Turning Point

It is now halftime in the SU-Notre Dame game. The score is Notre Dame 61, Syracuse 42.

Boeheim: It's the worst defense we've ever played. Ever.

OK, I added that extra "ever." For once, Gene Waldron was right on the money with his characteristicly sweeping statement about Syracuse lacking house and you don't give up 61 points in a half at home.

So it all comes down to this. The game. The season. Everything. What are we made of? Very likely you're reading this after the game has ended, which means one of two things has happened.

1.) Syracuse doesn't come back. They are humiliated at home. We learn that this team doesn't have the heart to be great and we start thinking about next year.

2.) Syracuse comes back. The Orange do have heart and this game spring-boards their season.

So what'll it be guys?

Kobe Bryant is Hated

The only thing more shocking than Kobe being suspended tonight for an unintentional elbow of Manu Ginobili back on Sunday is the lack of uproar in his defense. There is nothing on ESPN.com except the story by Chris Sheridan reporting on Kobe asking for an immediate appeal by the commissioner. Sheridan does insert his opinion on whether the suspension is justified.

I've only seen the replay on ESPN Motion from one angle. And I don't know if anything happened before that play that might've caused Kobe to want to elbow Ginobili. But I think this is the most insane suspension I've ever seen (excluding NCAA suspensions, of course).

Kobe has no on-court track record that would warrant such strict discipline. So it's reasonable to suspect that the NBA doesn't like him.

ESPN.com has had all afternoon to post a story or two in Kobe's defense, yet no writer has. ESPN.com's reporters must not like Kobe either.

Has there ever been an athlete quite like Kobe? Everyone raves about his talent, but that's about it. He is not beloved.

Gooch deal complete: onto Newcastle

Remember what I said about Aubrey Huff and the Orioles? That the quality of team that ultimately signs him sometimes says more about that player's future than the quality of the player himself?

Yeah.

It happened with Huff and now it has happened with Gooch. Ugh. The USA's centerback of the present and the future, 24-year-old Oguchi Onyewu signed a loan deal yesterday with the Magpies, who retained a club option that could make the move permanent this summer.

That's awful news. Newcastle is the MLS on 'roids. Newcastle is where promising youngsters stall their careers and established stars go to die. I'm exceedingly disappointed. North England bodes very badly for Gooch's professional development.

I'm not sure I would prefer Belgium, but then we could have at least dreamed of What-Could-Be. What-Might-Have-Been is so much more depressing.

Super Bowl (of Fantasy Sports)

I think the Bears miss Tommie Harris more than anybody realizes. I love Freeney and Marvin, and I like Manning, but Cedric Benson is a force to be reckoned with. If he starts rolling, Indy could be in trouble. He won't, of course, and Indy'll be fine: Colts win, 20-17.

I'm much more distracted by Spring Training talk, though, than I am by the approaching Super Bowl. I can hardly wait.

Three players I'm excited for:
1. People are going nuts about Gary Sheffield, who now plays for Detroit. He's pissed at the Yanks, and that bodes well for his 2007, people say. Rock.
2. King Felix (Hernandez) dropped 20 pounds over the offseason. One Seattle baseball writer wrote a story about how, at Felix's first press conference of the year, the writer did not recognize Felix when Felix walked on the stage. Felix has lost his baby fat, the dude wrote. Brilliant.
3. I freaking love David Wright. Yes.
4. Finally, I'm excited about Seattle's second baseman, mostly for a nickname I'd love to see catch on. I'm so sick of these First-Initial-of-the-First-Name First-Few-Letters-of-Last-Name things: ARod, JLo, KMat, etc. But, in Jose Lopez, we have a nickname that might be ridiculous enough to kill the pattern: Jose Lopez, Seattle's second baseman, should go by Jo.Lo. (Pronounced, of course, "Ho Low"). Nice!

Running Diary: SU Basketball

Well, all my moaning finally paid off. Liz decided to get the North American Sports Network for her TV package just in time for me to watch the Syracuse-Louisville basketball game. It's 8:30 on a Sunday, and I'm awake waiting for the game to start. Alas, the Penguins-Stars hockey game has to finish first, and they just went into overtime. I hope they don't cut the front end off the basketball game, which is being tape-delayed anyway.

8:40 - Shootout in the hockey game. I'm mildly curious to see Sidney Crosby's opportunity.

8:43 - Crosby just got stoned by Pierre Turgeon. Bingo was his Lame-O. Penguins eventually win anyway.

8:46 - Boeheim's 1000th game. He's the 22nd coach to reach that mark, but only the 7th to do it all with one team.

8:47 - Calling the game for ESPN is Dave Pasch and Len Elmore. Pasch is notable for being an SU grad and a member of the same fraternity I was in just around the time it got kicked off campus in the early nineties.

