Mallett's confession...

Today, nationalfootballauthority.com reported that former Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett admitted to experimenting with drugs during his team interviews at the NFL combine. The article quoted Pro Football Weekly stating:

"One GM said Mallett was the first quarterback ever to admit his drug usage to him in interviews, and his willingness to be honest about his past and acknowledge issues is viewed as a positive.

Concerns about his history of use could impact his draft position, though. Although Mallett did not produce an official positive test at Arkansas, he has been arrested for public intoxication and carries a reputation as a "big party guy," per sources who have interviewed him.

How much teams believe he has matured will weigh into his draft status. "I would not take him at any point," one executive not in need of a quarterback said. He still figures to be drafted in the second round."

Ok... let's just hold on a second... was there any mention as to when Ryan did this "experimenting"? Was he 13 yrs old or was it last Tuesday? Has he made mistakes recently? Yes, we know that that in March of 2009 he pled guilty to public intoxication.

His former coach Bobby Petrino came to his aid stating Mallett never tested positive for drugs while playing for the Razorbacks.

"I don't know where all of [it] came from," Petrino said. "All I can judge is how he did for us. He did a great job for us. He was a guy you love having in your program, not only as a great player, but he represented our program great."

I am all about second chances... I have used a few in my life... I have learned from my mistakes. Mallett should not be hurt in the draft by these recent admissions.... his honesty and candor should be valued for what they are.

Off-the-field behavior factors in to teams decision far more than it used too... Too many teams have been embarassed by the illegalities of their players... and coaches to not have this be a factor. Players are investments. Would you buy a house if you knew that the 40 yr old builder had been convicted of assault when he was 18 yrs old?

I am not an NFL team owner and I can't say, with any clout, that it doesn't matter what Ryan did in his past. I think that I could look past his past and draft him where he should be drafted. I would keep my eyes open to his behavior after I drafted him though... just like I keep an eye on all of my investments... my house, my car, my retirement plan... I want to make sure that hey perform for the money I am spending.

Ryan's past should stay in his past, but if he doesn't learn from it.... well then, shame on him. He should know better! If he falters in his path he will not only embarrass his future team but himself.

Ryan Mallett would be a great investment for a team that needs a QB with a cannon of an arm!

Are the Tigers as bad as they are letting on?

This weekend the Detroit Tigers split a four game series with The Oakland A's in California. They dropped the last game 5-1.

The Tigers' record so far is 7-9 which is not "terrible", they have showed some shades of brilliance already. In the first game they shut out the A's 3-0 and in the second game won 8-4... They CAN beat the A's, they have had some great games so far... they have had more lousy games but... you see where I am going.

Currently they are 26th overall in ERA which is terrible, they are 15th overall in runs which tells us two things... pitching and defense, which is what wins games, is not good at all.... while offense, which is what sells tickets, is not bad but could be a lot better. Frankly speaking... the Tigers have a lot of work to do. Granted, the Tigers faced Oakland's top 2 pitchers in the four game set but still... During a pregame session with reporters Sunday morning, Leyland -- without being asked -- said, "We've got to get our offense going."

Manager, Jim Leyland has some serious things to deal with! Victor Martinez will not be catching tonight in Seattle (groin) but may DH. Magglio Ordonez may need to rest his ankle again tonight. Austin Jackson MUST start producing in the lead off position. The biggest project they have that needs to turn around is situational hitting. They reached a startling low in Oakland.

                                               Miguel Cabrera walks away from the
                                               plate after striking out in the ninth inning
                                               Sunday. Cabrera went 0-for-4 with two
                                               strikeouts. / BEN MARGOT/Associated Press


In Seattle, they will NOT be facing Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez or Michael Pineda who was very impressive in winning his first two games. They WILL be facing Jason Vargas, who is win-less this season but tough, in tonight's game and tomorrow night they will face Doug Fister who is trying to make a name for himself and has an axe to grind in general.

The Tigers can use Seattle to build their confidence and start the upswing of their season... I think they will. I think they have a team that will do great things this year. Will they win a pennant? Maybe... maybe not, but they could! They have a strong team when it's firing on all cylinders!

Prediction: Tigers win series 2-1

12 over on a par 4? ..... Really?

Yesterday at the Texas Open Kevin Na shot a 16 on a par 4... Excuse me while I go dust off my clubs, apparently I am good enough to play on the PGA tour!

I know everybody has a bad day once in a while but that's TERRIBLE!!! "One bad hole can basically shoot you out of the tournament," Na said. "That's what I just did."  Yeah... I guess so!

The last time I hit that poorly I was 12 yrs old... pretty sure... yep.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Eric Gay

Kevin Na drops his club after taking the third of four drives off the ninth tee Sunday at the Texas Open.

