Still Going...

The beloved Dayton Flyers kept on rolling through the NIT as they held on for the victory tonight against Ole Miss 68-63 at The Garden. Dayton (and their growing on me black uniforms) certainly didn't make it easy on themselves in the end as usual, but clutch free throw shooting from Chris Johnson and a key miss from Murphy Holloway at the line with 35 seconds left, paved the way for the victory. Next up for Dayton is last year's National Champion North Carolina and the getting-crazier-by-the-season Roy WILL-UM for the right to call themselves the Not In Tournament Champion/Tallest Midget. Thursday's game will be the 8th time Dayton has played in the NIT Final. The last time was 1968, and their last NIT Finals win was 1962.


Not only have the Flyers provided The Beard a nice reprieve from the panic of the seeming collapse of the Blackhawks, the worst "playoff run" ever witnessed by any Bulls team in history, and the dragging on of spring training, but there are more cumulative effects for Dayton beyond just wins and losses. This NIT run has denied Gregory at least one open coaching job at the University of Iowa according to this report, and has also possibly left himself as the default candidate for the DePaul vacancy - even though Gregory isn't nearly worth $3 million per season incidentally.
Sure I won't forget that no matter what happens, this season is a disappointment for The Flyers. Dayton was supposed to win the A-10 this year, and nothing will change that. Still, if this is in fact to be the last season of Brian Gregory manning the Dayton sidelines, a victory over North Carolina in the NIT Final, would be a better than average send off for him and a nice way to make lemonade out of this lemon of a season.

Fee Fi Fo Fum...

I smell not the blood of an Englishman, but of something else that seems a little fishy. Tyler Colvin has been rewarded for his freakishly good stats this spring training by being added to the Cubs Opening Day Roster. I use the word "freakishly" because his batting average and on-base percentage is a perfect match at .455. It's pretty hard to hit .455 without ONE walk in 66 at-bats isn't it? Before someone points this out, yes it's absolutely strange that while Colvin can be rewarded for putting up remarkable stats in spring training, the Cubs best prospect Starlin Castro does not receive the same treatment from Lou Piniella even though Castro hit .423 this spring. That's not what I find interesting though...

The part that's of most interest to me is the report that Colvin has put on 25 lbs of muscle this offseason at the age of 24. OK...I suppose that's technically possible, but 15 lbs would have been much easier to believe it was obtained cleanly, agreed? Colvin has also never played at a level higher than Double A since being drafted 13th overall by the Cubs in 2006. Now suddenly he's knocking the cover off the ball so much that he's earned a roster spot despite zero openings in the Cub outfield with Soriano, Byrd, and Fukudome?

I'm not saying...I'm just saying...I find this to be a pretty interesting "blossoming" to say the least. Colvin's performance will definitely be worth keeping an eye on. Let's hope someone in the Cubs organization told Colvin that there will be testing this year too...

Final Four Thoughts

Another NCAA Tournament, and another year The Beard goes "o-fer" on his Final Four Predictions. That's alright though since this tournament continued to produce very tight, memorable ball games:

• St. Mary's Stagecoach quickly returned to Pumpkin form as they were castrated by Baylor 72-49. Very nice Sweet 16 run for the Gaels, but reality is a tough customer when she wakes up. Butler will find that out next weekend.
• Was very happy to see Baylor reach the elite 8 level. It was just 7 years ago that Carlton Dotson shot and killed Patrick Dennehy, and it's nice to see a school recover from such senseless tragedy. Unfortunately Baylor couldn't close the deal against Duke, as Coach K goes back to the Final Four at their expense. Incidentally, this is one of the "Dukiest" teams to come down the pipe in a long time. They remind me of the teams of the Jay Bilas-era : overly white, tall, hustle-y, and way too excited whenever they do something simple like make a layup while getting fouled, or take a charge in the lane.
• I was getting VERY concerned that the Final Four might be polluted with a Bruce Pearl appearance. Thankfully Michigan State prevented that from happening with a narrow victory 70-69. Not enough bad things can happen to Bruce Pearl in my odd little world. In case anyone doesn't remember, Pearl was responsible for one of the most petty, self-serving, ridiculous incidents when he ratted out Illinois, and Deon Thomas. Here's a copy of Pearl's memo to the NCAA. Feel free to read it if you need a natural laxative. In case you're wondering, Bruce was asked if he would handle the incident differently now on Real Sports two years ago, and he said he would do the same thing over again. I'd love to call him a rat, but I would hate to insult rats that way.

Unfortunately, the Final Four is not completely free of pollution, as West Virginia took advantage of a Kentucky team that forgot how to shoot a basketball on Saturday with a 73-66 victory. I've already seen evidence that people are forgetting what a complete DIRTBALL Bob Huggins is, with articles like this that glance over the deplorable things that happened on his watch. Let's NOT glance over Huggins career infractions, violations, and overall slimy behavior. There's the wonderful 30% graduation rate that he routinely posted while at the University of Cincinnati. The Bearcats were also placed on 2 years probation by the NCAA for "Lack of Institutional Control" in 1998. Also, 19 of his players were charged with crimes ranging from shoplifting to assault, including one infamous incident when Art Long Punched A Horse! That's not even getting into his recruiting of players to commit to him before he was even HIRED for his cup of coffee at Kansas State.

