The Sports Buffet will be a regular feature of FPS.

NFL

UFA S FS Darren Sharper (NO) is reported to have had microfracture knee surgery during the off season according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Sharper was a key part of the Saints D and their playoff run. The typical recovery time for that procedure is 18-24 months. That would also explain why he had such a delay in getting a contract offer. He has signed back with the Saints on a 1 year deal for 1.5M.

The Jones formerly known as “Pacman” is still shopping his services around the league. He went to Detroit last week and visited the Bengals recently. There was no interest by the Lions but the Bengals are at least considering an offer.

The 49ers signed LB Patrick Willis to a new 5 year deal worth 50M with 29M guaranteed.

With the draft of QB Tim Tebow, QB Brady Quinn could be on the move again. The Jags are reported to be interested in obtaining the former Browns 1st round pick.

NBA

There is a very fine line between a veteran team and just an “over the hill” team. Teams can go from one side of that line to the other in a single playoff series. The problem is that there is no way back except to blow the roster up and rebuild. After building a 11 point lead in game 1 vs. the Cavs, the Celts looked like they crossed the line at half time by losing the game by 8. However, they came back in game 2 and now have stolen home court advantage. The most interesting part of that game was that the “old” Celts outscored the Cavs 31-12 in the 3rd quarter. There is an old adage, in the NBA it isn’t a series until a home team loses a game. Now that the Celts have smacked the Cavs up side the head, it will be interesting to see if the Cavs can recover.

MLB

It is still VERY early in the season but there are a couple of things we can see now. The Red Sox are reeling. At 12-14 they are digging themselves a hole that will be very hard to crawl out of. They look old and done. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has gotten off to a really good start. It is hard to see them challenging the Yanks all year but they are playing well now. My two favorite teams are looking forward to high picks in this year’s draft–The Cubs and Indians.

NHL

The Columbus Blue Jackets are looking for a new coach AGAIN! Is there anyone out there that can turn what seems to be a team with a couple of very good players into a winner. If not, the city of Columbus will let the team leave. Central Ohio will not support a loser and that is all the CBJ have done. In their history they have had just 1 sniff of the playoff coffee beans.

College Football

The new NCAA rule changes include the right of a ref to take a TD off the board if the player “showboats” on his way to the endzone. Having spent some time in zebra stripes myself, I must give the officials some advice. Be VERY careful how and when you make that call. If it were made against the home team at Ohio State, Texas, Notre Dame or any number of CFB hotbeds, it might result in a tumult that would make the Hundred Years War seem like a minor disagreement between two 3 year old girls at a church picnic.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He is a regular contributor on Cleveland Sports Radio http://www.sportstalkcleveland.com/ Monday afternoons at 1 Eastern. He has also published several novels on

http://www.eBooks-Library.com/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

Who hasn’t dreamed of owning their very own professional sports team? Well it can be done and it would be easy to restrict this list to just one simple requirement, namely, the first item on this list. But there’s more to it than that. Here are six (not so simple) steps for purchasing a professional sports team.

6. Get Rich Quick

Piece of cake, right? Okay, maybe not. But being rich is the first step along the way. They don’t give these franchises away. And some of them are worth billions! So you had better start with very deep pockets.

5. Know the Sport

An in-depth knowledge of the sport is a big help. You need to know if the sport is thriving in the city where your team is located. In the case of football and baseball, this can be a given. But with basketball and hockey, things are a little more hit and miss. Struggling teams can be had cheap but you better be sure you’ve got the know-how to turn them around or you’ll keep losing money.

4. Love the Hate

Fans of your team will hate you. The honeymoon will be over quick so you had better have a thick skin going in. Oh, they will sing your praises as long as the championships keep piling up, but have one bad year and look out! You’ll be public enemy number one!

3. Friends in High Places

You’re going to have tax headaches and permit nightmares the minute you take over your very own team. Without friends in local government, you’ll be hogtied with so much red tape, the fans won’t be able to find the entrances. Every facet of government is going to want in on the deal and free luxury boxes only go so far. Government officials must become your new best friends.

2. Have a Proven Track Record

No professional league is just going to hand you a team for a pile of money. You have to demonstrate a sound business sense and a proven track record for running one or more companies successfully for a number of years. With 100s or even 1000s of employees in every facet of the sport and the local community, you’re now responsible for a lot of mouths that need feeding. You have to know what you’re doing.

