So last week's opening day and weekend, since we here at the Gab were less than thrilled with that odd opening series in Japan, was a heck of a show stopper. In the midst of all the crap that went down (Petrino, Ozzie being Ozzie, and Dwight v. Stan Van), we had a bright spot. We also had some alarmsits.

I tuned into ESPN Monday knowing that the sky would be falling. The Yankees were winless. The Red Sox were winless. The Mets were undefeated. ESPN was forced to talk about teams like Tampa, Detroit, and Baltimore. Few people seemed to get that there were still 159 games yet.

Of course folks here were talking World Series. A bit of a blip developed Saturday when Doug Fister went out holding his side in the third. Then again on Sunday when Max Scherzer appeared to pitch underhand with softballs. Granted the offense was awesome. It was, not to rub anything in the face of my friends who root for the Red Sox, an amazing sight to see Cabrerra and Fielder go back to back. Still, the offense may not always be ready to bail us out. Also, it's only May. Let's reign it in folks.

Still, I saw a lot of odd trends. Last Thursday a number of games were awfully tight, mostly of the 1-1 variety, headed into the last three innings. A lot of closers appeared to struggle. Not only did Valverde break his saves streak, but Mariano Rivera looked shakey at best. It's also taking a lot of pitchers some time to get that first win. It might have to do with the shakey start of a lot of bull pens this season.

Of course, just when I pin all my frustrations with the NBA on Andrew Bynum, here comes Superman. Of course, an accurate picture would be similar to the one I have included only you'd need to replace that Heat player with a Magic fan, or Stan Van Gundy, or Magic ownership. I really don't know why they refuse to trade the guy. He's not going to be happy, but he doesn't want to be compared to Lebron. Do him a favor and trade him. That way, he gets to leave and not look like as big an ass as he does lording over Van Gundy at pressers and you might get some kind of compensation for him. It would be a rare instance where the NBA actually benefits more than a player. 

Speaking of Lebron...

Looks likea college football coach finally got what was coming to them too. Arkansas announced Tuesday that they were firing the coach misleading the university. The official statement was they fired him for: "unfairly hiring his mistress and intentionally misleading his boss about everything from their relationship to her presence at the motorcycle accident that ultimately cost him his job". Granted the Hogs were showing major improvement these past few seasons, but I'm kinda glad to see a college stand up to a coach. I hope this is the kinda thing that can spark a trend.

I'd like to close by hoping everyone had a nice Easter out there. Or Passover. Or just a great weekend. I was certainly happy to be able to watch baseball again and watching the Tigers win while eating a bunch of chocolate was just icing. As always thanks for reading. I leave you with this week's vocab and a little pep rally for my fellow Lions fans as we near the Draft.

Egg Salad Monday, noun

Ok, so this is probably going to be shorter than I wanted after I got kicked off while I was writing this the first time.

So, I will admit I barely watched any of the NCAA tourney this year. It might have to do with the unseasonably warm March. Truth be told however, I've kinda tuned all of basketball out lately. I can't say why i tuned out the NCAA, but I have more reasons than I care to list about the NBA.

I suppose I can relate it all to the current state of the LA Lakers. Being that the Lakers are the Yankees of the NBA, I'm normally pretty excited when they are going through rough times. The Pistons beating the Lake Show in 2003 is one of my greatest sports viewing memories. Still, if players can openly revolt against a coach, much like I saw in Detroit last season, even in a relatively successful franchise like LA, I don't know what kind of hope there is for the sport.

What makes things worse is the case of Andrew Bynum. He's made it no secret he's against Mike Brown's attempts to regain control by benching players. Bynum was benched himself for throwing up a three and then jogging back on defense in a close game against Phoenix. A center has no place in three point land, especially a guy who's only made one in 8 career attempts. What's more you think he'd at least try to get what Brown was trying to do, but he played it off like a joke.

Most of you might know the Lakers have taken some heat for how Bynum's come along. A lot of people had questions about him coming out of high school. The Lakers brought him along slow; it took him nearly two seasons to see significant playing time. He struggled some at first and a lot of people thought he looked out of place on such star studded rosters. The fans wanted to trade him for talent now, but the ownership stuck to their guns. Then the injuries started. Bynum found himself missing a lot of games. Fans, being a generally fickle bunch, began to call for trades again, but management stuck to their guns.

Here the story could have taken a great turn. Bynum has been healthy most of the year and he's been thriving. He's averaging about 18 points with 12 rebounds and 2 blocks a game. Jerry Bus and Co. are looking pretty smart. Bynum is rewarding the ownership and even the fans that stuck by him.

