Finding 2011

Image via WikipediaAs we look back on the past year, we found that . . .

• getting fired from a top-rated sitcom because of your wild and crazy antics involving drugs and women isn't exactly "winning!".  His replacement is finding that out, too.
• winning a few football games at the last minute doesn't mean you're the Second Coming of anything.
• covering up for someone who's been accused of child molestation can be hazardous to your career.  Even if you're an "untouchable" legendary football coach.
• with all the singing talent shows on TV, there's "American Idol", and then there's everybody else.
• daytime TV is adjusting to life without Regis Philbin, Oprah Winfrey and "All My Children".
• superstar-laden basketball teams do not win NBA titles.
• Joe Mauer is not who we thought he was.
• the Twins and Vikings could fall so far, so fast.
• the Timberwolves are already there.
• the Wild briefly righted the ship before going on a long losing streak.
• the Vikings are closer to a new stadium than ever before, and yet are so far.
• we don't hear so much from Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco any more.
• major college conferences keep adding and subtracting while chasing those TV dollars.
• the Kardashian family's view of reality is a bit skewed.
• getting knocked senseless during a game is no longer a minor issue.
• the novelty has worn off at TCF Bank Stadium and at Target Field.
• when you name a TV channel after Oprah Winfrey, viewers expect to see more Oprah.  Not some lame reality show, or an old movie.
• Amy Winehouse moved into the ultimate rehab facility.
• war is not a video game.
• Tiger Woods no longer plays golf like he used to.
• the NBA and NFL nearly locked themselves out of business.
• Adele is this year's Queen of Pop, rolling in her misery for our entertainment.
• Who is Whitney Cummings, and why does she have two network sitcoms?
• "Beavis & Butt-head" is back on TV, and they haven't changed a bit.  OK, maybe the music videos have been replaced by "Jersey Shore" clips.  But still . . .
• Hope Solo and Abby Wambach become household names to folks other than soccer nerds.
• Lance Armstrong's feats may be made of clay.

Now let's go find 2012.

NBA 2011-12: The Rich Get Richer

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe National Basketball Association, fresh off a lockout of its players that nearly canceled the season, returns Christmas Day with a 66-game schedule.  That means, in order to get to the playoffs in late April, teams must now play three games in a row several times during the season.  It's great for hoops junkies, but not so much for teams with aging legs who might not be able to take the grind.

One of the things the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was supposed to fix was the migration of star players from small market teams to bigger cities and warmer climates.  It hasn't happened yet.  Chris Paul is the most notable example.  He was supposed to go in a trade from the New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Lakers, but NBA commissioner David Stern--whose league owns the Hornets after the previous owner turned in the keys--vetoed the deal, presumably for the good of the sport.  Eventually, Paul did go to L.A.--the Clippers, not the Lakers--leaving Kobe Bryant a bit upset.  Let's just say this was not Stern's finest moment.

The Lakers did send Lamar Odom to the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, which means wife Khloe Kardashian will have to make a few visits to Yee Haw, Texas.  Sister Kim's soon-to-be-ex Kris Humphries is still playing for the New Jersey Nets, and is apparently not well-liked by the rest of the league.  Ron Artest competed on "Dancing With The Stars", and has changed his name to Metta World Peace.  And Dwight Howard, who had been making noises about leaving Orlando, will play at least one more season for the Magic--unless he's traded by the time you see this.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, struggling to remain relevant after putting up the NBA's second-worst record last season, decided to make a few changes.  They said goodbye to coach Kurt Rambis (who landed in that ex-coaches rehab facility known as ESPN), and hello to Rick Adelman, who has had winning records with the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings.  They have added top draft pick Derrick Williams, J.J. Berea from the Mavericks (talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse), and Ricky Rubio to support its star Kevin Love.

All eyes are on Rubio, who had been playing in Europe the past two years since being drafted by the Wolves.  The transition to the NBA is not going to be easy, but if Rubio makes the grade, this will be general manager David Kahn's crowning moment.

The Wolves will not make the playoffs again this year, but they will be less awful than they have been, winning a few more games under Adelman.  Having swept the two-game preseason series with the Milwaukee Bucks, they seem to show a lot of promise.  Now let's see if they deliver.

Here's who we think will make the playoffs:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:  Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Bobcats.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:  Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns.

Realigning Hockey's Concussion Problem

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe National Hockey League's Board of Governors recently approved a plan that would reshuffle the deck as far as divisions are concerned, a move made necessary by the transfer of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg.  Going from six five-team divisions to four eight-team conferences starting next season (pending players' association approval), the intent is to develop more geographical rivalries by placing all (or most) of the teams in one region in the same group while reducing travel time.

Realigning the league is an easier task compared to making sure the men who play the games stay healthy.  Lately, there's been a surge of concern over the number of concussions athletes in all sports, no matter what the level, have been taking.  This is very true in hockey, where having a helmet on will not protect you from banging your head on the ice or another hard surface, or for putting up your dukes for no good reason.

The New York Times recently reported that Derek Boogaard, the former Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers player who died in May of an accidental drug overdose, was found during a post-death autopsy to have had chronic traumatic encephalopothy.  CTE is in direct relation to Alzheimer's disease.  Since Boogaard was primarily known during his NHL career as an enforcer, he got hit in the head a lot through punches exchanged with the other team's enforcer, not unlike a boxer.  Having CTE also meant that Boogaard would have suffered from a form of dementia had he lived.

Boogaard was not the only one.  Former NHL players Bob Probert, Reggie Fleming and Rick Martin were also found to have CTE.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said there's no conclusive link between concussions and CTE.  The league's best and most marketable player, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, recently returned to the ice after suffering a concussion almost a year ago.  If that's not a wake-up call, I'm not sure what is.

You can add more padding inside the rink and make better helmets, but that's not going to stop those who insist on turning hockey into demolition derby.  Or a poor man's imitation of a championship fight.  Fighting and checking into the boards has been ingrained in hockey's culture since who knows when.  Really?  The NHL claims the rough stuff sells tickets and drives TV ratings, not the pure skating found in international and Olympic hockey (which might as well be figure skating).  Since when?

I've been watching hockey for a long time, either in person or on TV.  I never cared for the brawlers or the cheap shot artists who turn an otherwise well-played game into a highlight reel that's more likely to make "Sportscenter" and the network news than the winning goal.  That's why players like Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitols and their style of hockey need to be emphasized more than the Boogaards of the world (no disrespect intended), if the NHL ever hopes to grow the sport in the U.S.  If they don't, then they're going to end up with a bigger problem down the road, as we find out more about the effects of too many head knockings.

The 2011 Owljock Bowl Guide

Image via WikipediaOnce again, as a public service, we present our list of the 35 college bowl games that will take place between December 17, 2011 and January 9, 2012.

Our emphasis will be on the names of these bowl games, which in recent years has become the province of corporations and websites who pony up millions of dollars to be its title sponsor.  Some of them might even attract the attention of the local chapter of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The games themselves are notable only if you're a fan of the schools involved, or if you have time to kill during the holidays.  Some of these esteemed football programs are playing for the national championship.  Some of them whine about not getting a better shake from the Bowl Championship Series.  Some did just enough to be bowl-eligible, and some have been tainted by scandal.  But the NCAA allows them to play anyway.

