Less than a week after the football team’s highest-profile player — Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback Jeremiah Masoli — was suspended for the upcoming season because of a guilty plea to a second-degree burglary charge, and only days after firing Ernie Kent, the men’s basketball coach of the last 13 years, Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti announced he was jumping ship to join ESPN as a college football analyst. How convenient for him.

Belloti, who took over as AD in July after a successful 14-season career as Oregon’s football coach, should be held accountable for  the nine football players who appeared on police reports in the last few months. Five of them have been suspended for all or part of the 2010 season or kicked off the team. Then Kent was fired, which wasn’t a terribly irresponsible move until you come to the realization that Bellotti shirked his responsibility to find a successor by skipping out of town himself.

It’s the responsibility of the head of an organization (or team or franchise or whatever else you want to call a group of individuals under someone’s helm) to find replacements for the open positions created by that head man’s personnel decisions. All Bellotti did was create a mess that has to be fixed by someone else. At least he might have done the UO program a favor in that the new AD could kick football coach Chip Kelly to the curb for permitting such recklessness and undisciplined behavior to exist on his football team.

*****

No Quote of the Week from this past week because I have family in town. And I’ve been working a lot, which means I didn’t give myself the time to run through enough stories to find quotes. I know your weekend was already ruined by my not posting a QOTW so I won’t press any further.

*****

I won a prize: @NBAStoreNYC posted a trivia question Friday morning: What record did Dwight Howard set at All-Star Weekend? I saw the question immediately and responded with what I was only 50 percent sure was the correct answer; that Howard’s record was for the longest made shot from a seated position.

Turns out I was right and the NBA Store gave me a prize package for my correct answer, which I picked up at the store on 52nd Street and 5th Avenue. Here it is below, with the video of Howard’s shot beneath it. Thanks to the NBA Store!

I correctly answered an @NBAStoreNYC trivia question on Twitter and the Store gave me this in return. Turns out I needed a duffle bag so the NBA Store saved me some coin.

]]> http://kylestack.com/2010/03/20/bellotti-is-a-hustler-nba-store-prize/feed/ 0 kylestackblog NBA Store swag http://kylestack.com/2010/03/17/fantasy-baseball-drafting-strategy/ http://kylestack.com/2010/03/17/fantasy-baseball-drafting-strategy/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:57:54 +0000 kylestackblog http://kylestack.com/?p=1352 ]]> Drafting for your fantasy baseball team shouldn’t be complicated. My general rule-of-thumb is to take the best available player. How does it get any simpler? I’m apt to avoid pitchers until at least Round 6 or 7, but it’s perfectly reasonable when other owners choose a hurler or two in the first five or six rounds.

What I wanted to accomplish with the following amNew York article is to give casual readers a clear understanding of what to expect during the first eight rounds of a 12-team league draft, assuming a standard scoring system (R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, SV, K, ERA, WHIP). Although there are too many different draft strategies to list within this space, there is generally a sound way of crafting a team: Make sure you have at least three position players who produce high amounts of home runs and RBIs while doing your best to balance your squad from hitting and pitching perspectives. No kidding, you say? Well, read the story below to find out more specifics about what to expect in each of the first eight rounds.

Click on the link below to read the story.

Fantasy MLB (Round-by-round strategy)

You can follow amNew York sports on Twitter: @amNYsports

You can also follow me on Twitter: @NYsportswriter

There’s not a better way to transition into the Gus Johnson Highlight Package:

Can you handle five Gus Johnson games in under five minutes?

We can add a third notch to Oregon’s belt: The college football version of the Portland Jail Blazers. Remember those Portland teams from the mid-’00s where seemingly every player was arrested? This Ducks squad is attaining the same reputation. What makes this situation more infuriating is that the head coach appears content to let the trouble makers stay on the squad. In review:

Star quarterback Jeremiah Masoli plead guilty to second-degree burglary for stealing two laptops and a guitar from a local frat house. After getting suspended for the upcoming season last Friday, Oregon head coach Chip Kelly conceded that Masoli was still due a redshirt year, which means he can still play for the Ducks after the upcoming campaign. He has to serve 12 months of probation, volunteer for 140 hours of community service and pay $5,000 in restitution fees along with former Ducks receiver Garret Embry, who suffered the same guilty plea and subsequent punishments.

Star running back LaMichael James was suspended for the 2010 season opener after pleading guilty on Friday to a misdemeanor harassment charge from an altercation with an ex-girlfriend. He originally faced five misdemeanor charges for the incident, including strangulation and assault. He’ll get 10 days in jail and must serve 24 months of probation.

Placekicker Rob Beard was also suspended for the opener after he plead guilty last week to a harassment charge stemming from a street fight.

