Whistle Stops

True to form, fans at Yankee Stadium were rude and obnoxious to Cliff Lee's wife, Kristen (back row, far right, you could have done much better, Cliff).  Hopefully that's just enough to keep him out of the Bronx.  Stay classy, Yanks fans.

The raid on the Indians pantry continues as Charles Nagy has been named as the Diamondbacks new pitching coach.  It was a pleasure to have Charlie with the Clippers for a season.  I foresee much success for him in his new position.

Bengie Molina gets a ring regardless of who wins the series.  Recall that he started the season with the Giants.  It's rumored that he might even get a winner's share ($) if Frisco wins.

Tony Romo will be out 6-8 weeks with his fractured collarbone; no surgery will be necessary.  The play he was injured on was uncomfortable to watch.

The Browns have released James Davis, because their running back cup overfloweth.  Hillis or bust, baby!   Added was former practice squader and Patriot, Thomas Clayton (who?).  Also, Yamon Figurs, after 1 game and -4 yard rush, is gone, replaced by another former Ravens wideout, Demetrius Williams.

Lastly, Jim Rome has my back.  His take on Queen James new Nike spot -

You’ve probably seen LeBron James’ new, ‘What should I do?” Nike spot. You probably liked it and bought it.  I don’t.
And to answer the question, what should you do; you should have just apologized for the decision and for jamming Cleveland as hard as you did.  It would have saved you a ton of abuse and Nike a lot of time and money producing and running this spot.  Then again, in order to apologize, usually, you have to be sorry, and you’re not.  Or you wouldn’t have told Cleveland just last week, that they need to just get over it.
Nothing like humiliating someone and stabbing them in the back and telling them they need to get over it.  Apologize??!  That entire spot was in essence, a defense, for what he did; he’s asking, “What should I have done.” ???  And he doesn’t think it was a mistake to let his crew go all amateur hour and talk him into the decision, saying, “They’re my friends.”
The spot was slick and entertaining, but the words would mean a lot more if they came from him and weren’t written for him by Nike or an ad agency.  A spot won’t rehabilitate his image, but an apology would have. And since that’s obviously not coming, he needs to win a ring. Right now. Winning fixes just about everything. Commercials don’t. A spot like that is designed to generate some buzz, and win James some sympathy. Sympathy he doesn’t deserve because he’s not sorry and still doesn’t think he did anything wrong.

 I'd give you the audio. but Jim wants me to pay for it.  Yeah, right.

Over-Rated!

One loss down, 81 to go, punk.

BCS BS

As previously noted, Auburn jumped 3 other undefeated team to gain the #1 spot in the BCS.   Why did this happen?  We just don't know.  Nowhere is there any sort of objective or intelligible explanation of the racking & stacking of FBS teams in the almighty BCS rankings.  Now it has been reported that Oklahoma's Bob Stoops threw in the towel with 2 and half minutes left in the Sooners' 9 point loss to Mizzou.  He explained that the probability that pollsters would look more forgivingly on a margin of defeat in single digits rather than at 16 points far outweighed the possibility of a comeback victory.  That's just awful logic.  Even worse it's simply not good for the game to force a head coach to prognosticate the opinions of however many subjective individuals.  Wouldn't they give more credence to a 2 point loss than 9?  Guess what?  I don't know.  You don't know.  Bob Stoops doesn't know.  Most likely the voters themselves couldn't give a definite answer.  The entire situation is damnably frustrating.  That's the view of an OSU fan.  Imagine the perspective of a die-hard in Boise or Dallas (TCU) whose team has been leap-frogged by half the big 6 squads this season.

In addition, we have the deflated attitude of the Buckeyes' fair weather fans.  I don't know if it's similar for the faithful of Oklahoma, Alabama or, dare I say, Wisconsin, but I would imagine it's similar.  The mood on campus following the annihilation of Purdue last Saturday was, at best, subdued, if not apathetic.  The sequence of events that would propel the Bucks into the championship game is so unlikely as to not even be described.  More relevantly, they are very much outside of the team's control.  OSU is still playing for a Big10 championship and/or a Rose Bowl bid, but those honors are a far distant second in this day and age.  I'll go ahead and state this as clearly as I can:  the BCS is bad for college football!  I shan't bore you with how this crosses all lines between fans, players, universities and the almighty television dollars.  Rest assured, strong arguments can be made for all.

The solution, in my mind, is simple and, yes, it does involve a playoff.  8 teams, 3 rounds, mid-december, New Year's Day and the date of the current BCS Championship.  At this point in the season, making the top 8 is viable for any undefeated team, any 1-loss team from the big 6, and many 2-loss teams depending on circumstance.  Everybody who matters is still in it.  I understand this is a slippery slope with the possibility of massive displeasure from the #9 and #10 teams, accompanied by calls for field expansion.  The fact of the matter is that when push comes to shove all of the top 8 teams have the chops to be national champs, not just the top 2 or even the top 4.  Similarly, many of the 9-16 just aren't in the same class as the top 8.  I might even me convinced to only take 6 and reward the top 2 with byes.  For now, that's nitpicking.  I'm even open to initially utilizing the same BCS formula until it proves untenable.  There is no perfect system.  There will never be a true majority.  So, let's keep the dream alive for the Cinderellas, let's keep the excitement alive on top tier campuses and let's apply the model of the best post-season in any sport, at any level, to the marketability of FBS football.  And, please, let's do it soon.

Pretty Girl 10.26.10 - Olivia Wilde

I wish we had grown up together.  And played doctor.  She's lucky 13 on House (Leighton Meester guested as a titillating lolita).