No Love for Ian

I hear stuff around the NCAA Heisman Award. "Darren McFadden is a guaranteed Heisman winner." "No John David Booty's too good not to run away with the win." "What about Steve Slaton? He could be one of the best?" "Come on guys, it's Brian Brohm all the way, he's the best quarterback in college football!" Well, they are all right, all those guys definitely deserved to be mentioned in the running for Heisman. But I believe that these "experts" are forgetting someone very important.

Ian Johnson, junior running back out of Boise State.

The same Ian Johnson who once had a 240 yard, 5 touchdown game.

The same Ian Johnson who scored the Fiesta Bowl's game winning two-point conversion on a Statue of Liberty play.

The same Ian Johnson who immediately proposed to his girlfriend on national television after he scored the game winner.

And yes, the same Ian Johnson who led the nation last year in touchdowns as a sophomore.

It is ridiculous. He was 1st team All-American in most voting. The guy is only a junior. He should be recognized for the Heisman instead of always being noted as the "dark horse" by stupid experts. It seems like since his magical Fiesta Bowl, Johnson has fallen off the face of the Earth, same with his team, Boise State, who won against Weber State last night, 56-7 as Johnson had 128 yards on 18 carries for 3 touchdowns.

Heisman voters, vote Ian Johnson in '08.

Undefeated Against Undefeated

The United States of America beat Uruguay last night (or morning, depending on where you live), by a score of 118-79. The problem? The United States faces a foe in Argentina, who, like the US, is also 6-0 after beating Brazil last night, 86-79 in overtime. The United States have obviously crushed teams like Argentina, but remember, these Argentinians are the defending Olympic champions and the number two ranked country in the world by FIBA (to the US). But, team Argentina is without the heart and soul of their team, and possibly their only chance at knocking off the United States, Manu Ginobili. But you also have to remember Luis Scola of that Argentina team, who had a double-double last night, scoring 23 and bringing down 12 rebounds.

To recap the US's game last night, they simply dominated. LeBron James put on arguably the tournament's best performance so far, going 11-11 from the field and 4-4 from behind the arc, scoring 26 points in just 14 minutes, after Coach K decided to give LeBron the second half off. LeBron's performance was only 2 points off Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson's record for points in a qualifying game. If the US wins, they will go into Saturday's semifinal as a number one seed.

Pool B Victory

11 pm. It's late night. But there is still basketball to be played. In Las Vegas, beyond the knowledge of anyone, the FIBA Americas Championships have been played and the United States of America have dominated. They are 4-0 so far, and defeated one of the toughest opponents last night, or this morning, technically, in some parts of the world, Brazil. Brazil has reigning sixth man of the year Leandro Barbosa and two other players with NBA contracts. But the U.S. destroyed Brazil last night, 113-76, with Kobe Bryant scoring 20 and LeBron James bringing home 21. The Americans will now open second round play after clinching their group, against Mexico tonight.

Barbosa was dominating the tournament to that point, averaging a tournament high 27. But the U.S. held Barbosa to just four points on 1of 7 shooting. Brazil was 3-0 to that point.

Mexico did lose last night however, as Uruguay won 91-82 on Nicolas Mazzarino's 36 points and 8 three-pointers. Uruguay is now 3-1 in tournament play.

It still remains to be seen if the updated "Dream Team" can knock of the basketball champs of the world, Argentina, led by San Antonio Spurs superstar Manu Ginobili.

Stay tuned for more wrap-ups of the FIBA America's Championship, where the top two teams are automatically in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

20 Times 10 Equals Hall of Fame

In a sea of dogfighting, steroids and gambling, there is one story that puts a smile on my face. Greg Maddux, yes, good Ol' Reliable Greg Maddux is in the news. Maddux has won his 10th game of the year of Friday, become the first pitcher in the history of baseball to win 10 games in 20 consecutive seasons. Not even Cy Young could do that (he previously held the record at 19 seasons). To be honest with you, I had no idea Maddux had even played 20 seasons. That kind of consistency is remarkable, especially in this day and age where the players are juiced. Maddux rarely throws 90 but is a pitcher's version of Ichiro Suzuki. Maddux has tremendous control, and controls his pitches the way Ichiro controls his pitches. Greg Maddux never strikes out many batters, and has almost taken over a journeyman's role the past few seasons, but with the same results. Maybe we should take time to recognize the remarkable achievement and record instead of concentrating on the achievements of false record.