18:00 - Switching to game time now. It just makes more sense. SU jumps out to a 6-0 lead. We look bigger and more athletic than Louisville. That's usually true for us. We just can't put it together.

14:33 - Pasch just reported that Elmore's favorite X-Games athlete is Shaun White.

12:17 - Syracuse is controlling the game nicely with a 13-8 lead. But you get the feeling neither team has hit its stride yet. The Orange just picked up their 6th team foul. Mildly worrying.

9:15 - Louisville just took the lead after back to back threes from a Cornell transfer. Whaaa? Cornell's never beaten the Orange, so they're sending their best players to teams that have a chance, apparently.

8:25 - Paul Harris just pulled down two monster rebounds in the row, but Watkins blows a close one on the other end. You know what they say, "live by Roberts-Watkins, die by Roberts-Watkins."

5:41 - Paul Harris picks up his third foul. We won't see him for a while. We won't miss him on offense.

3:45 - Pasch notes that the game is higher scoring than anticipated, as a Louisville bucket is followed by a Roberts slam to make the game 32-28 Syracuse.

3:19 - Gotta love the 15 seconds of commercials on NASN's tape-delayed games. A quick promo for an encore presentation of the Fiesta bowl (might watch that) and we're back to the action.

3:00 - Louisville staying in the game with their 3-point shooting. 34-31 SU. If the game was in the dome, I'd be smelling tacos.

1:20 - It's 38-33, but it could be 48-33 if the Orange made all their lay-ups (most of which could have been dunks).

:56 - I missed the commentary and only saw a picture of a Cardinal with some stats next to him, a heading that said "missing Cardinal," and a caption under the picture that said "Caracter." Did ESPN mis-spell "character" or does Louisville have a guy named "Character" who is suspended? Either way, that's hilarious.

HALF - 42-38 Syracuse. I've never been less impressed by a 40+ first half effort. OK, OK...I'll admit it. I went to suathletics.com because I wanted to find a cool old picture of Boeheim I had seen before and I accidentally saw that SU had lost. But still, the defense is not there, and as well as the offense is executing, Roberts-Watkins aren't dominating as much as they should be.

Happier news...if the season ended today, UConn wouldn't make the Big East tournament. I really hope they don't, and that UConn goes on to have the type of down season Boeheim never has. I also hope that Jim Calhoun is coaching a game and a stolen laptop falls out of his suit jacket, and Calhoun looks around sheepishly before sprinting off the court, never to be seen again.

Texas A&M is ranked 6th in the nation. I feel like their success makes the Syracuse upset-defeat in the NCAAs a little less of an upset. The Aggies were underrated last year, clearly.

20:00 - Here we go. I know we lose. But I hope our scoring remains strong, and I'd like to see our defense tighten a little.

18:30 - It's good to see Rautins make a 3 every game, just to keep alive the hope that he can somewhere down the road provide one of those "token white shooter gets hot and leads team to important victory" games. 47-43 Syracuse.

16:31 - Haven't really seen a lot of Nichols tonight. That's probably a good thing, since it means the Orange are finding their points from a lot of different guys. The only problem is Nichols' scoring has dipped in Big East play to 16 per game. But that's not a huge problem yet. As long as his confidence remains strong, he'll be fine in March.

14:49 - The Final Four is in Atlanta this year. And I have one month off from school at that time. Chris? You in for our usual "If Syracuse makes the Final Four, we're going" pact?

ESPN rolls a quick 2003 National Championship highlight reel, freezing on Hak's block as Pasch reads, "...Carmelo Anthony, Gerry McNamara, and Hakim Warrick's block..." The longevity of the Hak Block is finally giving that play the historical importance it deserves. And how great does that roster look, in retrospect? Melo is turning into an all-time great, as expected. Hak was briefly the leading scorer for the Grizzlies this year. Gerry is one of the greatest college players of all time. Everyone who watched college basketball that year loved Josh Pace. And Billy Edelin is...um...geheyeheyeheyehey! (grabbing collar)

13:11 - 61-49 Orange. Crap, this is going to be a painful loss. On the other end, Louisville ends a 4 minute FG drought to cut it to 10.

12:16 - The one redeeming factor about the underachieving Roberts-Watkins duo over the past four years is that you can't really fault their attitudes. Roberts hustles like a maniac, and his biggest improvement has been harnessing his boundless energy. Watkins' face suggests apathy, but his head is in the game. He's improved a lot, just not into the star that his body suggested he might become.

On a related note, I think I can imagine both of these guys squeezing on to an NBA roster somewhere down the road, even if they aren't drafted. And one or both could even have a productive pro career. I can't shake their potential.