Here are Kelly’s comments in regards to those arrests: “Their accountability for their actions is paramount and any tainting of the reputation of the University of Oregon and this football program will not be tolerated.”

Yet they all remain on the team.

Linebacker Kiko Alonso was suspended for the upcoming season following his ‘not guilty’ plea on drunk driving charges from last week.

Running back LeGarrette Blount was reinstated to the team last season after he initially was suspended for the entire campaign following an incident in which he punched a Boise State player after their game and then physically challenged Boise State fans as he was being led off the playing field.

Kelly did get two right, though.

Defensive end Matt Simms was dismissed from the team last month for striking a student he thought had a role in beating up Beard.

Wide receiver Jamere Holland was also dismissed after a profanity-laced tirade on Facebook regarding Alonso’s suspension.

My problem with Kelly’s overall disciplinary system is that he isn’t backing up his comments. If he truly felt that his player’s actions shouldn’t be tolerated, then he’d have kicked all of them off his team. Their level of punishment handed down from the court should be irrelevant. What the players do to repent their actions can’t dismiss what’s already been done to tarnish Oregon’s reputation. They’ve made the program appear like yet another playground for reckless, selfish athletes riding high on full scholarships and preferential treatment.

If Kelly were truly invested in turning the tide within his football team and in defending his school’s reputation, then he’d wipe the program clean of all the idiots who don’t respect it enough to stay out of trouble.

UPDATE: Found a much longer video of Oregon’s athletic training facility, although it’s without sound.

Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett, who recorded 15 receptions in his second season last year:
“I think I can be one of the all-time greats.”

Text message sent from Floyd Mayweather to a man named Quincey Williams, who texted Mayweather that he wished him bad luck in an upcoming fight:
“Do you know who I am? I could have you trumped!”

Steve Nash on rehabbing his beaten-up body with five days off between games:
“Unfortunately, I don’t get to put my feet up and have a pina colada.”

Dwight Howard on teammate Matt Barnes’ physical style of play:
“That’s what he does, he brings physicality to the game. Physicality. Matt and physical go together … Matt-sysical.”

Lamar Odom on why he called Barnes a “monkey” after the Lakers-Magic game March 7:
“Matt Barnes is a cool dude. If I call him a monkey, I don’t mean it.”

Odom on his comparison of Barnes to an action figure:
“Ric Flair does the same thing. He had his wrestling gear on today. All he needed was, like, a cape and tights.”

Barnes’ Twitter response to Odom:
“Morning yall up early w/ the babies watchn Dora. Seems Lamar can’t keep my name out his mouth maby I need 2 put my sons shitty diaper n it”

Derek Anderson after being released by the Browns:
“The fans are ruthless and don’t deserve a winner. I will never forget getting cheered when I was injured. I know at times I wasn’t great. I hope and pray I’m playing when my team comes to town and (we) roll them.”

Jazz coach and ex-Bulls player Jerry Sloan on the significance, or lack thereof, of a photo of him hanging outside the Bulls locker room:
“It’s like my friend always said, ‘I’m going to be eating hamburgers anyway.’” I don’t know what that means either.

Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh to Erik Kuselias on ESPN Radio:
“Last year, fantasy [football] or no fantasy, I sucked.”

Angels outfielder Torii Hunter on race in baseball:
“As African-American players, we have a theory that baseball can go get an imitator and pass them off as us. It’s like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they go to the Dominican or Venezuela because you can get them cheaper. It’s like, ‘Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?” Apparently Hunter didn’t notice that Aroldis Chapman, a Cuban, signed a $30 million deal with the Reds based off a handful of pitching sessions. Or that Michael Inoa, a Dominican, received a $4.25 million bonus from the Athletics as a 16-year-old in 2008.

Mike Leach during a motivational speech to Texas Tech last season:
“What’s God say? If you’re lukewarm, I’ll spew you out?”

Bill Maher on his HBO show:
“The only thing that’s inevitable is that if you have fake boobs and hair extensions, Tiger Woods will try to fuck you.”

Dan Orlovsky’s note on an autographed photo of the famous play in which he ran out of the back of the end zone during a 2008 Lions-Vikings game:
“I’m just an idiot.”

Lazenby reports that according to a plugged-in source to Phil Jackson, Bron wants to wear the purple and gold next season. He wants to play for Jackson, assuming Jackson re-signs with the Lakers. Of course, Lazenby adds that Phil and Bron could trek together to New York to join the Knicks. Oh yeah, he throws in a doozy later in the article — that Phil, Kobe and Jeanie Buss (Phil’s girlfriend and a high-level executive with the Lakers, not to mention the Lakers owner’s daughter) have a master plan to switch to the Clippers next year. The number of possibilities thrown at the wall in the story can make your head spin.

