The Greg Oden saga took yet another sad but not shocking turn on Monday when a minor knee surgery turned into micro fracture number three for the big fella. His odds of coming back to do anything in the NBA went from long shot to no shot with this one. I feel bad for Greg, this wasn't his fault. His body just wasn't meant to play NBA ball. As somebody thats in the multiple knee surgery group (that's 7 for me) I sympathize with his plight, but his career was over years ago, just nobody wanted to admit it. We all have this belief that after surgery you get 100 better, not true. Any time you get cut, or tear or break something it takes a little bit off your game. It saps your athleticism a little bit at a time and for the most part once you get the label of injury prone it tends not to go away because your injuries tend to not go away. There's a reason you get the label. I said that about Greg 3 years ago and anybody who took a objective look at him said the same thing. Here's a good article from 2008 where David Thorpe says the same thing, that GO isn't ever going to turn into a impact player and that the Blazers should have cut ties years ago. I feel bad for him, but he's young, rich, and has his whole life in front of him. Here's hoping Greg can see that through the disappointment of his NBA experience.
Whitney Houston passed away over the weekend and while no official cause has been given, the general public all knows that her addictions to drugs and alcohol over the years will end up being the culprit. If fact those demons over the last decade have over shadowed what was an amazing talent. While I was never huge fan in that I never bought an album or saw her in concert, I will never forget the day in 1991 when Whitey Houston gave what is in my opinion, the greatest rendition of the greatest anthem this world has ever heard. The moment was perfect with the Gulf War fresh in all our minds and the super bowl as her backdrop she went out gave the country the collective chills. I dare you to watch the video and not get goose bumps. Performers would do well to watch this before they go out and butcher the anthem the next time they are asked to step up to the mike. It was simple and beautiful. And I won't ever forget it.
I get as many personal questions as I do sports related ones when I run into listeners on the street. I actually tend to enjoy those conversations more than the sports related ones. Kind of a nice chance of pace if you will. Well along those lines, I'm a big music guy and here is a someone I recently stumbled across and can't get enough of. The White Buffalo, http://thewhitebuffalo.com/ He's been on constant rotation in my car lately and thought I'd give you a taste of what I'm listening to.
Adam Corolla joined the show today, he's one of my favorite comedians and his pod cast is a must listen to. Plus it's free. www.adamcorolla.com This is a rant he went on awhile back that sums up my feelings toward the occupy movements mentality. It should be required viewing for every person in America. Warning, it's not suitable for hippies or people who are offended by the F word.
Lots of overreaction as usual from the game. Brady is still one of the best of all time and Eli is a very very good QB but not one of the best to ever play. He's not in the top 5 in the league right now.( well he might be 5 now) That not a bash on him just the reality of it. If Welker catches that pass what do we say about the two QB's today? The result of the game shouldn't completely determine one's worth or legacy.
Those teams can play every year. A good match up and very completive. Not necessarily great game but solid with a great finish.
Games that close often come down to just a break one way or another. 3 giants fumbles and they get them all, that doesn't usually happen. That was big.
The 12 men on the field penalty was even bigger, no excuse for it and it cost them the game.
The Pats should have let the G men score with two mins to play and 2 TO remaining. Would have made a huge difference on the last drive.
The Gisele mess after the game is a joke; she was being heckled and was frustrated for her husband. She said it to a friend, not for public consumption. Let it go people. This won't be the downfall of the Pats.
Nice halftime show NFL. Don't even get me started on this one. The middle finger was the least offensive part of that hunk of crap.
Eli's throw and Manningham's grab, WOW! Just big boy football right there. Its plays like that one that put rings on your fingers
Fair or not, I think not this will end the Brady/Montana debate.
I would comment on the commercials but I didn't get to see many. Was a gong show at my place. Lots of people, lots of klds, lost of noise. I was lucky to hear the game. I did like seeing Clint Eastwood though.
What the hell are we going to do now that football is over? Saddest day of the year is the Monday after the SB.
Here is the latest from Orangebloods.com on the Pac-16 forming. With the ACC already heading this way I think this is making more and more sence and could happen sooner rather then later.
From Chip Brown 3:35 PM - Just landed from Los Angeles and there are a lot of developments to get to.
Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are in talks with the Pac-12, multiple sources tell Orangebloods.com.
A source close to Texas and another one of the four schools says if Texas was to go to the Pac-12 it would be allowed to keep a "modified" version of the network.
Texas would be allowed to keep most, if not all, of its third-tier revenue under a formula being devised as long as the other schools in the Pac-16 meet a certain threshold of revenue, sources said.
As Orangebloods.com reported earlier today, the network would likely be renamed the Pac-16 Texas Network.
The Pac-16 would most likely be divided into four-team pods with Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech in one pod; Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah in another pod; Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State in another pod; and USC, UCLA, Cal and Stanford in the other pod, the sources said.