10:08 - In golf, I'm excited to see Andrew Buckle tied for the lead at the Buick Invitational. He was one of my cheap buys in the 2007 golf pool. I'll do a post on that one of these days.

9:40 - As the lead grows, the impending collapse heightens the dread. 65-51 Syracuse. Maybe I mis-read suathletics.com.

9:02 - Fourth personal foul on Watkins reminds me that Paul Harris has been absent for the last 16 minutes. My prediction that we wouldn't see him for a while has proven to be a brilliant one. I am the lord of college basketball knowledge. Bow down before my wisdom.

8:04 - I just realized that I now have a go-to channel in this barren wasteland of entertainment. Thanks Liz!!

7:42 - Paul Harris back on the court. Good time to see him with the lead at 11 and the clock under eight. This is where the Orange should hold off one final run from the Cardinals.

6:47 - Harris gives up a rebound off a fast break that leads to a quick put-back by a player right in front of him. In his defense, he had two different players to box out. 66-59 Orange. Here it comes.

6:01 - Harris makes a strong rebound after a couple Louisville but falls out of bounds. Elmore notes that the breaks are going Louisville's way right now. 66-61 Orange, and the crowd is in it.

5:45 - Devendorf throws away an inbounds play. Syracuse has 14 points in the second half. Normally the Orange is a second half team. Strange game. 0 FG in the last four minutes plus.

4:37 - Three from Smith makes it 66-64.

4:17 - Roberts hits two free throws. He seems to make more free throws late in the game.

4:00 - Louisville hits a jumper then Devendorf throws it away. His concentration is maddening. He's a year and a half into his career. You can't blame inexperience anymore. He's got a ton of energy. Sometimes it gives him an edge. Sometimes it kills him.

3:44 - With the lead down to one Wright comes out to run the point.

2:55 - Great pass from Devendorf finds Watkins on the baseline, who gets body slammed. Mookie hits 1 of 2 to make it 69-67.

2:30 - Louisville takes the lead off an offensive rebound and a three. SU misses on the other end. That could be it right there.

1:45 - I think it is. Cardinals put in another three from straight on. This is what happens when you stop making baskets. 20-3 run by Louisville, and none of those 3 were FGs. It's like Syracuse used up all their baskets in that crazy first half.

1:11 - Nichols misses a three that he has to make. Good look from straight on. He has to make those at this point in the game.

:51 - Wright almost gets a turnover. Ball didn't bounce Syracuse's way down the stretch.

:25 - Denny Crum is in the building! It looks like he's standing in the concourse, ready to beat the traffic home.

:15 - Devo misses a wide open three from the corner. I can't believe Syracuse isn't going to get to Taco Time, even though they're not playing in the dome anyway, and I'm not even on a continent that has Taco Bell.

:06 - Devendorf finally makes a bucket to end about a ten minute field goal drought. Unbelievable.

ESPN shows a Big East graphic. SU will drop to 4-3 in the Big East. The Notre Dame game coming up is going to be important. Can't lose three straight. Luckily SU owns Notre Dame.

FINAL - 76-71. Ugh. Have to make baskets. I'm actually glad I saw the result going in, because watching that loss without knowing it was coming would have ruined my day.

Gooch's final game?

A peculiar confidence shown over at yanks-abroad.com, the Internet's best site for soccer fans interested in following the progress of Americans playing outside the MLS.

"Standard Liège face off in a Friday night special against fellow Walloonians Charleroi, a game that may at last mark the final appearance of Oguchi Onyewu.

With less than a week before the winter transfer window slams shut for the rest of the season, Onyewu is expected to take up his central defensive role one last time in this fierce derby to be held in the Belgian city known as 'Little Chicago'." (see link)

I wonder what they know?

For the record, I love Gooch's nasty streak, and would love to see that at Chelsea.

Lawrence Moten

Moten, a member of SU's All-Century Team, and the leading scorer in SU and Big East history, has returned to Syracuse University. Awesome.

SYRACUSE, NY -- Syracuse basketball great Lawrence Moten has returned to his alma mater to further his education and assist the Orange. Moten has returned to school to finish his degree requirements and will be working with the men’s basketball program providing administrative and operational support to the coaches and staff and working with the student-athletes on personal development matters. (SUathletics.com).

Even though I've never seen Moten play, he occupies a special place in my heart. I've been trying to keep my Sports Sauna posts shorter, and less boring, but allow me this indulgence: Lawrence Moten played a central role in one of the two greatest sports radio moments I've ever heard. It is difficult for me to separate "great" from "memorable," but this moment was both: Seattle sports radio host Mitch Levy, a SU grad who now has one of the city's most listened to shows, was miserable after Moten and Syracuse got bounced out of the 1995 NCAA tourney. Moten, of course, had called a Chris Webber-style timeout which cost the Orange the game. Levy opened his segment on the loss brilliantly: "Lawrence," he said. He paused. "Moten." Levy paused again. "Lawrence," he said. He paused. "Moten." Over and over, Levy said Moten's name. I don't know how many times he said it. It felt like 50. It could have been only 10. Whatever. As a listener, you couldn't wait for him to be finished. Not because you were bored, but because you were insanely curious what he had to say about Moten's error. Levy turned a dumb-mistake into gripping radio. Lawrence. Moten. Ugh. (I don't particularily recall Levy's post "Lawrence. Moten." analysis. He was bummed).

