA recruiting rules in the process of recruiting former Husky Nate Miles, now enrolled at the College of Southern Idaho.

It's a very well-documented story with all kinds of sources, with only one or two little issues. For instance, the story alleges that

UConn may have committed major recruiting violations by exceeding NCAA limits on phone calls to Miles and those closest to him, records show. The NCAA allows a single phone call per month to a prospect or his family in a player’s junior year of high school. That limit was exceeded over several months from late 2006 into 2007. In December of 2006, for instance, Tom Moore, then a UConn assistant coach, made 27 calls to Miles’ guardian and a person Miles referred to as an uncle. Moore made three calls to Miles.

That's true, you're only allowed one phone call a month to players classified as juniors. The problem is that, over the time frame alleged in the article, Nate Miles was actually classified as a SENIOR according to the NCAA, therefore the rules governing junior recruits wouldn't have applied. Not to mention, the Kelvin Sampson rule (text message ban) didn't go into effect until August 1, 2007, after the date mentioned in the article.

So now that that's out of the way, that leaves us with former student manager turned scumbag agent Josh Nochimson. I have to be honest, his connection to the university, no matter how tenuous, is extremely troubling. With the ESPN report coming down that now Ater Majok is connected to Nochimson, I'm a little worried about what else this guy has his hands in. He's already shown he's not above stealing from clients, as he did to Rip Hamilton (stealing over $1M), what else will he do to the school which launched him to the position he occupies now?

Either way, this whole episode, from the allegations to the convenient timing to the ties to a scummy agent, just makes me feel dirty. I liked to believe (pretend?) that I cheered for a program that was above it all. Sure, we had our occasional issues (Laptopgate, the Rudy Gay recruiting, Doug Wiggins, Kirk King, etc), but nothing overarching or program-tainting. Nochimson changes all of that though. As a result, I find myself still rooting for these Huskies to win it all, but I wonder if what I've been rooting for is really what I thought it was all these years. I guess I'll never know and, like a five-year-old who still believes in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, I don't think I want to either.

Busy, busy month...

Well, June's certainly been a boring sports month, no? I mean, look at the list of things that have happened:

- The Celtics dispatched the Lakers in what Bob Ryan best described as a "six-game sweep," capped off by a 932-point drubbing in game 6 to capture the NBA Title.
- The Red Sox are in first place in the AL East, even if they can't win on the road.
- J.D. Drew (what?!) is the front-runner for the American League player of the month award for June (.359 BA, 10 HR, 7 2B, 1.354 OPS)
- Pacman Jones is no more. Long live Adam.
- Euro 2008. Turkey AND Russia in the final four? Who saw that one coming?? Portugal dispatched by Germany? Unfortunately, that one was easier to predict.
- The Cristiano Ronaldo transfer chronicles.
- The end of an era in Portuguese soccer as Big Phil Scolari leaves to take over Chelsea.
- AC Milan failing to seal the deal with Arsenal for Emmanuel Adebayor after Adriano Galliani publicly admitted that he was the club's only remaining transfer target for the summer.
- Shaq asking Kobe how his ass tastes.

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Let's start with the Celtics. Every story line has been beaten to death about them, so I'll keep this one nice and simple. I never thought I'd see another Celtics title in my lifetime. The Celtics have won two while I've been alive (1984, 1986), but seeing as how I was two and four years old for both of those rings, I don't count them for myself. Bill Simmons said it best when he said

"And for the under-30 fans, this was about breaking from the past and forming their own memories. Instead of hearing about the time Gerald Henderson stole the ball or Glenn McDonald saved the triple-OT game, they finally had their own stories to tell, like the time Pierce dropped 41 on the Cavs in Game 7, or the time we came back from 24 down to beat the Lakers."

This ring is my first to truly enjoy as a fan and I made the trek up to Boston for the night of Game Six and it was and is one of the top five decisions I've ever made in my life. Anytime the night starts by randomly running into the World Series trophies at a place called Neptune's Oyster Bar, you know you're in for a good evening. The celebration did get a little out of hand, but for the most part, I just saw a bunch of people having a good time in the street while reveling in the fact that not only was basketball relevant again in Boston, the Celtics had gone from lottery busts in 2006-07 to World Champs in 2007-2008. What a turnaround.