Huggins is the ultimate "black-hat" in college basketball, and should be treated as such. It's gotten to the point where he doesn't even attempt to wear a suit on the sidelines anymore, opting for a West Virginia sweatsuit that would befit a Russian Mobster. Let's hope Huggins gets a quick exit next weekend, and btw of all 4 teams left, I could live with Michigan State winning this tournament the most.

What We're Looking At

Don't pay attention to Lovie Smith's strange and seemingly undermining comments he made today about Devin Hester still being a number one receiver and Greg Olsen still being a major part of the offense this year. All that tells me is that the Bears are trying to trade either one or both for a chance to move up in the draft. Mike Martz only really has a use for one of them (Hester), and that's as a third option/slot receiver. That being the case, both players could help the Bears move up in the draft, and the best way that could happen is if you try to sell the rest of the league on how valuable you think they are, thereby inflating their value on the trade market. As we all know, potential trades that seem unlikely during normal business hours, have a strange way of seeming like a good idea during the chaotic period of the NFL Draft. Lovie's comments seem the be planting seeds in other team's ideas about their own personnel decisions.

Speaking of Mike Martz, I had long heard rumors about how thick, long and complicated Martz's playbook was, ever since he was Offensive Coordinator of the St. Louis Rams in 1999. It's full of unique formations, routes, cadences that are a throwback to the Air Coryell era, while providing synergy to the modern passing game. Well after a nice and quick little google search, here is a copy of the Mike Martz Playbook for you to digest. I'll provide a permanent link on the right side of this blog so if you have a little down time, you can go over it and decide what will or won't work with the Bears this season. One thing I will say - and I say this not knowing for sure if other NFL Playbooks often dictate the huddle formation or not - it's a very detailed playbook. Martz also expects EVERYONE to know it backwards and forwards just like he does.

The Beard isn't worried about Jay Cutler being able to know it cover to cover, but he has suspicions and concerns about guys like Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett, Devin Aromashodu knowing it though...

I Still Say It Happened (Wonderlic Fun Part II)

I woke up this morning to a wonderful story regarding my least favorite quarterback this side of Brett Favre, Tim Tebow. In the story, an unnamed source alleged that during the Wonderlic Exam at the NFL Combine Tebow asked if the group of fellow players taking the test could bow their heads for a group prayer. Immediately after Tebow made the request, someone from the back shouted "SHUT THE F*CK UP!", and the entire room erupted in laughter. Obviously I find this story amusing as it's the first reported incident that Tebow's in-your-face Christianity was met with the appropriate response.

Apparently Tebow took exception to this story floating around and in an effort that can only be described as something a control freak would do, he called Profootballtalk.com founder Mike Florio and denied the incident ever took place. Tebow certainly left a favorable impression on Florio upon speaking with him, to the point where Florio decided to double check the story with his source. Thankfully, the source still stands by his story that it happened. The Beard still believes it happened as well for the following reasons. First of all, the most obvious to me is "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Second of all, Tebow definitely strikes me as the type who's naive enough to think he can control the media. Third, Tebow is taking a page out of the Roger Clemens book of "If I say it's a lie, then it's a lie". Does that make Clemens any more believable? Nope.

Tebow shouldn't be more believable either.

Do I Really Understand This?

The picture you see is of former Denver Broncos kicker Rich Karlis. He is jumping because he hit a field goal to beat the Cleveland Browns in overtime to send the Broncos to Super Bowl XXI in one of the most legendary games ever played in NFL History (See "The Drive").

Now that the overtime rule in the NFL has been changed for the postseason, my question is, would this even HAPPEN under the current system? The rule states (in case you're not familiar yet) that if the team that wins the coin toss kicks a field goal on the first possession, the team that lost the coin toss gets the ball for a subsequent possession. If that other team kicks a field goal on the subsequent possession to tie the game, it will then go to the traditional sudden death rules.

So lets take the example above of the 1987 AFC Championship Game. After Elway's miraculous drive, the Cleveland Browns won the toss in overtime. The Browns took the ball first, but eventually punted to the Broncos. The Broncos drove 60 yards, and Karlis kicked the field goal to win it (even though my friend Brad still thinks he missed it...take a look at the replay and you'll see what I mean). Game over.

From what I can tell (bear with me because debating these scenarios might make your penis hurt), under the current rule change it's not clear if the Browns get the ball back with a chance to tie it? The rule only addresses what happens if the team that wins the coin toss kicks a field goal on their FIRST possession. It doesn't specify why there is a difference between kicking a field goal on the first possession of overtime, versus the first field goal kicked by EITHER team in overtime. Why should one field goal count as "sudden death" and another field goal doesn't count?

