Yanks let prospects get in the way of acquiring Santana

The New York Yankees and their fans are shocked today. Shocked because they seemed like the front runners to acquire Johan Santana only a few months ago. Shocked because of the three teams courting the best pitcher in baseball, it seemed like they were offering the best player – Phil Hughes. And of course, shocked that he ended up with the Mets, who didn’t even have to give up their best prospect to bring in the two-time Cy Young Award winner.

But the truly shocking thing here isn’t who ultimately got Santana or what they gave up, it’s that the Yankees let the deal fall apart because they didn’t want to deal prospects. In your best Allen Iverson impersonation, say it with me now, “we talkin’ ‘bout prospects. Not All Stars. Prospects.”

Truth be told, the Yankees should have been willing to give up any two of the “Big Three” right from the start. Santana would be hands down the greatest left-handed pitcher ever to wear pinstripes, but the team would rather rely on its farm system to carry them into battle against the World Champion Red Sox. For a team so deadest on making the playoffs every year, the Yankees are going to be awfully dependent on two guys with a combined six Major League victories (3 of which came against Tampa Bay and Baltimore) and a dominant set-up man who they’ll eventually make a starter. No pressure, fellas.

Meanwhile, the Mets, fresh off last September’s epic collapse, needed to make a splash because that's what teams with money are supposed to do. They are one of baseball’s most profitable teams and General Manager Omar Minaya knows that with a new stadium on the horizon, those numbers are only going to increase. So he dealt his homegrown talent for the best player out there and just like that, without sacrificing much at all, made the Mets the favorite to win the Pennant.

There is a potential nightmare looming for the Yankees here. In 2009, both New York teams will open up new stadiums, but what if the Mets are coming off a World Series appearance? And what if they played the Red Sox?

Pick your poison.

But at least they’ll have a home-grown kid to throw the first pitch.

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Nets will struggle to get decent return for Kidd

The New Jersey Nets have quite the pickle on their hands. The team could move Jason Kidd before trade deadline to a contender out west or they could wait until after the season and try to get a lottery pick for their embattled point guard.

Either way, It seems impossible that the team would get even close to face value for the nine-time all star.

Kidd confirmed what almost everyone has suspected since he sat out with a “migrane” against the Knicks two months ago, telling the media, "Sometimes, when you ride a wave, you get to the end and that's all there is. That's where we are."

And getting back on their board is going to be difficult for the Nets, losers of nine straight.

Both Dallas and Denver have shown interest in Kidd, but neither team has much to offer in return. The Mavericks could probably get him if they were willing to part with Josh Howard, but no one thinks they are willing to. The Nuggets could send J.R. Smith, who is from Jersey, along with draft picks, but they would also need to match up contracts, and I doubt the Nets are interested in Nene Hilario.

Of course, the other option is to not move Kidd until after the season. Unfortunately, this might be the best guard class in years, and there is no reason for a team in the lottery to take a 34 year old over an Eric Gordon or a Derrick Rose.

Neither option seems to be very attractive, but at some point, Kidd will have to be traded.

And the Nets will just have to hope they can get at least fifty cents for their dollar.

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Calhoun can right a wrong with Dyson/Wiggins decision

Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins might not be accused of anything as serious as stealing notebook computers, but you can bet that laptop-gate will play a role in deciding the ultimate fate of the pair. That is, if it hasn’t already.

Dyson and Wiggins were suspended before the Huskies upset No. 8 Indiana in Bloomington Saturday and will miss at least tonight’s game with Louisville. Head coach Jim Calhoun has not revealed much information regarding the situation, only saying that it has nothing to do with grades and that there were no arrests. The gossip around campus ranges from the two sophomores playing unsanctioned pickup games to a drug related violation.

For Calhoun, this is the perfect chance to put integrity ahead of winning, something he didn’t do during the 2005/06 season when he suspended his future first round pick point guard for just eight games after he was charged with trying to sell stolen laptops.

That situation put a blemish on the program’s clean record.

This one gives him the chance restore it.

By suspending two key players for two of the team’s biggest games of the season, he appears to be sending the right message. But we will eventually find out what really happened, and if the more serious rumors are true, Calhoun will have a season-effecting decision to make.

Let’s hope he choose integrity.

UPDATE: From the Connecticut Post

"The indefinite suspension of UConn sophomore guards Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins stems from an incident in Storrs Thursday night in which both were cited for possession of alcohol by a minor by the campus police."

The article goes on to say that the university might be waiting for drug test results before making a final decision.

