Rodriguez

A tale of two NCAA Violations.

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Both the Michigan and the USC football programs have been sited by the NCAA and are under investigation. However, that is where the similarity stops.

Michigan

The second most impressive fact about the Michigan football program is that it has the most wins in NCAA history. The most impressive fact is that the Michigan program has never before been sited for a violation. This time they were investigated for having practices during and before the regular season that exceeded the permitted length.

Coach Rich Rodriguez was ratted out by a couple of his former players. They didn’t like the practices but more than that they didn’t like the system that Rodriguez bought from West Virginia. The biggest problem for the program is not the NCAA but the fact that the Michigan faithful don’t like Rodriguez or his system much either.

Rodriguez changed the system from the Big 10 traditional run first and pocket passing to the unique quarterback-centric run and shoot style. That has cost him top recruits by the former staff including now Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett who will compete for the top QB in the 2011 NFL Draft. Michigan fans that had seen their team lose year … Read more at FryingPanSports

A-Rod and the Battle of the Books

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By Bill Smith

In his play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare wrote:

“The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft interred with their bones;”

So let it be with A-Rod’s reputation. If it is not dead yet, a couple of new books are trying hard to bury it alive.

Two competing books reportedly describe the many flaws of Alex Rodriguez, the all star infielder of the New York Yankees. The books allege a variety of sins including drug use and tipping pitches to the opposition in blowout games. There is little doubt about the motives of the authors—money. And any time personal profit is involved, the reader needs to take that into consideration in evaluating the potential validity of the text.

The first book that included descriptions of steroid use by MLB players was written by former major league player and admitted steroid user Jose Canseco in his book Juiced in 2005. When the book came out, there was a flood of reviews that dismissed Canseco’s allegations as exaggerations, badly researched fiction, and unnecessarily exploitive sensationalism.

The Congress investigated MLB and steroids. So far, all that has accomplished is one admission of lying to Congress by a … Read more at FryingPanSports

Saturday Niblets from around the net for 03/07/09

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Fryingpan Sports

Saturday Niblets from around the net for 03/07/09

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By Bill Smith

Best comment of the week from Jack Lochrie [Long-suffering Lions fan]

on Beware of the Combine Warrior‏

I have some unsolicited advice for the Lions: Ignore all of the underclassmen in the April college draft, regardless of their assumed future potential and press clippings. The seniors have an extra year or two of maturity growth that will serve them well in the teeny, tiny, remote possibility they will need to cope with some setbacks in their early years with the Lions. The Lions’s management needs to be focusing on building a winning team, without the distraction of providing day care for fragile egos.

Note: Martin Mayhew has not yet called me for my objective opinions on the draft. ;~)

Updates on previous articles:

On KC’s trade for QB Cassel resulted in some unforeseen repercussions.

Adam Schefter, of the NFL Network, reports Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels said the team will not trade QB Jay Cutler. “Let me be as clear as I can about this. We are not trading Jay Cutler – period,” McDaniels said. McDaniels will meet with QB Jay Cutler next week.… Read more at FryingPanSports