Help me out with this one if you can and/or feel like it. I'm sure I'm missing something here, but nevertheless I feel it's worth exploring. Again, if you're going to have sudden death in overtime, leave the system the way it was. If you want both teams getting a possession, then adopt the NCAA Overtime Rules. Don't half-ass it by splitting the difference NFL.

Why The Hell Not!?

What do you do when you underachieve despite your talent level, and preseason projections? You go to the NIT Final Four of course! You also manage to do so by beating a team you have always wondered what would happen if you ever played them in their own gym.

The Dayton Flyers marched into Assembly Hall and promptly dismantled the Fighting Illini 77-71, despite their odd black uniforms. Using their usual blend of athleticism, uptempo play, better than average three point shooting, and tough defense, the Flyers built two different 16 point leads, and despite it getting a little hairy at the end, largely outplayed the Illini for much of the contest. There were a couple of milestones achieved with the win for the Flyers. This marks the first time Dayton has beaten a Big Ten team since the 2001-2002 season. It's also the first time Dayton has gone to the NIT Final Four since 1968.

As a Dayton alum, it's not that hard to remember that this season was a disappointment overall. UD will still approach a crossroads coming up when this season does eventually end. Will they fight to keep coach Brian Gregory as he will no doubt be courted by teams with vacancies? Both arguments for and against keeping him are more than valid. That will have to wait for the moment though as the Flyers are Madison Square Garden bound. Even though winning the NIT is always the equivalent of being the tallest Midget, it will still make me chuckle when I see the "NIT Final Four" Banner hanging in UD Arena. Get the Velcro ready!

GuciNugs and Observations

The Beard is checking in with some odds and ends he noticed over the past weekend:

• Terrific NCAA Tournament so far. One of the best I can remember quite frankly, despite two of my predicted Final Four teams already eliminated-THANKS A LOT BIG EAST! Plenty of upsets, last second shots, overtime thrillers, and overall good "white boy basketball" being the term I heard a few pundits use to refer to the success of teams like Cornell, Northern Iowa, Butler, and St. Mary's, as they all advanced to the Sweet 16. After watching the games this weekend, it seems the easiest explanation of why so many upsets took place was the decided advantage teams with seniors in the starting lineup have over teams that have highly recruited talented freshman players. The correlation being that the teams with the seniors have played together longer and know each other's strengths and weakness versus a team featuring superstar freshmen being overwhelmed at the reality of playing in the tournament for the first time...I doubt very highly if that will stop Kentucky from winning it all, but if Kentucky does win it, it will likely be erased within 3 years.
• The NFL Owners Meetings are taking place in Orlando this week, and the number one story so far seems to be possible changes to the Overtime System in the playoffs. The main talking point would be the significance of a field goal, meaning if a team kicks a field goal in overtime, the other team would get a fresh set of downs to do the same. If they kick a field goal in return, THEN the game goes to sudden death. There are three points of outrage that come to my mind. First of all, that's just silly since sudden death would still be possible under this change anyway. Second of all, I somehow get the feeling that the only reason this is even being talked about is because Brett Vicodin didn't go to the Super Bowl last year, and the Networks didn't like it. Third, there is a friggin LOCKOUT on the horizon! How The Lockout isn't priority number one during these owners meetings is beyond me?! Worrying about overtime, and concussions is the equivalent of making sure the doorknobs and brass railings are really shiny on the Titanic. All things NFL should take a backseat until they can secure that the league will even be playing football in 2011.
• Eldrick Woods once again took another major misstep on Sunday. In another bizarre move from Goliath, he agree to do a 5 minute "interview" with not one but two handpicked media members Tom Rinaldi and Kelly Tilghman, in which he once again revealed.....nothing. First of all, I did chuckle at the irony that Woods would choose Kelly "Lynch Him In A Back Alley" Tilghman, as she once was suspended for two weeks for making off-color remarks about him. Overall though, this was just pointless because he still isn't answering any questions. He was asked about Thanksgiving and he gave a b.s. "It's all in the police report" answer, even though it's NOT in the police report. He never talked to the police, nor was any explanation given (blood tests, breathalyzer, etc.) as to why he evaded a DUI. He wasn't asked about the investigation regarding Doctor Anthony Galea, or if he's talked to the FBI during their investigation. He did deny that anybody in his camp was pimping women towards him, even though TMZ and others have reported that the head of his design group Byron Bell was doing exactly that for him. If this latest misstep has proven anything, it's that Woods still hasn't learned a damn thing during this whole saga. He's still a raging dirtball, and will always be one. I have a sickly feeling though, that his ass-lickers are not going to care, and will still look to him as their hero when all the smoke clears.

Denial Isn't Just A River In Egypt...