1. Get Religion

Soaring player salaries. Players jumping ship for lucrative deals. Taxes. Fan complaints. Permits. Expenses. Bad press. Fighting for TV coverage. Souvenir manufacturing hassles. Profit margins. On and on and on. With all these to worry about and so much more, your team will probably give you more grief than happiness. So maybe a sincere prayer every now and then wouldn’t hurt. You might also want to stock up on the aspirin.

And there you have it: a step-by-step plan that will land you that professional sports team that can’t miss. So save your pennies and you’ll be cheering on your very own team in no time.
________________________________________

This is a guest article by Andrew Salmon. He is interested in hockey and football and also writes on financial topics such as life insurance plans.

The latest rumor on the draft boards is that the Browns are negotiating with the Rams to get the #1 pick. It seems that GM Tom Heckard and his team were reportedly suggesting the deal to management. Holmgren put a wet towel on the talk and said today that the cost is just too high. But that doesn’t mean it is totally off the table but may be just under the table cloth. There are several issues here and we will look at all of them.

The Browns considerations for doing the deal:

1. There is no question that the team needs a QB. Delhomme is not the long term answer and may not be a short term answer unless he quits throwing the ball to the other team. There are not any NFL starting quality QBs on the roster now. They could use Bradford.

2. The deal would give the fans some hope. That is something that they have not had in a long time. There was a small percentage of the fans that were excited about the hire of Mangini but that did not turn out well. Most were more excited about the signing of Holmgren. He at least had a good track record as a coach. But he is not the Browns’ coach–he is the Czar. He had those same responsibilities at Seattle but was stripped of the GM duties after a less than stellar series of drafts. I have detailed those choices here before.

3. If they are going to get the #1 pick the best time to do that is in a non-capped year. There is no cap hit for the guaranteed money in 2010. However, they will have to structure his deal in a way to reduce the hit in future years because there will be a cap with any new CBA. DeMaurice Smith and the NFLPA will demand it and any 2010 signing bonus will be spread over the future years.

4. Holmgren is not getting any younger and he has maybe 5 more years to turn this franchise around. The existing QBs on the team are not going to do that. A new one is needed and it must be a can’t miss guy. Holmgren has only one bite at the apple in terms of bringing in a QB to become the face of the franchise.

The Browns considerations for not doing the deal:

1. The cost in terms of draft choices is high particularly to a team that needs so much help in so many areas. The question is how much better would the team be with Bradford vs having Colt McCoy plus 2 other top players?

2. Bradford is not likely to start in the first half of 10 even if he is the first pick. If the team stays at 7 and 38, they should get 2 instant starters unless one pick is another QB. They need so much that 2 starters this year could make a big difference.

The Rams considerations for doing the deal:

1. With the ownership up in the air due to a possible sale of the team, two high first round picks next year could add value to the team.

2. Trading down this year could save the franchise some money. Given the fact that there may be no games next year, that is important.

The Rams considerations for not doing the deal:

1. While a pair of high picks next year is nice, the team would be a lot more valuable with anyone that can spell the word quarterback. At this point, there is not someone like that on the roster. Bradford is a draw and would renew fan interest in the team. Unless this team can rekindle fan interest, it could end up back in LA soon.

2. The risk of trading away a Payton Manning is huge. If they do the deal and Bradford turns out to be a future all pro, the fans in St. Louis will never forgive the team. The Browns know all about trading potential franchise QBs–they traded away 2 of them last year alone.

The bottom line:

I don’t think the deal will happen. The Browns could back out but it is just as likely that the Rams will want to keep the pick and take Bradford.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He is a regular contributor on Cleveland Sports Radio http://www.sportstalkcleveland.com/ Monday afternoons at 1 Eastern. He has also published several novels on

http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

There were a couple of proposals but the final one that will be voted on this week at the owner’s meeting in Orlando is as follows:

If the team that wins the coin toss goes down the field and scores a touchdown, the game is over. However, if that team is stopped and kicks a field goal, they would have to kick off and give the other team a chance to either score a touchdown or kick a field goal. A 3-3 tie in overtime would begin a true sudden death scenario.

The biggest argument is that both teams should get a shot at the ball. There have been more wins recently by the team getting the ball on the flip. From 75-93 the team that got the ball first won 46.8 of the time. However, from 94-09 the team that got the ball won 60% of overtime games. Worse, the percentage of games ended by a field goal jumped from 18% in 75-93 to 26% in the 94-09 period.

