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You don't have to be a fan of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team in order to be familiar with Jeff Samardzija and Tom Zbikowski. In fact, it's likely that just as many baseball and boxing fans have heard of these two seniors-to-be. That's because both Samardzija and Zbikowski have made names for themselves as two-sport stars on the South Bend campus and beyond.

Besides being roommates and best friends, Samardzija and Zbikowski have a lot in common. First of all, they are both key players on the football team, though it hasn't always been that way. Both guys played very limited roles in their freshmen and sophomore years with the team under former head coach Tyrone Willingham. But those roles expanded greatly in 2005 under current head coach Charlie Weis.

Another thing that both Samardzija and Zbikowski have in common is the fact that their passion and talent for sports covers more than just football. In this day and age of specialization, it's rare to see college football players divide their time between two different sports. Many of these athletes want to focus entirely on one sport in order to become as good as they can possibly be and perhaps score a coveted contract with a professional team. But Samardzija picks up a baseball glove as soon as football season is over, and Zbikowski heads to the boxing ring. Let's take a closer look at these two unique athletes.

Samardzija is easy to pick out on the football field, even if you don't know that he wears uniform #83. Just look for the tall, lanky receiver that has a penchant for getting open across the middle of the field and hauling in nearly every ball that quarterback Brady Quinn throws his way. Samardzija and Quinn have definitely established a connection in their three years together on the team. After being used primarily as the third or fourth receiver in his first two seasons, Samardzija enjoyed a breakout season last year. He made 77 receptions for 1,249 yards and 15 touchdowns and was a key force on the resurgent Notre Dame offense.

Samardzija's output surprised a lot of people, considering the fact that he only had 24 career receptions for the Irish prior to 2005. His success last year came with a lot of national recognition and he was even picked as one of the finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, which is presented annually to the country's top collegiate wide receiver. Though he didn't win last year, he is one of the favorites to do so this year. In addition, Samardzija was a consensus first-team All-American, as voted by sportswriters around the country. Recently, he was recognized by Sports Illustrated as the 9th-best returning college football player in the country.

When Samardzija takes to the baseball field, he wears number 45 and is one of the better pitchers in the Notre Dame starting rotation. In fact, when Samardzija first entered college, he was a much better baseball player than football player, with many analysts predicting that the would be a high pick in the MLB entry draft once he decides to declare. This caused some speculation as to whether or not Samardzija would continue with football; but after the outstanding 2005 season he put together on the gridiron, Samardzija now has an excellent shot of getting selected in the NFL draft next April as well.

Samardzija has made 5 appearances for the Irish baseball team this season and has a 2-1 record so far. He has allowed 26 hits over 29 innings of work, striking out 10 batters and walking 14 in that span. He has also given up 14 earned runs for an ERA of 3.72. Notre Dame is currently 14-8 on the season, with a 2-1 record in their conference.

Zbikowski is another player that blossomed in Charlie Weis' first season as head coach of the football squad. Zbikowski didn't see the field at all as a freshman in 2003, but then came on and started all 11 games as a strong safety in 2004. It was his first year playing at the college level, so he had a steep learning curve to overcome. Zbikowski did reasonably well, and racked up 63 tackles on the season, which was good enough for fourth place on the team. Things really picked up for him in 2005. He started all 11 games during the regular season for the Irish, and also got in there for the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State. He had 61 tackles as a junior, but also contributed two interception returns for touchdowns, one against Brigham Young University and one against the Tennessee Volunteers. In addition, Zbikowski emerged as a dependable punt return man for the Irish, with 20 returns for 345 and two touchdowns, including a long of 78 yards.

When he's not on the football field, Zbikowski likes to stay in shape by boxing. According to Zbikowski's father, Tom has a 75-15 all-time record as an amateur boxer. Recently, the younger Zbikowski made headlines by participating in a charity boxing match in Chicago earlier this month against fellow amateur Artese Plaire. Zbikowski was able to knock Plaire down a couple of times in the second round, prompting the referee to step in and stop the fight.

