John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, August 04, 2012
Thinking out loud…and wondering where all of my baseball trading cards are. Did I really use them on my bicycle spokes?
• Anyone else getting sick of watching SportsCenter? If you didn’t know any better, you’d think that Denver and the New York Jets were the only two teams in the NFL…
• Not that the Patriots are any more interesting of a story…but it would be nice to know what’s going on in just a few of the other camps, wouldn’t it? After all, this is the National Football League, right? Just sayin’…
• Kudos to three of my fellow sports journalists – who I’m proud to call friends – who are moving on to bigger and perhaps better opportunities. Watch for Pete Thamel in Sports Illustrated and SI.com, after spending 10 years covering college sports for the New York Times. Former on-air partner Doug Gottlieb – sometimes not quite a popular figure around here, or anywhere else in college hoops – is moving from ESPN to CBS. And long-time friend and Boston Globe scribe Mark Blaudschun is entering the blogosphere with ajerseyguy.com…because, well, he can. And he’s good at it…
• Blaudschun has an insightful Q&A interview with former Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese this week…who spared no one with some of his comments on the current state of college athletics. Among some of his notable comments, Tranghese believes expansion isn’t over…that the ACC is the league actually at the “bottom” right now…and his biggest regret looking back on his tenure as Big East czar is not adding Penn State. “And I had nothing to do with it,” he added…
• And just why did the ACC target the Big East in their expansion plans? “You are not going to convince me they took Syracuse and Pitt just for football. It was pure basketball. They were sick of getting beaten up by the Big East so they tried to destroy the Big East. They said that was not their intention, but it has to be your intention. You have to be an idiot not to know what taking Syracuse and Pitt would do to the Big East.” – Mike Tranghese…
• There was only a twinge of awkwardness in the air at Big East Football Media Day in Newport this week. More so, it was an air of sadness with Syracuse and Pitt attending for the final time. Both schools will join the ACC at the end of the 2012-13 academic year, as six newcomers will replace them by joining the Big East. Better plan for more lobsters at the clambake next year…
• And I am still hearing there are plenty – plenty – of SU alumni who are not at all happy with the departure for points south…as well as an impending “rivalry” with Boston College. But the school president and athletic director remain steadfast in their plans…with the promise of increased $$$ for their academic and athletic coffers…
• A not-so-bold prediction: Syracuse and Pittsburgh will lose much of their eastern identity…the very roots in which their programs were established. Enrollment will shrink, costs will increase, and while the money they bring in initially might be better, napalming relationships with schools who helped them create their own identities will come back to haunt them. In 10 years, the Orange and the Panthers will be mired in southern obscurity…
• Not for nuthin’…but I’m convinced the money for the new-look Big East will get close to, or even surpass, what the ACC received. ESPN gave the ACC a 15-year, $3.6 billion dollar deal this spring…which equates to schools receiving somewhere around $17 million annually. This is why Syracuse and Pitt jumped, and why UConn would also make the leap if asked. But the dollars I’ve heard being talked about with a new Big East deal – for a “national” conference – are close. Or should be…
• A telling quote from ex-CBS sports head Neal Pilson, who told USA Today “The college conference deals are like beachfront property. They're valuable, partly because there are very few of them. And these networks are staking out a long-term claim to keep out the competition.” If NBC doesn’t pick up the Big East, which they are going to come after hard, it will mean that ESPN paid more than they planned to keep the conference for themselves. The Big East wins, and the dearly departed former members…not so much. Why else would Boise State stay committed to an eastern football league?
• And Boise is the only Big East football team – present or future – ranked in the pre-season Top 25 coaches’ poll. By comparison, the Big 12 has seven ranked teams, including both Big East defectors WVU and TCU. Hurry up, and wait…
• I hate to jump on bandwagons…but I’m starting to think the Patriots might actually have a shot to repeat their 2007 16-0 regular season performance. Now, I’m not ALL there, yet…and while 13-3 or 14-2 is more likely, barring catastrophic injuries…ya’ better bring your popcorn…
• Who else chuckled slightly when Ben Roethlisberger reported he has a “little torn rotator cuff” to deal with? I don’t wish Big Ben ill will, but if he has problems plague him through the season, it’ll be a two-team race for supremacy in the AFC – with New England and Baltimore at the top. Yes, I’m discounting Denver, San Diego, Cincinnati, Houston and the rest. Injuries are, however, the great equalizer…
• Dont’a Hightower can flat out play. That is all…
• And Chandler Jones has had some remarkable scraps with tackle Nate Solder in camp thus far, appearing stronger than originally thought. Second-year corner Ras-I Dowling has also had some strong moments in camp, and while I’m not yet ready to perform a mea culpa on him, he has looked pretty good…
• More than 22K attended the Gillette Stadium practice for season-ticket holders and Foxboro residents this past Wednesday night. For practice. Cue the Allen Iverson sound bite…
• The practice tussle apparently started by Nate Solder and Brandon Spikes at the Stadium practice – involving almost the entire squad – was the first time I’ve seen anything like that in more than 20 years of covering the Patriots. It’s significant to note that one of the “side discussions” during the scrum involved Tom Brady grabbing Jerod Mayo by the facemask, and screaming things that can’t be repeated here…
• Funniest commercial I’ve seen during Olympics coverage has to be the one where Fabreeze gets sprayed in the workout room with the Azerbaijani wrestling team. May also be the creepiest…
• The 16-year-old Chinese swimmer who swam the race of her life to beat Elizabeth Beisel for gold may have some ‘splainin’ to do. Allegations of doping surround her time, and the freestyle split that won the race for her was faster than Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte. Really? A 16-year-old girl who has nowhere near the power, speed or muscle mass that Phelps and Lochte have…swam faster? I want her pre-race meal, and I want it now…
• The Chinese, for all of their obvious athletic prowess, seem to me to be beginning their “Soviet/East German” style downfall. Not that their country will fall apart…but that they’ll do just about anything to win. Did you see where their badminton team (badminton?) purposely lost, in order to achieve a more favorable match in medal round play? They were kicked out of the Games. And the Chinese diver who won gold, only to find out afterward her mother has cancer and both grandparents died while she was training? That’s just not human…
• One of the great things about the Summer Olympics has to be the attention paid to sports that aren’t in our mainstream viewing habits. Once every four years, we get to see some fantastic races in swimming…and still to come this year in track & field. Volleyball has been a treat to watch, and not just because of the beach bikinis, either. And the stories told during gymnastics competition were as riveting as the performances…
• The “rivalry” played up between Phelps and Lochte was just TV hype. But I will say this…the competition between the two was must see. Hope you did. And is Phelps one of the all-time Olympic greats? How can he not be, with 21 career medals?
