DOWNRIGHT PATHETIC by ST

This Jim Tressell situation which has led to his resignation is completely pathetic. And I'm not talking about the coach, the players, the AD or the school president. My focus is the fans. I've spent about an hour scanning the stories on various sites from ESPN to CBS to CNN and the level of apologist, mindless lemming attitudes among Buckeye fans is nauseating. The excuses from "everyone does it" to saying the media had it in for the coach is rampant. Does anyone even remotely care about facts or the truth or actually judging individual cases based on merit or evidence. I thought the yo yo's who remain in the corner's of Vick or Bonds had problems, but this is severe. I think at the core this is why defense lawyers create such venom. The misdirection, the twisting or challenging of facts. It's just sad!
I'd like to think if a story broke about say Jeter using PED's or an Oregon coach committing a serious violation I'd be objective and not start pointing fingers in every direction but the right one.
In an odd way, the Duck baseball team sweeping Oregon State to wrap the regular season is frustrating in a way. They end with a nice final record at 33-26-1 and pull off the first program sweep since the sport returned in 2009. The hitting and bullpen work was inconsistent but showed flashes. Tyler Anderson will hear his name called pretty early in the amateur draft next week. Just seems like the foundation for success has been put down well by Coach Horton and his staff. I'm thinking another 3 Pac 10 wins could have pushed them back to the post season. 36 & 23 overall and a game above .500 in league. Maybe.

THAT VISCIOUS CYCLE by ST

I've often said that our 24/7 sports cycle doesn't always lead to the time filling up with quality. So Scottie Pippen was on the ESPN morning show today and made a very idiotic comment. First and foremost, what's Pippen up to these days? Is he a coach? Broadcaster? Scout? Is he even involved in basketball at any level? So what warrants caring about his opinion? Then he says Michael Jordan was probably a better scorer, but perhaps Lebron James is a better all around player. What? So he takes a backhanded jab at MJ who pretty much put him on the basketball map. Think about it, if Seattle never traded him on draft day for Olden Polynice do we view him in the same manner? Early in his career he was viewed as the cowardly lion who could barely take the court against the Pistons. Then when Jordan was trying baseball, he had the moment of infamy in the 94 playoffs against the Knicks when he pouted like a child when Phil Jackson didn't call his number at a key end of game moment and refused to enter the game. I guess what I'm saying is screw Scottie Pippen. Great defender, but also from my chair among the most overrated players in league history.
Seems like we update the car wreck in Columbus on a daily basis. The owner of the tatoo parlor, Ed Rife, who doled out improper bennies to players has now been charged with drug trafficking and money laundering. Rather than go into the details, I'll just stick to my original thought. I can't imagine Jim Tressel ever coaches the Buckeyes again.
In the 5 o'clock hour today I'll replay my chat with Oregon coach Chip Kelly from yesterday. Talked some football, but more importantly the focus was the big bowling benefit coming up to help out the widow and daughters of Officer Chris Kilcullen. Get the details at www.goducks.com or contact me here at the station via email or text 653 3098.

JUST SHAKE HANDS by ST

Really like this Oklahoma City team and what they're capable of in the immediate future. Really disappointed in Russell Westbrook walking off the court after the season ending loss to Dallas last night without offering his congrats to the Mavs. I know he's a young guy and it was a frustrating defeat, but it showed the immaturity some pointed out during these playoffs. Everyone else including superstud Kevin Durant hung around after the final gun to go through the sportsman like motions. That team has learned a difficult lesson. At crunch time they struggled to get quality looks. They were solid in this area in round one against the Nuggets and in the West Semi's versus Memphis, but that's the deal. As you work your way through the post season you have to continue to upgrade because the opponent gets better and better. Great for Dirk and the Mavericks, in particular Shawn Marion. This 11 year vet is a 4 time all star who as recently as 2009 earned just over 17 million a season. His willingness to accept a lesser role and focus on defense shows the ultimate professional. What a high character guy. Then last night with Nowitzki scoring a very human 26 and Jason Kidd way off, Marion exploded for 26 to go with 8 boards and 3 blocks. Sweet!
Lot to cover on today's programs. More trouble in Columbus for soon to be ex-Buckeye coach Jim Tressel, a damaging injury to deal with for the reigning World Series champs, and at 4:30 a talk with Chip Kelley. He's heading up a big time benefit for the widow and daughters of Officer Chris Kilcullen. We'll have the details and talk some Duck football. Visit www.goducks.com for details on the football page. The Bowling Event is set for Emerald Lanes on Saturday, June 4th at 11am.

AND ON THE 8TH DAY THEY TWEETED by ST

So the NFL is cracking down on dangerous hits. Some are referring to the new focus as the "Steeler" rule. When word hit, a couple of semi-notorious Pitt defenders Lamar Woodley and James Harrison grabbed the 4G and unloaded on their twitter accounts. Harrison took the certain path to get officials off his case by calling those who favor this rule "idiots". That definitely removes the target from his chest. The issue here is simple. We now have more information about the long term negative impact of playing that suicidal game than ever. Football players live shorter lives. Their brains get hammered. It's a classic case of paying the price and it's a high one. No one puts a gun to the heads of these guys who keep us riveted on autumn Saturdays & Sundays to play but jeez it's beginning to look more and more like you have to be a bit nuts to participate.
I'm hearing the typical whining about officials after Game 4 of the East Finals. Derrick Rose is not getting proper MVP treatment when taking the ball to the rack. Some have cited all the trips to the free throw stripe Dirk Novitzki is enjoying. Duh! When an unstoppable 7 footer with his repertoire makes a move, sometimes the only defense is to hack. Rose is terrific but he's 6'3. When defended properly by say Lebron James, you can just stay on him and deny easy buckets. I'm just sick and tired of folks using the refs as an excuse when things fail to go their way. Wah, Wah, Wah!
Seems like a lifetime ago the Red Sox were 0 & 7 and fans were poised to leap off the top of the Green Monster. They've won 67% of their games since and as I'm writing this have a 13 run lead on Cleveland in a matinee. I'm thinking that looks safe. Said it in March and I'll say it again now. I should also point out the bitter pain it brings me to admit they have the best 25 man roster in the bigs. If they miss the post season it's a freaking shocker. Here's hoping.
Lot to cover today including the chat Colin Cowherd had with Pac 10 commish Larry Scott. The potential for college football on Sunday if the NFL morons can't cut a deal. Catch ya later.

