MLB Once Again Taking Itself Too Seriously

A few weeks ago, the Washington Nationals wanted to pay tribute to our armed forces by wearing hats representing the five branches of the military (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard). But Major League Baseball said that the Nats would be out of uniform, and squashed the tribute.

Now MLB has once again taken its uniform policies too seriously, and in doing so has really pissed me off. The Mets wanted to wear special hats to honor the first responders to 9/11, the NYPD and FDNY.

But Major League Baseball said they wanted to keep policy consistent throughout baseball. In other words, every team has to wear the same type of hats. Over the weekend, teams wore hats with small American flags embroidered on the side. Joe Torre (MLB's executive VP for baseball operations), said of the policy: "Certainly, it's not a lack of respect."

No, it's just a lack of common sense.

In September of 2001, the Mets wore hats given to them by NYPD and FDNY. I don't see what the big deal would have been if they were allowed to do so last night. The NFL allowed individual players to alter their uniforms yesterday. Yet baseball can't allow the New York Mets to change their hats for a game?

There are some uniforms that should be taken seriously, even revered. A military uniform. A police uniform. Those uniforms have meaning, and should be respected. But a baseball uniform is just cloth.

College Football Summary: Week 2

I wasn't particularly excited about the slate of games on this weekend's schedule. But the beautiful thing about college football is that you never know which games will be entertaining to watch, and there were plenty of those on Saturday. Here are the highlights:

FOOTBALL IS BETTER AT NIGHT
It was Michigan's first home night game and they'll probably host a few more after their 35-31 victory over the Irish. Night games are just better. The crowd is more amped (and drunker), the players have all day to get pumped for the game. It's just better.

OHIO STATE IS PROTECTED BY THE NCAA

I'm not normally a conspiracy theory guy. But OSU got a slap on the wrist even though their head coach failed to report violations. On Saturday, they're down 22-21 to Toledo, and fail to score on a 3rd & goal. Instead of being forced to kick a field goal, a ref throws a flag for defensive holding. The Big Ten Network doesn't show a replay, but on my DVR I watch the "penalty" and see a tight-end running into a safety and grabbing him. OSU gets a fresh sets of downs, and then a touchdown. Instead of a 24-22 Ohio State lead, it's 27-22. With 3 minutes left, Toledo drives to the 17, but can't just kick a field goal. They wind up turning the ball over on downs.

Ohio State gets away with everything. They might have lost to Toledo if not for a very bad call. I hate them more than any team in the country.

THE BIG XII CHAMP WILL BE FROM OKLAHOMA OR TEXAS (BUT NOT AUSTIN)
Oklahoma State demolished Arizona on Friday. Oklahoma became the first team to be voted #1 in the AP Poll 100 times. Meanwhile, Texas barely beat BYU 17-16, Missouri lost to Arizona State. ITexas A&M and Baylor were both idle this week, but they're probably the best two teams in Texas, perhaps TCU is on that level too. My point is, The University of Texas is the #4 team in Texas.

WILL ANYONE SURVIVE THE SEC WEST?
LSU should be ranked #1. Alabama went to State College, PA and left with a convincing win. Mississippi State is a darkhorse in the division, but they couldn't beat Auburn on the road. There are 5 legitimately good teams out there. Can any team run that gauntlet and not lose 2 games?

NOTRE DAME WAS OVERRATED

There wasn't much factual evidence to support Notre Dame's preseason rankings of 16 (AP), and 18 (Coaches'). And now everyone else in the country knows what I knew before the season started: Notre Dame sucks. They might start 0-3 as they host Michigan State next.

BC WILL NOT MAKE A BOWL GAME
It's been 13 years (1998) since BC did not make a bowl game. But after the Eagles' 30-3 loss to Central Florida of C-USA, it's hard to imagine them winning the required 6 games. BC has no ability to score. They only had 141 yards of offense against UCF. Chase Rettig was 10 for 23 for 70 yards and 2 picks. BC should beat Duke and UMass at home, but now games against the likes of Wake Forest seem like daunting challenges.

