"Who's gonna' hit the quarterback first?"

Last week the Minnesota Vikings announced a trade that brought Jared Allen, 2007 NFL sack leader, to the team. Allen brings with him a lot of baggage in the form of multiple DUI arrests while he was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. While Allen claims that he has given up drinking and has moved forward from mistakes he made in the past there are understandably some skeptics out there. After the "Love Boat" fiasco, the failed second chance with Koren Robinson and many other issues with Vikings over the past couple years this move seems strange for a team that should be looking to clean up its image, but here's the bottom line....most Vikings fans don't care (including me). Look, we as Viking fans want the team to win, period. We're sick and tired of being the team that has made the Super Bowl but never won. Sure the past is littered with players who had behavior problems and completely flushed their career down the toilet, but there are also the shining gems like Cris Carter. Remember Cris Carter? Yeah, the guy who was referred to as a guy who could only catch touchdowns by Buddy Ryan. When he was released from Philadelphia the Vikings gave him a second chance and oh what a great decision that was. Sure the Vikes have given Jared Allen a $74 Million contract with $31 Million guaranteed (rumors are that this number could drop as low as $16 Million should Mr. Allen slip up). So what? Jemelle Hill with ESPN thinks we should all be questioning the signing and compares Allen to Pacman Jones along with others. Look, second chances are part of life and history is riddled with those who have failed and those who have succeeded. While this contract is more money than I will probably ever make in my entire lifetime we need to remember that none of these NFL contracts are guaranteed and even the "guaranteed" money isn't always guaranteed. While I agree that Allen should have a short leash I'm taking the wait and see attitude. If this D-line stays healthy and plays to it's past performance the QB's in the NFL will have a lot to deal with when facing the Vikings and Brett Farve will probably be even more content with staying retired...

Here's some highlights from the Vikings press conference introducing Allen.

Surprising Wake Up...

At around 4:45 AM this morning I was awaken by quite a weird situation. My entire bedroom was shaking!

That's right, why up here in NW Indiana we felt the earthquake that shook southern Illinois early this morning. I have felt some small quakes before but nothing as prolonged and definite as this. It almost felt like there was a huge series of wind gusts over about 5 seconds. To be honest I think it was a little cool to have the experience. Now, hopefully this is it and this quake doesn't jump start anything in the New Madrid fault system. I've read some information in the past about the New Madrid fault system and the damage that was caused back in the early 1800's when a series of massive earthquakes rocked the New Madrid area, but I took in a little refresher course this morning. If you live in the states surrounding this fault you should really take a little time to do some research on the topic and think about what you would need to do in the situation. It's not something we think about all the time around here (like we do tornadoes), but being prepared when you first start feeling the shakes could make a big difference.

Here's a couple sites worth checking out:

USGS.gov

The Center for Earthquake Research & Information (University of Memphis)

Long Time Gone

After just starting this blog a couple weeks ago I went on vacation to Siesta Key, FL for a week and didn't touch a computer all week. I have to tell you, going 7 days without looking at a computer screen can be an good experience from time to time. I actually read newspapers and enjoyed looking at printed box scores again.


Anyways, here's a recap of one of my journeys during the trip.

Tropicana Field

While I was in Florida I was bound and determined to catch a baseball game of some sort. I figured I would go and watch the Sarasota Reds, but I ended up traveling up to Tampa and catching the home opener for the Rays.

I know that the Rays rarely draw a big crowd, but I was a little worried with it being opening day. We didn't even try to look for tickets online until the day of the game and when we did we only had limited success. So I figured that I'd just find a scalper at the game and take care of the tickets there. We parked in downtown Tampa and took a bus into the field since all the parking around the field was full over an hour before the game. I was surprised that there weren't scalpers lurking all around the field, but from what I heard from the locals, scalping was just recently legalized in Florida. Anyways, we were walking around the stadium for about 5 minutes and just happed to spot a young lady holding up tickets. She took care of us and sold us two tickets in left center field.

