Bad rule, good call

I'm back. I wonder if anyone missed me.
OK, enough small talk.
The NFL has a serious problem and I'm not talking about the looming lockout or Rex Ryan's swearing.
I'm talking about the rule about what is and what isn't a catch. And it's a problem because the Detroit Lions lost their season-opening game at Chicago when an apparent game-winning touchdown catch by Calvin Johnson with about 24 seconds left was overturned after a booth review.
In case you missed it, the Bears scored a late touchdown and used their prevent defense to try and prevent their team from winning. The Lions marched down the field and scored what looked like a game-winner on a Shaun Hill to Johnson pass.
But upon further review, it was determined that although Johnson jumped 10 feet in the air, made an aerobatic catch and fell to the ground in the back corner of the end zone with possession, he didn't "complete the play."
The rules mandate that a receiver basically has to be able to hand the ball to the official when the play is over. Johnson did everything but that. At the end of the play it appeared his arm extended out and while still in his hand, the ball hit the ground, then Johnson let go of the ball, probably figuring he had it long enough.
But as ESPN's Lee Corso would say, "not so fast, my friend."
If Johnson would have just held the ball a second or two longer the Lions would have had perhaps a season-changing win. Instead it was incomplete. Game over.
Chicago won, and as a Bears fan I'll take it.
But the rule sucks.

Could be big year for OSU, Tressel

I wonder how the college football season will play out.
It's probably not going to come as much of a surprise, but I'm hoping for an Ohio State appearance and win in the BCS National Championship Game.
The table is set for Coach Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes, who are No. 2 in the pre-season coaches poll. As much as I hate pre-season polls, that's exactly where I thought OSU would and should be. Win out and they will make their 4th appearance in the BCS title game.
That will set-up the oft-criticized Buckeyes and Tressel to silence the critics who don't think too highly of the Big 10/11/12 and who don't Ohio State think can win the big game against a quality opponent.
While I don't want to put the proverbial cart before the horse (man, I hate cliches), a national championship would be the salve Buckeye Nation needs for several reasons.

Wrigley Field ..... up close and personal

I wonder if anyone else ever gets chills when they see Wrigley Field when approaching it from the Red Line train in Chicago.
I do. Every time.
It's been about a week since my Cubs Destinations weekend, a 40th birthday present from my wonderful wife, Karen. It still hasn't totally hit me ..... the opportunity I had during the late-July weekend series against the Cardinals. Forget what happened during the games.
I'm talking VIP treatment off the field.
In a word ..... Amazing.
The package included a jersey (my wife correctly chose No. 2 Ryan Theriot for me), a Major League baseball, a 2010 Cubs yearbook, a tour of Wrigley, lunch and a meet-and-greet with a player and an opportunity to watch batting practice before the gates opened to the public.
As an aside note on the jersey, my wife picked the alternate blue jersey instead of the traditional white with blue pinstripes, figuring the way I eat, there's less of a chance I could ruin the blue one. So my brother, Mike, got the home Derrek Lee jersey, and he smudged a protein bar on it before the first game. Oh the irony.
Anyway, I now return you to your regularly scheduled blog already in progress.....

Are you ready for some football?

I wonder if I am going to lose any credibility, but then again, I wonder if I had any anyway.
I am the first person to speak out against pre-season polls, predictions, watch-lists, awards, etc.
I have always argued, much like William Devane in the Bad News Bears in Breaking Training, "Let them play, let them play."
But I was talking with a friend of mine while hanging out at GUCI in suburban Indianapolis and the conversation immediately moved in the direction of the NFL. It got me thinking about the upcoming season ..... who are the favorites, who looks good, whose going to struggle, who will suck (other than the Raiders and Lions), etc.
So if I'm going to be a hypocrite, I might as well be one of the first on the internet to predict the upcoming season.
So here goes ..... when this all happens remember where you read it first. And if none of it happens, this blog is part of that season of Dallas where Bobby Ewing never really died and nothing that you saw during that season ever really happened ..... it was all part of a dream.