The second broadcast moment, if you care, was less a "moment" than an "epic performance." 1999 NLCS, Game 5, NYMets and Atlanta Braves. I wasn't a fan of either team, but Charlie Steiner's amazing commentary turned me into a baseball fan for life. The game was legendary — NY Mets who were facing a second elimination game after the Braves had taken a 3-0 series lead, went down a run in the top of the 15th inning, before they scored two in the bottom of the 15th to win — but the announcing was fan-making music. ...If you know what I mean.

Gerry update

It seems worthwhile to check up on Gerry McNamara, who is starting for the Bakersfield (Calif.) Jam of the NBDL. His game log is here.

Gerry is 6th in the NBDL in assists per game, which is solid, and third in FT percentage (94.4 percent), but he's struggling with turnovers and his 3FG percentage is atrocious — 29.5 percent. Also, he's been fouling an awful lot. He fouled out of three of his first six games.

His most recent game was a debacle (8 pts, 5 TOs, 4 assists), but he's had some stellar efforts, including Jan. 17, when he went for 20 points, 7 assists and had 5 steals. Also: Jan. 7, 29 points, 7 assists. Gerry!

NFL Championship Picks

Chances are slim to nil that I'll actually get to watch the Colts-Patriots game tonight. I'm very bummed about that. I'd pay to watch it online. Someone should start a company based on that concept...

Just clicked on the ESPN.com NFL Expert Picks and was shocked to find all eight guys picking the Saints to beat the Bears. Only ESPN's computer had the guts to go with the home team. And The Sports Guy's column yesterday says that on the gambling sites he looked at the Saints were getting 68-75% of the betting action. Granted, I've never seen Tyrannosaurus Rex Grossman in action, but this seems like a clear case of popularity and sentiment winning out over the truth. Whenever you're aware of this happening, it's always best to go the other way. My dad's college buddy, Steve, calls it "winning ugly." So I'm picking the Bears, 16-14.

As for the Game of the Year of the Month, this is a tricky one. Recent results suggest the Colts have finally figured out how to beat the Patriots. But those recent results haven't come in as big a game as this. I believe the Defensive Druid will come up with the right game plan to slow down the Indy offense and keep the game close. Then somehow, Brady will find a way to win. Ignoring the nagging sense that Vinateri might be the deciding factor, I'm going Patriots, 21-20.

Syracuse v. Cincinatti: Box Score

Wow. Barely won that one, eh? 77-76, final score. From 19-point blowout to 1-point squeaker. Ugly stuff. T.Rob (who dominated early, see link) and Watkins had an awful second half — two FG attempts, 1 point — and SU almost dropped the ball. Well. A win is a win. I'm a broken record, but we need our bigs to play well. Clearly.

Box score:
1. Wright: 31 min, 8 pts, 7 assists, 5 TOs, 0 steals.
2. Devendorf: 36 min, 17 pts, 8 assists, 3 TOs, 7-8 FT, 4 fouls.
3. Roberts: 34 min. 17 pts, 10 boards, 3 fouls.
4. Nichols: 36 min, 22 points, 5 boards, 7-12 FG.
5. Watkins: 29 min, 0 pts, 10 boards, 8 blocks, 3 fouls, 3 TOs.

Awful line from Wright. 5 TOs against 0 steals doesn't work. You'd need 15 assists to make that line look reasonable. Four fouls from Devendorf scares me as he's prone to trouble there, but otherwise a great game. Roberts's line looks great, but he cannot disappear like that. Ditto Watkins. 8 blocks against 3 fouls? Awesome, if not for the second half collapse. Nichols just scores. Keep it up, buddy. Finally, team stats: Cinci put up 77 shots. Syracuse put up 49. Wow. SU turned it over 21 times, Cinci 8.

I cannot believe we won. Box scores, clearly, don't tell the whole story.

Diary of a (*knocking on wood*) blow out:

Here are the text updates Annie has sent me regarding the Syracuse-Cincinnati game that is happening right now. (I'm ostensibly working — in truth, I have been remarkably productive today).