Even with it being opening day the crowd was pretty late arriving. The attendance was about 34,000 and was called a sellout even thought the published capacity of the stadium is a bit higher. I have to say that Tropicana is one of the lower tier baseball stadiums I've been to. Playing baseball indoors in Tampa just seems silly. It was a beautiful night and taking in a game in open air with real grass would have been much more enjoyable. Overall the stadium does have some nice ammenities. There are plenty of bathrooms and lots of different selections when it comes to concessions. It was easy to see though that they were completely unprepared for the size of the crowd. There were plumbing problems in the bathrooms and vendors. One huge shock for me was that I couldn't find anyone selling programs or scorecards anywhere in the outfield. I have a thing for keeping score when I'm at a game and this really bummed me out.

The game itself had to be one of the slowest I have ever attended. It seemed to drag on and on. I was looking forward to seeing Matt Garza pitch for the Rays against Eric Bedard for the Mariners, but Garza got pulled early (for injury), and both pitchers worked really slow in the early innings.

In the end the Rays fell in their opener. Overall I'd have to give this stadium a C. It has a lot of fun things to do and eat in the concourses, but as far as the baseball experience this stadium falls short of even the Metrodome, and that's saying a lot.

The Rays are pushing for a new stadium in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area along the water with a retractable roof system. The promos around the stadium look pretty cool, but I'm just not sure that a city like Florida can support a Major League Baseball franchise. Just look at the Florida Marlins. The population in these cities seem to have mostly people who have either moved to the area and have loyalties to other teams, or just don't care to spend their evenings sitting in a baseball stadium. Who can blame them with the weather they have.

IU's Savior, Same old Cubs and other ramblings

Crean & Crimson?

Well, Tom Crean was introduced as the new head coach at IU today. He made quite a first impression. For a brief moment while I was watching the press conference today I actually was impressed. Then he started spouting off about how IU was the only true "state" school and I remembered why I hate IU Basketball fans as much as I hate Notre Dame football fans. Whatever. I think Crean will turn out to be a good coach for IU. I don't think he will end up being worshiped in Bloomington like good 'ole Bobby, but it would be very difficult for him to add to the disaster created by the athletic department and Kelvin Sampson over the past couple years.

From what I've read around message boards and other musings Crean is a good coach who may be a little overated by the national media when it comes to his recruiting ability. He was carried to a Final Four by Dwayne Wade whom he was able to recruit away from the likes of DePaul & Illinois State (Wade had a number of academic questions around him when he was coming out of high school that scared many of the big programs away). Some of the things I've read have suggested that Crean is a tireless worker and has done things "the right way". This is really what Indiana needs. There are potential additional penalties coming from the NCAA in July and this program will be under the microscope for the next few years. Crean appears to have a reputation as someone who at times can be a little ego maniacal (but what successful coach isn't) and he tends to be a little too tan for comfort.

Questions were asked of Crean during his press conference about the incoming recruiting class and the players who were dismissed from the team yesterday (Jamarcus Ellis & Armon Bassett). Crean stated that he will talk to the incoming recruits and tell him what his plans for IU are and take it from there. I think this was a great answer and the proper way to look at the situation. As far as Bassett and Ellis are concerned it was my understanding that Crean hasn't closed the book on these two players, and that he may have a diologue with them regarding their status with the team. I hope that this was just political speak to keep the media off his back, but if he is serious about giving these two kids what amounts to a 3rd or 4th chance to straghten out is the wrong path for this program in my opinion.

IU is going to go through some struggles and the worst may be yet to come as far as the performance on the court, but IU is still a program whose name carries some weight around the country, and a return to prominence is possible with a conservative approach not only from the administration and coaching staff, but also from the fan base.

Oh, and by the way Eric Gordon will be announcing his future intentions on Friday. Given the timing of the announcement I have to believe that he's already made up his mind.

Cubs start 0-2

I had a bad feeling that when all the national media jumped on the Cubs bandwagon and declared them the favorite to go to the World Series that the season was doomed. In holding with Cubs tradition I am officially panicing. The Cubs were supposed to have a powerful pitching staff and an offense that good put runs on the board this year. They were bailed out by Koskue Fukudome's heroics on Monday and ended up blowing the game in the 10th. Today they were smacked around all day. Hopefully tomorrow the Cubs can at least avoid the sweep.

