Hello and welcome to another Wednesday of deep thoughts. As opening day is just around the corner, I planned to wade deep into baseball today. My plans changed after watching the ESPN 30 for 30 Tuesday night. If you have a chance, check out Survive and Advance. We bash ESPN regularly, but they hit the sweet spot with this documentary about the 1983 NC State championship team. Last week, I talked about the state of college basketball. As I watched this program, I was reminded just how damn good college basketball used to be. Most of remember State’s improbable…no that is not the right word. I guess impossible would be more accurate in describing the victory over one of the all time great college teams. What I had forgotten is how far down NC State was after Derek Whittenburg broke his foot. They were forced to win the ACC championship to even get a NCAA tourney invite. A one point victory over Wake Forest, a victory over MJ’s Tar Heels, and the Virginia Cavaliers. The Cavalier’s had a pretty good player named Ralph Sampson. As I watched this show, I was blown away at the talent playing the college game. Do you remember the starting five for Houston? Olajawan, Clyde Drexler, Larry (Mr. Mean) Micheaux, Michael Young and Benny Anders…great players. I think it is time for the NCAA to revisit the one and done rule. There is much to be learned in college beyond basketball. If you watch this program, you will understand what I mean. Each player on this team was enriched by Jimmy Valvano. As a parent that recently gone through the process of trying to help a student athlete find the right program…Valvano’s approach really hit home with me. Coach Valvano learned something from his father that made him a successful coach. Regardless of the situation, he believed in his players. We hear the phrase, “I got your back” used often today. Coach Valvano was the epitome of this, but is not alone. Let’s put talent back in the college game…I think it will be a great benefit to all concerned. Sports Illustrated called State’s victory over Houston the top ranked moment in college basketball history. Also, Coach Valvano left us with this…don’t ever give up. In his fight against cancer, this was his rally cry. Although cancer took Valvano, he left behind a legacy that is still fighting the battle against cancer. Since Coach V’s death, the Jimmy V Foundation has raised $100 million to date. Coach V has to be smiling seeing his fight being carried on. I am not big on donating for causes, but this is one that I have proudly helped. Don't ever give up indeed!

                                                       Jimmy actually had his players practice cutting down the net...very cool.

Opening day is fast approaching. Can you feel it? Spring is here and baseball is preparing for another season. This is one of my favorite times of year…I freaking can’t wait! Did you see that the new plan that the Red Sox have to continue their consecutive sell out streak? The Red Sox have sold out 793 games and want to keep it alive. Sox management has decided to reduce the cost of a 12 oz beer to $5 in April. They also will be offering a 2 for 1 hot dog deal. I think it is a fine idea, but would it be in bad taste to ask for chicken too? It would seem that the best idea for keeping butts in the seats was to send Valentine packing. Going to a game at Fenway is not tough duty…I suspect that if the Red Sox play good baseball, they won’t have any trouble keeping that sell out streak alive.

The Brewers went with another approach. They are offering tickets for 9 games for a total of $99. The seats are located in the nose bleed section known as Bernie’s Terrace (Bernie is the one that slides down the slide). If the Brewers win the game you attend, you are able to upgrade your tickets to the next level of seating…for only an additional $2. If the Brewers continue to win, you could watch the last game from behind home plate. Sounds like a pretty cool deal to me!

With spring training winding down, the Yankees and Angels struck a deal that looks to help both teams. Vernon Wells (remember him?) leaves the Angels to join the Yankees. With the many injuries they have had this year, the Yankees are hopeful that Wells can recapture some old magic and restore some missing thunder to their lineup. Although the Angels will still pay 28.1 million of the 42 million owed Wells, they will only pay 9.5 million this year. This structure helps the Angels stay under the luxury tax amount this year and helps the Yankees stay under next year. The Yankees also signed recently released Lyle Overbay. How about it Yankee fans...are you confident now? The short left field porch will surely help Wells, but don't think it will be the missing piece to push the pin stripers back to the top of the conference.