Here's how the OBG works:  We list the name of the game, where it's played, who's in it, and what the title sponsor's business is.  Unless otherwise noted, many of the games will be seen on ESPN and its Family of Networks.  The list comes from ESPN.com.

Gilden New Mexico Bowl:  Temple/Wyoming  (Albuquerque, NM 12/17)
Clothing supplier.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Ohio/Utah State (Boise, ID  12/17)

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  San Diego State/Louisiana-Lafayette  (New Orleans  12/17)
Shipping firm.

Beef O'Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl:  Florida International/Marshall  (St. Petersburg, FL  12/20)
Restaurant chain.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl:  TCU/Louisiana Tech  (San Diego, 12/21)

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl:  Arizona State/Boise State  (Las Vegas, 12/22)
Chain of auto repair shops.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl:  Nevada/Southern Mississippi  (Honolulu, 12/24)
Hotel chain.

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl:  Missouri/North Carolina  (Shreveport, LA  12/26)
Nutrition supplements.

Little Caesars Bowl:  Western Michigan/Purdue  (Detroit, 12/27)
Pizza delivery chain.

Belk Bowl:  Louisville/North Carolina State  (Charlotte, NC  12/27)
Regional department store chain.

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman:  Toledo/Air Force  (Washington, DC  12/28)
Defense contractor.

Bridgeport Education Holiday Bowl:  California/Texas  (San Diego, 12/28)
Online college.

Champs Sports Bowl:  Florida State/Notre Dame  (Orlando, FL  12/29)
Chain of sporting goods stores.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Washington/Baylor  (San Antonio, 12/29)
Energy company.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl:  Brigham Young/Tulsa  (Ft. Worth, TX  12/30)
Defense contractor.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl:  Rutgers/Iowa State  (New York, 12/30)
Sports apparel.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl:  Mississippi State/Wake Forest  (Nashville, 12/30)
Financial services.

Insight Bowl:  Iowa/Oklahoma  (Tempe, AZ  12/30)
Business technology supplier.

Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl:  Texas A&M/Northwestern  (Houston, 12/31)
Auto repair shops.

Hyundai Sun Bowl:  Georgia Tech/Utah  (El Paso, TX  12/31)  CBS
Automaker.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl:  Cincinnati/Vanderbilt  (Memphis, 12/31)  ABC
Auto parts chain.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl:  Illinois/UCLA  (San Francisco, 12/31)
Food giant teaming with anti-hunger organization.

Chick-fil-A Bowl:  Virginia/Auburn  (Atlanta, 12/31)
Restaurant chain.

Ticket City Bowl:  Houston/Penn State  (Dallas, 1/2/12)
Ticket reseller.

Outback Bowl:  Michigan State/Georgia  (Tampa, FL  1/2/12)  ABC
Steakhouse chain.

Capitol One Bowl:  Nebraska/South Carolina  (Orlando, FL  1/2/12)
Financial services.

Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl:  Ohio State/Florida  (Jacksonville, FL  1/2/12)
Tax preparation website.

Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio:  Wisconsin/Oregon  (Pasadena, CA  1/2/12)
Consumer electronics.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl:  Stanford/Oklahoma State  (Glendale, AZ  1/2/12)
Snack food brand.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Michigan/Virginia Tech  (New Orleans, 1/3)
Insurance.

Discover Orange Bowl:  West Virginia/Clemson  (Miami, 1/4)
Credit cards.

AT&T Cotton Bowl:  Kansas State/Arkansas  (Arlington, TX  1/6)  Fox
Communications.

BBVA Compass Bowl:  Southern Methodist/Pittsburgh  (Birmingham, AL  1/7)
Financial services.

GoDaddy.com Bowl:  Arkansas State/Northern Illinois  (Mobile, AL  1/8)
Domain name registration.

Allstate BCS National Championship Game:  Louisiana State/Alabama  (New Orleans, 1/9)
See Sugar Bowl.

Oh, one more thing.  No Kardashian sisters picture this year.  Sorry.

NBA 2011-12: Do Not Open Until Christmas

Image via WikipediaIn the wee small hours of Thanksgiving weekend while most Americans were stuffed with turkey, football and Black Friday purchases, the NBA settled its lockout.  This was just days after it was widely assumed that the 2011-12 season was kaput.

The new 10-year labor agreement (pending approval by owners and players, even though they dissolved their union) includes a nearly 50/50 split of revenues, a stronger luxury tax on owners who go over the salary cap, restrictions on free agency, and shorter player contracts.  This should appease small market teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, who won't have to go through another LeBron James All Stars situation with Kevin Love.

The NBA wants to begin its season on Christmas Day, with three games that were originally scheduled for national TV.  They will play a 66-game schedule, with 16 already lost in the two months since the regular season was supposed to start.  And it will end on time, with the playoffs going from late April to mid-June.

So did you really miss the NBA?  With pro and college football reaching its peak, and the NHL getting some attention for a change, basketball was hardly missed.  Besides, this was a really stupid time for the NBA to go on hiatus after a successful season.  With a struggling economy and millions of people out of work, the problems of millionaires and billionaires didn't amount to a hill of beans.  Even the National Football League figured that out during their recent lockout, which is why they managed to save a full season by coming to an agreement with its players prior to training camp.

But now it's a few weeks of frenzy before the opening tip.  Schedules have to be rewritten.  A truncated free agency period will take place.  A week (or so) of training camp and maybe a preseason game or two.  Then, let the hoopla begin.

Black Thanksgiving

The first known celebration of what has come to be called Thanksgiving was in 1621, when the residents of Plymouth colony (now part of Massachusetts) invited the Wampanoag tribe to share a successful harvest with them.

Since then, future generations of native Americans have been rewarded through death, illness and assimilation, while being forced to leave the land we now sit on and were moved into reservations.  Casino profits notwithstanding, reservations have usually been a hotbed of crime and poverty, with the U.S. government not doing much to improve their situation.

Now Thanksgiving itself, which has been a holiday for as long as the country has existed, and has been immortalized by the likes of Norman Rockwell, has been rendered irrelevant by Christmas.  If it weren't for the novelty of having turkey and football on Thursday, few people would have noticed.

Of course, this isn't exactly breaking news.  Holiday decorations have been up at your local mall since at least Labor Day (another occasion that has lost its relevance due to changing times).  Radio stations have been playing "Jingle Bells" and its ilk 24/7.  And TV commercials featuring Mr. Ho Ho Ho have been running since Halloween.

What's different this year is that Black Friday, which has become the single biggest retail shopping day of the holiday season, has been creeping into Thanksgiving.  Walmart has said it will open Thursday at 10 p.m.  Target says they want to open at midnight.  Their publicity flacks tell us that they're just responding to the wishes of the consumer, who don't want to get up in the middle of the night to pony up for the 50-inch plasma TV that becomes available at 4 a.m. at rock-bottom prices.

But it comes at a cost to the store's employees, who have complained about (and even petitioned against) the idea because they'd be missing Thanksgiving with their families.

It's all quite touching, but retail employees aren't the only ones missing out on the big dinner.  There's hospital staffers, police officers, firefighters, pro football players, the TV crews who cover their games . . . did we leave anyone out?  They'd love to be home with their families, but they have a job to do whether it's a holiday or not.

