Feb 25 - Not In This Temple

When the Celtics and Lakers were locked in their NBA Championship death struggles in the Mid-80's, I always wondered why Boston didn't resort to thuggery to tilt the playing field. The Lakers, quite frankly, were the better team and I always thought that coach KC Jones should have used some his bank benchers to stir things up on the court. For instance, why didn't Jones send in super-stiff Greg Kite to simply take a punch at Kareem or Magic. So what if Kite got tossed? If he took Jabbar or Worthy or even Rambis with him for a couple games, it would have been worth it.

Well, it seems like me and Temple coach John Cheney think along the same lines. In case you haven't heard, the other night, Cheney's Temple Owls were playing cross-town rival Saint Joeseph's. The game was fairly close, but Cheney apparently felt his team was getting short shrift from the officials. In particular, Cheney was arguing that St. Joes was getting away with setting illegal screens. After receiving a technical, the frustrated Cheney had seen enough so he inserted a seldom-used thug to "send a message." The "goon," Nehemia Ingram, ended up fouling out in four minutes of action, but not before he broke the arm of St. Joe's John Bryant. It should be noted that Ingram, who weighs in at 250 pounds, rarely plays and when he does see the floor, its usually during garbage time. Cheney would have put in the Hanson Brothers but two of them had fouled out and one was serving a one game suspension.

Cheney revealed his strategy to the media after Tuesday's game and then announced that he would sit out Saturday's game against UMASS as punishment for his actions. Subsequent to this announcement, there has been a fair amount of debate in the media on the subject, but there has not been a real consensus formed on the matter. Some ladies think what Cheney did is reprehensible and they are particularly gauled to see that neither Temple or the Atlantic-10 Conference has stepped in with stiffer penalties (Temple finally did). Others have been more dismissive, noting that this goes on all the time and Cheney's self-imposed suspension is more then adequate penance.

I don't feel too strongly one way or the other, but I do think this episode provides us with a long-overdue opportunity to examine one of the more overrated coaching resumes in college basketball today. In my eyes, John Cheney has been getting a free pass for far too long. He is older then hell and for one reason or another, the press has never felt comfortable laying a glove on this guy. Well, I turned in my press pass in 1998 and so here comes my critique.

The only thing more inflated then Cheney's record as a coach is his record as a "educator." But with that said, lets start with his coaching record. His supporters, like Vitale and Raftery, will point to the fact that Temple is hardly a basketball powerhouse, yet Cheney has taken his team to five NCAA regional finals. Five is a heady number, but Cheney has also lost each and every one of these games - Duke in 88, UNC in 91, Michigan in 93, Duke in 99 and Michigan State in 01. Now listen, he came up against a couple of real big teams, including the Fab Five in 1993 and a monstrous Elton Brand-led Duke team in 1999, but he still lost every one of those games. And another crucial point worth noting - without exception, Cheney's teams were helped along to those finals when higher seeded teams were knocked off unexpectedly and Temple got to play soft opponents in the second and third rounds. You don't believe me? How about 1991, when Temple got to play Richmond in the second round after the Spiders knocked off number two seeded Syracuse. The same thing happened in 1993 when Temple got Santa Clara and not Arizona. In 2001, Temple caught a break and only had to beat a woeful Penn State to advance to the regional final. The same thing happened in 1988 when 13th seeded Richmond was the foe in the Sweet Sixteen. Cheney certainly doesn't have a bad tourney record but lets be honest. There are no final fours and he has amassed much of his record against lesser teams who were coming off big upsets. Oh and another thing, Cheney hasn't even been to a tourney since losing to Michigan State in a 2001 Regional Final.

My problems with Cheney go well beyond simple numbers. I don't like his style and I cringe when people applaud his integrity and his commitment to his kids. This is a guy who will let just about any kid, regardless of his past, walk onto the Temple campus so long as the kid can board and play defense. He has never had a problem taking prop 48s or kids with rap sheets. I am not necessarily against all Prop 48s, but I think a good deal of them don't belong on college campuses. Cheney obviously feels differently and that is why he tends to sign questionable kids, many of whom never sniff graduation. I am not so naive to think others don't do this as well, but Cheney is held to a much different standard. When Tark went after these kids, he was called a mercenary. When Cheney does it, he is called a father figure. The fact of the matter is Cheney has brought some bad kids to Temple. Other coaches do the same thing at their schools but the difference is we rarely celebrate their legacies like we do with Cheney.

The last point I would like to make concerns Cheney's arrogance. I have always felt this guy conducts his affairs with a giant chip on his shoulder. Its always Cheney against the world even though the world has never once shouted back. And is it me, or does Cheney always appear angry? If he's not screaming at officials, he is threatening former adversary John Calipari. In a nutshell, I think Cheney is just an ordinary coach whose best years are long gone. He has had some success and I will not deny him that. But he has not had as much success as his supporters claim and he has achieved much of it via means that are far from exemplary. To me, Cheney is a lot closer to Harrick then the Hall of Fame.

Who is Nick O'Hearn and what is he doing beating Tiger Woods in match play? And what about super senior Jay Haas taking out Vijay Singh? Those are a couple of body blows for ABC which is televising this weekend's WGC - Accenture Match Play Championships, but shed no tears. There are still plenty of interesting matchups on the horizon, including a possible final eight showdown between Sergio and Phil. Given their Ryder Cup records, Sergio should be a healthy favorite in that match, but Phil is playing a lot better then he was last year at Oakland Hills and I think he can take out the Spaniard. And how about Kirk Tripplett? First he takes out Mike Weir and then he goes through Kenny "Bourbon Boy" Perry. I can see his run taking him past Robert Allenby, but I don't see Trips taking out The Goose. San Diego wasn't kind to Goose in Top Gun, but I am betting his namesake will fare much better at neighboring La Costa.

