2009-2010 College Basketball Preview: Preseason Rankings

Okay here's my updated version of my preseason top 25.


1. Michigan St.- Sure, they lose Suton and Walton, but Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen, and Raymar Morgan are back. Look for the in-coming 6-10 recruits to make an impact.

2. Kansas- All five starters will return, add-in recruit Xavier Henry and this team looks like a national title threat.

3. Purdue- Will Purdue be 2009's Spartans? The 2010 Final Four is in home state Indianapolis and return 7 of their top 8 scorers.

4. Kentucky- The Cats are on the rise once again with John Calipari taking over. Patrick Patterson returns but the loss of Jodie Meeks will be a huge blow. Recruits DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall will make this team the favorite in the SEC.

5. Texas- The Longhorns were a PG away from being an elite team; Florida transfer Jai Lucas should help fill that void.

6. Villanova- Nova will once again have a dominant backcourt lead by Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher.

7. West Virginia- With Devin Ebanks returning they will be one of the best in the Big East. Da'Sean Butler, Darryl Bryant, Joel Mazzula, and Kevin Jones are back as well.

8. North Carolina- This will be a totally different Heel team, but there will still be plenty of talent.

9. Connecticut- Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson, and Stanley Robinson will be back. A decent recruiting class is coming in as well to help fill some voids.

10. Duke- It will be very tough to replace Gerald Henderson and Elliot Williams. But look for frosh Mason Plumlee to finally give them a valuable inside presence.

11. Butler- This past season was supposed to be a rebuilding year after losing a lot. All five starters are back.

12. Washington- Look for Isaiah Thomas and Quincy Pondexter to keep the Huskies atop the Pac 10.

13. Tennessee- the Vols had some problems last year, but there's still too much talent to go around. I think they'll be back again.

14. Ohio St.- The Buckeyes will be good and I mean that.

15. California- This will be a senior-laden team that has been scratching the surface waiting to break open. Next year will be that year.

16. Clemson- 3 of the top 4 scorers are back including ACC POY Trevor Booker. Plus star recruit Milton Jennings should help.

17. Louisville- They lose Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, but still have plenty in the stable. Samardo Samuels should have a breakout year.

18. Siena- A nice nucleus (5 of Top 6 scorers) returns for the Saints.

19. Dayton- The Flyers are flat-out athletic and talented.

20. Illinois- With another year of experience under sophomores Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, and Mike Tisdales' belts, they'll improve.

21. Oklahoma- They lose the Griffin brothers but Willie Warren is one of the best guards in the country and their role players are outstanding.

22. Mississippi State- With Jarvis Varnado back and top recruit Renardo Sidney coming in they will challenge Kentucky and Tennessee for the SEC Crown.

23. Michigan- The Wolverines were very inconsistent but looked good in March. The dynamic duo of Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims will keep them in the thick of things.

24. Minnesota- Keep an eye on the Gophers. Royce White is a top recruit who will make the Gophers a top contender in the Big Ten.

25. Gonzaga- The Zags will reload with Demetri Goodson, Matt Bouldin and Stephen Gray all back.

Just missed the cut:
Georgia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest, Missouri, Texas A&M, Oklahoma St., Wisconsin, Mississippi, Florida, Georgetown, Syracuse, Creighton, UNLV, UCLA, Northern Iowa, Oakland

2009-2010 College Basketball Preview: Player Rankings

The time has come. It's time to begin our College Basketball Preview for the coming season.

2009/2010:

Top 5 PG:
1. Kalin Lucas- Michigan St.
2. Sherron Collins- Kansas
3. John Wall- Kentucky
4. Kemba Walker- UConn
5. Devan Downey- South Carolina

Top 5 SG:
1. Willie Warren- Oklahoma
2. Greivis Vasquez- Maryland
3. Manny Harris- Michigan
4. Scottie Reynolds- Villanova
5. Jerome Dyson- UConn

Top 5 SF:
1. Evan Turner- Wisconsin
2. Devin Ebanks- West Virginia
3. Kyle Singler- Duke
4. Robbie Hummel- Purdue
5. Gordon Hayward- Butler