4:10 p.m.: SU twelve, Bears four.
4:14 p.m.: SU sixteen, Bears seven. Three dunks for Roberts.
4:20 p.m.: SU twenty, Bears nine. Four dunks for Roberts.
4:23 p.m.: SU twenty three, Bears eleven. Six dunks for Roberts.
4:27 p.m.: SU twenty eight, Bears eleven. A three for Gorman.

A rout! I'm giddy! T.Rob!

Beckham's contract, Gooch at Chelsea?

First, and importantly, this SI article by Grant Wahl essentially confirms that Beckham has become a co-owner with the LA Galaxy. He will earn 40- to 50-percent of all Galaxy jersey sales for the life of his contract, and will share an undisclosed percentage of ticket revenues.

Wow. (Pause). Wow.

The owner of the LA Galaxy is responsible for $48M of Beckham's contract, and the MLS is responsible for $2M. I suppose that is good news. The MLS always feels shaky to me, but the Galaxy owner has $7.6B. He can afford a $48M gamble. Or even a $250M gamble, if that figure represents lost revenue.

Interesting second-hand quote from the Galaxy owner on Beckham's signing: "This is a good idea. We need to do this for the league, because if we're ever going to expand our rating and our audience and get credibility in our country we're going to need a star to break through." So, a gamble. An interesting one, too.

Finally, Gooch: From the Gaurdian: "Indeed, although (Chelsea) have tried to placate their manager with the promise of at least one signing - likely to be either of the defenders Tal Ben Haim or Oguchi Onyewu - the board's decision to defer serious discussion of the issue to the summer suggests Mourinho's power is waning."

The British press are ridiculously unreliable — a damn laughingstock they are — but I'm somehow willing to pass this nugget along. As if I needed another reason to root Blue!

Devendorf: Eligible?

This today from Mike Waters at the Post-Standard about the rumored ineligiblity of Eric Devendorf: "I've been told by three sources that Devendorf is eligible and will play tonight against Cincinnati and for the rest of the semester."

We could certainly use him.

Syracuse v. Villanova: Box Score Summary

We beat Villanova last weekend, but we could have beaten any team in the country. I watched that game in utter amazement, as T.Rob and (Democrats for) Darryl dominated inside. Sumpter posted good numbers, but was never the force that our front line was. Awesome. Nichols dropped 21 points in the first half, but had only 2 points in the second, as Villanova focused their defense on him, and Syracuse made them pay.

Box Score:
1. Nichols: 40 min, 23 points, 5-6 3FG.
2. Roberts: 34 min, 17 points, 14 boards, 3 fouls, 3 assists, 5-5 FT.
3. Watkins: 30 min, 2 fouls, 3 blocks, 1 steal.
4. Villanova Team: 36.1% FG, 27 rebounds (vs. Syr's 37), 21 fouls.
5. Paul Harris: 17 min, 0-0 FG, 2 TOs, 3 boards, 1 assist.

Incredible game. Wright didn't look good (5 TOs, 3 assists), but a lot of that was showboating and stupidity. Harris looked like an overmatched freshman. I'm not sure what Rautins brings to the table, but he's long and he waves his arms wildly. A white Duany, perhaps? Loads of improvement from the seniors, though, and especially from the front line. If those guys play like they did Saturday, we are a very dangerous team. Very!

Ding Dong! The witch is dead!

UConn's men's basketball team isn't ranked in this week's USA/Coaches Poll, the first time that has happened in 69 weeks.

What a weird (academic) year.

During the football season, Miami was bounced from a poll for the first time in ages.

I love it. These are our rivals struggling after years of dominating Syracuse. Too bad we're also sucking it up.

London Gets NFL Game

London is going to host an NFL regular season game next season. It'll be in the brand new Wembley Stadium, a site I pass twice a day on my way to and from Liz's flat. You can see an artist's rendering of the stadium on that link, which really isn't far off. The arch is massive, and when it's lit up, its quite a sight for miles around at night. In the day, it's nearly as impressive. There really isn't anything close to its height nearby, and the land is flat, so you can see it from pretty far away. If I could pick anything to do in England, it'd be see a soccer game at Wembley. Second choice would be see an NFL game there.

Druid's Aura

So I turned on the ESPN GameCast when the Pats-Chargers game was late in the third quarter, just in time to catch the Patriots kicking a field goal to make the game 14-13.