If you were an NBA GM, would you trade your starting five for the following: Gilbert Arenas Michael Redd, Manu Ginobli, Rashard Lewis and Carlos Boozer, with Van Exel, Voshon Lenard, Stephen Jackson, and Malik Rose off the bench. I think there are very few GM's who wouldn't gladly offer up their teams for this group and the thing is, it theoretically was available to every team in the league. Why is that? Because the team listed above consists entirely of second round draft picks who were selected over the past ten years. The NBA Draft is a bit of a crap shoot, especially outside the lottery, but the list above shows that there are some nuggets available when TNT turns off the lights.

The Sportsaholic was hard on Isiah Thomas yesterday and the rest of the world followed with guns ablaze today. In case you weren't watching, Thomas orchestrated two very peculiar trades yesterday. In sum, Thomas shipped out a serviceable and affordable center in Nazr Muhammed and his backup in exchange for two marginal power forwards, some questionable picks and a ton of salary. New York's tabloids simply crushed the moves in today's morning editions. The Post's Peter Vecsey was particularly critical, pointing out "once again the Knicks have exchanged two bad players with undesirable contracts - plus their one and only pro center - for a pair of fringe starters with longer and higher salaries." On ESPN, some of the commentary was even more harsh and one columnist even suggested that Thomas be considered the worst GM ever. WOW! That seems a bit strong given Elgin Baylor's track record, but the fact of the matter is that Isiah Thomas has been an unmitigated disaster. His moves are disjointed and reactionary. Worse yet, he has no strategy. One minute he wants to build with veterans and the next he is trading for future draft slots. Thomas has become a joke around the league and there are some in New York who are beginning to use the F word (fire) when discussing Zeke. And what does this say about Jim Dolan, the owner of the Knicks and the guy who hired Zeke? He now has the distinction of running both the Knicks and the Rangers into the ground. I am not sure Thomas is the worst GM in sports, but Dolan is right up as the worst owner.

We have a bounty of big games on tap this weekend and for once we will start out West where Arizona plays in a huge game up in Seattle. If the Cats can win that game, they will lock up the Pac-10 and put themselves in prime position to be the number one seed out west. Also on Saturday, the best of the SEC goes at it when Alabama faces off with Kentucky. Alabama has flown under the radar this year and Saturday's game will give the Tide a chance to show their colors. A couple of other games worth noting on Saturday include Georgia Tech at Miami and Texas Tech at A&M. The first game is basically an elimination game as far as I am concerned. Neither GT of Miami have any real shot at the tourney without a win so this one should be heated. Meanwhile, A&M is on the bubble, but with a terrible non-conference schedule, they need another quality win to get in. A win over the Red Raiders would help the cause.

Sunday's big game will take at place Kansas where the Jayhawks will square off with Ok State. Both of these Big-12 powers are coming off losses and this should make for an interesting game. Kansas is hoping to avoid its fourth straight loss, something that hasn't happened in Jayhawk country for a very long time. With a win, OK State gets itself back in the race for a number one seed and I still expect Eddie Sutton's team to be a factor next month. The other game worth mentioning on Sunday has UNC traveling to Maryland. As I have been saying for a couple weeks, the Terps have some work to do and a loss to UNC will put them in a do-or-die spot next week at Virginia Tech. Its probably too much to ask for this Maryland team to beat UNC, but they are at home and College Park has not been friendly to the Heels in recent years.

Feb 24 - A Whole Lot Of Trading Going On

I cant help myself. I spent about 600 words on C WEBB this morning and I thought that would tap me out on the NBA for a week. But there have been a flurry of deal this afternoon and I just couldn't wait to offer my thoughts.

My favorite trade of the afternoon has the Celts trading Gary Payton to Atlanta for Antoine. As a tepid Celts fan, I am not too happy about bringing the cancerous toine back to Boston, but I think its hilarious what Danny Ainge did to Payton. The Glove asked to be dealt to a winner and so what did Ainge do? He sent him to purgatory. As the immortal Johnny C once said, if the glove don't fit, it gets tossed in shit. I say there is a good chance Payton refuses to report. He thought twice about reporting to Boston last year and Atlanta is a much worse situation then Boston. I can't say I am too thrilled by Walker's return to Beantown. He was shipped out for a reason and I can't see how that reason has changed. Walker is a first class loser and I pray Ainge and Doc keep him as far away from Al "the future of the franchise" Jefferson as possible. On the flip side, this move allows Ainge to quiet those critics who say he got ripped off when he dealt Walker for Raef LaFrentz two eyars ago. Ainge now has both these losers and the only guy he lost in the process was another loser - Chucky Adkins.

So what else do we got on the transaction wire. How bout the Baron going from one terrible situation to another? Of course I am talking about Baron Davis getting shipped from New Orleans to Golden State in exchange for Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton. You know you were in hell when being traded to Golden State is considered a reprieve. Baron has built up some ill will in recent weeks and it seems the Hornets were getting real tired of his crap. So what did they do? They exported him to one of the most dysfunctional organizations in basketball. The Hornets are now left with the greatest collection of crap we have seen since Fred Sanford's junk yard was declared a Superfund site. Their backcourt is made up of Dan Dickau, Claxton and 19 year old JR Smith. That isnt exactly Byron Scott, Magic and Michael Cooper. And upfront, they now have Glenn Robinson and Dale Davis to pair up with PJ Brown and Jamal Magloire. That is the four horsemen of the apolypse if you ask me. At least Davis and his $10 million dollar contract expire at season's end and that may allow the Hornets to go out and get a bit of help. God knows they could use it. As for the Warriors, they will have a pretty good backcourt if and when Davis gets healthy. But the Warriors problem is really up front where they have no size and little skill. I think Mullin longs for the old days when he, Mitch Richmond and Tim Hardaway made do without much up front but somebody should remind Chris that those teams didn't scare anyone.

