Quick Hits #5

Chicks Dig the Long Ball:   The New York Yankees have set a club record with 27 home runs in their first 14 games.  They have 6 different players that have at least 4 home runs each. That's an impressive achievement given the storied history of the club - their nickname is not the Bronx Bombers for nothing!

Jorge Posada has contributed to the Yankees record start by
slugging 4 home runs from the DH slot.

The 2011 version of the Bombers is on pace to hit 310-315 home runs this year.  Somewhere the Feds who worked on the Barry Bonds steroids perjury case are gathering evidence and conducting depositions.  Come on, everyone deserves a second chance.

Sixth Man of the Year - An E! True Hollywood Story:  Lamar Odom, who is married to reality-TV "star" Khloe Kardashian, was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year on Tuesday, which is the award given to the best player who is not quite good enough to be one of the 150 starters in the league.  The only requirement to win the award is that a player must come in off the bench as a reserve more games than he starts.  Odom started 35 games and entered off the bench in 47 games.  I've never understood the reason why the NBA has this award.  In my opinion, Odom should have won this award last year when he finished sixth in the voting for the Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian are taking Hollywood and the NBA by storm.
Odom's "unbreakable" season earned him the honor as the NBA 6th Man.

But Lamar Kardashian is enjoying yet another moment in the spotlight...when asked what he planned to get for his teammates as a thank you gift after Bryant handed out expensive watches to the team following his MVP award, he responded, "Maybe I'll get them a bottle of me and Khloe's fragrance ("Unbreakable")."  I have two observations from Lamar's comments: 1) Apparently correct English not a requirement for winning the award and 2) What he really should do is give watches to just the Laker starters for being better than him so he could be considered for the award to begin with.


Imagine the April Awesomeness?!:  Can you imagine if the NBA playoffs was a little bit more like March Madness?!  Like I wrote about here, the NBA playoffs just don't have the same excitement level that other playoff formats do.  If the NBA playoffs were like the NCAA tournament, then these would be the second round games based upon the results of the first game of each series:  Chicago vs. Atlanta, Miami vs. Boston, Memphis vs. Oklahoma City, and New Orleans vs. Dallas.  The Lakers, Spurs, and Magic would all be out!  The Memphis Grizzlies would have a huge fan following, insane media coverage, and Zach Randolph jerseys would be flying off the shelves!  Don't worry, they'll lose to the Spurs in 5.  Sorry, Memphis, but the only basketball team that has a shot to play for a Championship anytime soon is the University of Memphis.


Put it on the Calendar:  In one of the biggest demonstrations of optimism we have seen in a long time, the NFL released its 2011 schedule today as if one of the ugliest and dirtiest lockouts in recent history was not well into its second month.  The marquee games of the opening weekend, which will fall on Sunday, September 11, will feature the New York Giants visiting the Washington Redskins, two teams from the two cities that were most significantly impacted by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011.

September 11, 2011 could be a memorable day for the USA and the NFL if
the owners and the players can end the lockout so the NFL season can start on time.

The New York Jets will host the Dallas Cowboys on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 at home in New York (New Jersey).  The always outspoken Jets head coach, Rex Ryan, said this of the significance of opening the season at home on 9/11: "The stadium is going to be full of emotion, not only the people from the area but in the entire country.  The fact that it's the 10th anniversary of 9/11, that's where the focus should be."  Well put, Coach.  Let's just hope your players and owners can put aside their greed and hatred towards one another in order for it to actually happen and let the nation enjoy it.

Quick Hits #4

Manny Being Manny:  Manny Ramirez retired from baseball on Friday as he faced a 100-game suspension for a positive drug test.  Manny had already been suspended for 50 games in 2009 for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and he apparently would have rather retired instead of serving a suspension that would have extended 2/3 into the 2011 season.

Manny Ramirez retired last week after a 19-year
playing career and 555 career home runs.