Unbeknownst to Zbikowski at the time, there was a boxing promoter in the crowd that night. After the promoter saw what Zbikowski did, he decided to make Zbikowski an offer to go pro. In what may be viewed as a surprise move to some, Zbikowski accepted the offer and will fight at Madison Square Garden on June 10. According to published reports, Zbikowski only accepted the offer after clearing it with the NCAA to make sure that going pro in boxing won't affect either his football eligibility or his scholarship.

While some Notre Dame fans might be worried that Zbikowski could really take a beating and get injured in the ring, he has been continually assuring people that that kind of scenario is far-fetched at best. Zbikowski contends that he has enough experience in the ring to ensure that he won't get hurt, and claims that he's more likely to suffer a serious injury out on the football field than in the ring. At any rate, the move to professional boxing apparently has met with Charlie Weis' approval, so now fans are just waiting to see how Zbikowski will handle himself in the Garden.

I don't know about you, but I think opposing players must find Zbikowski's boxing talents to be rather intimidating. Being able to stand in the ring and go toe to toe with guys who spend all their time focusing on boxing takes a certain kind of toughness that not every football player has. Wide receivers and running backs on other teams are probably going to flinch half a second early when they see the #9 jersey barreling their way on the football field, so that could work out to be a slight advantage for Notre Dame.

Either way, I think it's great that both Samardzija and Zbikowski are making names for themselves in other areas as well as in football. Being young and talented in a particular sport shouldn't mean that you have to close off all other areas of your life and concentrate only on one thing. It's good to see that both of these guys are driven to succeed without the tunnel vision that people tend to expect from elite athletes.

As a Notre Dame football fan, I am anxious for the September 2 season opener against Georgia Tech to get here so that I can watch one of my favorite teams in action once again. But in the meantime, it's nice to know that I can tune into baseball or boxing if I want to see the multitalented Jeff Samardzija or Tom Zbikowski in the offseason.

The NFL has long been known as the "No Fun League" because of all the rules and regulations that the players must abide by. Well, things are going to get even more bleak in the 2006 season, at least as far as end zone celebrations go. The league has recently approved a new policy that is designed to prevent players from engaging in "choreographed" or extended celebrations after they score a touchdown. The vote by the owners was overwhelmingly in favor of limiting these celebrations, with 29 current owners approving the new rule and only 3 owners opposing it.

Over the years, three players in particular have come to be known for their wild and unusual end zone celebrations: Terrell Owens, now of the Dallas Cowboys; Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals; and Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers. Owens is probably the most famous out of the three. Most football fans are familiar with some of his trademark celebrations. For example, one celebration that almost everyone knows by now is the time when Owens pulled a Sharpie marker out of his sock and autographed the football that he just scored with. A couple years ago while playing against the Dallas Cowboys, Owens celebrated not one, but two touchdowns by running to the center of the field and slamming the ball down on the Cowboy's star logo.

Johnson is becoming just as famous as Owens for his end zone celebrations. Some of his more outlandish ones include laying the ball on the ground and pretending to give it CPR, putting the ball with one of the end zone pylons, getting down on one knee to propose to a Cincinnati cheerleader, and holding up handwritten signs with personal messages on them in front of the TV cameras. Smith has also performed a few wacky celebrations, including pretending the football was a baby and changing its diaper and acting like a swashbuckling pirate fencing against imaginary foes when he scored a touchdown versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Fans will no longer be able to see these kinds of celebrations -- unless, of course, the player in question doesn't mind his team getting penalized an extra 15 yards on the kickoff. That's what the NFL has decided will be a fair punishment for violating the celebration rule.

That's not to say that all celebrating is banned. Players will be allowed to perform celebrations as long as they stay up on two feet. So Owens won't be able to do his sit-ups routine and other players won't be able to drop down and do pushups. But dancing, jumping, and spiking, spinning, flipping, or dunking the football are all ok.