As a fan, I’ve learned to simplify circumstances as much as possible. Is it conceivable that Bron would play for the Lakers next year? Sure, when you factor in the commercial/movie opportunities available, the team’s championship tradition, the weather and the players Bron could team with for championships galore. One other factor: L.A. presents more career opportunities for Bron’s entourage.

Is it likely Bron enters Lakerland? About as realistic as him going to the Knicks without any other star. Too many options are proposed in the story to take them seriously. I can’t imagine two supreme alpha dogs like Kobe and LeBron will ever play together. That they formed such a strong cohesion on the Redeem Team doesn’t mean a thing. Part of the reason they played so well with each other was probably that they understood it was only a temporary thing, so they might as well have soaked it in while they could. A full season with each other could drive each player positively nuts.

I don’t see Kobe leaving his situation with the Lakers. They have the best possible situation for him to win a championship, sans any hyperbolic Bron/D-Wade/Bosh scenarios. Kobe is L.A. The Lakers are his team. He wouldn’t find the appreciation from a fan base in any other city that he already receives in L.A.

As for Bron, the assumption should be made that he’ll re-sign in Cleveland. NBA superstars rarely leave their teams when they know the team can offer more years and money than any other squad. The exception to the rule is Shaq, when he left small-market Orlando for L.A. in ‘96. But that was a different time in our country. The Internet was just taking off and there obviously weren’t the marketing opportunities available to small- and mid-market players that there are now. I read a great point today. Peyton Manning is the face of the NFL even though he plays in (perceived) podunk Indianapolis. Bron is bigger and badder, so he can thrive anywhere. It doesn’t have to be in L.A.

I prefer to use easy-to-understand metrics for predicting future performance. Sometimes that’s all you need, and the five stats I outlined in a new amNew York article go a long way to helping understand why a player has performed the way he has and how he might perform in the future. Hope you enjoy and remember — fantasy sports are meant for you to have fun. Try to leave the algebraic stuff aside.

Click on the link below to read the story:

Fantasy MLB (Peripheral stats)

Doug Fullerton, who is the commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, was named last spring to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee, which counts the selection and seeding of the March tournament among its responsibilities.

Fullerton officially started his committee role last fall and will help make the decisions this Selection Sunday for the first time. Read the interview to discover his views of the committee’s responsibilities, what he looks for in teams, his thoughts on the tournament expanding to 96 teams and a big announcement in regards to college basketball officiating.

Click on the link below to read the story:

Doug Fullerton interview

This proposal acknowledges that the increased risk of sugary drinks can lead to short- and long-term health problems, which eventually stress health care and add to the cost of an already expensive system. I agree that these goods, which are generally poor for people’s health, should be taxed. Cigarette taxes in New York City were raised by $.62 per pack last year because of nicotine. People can’t smoke in bars, restaurants or at the work place. Beer, wine and liquor are taxed because of alcohol in New York City, from $.12 to a $1 per gallon.

While the sugar from sodas aren’t as directly destructive as nicotine or alcohol, they still contribute mightily to poor health. The Brooklyn Food Coalition reported in a Web site post last year that that a Harvard Medical School study found that each additional 12 ounce sugary soda consumed per day increases the odds of a child becoming obese by 60 percent.

And yet bodega owners are complaining to New York City’s papers that the penny-per-ounce tax will “kill small local businesses,” according to one bodega owner in an amNew York story. If you buy a Sprite on a regular basis, would you make the decision not to buy it if it costs an extra 12 or 16 or 24 cents? Chances are you’ll be willing to fork over the extra quarter, or dime and two pennies. Plus, the bodega owners probably make most of their money off cigarette and alcohol sales in the first place. An extra 12 or 16 cents per Coke or Sprite isn’t going to be the tipping point in their business’ fortunes.

If nothing else, our government, whether it’s on a federal, state or local level, has a social responsibility to look out for the public’s general health. There is a seemingly never-ending amount of evidence that our society can’t protect itself from its drink and food choices. Too many people eat what they want and not necessarily what’s best for their long-term health.

If paying 12 or 16 or 24 extra cents to purchase a drink is what it takes to drive down soda consumption and possibly help steer people toward healthier choices, then it’s a great move. But if people continue to consume as they had on a pre-tax level, then the $400 million or more that could be generated on an annual basis from the soda tax, as has been reported, is a piece of pie that our city and state government could use, hopefully to a positive effect.

Cot’s Baseball Contracts cautions that all information is unofficial and has been collected from various published reports:

Bobby Abreu has a $9 million option for 2012 — it’s not clear if it’s player, team or mutual — that becomes guaranteed if he records 550 plate appearances in 2011 or 1,100 plate appearances from 2010-11.