Greg Maddux is one of the greatest pitchers of this generation, and if it weren't for Roger Clemens he would be the greatest pitcher of the generation.

The Destruction of Baltimore

Texas Rangers vs. Baltimore Orioles. Just your average game of sub-.500 teams, right? WRONG. These Texas Rangers are not the Texas Rangers of 10 years ago, or even five years ago when they had Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez. These aren't the Texas Rangers who would constantly threaten the MLB home run record for homers in a season. Now, their best hitter is a shortstop named Michael Young. After that their team dies. Literally, all players known to man just die.

You would think they could never score 10, much less 30 runs in a game.

Well, yesterday, the Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 30-3 in the first game of a doubleheader. The score was so lopsided, Tim Kurkijain almost soiled himself talking about it on SportsCenter. There were two grand slams for the Rangers in the game, from such immortal players as Marlon Byrd and Travis Metcalf. The bottom two hitters in the Ranger lineup, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez, each had 7 RBI's and two home runs. They went a combined 8-14 with 14 RBI's and 4 dingers. That has probably NEVER happened. And you know the crazy part? The Rangers didn't score until the FOURTH inning! Their star hitter, Michael Young, did not drive in a single run! But, they score 25 runs in the final 4 innings, an incredible accomplishment.

But you know what was the craziest part?

Their closer, Wes Littleton, went 3 innings and got the save.

Falling Off the Top

Everyone knows Mike Vick. The star from Virginia Tech. The star in Atlanta. And now, the face of PETA. He is now one of the most highly scruntinized athletes in recent memory, other than Barry Bonds. It is nearly impossible to find another athlete with such a "fall from grace" (thanks Mike and Mike in the Morning) as Mike did. I will now unveil my top 5 athletes, who in my opinion, not including Vick, fell from the top of the sports pantheon faster than anyone has ever done.

5. Doc Gooden

Gooden was on track to be the greatest pitcher of his generation or any generation. Gooden's rookie season in 1984 can only be compared to Bob Feller's of 1941. Except, Gooden had the most dominate rookie season to date. I mean, the guy had 276 in a year at the age of 19! Nineteen! Back then, him and Darryl Strawberry were the bash brothers before Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. The next year, he was even better, winning the triple crown in one of the greatest years ever in the history of baseball. The year after that, he won 20 games. But in 1987, the wheels began to fall off. He tested positive for cocaine and then two years later, he suffered a shoulder injury. Then the years after that, his combined record was 22-28. The rest of his career and life began to get ugly after that, testing positive for cocaine twice and even being suspended the entire 1995 year. He then rebounded to throw a no-hitter in 1996, but was never, ever near what he was in the mid-80's.


4. Mark McGwire

There really has never been a fall off the field quite like McGwire's. He was a baseball god in the late-90's and was arguably one of the most magnificant and awe-inspiring players ever to set foot on a baseball diamond. His majestic shots would inspire a nation. In the beginning of the new millenium, McGwire started to slowly and quitely disappear off the face of the baseball earth, until one infamous day in 2005 where McGwire uttered the now infamous words: "I'm not here to talk about the past...". McGwire is now a poster boy for steroid use and all the sscars that baseball now has from the time where McGwire ruled. People now look at his name in shame instead of remembering him for his monstorous blasts.



3. Darryl Strawberry

You may begin to notice a trend here on this list. Most of the "fall from gracers" tend to be baseballers. Well, no different here! Strawberry was supposed to be the greatest thing since Ted Williams. He started off his career in 8 out of 9 nine all-star games. He constantly was a mid-30 home run basher and had 280 home runs by age 29. He seemed destined to challenge the record of Hank Aaron.

He wouldn't his 300th home run until he was 35.

