Hank Aaron is not overrated

I wrote an article about a poster who claimed I knew nothing about baseball. You can read my debate on Sandy Koufax being overrated. Allan Rosteing also made the remark “Aaron never hit over 44 homerunsin a season.” Okay, and?

Aaron is easily one of the top 5 players of all time. Actually, I’d rate him fourth all time behind Ruth, Walter Johnson and Willie Mays. It is true that Aaron was not flashy like Ruth nor possessed the power of Ruth. Yes, Aaron’s career high in home runs was 44. Along with Ty Cobb and Pete Rose, Aaron was one of baseball’s most consistent hitters.

Aaron played from 1954 until 1976. He made 25 All-Stars (some years there were two all-star games during his playing time). Aaron holds the MLB records of RBI’s, extra base hits and total bases. He is 2nd in home runs behind cheater Barry Bonds, 3rd in hits, and tied for 4th in runs. Aaron is one of only four players with at least 150 hits in 17 straight seasons. He also hit 24 or more home runs from 1955-1973. Most people also forget the fact Aaron won three Gold Gloves for his great and underrated defense.

Besides this Allan Rosteing dude, nobody else besides racist people seem to think Aaron is overrated. Sporting News rated Aaron 5th all time on their list of players, scholar Molefi Kete Asante ranks Aaron as the greatest black player in MLB history and SABR ranks Aaron 4th like me, Dugout Central ranks Aaron 7th all time, and Aaron also made the All-Century team which proved beyond a doubt, he clearly belongs in the top ten MLB players of all time.


Aaron is a living legend within the baseball realm. He was not only good in his prime, but was still a star at age 40. Most players like Johnny Bench and Sandy Koufax were done in their early 30’s. If you think Aaron is overrated, you truly don’t understand the game of baseball.

UK may have Nation's best Freshman class

http://www.aseaofblue.com/2009/5/3/863309/it-appears-uk-will-have-consensus

Lakers and Rockets fight for win - and they fight each other

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/05/daily-debate-lakersrockets-suspensions.html

You can cut the suspensions, er, suspense with a knife.

Or is that stab a man in the heart with a table leg?

Either way, NBA disciplinarian-in-grief Stu Jackson probably didn't sleep well last night. While attending the Lakers-Rockets game in the second round of the NBA playoffs, he got to see a better fight than last month's Silva-Leites debacle. Despite two separate ejections and five technicals, it was the only game in the series without anybody bleeding profusely from the head. No, Derek Fisher's cut doesn't count -- I said profusely.

Granted, it was only Game 2. The series will now head back to the state of Texas, where they might know a little about bravado and vigilante justice. We know Friday's game in Houston won't start off like the recent Ducks-Sharks clincher, but we don't know if everybody will be suited up. Jackson has to debate the fate of several key players. So can you ...


DEREK FISHER

Why he should be suspended: It's never the initial foul but the reaction. Houston's Luis Scola fouled Lamar Odom, who said his piece and walked away. Then the Lakers' Luke Walton added a few words, and Scola added a few more. Things should have cooled off when referees separated everybody, but on the next play Fisher delivered a shiver to Scola's dome. On the slow motion replay, you can see Fisher raise his arm and launch his entire body into the attack. The Lakers veteran should have known better, and he should know he'll be sitting Friday.

Why he shouldn't be suspended: Scola was already causing trouble when he ran at Fisher from behind. Slow motion sometimes distorts reality, and Fisher might have been trying to defend himself to some degree. Though Fisher admitted that he was expecting to dish out a "good, hard foul" on a screen, he also said he had no intent to injure or hurt anybody.

KOBE BRYANT

Why he should be suspended: Basketball is a contact sport, but there shouldn't be any contact above the shoulders. An elbow to the neck? Not cool. And what about that elbow (and knee) to Shane Battier a couple days earlier? He might be biased as the victim, but it's bad when even Ron Artest thinks you should be suspended. Houston's troublemaker claims this is far from the first illegal contact Kobe has made this series.

Why he shouldn't be suspended: Do you really think it's worth suspending the league's biggest draw for a little bump 'n grind? Artest was coming over Bryant's back, and the Lakers star was just making a routine basketball play.

RON ARTEST

Why he should be suspended: Besides initiating the incident with Kobe by coming over his back, Artest made a scene -- and a long one, at that. He ran across the court to argue with officials. He ran back to get in Kobe's face. Then, he made contact with Kobe. Big no-no. He also seemed to drag his feet while leaving the court.

Why he shouldn't be suspended: The contact with Kobe was incidental and insignificant. The fact that he's communicating with words, not fists, is actually a positive step with Artest. And there is that little mater that he was reacting to a hard foul. Sound easy? You try to smile after getting decked in the neck. Even Kobe said that Artest shouldn't be suspended.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

They're off the ballot, but Scola and Von Wafer weren't good citizens on Wednesday. Scola started this whole mess with a foul on Odom, and Wafer was ejected from the game by his own coach. Oh, to be a fly on that wall ...