Instead of just laying down the law on this issue, the NFL actually offered some reasons for their decisions. Mostly, the owners (who are notoriously conservative) are worried about the league's image. It has been whispered that the NFL owners don't want the league to be characterized in the same way that the NBA is. The NBA has had an image problem for years, which the commissioner has tried to address by instituting a dress code prior to the start of the 2005 season. Another reason that the NFL doesn't want these "creative" celebrations to continue is that youth league operators are saying that more and more young players choose to imitate their idols by performing similar antics when they score touchdowns in their Pop Warner leagues.

I personally do not like this new rule and don't think that it's necessary. Football is the most popular sport in America because of one simple reason: it's entertaining. The game action itself is entertaining, the players are entertaining, and yes, the end zone celebrations are entertaining. If opposing teams don't want to see guys like Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, and Steve Smith celebrating like that, then maybe they'll work twice as hard to keep them out of the end zone and prevent  the celebrations.

As long as the end zone celebrations don't hurt any one and don't cause extreme delays in game play, then I don't think the league should legislate against them. I'll still watch football in 2006, of course, but I have a feeling that the games won't be as entertaining as they were before. I guess we can say that the No Fun League strikes again.

It's been said thousands of times before, and yet bears repeating here: consistency is the key to winning championships. This holds true in all sports, including that of Supercross. This year, team Sobe Samsung Honda rider Josh Grant could be finding that out the hard way. Grant has strung together two consecutive wins in the East Coast SX Lites series and has won three events overall. In addition, he has finished in second place on two other occasions through six races thus far.

However, he still finds himself 22 points behind Davi Millsaps of the Factory Honda team, thanks to the DNF that Grant turned in at the opening round of the East series in St. Louis. A mishap like that is hard to come back from, especially in a series comprised of just seven events. By contrast, Millsaps has three race victories and three second-place finishes, which is just about as consistent as you can get in Supercross.

Besides that first race, Grant and Millsaps have been dueling and dicing with each other as well as with other riders in nearly every single round, which definitely gives the fans something to stand up and cheer about. For the most part, however, when Grant has been "on," he seems to have a lot more speed than the rest of the field. Last weekend at Ford Field in Detroit, Grant got off the gate in second place behind Team Motosport's Robert Kiniry. By lap two, Grant was in first place, and he wouldn't even be challenged much over the course of the next 14 laps as he rode to his third victory of the season. Meanwhile, Millsaps started the race in fourth place and wasn't able to get around Grant, settling for a second-place finish.

Although Grant and Millsaps have established themselves as the ones to beat in the series, it hasn't always been this way. Coming into the season, no one really knew what to expect from either of these two guys. Millsaps was on a new bike with a new team, and has been known in the past for getting bad starts and having at least one terrible race per season. For example, in 2005 Millsaps won two races, came in second three times, and finished fourth once. But he also turned in an 18th-place effort, which ultimately derailed his chances for the title.

Before this season, Grant was considered primarily a motocross rider, too. In 2005, Grant got off to a rocky start by finishing 15th, 7th, and 13th in his first three races before putting things together for a second-place effort at Daytona, which is considered to be the most outdoor-like track on the Supercross circuit. Grant then slipped back to 12th place in the following round before missing the Texas supercross entirely. He finished the season with a 9th-place result at the Silverdome in Pontiac, MI, and ended up with 71 championship points -- less than half the total of eventual series champion Grant Langston, who finished with 143 points.

But is seems that a combination of maturity and experience is paying off big for both Grant and Millsaps this year. In fact, it's a mathematical certainty that one of these two young men will be crowned the champion after next week's race in Houston. Millsaps currently has 141 points to Grant's 119 points. So as long as Millsaps finishes in at least 17th place, which would earn him 4 points or finishes in front of Grant in any position, he will be the champion, since the most points that Grant can earn from the race is 25. If Millsaps crashes out or earns fewer than 4 points while Grant wins, the title will go to him. If something catastrophic happens and both riders end up getting a DNF, Millsaps would still win the title because the man in third place, Christopher Gosselaar, only has 114 points. The most Gosselaar could end up with is 139, which is not enough to overtake Millsaps even if Millsaps posts a zero.

Although things are certainly looking pretty good for Millsaps' first championship, nothing is guaranteed until the checkered flag flies on Saturday night. And as fans, we couldn't ask for anything more than the title being decided in the very last race of the series, which is exactly what we're going to get.