Besides, the realities of today's retail world almost dictate that stores like Walmart and Target open as soon as the Big Meal is finished.  Those who are too stuffed with mashed potatoes to show up at the mall will simply turn to their computers, where online stores are open 24/7.  When will we have reached the limit?  Who knows?

All of which makes you wonder what generations of native Americans must be thinking, as the white man's greed has pushed aside a day originally designed for Pilgrims to give thanks for merely coexisting with their neighbors during that rough beginning after landing on the Mayflower.

Have a nice Thanksgiving.  Remember, operators are standing by to take your order.

Joe Paterno: Legend Lost

Image via WikipediaJoe Paterno's 46 years as head coach of the Penn State football team came to an abrupt halt Wednesday, caught up in the scandal created by the arrest of his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on child molestation charges.  First Paterno announced his retirement, with the intention of coaching the remainder of the Nittany Lions' regular schedule.  But the school's board of trustees wouldn't let him do that, citing his failure to adequately inform higher-ups and law enforcement about the alleged abuse.  They replaced him with Tom Bradley, who takes over on an interim basis.

(For more on the scandal, please see The Bludog Chronicle at http://thebludogchronicle.blogspot.com/.)

Paterno has coached the Nittany Lions since 1966, winning 409 games in his career (more than any other coach) and two national championships.  He is the reason why Penn State joined the Big Ten conference, why Beaver Stadium now seats more than 100,000, why players from all over wanted to play for him, and why (until now) the athletic program was as squeaky clean as the football uniforms.

But Paterno is now 84 years old.  Because of injuries, he recently did his coaching from the press box instead of the sidelines.  Questions have been raised about when and if he should have retired.  Before the scandal, the university couldn't bring itself to tell Paterno to please step aside, partly because students and well-heeled alumni would react badly if they did.

Now it's too late.  Joe Paterno's legacy has come crashing down because he hung around too long, and has come to believe that he was Penn State football.  Then stuff hits the fan.  Nobody knew it would turn out like this.

UPDATE:  Paterno died January 22 at the age of 85, due to complications from lung cancer.  Granted, this is not the way for a coaching legend to go, given his alleged role in the Sandusky scandal.  Instead, this just made things a whole lot murkier.

Joe Frazier (1944-2011)

Joe Frazier, who died Monday of liver cancer at 67, was an Olympic boxing gold medalist at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games and later the heavyweight champion of the world.  He had a 32-4-1 record during his professional career, with 27 of those victories coming by knockout.  Two of those losses were to Muhammad Ali, the other two to George Foreman.

Back when America still cared about boxing in the 1960s and 70s, Frazier's career was fought in the shadow of Ali.  When Ali was relieved of his heavyweight titles because he refused to enter military service during the Vietnam War, Frazier became the new champion.  Once Ali was reinstated, he and Frazier fought in two of the most historic matches in the sport.  Frazier won the "Fight of the Century" at New York's Madison Square Garden in March of 1971.  In 1975, Ali earned a TKO in the "Thrilla In Manila" when Frazier's swollen eye prevented him from making the 14th round.

Frazier may have been an intimidating presence in the ring--he was, after all, nicknamed "Smokin' Joe" because his punches tended to leave a puff of smoke on his gloves.  But Ali, a worldwide figure with his larger-than-life personality, ridiculed Frazier for being more of a "white man's champion" in an era of Black Power.  Frazier resented Ali for that for a long time.

Frazier kept the heavyweight title from 1970-73, until he lost it to George Foreman in a bout at Kingston, Jamaica.  It was best known for ABC's Howard Cosell shouting "Down goes Frazier!" multiple times after he hit the canvas, which led to Foreman's second round knockout.

Boxing has devolved into a chaotic mess long after Frazier hung up his gloves.  Too many anonymous champions in too many organizations.  Pay-per-view pricing out average fans and casual viewers.  champions' refusal to face a worthy opponent unless the money is right.  The increasing popularity of Ultimate Fighting.  Joe Frazier may not have floated like a butterfly or stung like a bee like his more famous rival, but he more than held his own in the ring.

Vikings '11 Midseason: The Future Begins Now

Image by Hawk Eyes via FlickrOn this bye week, the Minnesota Vikings have a 2-5 record and are last in the NFC North division behind the Super Bowl champion (and undefeated) Green Bay Packers, the surprising Detroit Lions (they're not just for Thanksgiving any more), and the so-so Chicago Bears.

This season has so far been punctuated by spectacular second-half collapses against the Lions and San Diego Chargers, bad losses to the Packers and Bears, and the inexperience of coach Leslie Frazier and his staff contributing to those losses.

The only victories have been against a terrible Arizona Cardinals team at home, and the Carolina Panthers on the road--but only after the Panthers missed a game-tying field goal with seconds left in regulation.

This season has also seen the ascension of rookie quarterback Christian Ponder as the Vikings' starter, replacing the ineffective veteran Donovan McNabb during the Sunday night game at Chicago.  (Does this mean the Vikings are done using past-their-prime NFL quarterbacks as starters?)  Ponder has played well in the two games he's started since then, but he needs a few more the rest of the season for a better evaluation.

The Vikings have also had the usual run of players in trouble with either the NFL or the law, so appearances on the police blotter no longer have the shock value they once did.  Only one player that we know of this season is no longer with the team, and that's Bernard Berrian.

Off the field, the ongoing haggling over where the Vikings will be playing after this season continues.  Some recent developments:

• Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, who has yet to call for a special legislative session to consider a new stadium, has dropped the idea of using sales taxes to help pay for one.  So now it looks like some kind of gambling revenue (casino, pulltabs, racino, etc.) is being favored, despite its pitfalls.
• The Vikings still insist their top choice for a new stadium is in Arden Hills.  But a poll released by the Star Tribune newspaper said its respondents seem to prefer one of Minneapolis' three proposed sites (one of which just happens to sit on land the Strib owns near the Metrodome).
• The two remaining home games the Vikings had to play elsewhere last season because the Metrodome roof collapsed might end up forcing them to play another season there, according to a clause in the team's lease.  It sounds far-fetched and may not be legally binding, but those involved say this shouldn't affect the stadium negotiations.  The Vikings may not think so.

For the rest of the 2011 season, and with no chance of making the NFL playoffs we should have a better idea of what the future holds for the Minnesota Vikings.  On the field and off.

NBA Lockout: Reality Bites

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeOn what would have been the first week of the 2011-12 NBA season, arenas sit dark, with the exception of concerts and hockey games.  The trash talking of Charles Barkley has been replaced on TV by Dick Vitale yelling "Awesome, baby!", with only college basketball and the NHL to fill the void between NFL football games.

As of November 3, the NBA's owners have locked out the players for 126 days, caught in a dispute over a new collective bargaining agreement.  The owners (who make billions) want to split $4 billion down the middle with the players (who make millions), but the players want the split to be in their favor.  Already, the pre-season and the first month of the regular season have been canceled.  The longer this goes, the more likely it is that the entire season may be gone.

The lockout has lasted longer than TV reality princess Kim Kardashian's marriage to New Jersey Nets player Kris Humphries, whose separation after 72 days of wedded bliss was announced this week.