Top 5 PF:
1. Luke Harangody- Notre Dame
2. Patrick Patterson- Kentucky
3. Al Faroq-Aminu- Wake Forest
4. Craig Brackins- Iowa State
5. Ed Davis- UNC

Top 5 C:
1. Cole Aldrich- Kansas
2. Greg Monroe- Georgetown
3. Larry Sanders- VCU
4. Jarvis Varnado- Mississippi State
5. Keith Benson- Oakland

Fantasy Football - Week 6 Hate 'Em/ Love 'Em

Hate Em:

Drew Brees- facing the Giants #1 pass D and Brees hasn't looked so stellar the past couple outings, look for a heavy run game here.

Larry Johnson - at some point they are going to give Jamaal Charles a chance, this may be his week and LJ is on the drop list for all I'm concerned.

DeAngelo Williams - Bucs are one of the worst rush D's, but I look for Jonathon Stewart to get a bigger role this week and steal goaline carries.

Ray Rice and Willis McGahee- Vikings have not given up a rushing td all year so don't expect one here.

Marques Colston - don't expect big numbers out of him this week, will be a good red zone target, but don't expect big yardage.

Vincent Jackson - Denver's D has only given up 2 passing td's all year and I don't like his match up with Champ Bailey.

Chris Cooley - will be used more as a blocker than a pass catcher this week so don't expect the usual week for Cooley.

Love 'Em:

David Garrard- after last week's brutal performance, he will bounce back having Sims- Walker back will help.

Mike Sims-Walker - after missing last game due to a 'late night rendezvous' with a lady friend, expect him to go off against the terrible Rams D.

Pierre Thomas - did you know that Thomas has 12 td's in his last 9 games? against the Giants D you will see a heavy dose of the run game.

Brian Westbrook - Oakland's worst rush D vs a healthy Westbrook only equals a big game.

Knowshon Moreno - the Chargers are giving up 151 rypg, with that saying Moreno's workload has increased each week.

Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Jermichael Finley and Ryan Grant - love all the Packers this week vs the Lions. Coming off a bye week you will see big numbers from the big 4.

Matt Hasselbeck and Nate Burleson- both went off last week and I expect more of the same this week.

Braylon Edwards- obviously he became new best friends with Mark Sanchez, big numbers the rest of the year I foresee.

Look for Ohio State to turn some heads in '09

College Football starts this Thursday and boy I cannot wait. All we're hearing about thus far is Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, which makes me ponder which team will make a run with the rest of them that everybody is looking over?

Well, it's Ohio State.

I know they've sucked in big games the past few seasons. I know they lost 7 starters on offense, including Beanie Wells, Brian Robiskie, and studs James Laurinaitis and Malcolm Jenkins on defense. But Jim Tressel always has talent waiting in the wings.

This is the perfect time for them to quell the doubters from the past. They do not have too high of expectations this season and they lost some big time players.

But they do have Terrelle Pryor back. I am a big fan of this guy and I truly believe he will win a Heisman and even a national championship if he stays all 4 years at OSU. I really believe that. Pryor is going to have a great season this year and will make everybody on the field around him better.

Much of the O-Line returns so there's a good start. Dan Herron performed well when Beanie Wells was injured and Ray Small and DeVier Posey are capable pass catchers. Frosh Duron Carter and James Jackson could contribute significantly as well.

The defensive line returns 3 starters and a formidable Michigan transfer in Justin Boren joins the team, which is a very good start for the defense.

But in the end I do not expect the departures to be as big of a deal as they say. Jim Tressel is still one of the best coaches in the country and there is plenty of talent in the stable and the in-coming freshmen are ready to step up. With a proven QB back and one who has some of the best talent in the country, look for the Buckeyes to turn some heads and be a BCS Title contender by the end of the season.

All of that can start on September 12, when 4th ranked USC comes to town.

Not for fun anymore

Little League is supposed to be for the kids. It's for kids to play with friends, learn the game of baseball and most importantly, have fun.

Well, not anymore.