• Did you see any of the table tennis? If you did…come on now…didn’t you at least think you could play like that?
• And I don’t care how much the US men’s basketball team dominates the competition. 156 against Nigeria? LeBron James is just blowing smoke…there is no way, no how, the 2012 team beats the ’92 “Dream Team.” Magic…Ewing…Jordan…Mullin…Barkley…Malone…Bird? Come on…stupid is as stupid does…
• One of the best Red Sox performances of the season thus far may have come this past Tuesday night, when Clay Mortensen came on in relief of Josh Beckett against the Tigers…in a driving rain…and pretty much shut them down…
• Did you boo Beckett as he came off of the mound that night? I booed earlier…not for his alleged back spasm, but for pitching SLOWLY. You needed a sun dial to time the length between his pitches…
• The Boston Herald says there’s another snitch in the Red Sox clubhouse? What is this, 2nd grade? Please, make it stop. My head hurts…
• I know Mike Aviles has been hurt…but aren’t you getting the idea that Pedro Ciriaco should stay right where he is? Jose (Iglesias) who?
• Derek Lowe told 98.5 The Sports Hub this week he would welcome a return to the Red Sox, and as such, the Sox have apparently begun investigating the possibility. Lowe was 1-7 with an 8.77 ERA in his last 10 starts for Cleveland, before the Indians set him free. Freedom is good…
• And can we all just agree that, well, that I was right about the Red Sox before this season began? Not enough pitching = no shot. Derek Lowe isn’t fixing the problem. Time to make some big changes…and that will take guts. Or a new GM…or no more Larry Lucchino…
• How about a chill pill for Florida State League umpire Mario Seneca? This past Wednesday night, after a disputed call as the Daytona Cubs played the Fort Myers Miracle, the organist played “Three Blind Mice” over the PA system…and well, it was pretty funny. Dude, this is the minor leagues. Get a grip…
• Well, stop the presses. President Obama has weighed in on the NY Jets quarterback situation. “I gotta tell you, I don’t like the idea of a quarterback controversy at the start of a season, so if I was a Jets’ fan, I’d be pretty nervous,” the President said as a call-in guest to Columbus, OH radio station 97.1 The Fan this week. If I were the President, I’d also be pretty nervous…about my job security…
• The Cleveland Browns are worth a billion dollars? Are their helmets lined with gold?
• My buddy “Big E” told me, after hearing about the Browns’ impending sale this week, that he had his credit card stolen last week. He didn’t report it, however, because the thief was spending less than his wife did…
• I don’t know about you…but the fact that some old baseball cards found in an attic in Toledo, OH sold for $566K at a recent auction…has me looking through a lot of old boxes lately…
• Our mailbag question/comment this week comes from Lori in East Greenwich, RI via Facebook: “John Rooke! I may have to change your opinion about the Olympics…” Lori: What is it about the Olympics that you believe we disagree about? Having once worked for the LA Olympic Organizing Committee, I strongly believe in the Olympic spirit – on and off of the playing surfaces. Where I have trouble, at times, is believing that every competitor – every country, coach and athlete – believes the same. They don’t. Look at China. They’re pros. They so badly want to prove their superiority to the rest of the world they’ll do anything…and sacrifice any athlete…to do it. It’s a business…and even the last vestiges of so-called amateurism on the planet, the Olympics, are in the business of making money. Even you must realize that. The irony here, of course, is that the LA Olympics in 1984 are what really started it all…
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to jrooke@golocalprov.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @jrooke0722…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
• And you’re up early anyway…don’t forget to join us for GoLocal Sports on 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am! Call in (401) 737-1287, or text 850850…and send email to the show - golocal@weei.com .
Comments:
joe adamowicz
4:41pm on Saturday, August 04, 2012
North Carolina, Duke, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, BC and Syracuse. Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama and Auburn. USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon, Rhode Island and Delaware. Which schools don't quite seem to fit in?
When will Ricky Ledo hear from the NCAA? Who decides? A committee? Why is this even an issue in the first place when a school like UConn which had no available scholarships was allowed to take one away from a student athlete and allow that student athlete to pay his own way so that Andre Drummond could play for one year as a "walk-on-create-your-own-deal-bend-the-rule-a-little-bit" "student-athlete" to showcase himself for the NBA?
John Rooke
11:22am on Sunday, August 05, 2012
Joe - Ricky (and the school) may not find out anything from the NCAA until the school year actually gets started in September. Sooner, hopefully...but no one knows for certain. They will consider eligibility cases for fall athletes first, obviously. And you make a valid point...but the NCAA acts in mysterious ways. Rules are made for individual, arbitrary interpretation it seems.