Another argument against the change says that there should not be 2 sets of rules one for the regular season and one for the playoffs. But we have 2 sets of rules now. In the regular season after 15 minutes of scoreless overtime, the game is over and ends in a tie. In the playoffs, they play until one team scores no matter how long that takes.

Does the overtime system need to be changed?

Probably not. The system has been in place for years. The only objection to the rules comes from coaches and players of teams that are the loser of a coin flip and are not able to prevent a FG from their opponents.

Would this change improve the system?

Probably not. The college system is clearly not the answer. The injury rate for NFL players would skyrocket having to play 2 to 3 sets of downs from the 25. The new rule will extend overtime games to some degree but does allow both offenses to get on the field if the flip winner is only able to kick a FG. To those teams that cry over the current rule I have 2 suggestions. First, get better on kickoff coverage so that the team winning the flip starts from inside their 25 yard line. Second, play better D so that the opponent is forced to punt and give you the ball. If you do both of those things, the overtime rule works fine for everyone.

Note: This site will have new content Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. In addition, the Niblets feature will return on the last Saturday of the month starting this month.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Your fantasy football doesn’t have to be over. Run a pro football franchise all year long for free at http://sportsims.net/. Tell them Coach Smith sent you.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He is a regular contributor on Cleveland Sports Radio http://www.sportstalkcleveland.com/ Monday afternoons at 1 Eastern. He has also published several novels on

http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

Welcome to the first season of the Los Angeles Jaguars. What about Jacksonville? The city and state cried poverty and neither government would pony up any money for a new facility or even a decent makeover. The people of the city also didn’t come to the games so the Jags left.

Thank heavens that has not happened yet but it could happen soon.

Teams in every professional sport are struggling financially. Part of that is their own fault. They spent too much on players when things were good. Now that the economy has turned down, they are still spending more than they can afford.

They are also notoriously bad marketers. Some teams got a bump in attendance by building a new facility with state and or city help. Those that did got only a temporary bump no matter how nice the new digs were. Within a year or 2 they were back to seeing a lot of empty seats at every game. But in addition to the same old attendance they had a boat load of debt. With the government borrowing so much money, eventually interest rates will have to go up. The debt load teams are carrying will sink them and for the first time even the NFL could find no takers with enough cash to bail out the teams that will go belly up.

The Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL are a perfect example. They signed a contract when they were created to play in a privately owned arena because public money couldn’t be approved by either the city or state. Now they are facing empty seats and financial hardship because they say their rent is too high. The problem was while the CBJ was building its arena down town, the Ohio State University was also building a new multi-purpose arena on campus just a few miles away. The old OSU arena is also still in use but is empty most of time. The CBJ is asking the government to take over the building so that they can stay in Columbus and get a lower lease. Both the city and state are in much worse financial shape then they were when the building was proposed and are in no position to buy anything more costly than a box of paper clips. The owners of the building are not going to be able to sell the structure because no one is going to buy an arena where the only lessee is threatening to leave.

If things weren’t bad enough both the NFL and NBA face possible strikes/lockouts soon. The NFL will likely survive but the NBA could be devastated by a lockout. The NBA is riding a down wave of popularity and could suffer like the NHL did with a significant lockout. The NHL lost its major TV deals and is now stuck with games on the Verses Network.

Both leagues are trying to reduce the percentage of revenue dedicated to the players. The NBA is also struggling with guaranteed contracts. The NFL is trying to avoid the mistakes of the other leagues like guaranteed deals. The US financial situation is so bad that the NFLPA has come out in favor of a salary cap which just over a year ago they said they would never allow to be part of any new Collective Bargaining Agreement. They don’t like the idea of capping the amount a team can spend but desperately want to establish a minimum that a team must spend on players.

College teams are struggling as well. At Ohio State the basketball team was in a position to insure a share of the Big 10 title. And yet there were more than 1,500 empty seats hours before the tip off. Schools that have had no problem increasing the tuition 5 times the rate of inflation will drop any sports program that is not self supporting like it was a stolen knockoff Prada purse.

So what will happen?

Professional teams will go out of business. Players on those rosters will be distributed to the teams that survive. Several NBA teams will wither on the vine if they lose the key player upon which the attendance is based. The Cavs for example will be in serious trouble financially should LeBron James leave.