Some parents have recently sued because of their kids' injuries during games/practices/scrimmages. But that's what we expect in a politically correct world nowadays. Gone are the days of individual responsibility.

To give credit to Rick Reilly, columnist for ESPN (one of the best there is) did an article on this.

A woman named Jean Gonzalez in Staten Island, NY sewed the local Little League, the teams manager and the first base coach because the first base coach sent her son to second on a double, where he slid awkwardly and tore his ACL. So she decided to sew.

That's the world we live in today. When in doubt, sue.

This is how people say thanks to coaches who devout their time to teach their kids the fundamentals and the game of baseball. That's what Staten Island gets for having a program for their kids to play.

It's always about ME, we live in a ME world.

Last week I rolled my ankle playing softball, maybe I should sew the Bismarck Softball Association because of it and/or the guy who was coming after me in a run-down.

Because of ridiculous litigation like the Gonzalez' in New York, it is making people afraid of getting sued. Lawsuits have taken away our freedom of speech and created/changed rules/laws so people DON'T get sued; and that's wrong.

Not just Little League but many other organizations (whether it be sports, businesses, or whatever) have catered to these people that sew for pleasure. No more on-deck circles in Little League, face-masked helmets, mandatory pitch counts, what next?

Lawsuits are just making things worse. It only brings down competition and less choices for people. For the people suing, they're only fixing a problem, by making it worse!

Bold, Daring Fantasy Football Predictions for 2009

Fantasy football drafts are coming up and I'm sure some of you have already partaken in a few, here's some bold predictions for the up-coming season.

- Donovan McNabb will finish as a top-5 QB

- Jonathan Stewart will finish with more fantasy points than DeAngelo Williams

- Calvin Johnson will finish with 1500+ yards and 15 scores

- Dwayne Bowe will finish the year as a top-10 WR

- Adrian Peterson will not finish as a top 5 overall fantasy player

- Steve Slaton will finish as a top-5 RB

- David Garrard will be a top-10 fantasy QB again

- Donovan McNabb will not miss a game this season

- Anthony Gonzalez will double his 664 receiving yards from last season

- Donald Brown will be a top-25 fantasy RB

- Maurice Jones-Drew will finish as the top fantasy RB.

- Tom Brady will have his best fantasy season yet!

- Jamal Charles will have a better fantasy season than Larry Johnson

- Greg Jennings will lead all NFC WR in scoring

- Joe Flacco will finish as a top-10 QB

- Dwayne Bowe will finish the year with the most receiving yards in one game

- Greg Olsen will finish as a top-4 TE

- Ryan Grant rushes for 1450+ yards and 10 TD

- Willis McGahee doesn't get injured before week 7

- Javon Ringer will finish with more fantasy points than Chris Johnson

Tom Brady Prediction

I'm sure most of you NFL fans out there saw Tom Brady's preseason debut last night. I thought he looked really good. He threw 2 nice TDs and had a perfect deep ball that Moss dropped. he did have an INT but he then went to the sidelines and threw his waterbottle down like it was the playoffs or something!

He moved around and stepped up in the pocket. I do think that he needs to take a few big hits and have a few people down on the ground around him in the pocket. Just so that he can get used to stepping up in the pocket, stepping into throws, and trusting the knee.

I have a prediction to make. I think that last year's injury might end up being the one of the best things to happen to Tom Brady's career. Obviously winning superbowls and marrying underwear models are much better than a knee injury but this is the way I see it. He looks great so far. We know that he's going to play a lot in preseason and should be firing on all cyllindars come week 1. The most important things to a QB like Brady are his throwing arm, shoulder, and head. He got a whole season to preserve what matters the most to him. Last season made have put another 2-3+ years onto the prime of his career!

All I'm saying is that Brady is going ot be huge again this year so be ready. He will be fresher than ever and hungrier than ever. I hate the guy, but I expect a big year.

Eagles are the Perfect Fit for Vick

The more I think about it the Eagles are really the perfect fit for Vick and vice versa. Obviously he needs to go to a team with good coaching, a great starting QB, and good infrastructure. The Eagles fit the bill perfectly.