Michael "Bong Hitter" Phelps ready to swim lol

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/06/AR2009050600433.html

BALTIMORE -- Michael Phelps heard all the jokes, dealt with all the criticism, read all the tabloid reports about his supposed party-boy lifestyle.

Now, it's time to get even, in the one place where he has the last word.

The pool.

After resisting the urge to quit and serving a three-month suspension handed down by USA Swimming after an embarrassing picture showed him inhaling from a marijuana pipe, Phelps is preparing for his first competition since winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.

When he competes at a meet in Charlotte, N.C. next week, he'll certainly have plenty of motivation. Phelps is still seething a bit about how an admittedly "stupid mistake" led to such a dramatic fallout _ and plenty of ridicule for an athlete who was celebrated after his record showing in China.

"When you find out things that have been said and done, for me it is sort of a factor," Phelps said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, coinciding with the end of his suspension. "When you say something about me, more than likely I'll be able to overcome whatever you say. I know I'll be more satisfied than you'll ever be at the end."

Phelps didn't always feel so defiant. When he was at his lowest, unsure if he wanted to return to swimming, he sat down with a pen and a piece of paper.

"I wrote out the pros and cons of swimming," he said, "and quitting."

In the end, swimming won out.

"What am I doing even thinking about quitting?" Phelps asked himself. "I'm 23 years old. I'm not retiring at 23. I have four more years to my career. I still have things I want to accomplish."

Favre to meet with Vikings coach

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20090506_NFL___Favre__Vikings_likely_to_meet.html

Less than a week after obtaining his official release from the New York Jets, quarterback Brett Favre reportedly is ready to talk with the Minnesota Vikings.

Citing a source with "direct knowledge of the situation," ESPN reported yesterday that Favre is scheduled to meet with Vikings coach Brad Childress later this week about a possible comeback with Minnesota.

Favre's agent, Bus Cook, did not immediately return a phone call to his Mississippi office. Childress and Vikings spokesman Bob Hagan also did not immediately return calls.

Both Favre and Cook have said this spring that Favre intends to stay retired.

Childress, the former offensive coordinator of the Eagles, said Friday he had been too busy to concentrate on Favre, but he acknowledged that the subject would soon be broached.

It wouldn't be the first time.

Favre spent 16 seasons in Green Bay, retiring in 2008 after leading the Packers to the NFC title game. He changed his mind a few months later, which set up a long and messy soap opera that ultimately led to his trade to the Jets.

It was believed all along that Favre, after hearing Green Bay's plans to go with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, wanted to come to NFC North rival Minnesota so he could exact some revenge on the Packers. But the Packers would have none of it. The team filed tampering charges against the Vikings.

With unproven veterans Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson slated to compete for the starting job this season, it would come as no surprise that the Vikings would at least consider adding a three-time MVP who holds the career records in every major statistical passing category, including interceptions.

Throwback games. The NFL will stage 16 games this season to honor the American Football League, which turns 50 in 2010. The league said the eight original AFL teams will wear historic uniforms.

The first legacy game is scheduled for Aug. 8 in Canton, Ohio, when Buffalo will play Tennessee (originally the Houston Oilers) in the Hall of Fame game.

Dungy meets with Vick. Michael Vick and Tony Dungy met at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., agent Joel Segal confirmed.

Vick is serving a 23-month sentence for bankrolling a dogfighting conspiracy.

Dungy retired as the Colts' coach in January. He has long been involved in prison ministries.

Noteworthy. Middle linebacker Larry Foote, who started two winning Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers, said he has reached agreement on a one-year contract with the Detroit Lions, who set an NFL record last season by going 0-16. . . . New Orleans cut receiver Biren Ealy and tight end Kolomona Kapanui two days after the players were arrested for allegedly being drunk and exposing themselves to two women. . . . New England signed former Chicago safety Brandon McGowan.

Big Ten may become the 2nd Big 12

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4141080

The Big Ten has no immediate plans to expand, and it would take more than a desire for a football championship game and a longer regular season for the league to add a 12th member, commissioner Jim Delany said.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno last week called on the Big Ten to expand, saying the conference goes "into hiding for six weeks" while other leagues hold championship games and play into the first week of December.

This fall, nine of 11 Big Ten teams will finish the regular season on Nov. 21, two weeks before teams from the other five BCS conferences. Come the 2010 season, the Big Ten adds a permanent bye week that will extend the regular season by one week.

Paterno expressed concern that the Big Ten disappears from college football's radar, which hurts league members vying for a spot in the national championship game. The Big Ten owns a six-game losing streak in BCS bowl games and hasn't won the Rose Bowl since 2000.

"Everybody else is playing playoffs on television," Paterno said. "You never see a Big Ten team mentioned, so I think that's a handicap."

Delany responded to Paterno's comments Monday, saying that while a league championship game has its benefits, particularly from a marketing perspective, expansion requires much more.

"It's not the reason you would expand," Delany told ESPN.com. He also said Paterno isn't the only Big Ten coach who has stumped for expansion in recent years.

"The issue has come up with our football coaches a couple times -- with the extra week and if we did expand, would we be more competitive?" Delany said. "I would say in some years they might be right. But has it enhanced the competitiveness of the ACC in football? Has it enhanced the competitiveness of the WAC? I don't know.

