Sports Desk Podcast Episode 4

Greg was AWOL last night so our NBA Expert Mike Thomas stopped by to take his place. We talked about the Monday Night Football replacement ref mess, more Tigers, Lions, and our picks.

Sports Desk 4

Sports Desk Podcast Episode 3

Greg and I talk about the silliness of the NHL lockout, who should be the AL MVP, scream about the replacement refs in the NFL, and, of course, make out week three picks.

Sports Desk 3

Sports Desk Podcast Episode 2

Greg stops by to yell about the Tigers, insult Notre Dame, and pray that the Lions win on Sunday. Click below to listen.

Sports Desk 2

Sports Desk Podcast: Episode 1

My good friend Greg drops by for us to talk some baseball, preview the NFL season, and make our week one picks on the very first Sports Desk Podcast.

Sports Desk Podcast: Episode 1

You're Still My Champ, Lance

Lance Armstrong was stripped of his record breaking and truly inspirational run of seven consecutive Tour de France victories by the fascists of the United States Anti-Doping Agency. This happened despite the fact that Lance has never failed a drug test, whether it by urine sample, drawn blood, or any other method of searching for cheaters. It happened because of an overly persistent and fool idealistic crusade by once agency to bring down a hero.

I am just here to say that, Mr. Armstrong, you won those seven championships whether the USADA says you did or not. You overcame life threatening cancer to win on of sports' most challenging competitions seven times. You are an inspiration for many people. Whether they are suffering from cancer, a cancer survivor, or simply another lump on a couch waiting for life to get started. You made me think that, if this guy can survive cancer and win seven major cycling races, what can I accomplish? 

I don't blame you for growing tired of what you call "an unconstitutional witch hunt." That crap can grow tiring after thirteen years worth of accusations.

The head of the USADA Gestapo, Travis Tygart, claims to have "overwhelming evidence" that proves Armstrong's guilt. Why won't he say what that is?  If he knows what will make us all believe that one of our greatest athletic heroes is a fraud why won't he spill the beans? Instead, he chooses to vilify himself and his organization under the guise of vigilante justice.

Despite overwhelming evidence against his cheating, you still claim he did. And you expect us to believe your claims? Show me the proof.

It's no secret that the cycling's performance enhancing drug cartel makes Major League Baseball's problems look like a high school pot dealer. Many, many riders, champions and schmucks alike, have tested positive for various types of PEDs. The sport clearly needs to be cleaned up. There are many very simple battles out there to win. But, Tygart continues to go after a high profile cyclist who has never tested positive for anything. They are armed with nothing but stories and accusations that may or may not have been forced out by the USADA itself.

Lance's statement really is the best way to describe how evil the USADA, and the WADA, can be. He claims that they break their own rules, ignores the pleas of a sport's governing body, and overall acts like the high and mighty judge in matters they really have no say in. It's no wonder that major American sports want nothing to do with these guys.

The fight is not over yet, the UCI (cycling's governing body) and the Tour de France still recognize Armstrong as the winner of those races. The USADA has to submit their case as to why they should wipe Armstrong's name from the record books. I presume that then all of Tygart's evidence will be made public and we can pass a little more informed judgement on the matter.

But, regardless, Lance Armstrong is a man who overcame impossible odds to accomplish one of the greatest feats in the history of sport. Reardless of what one annoying, self righteous bully says, you are still my champ, Lance.

How I Saw It: Everton-Manchester United

Manchester United was denied the title last season by some 11th hour heroics from intra-city rivals Mancehster City. They were hoping to start the season with a vengeance against Everton at Goodison Park. They have gotten plenty less than what they were hoping for. Everton took the match 1-0 with a clearly superior performance. It was Everton's fourth win against United at home in 21 matches.

In a truly exciting match, Everton's Marouane Felaini stole the show. The 6'4" Belgian was nothing short of dominant in the air for the Toffees. His height was way too much for United's battered defense, as he netted a header off a corner in the 57th minute. He was, by far, the man of the match.

Everton held the advantage for most of the match before the goal. They were twice robbed by the woodwork. Once when Felaini waltzed in on goal for a seemingly harmless chance. The other came early in the second half when Leon Osman drilled a shot off the cross bar, clearly beating the stunned David de Gea in Manchester's goal.