Did you hear that Rob Dibble was coaching a high school baseball team in Calabasas, California? Well, he was until this week. Things did not start out so well and the ex-Nasty Boy found his team on the wrong end of a 2 and 8 record. Dibble got the heave ho in his team's last game. Was this the reason he got the boot or was it because he let the school know that he would not be back next year due to getting the broadcast job for the Angels? I am not sure, but the school felt that "he was not a good fit". Dibble not a good fit for coaching high school sports? I am shocked! Can you imagine this...
 

Speaking of tattoos...it turns out that some temporary tattoos are worse than the real things. In the age of the FDA and our government attempting to protect the consumer at all costs...how can this be? It turns out that the "black henna" type temporary tattoos do not agree with everyone. Many are allergic to the ink and are left with very unslightly scars. You know the warning they have on carpet cleaners and other products..."test a small sample to make sure"...common sense people. How pissed would you be to be left with scars like this...

                                                                                    OUCH!

I am not sure if you are a Duck Dynasty fan...but I know I am. Bad news out this week as the year 4 renewal has been put on hold. The family is asking for a raise from the $200,000 per episode...which when you think about it, is not that much for cable's most popular show. With the tremendous popularity, it is time to pay the rednecks, A&E! Or as Si would say...time to pay up, Jack!

                                                                      I almost forgot...have a Happy Easter!

That is all I have today, but I will leave you with a bit of Jack Handey…

If you're a horse, and someone gets on you, and falls off, and then gets right back on you, I think you should buck him off right away.

The first thing was, I learned to forgive myself. Then, I told myself, "Go ahead and do whatever you want, it's okay by me."

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a few deep thoughts of your own…

I'm not a fan of Sports Illustrated, but I don't mind their cover girl!

Let me start this week by saying, I try not t o hold back when I write...My personal feelings and life are always front and center in my blogs...But I'll be honest...I've been holding some things back for awhile...Since around Thanksgiving my wife has been dealing with a bacterial infection called C._diff...It was brought on by of all things, an antibiotic...She had been on this medicine for about 20 days to get rid of an infection in a tooth that needed work...When she got a serious rash, and then the horrible stomach issues, she remembered reading the info from the pharmacy, and how it could cause such things, including death...Wow, just the drug I want to take...

There were too many tests, and too much waiting....And too much reading about C.diff...Like THIS...The idea of a fecal transplant grossed out my wife, but being the good guy that I am, I offered to shit down her throat!

Finally late in January, it was confirmed and she was prescribed medicine that often fixes the problem...If not totally, it can manage it...She just finished the meds, and things seem to be okay...Within two days of being on the medicine, the shit-fest had stopped...So that is looking better now...Just in time for family troubles...As if the stress of work, and kids, and dealing with that wasn't enough, her father who has been dealing with dementia, and Alzheimer's, has gotten really bad...Last time we were there, he was asking where Molly came from...Has no recollection of her...My wife's mother is slowly losing some things upstairs too...The stress of dealing with my father in law has been wearing on her too...And then her brother had a car wreck, which lead to us finding out that he had a bit of a legal issue...

We spent too much time this week figuring out what was going on, and cleaning up his mess...She spent Saturday in PA. dealing with things, while I stayed home with the kids...Next she has to get with her sisters and figure out the next move for what to do about their folks...It's been a real pain in the ass...

Plus my cracked up ribs are still killing me...And I clearly wrenched something in my back during my spill, because I've been having muscle spasms that hurt like a bitch...So things have sucked lately...I'm only writing about it now, because I needed to get it off my chest, and I feel like I've been distant and distracted when it comes to writing...I can't bitch to my wife...This is all 10 times harder on her...

Okay...So, there was a positive in the sports world...Notre Dame swept Michigan in hockey this weekend...Sweeping Michigan in anything, is always good!
 

