Sunday, January 31, 2010

THE SMARTEST MAN IN BASEBALL

***YANKS-DAMON IN NEGOTIATION...NOT***
So this is how it went: The Yanks prepared to talk to Scott Boras about Damon and were told point blank, "Don't even bother to make an offer that isn't multi-years and NO pay cut." The Yanks said okay, and made no offer. After a few weeks, we are told they offered 2 years for $19 million. Boras laughed and Damon went along. When the Yanks decided they had to move on Nick Johnson, they went to Boras with about $6-9 million, 1 year, with incentives. Again, disdain from Boras, citing other teams were offering multi-year deals for more money. Yanks said go for it. After that, they signed Winn, Boras asked for another offer; they offered Damon what little money they had left to stay under their "budget." Boras & Damon were insulted and said 'NOPE.' One by one, other teams are going out of their way to publicly state they have zero interest in Johnny (and probably none in Boras, either). So now, Scott has messed up negotiations with the Yanks for A-Rod, Abreu and Damon. Someone should tell him the Bank of George Steinbrenner has closed and Hal S. is taking no prisoners. Nice going, Scott.

***KANSAS VS KANSAS STATE***
Certainly an exciting game, but kind of sloppy. K-State made some silly errors late in the game (how many lane violations on free throws have you ever seen? K-State had TWO.) Kansas wasn't much better, losing the ball on turnovers in critical times. Both teams had trouble making free throws in the latter part of the game. But, with the crowd and the ever-present Dick Vitale hype, it was easy to get caught up. For such a huge rivalry, I was very impressed at the sportsmanship showed by both clubs, helping each other up off the floor and smiling at one another.
I wasn't all that impressed with Kansas' center, Cole Aldrich. He's big and strong but he played even bigger because K-State just couldn't match up with him. If they played back of him, he just muscled his way back and had short little jumpers. If they fronted him, he took lob passes and went to the basket unopposed. He grabbed some offensive 'boards because of his size but often missed the put back (He was 5-13 from the field). He was drawn way out of position on defensive switches. Wait till he plays a center as big & strong as he is and has some athleticism. I think Onuaku from Syracuse would give him a real hard time.

Did I hear something about a football game today?
CP-

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