United was not without their own chances. After Everton opened the scoring, they were able to maintain possession and even come within inches of a goal themselves. Had it not been for an outstretched left foot of Phil Jagielka, the Red Devils would have managed to scrape a point out of this match.

Jagielka certainly deserves to be the secondary man of the match because of his strong defensive effort. In addition to his game saving left foot, he made a habit of being in the right place at the right time. Whether he was beating Wayne Rooney to a through ball or being steadfast on the goal line, Jagielka played a major role for Everton today.

Robin van Persie, fresh off a more than 30 million pound transfer from Arsenal, came on as a substitute as United tried to find a goal to level the game. He never played a large role in the outcome. It was more or less weird seeing him in a uniform other than Arsenal's. I don't doubt that last years golden boot winner will have an impact on Manchester United's season, but tonight he was rather unimpressive in his substitute's role.

In his defense, by the time he came on, Everton's defense was firmly parked with nine players behind the ball at all times. That gave him very little room to show off his wares.

The win is exactly the start Everton dreamed of. After a seventh place finish last year, Liverpool's other team has high hopes for a top six, if not better, finish after this year. This game was also a perfect finish to an exciting opening weekend of the Barclay's Premier League that saw the defending champions Manchester City have to fight for three points against newly promoted Southampton, Fulham net five goals without their star, and West Ham United announce their return to the top flight with a 1-0 win against Aston Villa.

The Penn State Scandal and Why the Death Penalty is Too Much

With no actualy sports being played, today has been a day dominated by the release of the Freeh Report, the government issued investigation on the Penn State scandal and supposed coverup. I have not, and probably will not, read the entire report, but I have enjoyed listening to radio host's and fans' reactions to the entire incident and how Penn State should be punished, if they should be punished, by the NCAA.

There have been people wanting as little as nothing and as much as 47 years of no football, equal to Jerry Sandusky's prison sentence. Those were merely outliers and most of the reaction was a little more sensible. The term that still came up more often than it should have was "death penalty."

The NCAA's version of the death penalty is completely banning a school from a sport for a given time period. This has only happened once. Southern Methodist University had their 1987 and 1988 football seasons cancelled when it was found that they had been generously paying their players for about a decade. The loss of those two seasons nearly destroyed the football program altogether and they never played in another bowl game until 2009.

This punishment may be exactly would the brass at Penn State deserve for failing to do their civic duty by turning Sandusky in 13 years ago, but how would that be fair to the current Penn State team, who had absolutely nothing to do with the crimes committed or the subsequent coverup? They would lose an entire football season or be forced to transfer to another school. Both could potentially derail any future in football for those players. Players who had no involvement in the scandal.

Then you have to think of the fans. Penn State has an extremely loyal fan base, over 100,000 of which pack Beaver Stadium every football Saturday. How is is fair to them to take away something they love for a scandal that they had no involvement in? College football fans are addicts to their teams, taking away their addiction cold turkey can really throw a cog in their autumn lifestyle.

Then there is the Big Ten to consider. How much money would the conference and each member school lose from not having Penn State for a couple years? Probably more than they want to admit. Again, there are eleven institutions that played no part in any of this.

So, clearly, the death penalty drags in a bunch of innocent souls, making that not an option. If the NCAA were to levy any penalty on Penn State, I suggest two things. The first would be a fairly standard NCAA punishment, the loss of available scholarships. This wouldn't affect the current roster. It would damage the program, but not beyond the point of repair.

The second would be stiff fines in the form of a donation to some kind of children's charity. And I am not talking some feel good few thousand dollar gratuity, but millions of dollars in tribute to the very group of people the university allowed to be hurt by their inaction. Football is a sport responsible for bringing in large sums of money to any college, so why not essentially disable the primary benefit of football without actually axing the entire program? The players get to keep playing, the fans get to keep watching, and the type of people who were most damaged by the entire scandal get a monetary benefit.

We also must not forget that Penn State, while clearly breaking all kinds of federal law, has not actually violated any NCAA regulations. Nobody will object to the NCAA stepping in and throwing their sanctions on, but we also have to remember that the long arm of federal law can still come down on the university and the individuals involved too. 

There is no doubt that Penn State has been the shame of college football lately and they surely deserve to take the blame and fall for everything they have done (or, rather, not done). The death penalty is too harsh on the current roster and the fans, but if you take a large chunk of Penn State's pocket book away, it might get the point across to other schools that this sort of thing is taken seriously and nobody is too important to be punished.