In other sports news...The media was all buzzing about "The Paterno Report" that was released Sunday morning...I called bullshit right away...This report was paid for by the Paterno family...Done by people who were supporters of Paterno...2 were donors to PSU...This for the Paterno lovers, by the Paterno lovers...There is no way you can expect honesty in it...Nor should it have gotten any air time at all...Mrs. Paterno, maybe Joe never told you shit, but he knew Sandusky was a piece of shit, and he kept a lid on it, and let the child molesting and raping continue...Please lady, shut the fuck up...Your husband was an asshole....And all those still holding onto their blind loyalty to him are looking like assholes too...

There's a link to the stupid Paterno family site on the Q-o-t-D....

I watched the Grammy's Sunday night...There were some good performances, but I found it sad that most of the awards were given earlier...So many people not getting their time, while CBS couldn't stop showing us Taylor Swift singing and dancing to everyone who performed...And I'd love it if they actually put some performers on stage that we haven't seen countless times before...Sure the hipster, folksy guys get their time this year, but that will be that for awhile...But enough with Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Elton John...That old Queen at the piano reading the lyrics...Christ!

And acting like Justin Timberlake is the greatest musician ever, and we all have missed him so desperately while he's been acting...Yuck!

Jack White, please stop trying so hard to be the Johnny Depp of rock & roll...You're so fucking unique and cooler then everyone else...You're not! and Johnny Depp owned the Viper Room, hard to get cooler then that...And I can play average, loud distorted guitar, and chuck it at the end too...Not impressed!

This week, I leave you with this...
 

Have a week...

The Beeze.

Hello and welcome to another Wednesday of deep thoughts. Although today is Wednesday, it is also the day after Christmas. The presents have been opened, but nobody is ready to completely leave the happiness that was Christmas day. The year’s fly by, but one thing I know for certain…Christmas is much different as an adult. As a kid, I am pretty sure that I can recount each Christmas Day and the gifts that went along with each year. As an adult, there is a different type of joy. Not the same type of excitement kids enjoy, but a joy that leaves you warm to the core. Several weeks ago my friend Neal made a suggestion…what would it take to get Blake’s helmet for him? Neal had won his helmet as a senior and knew how special this would be for Blake. After a conversation with the coach, I was surprised how quickly a price was arranged. So after celebrating Christmas with my in-laws, we returned home Tuesday night for one last round of gift giving with Neal. I can’t describe the look of surprise and emotion that Blake’s face displayed when he opened his gift. I have seen many very cool gifts given, but I honestly do not remember a gift that elicited such pure joy. Hell yeah…was all that he said, but the look said so much more. Football has ended for Blake, but he will always have his last bonnet. Thanks Neal…this was a Christmas to remember!

I am not sure if any of you know the story about Myck Kabongo. He is a sophomore basketball player at Texas. He played well as a freshman and he was expected to be a big part of this year’s Longhorn basketball team. Last summer, his former high school teammate Tristian Thompson (and current NBA player) invited Kabongo to a workout in Cleveland with personal trainer Jerry Powell. Powell has ties with agent Rich Paul and questions about this trip arose. Thompson paid for the flight to Cleveland, which is an NCAA no no. When questioned about the trip, Kabongo told Texas compliance officers that his brother paid the $475 for the plane ticket. Although his brother had reimbursed Thompson for the plane ticket, apparently this is not kosher with the NCAA. So, an investigation ensued. Texas instituted a 10 game suspension on Kabongo, but the NCAA staff decided that a one year suspension would be better. Yahoo reported this suspension, but Texas refused to acknowledge that the year suspension was in place. A few days after Yahoo reported the NCAA suspension, it was announced that Kabongo would receive a 23 game suspension. The NCAA reinstatement committee decided that one year was too much of a penalty and reduced the suspension to 23 games. The basis for the penalty is that Kabongo was not forth coming regarding Thompson paying for the airline ticket when Texas initially asked for details. Kabongo never lied to the NCAA investigators, although a one year suspension would seem to indicate otherwise.