GameCast is the best I can do to follow the action here in this self-imposed exile to the island of professional darts. Seriously, darts are a spectator sport for the English. I caught some the other day. It was kind of like one of those weird dreams where you know you're dreaming so you can laugh at the stuff that's happening with a conscious detachment even though it just keeps going. It was a one-on-one dart match. It started with the two darters (dartsmen? throwers?) coming into the arena to their own entrance music as the crowd went wild. One guy who was known as the vampire or something came in wearing a cape. The other guy, Wolfie, didn't have anything except a crazy shirt on with Wolfie written all over it. I guess the closest thing I can compare their shirts to are bowling shirts: button up, funny colors and designs, ads all over them. The stage was really colorful and fancy too, all for just one dartboard. The stage announcer was really into it, and the higher they'd score each turn, the more pizzazz he'd put into announcing the score. The crowd was REALLY into it. To make things even more ridiculous, Wolfie absolutely dominated the vampire. It was a slaughter. So the vampire guy started getting all upset with himself, and once, after his first two darts were way off, he just kind of flung his third dart without even trying and didn't even look to see where it went. I've never seen such emotion in darts. This is the world I live in now.

But I digress. I came here to talk about the Patriots. I don't like them. I root against them every year. But I respect them. I love Tomlinson though, and when I saw the game he was having, I was very hopeful. When the Chargers jumped back to an eight point lead, I thought they were going to pull it off.

In the middle of the game-tying drive, around the seven minute mark, the GameCast stopped for a few minutes. It then that the San Diego interception and fumble back to the Patriots occurred. I didn't realize until later what had ensued. But when the GameCast did pick back up, the drive moved really fast. Before I knew it, the Patriots had punched it in to the endzone. Part of me thought that even if they tied it, they had left too much time for the Chargers to come back in score. But the wiser part of me knew that the opposite was true. The Patriots were going to win the game.

The Defensive Druid, as I like to call Belichick because of his old habit of wearing a hoodie with the hood up during games, is the greatest football coach I've seen in my lifetime. He's made Tom Brady into a hall of famer. He's overcome year after year of personnel change and injuries to keep New England in the top tier of the NFL. And this year, he's taken an offense with zero weapons to the AFC Championship game.

New England has an aura about it that I haven't seen in a franchise since the Chicago Bulls broke up. Everyone in their gut expects them to win. Of course San Diego was the better team on paper. New England just expected to win. And the key to their aura is, probably a lot of the Chargers did too, though they'd never admit it, even to themselves.

I really want to see the AFC Championship next week, if only for the same reason people watch car wrecks. I see it going one of two ways, both involving the Colts jumping out to a fast start. Their lead could last a while and New England could win it late. Or the wheels could fall off by halftime and the Colts could be blown out of the water with Manning throwing fourth quarter passes without even watching how they end up, like that dartsman I saw on TVu. Of course, I'm rooting for poor Peyton to make a Super Bowl. But something tells me it's not going to happen.

Beckham, continued:

So, $200M over five years for non-performance based pay, MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis said. Can we call Becks what he is, then, Mr. Gazidis? A league co-owner? Perhaps the most invested individual in the entire MLS? (I have no data to back that up). I still think the move is whack.

I think Beckham is a good player — his performance on set pieces is world-class, and his ability to make dangerous offensive crosses from the 50-yard line is unquestioned. I disagree that he was England's best player in the WC, but whatever... (Aaron Lennon, who played as a Beckham replacement, was much more dangerous).

I think we agree on this fundamental point: The Beckham move is a gamble. The league is tired of slow progress, and wants to make a major splash. The MLS of on the tip of every tongue today. In the future, Beckham's presence allows other European stars to move to America. Beckham's presence will mean increased international attention for the MLS.

Why gamble now, though?

The league is progressing nicely, isn't it? It is developing decent players like Clint Dempsey, it has a certain internal star-power with Freddie Adu, and it has not embarrased itself in any of the friendlies it has played. American soccer hasn't been groundbreaking, and some commentators are saying Mexico is poised to overtake us once more, but we've looked solid, and gained some respect.

So, why gamble like this? What is to be gained? Why put so much on the line? We are in no position to compete with Europe now or even in the reasonably near future.

I'll say this in defense of the move: Even though I'm scared of such a large gamble, and I generally think it is unnecessary, if the MLS has to gamble, this is near perfect for the following reasons:
1. Beckham is perfect — speaks English, instantly recognizable, still reasonably talented.
2. The NHL is down — if ever the networks were looking for more sports, now seems to be the time.
3. The MLS has the infrastructure to capitalize: Many teams have built soccer specific stadiums.

So, anyway, I'm not a fan. I think it's risky behavior from a league that doesn't need to take risks.

Counterpoint: Beckham Signing is Good

$250 million total. $50 million a year. $1.3 million a week. Yes, it's a huge number, no matter how you slice it. Enormous. Inconceivable.

But I cling to a belief that L.A. must know what it is doing. Most of that money is not for Beckham to play soccer. In fact, Reuters reports that he's only getting $50 million for five years just for the soccer part. The rest of the deal is apparently being financed by Beckham's worldwide endorsements, who see his potential in bursting into the American market.