Major League Baseball and the Scotty Awards

I wonder if anyone really picked San Diego and Cincinnati to lead their divisions at the Major League Baseball all-star break.
Honestly.
Did anyone?
I bet folks in Cali and Cincy didn't even pick their teams. They are among the nice surprises in what's been an interesting baseball season. And, they are among the nominees for the Scotty Awards. I would randomly give these out when I was in the sports writing business. Time to pull them out of moth balls.
The votes are in and have been tabulated by the accounting firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe.
The envelopes please .......

Biggest surprise: San Diego Padres leading the National League West. Can anyone name the Padres starting lineup? I can't. I know Adrian Gonzalez and that's about it. And I saw them play the Cubs in a spring training game. I still can't name anyone. Wait, they have some guy that used to play for the Reds. Denorfia, I think. Anyhoo, I don't see a more pleasant surprise. When anyone talked about the Padres the conversation was usually about when Gonzalez would be traded and to where.
Biggest disappointment: Cubs hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. The Cubs paid beau coup dollars for the former long-time Rangers hitting coach, known all around baseball as a hitting guru, and it hasn't helped. Derrick Lee is struggling, Kosuke Fukudome is having his typical summer slide after a hot start and they are leaving too may men in scoring position and hitting into too many double plays. Their starting pitching is second in all of baseball with the number of starts giving up 3 runs or less and they are still 9 games out of first as I write this.

No. 23 sticks it to the Cavs again

I wonder what Miami does now. In the last couple days, the Heat received verbals from two of the Big 3 in the 2010 NBA free agency class ..... Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
LeBron James just announced to a national ESPN audience his intention to leave Cleveland and join the other two in South Beach. That announcement was supposed to answer the biggest question since Who Shot J.R.?
But I have more questions that are yet to be answered.
One: Who is going to get how much money and will all 3 be happy? There is a salary cap so the Heat will have to journey into the Land of Luxury Tax or one or maybe more of the South Beach Boys will have to take less than their market value.
Two: Will LeBron be happy not being "The Guy?" The Heat have the incumbent and fan-favorite Wade and Bosh, who previously said he wanted to be the centerpiece of the franchise, not a piece.
Three: Will there be enough shots to keep all three happy? 'Nuff said there.
Four: Who can the Heat afford to get to fill out the roster? Most likely they will be minimum contract guys. Michael Beasley is probably gone so they have a little more room for the A1A Alliance. All they have left, in reality, is Mario Chalmers. That leads me to the next question .....
Five: Will the Miami Three be enough to lead the Heat to an NBA title? With a roster of minimum contract guys, James and Co. (or is it Wade and Co.?) will probably have to play 42 or 43 minutes a game. They are going to be tired when the post-season comes around. What do they do to combat that?
It's going to be interesting.

Big 10/12 divisional decision easy and not easy

I wonder what will happen when the Big 10/12 splits into 2 divisions.
Personally, I don't want the conference to divide just to be able to hold a championship game and make millions. Can one thing in this world not be about making an extra buck and preserving history?
But it's inevitable, so in a second I will offer my solution on how to split up into 2 divisions.
But first, no matter what the decision-makers do, it will create slightly unequal divisions because there is one absolute and I'm not talking about vodka ..... Ohio State and Michigan MUST be together.
Why?
Because the last Saturday in the season is sacred ..... it's all about OSU vs. That School Up North. And putting them in separate divisions will take away from The Game because it will create a championship game rerun.
Once Michigan becomes relevant again (as soon as the Wolverines fire Rich Rodriguez it will happen), OSU and Michigan will play two weeks in a row ..... once in the regular season and then the next week in the conference title game. I will be willing to bet that once Michigan recovers from it's Rodriguez-induced stinkyosity, OSU and the Maize and Blue will win their divisions with bran-like regularity.