In other news, Keith Van Horn got traded again and when he suits up for Dallas, it will be the fifth team he has played for in four seasons. He was a Net, a Sixer, a Knick, a Buck and now a Maverick. Keith seems to be moving westward and so I am predicting his next stop will be in either Denver or his home state of Utah. Did someone in the crowd just say Van Horn for Mehmet Okur?

Lastly, the Knicks were active today and once again it looks as if Isiah Thomas doesn't know a thing about being a GM. The Knicks ended up making deals with Houston and San Antonio that netted Maurice Taylor and Malik Rose, some future picks and a whole lot of salary. To justify such a bounty, the Knicks parted ways with Nazr Muhammed, Vin Baker and some other guys whose mothers don't even know what they do for a living. Malik has to be fuming. He goes from the brink of winning an NBA Championship to four years at Rikers Island. I would equate being dealt from the Spurs to the Knicks to a porn star being dealt from Vivid to Joe's Wonderful World of Beastiality. And as far as Thomas goes, I have read Rose and Taylor have big money coming to them so the Knicks impossible salary structure just got worse. Moreover, the first round picks Thomas obtained and hopes to build around are from the Suns and Spurs. Unless Tim Duncan gets shot and Steve Nash losses his Visa, these picks will never end up being valuable lotto shots. Way to go Zeke.

Feb 24 - The Kings Split 10s While Dealing CWEBB

The Maloof Brothers - owners of the Sacramento Kings - seem to be pretty smart guys and the type of people who you want owning your favorite sports franchise. When they bought the Sacramento Kings, the team was about as irrelevent as irrelevance gets. But in just a few short years, the Kings rose from the ashes and were just a call or two away from playing in the NBA finals. As such, these guys have built up a lot of equity with the SACTO fans. Unfortunately for them, they gave back a big chunk of this capital last night when they split a pair of tens with the dealer showing eight.

I am still scratching my head trying to figure out last night's trade that netted the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers Chris Webber and Matt Barnes in exchange for Corliss Williamson, Kenny Thomas and Brian Skinner. I nearly sharted myself when I saw this news hit the tape around 11 O"clock last night. The Sportsaholic is not a huge Chris Webber fan, but lets be serious. A package of Williamson, Skinner and Thomas is nothing short of a shit sandwich wrapped in tin foil. All three of these guys play for my "all-irrelevant" team and why the Kings felt the need to keep them together in Sacramento is beyond me. My initial reaction to this news is that Kings General Manager Geoff Petrie simply was absent the day that "salary dumps"were discussed in school. Its a little late now, but Geoff, here is the general point. When your goal is too dump a bad contract, you should do your best to not accept bad contracts and bad players in return.

Chris Webber has one of the worst contracts in the NBA and it was no secret that the Kings wanted out from under it. Its a seven year deal that will have three years and $60 million to go after the 2005 NBA season concludes. Webber can still play, but he had a major knee injury last year, he cannot defend his shadow and his best days are at least three years gone. Moreover, he didn't get along great with free agent-to-be Peja Stoyakovic and so if Webber wasn't dealt, it was assumed that Peja was a goner in the off-season. With that said, I understand why the Kings dealt Webber, but I still cannot believe that all they could get in return were Williamson, Skinner and Thomas. I may have traded Webber for Williamson when they were both sophs in 1993, but lets be serious, Corliss is a decent seventh or eighth man while Webber is arguably top-40 in the league. The thing that makes this deal so scary for the Kings is that the great triumverate comes to Sacramento with a collective contract that is pretty similar to Webber's. All three of these guys get paid and will continue to do so though 07 so if Sacramento was trying to free up some salary, they failed miserably. I guess the one positive for Sacto is that it might help them retain Peja, but the jury will be out on that issue until the offseason. And even if they are able to resign Peja, the incomming contracts will prevent the Kings from making any other meaningful roster moves. Moral to the story - the Kings are going to have some of the worst big guys in basketball through 2007.

So what does this trade mean on the basketball court. Well, for the Kings, I believe it propels them toward basketball oblivion. Peja and Mike Bibby will keep the team competiive, but because none of the guys coming aboard are frontline players, the Kings have pretty much taken themselves out of the running for the Western Conference Championship. It was going to be an uphill struggle with Webber, but without Webs, this team is one and done come playoff time. As for the Sixers, things get a bit interesting. Like I said earlier, Webber can still play. He is a legitimate 20 and 10 guy who can pass out of the low post and nail mid-range jumpers all day long. He is no Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett, but he may be the second best power forward in the East behind Jermaine O'Neil. If he can get along with Allen Iverson and handle those insufferable Philly fans, the Sixers may have something going, especially if Shaq's injury proves serious and he is forced to sit out the year. If Shaq is out, why can't Philly with AI and CWEBB compete for the conference championship? ESPN's Tim Legler had perhaps the most asinine comment on this trade when he said this morning that Philly is now the leading contender to take the Atlantic Division. Sorry Tim, Philly GM Billy King didn't make this move to win the Atlantic. He made it in hopes of winning the East. And if Shaq is truly hurt, who other then Detroit is better then this team in the East? After last night's trade, Philly is once again relevant. The same cannot be said for the Kings.