L.A. and MLS are gettting marketing power. Beckham is not the greatest player ever to play soccer. He probably was never the greatest player in the world during his career. He is one of the greatest free kick specialists and a brilliant passer and crosser. He is the most famous soccer player ever, which probably makes him the most recognizable athlete in world history.

This is all about marketing. It's already working. Right now there are 1,503 "related articles" to this story on news.google.com. It will be front page news in every paper in London tomorrow.

MLS has moved up in prestige with one single swoop. This immediately opens the door to other late-20s, early-30s Internationals to come play the game in America.

Beckham is 31. He isn't just another late-30s European coming over to postpone retirement. Beckham was the best player for England at the most recent World Cup. That was less than a year ago. He has been injured once since then, but he's returned from that injury. Unlike any other aging European import, Beckham will be the best player on the field.

The MLS will not be ruined. LA Galaxy will get its games on more televisions worldwide. Ticket sales will increase for Beckham's games. LA Galaxy gear will be purchased around the world.

A couple key notes about the current MLS structure. The Designated Player Rule, known as the Beckham Rule long before this day, allows each team to sign one player without their contract counting towards the $1.9 million salary cap. The MLS is gradually phasing out of its single-entity ownership structure. (Red Bull paid $100 million for the MetroStars.) I suspect the entire league will somehow pitch in for the Beckham fee though, since the entire league is benefiting. But the Designated Player Rule will prevent a NASL-like demise.

So yeah, I'm giving it a thumbs up.

Beckham

I am not a fan of Beckham's announced move to the MLS. He'll get a $250M contract for 5 years when he arrives this summer, the British press are reporting.

That's crazy.

The Washington Post -- which has the best soccer coverage in America -- published the salaries of every MLS player for the 2006 season. That list is here. Not counting Beckham, the league's highest paid player (Chivas's Mexican star Juan Francisco Palencia) makes $1.35M. The second highest paid player is Landon Donovan, who makes $900k. The Los Angeles Galaxy, Beckham's new team, had four players making $16,500 or less -- right about the federal poverty line. Beckham, by himself, will make more than any other team in 2007.

That's crazy.

Even ARod's legendary contract, the pinnacle of American professional sports greed, is $250M for 10 years. Beckham will make double that, if the reports are true. His contract will crush the league.

Insane.

I hope the size of the contract is incorrect, or the Galaxy have backloaded the contract so significantly that Beckham won't see all of the money, because I have no sense of how American soccer could sustain a pay structure like that.

Anyway. It's a good PR move -- for the next 48-hours at least. Bask in your glory, MLS. The regret will arrive soon.

2007 NFL Draft: Looming Debacle

Is there anybody in college football that anybody is excited to see next year in the NFL? Outside of Calvin Johnson, maybe? The top three QBs in the draft are all awful.

I suppose I rank them like this:
1. Demarcus Russell, LSU
2. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame
3. Troy Smith, Ohio State

Also, I think it's entirely possible that the best RB in the draft, Louisville's Michael Bush, didn't play one down this year. Unless Oklahoma's RB comes out, there's nobody else I can even think of. I didn't watch a ton of college football this year, but I watched enough to know that this draft class is putrid.

(Finally, I think it's time for me to gloat over Paul about Vince Young. VY, baby! 6'5"!)

State of the Union, Part Deux

I could have easily titled this post, “The Perils of Playing With McNamara — Revisited” because, really, that’s the issue. Obviously. Gerry has been The Man and now he's gone. But if you only talked about his departure, you'd be missing the second part of the story.

I watched us lose to Wichita State (#26 this week), Oklahoma State (#12) and Pittsburgh (#10) and in all three losses we’ve been competitive down the stretch. We haven't lost ugly all year. In each of the three losses I've seen, Gerry's leadership might have been enough to put us over the top. Alas. Without him, I don’t think we held the lead in the final two minutes in any of those three games. Brutal. For a team with three senior starters, we play incredibly young.

That’s to Gerry’s credit, but it is also Gerry’s fault. His teammates never developed.

I like Demitris’s game more now than I did three weeks ago. He has a wicked shot that cannot be stopped when it is falling. But it is increasingly obvious that he has no sense — zero! — of when to shoot. It’s ridiculous. He’ll put anything up and from anywhere. Down the stretch against Pittsburgh, an offensive rebound bounced out to Nichols at the free throw line. Instead of passing to a relatively open Pace or Devendorf, who can both shoot, or resetting, Nichols whirled around, lost control, heaved himself just outside of the three point line, and offered up a shot that was positively Steve Keller-ian in its absurdity. Unbelievable. (He missed). I groaned.

The fact of the matter is that Demitris is out of his element. I think he’ll get better and smarter in the two months of Big East play, but he’s like a child who has wandered into the middle of a movie.

Of course it isn’t all about Nichols. Terrance and Watkins have had similar growth problems. And, as anybody reading this blog knows, I think they are the key to our season.