The sources said the schools would play every other school in their pod and then face two other schools from the other pods (with those two teams from the other pod rotating every two years, so there would be home and away games) to form a 9-game conference schedule.
The conference would try to limit long road trips as much as possible, the sources said.
The means of selecting the two teams for the Pac-16 Championship Game are being discussed. Included in those discussions have been simply taking the two teams with the best regular-season records, even if they are from the same pod, the sources said.
Sources said nothing has been finalized as of Sunday afternoon. But a source close to Texas indicated to Orangebloods.com the talks are intensifying.
And as reported by Orangebloods.com on Friday, both Texas and Oklahoma regents on Monday (in separate meetings) are expected to give their presidents the authority to make decisions about conference affiliation.
Texas president president Bill Powers, a Cal graduate, was a leading proponent of going to the Pac-12 a year ago. But Texas decided to try and hold the Big 12 together after it became clear Texas A&M would not follow Texas, Texas Tech, OU and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 with Colorado.
Texas said in holding the Big 12 together it didn't want to travel its students across two time zones to the west, resulting in student-athletes arriving back on campus in the middle of the night.
But if Texas can hold the Longhorn Network together in a "modified" version, the Pac-12 will end up being the best course of action for UT, the source close to Texas said.
11 AM - A source close to Texas repeated to me today the Pac-12 may now be the Longhorns' top option in terms of finding a new conference home.
The Pac-12 might be willing to accept a "modified" version of the Longhorn Network, the source said.
This development was first reported by Orangebloods.com on Saturday, when the Atlantic Coast Conference began moving in a different direction, according to a Big 12 administrator.
Multiple sources said Texas was banking on ESPN to make a marriage between the ACC and Texas that would allow the Longhorns to keep LHN. But that appears to have failed, the sources said.
Orangebloods.com was the first to report Saturday that the ACC was concerned about how LHN would fit into its revenue sharing; sees itself as an east coast conference and wasn't interested in extending into the southwest (no matter how much TV money adding Texas would mean); and had concerns about the academics of Texas Tech, whom UT would be under pressure politically to bring with them wherever UT went.
UT president Bill Powers and athletic director DeLoss Dodds told people inside the athletic department last week the ACC was Texas' best option if the Big 12 fell apart. Now, Texas is looking at the Pac-12.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told a group of reporters that included Orangebloods.com at the Rose Bowl Saturday the Pac-12 would not be flexibile about third-tier rights revenue sharing. Scott maintains that schools have to share the money equally.
If Texas sought membership in the Pac-12, Scott said LHN "would be an issue." But Scott said his league has a great relationship with ESPN, which owns the rights to LHN and is also a TV partner in the Pac-12 (along with Fox).
The list of options for Texas appears to be down to the Pac-12 or trying - come hell or high water - to hold the Big 12 together.
But a Big 12 without Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M does not excite the TV partners of the Big 12, industry sources have said. In other words, there's no way the Big 12 money stays the same if it's Texas, BYU, Louisville and some combination of Cincinnati, Houston and TCU along with the remaining members of the Big 12.
Also, schools like Missouri and Kansas would have to be convinced to stay in the Big 12 when they have other options, sources said.
DeLoss Dodds has told people who matter that Texas does not want to go independent and does not want to go to the Big Ten. Dodds has said the growth in the United States is south, and the Big Ten is not in the south.
It's not a done deal, but it's looking more and more like the Pac-12 with a modified version of the Longhorn Network, probably renamed as something like the Pac-16 Texas Network.
Here's the latest from Chip Brown on Oklahoma's possible move to the Pac-12.
From Chip Brown
Orangebloods.com
Oklahoma will apply for membership to the Pac-12 before the end of the month, and Oklahoma State is expected to follow suit, a source close to OU's administration told Orangebloods.com.
Even though Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said Friday the Pac-12 was not interested in expansion at this time, OU's board of regents is fed up with the instability in the Big 12, the source said.
The OU board of regents will meet within two weeks to formalize plans to apply for membership to the Pac-12, the source said.
Messages left Sunday night with OU athletic director Joe Castiglione and Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder were not immediately returned.
If OU follows through with what appears to be a unanimous sentiment on the seven-member Oklahoma board of regents to leave the Big 12, realignment in college athletics could be heating back up. OU's application would be matched by an application from Oklahoma State, the source said, even though OSU president Burns Hargis and mega-booster Boone Pickens both voiced their support for the Big 12 last Thursday.
There is differing sentiment about if the Pac-12 presidents and chancellors are ready to expand again after bringing in Colorado and Utah last year and landing $3 billion TV contracts from Fox and ESPN. Colorado president Bruce Benson told reporters last week CU would be opposed to any expansion that might bring about east and west divisions in the Pac-12.
Currently, there are north and south divisions in the Pac-12. If OU and OSU were to join, Larry Scott would have to get creative.