The August wedding, which reportedly cost around $10 million, was telecast a couple of weeks ago on the E! network in a two-part special witnessed by four million viewers.  Kris Jenner, Kim's mother and manager of all things Kardashian, denied that the lavish nuptials were a ploy for higher TV ratings in addition to the other programs the Kardashians appear in.  So maybe it just didn't work out.

Kim earns a nice living doing whatever it is she does, thank you very much, so she didn't need to lean on her husband for financial help.  Kris Humphries, on the other hand, will be missing a few paychecks thanks to the lockout.  Unless he has a slew of endorsement deals, he shouldn't expect to get much in the divorce settlement to tide him over.

As for the NBA rank-and-file:  If your name isn't Kobe or LeBron, and not married to a Kardashian, you're either playing ball overseas or working the late shift at the local Home Depot.  You're probably still wondering how you'll live from paycheck to paycheck when millions of basketball fans don't even have that luxury.  And, once the lockout ends, you'll be wondering why you're stuck playing in Memphis or Minnesota while the best player on your team takes his talents to South Beach or L.A. with other All-Stars from bad teams.

Whenever the lockout ends (and everyone hopes it's soon), the owners, players and NBA commissioner David Stern will have a hard enough time picking up the pieces without trying to win back the trust of the fans they abandoned.  How long before those who play the game realize that fame and dates with reality TV stars are fleeting?  It's what you do with your future beyond the basketball court that matters.

The Improbable Redbirds

Image via WikipediaThe St. Louis Cardinals this season have been down, but never out.  They got into the post-season as a National League wild card on the final day of the regular season after the Atlanta Braves blew a 7 1/2 game advantage--a feat exceeded only by the Boston Red Sox' epic meltdown, handing the Tampa Bay Rays its American League wild card.  After that, the Cardinals took care of Philadelphia and Milwaukee, in that order.

Now the Cardinals are world champions for the 11th time, defeating the Texas Rangers in Game 7 of the World Series 6-2 at Busch Stadium.  It was an anti-climatic game compared to what else happened in this series that'll go down in the history books.  Three examples:

• The Cardinals' Albert Pujols hit three home runs in Game 3, becoming the first non-New York Yankee to do so (the others were Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson).  This could also be Pujols' St. Louis swansong, as he will soon test the waters of free agency.
• Manager Tony LaRussa sent the wrong relief pitcher to the mound in Game 5, which ended in a Rangers' victory.  Then LaRussa blames it on the noise at the Rangers' Ballpark at Arlington, meaning he couldn't hear his pitching coach on the landline phone.  Maybe Major League Baseball needs to realize it's 2011, and install special mobile phones in the dugouts.
• Game 6, won by the Cardinals 10-9 in 11 innings, was not the most artistic game ever played (five errors by both teams), but it did have one of the most dramatic finishes to rival other famous Game Sixes.  Twice the Cardinals came back from two-run deficits in the late innings to tie the game.  Twice did David Freese save his hometown team's bacon with timely hits, including an 11th-inning home run that puts him in the Game 6 pantheon with Carlton Fisk and Kirby Puckett.  For that, Freese was rewarded with the World Series' MVP award.

Up until Games 6 and 7, the ratings on Fox had been abysmal because neither of these teams are the Yankees, Red Sox or Philadelphia Phillies, the only teams that seem to matter in baseball any more.  Why, to most of America, the Rangers were the Texas Strangers.  But as this World Series proved, you don't need to be from New York or Boston with billions of dollars' worth of talent to put on an exciting show for the nation, whether you're a baseball fan or not.  All the St. Louis Cardinals had to do was to ride a hot streak from out of nowhere to the summit of baseball, and take its fans along for the ride.

Vikings Stadium: Two Minute Warning

Image via WikipediaFor what seems like forever (but really, it's been at least a decade), the Minnesota Vikings have been lobbying the state of Minnesota for a new football stadium.  Now that the lease on the Mall of America Field at the Metrodome is almost up, the time has finally come for some answers.  Or not.

Governor Mark Dayton is currently entertaining proposals on where the stadium should go, and how it should be paid for.  Then he will decide if any of them are worthy of being put into a bill to go before a special Legislative session, scheduled to take place the week of Thanksgiving.

The Vikings have already made up their minds.  It is the site of the former army munitions plant in Arden Hills, or nothing.  Recent studies have found, though, that the project would take much longer and be much more expensive (over a billion dollars) than when it was first proposed.  But they did catch a break when Ramsey County commissioners rejected a proposal to put a county-wide tax up for a vote.

Minneapolis, the Vikings' current home, has finally weighed in.  According to reports, the city is ready and willing to offer three sites that they believe are much more accessible and less costly than the one in Arden Hills:  the current Metrodome property, the Farmers Market area next to Target Field, and some land next to the Basilica church owned by Xcel Energy.  Oh, and the state might want to throw a little extra money to renovate Target Center, where the NBA Timberwolves play.

As for how to pay for all this, revenues could come from a new casino in the Block E section of downtown Minneapolis.  The Native American tribes who already run casinos in Minnesota might not like it, but what else are you going to do with an area that's become a block of broken dreams?

But the Vikings aren't interested in anything Minneapolis has to offer, not even for the dollar being offered to buy out the Metrodome.  Why is that?  There has to be more going on here than simply preferring Arden Hills to anywhere else.  They also say they don't have a Plan B if their choice is rejected by the Legislature.  Maybe they do have one, but they haven't made it public just yet.  Could it be . . . Los Angeles?

Then there are the same old arguments for and against the stadium, from the same old politicians and activists who have been wrangling over this for years.  Can we do this without adding or raising taxes?  Aren't we just subsidizing a billionaire owner and his millionaire players?  How can you even think of building a stadium at a time when the economy's so bad, and people are out of work?  And so on.

This is another tired question, but it bears repeating.  Do you want the Vikings and the NFL to stay in Minnesota, or not?  Within the next few weeks, we should have an answer that helps determine which direction this state wants to go:  the cultural mecca of the Upper Midwest, or just a cold Omaha?

Death On The Speedway

Image via WikipediaWhile most of us were watching pro football on Sunday afternoon, there was an auto race held at a track outside Las Vegas that was televised on ABC.  It was the finale of the IndyCar racing season, and it was memorable for the wrong reasons.

Eleven laps into the race, there was a fiery pileup involving 15 cars, some of them flying over one another along the wall.  The only one not to survive the wreckage was Dan Wheldon.  A popular figure on the IndyCar circuit who had just won his second Indianapolis 500 last spring (the other was in 2005), Wheldon was 33 years old and left behind a wife and two children.

With all the safety precautions being taken by IndyCar (also known as open-wheel racing) and NASCAR in its cars and the tracks they race in, drivers getting killed during a race doesn't happen as much as it used to.  But when it does, it comes during a major event in front of a quarter-million spectators and a worldwide TV audience.  The last time this happened was when Dale Earnhardt died during the final laps of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Some people within the world of auto racing believe what happened at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a tragedy waiting to happen.  The track was a high-banked oval that's more typical for NASCAR events, but dangerous for IndyCar, whose vehicles are normally racing on long, flat ovals like the one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Auto racing of all types have been run on speedways, road courses and city streets.  All of them possess their own share of dangers, but one type of track isn't any more dangerous than the other.

