You're Waiting For a Train...: Nov 11, 2010

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Whistle Stops

So... Cam Newton's dad, Cecil, demanded between $100K & $180K from Mississippi State in return for his son signing a scholarship offer from the school. Although Auburn maintains that Cam is still eligible, expect some serious backlash from this very soon. Let's see... Cam Newton played for (and plagiarized at) Florida as a freshman, was nearly sold to Mississippi State and is now leading the Heisman race for #1 Auburn. What do all of those schools have in common? Wait... one second... Yes! They're all in the SEC (Surely Everyone Cheats). This is the conference that gets all the accolades, all the respect. This is the with the #1 team, the highest ranked 1-loss team (#5 LSU), the highest ranked 2-loss team (#12 Alabama) AND the highest ranked 3-loss team (#22 Florida). Stand there with a straight face and tell that the BcS doesn't favor the SEC, intentionally or not. Everyone would be that proficient if they could partice in the sunshine 12 months a year. Flush 'em all away. Sanction the whole conference. This former judge running the show should just take his teams out of BcS contention for a year and wait for the dust settle. It would be the best year ever. And the chicks are hot.

TP swears that he'll be back on campus for his senior year. I would assume any "superstar" college quarterback who has no hope to play position at the next level would do the same. Terrelle has also made it clear that he won't ballin' with basketball team, ever.

According to my Magic 8-Ball, all signs point to the Tigers signing Victor Martinez.

The White Sox are shopping Gordon Beckham and the Indians are in the mix. If Antonetti can just talk Kenny Williams into trading within the Central, Beckham would be sight for sore eyes at third.

Ooh Rexy, You're So Sexy

Uh, there might be a bit of a sibling rivalry building into the Browns/Jets game. This is what Rex Ryan thinks of his brother, Rob. Rex also called Rob fat. Hello pot, this is the kettle.

The Indians are "grooming" Jayson Nix to play third base in the spring. File this under "we're cheap and we don't care if we win next year." Despite reasonable pop out of his bat, Nix's defense at the hot corner is atrocious. Last season, in 434 innings at third, Nix committed 16 errors for an .883 fielding percentage. The league average was .959 in 2010. Fielding percentage is not the be all and end all (see Derek Jeter's gold glove) and some of the meta-stats are arguable, but, by baseballreference.com's measure, Nix cost his team 12 runs with his defensive ineptitude at 3B. And now he is option #1 for the Tribe. He is playing winter ball in Puerto Rico to "sharpen" his defensive "skills." How long does it take to hone an egg to a fine point?

The Indians have 5 open spots on their 40-man roster, which must be filled by the 19th to protect those 5 from the rule 5 draft. 5 5 5 5 5 5... IPI suggests that LHP Nick Hagadone and RHP Corey Kluber are locks, so I'll jump on board with that. My guesses at the other three: RHP Adam Miller, 3B Jared Goedert, and... RHP Josh Judy.

Tickets for the Indians/Clippers exhibition game (03.30.11, 1pm @ Huntington Park) go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am. Avoid TicketMaster fees by calling the Clippers ticket office at 614.462.2757. I'll be getting 4 seats myself.

Cheers.