Jay Bilas watched this drama unfold and had this to say about the NCAA…

"I think it was excessive and unnecessary," Bilas said of the suspension during the first half of the live broadcast. "I wind up asking, what are we really accomplishing here? What the NCAA did was suspend a kid and call him a liar. For what? A plane ticket and a workout?"

Bilas pointed to the NCAA's handling of Penn State to describe the inconsistency.

"We don't say a word about (Penn State president) Graham Spanier, but call Myck Kabongo out?"

There is no doubt that Kabongo was wrong to not speak the truth about the plane ticket with the Texas officials…but a one year suspension? He did come clean with the NCAA... Bilas has a very good point regarding Graham Spanier. Why did the NCAA give this guy a pass? Oh, that’s right…he was one of them, as a member of the NCAA executive committee. Thankfully Kabongo will be allowed to play again this year and a big attaboy to Jay Bilas for speaking the truth.

The NFL’s regular season is winding down, yet the playoff picture still remains a bit cloudy. There is one team that I would not want to play right now…the Seattle Seahawks. Damn! The beat down they put on the 49ers last Sunday evening was epic. I actually thought that San Francisco had a good chance of going to Seattle and grinding out a win. Apparently, many Seahawk players were itching to play San Franciso again after Coach Harbaugh drove by their team bus and gave them a honk and a big wave after the 49ers win in San Franciso. More than one player urged Pete Carroll to score again and go for 2, but I was glad to see that Coach Carroll has enough class to let the 42 points stand. You may remember that Harbaugh went for two while coaching at Stanford and comfortably ahead of Carroll’s USC team. I have not been a big Pete Carroll fan, but must grudgingly give him credit for a great job in Seattle. It was also a breath of fresh air to see a coach do the right thing when he obviously had a reason not to. Nice job Pete…

That’s all I have this week, but I want to wish you a very Happy New Year! May your travels be safe and uneventful! I will leave you with a bit of Jack Handey…

“I wish outer space guys would conquer the Earth and make people their pets, because I'd like to have one of those little beds with my name on it.”

“If they ever come up with a swashbuckling school, I think one of the courses should be laughing, then jumping off something.”

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a few deep thoughts of your own…

I had a big Chiefs’ piece ready to go this morning but I woke up to find Royals’ news tearing up the world wide web and the radio airwaves.  After quivering in the bushes for weeks, afraid to make a big move, General Manager Dayton Moore finally went for it.  The Royals traded 4 minor leaguers to Tampa for “Big Game” James Shields and Wade Davis.  Of course, two of the minor leagues were top prospect Wil Myers and the Royals’ top pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi.   This is where the argument comes in.

Kansas City just traded six plus years of control of a guy that hit 37 home runs in the minors in 2012 AND their top minor league pitcher with 6 years of control for two years of James Shields (committing $25 million) and five years of Wade Davis.  For an organization starved for future stars, that will be a bitter pill to swallow.  I get it.  I did not want the Royals to trade Wil Myers.  I am not sure adding Shields and Davis will win more games than having Franceour still in right field every day.  If Myers turns into a star and the Royals do not make the playoffs in the next two years, this trade will have been a disaster – in hindsight.  It is not a disaster right this minute.

Wil Myers has a chance to be a superstar.  Few argue that point but we don’t know that for sure.  Phil Hyatt once hit 44 home runs in the minors for the Royals.  Phil Who Now?  Exactly.  With prospects, you just don’t know.  Not every prospect is Mike Trout.  Even if Myers turns into a star, the odds are against him contributing in a major way in his first two years.  BaseballHQ.com did a great 4-part series on the MLB success of players who made the top 100 prospect lists at some point.  To summarize, the rate wasn’t good.  That doesn’t mean Myers is going to fail; top 10 prospects fair better than those outside the top 10.  My guess he will be at least an above average MLB player, and possibly better than that but maybe not until year three.  That is pure speculation on my part.  Odorizzi has question marks, too.  He struggled in AAA to pitch deep into games and that would be a big problem at the major league level.  The Royals already have plenty of pitchers in that mold.  At the very least, Davis is on the same talent level as Odorizzi but much farther along in his development.  Mike Montgomery and Patrick Leonard were throw-ins here and while I don’t know much about the latter, the former is obviously in need of a scenery change.  I wish them good luck in their new organization.