To combat the image that auto racing is all left turns all the time, the major organizations (IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula One) promote personalities (Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Gordon, etc.), tradition and the American way of life as they see it.  But let's be honest.  The real reason people stop their clickers on an auto race is when a crash occurs at 200 mph and the TV networks show several replays of it from different angles.  Bad for the drivers, who almost always survive these accidents, but great for "Sportscenter".

Sometimes accidents affect the outcome of the races.  How many times have you seen a close race come down to the wire before some other car in the back of the pack skids into a wall, forcing the final laps to be run under the yellow caution flag?  NASCAR tried to fix the problem by tacking an extra couple of laps at the end, creating its version of overtime to find a winner.  But some of these cautions seem to be suspiciously timed, as a way to enliven a boring race for the sake of ratings.

How will auto racing react in the wake of Dan Wheldon's death?  Oh, they could add a few more safety measures to the point where the sport becomes about as stimulating as your commute to and from work (assuming, of course, you have a job to go to).  But NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula One built their empires on the need for speed.  Too much of it, however, results in accidents that sometimes leads drivers like Wheldon to an early grave.

Al Davis, 1929-2011

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeAl Davis, the owner of the NFL Oakland Raiders until his death Saturday at 82, was many things during his long career, which culminated in his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.  He didn't get to where he was without stepping on a few toes along the way.

First, Davis was a winner.  He turned around a struggling Raiders franchise when they began in the American Football League in the early 1960s, first as a coach, then as managing general partner.  He used slogans such as "Just win, baby" and "Commitment to Excellence" to motivate his team, which must have worked because they won three Super Bowls and made many playoff appearances.  He never stopped running things on the field after he moved to the front office, often clashing with players and meddling with his coaches' decisions.

Davis was an innovator.  He wasn't like other NFL owners, not in the way he dressed (usually variations on silver and black) or how he ran his franchise.  He was the first to hire African-American and Latino head coaches, as well as a woman to be a team executive.  The Raiders were populated by players who either didn't fit in anywhere else, or whose circumstances made them liabilities.

Davis was a troublemaker.  Serving briefly as AFL commissioner in 1966, he tried to push his league forward through bidding wars with the NFL over players until the two leagues merged (which was done behind his back because he never supported it).  Then he started using the courts to get out of his commitments to the NFL and the Oakland Coliseum, resulting in the Raiders' move to Los Angeles in 1982.  By 1995, however, the team returned to Oakland under the cloud of more lawsuits, most of which have now been settled.

Now that Davis is gone, what will happen to the Raiders?  The team isn't anywhere near the powerhouse they once were after their last Super Bowl appearance in 2003, sometimes performing badly enough to qualify for a Number One draft pick.  Ownership is in question, even though it's been reported that Davis' son Mark would run the team.  And, of course, there's always the possibility of returning to Los Angeles.

Still, without the man who embodied the Silver and Black as much as his teams did, the Oakland Raiders and the NFL became a little bit duller.

P.S.:  The day after Davis' death, the Raiders defeated the Houston Texans 25-20 to advance their record this season to 3-2.  They just won, baby.
   

No Longer The Weakest Lynx, Take 2

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Minnesota Lynx are the 2011 WNBA champions.  Coached by Cheryl Reeve, they had the best record in the league during the regular season, then sprinted through the San Antonio Silver Stars, Phoenix Mercury and Atlanta Dream in the playoffs to claim the franchise's first title.

In defeating the Dream 73-67 Friday night at Atlanta for a three-game Finals sweep, Seimone Augustus scored 16 points to lead the Lynx and was named the Most Valuable Player.  Maya Moore, already named Rookie of the Year, scored 15 to continue her run of championships that began in college at Conneticut.  The Dream rallied behind Angel McCaughtry's 22 points, but fell short.

The connection to all of this is native Minnesotan Lindsay Whalen, the woman who popularized the game in this state.  She was partly responsible for bringing the Gophers to the Women's Final Four, and remained popular even after she moved to Conneticut to play for the Sun.  When the deal was made to bring Whalen back to the Lynx, she became the playmaker they needed to augment Augustus, Moore, and Candice Wiggins.  Plus the crowds started coming to Target Center, which was a nice bonus.  Now Whalen has a championship in her home state.

This is the first professional sports title for Minnesota since 1991, when the Twins beat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series, and the first basketball title since the Lakers won the NBA crown in 1954.  Coming as it does when the fortunes of the Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves, Wild and football Gophers are in the tank, the Lynx were a breath of fresh air with star players who were healthy and winning. 

Though the WNBA season may be over, many of these same players will be going to Europe to play for teams that pay far more money than the summertime league ever could.  Also, this will probably be the last professional basketball we see in this country for awhile, with the NBA lockout reaching crisis proportions as games start to get canceled.

Now comes the hard part for the Lynx.  With an Olympic break scheduled for next season and every other team in the league gunning for them, the Lynx are going to learn what it's like to try for back-to-back championships, rendering what they accomplished this season all the more remarkable.

NHL 2011-12: Highs and Lows

Image via Wikipedia As the Boston Bruins hoist their Stanley Cup championship banner to the rafters of TD Garden and the Vancouver Canucks still wondering why they lost Game 7 last spring, the National Hockey League opens another season with reasons to celebrate and reasons to give pause.

• The return of the Winnipeg Jets after a decade-and-a-half absence, caused by the Atlanta Thrashers deciding to migrate north.  However, this will result in a complicated realignment setup for next season (the Jets will spend this one in the Eastern Conference), in which the possibility exists that the whole East-West thing might be blown up.  And the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes, for whom the league is still trying to find a buyer, could complicate things even more if the team decides to move.
• Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the face of the NHL, has not played a game since a concussion injury in January.  If Crosby ever plays again, will he be as effective?
• Three players died over the summer:  Derek Boogaard (drug and alcohol overdose), Rick Rypien (suicide) and Pavol Demitra (plane crash in Russia which also killed his teammates).  How the NHL deals with the issues that caused these tragedies remains to be seen.
• A new 10-year TV deal with NBC and Versus (soon to be renamed NBC Sports Network), kicking off a spate of similar long-term deals that so far include the Olympics, "Monday Night Football" and the pro golf tour.  Could the NFL and Major League Baseball be next?

And now, our playoff Top Eights . . .

EAST:  Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres.

WEST:  Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche.
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The Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks made a couple of headline-making deals over the summer, with the Wild getting Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi while the Sharks got Brent Burns and Martin Havlat.

This reminds us of all the trades the New York Yankees made with the old Kansas City Athletics in the late 1950s.  The net result was that the Yankees continued to win championships while the A's got worse.  Likewise, the Sharks will continue to be Stanley Cup contenders while the Wild continue to struggle, missing the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

Under new coach Mike Yeo (promoted from the Houston Aeros of the AHL), and with many of the same players who haven't left via trade or free agency, the Wild might be a better team this season.  But still not enough to alleviate the doldrums other Minnesota sports teams are currently facing.