We are now three-quarters of the way through the AMA Supercross Series and the title is still within reach for all three top contenders. As things stand now, Team Makita Suzuki's Ricky Carmichael is in the lead with 259 total points. He is followed by Team Yamaha's Chad Reed, who sits just 10 points back, and by Team Kawasaki's James Stewart, who is 20 points off the pace. With four rounds left to go and a maximum of 100 championship points available to any one rider, things are still very much up in the air. This season has already featured a fuel penalty and subsequent reversal, freak mechanical failures, and nagging injuries, so we know that anything can happen in the next month of racing.

Just a few weeks ago, the series appeared to have settled into a two-man battle between Reed and Carmichael. Stewart, who definitely has the speed to be out front a majority of the time, had been mostly inconsistent. He has been plagued by mental mistakes out on the track that have caused him to hit the dirt, and has had to come back from dead last on several occasions. The fact that he is still in third place and still has an outside shot at the championship speaks volumes about Stewart's speed in relation to the rest of the pack.

But things have been changing for the better as far as Stewart is concerned. In the last two races (at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando and at Ford Field in Detroit), Stewart rode flawlessly, and as a result went wire to wire in both events for consecutive wins. The fact that Reed finished in fifth and third, respectively, meant that Stewart was able to gain 14 huge points on second place in the overall standings. Although the six points made up on Carmichael in the last two races barely puts a dent in the Suzuki rider's lead, it at least keeps him within Stewart's sights as far as the championship is concerned. And since Carmichael already has one DNF due to a mechanical problem this season, it's absolutely critical that Reed and Stewart remain within at least 25 points of the leader, just in case something like that happens again.

Speaking of Reed, he has been dealing with a shoulder separation recently and has pretty much been riding in an effort to salvage points. Of course, since he's so much faster than the rest of the field, that usually means he lands in third place even with his injury. At the Orlando round, Reed managed to nail down fifth place while barely being able to hold onto the bike, then he finished on the podium last week in Detroit right behind Stewart and Carmichael.

Since Carmichael has a 10-point lead on Reed, conventional wisdom says that he won't even concern himself with Stewart for the time being. Instead, Carmichael will just focus on finishing in front of Reed in the next four rounds, even if it means riding conservatively and letting Stewart run away with the wins. Carmichael is a fierce competitor, so that's probably tough for him to do, and he certainly doesn't want to let Stewart get too much momentum going into the outdoor series in May. But the important thing is to win the championship, so you can bet that Carmichael will do whatever it takes, even if it means he has to "settle" for second the rest of the way.

It's also worth mentioning here that Kevin Windham of the Sobe Samsung Honda team has returned to action after missing the first 10 weeks of the season with a broken arm. Prior to the season, Windham was expected to run at least in the top-5, along with Carmichael, Stewart, Reed, and Ivan Tedesco. But the fact that the other guys have been on their bikes for so long already while Windham is just now starting to build up his strength and endurance is really showing in the results: a 9th place in Orlando and a 12th in Detroit. Hopefully Windham will be back at full speed by the time the Nationals roll around.

Although there haven't been as many head-to-head battles as the fans have hoped for, at least the championship is still a tossup. That will help make the series even more exciting as we enter the final stretch.

As the Major League Baseball annual ritual of spring training winds down, the list of rookies set to make their mark during the upcoming season is substantial. Anyone of the following has the talent to be considered for rookie of the year come October.

The list of potential first year players with the tools to shine begins with some young, hard-throwing pitchers. Left-handed Francisco Liriano of the Minnesota Twins is one such young arm that many are watching closely. Just 22 years of age, Liriano is a consensus choice of baseball gurus as potentially the top rookie pitcher this season. Yet as spring training winds down, there is talk that Liriano could wind up at Triple A or the bullpen.

Two right-handers look to be potential studs for the Detroit Tigers. Justin Verlander, 23, and Joel Zumaya, 21, have both reportedly reached 98 mph on the radar guns this spring. New manager Jim Leyland is thought to be leaning towards Verlander as the team's fifth starter and to perhaps have Zumaya come out of the bullpen.