Before I move on, I want to make it clear that I am not a huge fan of Chris Webber. He is a nice player, but he is a step - make that a giant step - below the elite guys in the NBA. Webb has always hung some nice numbers, but I never thought he was real athletic and he has a spotty record in big spots. Make no mistake about - Chirs Webber can pass and shoot. He has great hands and occasionally he will pick up an offensive rebound. But he doesn't have a signature low post move, he can't run and he often gets torched by more athletic forwards. And this should say it all - twenty years from now I will remember Webber for the following four things: dating Tyra Banks, lying to a grand jury, calling a time out that Michigan didn't have, and disappearing in game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference finals against the Lakers.

If last night's trade wasn't enough, Billy King did the unimaginable this morning. He found a way to dump Glenn Robinson and his $12 million a year contract on New Orleans. In return, Philly gets free-agent to-be Rodney Rogers and the one-legged Jamal Mashburn. Mashburn hasn't played this year and will likely retire at the end of the season. Nonetheless, this a good move for the Sixers. They get an expiring contract (and possibly two) whle they rid themselves of a grotesque cancer. Robinson has no business sitting on a winning team's bench and he is now going to a place where that won't be a problem. With these two moves, King is my early favorite for NBA Executive of the Year.

Well, I have hit my NBA quota so I will move on to college hoops and I will start in Atlanta where the Yellow Jackets came up small in a big spot against Duke. I have one suggestion for Yellow Jacket Coach Paul Hewitt - find someone who can explain the purpose of that arc that is 20 feet from the basket. You want the telling stat from this 60-56 Duke victory - The Devils made nine threes while GT made ZERO. Not only that, GT only attempted five long balls. BJ Elder missed three of them on his way to a big two-point night. Ismail Muhammed had a nice night as well with five turnovers in 20 minutes to go along with his four points. GT is really in a tough spot as we speak. They are 6-7 in conference with games remaining at Miami, at Wake and at home against Clemson. Assuming Clemson is a win, the Jackets have to steal one of the other games. I don't see it happening at Wake so the game at Miami looks to me like an elimination game. If Georgia Tech fails to make the tourney, it will be the first time that a national finalist failed to get an invite the following year since Seton Hall did it 1990. This will be a disgrace for Paul Hewitt since he had almost his entire club coming back from last year's team. During this past off-season, Hewitt's star shined bright. Today, it looks as if it may flame out.

Last night's other big game took place at Villanova where the Cats squared off with Boston College. The Cats were laying a bunch of points in this game and for good reason - they are brutally tough at home. Last night, Nova didn't shoot the ball like they normally do, but they made up for it on the glass, outrebounding BC by a ten spot. With BC losing, the NCAA is running out of candidates for number one seeds. Ok State and BC looked like good candidates coming into this week, but both lost and there are now two gapping vacancies. After Illinois and UNC, there really are about 8 teams bunched tightly. One team that could creep up on a top seed will be the winner of this weekend's Arizona-Washington game. Keep an eye on the cats - they are playing pretty well right now.

Elsewhere in college basketball, West Virginia picked up a huge win last night against Pitt and they look like they have played themselves into the tourney. They are only 7-7 in conference, but they should be able to close with wins against Rutgers and Seton Hall. The mounties swept Pitt this season and their late season run does not bode well for Georgetown. I think WVU is going to end up getting the spot that many had reserved for the Hoyas. The other team worth mentioning is Minnestoa. They looked like they had folded ten days ago, but wins over Ohio State and Iowa have the Gophers back in the picture. The Gophers finish with Purdue and Penn State and two wins get them to the 20 mark. That should be enough to earn Minnesota the Big-10's fourth and final tourney invite.

The organ grinders over at ESPN are just going crazy over this Randy Moss news. In a two hour period this morning, Mike Golic, John Clayton and Mel Kipper, all got down on their knees and praised the Raiders for this swift move. The conventional wisdom is the Raiders have now assembled an unstoppable air attack that will cause fits throughout the AFC. To the Sportsaholic, this just smacks of what is wrong with NFL commentary. As today proves, pundits are myopically focused on the skill positions. To hear some tell it, the game begins and ends with those guys who touch the ball for a living. Clayton is the worst offender. He loves to recite a teams skill players and spit out a conclusion based exclusively on this regurgitation. Clayton's belief is that so long as you got a QB, a back and two big receivers, the Lombardi Trophy is within reach. Nothing could be further from the truth as the Colts prove every year. Hey, as I said yesterday, the Raiders got a good deal on a great player. But that doesn't necessarily make it a smart move. The Raiders may score some points, but their story lies on the other side of the ball. The Raiders gave up 440 points last year. That is an abomination and it is a problem that Moss will not address. In fact, the addition of Moss will make it more difficult for the Raiders to address this problem since they now have so much salary committed to Moss and Jerry Porter. The Raiders tried to upgrade their defense last year and the experiment was a miserable failure. This year they are going the other way and while they may be exciting to watch next year, I don't think it will make much impact on their win total. But based on this morning's sample, you will hear a different tune when the boys at ESPN gather next Summer to offer their pre-season predictions.