I think we’ll make the tournament regardless. Boeheim himself gets us that much. I think a Nichols led team could win a game or two in March, but couldn’t knock off any top-flight power. We’ll need the big boys for that.

Here’s hoping.

Uncharacteristic Pessimism for the Orange

We are not good.

OK. So I've only watched one SU game all year, and that was the St. Bonaventure game, and I was sitting where the student section would have sat if school had been in session (right behind the basket - not a great angle for the action). But we looked terrible against a bad team. And we haven't beaten any of the good teams we've played.

The explanation is simple. In basketball you need at least one The Man. You can have more than one The Man, especially in college, when The Mans don't have as big an ego. But you need at least one to be really good. Right now, we don't have one.

Our closest contender is Dmitris Nichols. Paul Harris was right. Chris was wrong. Nichols is our best player right now. This is good for Nichols, because up until the Pitt game last night, his confidence was translating into much better play. But it's bad for Syracuse, because Nichols isn't great. He's good. But at best (and he is giving us his best right now), he's a poor man's Preston Shumpert.

Devendorf could be The Man, but he's not even starting. He's still got a lot to learn about leading the team.

Paul Harris will be The Man, but I didn't see any sign of that against St. Bonaventure, a team he should have decimated.

Mookie Watkins won't be The Man, but he will give us the best season from any center since Etan Thomas. Which is saying more than any of you think, because you all underappreciate Craig Forth's contribution to the National Championship.

Terrance Roberts may be The Man, but the only reason I haven't given up hope is he was injured against the Bonnies so I didn't get to see him play and thus the jury is still out.

Josh Wright is a good little point guard, but not The Man.

Andy Rautins is starting!

Matt Gorman started against the Bonnies and didn't play against Pitt.

So you see, we're in trouble. We stink right now and I don't think this is a tournament team. Still, there are a couple reasons to hope. You didn't think I was going to write a post without hope for the Orange did you?

We can hope that Boeheim and the zone get us our usual 20 wins. And 20 wins in the Big East should get us into the tourney.

We can hope that Paul Harris plays better against better teams. Freshman always take a while to get going. I'd be surprised if he didn't improve.

We can hope that Devendorf also improves. The next time he bricks a three with 20 seconds on the shot clock, repeat the following to yourself: "He's only a Sophomore. He's only a Sophomore." Who knows? Maybe that will be the last time he'll take that shot. Or maybe that will be the last time he'll miss that shot!

We can hope that Roberts/Watkins average 30-20 in conference play, like they should.

We can hope we're the second half Big East team this year that always appears.

So, Dempsey and Gooch to Fulham?

Dempsey ($4M) and Gooch ($2M) to Fulham? Are we serious? Where Bocanegra and McBride already are? Holy schnikees. What are American soccer fans supposed to do? Root like crazy for the Cottagers?

I guess I now have a second favorite team. (Reading, because of Bobby Convey). A third favorite team, then.

Huff signs with O's

I haven't gotten a grip on how this works exactly, but sometimes it is hard to tell if a player is destined for greatness or doomed to failure until he signs with a team.

Aubrey Huff is a classic example: He's always threatened to be good, and it always seems like he's just on the cusp, but when I read today that he signed with Baltimore, I realized he never would be a great player.

You might have read it elsewhere first, but you're reading it here for sure: Huff has peaked. The O's will regret that signing.

Chris

Boise State Wins Fiesta Bowl

Caught the end of the Fiesta Bowl, and by end I mean the last 37 points of the ballgame. Here's a blow by blow recap of one of the greatest finishes you could ever imagine.

1) I turn on the TV after hearing that Boise State is winning, eager to see the boys from the blue turf get their biggest win ever. Boise State proceeds to play like a small program, giving up 15 points in 3 and a half minutes, capped off by one of the worst interceptions you'll ever see.
2) Boise State has panicked it's way to a loss...until a hook and ladder on 4th and 18 with 7 seconds left leads to a TD and sends the game to OT.
3) The Boise State defense is officially MIA. Adrian Peterson runs for a TD on the first play of OT to put OK up by 7.
4.) Flying by the seat of their pants, Boise State opens up their playbook throwing trick play after trick play as they work their way towards the endzone. They score a TD on a play where the QB spread out to the left, a WR converted from QB takes the snap, runs right, then throws to the right corner for the TD.
5.) 2 OT? No! Boise State will go for 2 and the win. They run ANOTHER trick play. Three WRs to the right, none to the left. OK has seen the film. It's a flood right. The QB throws...no, it's a pump fake with a behind the back hand off to the running back, who goes in to the left side of the endzone untouched. Boise State wins!

It's a victory for the small schools and for proponents of a playoff. Go Broncos!