I keep meeting people that don't understand why the Eldrick Woods situation is so bad. They keep telling me that this is only between him and his family, and that we should all leave him alone. You can imagine my reaction.

In an effort to address why this is not the typical situation involving a guy cheating on his wife, let me just summarize with the following links and images. Woods went from being:

1. This (11 second mark)

to

2. This

Hopefully these links will help people understand that Woods was strategically positioned as role model for kids. Now we all know, that he's not a role model for anybody, and like any fallen role model, it's ALL of our business to examine why the god ended up being false. For everyone that ever bought his Gatorade, his Nike clothes, his Nike hats, his Nike golf balls, his golf clubs, his Buick cars, (you see where I'm going with this?), we all deserve answers.

Thankfully, Trey Parker, Matt Stone and the geniuses at South Park gave us their season premier which cuts through the B.S. in their usual eloquent T.V. Show. Click here to watch the episode.

Cocaine's A Helluva Drug...

Keep it short and sweet today just before the Madness begins. This one is from the "Just When You've Seen It All" department: Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington tested positive for cocaine last season. Washington is 57 years old, which is hardly a typical age of someone who wants to "experiment" with cocaine, nevertheless he maintains that was the only time he's used the drug (I have a feeling his nose was growing when he said that). There's a couple of different questions and issues that come up with this one. The most obvious being Washington's credibility and judgement. Other issues would be how can Washington maintain any respect in the clubhouse, particularly a clubhouse with long time drug abuser Josh Hamilton in it? So far everyone seems to be coming to his defense, which isn't too unexpected since everyone who's ever met Washington seems to rave about him. I would just think it's a little hard for a player to take him serious whenever he asks them to focus or maintain discipline while Washington would be doing his best Tony Montana imitation.

Sizzle Huh?

*Ed. Note: Thanks to Mike Silva's NY Baseball Digest for providing the links.



Normally I don't pay too much attention to the Cubs, or their media coverage, however this little nugget from The Mad Leprechaun AKA Chicago Tribune scribe Paul Sullivan caught my eye. Hey look, there's nothing wrong with pointing out a teams winning record in spring training, if that sort of thing excites you. That's not what caught my attention, nor why I'm writing this blog post. It did get me curious however, to see if there is any link between a having the best spring training record, and whether or not a winning record indicates strong odds of winning the World Series. I decided to check it out. Please use the following links to look at the record books for yourself here and here.

Going back to 1984, there have only been two teams that had the best record in spring training and won the World Series that season. They are the 1991 Minnesota Twins, and the 1997 Florida Marlins. So there goes that theory. Also, as Silva points out, the Kansas City Royals have had the best record in the AL in three of the past ten spring trainings. Somehow I haven't noticed the Royals even make the playoffs, let alone win the World Series in the past decade, have you? Also in the past ten years the 6 out of the 10 teams that won the World Series had winning records, so no discernible, or concrete link there either. One of the teams that won the World Series despite a losing spring training record happens to be the 2005 Chicago White Sox.

Anyway, hope always springs eternal, but I just thought it was cool to actually have hard data to compare spring training versus regular season performances. Enjoy.

Whooopee...

Goliath is returning, and apparently he's been missed by his sycophants. Eldrick decided to not only play golf professionally again, but has chosen one of the four biggest stages the PGA has in which to make his 2010 debut. "The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect..." the Sex-Addicted One shared in a statement released today. The Masters also happens to allow Eldrick the best of both worlds. On the one hand, Augusta National is one of the more controlled environments on the PGA Tour. On the other hand, it also provides a golf course that has been modified over the years to specifically challenge him.

I will say this for him...even though they haven't seen much action since Thanksgiving, Eldrick's Balls are still pretty damn big, and they haven't lost any fortitude. He could have eased into this by playing in Arnold Palmer's Invitational this week, gotten the B.S. plus nerves out of the way, and come into the Masters more relaxed/focused. Obviously that's not good enough for him, since he's deciding to retake his spot on the top by playing his first round in one of the four major tournaments of the year. While his testicular fortitude is admirable, and will no doubt only enable his posterior-kissers in the media (looking at YOU Rick Reilly) to pucker up once again, it's no guarantee that he will succeed. Just ask Rod Blagojevich.

Putting aside my longstanding vitriol of Woods, and the people who (still) love him for a moment, let's look at this objectively. People can point all they want on how Woods has always blocked out whatever hardships he's had to deal with in the past. They can (and already have in some cases) almost celebrate the fact that whatever Woods has had to deal with never affected his game until their hearts are content. The fact of the matter is none of that matters now because this is the first time ever that Woods' actions have caused people to dislike him. He's never had to deal with that before. He's never had to deal with the possibility of (god forbid) being heckled on the golf course before. His status as a role model was never questioned, or blasted before. He's never let anyone down before, and it will be interesting to see how he handles that on the golf course.