One more note about the Celtics: RE-SIGN EDDIE HOUSE!!!

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Mea culpa about the Boston Red Sox 2008 season: I haven't been following that closely. For those of you that know me, this has to come as a shock, since there was a time that I lived, eat, slept and drank Red Sox baseball. I don't know if it's the two rings in four years, working in sports for three of the last four years or what, but I just don't get fired up for it as much anymore. We're almost completely through June and I can honestly say I've probably only watched 8-to-10 games from start to finish. Don't get me wrong, I still love the Sox and Jon Lester's no-no is one of my favorite moments in sports in 2008, but I'm just not riled up this year. Maybe the Celtics' title run had something to do with it. Who knows? I'm sure as we bear down on the trade deadline, the passion will return. At least, I hope it will...

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Euro 2008. Wow, what a phenomenal tournament it's been thus far. From Turkey's miraculous comeback against the Czech Republic in group play to Russia's shock win against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, this tournament has had more twists and turns than you can count. My favorite moments from the tourney thus far:
1) Down 2-0 in the 75th minute, Turkey engineers a remarkable comeback against the Czech Republic, getting goals from Arda Turan and Nihat Kahveci (who put in the game-tying and game-winning goals) to push Turkey through to the quarters with a 3-2 win. One of the craziest moments of the tournament bar none, but probably not the craziest...

2) That award goes to my second-favorite moment of the tournament: Turkey's win over Croatia in the quarters on PKs. After playing 118 minutes of scoreless soccer, Ivan Klasnic put Croatia ahead 1-0 after catching Rustu off his line on a cross. Rustu redeemed himself moments later by taking a free kick and sending it into the area where Turkish super sub (and one of my favorite players in the tournament) Semih Senturk struck the equalizer in the second minute of stoppage time to send the game to penalty kicks, where the Turks won 3-1 to set up a semifinal clash with Germany, the favorite to win the whole thing. Turkey will be playing that match without Nihat (injured), Emre Asik (suspension), Turan (suspension), Tuncay (suspension), and Volkan Demirel (suspension), but I still wouldn't count them out.

3) Pick any of the four goals from the Netherlands 4-1 blistering of France and it would belong on this list too. However, I'm picking Arjen Robben's goal that came almost immediately after Thierry Henry scored to bring France to within a goal at 2-1. The ball movement before the goal with the pass from Rafael van der Vaart and then Robben finishing from a near-impossible angle...it was pure brilliance. Even Robben seemed to have trouble believing he had scored from there. Wesley Sneijder's goal from about 22 yards was pretty ridiculous too. Here's a link to a video of all the goals: Netherlands 4-1 France

And my least favorite moment of the tourney by far:
1) Portugal losing. Fuck Germany. (Hey, I didn't say I'd always be classy on this blog.)

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As far as Portugal goes, it's yet another disappointing loss without a trophy for the case. We're two years away from World Cup 2010 in South Africa and I hope some changes are in store in regards to the lineup before we get there. Here is the formation I'd like to see when touching down in Johannesburg in two years:

---------------Nani----------------Ronaldo-----------------Quaresma
----------------------------------- Moutinho
-------------------------Deco------------------Miguel Veloso
-----------Bosingwa----Fernando Meira------Pepe----------------Miguel
-----------------------ANYONE BUT FUCKING RICARDO

- It's time to unleash Nani and Quaresma and see what they can do at the international level. Simao had a horrible tournament and since Portugal is incapable of producing a striker apparently, it's time to just give that job to Cristiano and let Nani and Quaresma play in support on the wings.
- Moutinho and Veloso are both young (21 and 22, respectively), but should start to get more international caps as Portugal runs through qualifying starting this fall. Deco will probably be making his last run with the national team in 2010 and I actually liked how he played in Euro, so I see no reason to dump him.
- Euro 2008 was probably Ricardo Carvalho's last run with the national team, so it's time to move Pepe inside and make him the anchor of the back line.
- As far as goalkeeper, I don't care who is between the posts in 2010, so long as it's not fucking Ricardo. He's a soft keeper and his indecision on both Germany free kick goals (along with piss poor man marking, to be sure) led to Portugal's quarterfinal exit. I don't care if it's Quim or Rui Patricio or anyone else, I just know and hope that whoever the next manager is drops someone else into net for the World Cup.

