Big News From Mizzou Basketball

Drew Bruno of the Missourian has reported that Missouri Men's Basketball standout Thomas Gardner is going to test the NBA draft waters. Bruno's writing made the article very easy to understand, and I felt explained what is a complicated situation very well. He began with a very good anecdotal lead, and explained the situation very well afterward. He explained that Gardner is not going to hire an agent at this time which means he can return to Missouri next year if he wished to pull out of the draft. Basically, Gardner is going to see how he performs in pre-draft camps against the nations top players.

The only thing that seemed to be lacking in Bruno's article was quotes. He only had two of them, one from a statement release by Thomas Gardner through the athletic department, the other from Missouri's interim head coach Melvin Watkins. But even with just two quotes, I think the story works very well. It sets up a good look and what could be a really tough season next year. Noting that the Tigers will already loose two senior starters in Jimmy McKinney and Kevin Young, and now look to be losing their leading scorer in Gardner. Add that on top of a new coach coming in and the fact that the Tigers weren't very good last season, and it could be a very rough ride next year.

Publish Date: March 22 in the Missourian.

And Now It Gets Awkward...

The Los Angeles Dodgers were getting ready to bat against the Washington Nationals in a spring training game on Monday, but there was something holding the game up. There was nobody playing left field for the Nationals. The reason being that Alfonso Soriano was penciled in to play left field, but never went out to the position. Manager Frank Robinson was forced to make an official lineup change with the umpire and put someone else in the position Soriano was supposed to be playing. The reason behind all this is that Alfonso Soriano is technically a second baseman. He has been playing that position for his entire major league career, and he refuses to make a switch to the outfield.

Why not play him at second base? You ask.

The answer is that the Nationals have Jose Vidro at second base, and a content with him. While Soriano has impressive offensive stats (he is consistently a 30 Home Runs and 30 Stolen Bases player), his defensive skills are lacking (he has made nearly twice as many errors as anybody else at the position over the past 5 years, and has led the league in errors at second base each of those five years). The Nationals like Vidro's defensive skills, and he is not bad at the plate either. They figured that Soriano's speed and solid throwing arm would make him into a good outfielder, but Soriano refuses to make the switch.

Speculation has it that one of Soriano's reasons behind not moving positions is that his offensive statistics stack up better against the rest of the second basemen in the league than they do against outfielders, which is a valid point. Soriano is one of the best offensive second basemen, if not the best. But as an outfielder his 30 HR and 30 steals look more average compared to some of the huge power guys that play the outfield (examples being Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and Barry Bonds). Also, Soriano's 30/30 seasons don't look as impressive because other outfielders like Bobby Abreu and Jason Bay have done or are near accomplishing the same feat. Since he is a free agent after this season, Soriano would most likely command big bucks as the prized offensive second baseman in baseball, but might lose a few million dollars if he were playing left field. But that is all speculation, the refusal to move could be for various other reasons. His comfort at second base and not having to go through the struggles of learning a new position, especially one that can be as difficult as left field.

Regardless of the reasoning, Soriano is saying he will not move. And sitting out yesterday's spring training game is evidence to me that he is serious. This is where it becomes strange. What do the Nationals do? The Nationals are considering placing Soriano on the disqualified list, which is something I had never heard of until now. What it means is that if Soriano refused to play the outfield the Nationals could place him on this list which means that Soriano will not get paid the 10 million dollars he is owed this season. Also factoring into this move is that Soriano would no longer be a free agent at the end of the season, because he did not serve his service to the Nationals. He would remain the property of the Nationals until he served his contract (which is one year worth 10 million dollars). The other option is to trade either Soriano or Vidro. It is hard to see the Nationals trading Vidro because that would make it look as though they are giving in to Soriano, but it seems at this point they would not be able to get equal value back in a trade for Soriano, which is something Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden said he would not do.

I don't know what is going to happen out in Washington, because it doesn't seem like Soriano is going to budge from his stance, and it doesn't look like the Nationals will be able to make a good trade. That leaves the disqualified list, in which Soriano would sit out until he either decided to play left field, Vidro was injured or traded or until the season ended. I sure hope it doesn't come to the disqualified list, because I have Soriano on a few of my fantasy teams. And that would really throw a monkey wrench into my season.

Publish Date: March 21 in the Missourian.