Who better to help Vick get back into the swing of things than Donovan McNabb! Also you have to take into consideration that Vick won't be able to play until possibly week 6 so you have to look at the backup. Jay Feeley is a great backup and will be plenty sufficient while Vick picks up the speed of the game again.

I don't care if Donovan McNabb says that he is here as a QB. I have a prediction to make. I think that you can expect to see Vick used as an athlete from time to time later in the season (if necessary that is). You better believe that they didn't pay that kind of money for a 3rd stringer who, odds are wouldn't see the field at the QB position this year. I think that the Eagles would be best off putting Vick in the slot every once in a great while, throwing him a screen or two, or letting him take a direct snap and run with it. Especially if a key player gets hurt on offense I think you can expect to see Vick on the field as a secret weapon of sorts later in the season.

There really could not be a better fit. Vick gets a pretty decent deal with an option for next year from a contending team! He gets the chance to be a positive influence in a strong locker room and play for a coach who I believe who can handle him. I believe everybody deserves a second chance and I believe Vick has paid his dues. This is a absolute perfect opportunity for Vick and it will be very interesting to see if he will indeed make the most of it or throw everything away once again.

2009 College Football Preview: SEC

College Football is just around the corner! We will be doing our College Football Preview until the first game begins with conference predictions, all-conference teams, BCS Bowl predictions and more...

Projected Order of Finish

East

1. Florida
Well duh... The Gators are the overwhelming favorite in the East. Tim Tebow returns along with 6 other offensive starters. Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey are dynamic speedsters who can step right in for Percy Harvin. The defense also returns all 11 starters and the whole two-deep depth chart.

2. Georgia
The Dawgs lose some valuable players in Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. Joe Cox is ready to take the helms under center. AJ Green may be the best WR in the conference (if not the country) and Caleb King should fill in well at RB. The defense had a lot of young talent last year. The defensive line should be tough with Geno Atkins back. Look for the defense to improve.

3. Tennessee
The Vols were awful last year, but I think they will be a lot better this season. This team had some talent but were inexperienced. The defense was one of the best in the conference but the offense just couldn't put points on the board. Eric Berry is arguably the best DB in the nation. Look for QB Jonathan Crompton to get the Vols O some more production.

4. South Carolina
The Gamecocks lose some big time players on both sides of the ball. Stephen Garcia will be the main QB this season and looks to help a struggling offense. The defense has always been there but they need more consistency on the other side. This will once again not be Steve Spurrier's year in South Carolina.

5. Vanderbilt
Vandy returns 19 starters from an improved 2008 season. They still lack that star that can get them over the top; the defense was good last season but they often relied on it too much. If they can get some more consistency from the offense and hold their own on defense, the Commodores could get over the hump.

6. Kentucky
Kentucky was same old Kentucky last year yet they still found themselves in a bowl game. The offense was abysmal but the QBs look promising and RB Alfonso Smith is a good back. The defense has a few play makers but look for the Cats to continue down the bottom of the SEC East.

West

1. Mississippi
The Rebels showed what they were made of in their bowl game drupping of Texas Tech. Jevan Snead might be one of the most underrated QB's in the nation. Plenty experience returns on both sides of the ball. The RB position is stacked with Brandon Bolden, Cordera Eason, and Dexter McCluster all capable ball carriers.

2. Alabama
The defense returns 9 starters and the offense returns RB Mark Ingram and one of the best WRs in the nation in Julio Jones. QB position is a big question mark now that John Parker Wilson is gone.

3. LSU
You really think Les Miles will have another down year? Think again... QB Jordan Jefferson is coming along well and veteran RB Charles Scott is a bruiser in the backfield. WR Brandon LaFell should help spread defenses too.

4. Auburn
Auburn missed their first bowl game since 1999. New head coach Gene Chizik is looking to get this Tiger team back to the top. The talent is there and 14 starters are back. The offense was off and on last season but the defense kept them in games. Look for DB Zac Etheridge to be one of the best in the conference.

5. Arkansas
They went from good in 2007 to bad in 2008. Don't expect things to be much different this season. Ryan Mallett should finally give them some stability at QB, something they've been missing the past several seasons. The defense gave up a lot of points and must get better if they want to move up the West standings at all.