Scott's orginal plan last summer was to bring in Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and put them in an eastern division with Arizona and Arizona State. The old Pac-8 schools (USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State) were to be in the west division.
Colorado made the move in June 2010, but when Texas A&M was not on board to go west, the Big 12 came back together with the help of its television partners (ABC/ESPN and Fox).
If Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were accepted into the Pac-12, there would undoubtedly be a hope by Larry Scott that Texas would join the league. But Texas sources have indicated UT is determined to hang onto the Longhorn Network, which would not be permissible in the Pac-12 in its current form.
Texas sources continue to indicate to Orangebloods.com that if the Big 12 falls apart, the Longhorns would consider "all options."
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe held an emergency conference call 10 days ago with league presidents excluding Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M and asked the other league presidents to "work on Texas" because Beebe didn't think the Pac-12 would take Oklahoma without Texas.
Now, it appears OU is willing to take its chances with the Pac-12 with or without Texas.
There seemed to be a temporary pause in any possible shifting of the college athletics' landscape when Baylor led a charge to tie up Texas A&M's move to the Southeastern Conference in legal red tape. BU refused to waive its right to sue the SEC over A&M's departure from the Big 12, and the SEC said it would not admit Texas A&M until it had been cleared of any potential lawsuits.
Baylor, Kansas and Iowa State have indicated they will not waive their right to sue the SEC.
It's unclear if an application by OU to the Pac-12 would draw the same threats of litigation against the Pac-12 from those Big 12 schools.
This from Chip Brown at Orangebloods.com who has been all over these conference relocation stories.....
What's next for the Big 12?
After looking around to make sure all nine members are still in the room, the league must decide if it will grow by one school or by three.
"It depends who's available," one Big 12 administrator said today.
There is a five-member Big 12 expansion committee being headed by Missouri's chancellor and includes Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione and Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds.
The two names I keep hearing at the moment are BYU and Pittsburgh. BYU makes sense because ESPN has the Cougars' television contract, and ABC/ESPN is also the Tier 1 rights holder in the Big 12. But BYU may be perfect as an independent because of its ties to the Church of Latter-day Saints and its policies prohibiting the Cougars from athletic competition on Sundays.
Two sources told me today Pittsburgh continues to move up as a Big 12 target, and may even be moving into the lead. Pitt AD Steve Pederson is sending out signals the Panthers are content in the Big East.
But Pittsburgh would bring football and basketball tradition to the Big 12 as well as a large television market in the northeast. Considering Pitt makes about $8 million per year currently in TV revenue, the Panthers would probably love the upgrade in pay in the Big 12 (to between $17 million and $20 million) starting next year - as long as the Big 12 is still together at that point.
The Big East has a television contract renegotiation coming up in the next year and already has plans to add TCU. But the Big East could become vulnerable if the SEC starts to look elsewhere to add more schools (more on that in a minute).
BIG 12 DOWN TO NINE: Let's talk about the Big 12's vulnerability first. The Big 12 could be ready to come apart because it nearly came apart last summer, and now the league is down to nine schools.
There were deep conversations between six members of the Big 12 (Texas, Texas Tech, OU, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Colorado) and Pac-12 last year.
CU is already in the Pac-12, and there were fan bases of the other Big 12 schools involved in that courtship who all but had their bags packed while hoping that migration west would happen.
Anyone who thinks Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott is sitting on his hands, watching this all go by, is crazy.
Scott could plunk down a regional network in the state of Oklahoma in a heartbeat and try to entice OU and Oklahoma State to be the Pac-12's 13th and 14th members.
Oklahoma is working on its own TV network, and there have been mixed reports about how the Sooners' search for a media partner is going. If the Sooners are having trouble finding a media partner, Scott could solve that for them by creating a regional network for OU and Oklahoma State's third-tier rights and call it a day.
Then, Bob Stoops would be playing football against his brother, Mike, at Arizona, and the road trips for football would be to Scottsdale, Tucson, Los Angeles, Palo Alto and Seattle instead of Manhattan and Ames.
Would bringing in a school like Pitt or BYU be enough for OU to stick around in the Big 12 with Texas currently collecting $15 million per year more than any other school in the league thanks to ESPN/Longhorn Network? And whatever OU does, Oklahoma State is likely to do because of that state's legislature.
Or not?
And would Texas ever be willing to allow the Longhorn Network to be turned into a regional network in the Pac-12? One source close to the situation said, "That would mean turning off the Longhorn Network almost before it got started. I'm not sure if that's Texas' style."
THE SEC'S NEXT MOVE: Much of what's about to happen to the landscape of college athletics is predicated on the Southeastern Conference's next move.
According to my sources, the SEC and Virginia Tech are starting to get to know each other to see if that could be a good marriage in the SEC East.