Manny is one of the most talented, I mean, tainted hitters to ever play the game.  His career 555 home runs and .312 batting average over 19 season stand out as Hall of Fame numbers, but Manny should not be expecting an invitation from the Baseball Hall of Fame anytime soon.  Two other players linked to using performance-enhancing drugs during their careers, Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire, have come no where near the requisite amount of votes to obtain entrance to the Hall.  Still, Manny is planning to stay off the grid just in case the Hall wants to contact him.  Manny released a statement shortly after his retirement that included the following:  "I'm at ease.  God knows what's best (for me).  I'm now an officially retired baseball player.  I'll be going on a trip to Spain with my old man."  Once again proving there will never be another Manny Ramirez.


Minnesota Du-who?:  David met Goliath for the NCAA Hockey Championship in the Frozen Four on Saturday night.  Minnesota Duluth, who had never won a national championship, went skate-to-skate with  Michigan, who had won more hockey championships than any other program in the country (9).  The Bulldogs beat the Wolverines on a sudden-death goal only 3:22 into the overtime.  It was an historic win for Minnesota Duluth as winger Kyle Schmidt netted the winning goal and put the Bulldogs ahead 3-2.  What a great way to win their first national championship!

The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs dismissed
Michigan with a game-winning goal only 3:22
into overtime for its first hockey national championship.

But more devastatingly, what a way to lose!  The Wolverines went from being positioned to win the national championship in one moment and to having it pulled out from underneath them the next.  Although it actually might be a better way to lose than to do what Butler did last week and watch the championship slip away brick after brick after brick.  Best line from a SportsCenter anchor covering the highlights of the championship game:  "Duluth, Duluth, Duluth is on fire!"


Jimmer Does It Again:  Jimmer Fredette won the Wooden Award on Friday night in Los Angeles and completed a sweep of this year's college basketball national player of the year awards.  Jimmer is the first BYU player to win the Wooden Award since Danny Ainge in 1981.  The Wooden Award voters include nearly 1,000 members of the college basketball media who each selected and ranked 10 players.  Fredette had 3,761 points, followed by Connecticut's Kemba Walker with 3,356; Ohio State's Jared Sullinger with 2,637; Duke's Nolan Smith with 2,371; and Arizona's Derrick Williams with 1,913.  Jimmer's focus now turns to preparing for the NBA Draft and his future career.  Jimmer has not commented on whether he will be going on a trip to Spain between now and then with his old man.

Another day, another national player of the year award for Jimmer Fredette. I
wonder if he will end up donating any of them to Deseret Industries at
some point because he has no place to store them all?

The Glory Days Are Over, Coach: A football coach who coaches 9, 10 and 11 year-old kids in Chula Vista, California was arrested after a confrontation with a parent that included a dispute over the recruitment of a "top" player away from the coach's team to another competing team.  The parent was reportedly punched, kicked and knocked unconscious by the coach.  Are you kidding me?!  And here we thought the recruiting environment in college football was passionate, scandalous and dangerous.  Apparently Chula Vista takes its Pee Wee Football even more seriously.  Can you imagine what Gene Chizik (Auburn's Head Football Coach) would have done to Cam Newton's Dad had he heard about Newton's offer to Mississippi State to "buy" his son's commitment to play football there.  Let's just be glad Chizik didn't grow up and learn how to coach in Chula Vista.

Quick Hits #3

V-C-told-U-so:  VCU has reached the Final Four as an 11 seed after upsetting "power conference" foes USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas along the way.  VCU, George Mason (2006), and LSU (1986) are the only teams to ever advance to the Final Four as an 11 seed.  Incredible.  When the brackets were revealed on Selection Sunday, many experts questioned the Selection Committee's decision to include VCU and UAB in the 68-team field because they felt that many other teams were more deserving based upon their regular season and conference tournament performance.

VCU could be the national champion even though they
should have never been given a shot to get to the Final Four.