6. Mississippi St.
Look for new head coach Dan Mullen to bring some creativity to the offense. The MSU faithful should be pretty excited with the former Florida OC calling the plays. Too many question marks at the QB position and on offense for them to get back to a bowl game though.

SEC Championshp:
Florida over Mississippi

All TSF SEC Team

Offense
QB Tim Tebow- Florida
RB Charles Scott- LSU
RB Michael Smith- Arkansas
WR AJ Green- Georgia
WR Julio Jones- Alabama
TE Aaron Hernandez- Florida
OL Maurkice Pouncey- Florida
OL Mike Pouncey- Florida
OL Ciron Black- LSU
OL John Jerry- Ole Miss
OL Mike Johnson- Alabama

Defense
DL Carlos Dunlap- Florida
DL Greg Hardy- Ole Miss
DL Terrence Cody- Alabama
DL Geno Atkins- Georgia
LB Rennie Curran- Georgia
LB Brandon Spikes- Florida
LB Rolando McClain- Alabama
DB Eric Berry- Tennessee
DB Joe Haden- Florida
DB Ahmad Black- Florida
DB Trevard Lindley- Kentucky

Offensive Player of the Year
Tim Tebow- Florida

Defensive Player of the Year
Eric Berry- Tennessee

Freshman of the Year
Andre Dubose- Florida

Coach of the Year
Houston Nutt- Ole Miss

Top 3 Games:
Florida at LSU- Oct. 10
Alabama at Ole Miss- Oct. 10
LSU at Alabama- Nov. 7

MLB Power Rankings

Here's our first addition of out MLB Power Rankings.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Now that Manny is back they should be able to get home-field in the NL. The have hitters all over their line-up and the latest pick-up of RP George Sherrill should put them over the top.

2. New York Yankees
The top of the lineup is one of the best in baseball. Look for them to keep pounding the ball.

3. Boston Red Sox
Arguably the best pitching staff in the MLB. The pick-up of Victor Martinez turned a weakness into a strength and gave them a needed bat.

4. Los Angeles Angels
They've looked impressive since the break, but remember baseball is a marathon not a sprint.

5. Philadelphia Phillies
Jimmy Rollins is finally starting to regain his old self. If they won it all last year without a great starting rotation, imagine what Cliff Lee will do for them.

6. Texas Rangers
Boy can they hit the ball! Pitching will be what breaks them in the end. Imagine had they gotten Roy Halladay!

7. St. Louis Cardinals
Look for them to win the Central now, teams will have to pitch more to Pujols with Matt Holliday batting behind him.

8. Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays are making things interesting in the Al East.

9. San Francisco Giants
The additions of Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Garko should bolster the order. The best rotation in the NL should be what gets them the Wild Card in the end.

10. Colorado Rockies
The Rockies will not go away, they play solid defense and make you earn your runs.

Favre Made the Right Decision

So it is now official. After my summer of anxiety and agony (where I had already mentally prepared myself to see someone not named John David Booty wear a purple #4 jersey), Brett came through for me and Packer fans alike one last time. He decided to stay retired!

Most of you know that I am a lifelong, die-hard Packer fan and grew up with Favre as my childhood hero. But I truly believe that this was the best football decision that Brett has ever made. His arm virtually fell off the last 5 games of last season and he just flat out did not play well. He was not going to make the Vikings immediate Super Bowl contenders. Two to three years ago, yes. This year, NO!

Regardless if the Vikings would have gotten Favre or not, they would have still started the year with the 3rd best starting QB in the division! Granted Favre probably would have been a step up from Tjack, or Rosenfels, adding him would have torn the locker room apart. I must say that the Vikings did not handle the situation very well at all, and now they need to pull themselves together as a team and move on from all this garbage.

It would have made for some great drama next season, but it is for the best. Thank you Brett for making the right decision. Now please try to enjoy your retirement like a normal player. Everybody knows what you are capable of. Everybody knows what you did 2 years ago in Green Bay. Everybody also knows what you did in New York last season.