Ramblings

I can't help it I just love hearing this song at the beginning of the baseball season. It always reminds me of my days growing up watching Kirby Puckett patrol center field for the Twins. Plus you just have to love the guitar.

Luxury sports themed condos in West Lafayette? I never thought this would happen, and I'm still skeptical about the long term viability of it.

Purdue lands a wide reciever transfer commitment.

All 82 Blackhawks games to be televised next season. It's about damn time!

New IU Head Coach

Ok, lets just get one thing clarified right now. I don't like IU. As a Purdue alum it's just something that is engrained into your psyche, but more than that I haven't liked IU ever. Even when growing up in Minnesota I still hated IU. But, when one of your rivals hires a new coach it is news worthy.

There will be a lot said by IU faithful about Tom Creen and how he is going to turn the program around, but all of this has been said before. I'm not here to bash the IU program (that's just too easy right now), but needless to say this is going to be quite a challenge for Coach Creen. IU's program is, putting it lightly, in a tough spot right now. After the mess left by Kelvin Sampson this team basically quit the last month of the season. D.J. White is gone, Eric Gordon is likely leaving for the NBA and Jamarcus Ellis and Armon Bassett were just dismissed from the team for disiplinary reasons. On top of the possiblity of losing their entire starting lineup from last season the Hoosiers are potentially facing additional penalties from the NCAA this summer after the final decision on the Kelvin Sampson investigation. Now, even with my disdain for all things cream and crimson I still find myself hoping that IU is able to turn this around. The situation that IU is in doesn't help the image of the Big Ten and a powerful national program in the conference only boosts the rest of the teams as well.

IU needs to get this situation under control. Ever since Bobby Knight left IU the basketball program has been sliding down hill. Yes I know that Mike Davis took them to the championship game, but other than that IU has been making sportscenter more for negative press that positive.

Coach Creen will have a lot on his plate right from the get go. Assuming Gordon leaves IU is now without 81% of their scoring and 69% of their rebounding from last season. They are also in serious jepordy of losing their recruits for next year.

My best wishes go out to Coach Creen. I just hope they continue to finish behind Purdue every year.

How did I get myself into this?

I've always enjoyed fantasy football and have participated pretty seriously for the past 5 years in a league with some friends. I'm also a huge baseball fan, but I have avoided the fantasy baseball world because I was just worried that I would just get too involved in it to enjoy the season. Well CSD over at Confessions of a Sports Junkie got me in a league this season and I'm sure that I will eventually regret the decision.

But, in the meantime I'll enjoy my first foray into the world of fantasy baseball. After a rough draft experience that saw many autopicks due to connection issues at ESPN I finally have a team. I can already tell that I am way to starting pitching heavy and my middle infield is quite suspect, but that's life when you get the first overall pick (just like in fantasy football). So here's the lineup after the draft....


C Joe Mauer, Min
1B Ryan Garko, Cle
2B Dustin Pedroia, Bos
3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY
SS Khalil Greene, SD
2B/SS Kelly Johnson, Atl
1B/3B Carlos Delgado, NYM
OF Nick Markakis, Bal
OF Chris Young, Ari
OF Jermaine Dye, CWS
OF Delmon Young, Min
OF Randy Winn, SF
UTIL Travis Hafner, Cle
Bench Akinori Iwamura, TB
Bench Geovany Soto, CHC
Bench Barry Bonds, FA

P Jake Peavy, SD
P Brandon Webb, Ari
P Aaron Harang, Cin
P Chris Young, SD
P Jeremy Bonderman, Det
P Mark Buehrle, CWS
P Oliver Perez, NYM
P Jeremy Accardo, Tor
P Pat Neshek, Min (check out his blog too)

Like I said, I know I have way to many starting pitchers. I have pretty much no way of winning on saves at any point. I also took Barry Bonds with my Mr. Irrelevant pick. I'm almost 100% sure he'll be gone next week. Who knows if anyone will sign this guy with all the baggage. Anyways, I'm open to suggestions or ideas on improving this roster. This being my first go around I'm looking for all the help I can get to take down CSD.