VCU's inclusion in the tournament was questioned because they had lost 7 conference games in a sub-par conference, including a home game to lowly James Madison, and had a much lower RPI than other teams that were left out of the tournament.  Many have suggested that because VCU has now made the Final Four, then they must have been deserving of being included in the tournament from the beginning.  I wholeheartedly disagree.  Such a rationale would make no sense given that the Selection Committee's job is to select the tournament teams based upon their resume and previous performance, not to project how a team would perform in the tournament.  Does VCU deserve to be in the tournament simply because they have won 5 games in a row?  Absolutely not.  If that is the case, then teams such as Louisville and Vanderbilt (who both lost their first games to lower-seeded teams) should not have been included in the tournament either.  Good for VCU, but saying that they have validated their inclusion in the tournament would be taking the easy way out.

Let The Jimmer Simmer:  Meanwhile, the debate continues about players that have already exited the tournament - will Jimmer be a good pro?  Many will continue to debate Jimmer's professional abilities leading up to the draft and even throughout Jimmer's career.  But why are so many people so adamant and passionate about this topic?  Because there is no debating the fact that he is one of the best collegiate basketball players in recent memory.  We should all stop being so concerned about how good a pro he may or may not be.

Jimmer Fredette excited the entire college basketball world
this year with his ability to score and lead BYU to wins.

Will his success or failure in the NBA take away from his outstanding college career and all the excitement he created not only at BYU but throughout college basketball?  It shouldn't.  Instead of being so focused on hypothetical situations and what he may not be, let's stop and appreciate some of the fantastic things he accomplished as a collegiate player: Fredette led the nation in scoring with 28.9 points per game, averaged 32.7 points per game in the NCAA tournament, led BYU with 4.3 assists per game, shot 40% from three-point "Jimmer" range, shot 89% from the free throw line, shattered the BYU career scoring mark after scoring a mind-boggling 1,068 points this season.  Even more important:  Jimmer is a winner.  He leaves BYU as the all-time leader in team wins as a player.  Certain writers in the media may not appreciate Jimmer, but he has already been selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association as the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy which is presented annually to the National Player of the Year as selected by the writers.  By the way, Rick Reilly is not considered a Basketball Writer by the USBWA or Dan Patrick.  That is worth a listen!


Ochocinco Soccer Situation:  With the NFL Lockout now in its third week with no end in sight, it appears that NFL players, including Chad Ochocinco, are bored and need something to do.  Chad Ochocinco, who has successfully kicked an extra point in a recent NFL game, recently went through a five-day tryout with the MLS team, Sporting Kansas City.  Ochocinco, who played soccer in high school, practiced with the team, played in a reserve game this weekend, and has been awarded an honorary reserve spot on the team.  Ochocinco will not be paid for practicing with the team (which is only a little less than what an MLS player actually gets paid), but he is excited about his new-found job:

Ochocinco is just kickin'
it during the NFL lockout.

"This is so awesome I'm an honorary member of SportingKC and can train with the reserve team as long as I want," Ochocinco said in a tweet. "Totally awesome ILuvKC."

Does anyone else now want to see David Beckham take a hit by Baltimore Ravens' linebacker, Ray Lewis, or is that just me?  At least Ochocinco is as they say "staying out of trouble", which is more than can be said for Dallas Cowboys' receiver Dez Bryant.

Quick Hits #2

The first version of Quick Hits may have been too "basketball-heavy", but so is my life during the month of March so here are only a couple more March Madness-related items followed by some other noteworthy sports headlines:


Big L-"East":  The Big East Conference set a record this year with 11 teams in its 16-team conference getting invited to the 68-team tournament.  The Big East snatched up 10 of the 37 "at-large" bids (27%), yet only 2 of the 11 teams remain in the tournament after 2 rounds of play - as many teams as the Big Ten, the Mountain West, and the City of Richmond, Virginia!

VCU is one of the two teams from
Richmond Virginia enjoying the "sweetness"
of the NCAA Tournament

How 'bout the City of Richmond?!:  2 of the 16 teams left in the NCAA tournament (VCU and Richmond) are from Richmond, Virginia.  The 11-seeded VCU Rams and the 12-seeded Richmond Spiders pulled off two consecutive upsets each this week.  Best known as the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War, it is now know as the capital of the Cinderella team.