He seemed always in trouble with the law and, like Doc Gooden, was suspended for nearly the whole 1995 season for cocaine use. After that, everything went downhill, including his life. He seemed to be constantly in rehab or always be the subject of a suing or an arrest. In my opinion, his talent was much more wasted then Gooden because, it always seemed like Strawberry could come back and perform, and he didn't.


2. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson

Jackson was a part, at that time, a part of a scandal bigger than steroids. Jackson has the third highest batting average of all-time (but you wouldn't know it because all his records have been erased) and holds the sixth highest batting average ever in a season, .408. In fact, Babe Ruth had said that he modeled his batting stance after Jackson's. But all this doesn't matter. He was alledged to conspire and fix the 1918 World Series, even though Jackson had the highest batting average of anyone in the series. Jackson, a known illiterate, may have not known what he had done, but you don't have to read to know money. Even though he was proven "not guilty" in a court of law, Jackson was still banned for life by Commisioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He could have been Rogers Hornsby before Rogers Hornsby.


T-1. Mike Tyson and O.J. Simpson

Let me start out with Simpson. This guy was a cult-hero. He was a Heisman winner at USC and rushed for more than 11,000 yards in his NFL career. He then went on to be a very popular actor and a famous broadcaster for Monday Night Football. His acting career was very illustrious, as he appeared in many different roles. But that infamous murder case dubbed "Trial of the Century" by some, basically ruined and tarnished his image. O.J. had a lot going for him, but then it all went to waste.

Next is Mike Tyson. Tyson was on to become one of the greatest boxers of all-time. He demolished Larry Holmes and Michael Spinks. In my opinion however, the turning point is career was not when his trainer died, but when he lost to Buster Douglas. That may have ruined his career more so then when Cus D'Amato died. Then it all went downhill. He got three years in the slammer and then bit off Evander Holyfield's year. Just a few years ago, Tyson filed for bankruptcy.

Curving the Wrong Way

All right. Confession time. I have not thought of an original idea for a blog for a week. I am completely stumped. I know there is all this about Tim Donaghy and Mike Vick, but you hear enough about it on SportsCenter or in the rare occasion, MSNBC or CNN. My job here is to get you away from the drudgings of scandals in sport. So I decided to look into what I thought what would be free of all scandal, the Little League World Series.

And boy, was I wrong.

There are no steroids or even age scandals. But to me, the biggest scandals are those pitch counts and the pitches they can throw. 85 pitches for a kid is entirely too much. Heck, if any pitcher throws more than that in the bigs, they are sent to the showers and made ice on their shoulders until they are frostbitten. Also, the kids can throw curves. The kids aren't even sprouting pimples, or much less 60 feet 6 inches away from home, and they can throw curves. In the long run, their arms are going to look like Anderson Varejao's hair. Dr. Frank Jobe may not want to help 15-year-olds. And the worst part is, the coaches let them. I mean, I can understand throwing a curve as your out pitch, but with some kids, the curves are their primary pitch.

Greg Maddux or Roger Clemens didn't throw curves when they were in little league. Some pitchers don't even use curves. But it is a travesty that these arms are being put to waste.

Chattin' With Jose

Talkin' Sports: Hello, today we talk to two-time felon and owner of 6 Hall-of-Fame votes, Jose Canseco.

Canseco: Good to be here, by the way have you heard of my latest book, which is set to appear in the fall?

TS: Yes, I've heard you have some dirt on Alex Rodriguez?
Canseco: I most certainly do.

TS: Then why did you not put A-Rod in your first "novel".

Canseco: Ya see, it's all 'bout marketing. If I put A-Rod in the first book, what material would I have for the second? I mean, in the next book, we got David Eckstein too. Did you know that he used to be a rampaging HGH user?

TS: Uh, no.
Canseco: It's true.

TS: Jose, why did players use steroid in the 90's?

Canseco: It's quite simple. They saw me and McGwire become the kings of the sport, and they wanted to imitate us.

TS: Like who?

