Corrupt NCAA Coaches

I am tired of college coaches being allowed to skirt the rules and nothing happens to them. Why should the institution, new coaches, and players suffer when the rules were broken by coaches who are no longer associated with the universities? These coaches break the rules and then leave for greener pastures with no consequences.

In the most recent case of corrupt coaches, John Calipari and Memphis have been accused of knowing that Derrick Rose's SAT score that allowed him to be eligible for college was fishy. Rose didn't become eligible until he (or someone else) took the test for the 3rd time. The NCAA is looking into the score to determine who took the test that made Rose eligible. Also, Memphis is being accused of allowing Rose's brother to ride on the team's charter flights to road games without paying for the value of the seat.

In the end, Calipari and Rose win. Calipari moves on to get an unprecedented contract with Kentucky and Rose gets selected #1 in the NBA Draft and goes on to win the Rookie of the Year. The NCAA can't do anything to them because they are no longer at Memphis. I understand not being able to punish Rose as he is already in the NBA, but Calipari should be punished as much or more than Memphis since he is the one that broke the rules. I would love to see the NCAA decide to stop this crap once and for all by suspending any coach that violates the NCAA rules for a year without pay (yes, this is coming from a USC fan whose coaches have been accused of not exactly playing by the rules either). Let's watch these coaches try and get away with things if they know that they could potentially lose millions of dollars in suspensions. It won't happen and it is about the only thing the NCAA can do to clean up the sport.

The Incredible Shrinking Mo Williams

Oh where or where has Mo Williams gone? Could he be the one that pushes LeBron out of Cleveland in 2010? I hate to pile on when a team is down (ok, not really) but unless Mo Williams decides to shut his mouth and start playing, the Cavs will be watching the NBA Finals rather than playing in them. After a Game 3 loss, Williams guaranteed that the Cavs would win the series. Now down 3-1 that guarantee doesn't look so good. LeBron might be thinking to himself if Mo Williams is the 2nd best player on my team, it might be time to look for a new team in a year when I become a Free Agent.

The media wants to pile on LeBron because he is the best player but he is more than playing up to par. Check out these stats in the first 4 games:

LeBron
169 points in 4 games (42.3 ppg)
56-110 on FG's (51%)
9-27 on 3's (33%)

Rest of Team
236 points in 4 games (59.0 ppg)
90-220 on FG's (41%)
15-65 on 3's (23%)

Mo "Guarantee" Williams
69 points in 4 games (17.4 ppg)
23-71 on FG's (32%)
6-27 on 3's (22%)

The major problem for the Cavs has been there inability to matchup with Orlando's shooters, but if Mo Williams doesn't stink up the joint the series might be over already. Cleveland has a lot of work to do to come back from a 3-1 hole in the series but with 2 games left at home it wouldn't surprise me to see them come back and win. If I was Cleveland I would be more worried that LeBron is looking around in the locker room and figuring out it will be hard to win a title in Cleveland with this supporting cast. Time for the Cavs to put up or shut up.

NBA and WWE

For some of us that are conspiracy theorists, the latest news should come with a little humor. The NBA has long been accused of fixing games and events (see the 1985 NBA Draft) and thus has been compared to World Wrestling Entertainment. Well it would appear that the two entertainment giants are getting ready for a cage match. Denver has booked the WWE for an appearance on Monday night May 25th, the same night as Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Nuggets and the Lakers. Vince McMahon intends for the event to go on as scheduled:

Without a quick resolution, McMahon plans to send his trucks to Denver. "That's what we intend to do," he said. "We're going to show up. The fans in Denver had a lot more faith in making the playoffs than the owner..."

Of course, the NBA will take presedence and leave the WWE out in the cold. But the bigger question is, "What were the Nuggets thinking?" The WWE event was scheduled last August but it has to be a kick in the gut to the fans that the owner didn't think there was any chance that the team would advance this deep into the postseason. Oh well, I guess the easiest way to solve the problem is for McMahon and David Stern so settle the issue with a Broiler Room Brawl.

Enough with the Umps!

If you didnt notice this weekend, John Lackey made his much anticipated debut for the Angels on Saturday vs the Rangers. His outing lasted all of 2 pitches. As an Angel fan (I may be biased) but it was an absolute joke that Home Plate Umpire Bob Davidson ejected him after he hit Ian Kinsler with his second pitch of the game. Now I understand it looked a little intentional after the Lackey's first pitch sailed behind Kinsler. Lackey claims he wasn't trying to hit Kinsler and that he was just trying to establish his inside fastball early in the bandbox in Texas. He also stated he wouldn't have put his team in a situation to have to go to the bullpen in the first inning:

"We played 12 innings [Thursday], our starter went five innings [Friday], I haven't pitched in weeks . . . the last thing I want to do is come out of the game early. I feel terrible about it. This is not something we needed. I'm a lot smarter than that. If I'm going to do something, I'm not going to do it against the first batter of the game."

My point is, so what! What happened to letting the players police themselves. If he did want to hit Kinsler to leadoff the game so be it. He didn't throw at Kinsler's head. There might be something there from the past that we don't know about. Pitcher's need to be able to establish the pressence on the mound and bring some intimidation to the game. MLB needs to relax and let these guys play the game. I am pretty sure guys like Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, and Nolan Ryan would agree.

Back up and running

Sorry for the slacking. The Sports Diner will be back up and running Monday May 18th. Thanks to everyone for letting me know how much you missed it.