Maybe he comes back and plays like he never missed a beat. The Beard won't deny that possibility. But what happens if he isn't the same golfer? At least not right away? What if he actually IS rusty? What if he does lose his composure a little more frequently than he did before? There's plenty that could go wrong for him that he may not be fully aware of, or not really care about, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't care about it. He certainly didn't mind acting like that during his marriage, and look where that behavior got him.

One thing that is for sure is that his actions are that of someone who is unafraid of betting on himself. It will get even people like me who hate his guts, watching with interest on April 8.

Here's hoping that some brave woman dresses up in a Perkins Waitress uniform and stands in front of him in one of the galleries...

Dirty?

NHL Senior Executive VP of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell thought it was and promptly suspended Washington Captials star Alex Ovechkin for 2 games for his Boarding of Chicago Blackhawks Defenseman Brian Campbell on Sunday afternoon. The hit resulted in Campbell suffering a broken clavicle, and broken ribs. His status for the rest of the season is in serious doubt.

Watching the play, The Beard's first reaction was that it was a clean play with just a bad luck result, and obviously his coach agreed. The Beard has never been much of a long time hockey expert however, and has found others who believe that the suspension wasn't long enough.

One issue that leads to denying Ovechkin the benefit of the doubt, is that this isn't the first time he's done something like this. Ovechkin is officially considered by the league to be a "repeat offender" with three game misconducts this season. He was kicked out of a game for Boarding in a November contest at Buffalo, and he's also been suspended for two games for a knee to the head of Carolina Hurricane Defenseman Tim Gleason.

The other tricky issue is that Ovechkin is one of the poster boys of the NHL, and is considered one of the most bankable faces in the game today. Does the league benefit long term by punishing one of it's biggest marketing pieces for being too aggressive, or does it draw the line in the sand with a stiff punishment for reckless play that endangers the careers of others? It's a fine line, no doubt about it. In this case the league decided to play it safe by splitting the difference suspension length-wise.

Still, it will be interesting to see how Ovechkin responds to this. His past history, is that he probably has no plans to ease up his play.

Well, Well, Well...

It's been quite a year for Kyle Orton. Not only was he the key piece in the Chicago Bears acquisition of Jay Cutler last April, but Orton also surprised many by having a pretty productive season-at least for Orton Standards (62% Completion Percentage, 3,802 yards, 21 TD's, 12 INT's, 86.8 QB Rating). Kyle was "rewarded" by the Broncos for his production, by watching his team trade for former Cleveland Browns number one draft pick Brady Quinn. Officially, Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels hasn't said anything regarding who will be the starting QB next year, but it's pretty obvious he's not all that thrilled with Orton, despite Josh's earlier praise for him. McDaniels is apparently so dissatisfied, that he's blatantly opening the door to a huge QB Controversy/Hornets Nest, which always ends with the same equation of, "Two QB's = No QB's".

So what's wrong with Orton? After all, certain former teammates consider him a "winner" despite Orton never...repeat NEEEEVER, starting a playoff game in his entire career. That zero playoff start streak continued this past season, when after starting with a 6-2 record, Orton led the Broncos to a nosedive 2-6 record to once again end any chance of a playoff spot for Denver.

On the surface, that was enough for McDaniels to bench Brandon Marshall during the last game of the season, fire defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, and now decide to have a good old fashioned QB Controversy going into training camp. Is there a chance that McDaniels is just a lunatic? Certainly. He's been no stranger to looking like a complete moron on more than one occasion. Still, I don't think Orton exactly did anything last season to quell McDaniels' insanity. To further illustrate my point, just answer this question:

How good could Orton have been, if McDaniels thinks underachieving at best, lost at worst, Brady Quinn looks like a better option?

Wonderlic Fun

I'm side-stepping the whole Milton Bradley-Cubs feud, as well as the Ozzie Website Shutdown garbage since neither story has much to do with baseball and are only news because there's nothing else going on.

With that in mind, I would like to discuss my least favorite quarterback ever Tim Tebow's recent Wonderlic Test score. Small preface/disclaimer here, The Beard isn't claiming to be the smartest guy in the world, and normally wouldn't make a big deal out of Wonderlic results. However, I do feel they are somewhat significant, specifically in Tebow's case because one of the reasons he's gotten unrealistically favorable scouting reports from numerous analysts was due to his supposed and perceived "intelligence".

Tebow scored a 22 out of 50. Not exactly mind-blowing to put it conservatively, and hopefully should stop all this talk about how smart, people want to think Tebow is.

Sam Bradford scored an impressive 36 for what it's worth, plus Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy did a couple points better than Tebow but not really. I was curious about other Quarterbacks scores over the years, and decided to look it up. Here is a list since 2006 (click on "the scores") of all the QB's Wonderlic scores and there are some notable scores attached to some interesting names on this list. Readers Digest List includes:

1. Jay Cutler = 26
2. Vince Young = 15
3. Alex Smith = 40
4. Marcus Vick = 11
5. "Winner" Kyle Orton = 26
6. Eli Manning = 39
7. Phillip Rivers = 30
8. Ben Roethlisberger = 25
9. Tony Romo = 37
10. Rex Grossman = 29
11. Carson Palmer = 26
12. David Garrard = 14
13. Drew Brees = 28
14. Tom Brady = 33
15. Donovan McNabb = 14

In case you're wondering how you would do on the Wonderlic, here's a sample for you to try.