Twins 2011: Reversal of Fortune

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Minnesota Twins finished with a 61-99 record this season, the second-worst in Major League Baseball behind the Houston Astros (which crash-landed with a 56-106 mark). 

How on earth did this team, which won the American League Central Division title last year, fall so far and so fast this year?  Oh sure, the Twins were briefly in the pennant race before the Detroit Tigers pulled away from the rest of the division.  Francisco Liriano pitched an unexpected no-hitter at Chicago against the White Sox,  Jim Thome hit his 600th career homer at Detroit, and Bert Blyleven entered baseball's Hall of Fame.  But then again, Harmon Killebrew passed away, and there were reminders of him all over Target Field.

Where to begin?  Nearly every regular on the roster spent time on the disabled list, whether it's for injury or illness.  Take Joe Mauer, whose hometown halo got tarnished this season by charges that he wasn't tough enough to withstand "bilateral leg weakness" or pneumonia, and that he's starting to believe his own press clippings.  Because it's physically hard to be a full-time catcher, Mauer went a few games substituting for Justin Morneau at first base while he worked out his own health issues.  But the questions linger with several years to go on Mauer's new contract.

The offense?  Barely there.  The Twins found more ways NOT to score than any other team.  Many is the time that they loaded up the bases with nobody out, and they don't score.  Or they get caught in baserunning mistakes.  Thome and Michael Cuddyer aside, the Twins' bats give credence to the notion that Target Field  is not a home run park, though there are other teams that might dispute that.

Pitching has been a hit-or-miss proposition.  Liriano hasn't really proven himself beyond the no-hitter.  Kevin Slowey and Carl Pavano, among other starters, do well for several innings until the bullpen takes over.  Matt Capps gave away so many games in the late innings that Joe Nathan, returning from Tommy John surgery, was given back his closer role.

Because of all those injuries and illnesses, the Twins tended to resemble a minor league team for much of the season, while depleting the real ones in the process.  Guys like Trevor Plouffe, Alexi Casilla and Ben Revere--whether they're ready for the majors or not-- have been pressured into service with mixed results.  And you really needed a scorecard to tell which players were which.

All of which made manager Ron Gardenhire's job a lot tougher this year.  Throughout his tenure, Gardenhire has been one of those managers who have excelled at doing the most with the least.  This was not one of those years, and if the Twins tank again next season, then it may be time to change managers.

Speaking of change, there will undoubtedly be some this off-season.  Thome, shortly after hitting number 600, was shipped off to Cleveland.  Cuddyer, Nathan and Liriano could follow him out the door.  And Morneau will have to make a decision about his future. 

This is only the beginning, folks.  The days of division championships and other feel-good moments are over for now.  Soon the novelty of Target Field will wear off, and crowds of around 10-15,000 will become common.  Good free agent players will not want to come here, no matter how much cash the Pohlads have stashed away.  So be prepared for a long, cold winter of baseball..
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A word about John Gordon, who just did his last game as the radio voice of the Twins.  He may have been the epitome of the minor league-quality announcer who was fortunate enough to land a job with the Yankees before starting a nice, long career in Minnesota.  Gordon will not be mentioned in the same breath as Herb Carneal (even though he worked with him) and Ray Scott in the annals of Twins broadcasting legends.  But he will be remembered for his home run call in the course of describing division pennants and world championships:  "Touch 'em all, (fill in the blank)!".   Have a nice retirement, Gordo.
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One more thing.  Yankees versus Phillies in the World Series.

Do The Conference Shuffle

Image via WikipediaIf you follow college athletics, reading the sports section or websites these days has become a bit like reading a supermarket tabloid or TMZ.  Who's breaking up, who's staying together, and who's getting hitched.

No, we're not talking about Brad and Angelina, or "Dancing With The Stars".  We're referring to the shuffling of the deck--rumored or confirmed--between big name universities and their athletic conferences, all in the pursuit of more money and prestige, at least as far as football is concerned.

The catalyst for all this is the apparent demise of the Big 12 and Big East conferences, for whatever the reason.  In the Big 12, Colorado and Nebraska have already left for other conferences, Texas A&M is leaving for the Southeast Conference (pending legal appeals), and four other schools--Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State--were all set to bolt to the Pac 12 until that conference decided not to take in any more teams.  As it currently stands, the Big 12 doesn't have enough schools to equal 12.

In the Big East, which began as a basketball-only league in 1979 before adding football, Syracuse (a charter member) and Pittsburgh have said they are leaving to join the Atlantic Coast Conference.  Which leaves the rest of the Big East in a bind because half of its members don't have football programs.

Even Notre Dame, which is a Big East member in nearly every sport but football, is thinking about jumping ship.  As long as it's not the Big Ten.  The Fighting Irish already has its own TV network, better known as NBC.

More rumor has it that the Big East and Big 12 are talking merger.  Others report that both conferences would stay put and try to add more schools.  Hard to keep up, isn't it?

All of this realignment is being driven by football, and the profits, prestige and exposure it brings to a university.  But what about the rest of the athletic program?  How will they be affected by the shuffling in terms of costs, student participation and fan support?

Let's talk about academics for a minute.  You know, grades and degrees, which is the reason you go to college in the first place.  There are no majors in football, and you can't earn a Masters in basketball.  If university presidents believe changing conferences will solve their problems while it is getting next to impossible for real students to pay off their tuition in their lifetimes, then they're sadly mistaken.

Come to think of it, maybe those university presidents aren't the ones running the show.  It's the athletic directors, coaches and boosters who are driving this rush to realign.

Everyone knows college sports is just a glorified feeder system for the NFL and NBA, at least for the major universities, conferences, TV networks and sponsors who support them.  It's a great deal for everyone except the piously named "student athlete", whose school gets punished by the NCAA for accepting so much as a dime.

Change is inevitable.  Summer turns into autumn.  People get older.  Nations topple dictators.  Colleges abandon longtime rivalries to start new ones.  It's the turning of the page, the flipping of the remote, and hitting F5 on your computer.  Nothing lasts forever.

And just so you know, Ron Artest (aka Metta World Peace) was the first celebrity voted off "Dancing With The Stars".

After 9/11/01: No More Fun and Games

Ten years ago, after a shocking lapse in security resulted in the World Trade Center in New York being destroyed, the NFL and Major League Baseball canceled their games for a week or two while the country mourned.

Ten years later, the events of September 11, 2001 are commemorated by both leagues in ceremonies across the country to honor those who died that day.  Because the attacks occured in New York City, the NFL games between the Giants and Redskins and Cowboys and Jets were marked by players and coaches who wore 'NYPD' or 'FDNY' caps, as if they're really police officers and firefighters (which they're not).  There were also American flags and ribbons dotting the stadiums.  On TV, advertisers such as Anheuser-Busch and State Farm used the anniversary to put love letters to New York in their messages.

How has 9/11 changed sports?  Stadiums and arenas now have security check points, searching paying customers for explosives or unapproved bottles of liquor.  Major League Baseball shoves the playing of "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch down our throats, replacing the time-honored "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

You may have also noticed that going to a ball game has become a lot more patriotic, even if it makes some fans uncomfortable.  There is no anti-war sentiment in the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  In fact, the sports leagues seem to be glorifying those wars.  Active-duty soldiers are rewarded with free passes and other perks not available to Joe Fan.  On TV, they're saluted in commercials and in live remotes from the war zones during the holidays.