Feb 23 - Moss to Raiders

The Minneapolis Star Tribune is confirming that Randy Moss has been traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napolean Harris, the 7th pick in this year's dradt and a low round pick in this years draft. The Star says that the trade has been agreed to but won't become offical until March 2. This deal was discussed Tuesday on Pro Football Talk but it looked as if it were a moot point after the Raiders agreed yesterday to re-sign Jerry Porter. I guess Raider Chief Al Davis can never have enough deep threats and so the trade was made. I have to scratch my head at this move. The Raiders gave up 442 points last year and they are trading away youth and defense for more offense. Moss comes with a big paycheck and the Raiders now have made a huge financial committment to their receivers. This does not seem like a wise move for an organization that has holes throughout its roster. This seems like a team that does not know how to priortitize. No wonder cornerback Philip Buchanon wants out. As for the vikes, the move allows Mike Tice to re-shape the team. He still has Marcus Robinson and Nate Burleson to catch the ball, and Harris gives the Vikes a solid outside linebaker. And with the pick, perhaps Tice can pick up a corner who knows how to cover and tackle.

Feb 23- Big-12 Busts

The Big-12 will be hosting this year's Final Four in St. Louis, but if last night was any indication, the conference won't have one of its own on the floor when that show comes to town. I probably shouldn't make too much out of Oklahoma State's loss last night to Nebraska, but it can't simply be swept under the rug either. Sure, Oklahoma State was probably looking forward to its Saturday matchup with slumping Kansas, but losing to the Huskers is still difficult to explain. Moreover, the Cowboys pride themselves on playing solid defense yet last night the Huskers were able to shoot 56 percent from the field. I cannot imagine Eddie Sutton was thrilled with that performance and it wouldn't have surprised me if the Cowboys had stayed on the court after the game for a little Herb Brooksian nightcap. And check out the line for JamesOn Curry last night: 1-4, 0 boards and six turnovers. He lost his ride at UNC for selling dope and based on last night, it looks like the store is still open. I guess that helps explain why Ricky Williams was sitting courtside.

Is there a streakier team in America than Iowa State? This is their recent history. They win four in a row, they lose six in a row and then they win seven in a row. Was last night's loss to Texas A&M the beginning of another streak to the downside? The Cyclones schedule would suggest otherwise, but this team cannot expect to get a tourney bid by simply limping to the finish line. They should feel confident of their chances with games against doormats Nebraska, Missouri and Colorado ahead, but they cannot afford to dump two of these games. After all, the Cyclones are only 15-9 and two losses would leave them at .500 in conference at seasons end.

Maryland is doing its best to play itself right out of the tournamnet. Ten days ago, the Terps were sitting pretty after sweeping the season series from Duke. But since that time, the Terps have lost to NC State, squeeked by Virginia and lost to Clemson. In last night's debacle at home, Maryland allowed Clemson to shoot 58 percent from the field. Does anyone in this conference play any defense? Furthermore, does this make any sense - Maryland has swept Duke but has also been swept by both NC State and Clemson. Losing two to the Wolfpack is understandable, but being swept by Clemson is another story entirely. These two losses have put a big crimp in Maryland's resume. They finish against UNC and Virgina Tech and the Terps are going to need one of these games to lock down a bid. If they lose both, the Terps will probably need a win - or possibly two - in the ACC tourney to secure an invite.

The big story in the NFL yesterday came out of Nashville where the Titans released a bunch of players due to salary cap restrictions. The news got me thinking - how long before the same thing happens to Indianapolis. In the past year, Colts GM Bill Polian gave Peyton Manning a huge check and handed out rich contracts to both Marvin Harrison and Brandon Stokley. They then signed right tackle Ryan Diem to a big contract yesterday and franchised Edgerrin James. Where is all this money coming from? The answer is that a good deal of the money we are talking about is deferred for a couple years. The Colts have basically leveraged their future in order to win right now. Manning's contract explodes in 06 and 07, and when it does, the Colts are going to face the same problems that confronted the Titans this year. The window is closing on the Colts and closing fast.

So I guess its just about certain that Drew Bledsoe will be playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys next season and nobody is more excited by that prospect then Philadelphia Eagle defensive coordinator Jimmy Johnson. JJ is a blitz addict and it doesn't take a guru to know that he now has one of the more "blitzable" quarterbacks in the NFL playing in his own division. Some have been quick to applaud this signing (ESPN's MIke Golic), but I think the only people who are truly pleased are those coaches in the AFC West who are scheduled to play the NFC East next year. With Dallas now headed by Bledsoe and Washington dumping receivers, I am not sure this dismal division will be any improved next year.

Nothing could please me more then to see Bledsoe headed to Dallas since it helps assure that Bill Parcells will fail in the third year of his three-year plan. I don't care that Dallas has some cap room to be active in free agency and the team has a couple of firsts in the upcomming draft. With Bledsoe at the helm, this team cannot possibly play with Philadelphia. The numbers support my thesis. Over the past three years in Buffalo, this guy threw 55 TDs and 43 interceptions. Those are hardly Cantonesque numbers. And more importantly, since 1997, Bledsoe has simply not won all that often. I have every confidence that this trend will continue in 2005. However, I will point out that there is one glimmer of hope in this signing. Bledsoe's best years in New England came while he was teamed with a terrific tight end in Ben Coates. Bledsoe relied on Big Ben to bail him out and when Coates went downhill, Bledsoe followed. Drew didn't have such an outlet in Buffalo and that possibly explains why he took so many sacks and threw so many interceptions. Perhaps the Cowboys' terrific young tight end - Jason Witten - can be Bledsoe's new safety valve.

