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Oh, Melo, what were you thinking? It seems we are subject to some irresponsible action or legal infraction by a professional athlete every week, and this week’s spotlight falls on Carmelo Anthony. It is the timing of this one that makes it even dumber.

After beating the Rockets 111-94 on Sunday night to move just ahead of the Golden State Warriors for 8th place in the play-off hunt, apparently Melo thought it would be a good idea to go joy riding in the early A.M. Anthony was coming off an abysmal 3-14 performance with just 11 points to show for it. He had to rely on teammate Allen Iverson’s 33-7-7 game to help give his team a chance of making the last seed in the play-offs.  Luckily for Melo, the Golden State Warriors lost Monday night, meaning Anthony and Co. are going to the play-offs for the 5th straight year. I wonder if he saw this from the drunk tank, or if he had already been bailed out in time?

Carmelo Anthony has been in the national limelight since he carried Syracuse to a national championship and then got drafted 3rd, two slots behind (heir apparent to league stardom) Lebron James. But what has he done since? He has averaged 24.5 ppg and made the play-offs 5 straight years, but has yet to carry his team out of the first round. His play-off stats show that his scoring is lower than his career average (24.5 to 20.8), his assists are down (3 to 1.2) and his field goal percentage is almost 7 percent lower (46.2 to 39.5).

So what is he thinking? Instead of buckling up and getting some rest before a strenuous first round match-up with the Lakers (hottest team right now), Melo is off boozing and driving around interstate 25 late at night. With the West deeper than it has ever been, to have even a shot at making some play-off progress you have to be playing your best ball. As the so-called leader of the team, it seems Anthony has resigned himself to losing in the first round of the play-offs (again) and calling it a season. Way to be there for your team. This is the best supporting cast you have ever had (Iverson, Martin, Camby, etc.). I know it is a long shot to beat the 1st seed in the first round, but I remember a certain hyped-up Warriors team doing just that last year. The difference between 1 and 8 is not that big, but I guess Melo just does not have the fortitude, direction, or the drive to make himself a premier player in this league.

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A lot has been made about Roy Williams’ rabid Jayhawk cheerleading on Monday night. Even given Williams’ Kansas background, it was surprising to see him so enthusiastic about the team which had just broken the hearts of his players. Many UNC faithful are not too pleased with their coach—-this article sums it up nicely—so why exactly did Williams do it?

The answer can be found five years ago when Williams decided to leave Kansas and Jayhawks fans around the world called him every dirty name they could think of. It’s clear that Williams never got over the hurt from the vitriol spewed his way. For the last five years he’s wanted Kansas fans to know how much the school meant to him, how much he cared for those Kansas players, and how difficult it was for him to leave. Unfortunately, he never really got a chance to show it.

On Monday night Williams got that chance, and he decided to take it regardless of the consequences. He knew his Kansas sticker would anger people at UNC—but he also knew that anger would likely be short lived. In his mind that was a small price to pay for an opportunity to reclaim 15 years of good feelings and do away with five years of bad ones.

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Gary Roberts was acquired by the Penguins at last year’s trade deadline. He was re-signed in the offseason. All in all, Roberts has been a member of the Penguins for more than a year, but apparently that’s  enough of a reason for his official ESPN.com player card photo to not have him in a Panthers jersey. Maybe if he scores a few more playoffs goals they’ll put him in the black and gold.

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I just heard Michael Vick might be playing some pick-up ball in the prison yard. Dangerous, potentially serious injury causing decision? Hell no! How about Fox’s newest reality show this fall?

The premise: Michael Vick is putting together a football team to take on the guards (ok, so I might have borrowed an idea or two for this one. Maybe we even call it “The Hardest Yard.”) There are tryouts, cuts, interviews, and some good old fashioned dramatic back-stabbing (literally.) Leavenworth puts together their toughest squad. Maybe they even import a guard or two (preferably an ex-college star.) Her are some ideas for the show:

- A prison style combine featuring:
WRs: Scaling the Wall in an Attempted Escape Vertical Jump test and Not Dropping the Soap Hand Skills test
OLs: Pass Blocking the Guards While Your Cellmate Stabs a Rival Gang Member test
LBs: How Quickly You Can Recover from a Taser Shock (shows toughness)
RBs and QBs: Outrunning Prison Dogs (sure, Vick can run 63 yards against an NFL caliber secondary, but try zig-zagging your way around bloodthirsty German Sheppards)
Des: Breaking the Tackle of 5 Men About to…. Well, you get the idea.