Why do pro golfers let their clubs go after they hit a bad shot? That's the third or fourth time I have seen that recently! What happened to golf course etiquette? Is that just so everyone knows without any doubt that you are a jerk?  My Grandfather, who taught me course etiquette like it was a University class, would have a lot to say about that!

Hey golf! you better clean up your act or you are going the same place as the NBA! Headed right to my "unwatchable list"!!!


Stay tuned.... I will be back with more after these messages...

Some thoughts on morals in sports... and the media

I am sure that EVERYONE will have something to say about this topic.. because I am sure that everyone has an opinion... especially the females about my first topic. I invite one and all to leave a comment.

I read an article last night in Esquire Magazine about how it's time for Tiger Woods to redeem himself and it's time, as fans of sports, to allow him to. The article talked about how Tiger was just another athlete who was banging lots of women. It compared him to Wilt Chamberlain and Charles Barkley and talked about how society loves to delve into the juicy stories of sports figures and their sins because it makes them more "human". It also used Michael Vick as an example of how even though he committed "noxious" crimes and did time in prison for it... he "redeemed" himself in the game last season against the Redskins when he performed amazingly and put up "inhuman" stats. (Not that I personally couldn't have done very well as a QB against the lowly Redskins.) The article also used the example of Rex Ryan and his alleged 'foot fetish' and how the tabloids and papers ate up the story and made into this big "thing". There were lots of references to athletes and the media and the stories of the past year and throughout history. I am not a college English Professor, but in my humble opinion it was one of the worst articles I have ever read. I couldn't figure out the point of it when I finished. I guess if Tiger wins a Tournament this year, we are supposed to be in awe of him again.

After I read the effort and realized that it was twenty minutes of my life that I will never get back, I started thinking about Tiger and his situation. Here's a guy who, from a very young age, was pushed by his Dad to excel at sport that he showed an interest and a talent in. Every waking moment of everyday was spent practicing, playing, and honing his skill set so that when he was old enough, he could go onto greatness. Which he did. What did he give up though? When he was 16 yrs old and at the driving range while the kids he was growing up with were off being "kids", what was he missing out on? A lot! Coming of age in America means a lot of things today for kids. The first kiss, the first time experimenting with sex, or smoking, or drinking, going to parties and hanging out with friends. Did Tiger get to do any of these things when he was growing up? I have no idea. I can see how, once he had money and free time... what he did can happen. I am not saying it's right, I am just saying I can see how a guy, who never had time to do those things when he was a kid, would wind up doing those things when he was rich and famous.

Now, my Dad never pushed me to excel at anything in particular. My Dad encouraged me to take an interest in what I was interested in and then encouraged me to practice and be good at it. I had lots of free time to go out and, what I call "experiment" with things. My Dad would call it "getting in trouble." Bottom line is, at my age now, I know what those things are like and most of those things I don't do now. I am not saying that I am a better man than Tiger. I don't judge, that's not my job. My job is to be a good husband and father. I practice every day to be better at it than I was the day before.

The point of this story is... Has Tiger committed sins? Yes, he has admitted to wrongdoing. He lost his family because of it. Has it affected his golf game? Obviously so. Will he ever intimidate on the golf course again? Maybe. Will he ever "redeem" himself by having an amazing week on a golf course and winning an Open? How can he? Is that possible? Where is the line between real life and entertainment. That's what sports REALLY is... it's ENTERTAINMENT. Maybe we should ask Tiger's ex-wife if redemption is possible by excelling at a sport. I think I know the answer she would give.

Now.... switching from the course to the court...

Night before last, Kobe Bryant was whistled for an offensive foul away from the ball. I saw the highlight on Sportscenter the following day and if I was the Ref.. I probably would have blown the whistle too. Now, I have NO IDEA what happened in the minutes preceding the call. I don't know if the Ref was having an "off" night as far as officiating goes. I don't know if Kobe was in a bad mood. What followed the call was a HORRENDOUS display of behavior by a professional athlete. Kobe complained all the way back up the court and earned a Technical Foul for his actions and/or what he said. Then Kobe went to the bench had another little tantrum, sat down, threw his towel on the floor like a four year old and shouted at the Ref and called him a "faggot".  It was loud enough for the Ref to hear where he was standing and probably loud enough for the fans behind the bench to hear as well. The following day, the NBA fined him $100,000.00

Personally I think he should have been ejected from the game and suspended from a large number of games next season (the season ended for most teams yesterday). I also think he should take some "sensitivity training" and the LA Lakers should also issue some form of punishment. My 14 yr old stepson feels that Kobe should be kicked off the team. I know that if a professional in a field like Real Estate or Education called his co-worker or his supervisor the same name... he would probably lose his job.

Why is a slap on the wrist all that was handed down? What would his Mother say? who knows..

What happened to professionalism in sports? Why is this behavior basically tolerated? Questions that need to be answered.

