According to this, Cassel and Vrabel for KC’s 2nd-round pick (#34 overall):
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-chiefs-cassel&prov=ap&type=lgns
I’ve gotta say… I’m a bit disappointed. (more…)
Okay people… the power of the pen… er, keystroke:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-NFL-from-reinstating-MichaelVick
The man will have served his debt to society - but let’s prevent him from trying to earn a living (ass-uming an NFL team will have him… and there will be at least one, as I’ve asserted all along).
I trust the folks signing this petition feel the same way about convicted child molesters, rapists, and murderers (of human beings, that is)… right?
Yankees fan Tank?
With Manny, Don’t Rule Out The Yankees:
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1154522&srvc=home&position=1
Or Celtics fan Cliffy?
Marbury on the Celtics Might Actually Work:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=hollingermarbury-090224
Defending champ skipping this year’s Dubai Tennis Championships due to refusal to permit an Israeli player. Shame on the rest of the field for participating. Let the UAE decide which they cherish more - the fruits of civilization, or their anti-semitism.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/24/SP051640IL.DTL&feed=rss.gknapp
We just got back from a week in Fort Myers, with the in-laws. The weather was good enough reason for the trip, but we also took the opportunity to visit the Red Sox spring training facilities in Fort Myers one day. They weren’t playing a game, just going through a morning workout/practice - pretty cool though… I’d recommend the same to anyone for their favorite teams. Pretty laid back, some familiar faces, a lot of unfamiliar faces (at this stage in the process). Best of all for us though, we came out of that day with a story… goes something like this…
Matt Kenseth won his second straight race (after winning none in 2008), following his win in the rain-shortened Daytona 500 with a comfortable win in Fontana. A couple more weeks like this and all he’ll need to do is avoid DNFs during the summer to make the Chase. Other observations after week 2:
Toyotas are running strong; partially this just reflects the move of JGR but 5 of the top 15 finishers were Toyotas, versus 4 Chevys, 3 Fords and 3 Dodges. Actually, the three Dodges may be more impresive since none of the Big Four teams drive them, but its still good to see Toyota prospering despite the American manufacturers bringing their traditional MO to NASCAR (i.e. produce an inferior product, then lobby top have the rules changed to handicap the more sucessful competitor). We live in Barry Obama’s America now; merit is for assholes.
Props to Tony Stewart, finishing 8th and being competitive all day. As things stand he will be the last owner-driver in NASCAR history with a credible chance to compete for the Cup. I remain somewhat skeptical of his chances over the long run, but I hope he proves me wrong and shows that you can be competitive outside the Big Four.
Speaking of which, Joey Logano did indeed do better than in Daytona, moving up 8 notches from his staring position to finish 26th. In truth, it was a mediocre performance - he only moved up by the number of cars that failed to finish the race - but for an 18 year old in his second start, mediocrity seems promising.
On to Las Vegas.
Cornell completed a weekend sweep of RPI and Union, both of whom hold losing records. Huzzah. Next games are March 13-15 in Ithaca in the ECAC quarterfinals.
Last year Ichiro hit some big career milestones in categories where NPB and MLB stats are quite comparable, which we noted here, and which the NY Times noted months later (which likely explains why the market value of the NY Times is only slightly higher than that of the OGS).
Specifically, he recorded his 3,000th career hit (his 3,083 would place him 20th behind Dave Winfield if he were credited with his 1,278 NPB hits), and his 500th career steal (if given credit for his 199 NPB steals, his career total of 514 would tie him with Barry Bonds for 32nd all time. He fell just shy of 1,000 career RBIs, landing at 998 (including 529 in Japan).
In 2009, he is likely to record his 1,000th career RBI in early April, and needs 9 home runs to reach 200 in his professional career. He is likely 2 years away from hitting his 100th career triple. If he stays healthy, he should finish the year approaching 3,300 career hits, which would put him 11th all-time just behind Willie Mays (and within 1,000 hits of Pete Rose). Ignoring his NPB performance, in his 9th MLB season he is likely to become the 255th player to reach 2,000 hits, and is a good bet to reach 500 RBIs and 350 steals in MLB.
While he is reaching an age where a significant decline in performance becomes increasingly likely (he’ll turn 35 this year), it seems notable that in stealing 43 bases last year, he was successful in over 90% of his attempts, getting caught just 4 times, half as many as in 2007 (when he made only 2 fewer attempts). Accepting the Jamesian thesis that stolen bases help far less than getting caught stealing hurts, in his mid-30s Ichiro remains among the very few ballplayers who indisputably create value on the basepaths.
Bottom line: In my book, Ichiro is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.
Great article from an economics professor from NC State on the NCAA as a cartel.
http://www.popecenter.org/clarion_call/article.html?id=2134
Money quote:
Imagine if colleges gave the right to hire their electrical engineering graduates to a group of employers who would, one by one, have exclusive rights to negotiate with each graduate. The graduate would have to accept employment with the employer that “drafted” him, or search for a job outside electrical engineering. No one would think that fair, but the public accepts such a practice for sports.
So the Falcons are looking to deal Michael Vick’s contract. Can’t blame them for trying to recover some value, but I’m interested to know if anyone expects any takers?
This Sporting News article makes what seems like a strong argument to me that reinstatement is not a given and will likely not occur before 2010.
Clark Judge of CBS points out that any team picking him up faces an uphill PR battle.
Chris Harry of the Orlando Sentinel suggests that Vick’s trade value may be a second *day* draft pick at best.
So what say you? Will Al Davis or Jerry Jones pake the plunge?