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Cavs should be frightened by LeBron's love for the big markets

When it comes to handling himself, LeBron James is cut from the same mold as Alex Rodriguez. Every statement gets attention so every word is calculated. Every step is watched, so every movement is near-robotic. So when it seems like he might be flirting with New York through the Yankees, you can bet he is sending a message.

Nike announced it will be selling a Yankees-themed LeBron sneaker beginning in March, just in time for spring training and James’ next trip to the Garden. This marks the second time in five months that the Cavaliers’ star finds himself promoting the Bronx Bombers – in October he wore a Yankees hat during Game One of the American League Division series in Cleveland.

While the 23 year old is in the first year of a new contract, his actions suggest he has no intentions on staying in his home state for his entire career. Like ARod, James is very aware of his value and knows that a move to a bigger market will only increase his worth. Unfortunately, Cleveland just doesn’t have the same endless possibility as New York, Los Angeles or Chicago.

By openly supporting the Yankees, James probably isn’t saying he wants to be a Knick. All the money in the world probably wouldn’t be worth that torture. What he is doing is playing his hand and that could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for both the fans and management. He was very unhappy with the Cavs’ off-season, particularly the Anderson Varejao situation. If this team is trying to keep James happy, they won’t let something like that happen again.

And if Cleveland can add a point guard while keeping all its key pieces, it might just have the bargaining chip needed to keep James in town: a championship contender.

Until then, King James is going to keep flaunting himself to the big markets. In the end, as always, he’ll be in complete control.

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A father and his iFamily

For once, the saddest thing in Madison Square Garden wasn’t the Knicks’ defense. It was the family of four sitting in front of me, up in the nosebleeds, in section 405 during Monday’s loss to the Celtics.

From left to right, you had the father, a Jeff Van Gundy look-alike with mid-life crisis written all over his face, who probably woke up proud that he had spent half his paycheck so his family could watch his beloved Knicks play the best team in the NBA. Next to him was his rail thin son, equip with a new iPod mini, who had about as much interest in basketball as he did in his father. To the boy’s right sat his younger sister, the new Harry Potter book in her lap and an iPod blaring in her ear. Finally, there was the mother. Even more oblivious to Kendrick Perkins’ 22 first half points than her daughter, the forty-something woman alternated between her iPod Shuffle and a game on her cell phone for the better part of 48 minutes.

Collectively, the son, daughter and mother trio must have left their seats 15 times throughout the game, mostly to walk around or to fill up the water bottles they had snuck into the Garden.

The father attempted to stay upbeat in between glaring at his ignorant wife and groaning about the Knicks’ poor shot selection. He bought his children hot dogs and ice cream before cutting them off “for the rest of the day.” He tried to talk to his wife about the brilliant half time performance from a local high school band, but she was far more interested in getting a high Tetris score.

There were no “thank you’s,” and no “I love you’s” for this dad. No appreciation whatsoever actually. But he kept trying anyway.

And I sat there and thought about all the times I have treated my father the very same way, when I was too cool to hang out with him or too into a text message to listen to his story.

Father’s can be insanely out of touch sometimes – this one sure was. But remember this: It’s better to hang with an out of touch dad than it is to have one who doesn’t bother to keep in touch at all.

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Interview with a conspiracy theorist: HBO/NBC’s Elliott Kalb

A couple days before Christmas, a friend gave me Elliott Kalb’s new book, The 25 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All-Time: Ranking Sports' Most Notorious Fixes, Cover-Ups, and Scandals and I proceeded to read most of it in one sitting. Kalb touches on many different subjects, some obvious (Black Sox) and others (Was Super Bowl III fixed?) that might not be as well known.

Kalb is currently a writer/researcher on HBO's Inside the NFL and the Editorial Consultant for NBC's Football Night in America. You can purchase the book here.

Enjoy.

You earned the nickname "Mr. Stats" from Marv Albert. How did that come about? What role did your affinity for stats play in the book?

Marv frequently tags one of his co-workers and friends with monikers ("Czar of the Telestrator," "The Fight Doctor," etc). My affinity for stats helped me in many ways. It brought some perspective to many of these conspiracy theories. Some--like the fact that there are conspiracies to keep certain people from breaking cherished records--is based on statistics, and my background helped give context and texture to the story.

What is your favorite conspiracy theory?

I don't know if I have one favorite. I like stories, and I like truth and I like journalism. So I like a lot of these stories. I like the ones that I shed light on something that might be forgotten about. It's very easy to forget that the commissioner of baseball, the league presidents at the time, the team owners, and the media all had a hand in keeping a secret agreement to keep baseball from integrating prior to 1947.