- Instead of agent signing and contract negotiation, how about lawyer hiring and plea bargaining?

- Special guest judges (I wonder what prisons Pacman Jones and Chris Henry will be in this fall? And for that matter, I wonder if it matters if it’s state or federal? I will have to contact Fox’s legal department and pull some strings.)

- The season accumulates in the Prison Bowl, which will be aired just like a real game the day of the Super Bowl.

- If the prisoners win, extra conjugal visits. If the gaurds win, extra baton privelages.

- And as an extra twist… if Vick wins, he gets to leave jail early for good behavior. If he loses, Vick goes into solitary confinement for two years.

Fox, I am waiting your phone call.

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Congratulation to the Jayhawks. And congratulations to Bill self for winning despite nearly throwing the game away by inexplicably switching to a zone defense. For 28 minutes Kansas had been playing terrific defense. Derrick Rose was ghost, and the entire Memphis offense consisted of Chris Douglas-Roberts taking difficult jumpers. Kansas was wearing them down and had the game in control.

So what did Self do? He decided he had to contain Douglas-Roberts and went to a Box-and-1. It contained Douglas-Roberts, but it also let Derrick Rose play 4-on-4 against a zone. It woke Rose up and he took over the game. Fortunately for Self, Memphis’ free throw shooting woes (remember those?) caught up with them.

Other thoughts…

—This is the 2nd straight year all four Final Four teams could be considered “great basketball teams.” I can’t remember the last time that happened. It’s like somehow by not letting teenagers play in the NBA, David Stern has raised the level of play in college basketball.

—Kudos to Billy Packer for calling out Memphis for repeatedly running high screens for Derrick Rose. Kansas would just double Rose and because the screener wasn’t a shooter, there was nothing Rose could do to create a good shot. Fortunately for Memphis, Self decided to change defenses.

—I loved the post-game comments from John Calipari. He took blame for not having his team ready for overtime, while also admitting they did all they could and believed the game was won. Rarely do you see that kind of candor in that situation.

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Rumors have been circulating for weeks that the NBA has been considering raising the minimum age in which players can declare themselves eligible for the NBA draft. Well, it appears that in the next couple of days NBA commish David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand are going to announce that the minimum age, set at 19 (or after one year of college) in the collective bargaining agreement of 2006, will be raised to 20 (or two years of college). A seeming victory for those protecting the integrity of the game (and certainly a victory for college basketball, who can now hold on to their stars another year). But I have to say, while Stern might have the best interest of the NBA at heart, this really is unfair to all those young, talented athletes who are forced to enter college.

Forced to enter college? Unfair? Well, yes. Consider the fact that the only people this is affecting go to college as a springboard to the NBA. Why go to college? The only reason president Brand cares about this issue is because the NCAA markets and makes money off of these athletes. He does not care about the well-being or education (scoff!) of these athletes. These athletes have to sacrifice millions of dollars for the benefit of the NCAA. Considering the risk of injury, you might potentially cost these athletes their career.

For those talking about the sanctity of the NBA, what about the sanctity of college? Since when did college become a place you go to for a year, just to leave for your professional ambition afterwards? These kids are training for the NBA, not for graduate school. There is no incentive to go to class, or be a productive member of the college community at all (sans the sports program). It is a waste of space and resources for these athletes to be forced to attend college.

How is it fair (or even legal) to deny someone who is clearly qualified for the professional level and millions of dollars in salary (not to mention endorsements) their opportunity? These people stand to make millions, and the NBA is telling them no? If a team is willing to take a chance on them, I do not see how an organization can deny them the ability to declare themselves for the draft.