I loved the exchange that occured late in yesterday's press conference between Barry Bonds and one his antagonists from the evil media. The reporter, whose identity I don't know, asked whether Barry thought it was "cheating" to use steroids. It was a generically-phrased question that sought to determine whether Bonds thinks the use of steroids is unsportsmanlike. Bonds answer was sheer brilliance. After a second of thought, Bonds moved forward with the classic: "I don't even know what cheating is?" You cannot make this stuff up. And if that weren't bad enough, Bonds made an interesting point yesterday when he menitoned that if critics want to scrub the sport's record books, they should start by going back to the 19th and 18th centuries. 18th Century? Did I miss something? I always thought that baseball was a Civil War-era invention but now I am told by Mr Bonds that it was alive and well during the Adams administration. I guess Alexander Hamilton was the first to come up with the idea of giving Baseball the anti-trust exemption that it still enjoys today.

Last week, I may have made a mistake when I said Emeka Okafor was my pick for mid-season Rookie of the Year. Okafor has been very solid, but there is a guy up in Chicago who is starting to dominate games. Ben Gordon may not start many games, but he sure finishes them, as we saw last night when the Bulls took out Miami. Gordon had 29 against the Heat, 15 of which came on fourth quarter and overtime three-pointers. He now leads the lead with 15 games of scoring 10 or more points in the fourth quarter. The Bulls should be a playoff team this year and Gordon is a big reason for the turnaround.

Congratulations to Florida Junior Ryan Lochte who shattered two American records at the Southeastern Conference Swimming Championships. First he took out the record in the 200 yard individual medley and then came back two nights later and took out the record in the 200 yard backstroke. For those of you who aren't familar with the sport, American records don't fall too often, especially if your last name ins't Coughlin or Phelps. What makes Lochte's performance so remarkable is that he was not rested for this meet. That will not be the case at next months NCAAs and so its safe to assume that Lochte's best is yet to come.

Feb 22 - Miracle on Ice

Today is the anniversary of the greatest sporting event in American sports history. It was on this day twenty-five years ago that the United States Olympic Hockey team skated past the heavily-favored Russains on its way to an olympic gold medal. In case any of you forgot the details of the game or haven't seen "Miracle," the U.S. trailed the Russians 3-2 in the third period of this classic, but goals by future Penguin Mark Johnson and Mike Eruzione put the stars and stripes up 4-3 with ten clicks to go. From there on out, American goalie Jim Craig was unflappable and the Americans were able to hold on for their historic victory. There is almost no debate in this country that this was the most memorable and inspiring event in U.S. sports history. Aside from just its sporting aspect, the game had plenty of political overtones and therefore it is revered as something that transcended sports. It was one of those rare events in history where people remember where they were when they heard that the US had won the game. But as great a moment as this was - was it the greatest upset in sports history? I think it gets a bit tricky at this point. The Russian hockey team was unquestionably the best in the world, but the U.S. had guys who could skate. Many of these guys went on to play in the NHL, and some even had lengthy careers. True, the Russians beat the US team 10-3 just days before the Olympics began, but I thnk its hard to argue that the US team didn't belong on the ice with the Russians. So what other upsets compare with this great moment. How about U.S. wrestler Rulon Gardner defeating Russian Aleksandr Karelin at the Sydney Olympics. Karelin was about as dominant as dominant gets, winning three straight Olympic golds going into Sydney. The Russian hadn't lost in over a decade when Gardner walked onto the mat in Austrailia. He walked off that mat with a 1-0 victory and an upset that ranks right up there with the US Hockey team. (I have a swimming upset candidate as well but I will spare the readers the details on that one.) And for those of you who want a big upset in a team sport - try this one on for size. In 1982, the University of Virginia lost a basketball game to NAIA also-ran Chaminade. Before you dismiss this as insignificant, you must realize that this Virginia team did not resemble the garbage that plays in Charlottsville today. Instead, Virginia was the top ranked team in the country at the time. They had played in the Final Four the previous year and were led by nation's 1981 Player of the Year Ralph Sampson. This was a team that shared the ACC 1982 regular season title with a UNC team that had Worthy, Jordan and Perkins. Chaminade, on the other hand, was basically a Oahu-based juco team led by a 6'6 center whose last name was Randolph. You want an analogy to this game? How about this year's Illinois team losing to a vocational night school? By the way, if you haven't seen Miracle, you should go out and rent it today. Aside from being inspirational, it represnts Kurt Russell's best work and that includes Overboard. My top-5 KR movies in order are: Miracle, Overboard, Used Cars, the Best of Times, and Unlawful Entry.

Somebody should tell Bill Self that losing three straight games in February is no way to impress the NCAA tourney selection committee. Self's Kansas Jayhawks, losers at Oklahoma last night, have now lost three straight and face a difficult test this weekend against Oklahoma State. To the Jayhawks credit, two of their losses have come in overtime and two were on the road. Nonetheless, Kansas has shown some weaknesses of late and it begins with spotty guard play. Arron Miles is routinely turning the ball over five times a game and J.R Giddens has suddenly found it difficult to make a shot. Moreover, during this recent streak, highly acclaimed center Wayne Simien has played a lot more like an all-conference player then an all-american. Ten days ago, the Jayhawks looked like a possible number one seed in the NCAA tourney. With a loss on Saturday, the Hawks will look a lot more like a three or four seed then a top seed.