You take MLB and the NBA to task on more recent issues (Steroids and Collusion for baseball) and (Michael Jordan's retirement and the Draft Lottery for basketball). I feel like both commissioners are sensitive guys, especially David Stern. Has anyone from either league contacted you about your theories?

I didn't break new ground in reporting these stories, and I feel that in some ways, I was too easy on the commissioners. I tried to present the conspiracy theory, and also look at the other side of the story, especially in regard to the NBA stories you talk about. Bud Selig, in particular, should have no gripe with me. He is, in my interview of him for my baseball book, is such a fan of the game--as I am. We all share culpability in regard to closing our eyes for much of the early steroids era. Fans, media, team execs, "clean" players all share responsibility.

The 1985 NBA draft lottery is a favorite chapter of mine. Too many people have talked about this for years. I loved giving the background and the plausible reasons. If you read the book, you'll see I have serious doubts if the commissioner would do anything immoral, illegal, or unethical. I'm not sure others give him quite the benefit of doubt.

The first chapter I read was the one about the controversy surrounding Michael Jordan's retirement. I was only 8 when he left the game and I really don't remember anything more than his father being murdered and him going to play baseball. At the time, what was the media's reaction to his retirement? Tell me a little bit about your research on this topic.

Everyone was stunned when Jordan retired for the first time in 1993. It is extremely rare for an athlete to go out on top, as Jordan intended to. But there was a healthy amount of skepticism. One doesn't retire to spend more time with his family---and then rush off to begin a pro baseball career that requires being on the road for long stretches of time.

Talk about where the Tim Donaghy situation might land in terms of large sports conspiracies. In your opinion, was this an isolated situation?

You not only asked a good question, you phrased it right. The answer is...I don't know, and neither does anyone else if this truly was an isolated situation. No one would know, or it could cripple the economics of the game. Time gives us perspective in these matters, and for now, let's operate on the assumption that Donaghy's situation was isolated.

What are some other theories that didn't make the book?

I only wish that I could have put Spygate into the book--but it didn't happen until the first week of September. Imagine, the Patriots get caught on Sunday, the tape is seized by the NFL, they punish the Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick by mid-week, and destroy the evidence! Wow, wow, and wow.

After reading the book, I tried to think of possible conspiracies going on right now in sports. How about Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa's role in the steroids era? Considering all the players on their teams that were named in the Mitchell Report, is it possible that they knew about what was going on in the locker rooms?

LaRussa is the great protector of Mark McGwire. He had him in Oakland, and in St. Louis. How could he not know? But LaRussa made a lot of money and won a lot of games with Big Mac. Torre and LaRussa could have suspected, and not wanted to know. But it was on their watch. Their hands aren't clean.

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Clemens' plan backfires

We didn’t need to hear Roger Clemens publicly apologize to his college coach about being unable to attend his son’s funeral. We didn’t need to hear him constantly criticize the media. And we definitely didn’t need hear him get loud and use profanity when the questions got too tough.

All we needed to hear was Brian McNamee admit to lying about injecting Clemens with steroids on the phone conversation The Rocket secretly recorded.

And it never happened.

All we learned was that McNamee is a little more pathetic than we all thought, but no less believable. In fact, he only strengthened his credibility by not telling Clemens what he wanted to hear.

The Rocket’s legal team prepped him for that conversation and he followed the script the same way he did in his interview with Mike Wallace. Meanwhile, McNamee came away looking far more authentic, distraught about what he did, but unwilling to admit that he lied

"I'm with you. I'm in your corner," McNamee said. "I don't want this to happen. But I'd also like not to go to jail."

McNamee is no Greg Anderson. He told investigators everything he knew to avoid jail time, just as you or I would do in the same situation.

By continuing to attempt to damage his former trainer’s name, Clemens is stepping into a batter’s box to face some intimidating opposition. It seems like he and his legal team are inferring that George Mitchell’s investigators pressured McNamee into giving up a big name. If so, you can expect the government to throw everything in their repertoire at the 7 time Cy Young Award winner. That might include Andy Pettitte, who isn’t likely to lie under oath.

The plan was for Clemens to clear his name today. The taped conversation was supposed absolve him from any wrongdoing. And we were all supposed to grant him his “inch of respect” and move on.

Unfortunately for Clemens, the plan backfired.

Does anyone believe Roger Clemens is telling the truth? – Sports Business News

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UConn struggles in new Big East

The thought that came to mind after watching West Virginia blow out Marquette, Villanova squeeze past Pittsburgh and Connecticut drop a heartbreaker to Notre Dame this weekend was this: The Huskies picked a bad time to be average.