People always bring up the issues of the sanctity of the game, how the integrity was being ruined by the influx of high school players. This is a way overstated excuse. Look at the drafts of the last five years. 2003-2005 were the last drafts in which high school seniors were eligible for the draft. The number of high school seniors taken in these drafts was 3, 7, and 9 respectively. Out of 60 picks each year. Less than 11% of all NBA draft picks. And 6 of these players were taken within the first 10 picks, meaning these were superstars without the need of a year in college (which only could have served to hurt their draft status). This is who the NCAA is targeting to get to stay in college. These are the superstars they want to exploit for an extra season.

In the two years post-collective bargaining (and the implementation of the 19 year old minimum), 6 freshman have been selected in the top 10 (1 in 2006, and 5 last year). This is a marked increase from the 4 freshman selected top 10 from 2003-2005. No one can deny that Oden and Durant were NBA ready after their freshman year (in the case of Oden, even more so.) All the NCAA is trying to do is take these freshman (some of whom would have left after high school), and force them to be poster boys for two years (in which these athletes could be making millions).

Finally, the attention that NBA draft receives for whisking away younger and younger athletes is greatly disproportionate to other sports. This is the breakdown of draft picks for the four largest sports:

NBA - 60
NHL – 211
NFL – 265
MLB – 1,453

Yeah. The NBA does not come within a 1/3 of hockey in terms of drafting young people. And let’s not mention MLB, which drafts 16 year olds from Curacao and high school seniors by the truck load. Like the NBA, the NFL has an age policy. The NFL is also full of 340 lb linemen who try and kill each other every day. The NBA is a finesse game where an 18 year old can dominate (hello, Lebron James). The NFL is too physical and big for high school seniors to come close to even competing, let alone dominate.

Instead of worrying about something more pertinent (like rearranging playoffs so we don’t have disproportionate talent in one conference, or teams slacking so they actually get lower seeds), David Stern is fixing a problem that does not exist. The number of people this affects is minimal… a handful of 18 year olds a year. For the NCAA and Brand this means millions (you saw the hype for Michael Beasley during tournament time… imagine if he could be in the tournament twice?). For the kids this rule is denying, it also means millions.

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Gregg Oden and Kevin Durant are no longer awaiting the winners of this year’s draft lottery, but hey, that’s no reason for Eastern Conference teams to not tank the end of the season.

Take a look at the standings. There are only two teams still trying to win. The Hawks—because they’re securing the final playoff spot, and the Celtics—because they don’t know how to relax and rest themselves for the post-season.

The rest of the conference could care less whether they win. The big battle is between Atlanta, Toronto, and Washington to not finish 5th and draw a matchup with Cleveland. On Wednesday the Wizards blew a 10 point 4th quarter lead and lost at home to Milwaukee. On Saturday the Sixers, who are the hottest team in basketball, lost at home to Altanta. Not to be outdone, the Raptors lost back-to-back games to Charlotte and New Jersey.

You can’t blame any of them. There are three Eastern Conference teams nobody wants to play. Cleveland, Boston, and Detroit. A team that finishes 5th will likely have to play all three of them. Finishing 6th or 7th means a team can play no more than two of them.

The teams at the top of the conference are similarly disinterested in winning. Orlando, Detroit, and Cleveland are all locked into their seedings. The Cavs only care about Lebron liking his new teammates, the Pistons are concerned with unleashing superstud Rodney Stuckey on the rest of the NBA, and the Magic are just sitting back and watching Dwight Howard dunk.

Finally, there’s the bottom of the conference, which is engaged in a much less publicized battle to land Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose. The good news is nobody can compete with Miami’s lineup of Blake Ahearn, Earl Barron , Chris Quinn, Joel Anthony, and Kasib Powell, and so the tanking hasn’t been too apparent.

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As it normally does after each controversy laden season, the NFL decided to tweak a few rules. What does it all mean? I shall tell you.