Did you tarnish he tarnish his legacy? Yes he did. Should he have retired after the NFC Championship loss to the Giants? Probably. There is no denying that people will remember the whole retirement limbo that he's played at the end of his career. But for us true fans, we will look past it and remember the Brett pictured above.

Brett Favre is one of the greatest QBs of all-time and will go down like that. It's time that the old gunslinger realize that he has nothing to prove. Now let's hope we don't have to hear his name or see too much of him on ESPN until he steps up to the podium in Canton, OH!

Athletes deserve their paychecks

The average school teacher in North Dakota receives $35,000 per year, the average MLB player makes around $3,000,000.

But is that fair? I think so.

It's the law of supply and demand.

Salaries are set by the demand for workers in a particular job and the supply of workers able to do that job. The higher demand for a job the lower the supply, resulting in higher pay; jobs with a low demand and high supply will pay less.

Professional athletes are one of a kind. Matt Cassel recently signed a six year, $63 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. There are roughly a few dozen or so who can play quarterback as well as he can. Does he deserve this fat paycheck in my opinion? Rightfully so. That's how the market works.

The sports industry brings in billions of dollars yearly, if programs and teams can afford to give out that kind of money to players, that's their right and no one can tell them otherwise.

Jobs with low demand, such as teaching are full of people with the capabilities to do that work. There are plenty of teachers out there, but there's only one Matt Cassel. There's only one Albert Pujols and there's only one Roy Halladay.

That's why the Toronto Blue Jays can basically wait for a deal that they cannot resist. There's so much high demand for Halladay and they don't have to jump at just any deal. They're playing with house money. Halladay is worth as much as a team wants him for. Teams/Businesses want people who can make money for them. Remember, there is only one Roy Halladay.

Professional athletes make the millions of dollars that they do because they're good, they put butts in the seats, sell merchandise, and raise advertising rates.

Not many people can hit or throw a 94 MPH fastball or throw for a 50 yard TD against an NFL caliber defense. But many of us can teach someone simple math, the capitals of the U.S. states, or explain the difference between their, there and they're.

This is not to degrade the teaching profession, it's just the law of supply and demand.

Jason Whitlock missing the point once again

The Erin Andrews video scandal is now apparently being turned from a privacy issue to a race issue, well at least according to Foxsports.com Writer Jason Whitlock.

Whitlock is claiming that ESPN has been pretty quiet about the whole thing. I honestly haven't seen much coverage of the video scandal either on ESPN, but Whitlock said in his latest column that it's because she's white.

To quote John Stossel: "Give me a break!"

First he starts off with:

"This column will attempt to add context and reasonable perspective — two things generally lacking when a favored white woman is wronged in America — to the debate raging in the sports blogosphere about whether blogs contributed to the crime perpetrated against Ms. Andrews." (Blogs referring to Deadspin)

And secondly...

"How do you think the world-wide leader in hypocrisy would handle it if Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova or Candace Parker had been videotaped? I bet the network would throw together a two-hour documentary on how the video was made. And Leitch and Daulerio would drop the profoundly-disturbed-and-remorseful act."

Firstly, Williams, Kournikova, nor Parker are employed with ESPN and secondly, this has nothing to do with race and shouldn't have any thing to do with it. It's about the privacy of Andrews and how her rights were violated.

Whitlock then went on to compare the Pac Man Jones strip club video to the peephole video. ESPN did cover the Pac Man video, but there's a big difference between the two.

Unfortunately, the persons involved in the Pacman incident are potential witnesses to a crime. The people in the video happen to be black, so what? The people who were there are the people who were there. I don't care if the people were black, white, red, orange, whatever. It DOESN'T matter. If any athlete, celebrity, or famous person were involved in the dealings of a crime and actual criminal charges were filed, they would be getting the same treatment.

If there was a Ben Roethlisberger video of him actually sexually assaulting that woman you bet there would be coverage of it on Outside the Lines or something.

ESPN is not shoving this under the bed because she happens to be white. They're a company protecting the privacy of their own employer and there's nothing wrong with that.