*****

Eric Chavez, who played 31 games from 2008-09 and 90 in ‘07, will be paid $12M in ‘10 and has a $12.5M club option in ‘11 ($3M buyout).

*****

Kenshin Kawakami’s perks from his 2009 deal: Interpreter; $25K for moving expenses; housing and SUV during Spring Training; access to massage therapist; 8 round-trip business- or first-class airline ticket between Tokyo and Atlanta.

*****

Carlos Zambrano’s $19.25M vesting player option for 2013 becomes guaranteed if he finishes first or second in the 2011 Cy Young vote or if he finishes in the top 4 of the 2012 Cy Young vote and is healthy at the end of 2012.

*****

Kosuke Fukudome’s perks from his 2008 deal: Eight first-class round-trip airline tickets between Japan and Chicago for his family each year; a personal trainer; a masseuse; an interpreter; visa expenses; $25K annually in moving expenses; a vehicle during Spring Training and the regular season.

*****

Adam LaRoche has a $1.5M buyout from a $7.5M mutual option in ‘11. That buyout amount rises to $9.5M if he’s traded at any time.

*****

If you’re a Giants fan, sit down: Barry Zito still has four guaranteed years left at $76M — and that’s before you get to his $18M club option in 2014 that has a $7M buyout. The option vests with 200 IP in 2013 or 400 IP in 2012-13 or 600 IP in 2011-13.

*****

Ichiro Suzuki had a $32K “housing allowance” for the first season of his deal, in 2008, and it increases by $1K each year through 2012.

*****

Assuming he’s on the active ML roster at the end of this season, Ken Griffey Jr. gets $50K if the Mariners draw 2.4 million fans, another $50K for 2.45 million fans and $100K if they hit 2.5 million fans.

*****

Jose Lopez can earn $125K in physical performance bonuses this year: $25K for passing each of the four in-season physical tests: body-fat percentage; 60-yard sprint; 20-yard shuttle run; vertical jump. Then he gets another $25K if he passes all four.

*****

Get a load of this: Johan Santana has a $25M club option ($5.5M buyout) for 2014 that changes to a player option under all the following scenarios:

• He wins at least one Cy Young from 2008-13 and finishes second or third in the Cy Young vote in one other season, and
• He ranks second or third in the Cy Young vote in any three seasons from 2008-13, and
• He is on the active roster for the final 30 days of the 2013 season, and

• pitches 215 innings in 2013, or
• pitches 420 innings in 2012-13, or
• pitches 630 innings in 2011-13

Yikes, that’s complex. For what it’s worth, he finished third in ‘08 and was out of the race in ‘09.

*****

Carlos Beltran’s perks: Hotel suite on the road; 15-person suite at home games; the right to purchase post-season tickets (Mets fans are laughing now); the right to lease an ocular enhancer machine, which is a device that throws numbered and multi-colored tennis balls at 150 miles per hour.

*****

Oh boy, another Mets contract. Francisco Rodriguez has a $17.5M option ($3.5M buyout) in 2012 that becomes guaranteed if he completes the following:

• 55 games finished in 2011, and
• 100 games finished in 2010-11, and
• Doctors declare Frankie healthy after the 2011 season

By the way, the Mets are already on the hook in 2012 for $25.5M to Johan and $16M to Jason Bay. A starter, a closer and a left fielder for potentially $59M. Cry, Mets fans, cry.

*****

Brian Roberts has limited no-trade protection for the next two years. He can block trades to eight teams in 2010 and 12 clubs in 2011, although the teams are unspecified. Food for thought if the O’s try to complete their youth movement by trading the 31-year-old while he still has good value.

*****

Check out Dice-K’s perks: Physical therapist; massage therapist; interpreter; eight first-class round-trip airline tickets per year between Boston and Japan; Spring Training housing allowance of up to $25K; Boston housing allowance of up to $75K; one-time moving allowance of up to $35K; use of Lincoln Town Car or a similar car; Red Sox player ticket package, including two field box seats; a team employee to assists Japanese media; uniform No. 18.

*****

Remember how Magglio Ordonez’s $18M club option in 2010 became guaranteed once he surpassed 457 plate appearances in 2009? Well, his $15M club option for 2011 becomes guaranteed if he records 135 starts or 540 plate appearances in 2010 OR 270 starts or 1,080 plate appearances from 2009-10. (He needs 139 starts or 562 plate appearances in 2010 for that $15M to become guaranteed in 2011. Don’t be surprised by Maggs getting tagged with a mysterious injury and being placed on the DL.

*****

Alex Rodriguez has a $30M marketing agreement based on his home run milestones. He gets $6M each for the following accomplishments: 660 HRs, 714, 755, 762 (ML record), and breaking 762.