She Dunked. Twice.

Candace Parker made history on Sunday. She dunked in a basketball game, twice. Parker became the first woman to dunk in the an NCAA tournament game and also became the first woman to dunk twice in the same game. Parker is a redshirt freshman at the University of Tennessee, she was redshirted during her freshman year because of two knee surgeries to repair a torn ACL. Parker's feat was impressive, especially to me, a person who has never dunked (on a 10-foot hoop that is), but what is even more impressive is that she did it coming off the two major knee operations. Also the manner in which the dunks were done, one of them was done on a fast-break situation, which is the only time that I have seen a woman dunk the ball. But the other was done off a set play in the offense, with Parker diving backdoor for the slam, that amazed me. This should not come as much of a surprise though to those who follow women's college basketball, or basketball in general. Parker won the McDonald's All-American Slam Dunk Contest when she was a senior in high school, she competed against boys her same age. Now people say that her dunks weren't impressive (and in my opinion they weren't) but she did do one where see covered her eyes, a-la Dee Brown (not the University of Illinois point guard, the former Boston Celtic of NBA Slam Dunk Contest fame). Parker has a chance to change woman's college basketball, and become it's first player to "play above the rim."

Dunking isn't her lone claim to fame though. It isn't all she can do. She isn't some novelty act. She might be the best woman's player in the game. Playing her high school ball at Naperville Central High School (Naperville is a suburb of Chicago), Parker was the most decorated woman's high school player of all time, the female version of LeBron James, you could say. She is the only woman ever to be named two time National Player of the Year by USA Today (2003 and 2004), and during her time at Naperville she led the team to a 95-4 mark that included two state championships. She has numerous High School All-American Awards, several other Player of the Year Awards handed out by different publications, and three Illinois Miss Basketball Awards (which is given to the best female basketball player in the state). This year she was named second team All-SEC and named as a finalist for the John Wooden Player of the Year Award as well as the All-American team. This year seems like the beginning of a dominant career. Watch out for many more awards, and many more dunks.

Publish Date: March 20 in the Missourian.

Affecting Your Gaming, Confusing My Reading

An article appeared on the front page of the Missourian today about Sony's new Playstation 3 being pushed back in its release date. I was a little confused by the article because in the middle of it the author talks about what is called a "Blue-ray DVD disk." It ties into the story because Sony is still trying to finalize the copyright on the technology, and that is part of the reason that the release date has been pushed back. I felt that elements of the story that appeared later in the article were more important than the Blue-ray discussion. For instance, the article talks about how the says of Playstation units (be it the original Playstation or the newer Playstation 2) has been a key for Sony being a successful company. They depend heavily on these sales. The article says that "Any setback in the Playstation business could deal a big blow to Sony." I feel that those elements are more important than an in-depth look at the Blue-ray technology, which is what the reporter did in the middle of the story.

Publish Date: March 16 in the Missourian.

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Left Out of the Tournament

The NCAA Tournament field has been announced. People are filling out their brackets for office pools across the nation. Everybody is included in the madness, and everyone seems to be happy and excited. Well, everyone except for the "bubble teams" that were left out of the field of 65 on Selection Sunday. A bickering match has erupted between Craig Littlepage, the chairman of the NCAA selection committee, and Billy Packer, an analyst for CBS. On the Selection Show that took place Sunday evening, Packard questioned the amount of mid-major schools that were allowed at-large bids to the field of 65. (Some definitions here: a mid-major is a school that is not in one of the power conferences like the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 or Big East. Mid-Majors come from seldom heard of conferences like the Missouri Valley conference, the WAC, and the WCC. 31 teams get automatic bids to the NCAA tourney for winning their conference tournies and another 34 get at-large bids, which are supposed to go to the best 34 remaining teams, regardless of what conference they are in). Packer was upset teams like Utah State and Air Force (both mid-majors) had received at-large bids over teams like Cincinnati and Michigan (both from major conferences). Littlepage shot back by defending his committee's selections.