Ummmmm...Take A Pass This Time Bears.

Thank goodness for Deadspin, otherwise this might have eluded us. The man pictured to your left is Abeline-Christian's Offensive Tackle Tony Washington. He's listed at 6'7", 311 lbs. He performed very well at the combine, putting up 225lbs 33 times, and ran well during the drills particularly the 3 cone. His performance was significant enough for NFL Scouts, that's he been projected as a potential third round pick. The Chicago Bears have never been above scouting players from Abeline-Christian before as evidenced by Danieal Manning and Johnny Knox, and they have needs on the offensive line, particularly at right tackle.

So what's the problem? Well...Tony here is a registered sex-offender, and it's not of the Christian Peter variety. Tony is a registered sex-offender because he was convicted in May of 2003 for having sex with his 15 year old biological sister....yeah....his sister...(Feel free to make the lemon face I'm making right now).

To call that situation a "lapse in judgement" would be the equivalent of calling the Grand Canyon, "just a hole in Arizona". There's no mincing words...that's just really f*cked up! F*cked up enough for not only the Bears, but for every NFL team to hopefully run for the hills from this guy. This isn't a guy who likes guns too much, or deals/uses drugs too much. Hell even Christian Peter knew there's a difference between raping your sister and a woman that's not related to you, and Christian Peter's one of the biggest cretin's to ever walk the earth!

So thank you to Deadspin for finding this, and lets please make sure that this information is enough for Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo to take a pass on Washington in the third round.

And the HORSE You Rode In On!!

One of the reasons I love running this blog is because it makes me hunt down and find things like this. Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo Sports has an NBA Blog, and this recent entry absolutely calls it like it is regarding Michael Jordan and his (ahem) handling of the Charlotte Bobcats.

It's an absolutely stunning read from start to finish, passionately written with an emphatic emotional plea and a long term memory of someone standing up to a bully. It's essentially an Anti-Michael Wilbon written piece, in that it's not written with intent to further kiss Jordan's ass for things Jordan did when Bill Clinton was still President. It's written truthfully, factually, and with an appropriate amount of vitriol for Jordan who in The Beard's (and thankfully an increasing number of other people's) opinion has gotten away with too much B.S. for far too long.

All the Jordan lovers will undoubtedly have a problem with this piece because they can't let go of childhood/childISH memories of Jordan's Bulls Championships and feel those memories still entitle Jordan to act like a jerk. All the Jordan haters will feel what I feel which is a feeling of hope that eventually people will finally realize that he's never been worthy of the praise,esteem and myopic hero-worship he once had.

AL Central Door Open?

Joe Nathan, a surprisingly 35 years old Joe Nathan at that, has a "significant" tear in his ulnar nerve on his right throwing elbow. In the words of Whitey Guccione, "Not good man...not good." The injury is usually treated with the dreaded Tommy John surgery, and as anyone on this list will tell you (minus the dead guys), it's a very long and painfully slow recovery of 12-18 months. Understandably, at 35 years old Nathan is seeking a second opinion from Doctor James Andrews, and will try to pitch again in two weeks. If he can deal with the pain, he says he'll pitch through it for the entire season. If he can't take the pain, he'll have the surgery. Here's to going out on a limb and thinking that it's a pretty safe bet the Twins wish they didn't sign Nathan to that contract two seasons ago that guarantees him $11.25 million for this season and next.

What I find interesting is the general consensus among White Sox Nation and the White Sox themselves, that Nathan's injury equals a significant increase in the Sox's chances at winning the American League Central this year. I am not one of those voices who share that opinion.

First of all, I've learned this the hard way too many times to never count out the Twins in the division race. Five Central Division titles over the last ten years kind of speaks for itself. Secondly, while Nathan maybe a key component for them, and is one of their outstanding star players, the Twins have always had replacements come in and get the job done whenever they lose a great player. It's a benefit of having arguably the best farm system in Major League Baseball over the last decade.Thirdly, the closer position historically is one of the easiest to replace. There have been 32 different pitchers (some multiple times) that have saved 40 or more games in a season since 1983, so it's not that hard to find a guy to get 3 outs at the end of a ball game.

While every little bit helps, Nathan's injury doesn't provide answers to the questions the White Sox had going into this season. That's only going to come from the White Sox themselves, and not their competition's Disabled List.

Memory Lane And/Or Deja Vu?

Not too much happening in the sports world today. Ben Roethlisberger is once again in trouble of the sexual assault variety , although the details are pretty murky much like his alleged Lake Tahoe incident.