Then Mike Brown "steps out of line". To the leagues own detriment, the NBA is a player's league. Coaches have no place trying to discipline players. Bynum has delivered that message lately. He is hurt again and doesn't seem to be hurrying back. He's showing his immaturity. He basically socks that city and its ownership and its fans in the gut. Next year, he'll probably still be on the Lakers. Mike Brown will probably be gone. The NBA will go on.

And here in all of this we see why guys like me and a lot of you have turned away. We're tired of seeing grown men like Bynum pretend to be in high school still. These guys who seem to have no common sense make more than any one of us could fathom. By all accounts except their own, they are over paid. Grossly overpaid. Kids look up to them and it can't help but scare some people. 

It sucks because I'm old enough to remember the NBA being great. I remember waiting for Sunday so I could watch the NBA on NBC. I remember duels between David Robinson and Patrick Ewing. I never remember guys like Karl Malone trying to launch threes just to pad their stats. Reggie Miller didn't take defensive plays off. Charles Barkley and some of the announcers do some diligence by calling these guys out, but I don't think these players care. 

Even these commercials show how things have changed and sucked. Granted Bird and MJ used some trickery, but not all trickery. LeBron and Dwight could have done some actual dunks instead of CGIing the whole thing.

Fans don't have much say or input. Guys like BOB and all of NOCAL deal with perennially terrible teams. I can begin to accept fans booing GMs at retirement ceremonies. Fans need an outlet and booing the players doesn't help because they seldom seem to notice or care. If guys like Bynum don't wake up and just go to work as the 03-04 Pistons used to say, I just don't see guys like me coming back to the league anytime soon.

NBA, noun

Not sure how many of you caught this interview on ESPN, but it has a great take on the Manning-Tebow situation:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/dfead2eb1e/satan-and-jesus-discuss-peyton-manning <----- Yeah, I don't know how to add links that aren't on YouTube. Those lazy bastards at Funny or Die haven't uploaded this to YouTube yet. Still, click the link. It is well worth it my friends. 

So today would mark the unofficial start of the MLB season as the Oakland A's take on the Seattle Mariners in Japan. The game features two of the closest franchises to Japan as well as the return of their native son Ichiro. Like Frag's post suggested, this could very well be Ichiro's last season. In the last year of his contract with Seattle, there is no better way for him to open his season.

Now many will raise the question as to why the season starts in Japan. I can see several reasons. One is that the game is already pretty popular in Japan. Japanese fans love the games in Japan and nearly 45,000 fans were on hand for both games of last season's Red Sox-A's series. The return of Ichiro should only boost number as well as TV ratings to the chagrin of the Nippon league and Japanese prime time shows. 

The second is the history of Japanese players migrating to the United States. My best recollection of the start of this trend came in the form of Hideo Nomo. Ichiro is without question the MLB's greatest Japanese import, but notable players like Hideki Irabu, Hideki Matsui, and the most recent addition of Yu Darvish. For the MLB having such a big stage in Japan could only spur more players to make the jump. Some may say series in countries like the Dominican could be helpful too, but I've never heard talks of any. Besides, Japan simply has more cash flow.

While this series seems to make sense and the MLB has not announced any plans to expand to Japan, it seems to stand in stark contrast to the NFL's adventures in London. This season will see the Rams square off with the Patriots in the game at Wembley. It was announced that the Rams would become the "home" team in London just this winter, as owner Stan Kroenke is also majority shareholder of the soccer club Arsenal. The Rams will be playing in London for the next three years and the league has been debating adding a second game in England.

Talk has also been made of adding an expansion team to London. This talk seems to fly in the face of mediocre ticket sales and the all too familiar and recent collapse of NFL Europe. ESPN America has been broadcasting around 100 NFL games plus playoff and Super Bowl coverage to nearly 41 European territories as of 2009, and the number may continue to rise. 

Still, the idea just doesn't sit well with me. I don't see the draw in adding a team in London. It would be a scheduling nightmare. Hawaii's college football team has a hard enough time getting opponents to fly in and they don't have to cross international waters. Any team flying to London or that team having to come to the states (especially the west coast) would be at a distinct disadvantage. I also don't see a huge demand for the NFL in London. They get decent crowds, but I don't see the kind of passion they have for their soccer or rugby teams. I have realized that geography means nothing in sports, especially when UofM still declares themselves the champions of the west, but there's nothing national about London. I think an exhibition game in London would be fine, but regular season games have been a mistake and adding to that schedule only compounds the stress put on teams.