Even the NFL has teams that are in serious danger of disappearing. Teams like the Bills, Jaguars, Panthers, and Rams regularly fail to fill their stadiums. When the TV money goes down, as it will have to if the US economy continues to struggle, those teams will find it hard to make payroll.

There is also a down side for any business that depends on attendance at games for revenue. They will be hurt in cities that keep their teams. Where teams are gone the businesses that depend on them will be gone as well.

So what can fans do? Perhaps a better question is what should fans do? There is not much fans can do. However, I have some suggestions.

For Pro or college teams that are doing their best to compete:

If you can afford to go to games and your team is providing quality entertainment, do it. That is great. Even if you can’t afford the tickets you can call their radio and TV sponsors to thank them and tell them how much you appreciate their support of your team. Let them know that you will use their products or services because they support your team. Then call the team and the radio and TV stations that carry their games. Let them know that you called the sponsors to thank them. Thank the team for doing the right thing and the station for carrying the games. Call your sports call in programs and suggest the other fans do the same thing. It will help insure that the stations will continue to carry the games and the stations and team will continue to enjoy success.

For Pro teams that are just going through the motions or are incapable of competing due to bad management or ownership:

If you find that the team is not showing any interest in becoming competitive, call the team and let them know why you aren’t buying their tickets. Call the stations that broadcast the games and let them know that the community needs the station to put pressure on the team to get it’s act together. Call the key sponsors to ask them to ask the stations to put pressure on the team to do better. Tell sports radio call in programs what you are doing and ask the other fans to do the same.

For college teams that are not trying to compete:

Colleges react to just one thing–money. Again the stations carrying the games are a pressure point just as the pro teams above. But there is one other thing that can have an effect–Donors. Call your sports radio programs and suggest that donors contact the presidents of the college to tell them to give their sports more emphasis. That will not work often but when a donor calls a president, he or she gets attention. A few big dollar donors calling will change the attitudes of the coaching staff and the culture of the team.

Those fans that become proactive will find that things in sports can change based on public opinion. Too bad things don’t seem to work the same way in Washington D.C.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Your fantasy football doesn’t have to be over. Run a pro football franchise all year long for free at http://sportsims.net/. Tell them Coach Smith sent you.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He is a regular contributor on Cleveland Sports Radio http://www.sportstalkcleveland.com/ Monday afternoons at 1 Eastern. He has also published several novels on

http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.

In general, I am not an Olympic guy. I usually don’t watch the Winter Olympics because I get cold looking at all that snow even on TV. The only thing that is white and should be on the ground is nice warm sand.

Given the severity of the winter in Ohio this year, I WANT MY GLOBAL WARMING AND I WANT IT NOW!

I am also a believer that the Olympics should be all amateurs and not professionals across the board. In the 1980 games, the gaggle of US college hockey players beat the best professional team in the world–the USSR Army team. The fact that the USSR team was allowed in the games was a joke. Would the Olympic committee have allowed World Heavy Weight Champion Mike Tyson to enter the boxing tournament? I don’t think so. Then why did they allow the USSR to bring in a professional team?

Now we have the NHL and NBA players involved along with the professionals in some sports but not others. I would prefer all amateurs. The problem is that in basketball and some other team sports, most nations do not have amateur organizations.

Hockey

The hockey has been outstanding. US vs. Canada was a great game. Some wonder why the Peacock put it on MSNBC. The answer is simple. They wanted the American public to have at least 1 reason to try to find it on the cable menu. From the prospective of the NHL, it should have been on the broadcast channel. The NHL needs all the exposure it can get and should have put pressure on NBC to get it a better channel.

Curling

With apologies to Harry Potter, I am sorry but anything that involves the use of a broom is not a sport. It is a cleaning activity.

X games sports

I will be first to admit I am an old fart when it comes to the X games stuff. The only advantage I have found to being over 60 is that I get discounts at the buffet restaurants. If I had any idea how painful old age would be I never would have signed up for it. But the X games should be on ESPN 7 and not in the Olympics. How do you include those things and eliminate baseball from the summer games?

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Your fantasy football doesn’t have to be over. Run a pro football franchise all year long for free at http://sportsims.net/. Tell them Coach Smith sent you.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://NFLDraftDog.com and edits http://fryingpansports.com. He is a regular contributor on Cleveland Sports Radio http://www.sportstalkcleveland.com/ Monday mornings at 11 EST. He has also published several novels on

http://www.eBooks-Library/Contemporary/Author.cfm?AuthorID=1003 and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com.