My view on all this is that it doesn't matter. Yes, a team like Cincinnati or Michigan could probably do more damage than a Utah State or Air Force could in the tournament, but that doesn't really matter. Because Cincinnati or Michigan wasn't going to win the national championship. Neither is Utah State or Air Force. NCAA basketball has a fail-safe system for determining it's national champion, a grueling national tournament. It differs from the debates that exist in the very subjective BCS system that exists to determine who will play for the national title in NCAA football. I think that is the reason that so much is made over a team like Cincinnati being left out, and a team like Air Force being put in. The analysts have nobody else to talk about being snubbed. So they make a big deal out of something that really is not going to matter in the large scheme of things. The feud between Packer and Littlepage is silly, and it will disappear as soon as the first game tournament game gets underway on Thursday.

Publish Date: March 14 in the Missourian.

Big Storms Disrupt My Viewing

Tornadoes hit Mid-Missouri Sunday evening. It is quite a scary thought. I am glad that I am okay, and that no tornado hit near my apartment. Hail was the biggest weather concern in my life on Sunday. The most damage that was sustained by anybody that I know was due to hail (my roommates car got some pretty severe dings thanks to the golf-ball sized hail). But these tornadoes and other storms did have a huge effect on my Sunday. One of the most important days in the sporting world had rolled around. It was Selection Sunday. The glorious day in which the NCAA Tournament field is announced. Pairing matchups that begin a month of some of the best basketball games anybody will ever see. Normally I am able to sit down and watch the Selection Show on CBS, as Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, Billy Packard, Jim Nantz and others go through the matchups and discuss possible first-round (and even later round) upsets. I wasn't able to watch most of this due to the weather reports that were on the CBS station. The Selection Show was limited to a small box on the television screen that was very difficult to read. And when the weather coverage stopped the went back to the show at the point that they had interrupted it, which was a good idea at the time. But they cut back into the selection show and the small box in the corner was not in accordance with the delayed footage. Therefore I had missed the anoucement of the second half of the bracket. At that point I decided to just look the brackets up on-line. It was a much less dramatic approach, and it took a lot away from what is normally a great hour of television.

Anyway, I am glad that the storms did not harm too many people, and I am very grateful that they came nowhere near me or my friends. But they did have a large impact on me, ruining one of the most fun days in sports all year long.

Publish Date: March 13 in the Missourian.

Airport Issues

On Thursday, Adam Schreck wrote an article in the Missourian about Columbia Regional Airport's search for a new air travel provider after AmericanConnection operator Trans States Airlines said they would no longer provide air service to Columbia. The reporter did a very good job of explaining the situation and also explains the options that exist to solve the problem, but I felt that one large detail was lacking. One of the solutions Schreck said could happen was that the U.S. Department of Transportation could institute what is called "essential air service." The story says that means that the federal government would subsidize a limited number of flights through Columbia's airport. But the big question I had was how many flights we are talking about here. "A limited number" is pretty vague. And the story never really goes on to clarify it. As a student who lives in Chicago, I have used the airport as a means of getting home, and will be doing so this spring break. I want to know if this could have an effect on my travel in the future. To me, a limited number of flights already are flying in and out of Columbia's airport. I think the number is something like four or five per day. I can't imagine just one of two flights per day, or four or five flights every other day. I would like to know more about this situation, so I hope the Missourian continues to follow up on this issue.

Publish Date: March 9 in the Missourian.

The Only Defense He's Got

Today The Missourian, like every other newspaper in the country, ran an article about Barry Bonds. Why? Because a new book is coming out in which two San Francisco Chronicle reporters put forth evidence as to Barry Bonds taking steroids. It seems as though that everyone in America is pointing to this as more evidence that Bonds "cheated" at baseball by taking "performance enhancing" steroids. How can someone defend Bonds? This seems like the proverbial ax decapitating him. He is finished. There is no way after this book hits the stands (and it might not even have to get that far) that the public will ever accept Barry Bonds again.

But he has one chance, Bonds supporters have one glimmer of hope, and here it is.

