March 30th update

Dodgers sold to L.A. legend

• The LA Dodgers were sold on Wednesday for a mind boggling amount of $2 billion. This is almost 250% more than the previous high for a baseball team (the Cubs were sold in 2009 for just over $800 million) and almost double the previous high paid for any American sports franchise (the $1.1B paid by Stephen Ross for the Miami Dolphins). However, the headline of the purchase may be that one of main owners is former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson.
• The new owners are a group called the Guggenheim Baseball Management Group and made up of Johnson, the CEO of the Mandalay Entertainment Group, the president of the Guggenheim Partners and Stan Kasten, the former president of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals.
• Kasten stands to be the head “baseball” man in the group, but Johnson says he will be deeply involved with the day-to-day operations of the team. He is particularly interested in helping the players develop both on and off the field. Dodgers players on the other hand, are interested in beating their new owner on the court.


Final 4 Preview

• The Final 4 is upon us, and on Saturday the games will commence. Kentucky's fantastic young squad will take on the other big program in the state of Kentucky and their own former coach in Louisville and Rick Pitino. Pitino, who was considered to be a finalist to make it into the basketball hall of fame, apparently will not be inducted this year.
• The second game will feature two #2 seeds in Ohio State and Kansas. Ohio State has endured a bumpy season in basketball and even moreso in football but they could make it a banner year with 2 more wins. Kansas has had 2 assistant coaches take on new head coaching jobs already (although they will stay on for the Final 4) although that's not as damaging as the news Kansas' Elite 8 foe North Carolina heard this week.
• Kentucky is considered the prohibitive favorite to win it all but they still have a tough road ahead. After the games on Saturday, the National Championship game will take place on Monday night.

March 2nd update

Kentucky Beast of the South East (Conference)

• The 29-1 Wildcats have torn through the competition this season and are looking to continue their domination deep into March Madness. The lone blemish on their record was an early season one-point loss to Indiana on a last second 3 pointer. Kentucky has all but wrapped up a #1 seed at the top of the NCAA tournament. Led by freshman stud Anthony Davis, (and his impressive uni-brow, pictured above) and Michael-Kidd Gilchrist (who's said he will graduate from Kentucky despite being good enough to leave after this, his freshman year) the Wildcats look to be the odds on favorites to win the NCAA championship.
• The Florida Gators and Vanderbilt Commodores are 2 and 3 in the conference respectively but they are truly playing second fiddle to the Wildcats.
• The Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers also seem to be good bets to make it to the Big Dance but after these five teams the conference quickly fades to mediocrity.


Big 10 Top Heavy with a few title contenders

• The top of the Big 10 has two powerhouse teams who are looking to cut down the nets in early April. The Michigan State Spartans, led by senior forward Draymond Green, are 24-6 and 13-4 in conference. The Ohio State Buckeyes who have been more balanced than people thought they would be, despite having superstar forward Jared Sullinger. Both have both been ranked in the top 5 this year, and are currently both ranked in the top 12.
• The Big 10 is deep with four other teams that should have no trouble making the tournament. The Michigan Wolverines, Wisconsin Badgers, Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers should all be playing in a few weeks.
• Sullinger and to a lesser extent Green should be high picks in the upcoming NBA draft, and their teams will be amongst the short list of teams that have a chance of making the Final Four. Both teams are flawed however and are not atop the list of favorites to be champions this year.


NBA Trade Deadline approaching

• With the NBA deadline only a couple weeks away (March 15) teams are looking harder to see if they should be adding pieces, cutting payroll or staying pat. Here are a few names making news:

- Steve Nash. Despite putting up numbers similar to the 2 seasons he won the NBA MVP, Steve Nash's Suns don't seem to be a playoff team and he'll be a free agent next season. So why not trade him? The issue is that Nash has been the heart and soul of the Suns for years now and has gained such a following in the Phoenix community that most fans (and seemingly the team as well) would rather forgo the value he might return in young talent and see the greatest Sun (and possibly the best PG in NBA history) retire with the team. The Suns have said they will accomodate a trade request if Nash asks, but he's said he wants to finish what he started with Phoenix as well.