Once again we have people pulling the race card. I think it's irresponsible when a journalist tries to throw the race card at any issue, especially when it's to get a few "clicks or ratings".

A lot of the "race" people need to stop pointing fingers because by pulling the race card for every single issue they're only fixing a problem by making it worse.

My Quick on Vick

Former NFL star Mike Vick was released from federal custody Monday morning at his home in Virginia. Now starts the real comeback trail. Vick has a few different options, some maybe not exactly what he had in mind, but options nonetheless.

Now, he's made it fairly clear that he wants to once again prove himself on the football field. Obviously getting reinstated to the NFL would be choice number one. The only problem is that he's going to have to go through Mr. Roger Goodell first. This actually could be tricky. Many experts feel that Goodell may try to stick Vick with some sort of conditional reinstatement; where if a team picks him up he can go to camp, but after all the practices, time, and effort spent Goodell would have the ultimate ruling and could still decide not to reinstate Vick before the season begins.

Rather he is given complete reinstatement or this "conditional" option there is a distinct possibility that nobody would want him right now. Notice that I say "right now". In my eyes there is not a team that would fill an imminent and immediate need by adding Vick to their roster. Most teams will shy away from him from the publicity standpoint. Not to mention that nobody really knows where his game is at right now.

That's why I believe Vick should take a little gander at the UFL. He can play through their season, get his mechanics back figure out what he's doing out on the field and by the time their season would be over (November) there would most likely be teams who need him at a skill position or even at QB if he plays well in the UFL. It would be a good chance for him to make decent money while he proves what he can do and I would be willing to bet that someone would be willing to add him for a playoff push.

Expand MLB Instant Replay? No way

Once again we have the tiresome instant replay argument being brought up again in the MLB. We had ONE bad call recently and it shouldn't even have happened in the first place, and now we have a bunch of people screaming for it again...

What a load of crap.

The Twins got called out on a game-ending play at the plate. The A's were ahead 14-13 and Michael Cuddyer tried to score the tying run on a passed ball. Cuddyer was easily safe but called out to end the game.

But the Twins shouldn't have been in this position in the first place. They had a 12-2 lead in the 3rd inning; last time I checked in baseball rarely any lead is comfortable early in the game. It's a sport where you need to keep putting pressure on the opposing team.

The Twins didn't do their job after the 3rd inning. The pitchers struggled and hitters went quiet. The A's slowly crept their way back into it and then blew up with a 7 run 7th to take the lead. The Twins only have themselves to blame. They gave up a big lead then tried to blame it on the ump on one call to end the game.

I know it was a bad call but the umps can't see them all. That's why you can't put yourselves in a possible position where an umps call can "decide" the game. The umps are payed to be accurate and make sure the game goes along smoothly. But they're not payed to get every call right.

Now to replay. The human element is what makes baseball such a great game. There's just something about it that I like. Baseball is a game of judgment calls and was made that way for a reason. I would not like to see instant replay expanded to calls on the field.

Once you expand to 'on the field' plays you run the risk of delaying the game and ruining the tradition of the game. If we do this then what's to stop them from expanding to balls and strikes? You rarely see bad calls like this, but remember it's part of the game. It was a rather unfortunate ending to a game where the Twins unfortunately had it coming.

Erin Andrews set up

There's a video going around the Internet of ESPN Reporter Erin Andrews walking around nude in the privacy of her hotel room. Some pervert/creep decided to somehow video tape her through the peep hole of one of her rooms.

The guy (or even girl for that matter) posted it on the Internet for all to see. This is according to ESPN:

"While alone in the privacy of her hotel room, Erin Andrews was surreptitiously videotaped without her knowledge or consent. She was the victim of a crime and is taking action to protect herself and help ensure that others are not similarly violated in the future."

I know we all love Erin Andrews but this guy obviously is a creep and needs to be prosecuted. Erin was a victim of a crime, her freedom and rights were violated.

I feel this should be a felony. I know there are "Peeping Tom" laws, but because this person put the video on the Internet for all to see, he/she should be charged with a felony and rightfully so.