SB Nation User Blog: MbahABako

Olney thinks Giants can get Fielder or Howard for Cain this offseason

MbahABako — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:46:25 -0000

Insider content on ESPN.com, I'll just cut/paste the relevant part re: Matt Cain:

"2. As the Giants consider ways to bolster the power in their lineup, GM Brian Sabean can go into the winter knowing that he can probably add a major hammer, if he ever decides to dangle Matt Cain, and two options could be Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder. Each of those sluggers has failed to reach long-term deals with their respective teams, each will see their salary escalate quickly through arbitration, and the Phillies and Brewers would love to add a power arm like Cain. "The Phillies could go out and find somebody to drive in runs in their park in place of Howard," said an AL general manager. "But in that bandbox, they will always have trouble finding pitching. Cain misses bats; he'd be perfect for them." And after this season, the Brewers will lose CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets to free agency, at a time when they have emerging position prospects; they can find somebody to play first but will need an anchor for their rotation, and Cain would serve that purpose."

While I would absolutely hate to lose Matt Cain because he is just an absolute stud, I think that any rational GM would have to consider doing a Cain-Howard or Cain-Fielder deal, especially given the strength of our starting pitching down in the minors.

Any thoughts?

A slight detour from March Madness

MbahABako — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:16:59 -0000

Found this link on a message board that I frequent (Fark, for those who were curious). Check it out:

Father sees picture of son in Oregon student section flipping off Kevin Love, takes away car as punishment

Here's some of the highlights (and the above link has great photo evidence):

"I was shocked to see, in a photo of the Oregon student section, my son partaking in the harassment of UCLA's Kevin Love. When he came home the following weekend, his car was taken away and he headed back to school on a bus. I am embarrassed and wish to apologize to Kevin and his family." -- Armando Navarro, Clackamas, Ore.

Sounds like this Oregon kid will realize that you can still root against the visiting team but do it with class.

On a sidenote, what a game on Saturday. I had neighbors banging on my walls trying to shut me up, but nothing short of the police breaking down my door could have stopped my Russell Westbrook-like roar when the clock finally ticked 0.0. I'm assuming that there were many, like myself, who roared along with Russell as he punctuated the victory with the sick jam.

We cannot take Western Kentucky lightly. Luckily for us, we have one of (if not THE) greatest coaches in the land behind us. Lee is a great player, so Westbrook will have his work cut out for him.

Fred Lewis among top breakout candidates according to WWL

MbahABako — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:04:39 -0000

Sounds intriguing, right? It's "Insider" material, but let's see what exactly they had to say about Davis:

"Lewis doesn't have the star potential of the other players on this list, but he's the best of a mediocre lot of rookies and sophomores the Giants will give playing time this year. And he has the secondary skills to be at least an average corner outfielder.

Lewis doesn't have a single plus tool that would make him stand out as a prospect (editor's note: Ouch, that hurts), which likely has hurt his cause with San Francisco over the past few years. His best skill is his patience at the plate, running deep counts and drawing enough walks to keep his OBPs over .360 for four straight years. He has moderate power, fringy for a corner outfielder but slightly above average in center. He's an above-average runner, but neither a burner nor a plus base stealer. His best path to an everyday role is in center field, but the Giants just gave Aaron Rowand too many years and too much money to play there, leaving Lewis to fight with Dave Roberts and Randy Winn, both inferior players, for playing time in a corner. So his biggest obstacle to breaking out in 2008 isn't something he can control."

Not necessarily a ringing endorsement, is it?

Timmay throwing himself under the bus?

MbahABako — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:36:37 -0000

Check the latest from the LA Times regarding the JuiceDuice ticket fiasco:

USC Coach Tim Floyd said Wednesday that he told star freshman O.J. Mayo that he could accept free Lakers tickets and that if anybody should be punished for potential NCAA violations, it should be the coach.

"My feeling is that if there's a mistake made, it was made by me," Floyd said. "If they want to suspend me for a game, suspend me for a game, but not the kid. He did the right thing."