- Rajon Rondo. The Celtics PG, known for his ability to get his teammates involved as well as his terrific defensive pressure is said to be at odds with coach Doc Rivers. The Celtics are said to be entertaining offers but a trade of Rondo would probably have to bring back equal or greater value for them to pull the trigger.

- Pau Gasol. Similar to Rondo, it would take a lot to deal him, and the Lakers have never publicly said they'd deal the talented 7 footer. They're starting to round into form after a slow start and Kobe Bryant has even publicly asked the team not to deal him.

- Monta Ellis. The #7 scorer in the NBA has been floundering with a mediocre Golden State team for years, wasting a ton of points. However, it's been said that the Orlando Magic would love to pick up the scoring PG/SG in an effort to give Dwight Howard a reason to re-sign with Orlando this summer. The issue is that Orlando doesn't have much else to offer.

- Raymond Felton. Now with the Trail Blazers, Felton has seen his production severely drop off as he's only putting up 10 points and 6 assists per game. A team like the Lakers or 76ers could use him but he wouldn't provide a big upgrade given his current production.

November 30th Update

Big Coaching Moves in Sports

• Massive coaching moves were made to start the week as one of the biggest baseball jobs and college football jobs were both filled by big name skippers. After a couple weeks of repeated denial, Urban Meyer caved in and admitted that he had, in fact, accepted the Ohio State football job that was left vacant by Jim Tressel this spring. Meyer who led the University of Florida to national championships in 2006 and 2008 nearly retired after the 2009 season citing heart problems, came back a day later, then retired after the next season saying he needed to be with his family (more on Meyer below).
• The Boston Red Sox made the other big hire, naming Bobby Valentine as their next skipper. Valentine knows a thing or two about being the manager of a very highly scrutinized team as he led the New York Mets to the NLCS in 1999 and the World Series in 2000. He's always been known as a boisterous, opinionated type who would fit in well in New York (think a skinnier Rex Ryan) and he once wore a fake mustache as a disguise in order to return to a game he had been thrown out of. But despite his New York roots, he now becomes public enemy #1 in the Big Apple as he will take over a Red Sox team that has the talent to displace the New York Yankees atop the American League East in 2012 and beyond.
• The first coaching casualty of the NFL Season came today. The Jacksonville Jaguars announced they will be parting ways with long-time coach Jack Del Rio. The 3-8 Jaguars regressed from their 8-8 record from last year. Owner WayneWeaver also announced he is planning on selling the team, which leaves the long term coach in question.

Wednesday Spotlight: Urban Meyer

• Urban Meyer was recently announced as the new head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team (the basketball team had a good Tuesday too). For Meyer it is a return to the place where he got his first coaching job after graduating college. For Ohio State, it is a big splash hiring in an attempt to return to greatness that left with the firing of former coach Jim Tressel.
• Meyer played college football at the University of Cincinnati. After graduating and coaching at a local high school for a year Meyer got a job as a graduate assistant at Ohio State University. From there he worked his way through 3 other schools as an assistant coach, the last 5 at Notre Dame. He was hired as the head coach of Bowling Green in 2001. After going 8-3 in his first year, and a 9-3 record his second year Meyer jumped to coach at the University of Utah. Meyer only stayed at Utah for two years, but went 10-2 and 12-0 in those two seasons. The second season Meyer lead the Utes to their first BCS bowl game.
• Meyer, the hottest coach on the market, was hired to coach the University of Florida in 2005. He had immediate success in Gainsville. His second year Meyer won a national championship using a young freshman quarterback named Tim Tebow. In 2008 the Gators won their second national championship under Meyer. Meyer’s tenure at Florida will forever be tied to the successes of his most famous player, Tim Tebow. After some health issues (that developed from the insane pace Meyer pushes himself) he retired after the 2010 season to go into TV working as a commentator for ESPN.
• Regardless of how great the guy is as a coach, it's tough to say how long he'll actually coach Ohio State. His lifetime record is 104-23 and is 7-1 in bowl games including the aforementioned 2-0 in national championship games but he has only stayed for a total of 10 seasons at his 3 positions.