College Football Picks: Week 2

I went 4-3 last week, getting both of the big games Saturday night dead wrong. Here are my picks for Week 2:

Missouri +9 @ Arizona State
ASU should be decent this year, but Missouri is kind of good. It's hard to imagine them losing, let alone losing by double digits.

Iowa -6 @ Iowa State
ISU sucks on toast.

NC State -1.5 @ Wake Forest
WFU is dreadful, NCSU is decent, this spread is too small.

Penn State +10.5 vs. Alabama
I'm pretty sure Bama will win the game, but by more than 10 points? I don't know.

South Carolina -3 @ Georgia
UGA does need to win this game so they'll be motivated. But SC is quite good.

Notre Dame -3 @ Michigan
I'm rooting for more lightning in this game between teams I despise.

Boston College +7.5 @ UCF
I do have a bad feeling that BC will lose, especially with Montel Harris out. But that's a big spread. Kind of. I don't know why but I'll take BC.

Russian Hockey Team Wiped Out in Plane Crash

This is fairly breaking news. A plane carrying 43 players from KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashed shortly after take-off. The flight was destined for Minsk, where Lokomotiv were scheduled to start the 2011-12 KHL season. Word is, all but 2 on the plane were killed. A team spokesman announced: "We have no team anymore."

Among the dead is former NHL star Pavol Demitra, who played 16 seasons in North America with the Senators, Blues, Kings, Wild, and Canucks.

It's just a terrifyingly random and awful way for so many lives to end.

College Football Summary: Week 1

Week 1 rarely teaches us much, and by the time November comes, we usually don't remember nor care what happened. That's why it's kind of smart for some programs to schedule big non-conference games in Week 1. A win gives them momentum and can solidify their spot in the rankings (and get them TV games later in the year). A loss can be forgotten by the time the rankings really matter.

Here's what we learned about the 2011 season:

1. ROBERT GRIFIN III (RG3) IS FOR REAL, SO IS BAYLOR

This is an important year for Baylor. The Big XII is on the verge of disintegration, which will leave Baylor's fate up in the air. If they can win some games, make some noise, and get to a decent bowl game, then they can have some decent options for which conference they want to go to next. I'm thinking they might replace TCU in the Mountain West.

Anyway, RG3 threw for 359 yards and 5 TDs, he also ran for 38 yards, and caught a pass for 15. Not bad at all.

2. NOTRE DAME IS OVERRATED

It's shocking that people would rank Notre Dame higher than they belong. Absolutely baffling. If the Irish can't handle USF in their own backyard, how will they handle trips to Ann Arbor and Stanford, as well as visits from Michigan State and USC?

3. LSU IS VERY VERY GOOD

The SEC West is wide open. LSU just joined Alabama and Arkansas as the leading contenders. They dominated Oregon in a semi-neutral location (Baton Rouge is 450 miles from Arlington, Eugene is 2,000 miles away). It's almost impossible to go undefeated in the SEC, so having a big win like that already in the bank can help give the Tigers a national title berth, even with 1 loss or perhaps 2.

4. OREGON CAN'T WIN BIG GAMES
The Ducks weren't terribly outplayed, but they made huge mistakes at the worst points of the game and at the worst spots on the field. 4 turnovers, 12 penalties, and another loss to an SEC defense. The Ducks fly high when they're much more talented than their opponent, but when they face equal talent, they have yet to demonstrate the character it takes to win big games.

5. ONLY ONE TEAM CAN WEAR SILLY UNIFORMS

Speaking of Oregon, only they can wear silly threads and look cool. That's because their uniform was ridiculous to begin with. Forest green with lime green writing? Why not modify that? But when teams with traditional colors and standard uniforms try to copy Oregon's creativity, it never works out. Georgia's uniforms were so ugly, that they even failed at being ugly. Maryland's looked like a nightmare, Boise State's were ugly AND boring. Every team will try to imitate the Ducks, but only Oregon is Oregon.