Commentators who take time out from criticizing players and officials to salute "our troops" for all the "tremendous sacrifices" they do sound as if they're auditioning for Rush Limbaugh's, Bill O'Reilly's and Sean Hannity's jobs.  Is it any coincidence that Fox has TV contracts with the NFL and MLB?

Sports is certainly not going to glorify the case of Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals football player who quit the game to join the army.  Most everyone admired him for his brave and patriotic decision, while others thought he was nuts.  But when Tillman was killed in Afghanistan under mysterious and less-than-heroic circumstances, it didn't fit the conservative narrative.

Sports used to be the place where you could get away from it all.  Since 9/11, not only has there been a climate of fear in the country, but the pro sports leagues and the TV networks that enable them have been pushing a political agenda that appeals mainly to Fox News-watching conservatives.  It is not a welcome sight to those of us who buy the tickets, or turn on the TV.  We just want to watch the game.

As the events of 9/11/01 recede farther into our history, so should the tendency of fans and commentators to shout 'USA!', 'USA!' after every score.  Remember, folks, it's only a game.

NFL '11: What Hath The Lockout Wrought?

Image via WikipediaThe National Football League's recent lockout of its players resulted in no regular-season games either canceled or rescheduled, but it did have its effects in other ways.  For instance, those pre-season games that everybody loathes except the owners and TV networks were really necessary this year, if only to make up for the lack of year-round training (particularly for rookies) coaches like to use to evaluate talent.  Also, some players used the lockout as an excuse to report to training camp out of shape.  Which is why all-pro Bryant McKinnie was cut by the Minnesota Vikings for being overweight, only to be picked up by the Baltimore Ravens.

Also of note are rule changes created in response to the alarming number of concussions in sports, especially football.  The most prominent of those is that kickoffs will now be from the 35-yard line, with a narrower margin for error on the kicking team.  Unfortunately, since most of today's kicking specialists seemed to have honed their craft in soccer, footballs tend to sail too far past the goal line to be returned.  So we offer this suggestion:  Limit kickoffs to the start of the first and second halves, just as basketball has done with its tipoffs (mainly because the players have gotten so big and the officials so small).  After each score, just hand the opposing team the ball at their 20-yard line.

As for who will be playing on the field, the fortunes vary.  Michael Vick signed a reported $100 million-dollar deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, proving there is life after a dog fighting conviction, even if not everyone is celebrating.  Donovan McNabb, who was Vick's predecessor at quarterback for the Eagles, has migrated to the Vikings after a disastrous year in Washington.  Rookie Terrelle Pryor will become an Oakland Raiders quarterback as soon as he serves a five game suspension, which was imposed by the league for his alleged misdeeds in college.  Chad Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth are playing for, of all people, the Bill Belichick-coached New England Patriots.  Terrell Owens and Randy Moss aren't playing anywhere.

The Vikings are starting over after a disastrous 2010 season.  Brett Favre, Tarvaris Jackson, Sidney Rice and coach Brad Childress are gone.  In their places are McNabb and Christian Ponder at quarterback, and Leslie Frazier as the new coach.  But it will take a couple of seasons for the Vikings to get back to championship-level football, so a 6-10 record sounds realistic.  At least they're returning to the friendly confines of what is now Mall of America Field at the Metrodome, complete with a new roof and turf to replace the ones that were damaged by a snowstorm.  How long the Vikings continue to play in the Metrodome remains to be seen.

Our projected division champions and playoff participants on the road to Indianapolis . . .

NFC EAST  New York Giants
         NORTH  Green Bay Packers
         SOUTH  New Orleans Saints
         WEST  St. Louis Rams
         WILD CARDS  Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions

AFC EAST  New England Patriots
         NORTH  Pittsburgh Steelers
         SOUTH  Jacksonville Jaguars
         WEST  San Diego Chargers
         WILD CARDS  Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets

College Football '11: The More Things Change . . .

Image via WikipediaAs the new college football season opens, it should surprise no one that the game is no longer played with leather helmets in front of spectators wearing raccoon coats and waving pennants, just like in those old Hollywood movies (The Marx Brothers in "Horse Feathers" comes to mind).

Even Knute Rockne, George Gipp and Bernie Bierman wouldn't recognize the massive stadiums, media coverage, and big budgets that makes the game such a lucrative proposition today.  The only ones not in on the windfall are the players who train year-round to star on Saturdays.  It's a wonder they're getting much studying done, let alone graduating with honors.

But there's always more money to be made.  That's why schools with football pedigrees jump conferences and sign lucrative TV deals to stay competitive.  Never mind that the nearest opponent in your new league might be half a continent away, or that the name of your new conference no longer reflects the number of teams in it.

• The Big Ten now has 12 schools, with the addition of the University of Nebraska.  They've also split into two divisions, inexplicably known as "Legends" and "Leaders".  And for the first time, they will play a championship game in Indianapolis in December.
• The Pac 10 has become the Pac 12, with Colorado and Utah coming in from other conferences.
• The Big 12 is down to ten schools with the departure of Colorado and Nebraska.  They were able to persuade the University of Texas to stay, but Texas A&M has announced its intention to leave, probably for the Southeastern Conference.
• Boise State and Texas Christian are also changing conferences, while Brigham Young is going the Notre Dame route as an independent.

Another thing Amos Alonzo Stagg might not recognize about college football today is how many programs have been embroiled in scandal, and only now is the NCAA getting around to punishing those schools for their alleged misdeeds.  They have resulted in Southern California giving up its 2004 national championship and Reggie Bush's Heisman trophy, North Carolina and Ohio State forfeiting games and losing coaches, and Miami of Florida possibly sinking its football program.

But there's one thing coaches like Bear Bryant, Bud Wilkinson and Darrel Royal might appreciate.  For the past six years, a team from the Sun Belt has won the BCS national championship, and the team defending it this time is Auburn.  Look for another school from the SEC to win it all this year.

So while such things as drop kicks, Minnesota Golden Gophers championships and Ronald Reagan announcing games on the radio are no longer part of college football, it's nice to know that some things never change.

When Is "The Fan" Not "The Fan"? An Update.

The flip-flopping of two of Clear Channel's Twin Cities radio stations has created an identity crisis of sorts.  The sports format, which had been on AM 1130, has moved to 100.3 FM, where the conservative talk format had been.

The station at 100.3 is officially known as KFXN, but on the air (and strictly for branding purposes) it is called "100.3 FM KFAN:  The Fan".  Apparently, Clear Channel couldn't persuade the owners of KFAN-FM in Johnson City, Texas to part with their call letters.

KFXN is also used on AM 690, a tiny 500-watter during the day that has to cut back its power to a whopping four watts at night (according to Wikipedia), carries mainly syndicated sports talk shows that "The Fan" won't sacrifice its local programming on.  "The Score 690" has been sold to a minority partnership, but will keep the sports format for now.

AM 1130 still has the KFAN call letters for now, but they will be changed to KTCN once the FCC gives its approval to reflect its branding as "Twin Cities News Talk".   True, the format is more news than talk, and the network they use is Fox News Radio.  But that's a subject for another time on another blog.