Today marks the beginning of a very important period for NFL front offices. Why you may ask? Well, today is the first day that teams can start releasing veterans in advance of March 2, which happens to be the day that all teams must be in compliance with the Salary Cap. That also marks the beginning of the free agent signing period. So over the next ten days, a number of veterans will be released and a greater amount will have their contracts re-strucutred. Most fans and the pinheads at ESPN generally assume that the NFL draft reprepsents the big event of the NFL off-season, but the Sportsaholic believes that this upcomming period is much more interesting. This is when tough personnel deicsions have to be made and the succesful teams in the NFL are usually those that are willing and able to make the tough calls come this time of year. It is already shaping up to be a fascinating "release" season. A number of big names are already slated for relelase and the list could grow as teams come to grips with their 2005 payrolls.

According to the guys over at Pro Football Talk, the Raiders and Vikings had a deal in place as late as yesterday that would have had Oakland sending some picks and linebacker Napolean Harris to Minnesota for problem child Randy Moss. The deal, however, was scuttled today when Oakland was able to come to terms with thier own Jerry Porter. Minnesota's press department, at the request of their prospective new owner, publically removed Moss from the trading block over the weekend, but I guess the front office didn't get the word. Speculation is that Moss will continue to be shopped, although there are plenty of receivers available through free agency and so the potential universe of those willing to pay for Moss may be quite small.

One team facing devastating salary issues this off-season was the Tennessee Titans. As of last week, the Titans were aproximately $27 million over the salary cap. But rather then trying to massage the cap for another year, the Titans have decided to bite the bullet in 2005. As such, the team has released six players including the AFC's leading receiver Derrick Mason and corner Samari Rolle. Titans General manager Floyd Reese said yesterday the Titans wanted to mimic Baltimore's approach to the salary cap -- slash large salaries in one lump and, hopefully, limit any damage to one season. "We're done manipulating. Now we're going to fix this,'' Reese said. I think Reese has done the smart thing since his team could no longer stay competitive as it bled players every off-season. A season had to be sacrificed and Reese made the right call. But if 2005 is being tossed, why bring back Steve McNair? Is there any chance McNair will be a viable option come 2006? So long as Reese and the Ttians are starting anew, why not begin at quarterback? If Reese were truly interested in fixing the problem, McNair would be playing elsewhere next year.

The NBA trade deadline is fast approaching and Laker Lamar Odom seems to be at the center of the trade rumor vortex. One rumor has Odom going with Caron Butler to Utah in exchange for Carlos Boozer and Matt Harpring, while another has the forward headed to Sacramento in a deal that will net Peja Stoyakovic and Bobby Jackson. Is it really worth the time to discuss where Lamar Odom is going to end up next week? Lamar, although young and talented, is a starting forward on my "all who-cares?" team. Guys like Odom, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Jerry Stackhouse, Antoine Walker, Jalen Rose, and Donyell Marshall seem to get traded for each other every year and it never makes any difference to the teams involved. Guys like Odom are annual trade bait for two reasons - they are overpaid and they hang numbers without making their teams any better. This may be a bit unfair on Odom since he is probably a cut above Stackhouse or Rahim, but the truth is that Lamar has character issues and he has never been at the center of big winner. In Odom's defense, guys sometimes graduate off this list and end up contributing to championship teams, but the list is not exactly extensive. Bob McAdoo did it for the Lakers and James Edwards did it for the Pistons, but it doens't happen often. It doesn't look like Odom will get to join this club this year since the Lakers came out today and denied that anything involving Lamar is in the works.

Feb 21 - The Defense Rests

A couple of weeks ago, the Bush Administration submitted its Fiscal Year 2006 budget request to Congress and there was an important tidbit buried in the voluminous document. It seems that the Defense Department, tired of seeing their yearly appropriations go for naught, has decided to zero out funding for the Wake Forest Basketball program in the coming year. That's it - from here on out the Pentagon wants nothing to do with the Wake Forest Basketball program. And after Sunday night, who can blame Rumsfeld and crew for growing impatient with the way Skip Prosser's teams play defense. In a nutshell, there is absolutely nothing demonic about the way the Demon Deacons play defense and it showed last night in an embarrassing loss to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Devils had their way with Wake Forest last night, burying uncontested threes all night long. When the smoke had cleared, Duke had shot almost 60 percent from the field while amassing 102 points. JJ Redick led the way with 38, while super stiff Lee Melchionni chipped in 15 on 5-6 shooting. And the Devils offense did not come exclusively via the longball. On many occasions, Duke got easy layups in transition and chippy 10 footers of basic screens. Wake Forest simply refused to put up a fight. Not a single time did Wake knock down Reddick. He was free all night as Wake's highly acclaimed backcourt trio of Paul, Gray and Downey proved once again that collectively, they have either no interest or ability to guard the basketball. Chris Paul, in particular, is an amazing offensive palyer, but he gives up at least as much as he gets and I am tired of hearing the Bristol Banshees sing his praise. The worst thing about all this is Prosser seems fine with his team's largeese. Last night, he was more interested yellingn at the officials then taking his lazy kids to task. This is not a new story at Wake. Last year, the same thing happened. Actually, its been happening ever since Skip Prosser stepped on campus before the 2002 season. This guy's phiosophy is we will let you score becuase we think we can score more. Its basically a watered down version of Paul Westhead's Loyola Marymount Treatise. Message to Skip - Westhead never won anything and either will you so long as you preach defensive benevolence. You got smoked by a reeling Duke team and after last night, I have lost faith. This team should make it to the regionals on talent alone, but it wouldn't shock me to see them lose in the second round. As for advancing past the sweet sixteen, the Sportsaholic does not see it happening without an emergency aid package from the Pentagon.