Sure, blame it on the coach...

Yesterday in the top of the first inning with one out in Detroit, Texas Rangers slugger, Josh Hamilton was on 3rd base when a pop foul ball was caught in front of the Tigers dugout. The Texas Ranger's 3rd base coach noticed that nobody was covering home plate and told his player to go.

I have been watching Major League Baseball for a little over thirty years and I have NEVER seen a sacrifice that was caught in FRONT of the runner in the infield.... NEVER!

Josh left 3rd when the ball was caught and slid head first into home as the Tigers catcher Victor Martinez (a member of my fantasy team by the way) tagged him out.

That's is not the story... the story is that Josh fractured a bone in his upper right arm. Now... because of a dumb decision, he will miss the next six to eight weeks.

In a post game interview, Josh stated that the call to send him home, made by the 3rd base coach was a "stupid play".  "The whole time I was watching the play and I was listening. I was like, 'Dude, I don't want to go. Something is going to happen.' But I listened to my coach and I went."
Um... excuse me.. Dude, who's brain is Josh's body attached to? How do you blame your coach for YOUR injury? If you didn't want to go, why did you go??? I hate to sound like my Mom but, if he told you to jump off a cliff... would you do that too?

Josh is bitter and I COMPLETELY understand that.... but Josh, YOU left third! You decided to be as aggressive as your coach! You decided to break one of the biggest rules of base running which is not to make the 3rd out of an inning at or from 3rd base!

I feel bad about the injury to one of the games' best hitters but what's even MORE pathetic and sad is the public blaming by Josh of his coach for the injury.  This is a man's game... be one!

                                                   Special to the S-T/Louis DeLuca

A couple things now that I am back....

This will catch me up-to-date with everything that I let myself get behind on....

March Madness was madness again this year. Are you like me? Did you turn in your brackets and THEN watch UCONN and wish like I did that I had picked them to win it all? I am not going to lie, I thought SDSU could win it all after what I saw them do in the beginning of the year but we all know what happened... After the 3rd round I was pretty much done.  Anyways...

I know that I stated in a previous post that I had become alienated from the NBA.... it was pretty much dead to me. The actions of the players in Detroit recently this year had pretty much pushed me back to where I was after I had allowed it to grow back on me... The post season is starting shortly and I am back in tune with what's going on. I will be following on Sportscenter and the Internet though I can't bring myself to watch an actual game... and I don't think that I can explain why.... I need to go think about that and see if I can come up with a reason.  Although I am not sure it requires an explanation.

Now... baseball...

At the time of this writing the Detroit Tigers are 3 and 7... not good but I am not going to give up on them... how could you? If you are a faithful fan and you saw what they did in the off-season to bolster the team... you know that the have the potential... they just need to bring it!

The New York Yankees are doing a little better at 5 and 4 going into tonight's game with Baltimore... I love the confidence and swagger of Nick Swisher... who doesn't? He 's just so happy to be where he is and playing this game on the BIGGEST stage. This morning on a local sports talk radio show he said
“I feel great. I think that it’s very early. It’s early in the season and we’re still trying to gel to together as a lineup. … We’re just getting ready to take off. We ran into a buzzsaw there in Boston, they were playing really good baseball, and it’s nice to come back on this homestand.”
Really Nick? You think the Red Sox were playing really good baseball? They are 2 and 8... actually the ONLY two games they ave won were against the Yankees... what does that say?  I mean... it's baseball so... "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???" I have no idea... it could mean nothing.... it probably does mean nothing.

In Fantasy land.... I am the Commissioner of a head-to-head fantasy baseball league and a couple of the losing managers were complaining after the first week about the scoring stats and how hitting has more weight than pitching... ehhh sorry Charlies... but you should have looked at that BEFORE the season started... not 10 games in after you lose. Don't be bitter... go figure out how to win and stop complaining!

I am also in a "points accumulation" league. I am flirting with first place... today I am in fourth but yesterday I was in 1st place in the morning. That's just me bragging a little.

Saturday is Michigan Football's "Spring Game".... I wish I had the Big Ten Network so I could watch but... I guess I will have to do without... either that or I need to win the lotto on Tuesday night so I can fly to Ann Arbor so I could watch... I am sure it's going to be good!

Have a great afternoon all!

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Hey sports fans...

I have to apologize to my faithful readers for my absence. I have been thru a gauntlet of hypocrisy, sabotage, backstabbing, corruption, and narcissism at now my "former" place of employment. That's why I have not been posting... for that I am sorry that you have been the collateral damage... but justice will be done. I will just leave it at that for now while the investigation is ongoing.

I am currently working on a posting regarding the college basketball tourneys, the pro basketball post season AND the current baseball geography... it's been an interesting few weeks and I have a lot to say.

Stay tuned.... I will be back after these messages.