Isn't that just insanity over in Southern Cal world? This appears to be a clear case of Timmay realizing that his star may get the hammer dropped on him by the NCAA and trying to take the blame instead. Even if we assume that the above is truth (a tough assumption, given the circumstances), what does that say about institutional control and compliance with NCAA regulations over in the hood?

Floyd said he thought it was acceptable for Mayo to receive complimentary tickets from Denver Nuggets All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, whom Mayo has known since the seventh grade, because the players were friends. Mayo attended the Lakers' 116-99 victory over the Nuggets on Monday at Staples Center.

One thing that goes unanswered -- how did Floyd even know that JuiceDuice had the tickets? If I remember the previous story, Mayo got the tickets from Carmelo while at a party the night before the game. Does Floyd want us to believe that Mayo came and asked him if it was OK before going to the game? Really?

Asked if he was concerned that his actions could constitute an NCAA violation, Mayo said, "I'm not worried, man. I'm worried about Oregon State." The Trojans play the Beavers tonight in Corvallis, Ore.

Of course. Why should he be worried? He goes to the one "institution of higher learning" that gets a free pass from the NCAA

JuiceDuice violating NCAA rules?

MbahABako — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:39:46 -0000

What do we have here... well look fellow BN'ers! It's another Trojan potentially violating NCAA rules. Let's see if this makes a peep on the NCAA radar. Here's the relevant portions about JuiceDuice from LA Times article:

USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo may have violated NCAA rules by accepting complimentary tickets from Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony to Monday's Lakers-Nuggets game at Staples Center.

Although USC compliance officials could not be reached for comment, NCAA bylaw 16.11.2.2.3 states that student-athletes may not receive "free or reduced-cost admission to professional athletics contests from professional sports organizations, unless such services also are available to the student body in general."

A couple of my favorite parts: Mayo said he didn't know where his seats were located until he took them to an usher, "and he kept walking down farther and farther and farther. The next thing you know, we had pretty good seats." Mayo was among the celebrities spotlighted during the national TNT broadcast. Does anyone else think it is total bullshiat that he didn't know where the seats were? That just sounds too flat out rehearsed.

And finally...

Anthony made the offer of tickets at a party he hosted Sunday night, Mayo said.

"I was talking to him like, 'Man, you're out pretty late. You've got a game tomorrow against Kobe [Bryant],' " Mayo said. "He said, 'Nah it will be all right.' And then he asked, 'You want to come to the game?' And I was like, 'Sure.' "

Out partying before a game against the Lakers and Kobe. Bad Carmelo, bad!

Titans fire Norm Chow

MbahABako — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:33:48 -0000

Bumped. I still think Chow to UCLA is a long shot and would a monumental coup for CNR if it were to come true. That said, before this news came out today, there were two relevant datapoints: 1) per Dohn CRN was still looking to talk to Chow and 2) Hawaii was leaning towards retaining its current DC as their new HC. Who knows what will happen now? Maybe Hawaii will go after Chow? And it looks like now CRN may have a chance to get Chow's attention and bring him home. GO BRUINS. -N

Just saw this come up on the WWL's website. Here's the relevant parts:

The Tennessee Titans fired offensive coordinator Norm Chow after three seasons with the team, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported Tuesday.

The Titans finished the regular season 10-6 and suffered a 17-6 loss to the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the playoffs. They finished 10th in the AFC in total yards.

Chow, who was previously the offensive coordinator at USC, was interviewed for UCLA's head coach opening in December but withdrew his name from consideration. The Bruins went on to hire Rick Neuheisel.

Any chance this is a precursor to CRN bringing Chow back into the fold for the Bruins? I think that we could very well be looking at a coup in picking up Chow, who has to have somewhat limited options after the playoff loss by Tennessee. If I remember correctly, it was Chow who withdrew his name from the coaching search, and not that he was eliminated by the UCLA administration, correct? If that is the case, then there is the definite potential that the door may be open for him if he wants a spot on CRN's staff.