The NB-Who?:  By the way, has there even been a single NBA highlight on SportsCenter during the past week? Apparently during March Madness people pay attention to the NBA just about as much as the NBA players pay attention to playing defense before the playoffs.

Mario Lemieux may now be regretting his
demands for higher punishment for physical
play after Cook's suspension.

Irony on Ice:  Last month, the owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux, lashed out at the NHL for what he perceived to be an insufficient amount of discipline and punishment following a brawl-filled game between his Penguins and the NY Islanders.  Last week, Lemieux proposed tougher suspensions for players that cross the line and inflict unnecessary roughness on other players during games - even suggesting that the teams be fined for the player's conduct.  This week, after elbowing an opponent in the head, one of Mario Lemieux's key players (Matt Cooke) was suspended for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.  Mario?  Any comment now?

Bonds on Trial:  The Barry Bonds perjury trial began on Monday in San Francisco.  You can read the riveting recap of Tuesday's proceedings of this century's "trial of the century" in California here.  Barry Bonds is on trial for perjury and obstruction of justice, charged with lying when he told a federal grand jury that he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs...or eat his teammates' garlic fries.  It's also interesting to note the list of Bonds' perjury trial jurors in the ESPN link above, which has led to the key question that everyone in this perjury trial wants to have answered:  "Juror 21, how exactly did you manage to become a retired cashier without committing perjury yourself or slipping at least a $100 bill in your pocket at the end of every shift?!"

Quick Hits #1

Madness, Madness, and More Madness!:  The tournament started with a tremendous bang! on Thursday when three of the first four games on Thursday afternoon were decided on the game's final possession - Butler, Morehead St., and Temple all won on buzzer-beaters.  The Madness was off to a pretty good start.

Matt Howard (54) got the tournament started in style
with a game-winning shot against ODU.

Don't Miss It!: In February, I wrote about the fact that you could watch every game in its entirety due to the NCAA's new TV deal with CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV, but the real thing was even better than I could have imagined.  Although I admittedly did catch the buzzer-beaters mentioned above on my phone while I was at work, you could find which channel had which game on as well as the scores and time remaining so you could jump over and catch a key moment of any other game.  I'm not the only one who agreed:  TV ratings were up 16% when compared to last year.  On a related note, the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament is also going on right now and can be found on ESPN3.com and ESPNTitleIX.com.

Sorry Mr. President, the Game is on:  While Pres. Obama addressed the nation on Thursday assuring the country that harmful levels of radiation were not expected to reach the United States, CBS did not cut away to hear him live as the other major networks did.  Instead, CBS summarized his report in a 60-second clip during a game's commercial break.  On Friday, when Obama addressed the country regarding potential military action against Libya, CBS  ran a split screen, with audio of Obama and his picture on top, with a silent game on the bottom.  The White House has denied that Obama's reference to wanting to "Jimmer" Libya is not in any way meant to be a threat of a potential war.

No disrespect, Mr. Gadhafi, but if you mess with
us, you're going to get Jimmered.

BYU Runs to "Sweetness":  For the first time in 30 years, Jimmer Fredette, Jackson Emery, and the Cougars have moved onto the Sweet 16 where they will face Florida in New Orleans on Thursday.  The Jimmer has averaged only 33 points in wins over Wofford and Gonzaga leading many experts to wonder if he will ever regain his ability to score.

How Do You Handle The Jimmer?:  Florida's best-defender, Kenny Boynton, missed practice on Monday after spraining his ankle in Florida's win over UCLA on Saturday.  Florida Gator Coach Billy Donovan expects him to play against BYU on Thursday, but that Boynton's history of ankle injuries does not give him confidence that Boynton will be ready to go mentally. "I think there's a mental hurdle for him that he's going to have to get over, that he does feel good and he's not playing in pain."  Ankle injury or not, the same could be said to the mental anguish Jimmer has caused to anyone who has tried to defend him this year.

Florida fans are hopeful that Kenny
Boynton's ankle will enable him to try
and stop The Jimmer.