6. USC'S DEFENSE ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING POSITIVE
It's hard to be impressed by a 19-17 home win over lowly Minnesota, but USC did something in this game that they notoriously failed to do in 2010: their defense made a big play at the end, instead of choking down the stretch. In the Pete Carrol days, USC won with their defense. Their current incarnation might not be as athletic or as dominant, but at least they apparently no longer will cost the Trojans any games.

7. LIGHTNING SUCKS

Lightning seemed to effect about half of the games this weekend. It was a rare set of circumstances with several large weather systems covering the country. As the season progresses, and the weather cools down, lightning will stop being a factor.

8. IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG YEAR ON CHESTNUT HILL
The Eagles amassed 479 yards of offense, including 375 from QB Chase Rettig. But the BC quarterback couldn't get the ball into the endzone, and the eagles lost to a mediocre team that had a backup QB under center. Now BC travels to Orlando to play UCF, who won 11 games last year. A loss to UCF, and the Eagles can kiss bowl eligibility goodbye.

Offensive Feast or Famine for Sox

After being shutout for the 11th time of the year, the Sox put up 14 runs in Toronto. It was the 21st time the Sox have scored 10+ runs in a game. In other words, the Sox have had many games of no offense at all, and many games of much more than enough offense.

The Sox also got some pitching in this one as Lester went 7 scoreless, only giving up 3 hits and 1 walk, striking out 11. He only needed 100 pitches to get through those 7 innings.

The Sox hit 9 doubles, including 3 by Scutaro, and 2 from Ortiz.

Wakefield goes for #200 tonight, opposing 9-10 Brandon Morrow.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Video Game Idea: Bill Belichick's Situational Football

John Madden has made millions by lending his name to a video game. I think it's time for Coach Belichick to do something similar. This game will be different from all previous football simulations. You won't play entire games, you'll just play key moments, or key SITUATIONS. And unlike other football video games, you won't be playing as the ball carrier. You'll be playing at different positions for different situations. So on 3rd & 8 on the opponents' 35, you'll be a receiver, and you'll have to run your route deep enough to get the 1st down, or at least get to the 30 so your kicker can attempt a field goal. You'll be a gunner on punt coverage, a lineman pass blocking, a blitzing middle linebacker, et cetera.

And sometimes the position will seem boring. You'll be an offensive lineman and you'll have to try to hear the snap count in a noisy Indianapolis stadium. You won't get to let the entire play unfold. Once the ball is snapped, your job will be done and you'll move on to the next situation.

Another scenario: you'll be a free safety and you'll have to determine where to stand at the start of a play. Then you'll move on to the next situation.

And it won't just be on the field stuff. You'll have to know how and when to substitute in and out of the game. You'll have to memorize route trees. You'll learn how to answer questions from the media without really answering them. You'll have to turn on your video game system at a certain time each morning to arrive for practice, even if it's snowing.

This won't be as popular as Madden, which allows you to be the star of the game without any of the work or preparation. It will be more real, more down to earth, more nuts and bolts, and much less entertaining. Most people won't get it, will find ways to criticize it even though they don't understand it, then scratch their heads and wonder why it's successful. Some will then attribute its success to the players inside the game and not the coach.

I can't wait for Patriots' season to start.

College Football Picks: Week 1

I'm going to once again try picking college football games, with the spread. That way when I'm 30 games under .500 by October, I can blame the spreads. Here are my picks for Week 1:

Baylor +10 vs. TCU
I think Baylor has some talent, TCU lost most of theirs. TCU will win this game, but not by 10.

Northwestern +10 @ Boston College
Northwestern has a good passing game, BC's defense is a little weak against the pass. And with no Montel Harris, the Eagles have no offense.

Notre Dame -7 vs. South Florida
I don't have much faith in a middle of the pack Big East team to go to South Bend and lose by less than a TD.

Oklahoma -23 vs. Tulsa
OU can score a lot of points.

Georgia -3 vs, Boise State (Atlanta)
Big test for both teams to show how much they actually have.

Oregon +3 @ LSU (Arlington, TX)
This will be a fun game to watch, UO's offense vs. LSU's defense. But Oregon has the weapons.

Texas A&M -14 vs. SMU
I think the Aggies are good enough for a BCS bowl, and therefore should handle SMU.