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Well, it's been a pretty busy month in sports and I hope that my shoddy job recapping it and only focusing on things that I like helped tie it up in a nice, pretty bow for you. I'll devote another post to Milan once things shake out with the Adebayor transfer and there will definitely be more on the Cowboys as we get closer to training camp. For now, I leave you with this: Get some.

The Direction of the Rossoneri

There's no mincing words: AC Milan had a very disappointing 2007-08 campaign. Practically
eliminated from the race for the Scudetto before Christmas by only winning four of their first twelve matches, they were never able to find their form and wound up finishing fifth, which means they'll have to settle for playing in the UEFA Cup for the 2008-09 season (for American fans, this is European soccer's version of the N.I.T.). They went from winning the Champions league in 2007 to an old, broken-down team that just didn't have the ability to score goals. The question is now how do they fix the mess they've made and improve the team for not only 2008-09 but beyond as well.

Players who have already left
Alberto Gilardino - This man went from immediate impact player when he scored 17 goals in 34 domestic matches in Milan's 88-point 2005-06 campaign to a missing man when he scored 7 goals in 30 domestic matches last season. He oftentimes found himself on the bench in favor of Pippo Inzaghi or Brazilian wunderkind Alexandre Pato, often barely seeing any action at all. He was sold to Fiorentina for 14 million euros.

Cafu - He spent five seasons with Milan as a very good right back, helping to anchor a club known for its tough back line. His contract expired and was not renewed heading into next season. He will return to Brazil, although club Vice-President Adriano Galliani has left the door open for Cafu to return to the club in some official capacity. He scored a goal in his last match with the Rossoneri and was saluted by the home fans at the San Siro.

Serginho - Spent 10 seasons with Milan, winning two Champions League titles, one Scudetto, two UEFA Super Cup titles, one Coppa Italia, and the FIFA Club World Cup. A strong bench player but never a superstar, Serginho always did his part to contribute to the club's efforts on the pitch.

Ricardo Oliveira - He spent the 2007-08 season on loan to Spanish side Real Zaragoza. He had a breakout season for them, scoring 21 goals in all competitions, including 17 in league play. He never found his footing at Milan and was transferred for a reported 10 million Euros in May.

New Arrivals
Mathieu Flamini - This 24-year-old midfielder enjoyed a fine season for English side Arsenal in 2007-08, not scoring many goals but doing a superb job marking in the midfield and setting up teammates with good passing. He should do well in Milan's 4-3-2-1 formation, working behind the attacking midfield duo of Kaka and Clarence Seedorf.

Marco Borriello - This former Milan man was co-owned with Genoa, where he spent his 2007-08 season. He scored 19 goals in the 2007-08 campaign which was the third-highest total in Serie A. He will help breathe life into a Milan attack that stalled at times last season. Paired with Pato up front with Pippo Inzaghi coming off the bench, Milan should do a much better job finishing next season.

Christian Abbiati - The keeper position became a problem for Milan last year with the embarassing "injuries" suffered by the ineffective Dida that forced Zeljko Kalac into a starting role. He definitely did a serviceable job and one cannot complain too much, but it was clear at times that Milan needed a serious upgrade at keeper. A popular rumored target was Artur Boruc from Celtic, but Abbiati might solve the problem as he returns on a loan from Spanish side Atletico Madrid. I'm sure Milan will look for another keeper just in case, but as of right now, Abbiati is looking like the first team keeper.

Gianluca Zambrotta - With the retirement of Cafu and "Il Capitano" Paolo Maldini, Milan is facing a shortage at their once stout back line. Italian national Zambrotta will go towards locking up the defense. At age 31, he's not exactly young, but he's a strong defender who will slide into the a wingback position with Massimo Oddo on the other side and Alessandro Nesta and Kahka Kaladze in the middle for the time being.

What still remains...
Any Rossoneri's fan wishlist would probably include a keeper, a young defender, a midfielder and a striker, but the acquisitions they've already made will go towards making Milan a serious contender for the Scudetto next year, especially if Zlatan Ibrahimovic is going to leave Inter Merda as is popularly rumored. I'd like to see Milan go after the following players:

Didier Drogba - Sure, he's a big mule who falls down a lot and had his problems finishing, but he's at phenomenal shape and at 31, would make a formidable pair with either Borriello or Pato up front should Milan decide to play with two forwards.