I heard this idea mentioned by Bill Plaschke, a high-ranking sports writer for the Los Angeles Times, on Around the Horn (a television show on ESPN where four sports writers from around the country debate the sports issues of the day) on Tuesday. Plaschke questioned the book by saying that he was unsure why the material was published in a book and not in the San Francisco Chronicle (where the two reporters worked). The reporters said they have been working on this story for over two years and have secret government and court documents as well as conducting over 200 interviews. Plaschke theorizes that the reason behind none of this information being published in the Chronicle is the fact that the Chronicle has to live up to journalism ethics, and perhaps thought that the material that had been collected by these reporters lacked the factual credentials the newspaper demands. I think that is a very compelling argument, and I have taken Plaschke's idea and run with it. It only makes sense, if a reporter were covering a story for over two years, some of that material would have to go into the newspaper, there is no reason why it wouldn't; other than factual accuracy. Plaschke also painted the picture that these two reporters were hoping to win a Pulitzer Prize for their work when the original BALCO story broke nearly four years ago. The Pulitzer committee apparently went nowhere near their reporting. Leaving me to question whether this book is more for the glory than the actual "facts" in it. Because a story about Barry Bonds and steroids is going to get a lot of recognition.

Other parts of this story also leave me questioning. First of all, the fact that so far there has been no mention of Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield in any of the reports, even though both players admitted to the grand jury to unknowingly taking the same "steroids" that Bonds did, and denied doing so publicly, just as Bonds did. They are all in the same boat, yet there has been no mention of the other to at this point. Which makes it look like even more of a personal attack on Bonds. Numerous other factors go into my doubt. My personal favorite being these "undetectable" steroids. That seems like such a joke to me. Think about it for a second. That is the ultimate argument. You can say, "That guy is on steroids, but they are undetectable." Nobody can question you. All in all there is some doubt about this new book. Don't let the presence of it in the national media be the only information you take when forming your opinion as to whether or not Barry Bonds is a cheater. I'm not doubting that Bonds took SOMETHING, but as to whether or not he took a steroid, I don't know, you don't know, the guys who wrote this book don't know, and even Bonds might not know. The only people who really know are probably Victor Konte (the head of the BALCO lab, but even he might not), and Greg Anderson (Bonds's trainer). Bonds admitted to unknowingly taking two substances known as "the Cream" and "the Clear." Quite frankly I have no idea what those substances are, whether or not they are steroids, and what even classifies a steroid.

Simply, this isn't the open and shut case this new book would like to present. There are many holes in it, and a few different angles one can take in attacking these holes.

Publish Date: March 8 in the Missourian.

Well, it was the Only One I Saw

Crash won the Academy Award for best picture on Sunday. And I agree with the members of the Academy, Crash was the best film that I saw this year. Perhaps my view is slightly slanted because Crash was the only film that was nominated for best picture that I saw, regardless of that, it deserved the win. Written and directed by Paul Haggis, Crash is a story of race relations in Los Angeles. It follows the tales of an ensemble cast that includes Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Ocean's 11 & 12), Mat Dillon (There's Something About Mary, but he is in a much different role here), Sandra Bullock (Speed), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Ryan Phillippe (Cruel Intentions), Brendan Fraser (The Mummy) and rapper Ludacris. The story shows how all these people's paths cross and what happens between them. The film is powerful, touching not only on race issues but the power structure as well. For example there is a scene in which Matt Damon's character - a white police officer - sexually assaults Terrence Howard's wife in the film. There is nothing Howard's character can do because Dillon is a cop. The film is technically sound, with superb editing and a soundtrack that really fits the images on screen well. But the key is the story.

To me the best performance of the film isn't put on by one of the stars mentioned above, but instead is put on by Michael Pena, who plays a locksmith who happens to be Latino. He surprised me in the film, because I had never seen him in anything else. He has a young daughter in the movie, and the relationship put forth in the scenes between the two is incredible. All in all Crash was the best movie of last year, well, at least the best one that I saw.

Publish Date: March 6 in the Missourian.

Hey, I'm Not Going to Complain

A record low for monthly precipitation, a near record high for temperature on a single day, not a bad way to say goodbye to February and welcome March. The normally dreary month of February was surprisingly pleasant and dry here in Columbia, and regardless of if that will have an impact on the areas agriculture or not, I really do not care. It was delightful out there, it just seems like there is more energy in the air when it is as nice outside as it has been. Today, March 1st, is the nicest day of the year (so far). I was able to wear shorts and a T-shirt to class today, and even though I overslept this morning (that's another story all together), the day was truly enjoyable. Being able to walk around campus in this kind of weather has been great. I know that rain storms will eventually sweep through Columbia, and that the weather will probably cool down to normal temperatures for the month of March. But I am soaking this weather up while it lasts. February was a great month as far as weather goes, and I'm hoping that March follows suit.

Publish Date: March 1st in the Missourian.