Make no mistake about it, UConn is drowning in mediocrity. They’ll beat the Seton Hall’s and South Florida’s of the world, but even the middle of the pack teams in the Big East are going to present a challenge this season.

And it’s not going to get much easier.

That’s because Bob Huggins, an even scarier addition to the Big East than Louisville or Marquette, is building a powerhouse in Morgantown. Yes, West Virginia was already a quality program, but John Beilein’s system wasn’t stealing recruits away from the Huskies or Syracuse. Huggins, who is right there with Rick Pitino in terms of recruiting ability, is going to do just that.

It’s not just Huggins and Pitino that are going to win the recruiting battles either. Both Georgetown and Villanova are experiencing resurgences and with their young coaches, there is nothing that suggests these schools will fade out.

If you add Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the mix, you’ve got at least six teams who are more talented than the Huskies right now, and are set up to be as good or better in the future.

When the Big East added all those schools a few years ago, many questioned how some of the current ones would be able to compete in this super conference.

But no one ever thought Connecticut would be one of those schools.

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UConn unable to capitalize on quality season

It took only a couple of snaps to realize Terrelle Pryor was everything they said he would be – the greatest of all the top high school football players in the country that came together Saturday afternoon for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

He didn’t need to win the game’s MVP or lead his side to victory (although he did both) to make you wonder, what if.

What if NBC lined up three hats in front of this future Heisman contender and one of them happened to have a husky on it? What if Randy Edsall sold little old Storrs to Pryor the way Jim Calhoun did to Ray Allen almost 15 years ago? What if Pryor bought into building a powerful football program in New England and actually committed right there on national television?

Of course, that didn’t happen and probably never will. Connecticut will never have what Michigan, Ohio State, USC or Florida has. But, even after a very successful season, what really makes you worry is this: UConn remains about as invisible to top level recruits as its offense was against Wake Forest last weekend.

So while Pittsburgh is loading up with big time players and West Virginia remains intact and ready to contend for a National Title, the Huskies still can’t even get a look from a High School All American. The truth is that Edsall’s letters aren’t even opened by kids on this level, not even the ones from New England.

That’s why losses in three of its final four games basically destroyed all that Connecticut accomplished in its first nine. All that momentum, those three consecutive wins against Louisville, Rutgers and South Florida, now seems to mean nothing thanks to a late season plunge.

Sustainability is the issue here, and unlike the Scarlet Knights, who had a similar season in 2006, the Huskies were unable to seal the deal on any big time recruits, which gives them little chance to remain a factor in the Big East over the next few years.

What if, indeed.

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Wild Card Preview (From guys who pay attention far more than I do)

When it comes to football, I am definitely “that guy.” I have no rooting interest in any team (although I tell people that I’ve recently transitioned from Giants fan to Jaguars fan) and I pretty much only know the players that are on my fantasy team. In fact, without fantasy football, I’d probably pay no attention at all to the NFL.

With that said, I’ve linked to different blogs that will all offer much stronger incite than I could have provided about this weekend’s Wild Card games.

Washington @ Seattle
Stupid Sideline Reporters
Hail Redskins
Footblog
Redskin Report

Outside of New England and San Diego, the Skins are the hottest team in football heading into the playoffs. Although I’ve never heard of their quarterback, he seems to control the game well and he’ll be throwing to a finally healthy Santana Moss. Seattle lost once at home all season, but played one of the weakest schedules in the league. It has been over a month since they played a competitive team, so it will be interesting to see how handle the pressure.

Washington 30-24

Jacksonville @ Pittsburgh
NFL Gridiron Grab
The Heckler
Wager on Football
Hell Yes, Guy

Similar to Seattle, the Steelers weren’t very impressive in making the playoffs this season. They were 3-3 in their in their last six, including a loss at home to Jacksonville. The Jags seem to be the sexy pick here and you can’t really argue against them.

Jacksonville 26-21

New York Giants @ Tampa Bay
Bucs Stats
Yardbarker
Buc ‘Em
Giants Gab

Jon Gruden has to be one of the three best coaches in the league. In one year, Tampa has gone from awful to hosting a playoff game. It’s strange to see so many people picking against this team, but if Eli Manning can play the way he did against New England, then it will probably happen. Of course, that’s asking a lot out of the most inconsistent quarterback in the league.

Tampa Bay 20-17

Tennessee @ San Diego
Pro Football Talk
Sports Talk Buzz
Chargers Coverage
Titans Locker

The Chargers have put it together after a shaky start and look ready to make a run at the AFC Title. I can’t see how Tennessee even puts up a fight in this one, especially considering Vince Young is questionable.

San Diego 31-10

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