Back to good news for baseball, Frank McCourt has sold the Dodgers to a group lead by Magic Johnson and former Braves and Nationals president Stan Kasten for around $2 billion. Oddly enough, St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke was also in the hunt along with some folks who have a share in the new Mets ownership team. From what I have heard, however, Magic and his team are the best fit. Now, a few of you may cry foul due to Magic's investment in the LA area, but that should only inspire him to improve the team. Some may not be sold on Magic as a businessman, but I have some proof he'll be good for the Dodgers and the MLB.

In tiny Dayton, Ohio is a class A Midwest league team by the name of the Daytona Dragons. The team is in the Cincinnati Reds farm system and has nurtured talent like Adam Dunn (sorry Chi-Sox fans), Joey Votto, and Hay Bruce. They've also sold out 815 consecutive games. They do it with great promotions, an attachment to the city, outstanding customer service and a pretty decent product on the field. They've got plenty of loyal fans and season ticket holders. Their story has been featured around the globe and on our favorite four letter network's Outside The Lines (probably one of the best shows on that channel). If Magic and the gang kind bring that type of service to the Dodgers, they'll do just fine and restore a bit of faith to a proud franchise.

Well, that's it for me this week. I have no challenge this week, but have to agree Harvey's Like Mike videos and Frag's zumba pic may be slightly more 90's than a Chris Mullin Starter ad. Still, you all know you had a Starter jacket back then. I had a pretty amazing Tigers jacket, but we gave it away once I out grew it. My bro's kid would look pretty boss in it had we kept it and he gotten really big, really fast.

Back:

Front:

Hope you all have a great weekend and are ready for some baseball. I'm going to enjoy watching IHM and my Tigers taking on Sully's Red Sox.  What a way to start the year. Anyone else thinking about a Jon Lester-Justin Verlander pitcher's duel? Well, I leave you guys with your word of the week.

baseball card burden, noun

Well, March is still Mad around here. Not the good "What Me Worry?" kind either. Things continue to go a bit crazy with everyone's bracket certainly in shambles as mid-majors have created some big upsets. Though I will admit, much to ScottJax's pleasure, I may have been hasty in my judgment of the Big East. At this point, they've got 4 of 9 still standing. That's better than what I imagined. Syracuse has had some tough games, but they've pulled through. Cuse has a tough test in Wisconsin, but I think they still have the speed to get by the Badgers. 

Everyone's favorite match-up seems to be OSU vs. Cincy. I'll admit I'd love to see this match-up more often. It would certainly be too big a gamble for OSU to actually do, which sucks that they put their own rankings above the enjoyment of the country's (and their own state's) sports fans. Wanna make people forgive you for doing blatantly stupid things with your football program, schedule Cincy. Schedule them in both sports.

Keeping on the hardwood for a moment, I was caught by a strange piece of footage recently. The Golden State Warriors recently decided to retire the number of their beloved Chris Mullin. I grew up admiring Mullin. He had great hustle and work ethic and was a very good forward. He was the man in NBA Jam. Not to mention my bro and I donned the flat top out of reverence towards him in our middle school basketball days.

I challenge anyone to find anything more essentially 90's than this pic. If you do, however, feel free to post it below.

Unfortunately, the Bay Area fans patience ran out right in the middle of what should have been a great moment for the man. While current owner Joe Lacob was trying to speak during the ceremony, fans began to boo him relentlessly. Mullin tried to appeal to the crowd. Didn't work. Rick Berry tried to save the day and appeal for decency. Didn't work. these folks were just pissed.

I suppose I can understand. If my team was that bad I'd be pissed too. It took me a while not to just feel snarky towards the Lions. I still can't not mentally boo or laugh every time Matt Millen shows up as a college football expert on ESPN. I get where these guys are coming from.

The only thing that gets me is that they could boo Lacob anytime. You didn't have to boo while you were supposed to be celebrating a legend in your franchise. Brings signs to games. Wear bags on your heads. Hold Sell the Team, Lacob rallies. Let Mullin have his night and respect him if he asks for your cooperation. (I also found it laughable that ESPN would categorize Bay Area fans as "typically well-behaved". In light of their behavior during last year's season opener and at Raider games, that label should be stripped.)

Strange bit of news from the NFL. Houston agreed to trade LB DeMeco Ryans to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2012 fourth round draft pick. I realize Ryans has been hurt and they have a new stud in Cushing. His production was down to a mere 64 tackles in 16 games this year, but it still begs questions. Why couldn't they get more? Is there anything the Eagles and public doesn't know?