James Shields is the type of pitcher the Royals desperately need - a staff anchor who takes the ball every five days and pitches a lot of innings at a good level.   BaseballHQ.com took statistical data and came up with a list of staff anchors for the 2013 season, based on performances over the past two years.  Only 8 pitchers met their criteria.  One of them was James Shields.  A guy like Shields, in addition to Guthrie and Santana, should take the pressure off the bullpen.  The bullpen has been great but just how long can it succeed working as hard as it has the last two seasons?  This team is much stronger today than it was yesterday.  Wade Davis could be very important because he is probably better than Chen, Mendoza, and Hochevar and should move right into the number four slot.  Now all those #5 pitchers will be slotted where they belong.  Now maybe Moore can trade one of those guys for some outfield help (don’t expect much in return, though).  This also relieves any pressure there might be to rush Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino back too quickly.  These two important guys will have time to build up to their full strength and if things play out right, maybe they are ready to contribute to meaningful games in September and October (I’ve always been the optimist).

I know we all love the possibility of Wil Myers.  I know I do.  The fans of this team want heroes and Myers looks like he could have been a big one but this team is loaded with possible contenders.  Billy Butler can still hit.  Alex Gordon is still an above average, under appreciated player.  Hosmer and Moustakus are still very young, developing players.  Escobar and Perez are still among the best at their positions.  If these young players don’t improve and take the next step forward, it won’t matter how good James Shields, or how good Wil Myers may be.  If there isn’t an improvement in the hitting among the youngsters, the Royals are not going to compete anyway.  Now, if these guys all do take that step forward, I like the Royals’ chances with James Shields on the mound. 

Shields comes with risks (he throws a lot of innings and has shown inconsistency in the past) but there isn’t a pitcher out there who doesn’t come with a fair share baggage and risk.  There is always a chance something goes wrong (Kansas City has had more than its share of bad luck over the decades) but I am going to be positive and look at the fact the Royals got a top of the rotation arm and a solid number 4 starter with upside.

Let’s dream a little here.  What if the Royals’ young guys take big steps toward reaching their potential?  What if Guthrie pitches like he did with KC last year?  What if Santana throws up numbers like 2011?  What if Shields has opportunities to earn his nickname in powder blue?  This is a lot of “what ifs” but I am going to choose to be optimistic and positive going into 2013.  I love the feeling of hope going into each Spring Training.

I wrote just a few days ago that Dayton Moore wasn’t getting anything done and I put owner David Glass’ feet to the fire about pinching pennies.  It would be terribly hypocritical of me to berate them for going out and getting a couple of good starting pitchers, including a top of the rotation guy, for a bunch of minor leaguers.  You have to give up something to get something.  Royals made the move they needed to make and now have a chance to compete in the AL Central.  Maybe the Royals become that small market team in 2013 that challenges for the division title like Oakland and Baltimore last year.  Maybe now it is our time.

Moore and Glass are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.  Fans are just not going to be happy.  Well, this fan is much happier today than he was four days ago; I can assure you of that.  They pulled the trigger and only time will tell if it will work successfully.  Only in hindsight will we be able to judge the success of this move but this morning, I am glad to be a Royals’ fan.

Be sure to watch ESPN’s 30 for 30 “You Don’t Know Bo”.  It is outstanding.

Check out my movie and television reviews at jawsrecliner.com and get twitter updates for my blogs @jawsrecliner.  Thanks for reading.