UPDATE: -N. As Menelaus pointed out in the comments, apparently Chow didn't even apply for the Hawaii job. I guess the question is, will he apply now, or would a high profile job as OC where he would get a direct opportunity to stick to Pom Pom loom as a more attractive option?

UPDATE II: -M. Per Dohn, Chow didn't see this coming, and Neuheisel has been putting together a package to entice him to come to UCLA. Sounds good to me.

UCLA's chances of landing Norm Chow as its offensive coordinator appeared to increase dramatically Tuesday when he was fired as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator.

Chow, who was considered the mastermind behind USC's explosive offenses during the Carson Palmer and Reggie Bush days, is high on the radar of new UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, but the two had not spoken as of Monday, according to sources.

Chow's salary with the Titans was $1 million. Neuheisel was putting together a package to try and entice Chow to return to Southern Califorinia, where Chow still owns a house.

UPDATE III: -M. To his credit (and I wasn't giving him much during the Walker-a-thon last month), Dohn has been on top of this. And he makes an intriguing point about money potentially not being an issue with Chow: Money may not be an issue when it comes to whether or not UCLA hires Norm Chow as the offensive coordinator. I'm told by several sources Chow still has two years remaining on his contract with the Tennessee Titans, at $1 million per, and any money he makes in the next two years would be subtracted from that total.

In other words, no matter how much UCLA or another school pays him, he is guaranteed $1 million the next two years.

GO BRUINS.

New Housegate evidence from Yahoo! investigation

MbahABako — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:38:04 -0000

Surprised that I haven't seen anything about this on BN yet this morning, but it is something that needs to be looked at. The boys over at Yahoo, who have absolutely been on top of the shady situation involving Bush and his agent friends and done a fantastic job with it (something we couldn't count on the SC Times to do), come with some new information this morning -- and characterizing it as explosive would be a gross understatement.

Click here for the full Yahoo story

The relevant/damning parts include:

Audio recordings that allegedly establish an improper financial relationship between former USC running back Reggie Bush and a would-be sports marketing agent were played for NCAA investigators this week, sources told Yahoo! Sports. Audio recordings? Those are going to be very difficult for Mr. House to defend, especially if his voice is all over them. Wonder how Petey is gonna try to spin this one? Yahoo! Sports also has learned that the NCAA requested and has been given phone records of USC officials, including coaches, as part of the investigation. Could this go further up the chain? We can only hope. I think it would definitely be par for the course, given SC's history of shenanigans with their football program.

MSNBC writer thinks Southern Cal. has better chance at NT than UCLA

MbahABako — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:13:10 -0000

Hey everyone here at BN -- I've been reading since inception but just now registered an account. Specifically, I was reading through some stuff on MSNBC's website, and came upon this little gem by Ken Davis. He's predicting his top five teams that have a chance at next year's Men's BB National Championship. Check out which team is at #5:

5. Southern California. The Trojans are ahead of schedule when it comes to rebuilding under coach Tim Floyd. USC made it to the Sweet Sixteen this season and nobody expected things to turn around that fast. It took a remarkable second-half run by North Carolina to keep the Trojans out of the Elite Eight.

The biggest loss from this year's team should be senior guard Lodrick Stewart, who averaged over 14 points and was a terrific three-point shooter. That loss will be offset by a terrific recruiting class, led by O.J. Mayo, the 6-5 shooting guard from Huntington, W.Va. If Mayo can behave himself and live up to his potential, he could usher in a brand new era at USC.

This is a special time in USC history. Floyd should be able to convince his top players to stay in school and be part of building the foundation for future success. Swingman Nick Young and guard Gabe Pruitt will provide the senior leadership. Forward Taj Gibson was a pleasant surprise as a freshman on the front line and should show dramatic improvement.

The defensive style of Floyd and his ability to recruit will make the Trojans a factor for several years. Next season will be Floyd's third at USC and that turned out to be a special season for John Thompson III at Georgetown and Thad Matta at Ohio State.

Maybe the Trojans are headed to the Final Four in 2008.

The other four teams he has ahead of $C are (in order): Ohio State, UNC, Kansas, and Georgetown.

This guy is crazy, isn't he?