College basketball is starting to get interesting. A remarkable fact regarding college basketball was brought up by Terry Boers on WSCR-AM today. North Carolina, UCLA, and UConn are NOT going to the tournament this year. This is the first time that all three have missed the dance since 1966. Dayton was able to make the 1966 tournament, but won't be going this years Big Dance.

With that said, I found this interesting little piece on Chicagonow.com. It's a slide-show and career retrospective on Free Agents the Bears have signed over the years.

Some of the good include:
1. Ted Washington (picture) & Keith Traylor ("700lbs of Ass" era)
2. Thomas Jones
3. Erik Kramer
4. Andy Heck
5. John Tait
6. Ruben Brown
7. Desmond Clark

The Iffy:
1. Marty Carter
2. Lewis Tillman
3. Muhsin Muhammad

The god-awful:
1. Bryan Cox
2. Phillip Daniels
3. Kordell Stewart
4. Merril Hoge
5. Craig "Ironhead" Heyward (the late)

Hope you Bear fans out there remember that Mark Hatley made Phillip Daniels the richest Chicago Bear of all time in 2000. Ouch...still, I'm not letting that fact scare The Beard because Daniels was paid on potential (20 1/2 sacks in four seasons). Peppers is getting paid to be what he already is (averaged 10 sacks per season).

Check it out here for a stroll down memory lane.

Balls That CLANK!

Color me "impressed", if anything else...The Chicago Bears decided to come out of the Free Agency gate swinging with not one, not two, but three splashy free agent signings today, including the biggest Free Agent fish of this years class, Julius Peppers.

There's no getting around it now, the Bears understand they need to win in 2010. Not just a playoff appearance, not just a division title, but a Super Bowl run. The proof is in the money. Since this is the NFL, whatever the contract is worth, is not necessarily what will be paid since most of the NFL Money isn't guaranteed, just the signing bonus. Peppers is getting $42 million guaranteed, and potential for more with incentives tied to performance. Chester Taylor is getting $7 million guaranteed, and Brandon Manumaleuna is getting a guaranteed $6 million. Pretty substantial financial commitments that's true, but commitments that are not being made for annoying empty NFL speak of "development" or "long term vision". These are "win right now" commitments, and all three players, the rest of the roster, the coaching staff, the front office, the fans, and the rest of the league knows it.

Speaking of the rest of the roster, it's also become pretty clear that Greg Olsen is now on the Trading Block. Mike Martz's offense has always featured a Tight End that is little more than another Tackle who blocks. Brandon Manumaleuna is exactly that, since he is a wall at nearly 300lbs. There are also reports that Greg Olsen has told friends he no longer has a spot on this team, and the Bears are definitely trying to trade him. The Beard has little issue with it. Nothing against Greg Olsen personally. I think he's a good player, but left some things to be desired too. He might still end up on the roster, but if that happens, he has no chance of seeing the field.

So what really do these moves today mean? Well it's hard to say exactly other than the Bears seem to know what they want to do, identified the talent they needed in order to make it work, and are going full speed ahead with their plans, money be damned. It doesn't guarantee that they will win in the least since there are still holes in the secondary, particularly with the safety positions, offensive line, and receiver positions.

With that said though, the Bears at the very least have done two things. One, they've showed that they want to matter again in terms of being referred to as Super Bowl Contenders. Two, Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo have decided that if they are going to be fired at the end of next season, it won't be because they were tentative to spend money, or be above certain things like showing up at Peppers doorsteps at Midnight last night in order to court him.

Will this work? Time will tell. Obviously I hope it does. Should be a helluva ride regardless. Bear Down!

Hank Gathers R.I.P.

March 4 marks the twenty year anniversary of the passing of Hank Gathers. Hank was a remarkable combination of scoring, size, and athleticism, yet also possessed an intelligence and charm that made it real easy to root for him and Loyola Marymount. It's safe to say that Gathers was well on his way towards a career in the NBA until his life was cut tragically short as he collapsed in the middle of a game live on TV. An hour later, he was dead of an irregular heartbeat.

Deadspin found this nice tribute to him which pointed out the game where Hank had 48 points and 13 boards against LSU where he went head to head with some stiff named Shaquille O'Neal. The Boo-Yah's also had a nice tribute to him ,here and unfortunately an awful made for TV movie was made based on his life called "Final Shot : The Hank Gathers Story".

As a friend pointed out to me, Hank should be 43, a basketball network analyst, and about 300lbs by now. Instead he will serve as a stark reminder of what could have been, and how preciously short life can be. R.I.P. Hank.

Storm Coming?