Honesty Bites

You may have heard about the 11-year old twins from Owatonna, MN named Nick and Nate Smith.  At a charity hockey event in nearby Faribault recently, Nate shot a puck from center ice 90 feet into a tiny hole where the goal usually is to win a $50,000 raffle.  Except it was Nick who was supposed to take the shot, and he wasn't anywhere near the building at the time.

Apparently, according to news reports, nobody in the family was comfortable with the situation, so the boys' father Pat confessed to the organizers the following day.

While an insurance company in Nevada determines whether or not the Smiths deserve the money (which probably would have been earmarked for college), the boys and their parents are enjoying their 15 minutes of fame making appearances on the networks' morning news shows, answering the same old questions.

Do the Smith boys get to keep the money?  No.  Mr. Smith was sneaky enough to substitute a twin brother to take the shot.  Would this be an issue if Nate had missed the shot?  Probably not.  But major props to the Smiths for having a conscience, even if this is the wrong era to give up that kind of money.

The moral of our story:  Honesty may be the best policy, but it can cost you an awful lot of money.

UPDATE  As expected, the Smith boys do not get to keep the money.  The Nevada-based insurance company decided to spend $20,000 on youth hockey programs in the boys' names, which would certainly deepen the tax burden on their father.  What happens to the rest of the money is unknown.  File this under "no good deed goes unpunished".

"The Fan" Hits FM Radio

Image via WikipediaKFAN radio has become rather aggressive since they got a competitor in the Twin Cities sports talk competition, having lost the ESPN Radio affiliation to KSTP-AM (1500) last year.  Besides being the home of Minnesota Vikings football, KFAN has also acquired the rights to Wild hockey and University of Minnesota football.  Now, after two decades at AM 1130, KFAN is moving to the FM band.

Owner Clear Channel is switching KFAN to 100.3 FM and its 100,000-watt signal, where news-talk KTLK used to reside.  Which means that Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and their conservative pals have been banished to AM 1130 and its 50,000-watt signal, which the FCC mandates that the power be cut in half at night.  (They'll still be heard on 102.5 FM through a low-power signal Clear Channel just purchased from a religious broadcaster.)

This is a risky move.  Both stations had been doing well ratings-wise.  Apparently, Clear Channel thinks a sports format with a younger demographic would do better on FM than conservative talk would with an older one.  It remains to be seen if sports talk can work on FM, given that some of the biggest markets like New York and Los Angeles don't have such a station.  This could be a case of fixing what isn't broken.

The two stations might be forced to change their call letters.  There is already a KFAN-FM in Texas, and that one has a rock format instead of sports.  And Clear Channel has a KTLK-AM, which is a progressive talk station in Los Angeles.  For that reason, the new AM 1130 will be billed as "Twin Cities News Talk".

It's going to be a real interesting time in Twin Cities radio, which hasn't seen this much potential for upheaval in years.  Here are the players:

• WCCO-AM (830), its sports portfolio reduced to Timberwolves basketball (if the NBA lockout ends) and University of St. Thomas football, may be considering its own move to FM.  Much speculation centers on owner CBS Radio, which could decide to change formats on either WLTE (102.9 FM) or KZJK (104.1 FM).  Really, why would they want to waste an AM signal that can be heard across North America, with far more listeners than FM could ever have?
• KSTP-AM, which is getting ripped from all sides (especially Minnesota Twins fans) about its signal limitations, might be forced to move its sports format to FM.  But Hubbard Broadcasting doesn't want to sacrifice its successful KS95 (94.5 FM) or struggling women-focused talker KTMY (107.1 FM) to do that.  They might, however, be able to persuade the Pohlad family (which owns the Twins) to sell them 96.3 Now, a contemporary hits station that's barely making a dent against KDWB (101.3 FM), and turn it into a sports station.
• The merger of broadcasting companies Citadel and Cumulus is scheduled to be finalized in the next few weeks, which could mean big changes for KQRS (92.5 FM), 93X (93.7 FM) and the Love 105 stations (105.1, 105.3 and 105.7 FM).  Or maybe not.

So enjoy listening to "jock around the clock" in crystal-clear FM.  As for us, we'll stick to public radio unless there's a game on.

UPDATE:  The new AM 1130 will become KTCN (what, WTCN wasn't available?), and it won't be simulcast on 102.5 FM, pending FCC approval.  For now, it'll be heard on 103.5 FM.

No Longer The Weakest Lynx

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Lynx are off to their best season in their history.  After defeating the San Antonio Silver Stars 63-60 at Target Center Thursday on a game-winning shot by Taj McWilliams-Franklin with 1.3 seconds remaining, the Lynx have won eight consecutive games (a team record), and lead the WNBA's West division with a 15-4 record.  They are on track to make the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

For most of their history, the Lynx have been lost in the shuffle of the other Minnesota pro sports teams, mainly because they've been pretty mediocre on the court.  Thanks to last-place finishes, they've been able to land the number-one pick in the WNBA draft, which they've used to choose Seimone Augustus, Candice Wiggins and Maya Moore in consecutive years.  They also were able to acquire veterans McWilliams-Franklin and Lindsay Whalen, who helped put the University of Minnesota women's basketball program on the map by leading them to a Women's Final Four appearance.

The Lynx are also overlooked because, among other things, they play in a struggling women's pro basketball league (now in its 15th season) that owes its existence to the NBA and plays indoors during the summer.  Today the WNBA has 12 franchises, and almost as many have come and gone before them (Detroit Shock, Cleveland Rockers, etc.).  Unless you're a diehard WNBA fan, you've probably missed out on seeing past stars such as Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and Cynthia Cooper.  They've paved the way for current stars such as Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird and Candace Parker.

Considering how the other pro sports teams in Minnesota have been faring this year, the Lynx have finally made women's pro basketball worth watching.  Now if they can only get past the first round . . .

The NFL, Unlocked

Image via WikipediaAmerica's long national nightmare is over.  No, we're not talking about the debt crisis.  The four and a half-month work stoppage in the National Football League has ended with owners and players agreeing to a new deal.

What was at stake was the $9 billion in league revenues, and how it was going to be divided.  It turns out that the owners will be getting most of the money, but the players got some concessions in terms of onfield safety.  The new agreement lasts through the 2020 season.

Through all this, only one preseason game was canceled (the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio) and the start of training camps for some teams had to be delayed.  So the preseason games everyone seems to dislike except the owners and TV networks will actually be necessary this year, because players did not have structured off-season workouts during the lockout.  They might be in great physical shape, but not football shape.

It also means that, starting now, there'll be a brief period of signing free agents and rookies who were drafted last spring.  The fates of teams could be altered depending on how many free agents choose to either stay where they are, or go elsewhere.  Or they might not.

As for the Minnesota Vikings, who will once again be training at MSU-Mankato, things are pretty volatile.  New coach Leslie Frasier will either start Joe Webb or Christian Ponder at QB, or surprise everyone and bring in Donovan McNabb from the Washington Redskins.  But we do know one thing:  Brett Favre is not coming back.  Or is he?

The lockout is over, and football fans no longer have to worry about how to fill their Sundays and Monday nights.  Now we can go back to discussing concussions.