In an effort to support Frag's cause of raising awareness of our small market teams, I am disappointed to announce that the Royals may not have closer Joakim Soria for a good part of the season. Now, as a Tigers fan, it is a little easier knowing they won't have that stud if we need a late game come back this year, it's a bummer for baseball. A lot of folks have the Royals picked as a sleeper team. I'd like to see them come up and help push the Tigers, while they do make me nervous with the amount of young talent on their roster. The loss of Soria is a blow, but hopefully one they can brush off or remedy.

As for more competition in the AL Central, I've been hearing a lot about a young pitcher on the White Sox: Chris Sale. A lot of analysts have placed him a s a big time sleeper. He's been impressive in spring training. His last appearance against Cincy gave him a stat line boasting 6 shut out innings while allowing 2 hits. While Sale has been used in the bull pen and has gotten about 12 saves over his two year career, he's looking good in the rotation. The most he's pitched in games has been 3 innings against the Royals on July 20, but he could be a scary addition. I'm also interested to see if Jake Peavy can regain his form as well this year. An improving Peavy and rising Sale could well more than make up for losing Buehrle over the off season.

That's it for me this week. Thanks for stopping by and giving us a read. Feel free to leave your comments and try to out 90's my Chris Mullin Starter ad. Looks like another nice weather weekend and hopefully that means continued domination for me in a renewal of my backyard touch football games. I leave you as always with this week's vocab.

lightweight reader, noun

Ok, I'm gonna pick up the slack for BOB here. Question to keep in mind while filling out brackets and watching this weekend: how many Big East teams survive? In case you don't know, nine teams made it in from this conference: Syracuse, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Cincy, South Florida, West Virginia, Louisville, and UConn. The lowest seed they have is a 12 (USF). I have confidence in about three teams here, 33%, to move on: Syracuse, Marquette, and West Virginia. Not to mention Syracuse lost their talented big Fab Melo to academic ineligibility. After hearing about what these schools do to make sure players pass, you have to wonder how Melo could not make the grade.

Here's an interesting chart for Melo and others to read. I'd be more than happy to show a few players I have coached this as well.

At the risk of being accused of "anti Big Least bias", I have to wonder why they have so many teams get in each season. It has to be reputation, how else can you explain UConn making it? It sucks because the tourney would be so much better if it wasn't dominated by one conference or another. I hate to say it, but a football playoff would probably just gives us similar fits. Still, I'll watch and I'll watch a bunch of Big East times bite it this weekend.

NFL free agency opened today and it got crazy quick. Vincent Jackson is off the board. He signed a five year, 455 million deal with the Bucs. Josh Freeman has a primary weapon. You have to wonder if it'll be enough to take them over the edge or even rebound from a disappointing season last year.

As my bro and BOB mentioned, the Dolphins traded Brandon Marshall to the Bears for.....a thrid round pick in 2012 and 2013. So, I take it Manning said no? Still, the best you can get for Marshall are two third round picks and not even in the same year? The guy would have commanded more in the open market, even with the bumper crop of WR in free agency.

Pierre Garcon has gone to play with RGIII in Washington. That leaves the Colts with two free agent wide outs. Since they lost Dallas Clark, I imagine they'll go after Wayne full bear to have someone for Luck to throw to. 

We have 21 days and counting til Opening Day in the MLB. In the mean time, ESPN and other networks have started showing a few spring games. ESPN will be showing the Tigers and the Mets today at 1 eastern. The remaining air schedule can be found here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/spring2012/story/_/id/7575978/espn-air-10-spring-training-games.

A sad sign in the NBA, the Magic have reportedly offered Dwight Howard the chance to decide the fate of both the GM and the coach at the end of the year if he re-signs. It's just further proof that the inmates are running that asylum.

I just finished reading Friday Night Lights. I should have been done some time ago, but I had a huge project due in my young adult lit class. Wow. I was kinda expecting a novel, but found instead a chilling look inside high school athletics and a town of different extremes. I could see what I saw of the movie play out as I read, but realized that as usual the movie didn't do the book justice. There were so many parts I could identify with and a lot of parts that'll make anyone want to lace them up and get on the field again. I would have to say Jeff and BOB's boys should read this if they haven't yet. I'd recommend it for any high school juniors and any high school juniors at heart.

Well that's it for me this week. I'm looking forward to a weekend of madness and enjoying what's left of my spring break. It hit 70 here today. That makes it short weather in MI. Thanks as always for stopping in and reading. I leave you with your word of the week.

brown carded, verb