"Just because you have a championship doesn't make you more competitive. It's about coaching the players. The SEC game has been a marketing bonanza. I wouldn't discount that. But others have struggled with it."

Delany admits the lack of a championship game puts the Big Ten at a marketing disadvantage, which also was the case before the Big Ten added league tournaments in basketball in 1995 (women's) and 1998 (men's). Although Delany pushed for the basketball tournaments, he pointed out that the events haven't always translated to more success for its members in the NCAA tournament.

"I still think the tournament's a good thing, but it wouldn't be the reason why you'd expand a conference, to have a men's basketball tournament," he said. "It's too big a question."

The 82-year-old Paterno said the Big Ten remains a league dominated by a select few who "snicker" whenever he brings up the prospect of expansion. His claim surprised Delany, who recently spent several hours with Paterno in New York. The expansion issue never came up during their discussions.

"Coach Paterno ... is as important a coach, leader, teacher as we've ever had in college sports," Delany said. "So what he says gets disproportionate weight, and properly so. Whether it's in a coaches' meeting, a meeting of athletic directors or university presidents, his work and recommendation still means a lot. Coach Paterno has a lot of experience in this area. He's played around with conference configurations. He knows it's not easy, and he knows what he says matters.

"But the point of it is, [expansion is] a very big issue, it's a fundamental issue and it's a back-burner issue right now."

Paterno mentioned Syracuse, Rutgers and Pittsburgh as possible 12th members for the Big Ten. Delany declined to discuss specific teams from other conferences but said a school would need to fit the Big Ten, not just from a marketing perspective, but with its academic vision, athletic success and commitment, among other factors.

And since the Big Ten's second attempt to add Notre Dame fizzled in 1999, no other school has surfaced as a viable candidate for expansion.

"There's not an obvious move," Delany said. "There might be to some coaches, including coach Paterno, but it's not as obvious to the university presidents and to the athletic directors.

"There are a lot [of schools] that could take a lot away, but there aren't a lot that could bring so much to make the choice an easy one. You have to have a lot to make something go like this, and it's broader than really a championship game or a basketball tournament."

LeBron James easily wins MVP

http://www.theinsider.com/news/2115541_LeBron_James_Wins_MVP

The best player definitely won the award this year. LeBron James had his best season yet, by leading his Cavaliers to a franchise best, 66-16 record. They tied the 1996 Chicago Bulls for second best home record of 39-2, behind the 1985 Boston Celtics who went 40-1. LeBron led his team in just about every statistical category there is. Congrats to the 24 year old, King James! Now his journey has begun, to put the cherry-on-top, by winning his first and the franchise’s first NBA Championship. Read more details on how he was presented the MVP trophy back in his high school gym right here.

Uk recruit John Wall busted by police

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5075734/

Raleigh, N.C. — Local high school basketball standout John Wall, one of the nation's top uncommitted college prospects, has been cited with breaking and entering, Raleigh police said Monday.

Johnathan Hildred Wall, a 6-foot 4-inch playmaker, averaged 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh this past season. He is the No. 1-ranked point guard in the country by both Rivals.com and Scout.com.


Authorities said Wall, 18, of 537 E. Davie St., Raleigh, was charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering in connection with an April 27 afternoon break-in at an unoccupied house for sale at 3924 Laurel Glen Drive in Raleigh.

"He was not arrested. He was simply given a citation that we are fully cooperating with the DA's office to resolve this matter as soon as possible," his attorney, Anna Smith, said.

Wall is being sought after by a number of colleges, including North Carolina State University and Duke University.

University of Memphis, University of Miami, Baylor University, University of Kansas and University of Kentucky are also pursuing him. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has expressed an interest.

Wall is expected to narrow his list of schools any day now. The signing period ends May 20.

Because NCAA rules prohibit schools from commenting officially on prospects, it's unclear how the citation could affect recruiting and Wall's decision.

But Dave Telep, national director of recruiting for men's basketball for Scout.com, said that unless "something bigger" comes of the charge, he doesn't see it as an issue.

"At this point, it doesn't look like it's going to adversely affect their recruiting of John," he told 99.9 FM The Fan ESPN Radio Monday afternoon after talking to two schools that are recruiting Wall.

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions," Telep told WRAL News. "It's a misdemeanor. It could be nothing more than a mistake."

Police said an officer saw Wall leaving from the rear of the residence around 12:30 p.m. and was able to detain him. There was no forced entry at the residence and no indication that anything was taken from it. Authorities would not say what he might have been doing there.

"I think John is a good kid. It doesn't feel right," added Telep, who has followed Wall for more than three years.

Two other people were also charged in the April 27 crime. Bria Renea Draughn, 16, of 3212 Harmony Court, Raleigh, was detained while walking along a nearby street. Reginald Leonard Jackson II, 17, of 108 Luxorwind Drive, Garner, was detained when he returned to the residence, police said.

Word of God principal Anesha Pittman had no comment Monday morning.

"You'll have to speak with his mother about that," she said.