Rule change #1: No more force out

This is a rule change that had to be made, but mark it down now—it’s going to be problematic. The league’s goal is to remove judgment calls, but what will happen when a receiver jumps to catch a ball and the defensive back gets under him and carries him out of bounds? His feet never touch the ground. Was his forward progress stopped? Officials are still going to have to make judgment calls about that kind of stuff.

My other problem with this rule is it will effect the game way more than people think. Generally there’s only one to two force out calls each game, but that’s because defensive backs aren’t trying force receivers out. Now that force outs are legal I think we’ll see 5 to 10 force out-related incompletions each game. Passing attacks will suffer.

Rule change #2: Coin toss winners can defer to the 2nd half

Basically, the winner of the opening coin toss can now declare themselves the loser. If teams were rational, they would never choose to receive the opening kick. Second half possessions are more valuable. Teams should be trying to get as many of them as possible. I’d be shocked if Bill Belichick ever declines to defer.

Rule Change #3: Field Goals are reviewable

The Phil Dawson rule. I predict the first 10 field goal related challenges are upheld based on inconclusiveness.

Rule Change #4: No more 5-yard facemask

Overall, I have a problem with facemask penalties because the foul generally doesn’t affect the play. For example, an offensive hold can turn a sack into a touchdown pass. That penalty needs to be called. But a facemask turns a three yard run into a two-and-a-half yard run. A 15-yard penalty is not a fair price to pay, especially since 95% of facemaks infractions are unintentional.

It probably would have been better to outlaw the 15 yarders, but the NFL can’t do that because it send a bad message about acceptable violence. We’ll have to wait and see how this rule change plays out, but if it results in fewer overall facemask penalties, that’s a good thing.

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Ahh… after a couple of days it has finally set in. Baseball season is here. More so than any other sport, baseball elicits so many different emotions and memories. I first got into sports around the tender age of 8. This happened to be the summer or 1991, and the Atlanta Braves were poised to make history. A miracle season. Worst to first.

Wait; before you stop reading, this is not a diatribe about the greatness of the Braves. No, the importance of this summer is that this is when I fell in love with baseball. Falling asleep listening to Skip Carey and Don Sutton call a game. Running outside to my front lawn to see the fireworks over the stadium after a victory. Going to my first ball games with my dad, while he pointed out players and gave me history lessons about previous teams and players. I have been in love with the game ever since.

My enjoyment of baseball has evolved over the years. The strike of 1994 was devastating (hell, at least we got most of the season in). But then Big Mac and Slammy Sammy made us believe in the greatness of baseball again. And then steroids made us question everything we ever thought of the last 25 years. It has been a rollercoaster of an affair. But it is in affair that has pursued.

I still listen to baseball games on the radio, but now it is with a group of my buddies on a lazy and hot summer evening. Sitting by the pool, grilling some food. I still go to games, only now I can tailgate. I even make a point to see a game or two with the old man, just to hear him tell me stories of Ted Turner riding ostriches during 7th inning stretches in front of a paltry crowd at crappy old Fulton County Stadium.

So what I am trying to say is that baseball is not just an entertaining sport. It is a way of life. Watching opening day (or two or three) was not just about watching a game. All of a sudden I was filled with the anticipation of warm weather and a great summer. So baseball may have its problems, but it will always have a place in my heart.

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Moises Alou is either a liar, or a really mean guy. Five years later he reveals that he wouldn’t have caught the Steve Bartman ball!? Is he you serious? He couldn’t have said that right after the game? Or the week after? Or the year after? Or three years after? Alou clearly doesn’t understand how the normal psychology of human emotion and forgiveness works.

Most likely, Alou would have caught the ball, and still believes he would have caught the ball. But now he’s decided it’s about time to help old boy Bartman out. Good for you Moises. I guess. Perhaps next week you’ll forgive the kid who took your lunch money in 2nd grade.

As for Bartman, he probably wishes this whole thing would be left alone. He’s been vindicated—sort of—but now he also has to deal with everybody remembering who he is again. That’s not good. What is good is that Alou’s words have made it possible for Bartman to once again show his face and use his real name…a few years from now.

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