Canseco: Well, Sammy Sosa is an obvious one, I mean, the guy was skinnier than a needlepoint. Rafael Palmerio too. I don't know why he used it. Raffy's a pretty bad liar too. Could he have made it any more obvious in front of Congress that he roided? Even McGwire did a better job of covering up.

TS: Covering up?

Canseco: Well of course, moron he was covering up! No one breaks down like a little girl in front of a bunch of grown men!

TS: Well, my bad.

Canseco: Yeah.

TS: Okay, in your book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, you tend to have pro-steroid views. Why is that?

Canseco: Steroids make you a better all-around person.

TS: I'm pretty sure they don't.

Canseco: Yeah, well, I'm addicted, OK. Ever since McGwire got this bright idea to stick horse testosterone in our butts, I got a problem.

TS: Why don't you, "take a break".

Canseco: Because, I am working on my pitching. Ever since I had my Tommy John surgery, my arm can throw 70 now!

TS: That's not very fast.

Canseco: Well, it is when you're 43.

TS: I heard that Nolan Ryan threw 80 recently, and he's 60.

Canseco: Shut it.

TS: One final question. What about your infamous incident when you got beaned on the head with a baseball and it went over the fence.

Canseco: I'm not here to talk about the past...

(EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS INTERVIEW NEVER HAPPENED)

David Beckham Dines in DC

MLS soccer had arguably its biggest night ever yesterday, as one David Beckham made his MLS debut. David Beckham is the biggest overseas import in the history of the league, obviously. But it remains to be seen whether Beckham can make this league even remotely interesting. ESPN is doing a horrendous job in covering Beckham. He could be a huge target for press, but they never advertise his games and his games are hardly ever on, 1 in every 3 games Beckham plays.

The doubters of Beckham say this: Pele couldn't do it, Mia Hamm couldn't do it and that Adu kid played as good as my kindergartener. David Beckham, is much different. First off, he doesn't have to prove himself, like Adu had to. He is playing mens soccer, which is much bigger than women's. And Beckham is still in his 30's, wheres Pele was in the decline of his career.

The problem with Beckham, is that people expect him to score 5 goals a game. He's not. He rarely scores, in fact. I think I player like Ronaldinho or Kaka could make a bigger splash. The American is used to Brian Urlacher beating the snot out of someone or Barry Bonds injected some illeagl drug into his hindquarters. They like power and action. Soccer is not. But Beckham has star power, and could make this league something to watch. Now, if they could only get Zidane...

Madonna at the Bat?

I was recently reading the "Extra Mustard" column on si.com and I found out about this wikipedia page where it shows every player's on-deck song. Some players had good songs and other had songs I don't even want to say. So that is why I am counting down the 5 worst songs that Major Leaguers are using today.

5. Cliff Floyd; Chicago Cubs: "Theme From Sanford and Son"
Most songs try to make the crowd go nuts. "Crazy Train", "Immigrant Song and etc. But listening to a guy play the harmonica does not make me want to get out of my seat, much less move.

4. Richie Sexson; Seattle Mariners: "You Sexy Thing"
Look. I realize the play on Sexson's last name. But come on. As a fan, that song makes me uncomfortable. It is kind of like: "Oh. Richie's up."

3. Tom Glavine; New York Mets: "Snap Yo Fingers"
I know Tom Terrific just won number 300. But nothing says "You're a white, balding, 41 year old man" than having Lil' Jon play when you bat. In fact, why does Glavine even have a song? Pitchers really aren't supposed to have one. Having that song play while Glavine is batting is a little strange.

2. Matt Holliday; Colorado Rockies: "Holiday"
One word. Madonna. Having any song by her should make him be the primary target for every joke a Colorado Rockie pulls off. Once again, I know it is a play on his name, but having Madonna sing it is a tad awkward.

1. Bobby Crosby; Oakland Athletics: "Larger Than Life"
I'm sorry. Madonna is not as bad as having the Backstreet Boys singing your song. If Crosby wants 16-year-old girls to scream when he's up, well, he's doing it. Listen to five grown men sing like 11-year-old girls is not exactly a "crowd pleaser".