WHEN MONEY WAS REAL by ST

I just read a story about the New York Mets perhaps losing as much as 70-million dollars this year. What? How the heck can you operate in the top market in America, with that fan base and bleed cash like that? Is it me or have things gone so askew financially that the figures in these stories seem made up? When George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees from CBS back in 1973 the price tag was only 32 million for the most recognizable, successful American pro sports franchise. Now a team is losing twice that in one year. Sorry, that's just plain nuts and a bad indicator of where we've headed as a society.
Really bad loss last night for the Thunder. It also revealed what can happen when you lean on inexperience at critical junctures in the post season. No question Kevin Durant, James Hardin and Russell Westbrook are terrific talents, but they're 22, 21 and 22 years old. Obviously it was a killer when Hardin fouled out but the youth played a factor. Let's face it, history says a price must be paid and as a rule, guys don't come to the pros and take over. Even when a rookie named Magic led LA to the title he had guys like Kareem in his prime, Jamaal Wilkes and Spencer Haywood to lean on. And that's Magic Johnson. Harsh lessons, but they'll likely bode well in the coming years as this team continues to make deep playoff runs.
No shows today as we have Oregon at Portland in baseball with a first pitch of 3pm. Enjoy!

I GET IT CIRCA 1973 by ST

Ever see the movie "The Sandlot"? The local gang the story centers around get a visit from the kids from the richer side of the tracks. The snide remarks begin. It ends with the hefty catcher saying "YOU PLAY BASEBALL LIKE A GIRL"! Oh the horror. It's the ultimate insult when you're 12. Seeing Kobe last month and Joakim Noah last night use homophobic terms is disturbing. Not because of the distasteful nature, but from my chair, just the immaturity and ignorance. Really? Guys in their late 20's and early 30's still have fag or faggot as their go-to put down? Weak. Exceptionally weak.
Defense with authority has Miami 2 wins from the NBA Final. I've enjoyed Derrick Rose from his 1 year in college and 3 in the NBA. Not sure I've seen him post such ineffective numbers. At 1st sight those 20 points, 5 boards and 5 assists look okay. They were rendered meaningless. He was on the bench for the 1st couple minutes of the 4th , then after about 2 1/2 minutes hit a nice layup on the drive. That was his positive contribution in the last quarter. The Heat just refused to allow him any room. It was a super sweet game plan executed to perfection.
I follow baseball pretty closely. The team with the best record as we speak remains a bit of a mystery. I view their depth chart and have to do lot's of clicking because I'm not all that familiar with Jack Hannahan, Carlos Santana(not that one) or Chris Perez. That would be their 3b, catcher and closer. They have a 7 game lead over a very mediocre AL Central. They're also the only MLB team I've seen on the ESPN site that doesn't even list a 5th starter. Interesting story.

THANKS JOSE by ST

Not sure if my title is sarcastic or accurrate. When Jose Canseco released his tell all book back in 2005 I recall the consensus that he had an axe to grind, was kind of an a-hole and had no credibility. Turns out the freaking publication was dead on the screws, blew the lid off the steroid mess and we actually owe the guy a debt of gratitude. That said, for years he was a liar and a cheater. Those facts don't change. What's different is we now have to deal with these kinds of people in a new manner. If you ever watch "Law & Order", it's commonplace for the defense to call out a prosecution witness with either a criminal history or a past filled with lies. Now we see it doesn't mean they're not telling the truth now. That brings us to cycling's Tyler Hamilton who has handed in his 2004 Olympic Gold medal on the heels of a revealing interview with 60 Minutes. He's called out Lance Armstrong for doping. It's the ultimate dilemma. Do we believe a confessed liar and cheat? Do we see Lance as pretty much the only clean successful rider of his generation? Have the athletes lost the benefit of the doubt? Pretty tough questions. Heck, Pete Rose lied for nearly 2 decades about betting on baseball until it was time to sell a book. In 2028 will Armstrong make a confession prior to the release of "Lie-Strong": How Juicing Helped Me Raise Money and Awareness about Cancer"?
On yesterday's(Thur) show I talked about the difference between the stud young point guards, Derrick Rose of the Bulls and the Thunder's Russell Westbrook. I felt Rose had that calm and maturity about him while Westbrook seems to have a lot of growing up to do. He seemed to be adamant about remaining in attack mode despite the potential damage. Call it an element of cement headedness. It exploded last night and coach Scotty Brooks sat him for the entire 4th quarter. His jawing at Brooks is completely unaccpetable and immature. Right now, though the same age(22), Rose seems miles ahead as far as leadership, poise and demeanor.
We're off early due to Oregon Baseball. Have a nice weekend.