Artur Boruc - Abbiati is not a bad addition, but I think Milan still needs a top-flight keeper and I think Boruc would be the perfect person to fill that role. He's done a very good job for Scottish side Celtic F.C. and I think he would help solidify the back end of the Milan defense.

João Moutinho - This is a pipe dream, to be sure, but someone who Portugal decides to give the number 10, the number of Il Maestro, Rui Manuel César Costa (my favorite player of all-time) has to be good. And he is. Playing the center midfield role for Sporting Lisbon, it's only a matter of time before this 21-year-old phenom is transferred to a top side (Manchester United is said to be the early favorite). I think pairing him with (or even protecting against the eventual loss of) Kaka would be in Milan's best interests and I'd love to see them swoop in and steal him out from under the noses of the big English and Spanish sides now.

Dimitar Berbatov - If Didier Drogba is too pricey for Milan's taste, than Berba might be a nice consolation prize. The 27-year-old Bulgarian was a great finisher for Tottenham Hotspur and is definitely on the market this summer. There is said to be a furious bidding contest for his services among sides in the English Premier League, but I'd love to see Milan swoop in and steal him for 10 to 15 million Euros. I think his ability to score with either foot or in the air would fit in well with this team with players such as Andrea Pirlo and Clarence Seedorf who have the ability to fit perfect aerial crosses into the most narrow of windows.

I think if Milan, as constituted with the new signings, will be able to compete for and possibly win the Scudetto next season. I think bringing in one or two more big signings would push them over the top and help them unseat both Inter and Juventus at the top of the table and make a triumphant return to Champions League play for the 2009-10 season.

Is it too early to move Jay Bruce into Cooperstown?

Let me start this by laying out one fundamental truth: I suck at Fantasy Baseball. I suck in a way that would make the average person say "I will not be playing Fantasy Baseball" next season. I hate Fantasy Baseball. Yet, I continue to play season after season, often finishing in the cellar or at least on the stairs down into the cellar.

That being said, there is one thing keeping me going this year: Cincinnati's Jay Bruce. He has rekindled my love for all things Fantasy Baseball. I'm not gonna sit here and proclaim myself some guru of spotting minor league talent or anything like that. Anyone with two eyes and internet access could see that this kid was legit. Just look at the minor league credentials: .308 BA, .366 OBP, .555 SLG, 108 2B, 20 3B, 61 HR, 245 RBI in 1,341 AB. The guy averaged an extra-base hit once every 7.1 AB. For reference - that number is not that much higher than what Albert Pujols has produced in his major league career (1 XBH every 6.8 AB). It was only a matter of time before Bruce got the call from the Reds, which finally came on Wednesday, May 28.

Now, as a reasonable person (which you obviously are), you might ask what took the Reds so long to call him up. Simply put...they're fucking morons. OK, that wasn't nice and might be slightly biased, but here's what the Reds were trotting out in centerfield before Bruce got the call: Corey Patterson and his .200 BA, .295 OBP, .352 SLG and 4 HR. THAT is what was keeping Jay Bruce down in the minors. Of course, they also could've been holding him down there as a way to play games with the arbitration system (by holding him down for a certain number of days this year, they avoided starting his arby clock and probably prevented him from becoming a "Super 2," which means he would be eligible for arbitration after his second year in the Majors instead of his third based on some permutation of service time and rank among peers with similar service time. Yeah, I don't get it either), but I just prefer to believe they're dumb. I mean, Dusty Baker is their manager, isn't that all the proof you need?

That being said, here's what Bruce has done since he's come up: 11-for-19, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 2 SB, 8 R. His first career home run came Saturday afternoon against Atlanta and was a walk-off home run. He has reached based in 16 of his first 24 plate appearances and it's a strong possibility that he's not actually human. He's also come up early enough that he can make a very strong run at this year's ROY award, similar to Ryan Braun's race with Troy Tulowitzki last season.

Bruce has definitely shown (albeit in a very small sample size) that he is ready for the spotlight and, lest we forget, he's only 21. I think this guy has a very long career ahead of him. I know one thing's for sure: I'm keeping him and his $10 salary for next year's iteration of Costa and the Costettes. Who knows? Maybe next year is the year I finish...ah who am I kidding? I'll finish in last again.