In case you have forgotten (and Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports hasn't), Doctor Anthony Galea is still in a lot of trouble. Galea is still facing charges in Canada for selling a drug called Actovegin (which is an unapproved drug extracted from calf's blood), and his assistant is facing charges in the U.S. for trying to cross the border with HGH. Galea's official specialty is using a blood spinning technique, in which the blood is literally spun in a centrifuge and re-injected into the injured joint in order to accelerate healing. That sounds somewhat different or cutting edge at first glance but apparently it's not. Despite this apparently rudimentary treatment, it certainly didn't stop a whole lot of athletes and sports figures from travelling north of the border to seek him out. It should also be mentioned that Galea himself has admitted he uses HGH for himself, but never prescribed it to athletes (my B.S. Detector just exploded as soon as I heard Galea say that btw).

When news of Galea's arrest broke, the first "name" patient that emerged was Tiger Woods. As time and the investigation have moved forward, some other superstar names have come to the forefront. Alex Rodriguez, Huston Street, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Delgado either have spoken to or have appointments to meet with the Feds regarding the Galea case. What was said to the Feds is unknown at this point. It may just simply be the athletes confirming that Galea worked on their knees, and they never received HGH or any other Performance Enhancers from Dr. Galea. However, the term Benefit Of The Doubt, does not fly on this blog, especially when it comes to possible Drug Cheating.

That being the case, there are a few things that arouse my curiosity, some of which include why would all these players, specifically New York based players, actively seek out a Canadian Doctor for simple knee treatment? How did they find him? How did the guys referring these players to Galea know how to find him? Apparently Dr. Richard Steadman, the same doctor whose clinic operated on Kobe Bryant's knee in 2003, is among one of the main referral sources for Galea. Still though, it seems a little too random that they would all be so willing to travel to Toronto on a referral for simple knee treatments?

Another curious question that comes up is why indeed are the Feds talking to all of these players with such frequency and urgency? The most obvious case where this type of behavior from the Feds took place was BALCO . As a result of the investigation, and some nice Grand Jury testimony leakage, the biggest Doping In Sports scandal was exposed, of which Major League Baseball-specifically the past decade, has never fully recovered from.

All these little coincidences and reminders beg the overall largest question to be asked which is : Is this the beginning of another storm of drug cheating surrounding Major League Baseball players, Olympians, NFL players, and The Goliath Of Golf? Is this as big, or possibly bigger than the BALCO case, in terms of inter-agency cooperation, public disclosure, and re-examination of the legitimacy of certain sports achievements? Or is this simply a case of a whole lot of smoke but no fire?

The problem is, we might never know. It took a crooked lawyer talking to two reporters in order for BALCO to fully come to light. ESPN certainly won't be devoting anyone to this story full time since they are still in bed with MLB. One thing's for sure though, if this were to be BALCO Part II, Bud Selig might finally understand that there is no "moving on" from the steroid era, unless he really is interested in getting to the bottom of the steroid era. Somehow I don't see that happening either...

Adios

The Free Agency period is rapidly approaching the NFL Landscape, and two interesting names have been thrown back into the market, in Thomas Jones and Orlando Pace. What makes them interesting, is they are both former Jerry Angelo gambles that ended up being significant losing bets for good old, nautical referencing Big Jer. Most importantly though, both decisions drastically altered and diminished the Chicago Bears chances of postseason success since Super Bowl XLI.

Angelo (with the help of Lovie Smith) bet the farm that Cedric Benson was going to be a better fit as the franchise running back for the Chicago Bears than Thomas Jones in 2005. Jerry still believed this to be the case in 2007, despite obvious overwhelming evidence that Jones was a far superior fit (ran for 1335 yards in 2005, 1210 in 2006, and led the team to the Super Bowl) than Benson. Now Jones after rushing for 3,833 yards and 28 TD's in 3 seasons including a career high of 1,402 yards plus 14 touchdowns last season, finds himself released by the New York Jets after refusing to take a paycut. It would never happen, but ask yourself this Bears fans, which available free agent running back would you pay $5 million for right now? Washed up Ladainian Tomlinson, washed up Jamal Lewis, concussion case Brian Westbrook, or the pride of Big Stone Gap, Virginia who showed he's still plenty effective at 32 years old in Thomas Jones?

On the other side of the coin is the release of Orlando Pace. Angelo signed the veteran left tackle the same day of the Jay Cutler trade (btw I'm still waiting for that "winner" Kyle Orton's playoff game to start? When is that supposed to happen? He's a proven winner right so shouldn't his team have played in the playoffs this past season?), and the results were not pretty. Pace was a shadow of himself the entire season, both in pass and run blocking to the point where he was demoted to a reserve in favor of second year player Chris Williams. What's even more interesting about this move is that Pace initially was thought to be returning to the Bears with the hire of offensive line coach Mike Tice. There was also talk about Pace retiring as well. Neither of these scenario's happened however, as the Bears gave Pace the "see ya later".

It's pointless to ponder what could have been since the past is for "...cowards and losers." Still it does make Bears fans uneasy about the decision making process heading into this Free Agency period., It's even more disheartening when Jerry Angelo still hasn't hired his buddy Tim Ruskell as Bobby DePaul's replacement.