If Virginia Tech were to come out of the Atlantic Coast Conference as the SEC's 14th team, what would happen to the ACC? My sources say the SEC is VERY interested in North Carolina. So far, UNC has indicated the Tar Heels are not interested.
But if the ACC started getting picked apart by the SEC, the ACC will undoubtedly turn to the Big East for schools to add. If the ACC went after schools like UConn, Syracuse and Rutgers, the Big East would then be reeling.
And if the Big East comes apart, the biggest independent dominoe of all could be back in play - Notre Dame. If ND doesn't have a home for its other sports (currently the Big East), the Irish will be back in discussion about where to put those teams.
Everyone assumes it would be the Big Ten. But as I've reported previously, ND is working on its own television network (separate from its NBC contract), and the Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC don't allow schools to have their own networks.
The Big 12 does.
If Pitt is already in the Big 12 at that point, who knows if Notre Dame might look favorably to the Big 12. And if Notre Dame and Pitt were to end up in the Big 12, the sources I've talked to said don't count out Arkansas as a third school to get the league back to 12 teams.
It's a long shot, a long shot. But administrators at the highest level of the Big 12 are the ones mulling these scenarios. They did so Saturday on a conference call in which BYU, Pitt, Notre Dame and Arkansas were all discussed, according to sources.
The bottom line is, we appear to be on the verge of a tipping point that could lead to super conferences in college athletics, just like we were last summer.
In fact, I was told by a source with intimate knowledge of the situation the SEC will not take Missouri because the SEC doesn't want to be responsible for the collapse of the Big 12.
But my sources at Texas A&M continue to say the SEC will ultimately end up at 16 teams. They repeated that to me today. If that's true, there are three more schools that will be leaving their current homes to join the SEC.
Those moves may not all happen immediately. But the fear of such moves will be enough to send conferences scrambling for members to secure their borders.
We are back in the world of uncertainty as it pertains to college realignment. Where everyone is looking at everyone else and wondering if they are telling the truth.
AGGIES MOVING ON: Texas A&M has officially notified the Big 12 it plans to apply for membership to another conference.
In perhaps the most bizarre line of the official release from the Aggies, it says, "Should this application be accepted, Texas A&M will end its membership in the Big 12 Conference effective June 30, 2012."
Other members of the Big 12 read that as if to say that A&M wanted its withdrawal from the conference to be contingent upon the Aggies' acceptance to the SEC.
And what if the ultimate Aggie joke occurred, and A&M didn't have at least 9 of the 12 votes required among SEC presidents for expansion?
"We can't be waiting around for this process to play out before deciding what we're going to do," said one Big 12 administrator.
That administrator and others in the Big 12 question if SEC commissioner Mike Slive has the votes to bring in Texas A&M. Sources close to Texas A&M say they've been assured the votes are there (the Aggies need at least 9 of 12 to be admitted).
A&M sources expect some movement by the SEC on their application by the end of next week.
Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe made it clear A&M's withdrawal is unconditional.
"Texas A&M president R. Bowen Loftin has notified the conference of his decision to withdraw the university from the Big 12 effective June 30, 2012.
"The presidents and chancellors of the nine remaining member institutions are steadfast in their commitment to the Big 12. As previously stated, the Conference will move forward aggresively exploring its membership options."
Sources say the Big 12 will withhold all of Texas A&M's remaining revenue for the 2011-12 school year, totaling between $15 million and $18 million, as the Aggies' exit fee. The maximum payout would have been between $28 million and $31 million, sources said.
Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said, "As we stated last summer, we are strong supporters and members of the Big 12 Conference. Recent events have not altered our confidence in the league.
"A Big 12 committee is in place to look at all options, shaping the future of the conference so it will continue to be one of the top leagues in the country."
Mack Brown said he would hate to see the Texas-Texas A&M football game come to an end because it has 100 years of tradition and is a great showcase game for Texas high school football players.
But sources say the Longhorns' brass may not be in the mood to continue that game and may look at replacing the Aggies with Notre Dame on Thanksgiving night going foward.
USA USA USA by Jason Scukanek, posted Jul 11 2011 2:31PM
Ok, it's womens soccer so I can't break into a full USA USA chant or take down old glory and make a victory lap around my block, but it was pretty cool to see so many people getting caught up in a little American pride. Take a look.
Portland Firefighters are raising money for their athletics league with a raffle. Lots of great prizes including season tickets to the Trailblazers as the grand prize. Help support my friends and all the brave men and women firefighters, plus you have a chance to win some really cool prizes. Only 25 bucks per ticket. Click Here to buy and see list of prizes
school or by three.
Portland Firefighters are raising money for their athletics league with a raffle. Lots of great prizes including season tickets to the Trailblazers as the grand prize. Help support my friends and all the brave men and women firefighters, plus you have a chance to win some really cool prizes. Only 25 bucks per ticket. 