One team that is down on its knee and thanking god this morning is Georgia Tech. They got a gift yesterday that rivals any other bestowed this year. Down one with time running out at Florida State, Georgia Tech was kicking the ball around aimlessly. Finally, Jacket guard BJ Elder threw some crap at the basket that had absolultely no shot of going in. GT would have gone home a loser, but an official called a foul on the play with .4 seconds to go. Elder then went to the line and made the two winning free throws for the Jackets. This was the bail out of all bail outs and it makes me think the fix is in. With a loss, GT would have gone back to Atlanta in bad shape. A ntional finalist form a year ago, GT would have found itself 5-7 in the ACC with four to play. The Jackets now have a shot to finish the year at .500 in conferecne and that should be enough to secure a bid. GT coach Paul Hewitt should probably send that official a nice bottle of wine today given the fact that he saved the Yellow Jacket's season.

In Philadelphia yesterday, we saw one of the oddest coaching decisions of the year when Pitt coach Jamie Dixon continued to play zone while Villanova was sniping threes from outside the arc. Nova shot 52 percent from behind the line and much of the damage was done in the second half when Dixon had his team in a passive zone. The funny thing is that Dixon refused to switch it up even after Nova guard Allen Ray began to heat up. Ray can be a deadly shooter and he eventually knocked down five three pointers in the second half, many of them coming uncontested. Why Dixon didn't stick a man on Ray is a big question mark and it lends more ammunition to Pitt fans who are less then thrilled with Jamie's work to date.

While Pitt's loss on Sunday did nothing to worsen their tourney hopes, the same cannot be said of UCLA which got destroyed at Stanford. The Cardinal, playing without leading scorer Dan Grunfeld, broke open the game late in the first half and never looked back. Stanford point guard Chris Hernandez completely dominated the Bruins, hitting five threes and getting to the rim whenever he pleased. UCLA had come into the game shooting the ball well of late, but this trend didn't hold as the Bruins were held to 33 percent shooting from the field. The one thing that is interesting about the Bruins is that they seem to play particularly poorly when Brian Morrison is on the floor. He was out there during both of Stanford's first half runs, leading me to think that his plus/minus for the game and season must be awful. With the win, Stanford has now virtually locked up the number three spot in the conference having already swept UCLA. The Bruins, on the other hand, must win their final four games in order to get a tourney invite. I am not optimistic.

That pretty much takes care of Sunday and so we now turn to Saturday where a few games are worth mentioning. In the day's biggest upset, Iowa State knocked off Kansas in overtime after it blew a big lead late in regulation. The Cyclones are certainly the hottest team in the Big-12 after winning seven straight conference games and they have climbed their way back into the tourney picture. The Cyclones close with four easy games so its not inconceivable that they will carry an eleven game winning streak in the Big-12 tourney. I am pretty confident Iowa State will be a tourney team. In the Big East, Syracuse contineud its spotty play of late by losing at Boston College. Syracuse senior Hakeem Warrick went AWOL in the second half and without his scoring, the Orangemen didn't have enough to overcome Boston College's strength inside. Don't look now, but Boston College is on the verge of winning the Big East and becoming a top seed in the NCAAs. BC blew its shot at the 2004 Big East Football championship on the final day of last season, but I don't expect the same thing will happen this year in basketball.

I hate to bring this up since I spent part of Friday ripping those who enjoy watching dunking contests, but for my money, the greatest dunker of all time was . . . . . . . Mike Conley. Mike Who? For those who don't know him, Mike Conley was the second or third greatest long jumper in the world for about ten years during the 80s and early 90s. He didn't play organized basketball, but I do recall seeing him on some celebrity show where he was showing off his dunking skills. Conley was simply amazing. I have never seen a human being step onto a basketball court who had Conley's lift. Not a single one. This guy made Michael Jordan look like Billy Hoyle from WMCJ. Conley was so long that he made the Dr. J dunk from the free throw line look like kids play. At his peak, I am not sure Conley couldn't make a three point dunk. The guy could jump 28 feet in competition so why couldn't he make a dunk from 21 feet? /So the next time you hear Bill Simmons waxing on about Vince or Michael or Dominique, send him an email and tell him that the aforementioned couldn't carry Conley's jock.

The story out of Washington D.C. today is that the Redskins are planning on releasing wide receiver Laveranues Coles if a trade cannot be arranged. Is it possible that Coles could be headed back to the Jets where he enjoyed great success? The Jets are in the market for a bigtime receiver and Coles would seem to be a perfect fit, especially since he has a proven track record working with Chad Pennington (89 catches in 02). Coles ins't the only high-profile wide receiver who may become available later this week. Word out of Tennessee is that productive wideout Derrick Mason will be a salary cap casualty. Suddenly, the unrestricted pool of wideouts looks pretty impressive with Mason, Muhammed, Coles, Burress and Porter all available. With these receivers on the market, its unlikely that any NFL team will feel the need to match Minnesota's demands for Randy Moss.

Isn't all this banter concering AROD being blown a bit out of proportion? The New York tabloids just cannot get enough of this story so every day they report that another one of the Red Sox has insulted or slandered the Yankee third baseman. The trouble is, despite the claims of pundits and columnists, the sox really aren't saying a whole lot that is rancourous or inflamatory. In fact, other then Trot Nixon calling AROD a "clown," most of the reported material is a bit tame and innocuous. I think the bigger story here is that every New York newspaper has now assigned a beat reporter to cover the Red Sox. The only reason this story continues to linger is that these reporters have nothing to do but ask the Red Sox about AROD. The answers have not been too interesting so far but that hasn't stopped the tabloids from serving them up as fighting words.