By Dan O’Shea
There’s some interesting news in the fantasy basketball world that I want to turn my attention to at the outset because the reports are about two certified stars, Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson, and another player who might just be certifiable, Stephen Jackson.
First, it appears that McGrady will be back in uniform sometime next week after knee surgery. That’s good news for fantasy hoopsters who took a flyer on him because a Houston Rockets team without Yao Ming this season will be putting the rock in his hands early and often. Still, don’t depend too much on an early boost because McGrady is bound to see limited minutes per game until sometime next month.
On the bad news front, The Answer owes one to the Memphis Grizzlies, who took a flyer on him for this season. Iverson was hurt in the pre-season and, after a slow start, requested a leave of absence from the Grizzlies. There seems to be a nebulous family reason behind that leave. He reportedly is thinking about retirement. This may not have too much fantasy impact because anyone who drafted him probably did so recognizing that his days as a top-flight scorer were mostly behind him.

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Posted on November 11, 2009

By Mike Luce
We’ll gloss over the bulk of last weekend’s action today to focus on the four games that had most affected the BCS picture: Iowa vs. Northwestern, LSU vs. Alabama, Oregon vs. Stanford, and Notre Dame vs. Navy.
Off we go!
Iowa vs. Northwestern
The other shoe finally dropped on Iowa. I haven’t been rooting against the Hawkeyes, but I have been skeptical. Iowa played too many unexpectedly close games. The Big 10, while not top-heavy with elite teams like Florida and Texas, simply has too many solid teams to coast through an entire season.
Sadly, an injury to QB Ricky Stanzi in the second quarter effectively ended Iowa’s bid for a perfect season and a shot at the national championship. After 14 straight wins (dating back to last season) and four comebacks in the fourth quarter, the dream was over.

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Posted on November 10, 2009

By Jim Coffman
Good quarterbacks kick Lovie’s ass.
It doesn’t help that Tommie Harris is the stupidest player in the NFL. And that just as Hunter Hillenmeyer was settling back into the middle linebacker spot he re-injured his ribs during the first Cardinal drive (he came back after some time on the sideline and was ineffective).

Ofman: Blame Lovie

But just as Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer carved up Smith’s Bears defense last month, so did Arizona’s Kurt Warner on Sunday. It was downright eerie to watch the Cardinals find a way to tack on the final field goal just before the intermission to ensure they would match the Bengals’ 31-point halftime total of two weeks prior.

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Posted on November 9, 2009

By George Ofman
Jay Cutler threw for 369 yards, the seventh most in Bears history, yet the considerable angst Bears fans were feeling has now turned into total anger.
Do you blame them?
Their anger is vented mostly at one man, Lovie Smith, who is starting to resemble a punching bag more than an NFL head coach.
Blistered after a 45-10 loss at Cincinnati and highly criticized following an ugly 24-point victory over Cleveland, Lovie is feeling the brunt force of yesterday’s flogging by Arizona as if Hurricane Katrina found new life off Lake Michigan.
And he deserves it.

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Posted on November 9, 2009

By George Ofman
Numbers don’t lie. Ben Gordon is averaging 24 points in five games for the Pistons and he’s shooting 51 percent from the field. John Salmons is averaging 11 points in five games for the Bulls and is shooting 29 percent. That’s 29 percent! Where do I get my refund?

SportsFriday: The Blue & Orange Kool-Aid Report TrackNotes Dr. Dude’s College Football Report

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Wow is Lovie Smith getting torched by the media. Some are calling him boring, others a liar. Fans think he has no passion. Is this the same boring and passionless Lovie that got the Bears to the Super Bowl? I’m just asking.
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The Sox traded or were close to sending Chris Getz and Josh fields to the Royals for Mark Teahen. Fields was done here. Getz stole 25 bases in 27 attempts last season. If Teahen is here to play right field that would mean Scott Podsednik will be looking for a new home. That would also mean the Sox would have lost 57 stolen bases. If Teahen plays third, then Gordon Beckham is going to second.
Here’s the word I got on Teahen; very inconsistent, not very good with men in scoring position and doesn’t take advantage of hitters’ counts. This was a guy who, in 2006, hit .290 with 18 homers and 69 RBI in just 393 at-bats. Since then he’s had more than 520 at-bats in each season and hasn’t come close to those totals. Last year he hit only .271 and mustered only 12 homers and 50 RBI. Let’s call this a minor deal and move on, shall we.

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Posted on November 6, 2009

By Mike Luce
I’m proud to announce another first here at the College Football Report. The same folks who brought you The Brown Shoe Award now present . . . the ShamNow Trophy. And the inaugural winner is . . . the NCAA’s “Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct”! According to its webpage, the Committee exists to develop “a positive sporting environment for intercollegiate athletics.” The Committee consists of 11 members who meet twice a year, issue an annual report, and – “if necessary” – hold one conference call. (I think CFR may need to hand out an award for bureaucratic efficiency as well. In my experience, comparably sized committees in the workplace can’t decide between Jimmy John’s and Potbelly’s for lunch without a conference call.)
To help spread the sportsmanship message, the CSEC provides an Online Toolkit. Let’s take a look at the Toolkit’s contents:

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Posted on November 6, 2009

By Thomas Chambers

Seems like we’ve been down this road before. Or have we?
For the second straight year, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships come to us Friday and Saturday from the Oak Tree Meet at Santa Anita in lovely Arcadia, California.
The pervasive issue once again will be the track’s Pro-Ride artificial racing surface. In an America where Thoroughbred racing evolved for generations on dirt surfaces, we again have the added monkey wrench of handicapping some of the best horses in the world on a surface engineered to assuage the guilt of the human species.

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Posted on November 6, 2009

By Eric Emery
Last Sunday, the stars aligned perfectly. My son and wife went elsewhere and the Steelers enjoyed their bye week. Add both together and you get the coveted Power Bye Week Nap. The problem: I slept through most of the Bears game. Luckily, my subconscious picked up the slack and followed the game in my dreams:
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Dream: Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner sat quietly in a cage.
Meaning: Bears could not make right choices to convert red zone visits into TDs.
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Dream: Lovie Smith failed an easy math quiz.
Meaning: When you have the elite #6, you should have at least that many wins by this point.

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Posted on November 6, 2009

By Eric Emery
The health care debate continues in our worthless legislative branch. One version of the bill sticks most of the cost with those who make over $1 million. Most NFL players loved the idea, until they realized that a good number of them make over $1 million. As a result, some players have resorted to the following to help stop this:

PLUS: Ofman: Batting Leadoff

* Players write congressman to use the Sally Struthers model: Each player will sponsor a child at the same cost of one cup of coffee a day.
* Brian Urlacher argues on Facebook that socialized medicine isn’t that helpful. For instance, his team doctors failed to help his wrist and now all he is living on his Aflac insurance.
* Tank Johnson writes Op-Ed piece bemoaning that he can no longer afford bullets for his guns.

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Posted on November 5, 2009

By George Ofman
The World Series is over, another one minus our local heroes. It’s been four years since the Sox won it all. It’s been . . . it’s not worth mentioning. You know where this was headed. Now comes the resurrection period, the one in which both the North and South Sides reconnoiter their teams.
And they need reconnoitering.
And the top of the order remains an issue.
Will the White Sox continue to employ Scott Podsednik?
Will the Cubs go back to a healthy Alfonso Soriano and take yet another step backwards?
Wasn’t the leadoff problem the same one haunting both teams last year?

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Posted on November 5, 2009