Vintage quotes from athletes and coaches

"I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first."
-George Rogers, N.O. Saints RB

"He treats us like men. He lets us wear earrings."
-Torrin Polk, Univ. of Houston reciever

"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
-Joe Theismann, football commentator

"You guys line up alphabetically by height."
"You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle."
-Bill Peterson, FSU football coach

"I told him, 'What is it with you son, ignorance or apathy?' He said, 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.'"
-Frank Layden, Utah Jazz President, on a former player

"Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."
-Shelby Metcalf, Texas A&M basketball coach, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D.

Murphy

Gotta love the kid and his work ethic!

College Hoops Flyer

So I'd be interested in knowing if you guys know who Vic Bubas is. Basically, he was Coach K before there was Coach K. He made Duke a national power, and the preeminent ACC program of the 1960's (the late 50's and 70's were dominated by UNC).

He's now in his 80s (I actually thought he was dead--sorry Vic--until I saw this story), and has some ideas about how to make the college game better. I have to say I'm in complete agreement with every one of his suggestions. What do you guys think?

"I'd like to see a wider lane like the pros," Bubas said during a talk at the Raleigh Sports Club this past Wednesday. "The college game is too much like a wrestling match under the boards. The game needs more finesse and less power."

Other suggestions:

* A 30-second shot clock instead of the 35-second time limit men use.

"If women can get off a shot in 30 seconds, so can the men," he said. "30 seconds is plenty long."

* A designated area under the basket like the NBA has to aid officials in making the charge-block call.

"We need to help the officials,'' he said. "That call is a tough one to make."

* Expand the 3-point line from 20 feet, 9 inches.

* Adopt a rule -- like baseball -- that requires a player who enters college to play three years before becoming eligible for the NBA Draft.

And a pretty funny story:

Much has changed since the 1960s, especially the arenas. Back then there were some cracker-box gyms, like at Clemson before the Tigers moved into LittleJohn Coliseum.

Bubas recalled giving instructions during a time-out there, looking up and seeing a Clemson student's head in his Duke huddle.

"He said: 'Hey coach, that ain't gonna work!'"

"Get outta here!" Bubas bellowed.

Odds and ends (or at least more odds...)

Apparently JMan wants to shake things up a bit and has a bold new idea--bat Jose Reyes in the 3-hole. Castillo would move to the leadoff spot and Beltran would jump to 2nd in the lineup. Then Wright, Delgado, Church, Murpy/Tatis, and Schneider would round out the lineup.

It's an interesting idea and the thought is that Jose's extra-base power and speed wuold be able to drive in a lot of runs and keep pressure on the pitchers for Wright, etc.

It's bold and I kida like it, except for the fact that it means Castillo is playing...although he's supposed to be in great shape and healthy (keep your fingers crossed).

And from the WTF Files (thanks to MLBTR):

Here's something I can't believe I'm typing... can Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd make a Major League comeback at age 49? Oil Can hasn't pitched since 1991, but claims his velocity is back up in the low 90s, and his curveball is back to form. He's always dreamt of carrying on Satchel Paige's legend and pitching into his 60s. Boyd's quote:
""I have nothing to lose, and all a major league team has to lose is 15 minutes," said Boyd. "Give me 15 minutes and I'll show I can still pitch. That's all I want."

Boyd threw at the Red Sox fantasy camp, and former catcher Mike Stanley said that Oil Can's stuff is the same as it was 18 years ago, and his passion hasn't died down one bit.

Certainly an interesting story, but can he live up to his word?

Here's the real kicker about this--it means Oil Can was only 27 when he pitched against the Mets in the '86 series?!? I thought that dude was pushing 40 back then!

He's gotta look like Otis Nixon now...

Wow--but really, would anyone be truly surprised if this is true?

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/02/10/2009-02-10_15m_lawsuit_claims_exmet_roberto_alomar_.html

"The Nutty Professor 3: The Wilpons"

Gonzo obscure actor references here. This one should really be up your alley, D.C.

I'd love to see Wilford Brimley and John C. Reilly sharing the dugout.

And these guys really don't like Jimmy Smits much, I guess.

Oh, and Leguziamo is a stroke of genius there.

I'd hate to see Terry O'Quinn in that position, but what can you do.

Martinez closer than we think?

The NY Post Mets blog says F Mart may be the starting LF at CitiField by the All Star Break. Interesting.

SS Reyes (S)
2B Murphy (L)
3B Wright (R)
1B Delgado (L)
CF Beltran (S)
RF Church (L)
LF FMart (L)
C Schneider (L)

Left handed pitching is going to give us all kinds of problems this year, F Mart or no.

Roger Clemens' Balls

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about what he pitches. I don't care if this story is true or not, it's still hilarious and disgusting and so fitting. Clemens is such a douche and what a great story to come out about him.

Phew...

Looks like we dodged the Sheets bullet. Apparently he might undergo season-ending (or at least severely season-shortening) elbow surgery.

In some cases past performance IS a good indicator of future returns.

A promising sign

Nice to see the Mets seem to be looking for a straight salary dump. What does that tell me about their financial situation?

Why are the Mets not trying Murphy at 2B this season?

That is all.

About Citi Field...

No big deal. The Mets can always try and get a new marketing deal. How does Lehman Field AIG Field Merrill Field Wachovia Field WaMu Field Mets Field sound?

Hold on there...

Looks like the Wilpons may want to hold off on cutting any more checks. Apparently Citi Group is considering backing out of their 20 year, $400 M marketing deal with Mets. That's quite a shortfall!

Here We Go Again...

SHK, better load up on your Prozac:

Ollie's back for the next 3 years at $12 mil a pop.

No 4th year option for either side though.

I sooo would've preferred Sheets but go figure, Omar went with the guy whose last name ends with a "z."

Oh, well.

Abreu is a bag

And yet, this is pretty impressive. From the Slimes:

Ed Wade is the last man to sign Bobby Abreu to a contract. It was nearly seven years ago, when Wade was the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies and Abreu was an emerging star. To keep him out of free agency, Wade signed Abreu to a deal that eventually paid $80 million over six seasons.

Abreu drove in at least 100 runs in every year of the contract. The only other players to do so in each of those years were Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez.

Offense?

Manny and Abreu are--amazingly--still available in February. Are the Mets considering moving on either one? Both would make a huge impact on the lineup. And both are, let's face it, Manuel's kind of player. Whatever that means.

UPDATE:

Well, never mind.

What the...

OK, I don't watch much tennis anymore. In the days of Mac and Connors it was fantastic, but Sampras' decade of bland dominance pretty much ruined things.

But I couldn't help notice this madness on Drudge.

I mean really, Roger, try and man up. That's just embarrasing.

And kudos to Nadal for handling it with class. I mean--awkward!!! How do you respond to that??

He must've been a little tempted to go with a, "lighten up, Alice, you can still make me pancakes in the morning."