Another pitcher set to make a roster and perhaps a likely rookie of the year candidate if he were to be given either a role in the starting rotation or as the team's closer is Jonathan Papelbon of the Red Sox. The hard-throwing, powerful right-hander reminds everyone in Boston of former Red Sox star Roger Clemens. Barring injury, Papelbon looms to be a setup man in the Sox bullpen but the youngster could see action as a starter should any in the Sox starting rotation struggle.

Yet another pitcher with a fastball in the 91-97 mph range is right-hander Matt Cain of the Giants. Barely 20 years of age, Cain was spectacular with the Giants in making seven starts a year ago. The youngster also reportedly has the classic 12-to-6 curveball to go with the 90 mph plus fastball. At 6-3, 230-pounds, Cain is a physical presence and just could be the future of the Giants when and if Barry Bonds calls it quits.

Among the many position players thought to have a chance to make a name for themselves is Ryan Zimmerman, the third baseman of the Washington Nationals. The fourth overall pick in last year's draft had the chance to get the taste of a pennant race last September, hitting .397 in 20 games during his time with the Nationals. His performance led the Nats to trade Vinny Castilla to open up the starting job for Zimmerman. Manager Frank Robinson likened the fielding talents of the third baseman to that of the manager's former Oriole teammate Brooks Robinson,

Florida Marlins outfield prospect Jeremy Hermida brings size and speed to the team's outfield. At 6-4, 200-pounds, Hermida has the size to go along with his ability to run the bases. The rookie started his big league career in truly grand fashion, hitting a grand slam homerun in his first big-league at-bat. Unlike many of the other top prospects who are coming from the college ranks, Hermida was drafted directly out of high school back in 2002.

Kenji Johjima was lured out of Japan with a three-year, 16.5 million contract by the Seattle Mariners. A catcher, the youngster has reportedly been a positive addition to the clubhouse with his personality and presence. Since Japan won the WBC, and with the likes of Ichiro and Matsui already making a name for themselves, the country now has to be thought of as a great training ground for major league prospects.

Yet another college player, Brian Anderson out of the University of Arizona is an outfield prospect for the defending champion White Sox. The development of Anderson led the Sox to swap Aaron Rowand to the Phillies for Jim Thome. The center fielder is not the prototypical fleet footed outfielder but he has a powerful arm and is thought to project to hit 25 home runs at the Big League level.

And finally, there is the youngster of baseball lineage who also qualifies for the all-name team, Prince Fielder. Fielder hopes to bring the same home run swing to the Brewers that his father brought to Detroit, especially the 51 homers Dad Cecil put up in 1990. At 21, Fielder appears to have lived through a great deal off the diamond, experiencing the messy divorce of his parents as well as his father propensity for gambling. Fielder has reportedly slimmed down from 300 pounds, his playing weight in high school.

Of course, this is the list of those with promise, each having the essential tools for success, at least on paper. Only by the end of the season will we know those that lived up to that promise, and who else may have stepped forward to stake a claim.

With Opening Day of the 2006 Major League Baseball season just five days away, Cubs fans aren't surprised to see the team's two aces in a familiar place: on the disabled list, with their returns to the lineup uncertain at best. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior were supposed to be the unstoppable 1-2 punch that would take the Cubs all the way to the World Series, much like the Randy Johnson-Curt Schilling duo did for the Arizona Diamondbacks franchise.

But so far, that obviously hasn't happened. In fact, it's getting more and more difficult to even determine when Wood and Prior will be in the lineup together, much less determine how they're going to help get the team back to its 2003 form, when it came oh-so-close to making it to the ultimate October series.

There probably hasn't been a more frustrating player for the Cubs in recent memory than Kerry Wood. No true Cubs fan will ever forget that fateful day in May 1998 when the then-20-year-old rookie struck out an incredible 20 Houston Astros batters. In a single game, Wood brought hope to millions. But over the last 8 years, that hope has slowly faded away and been replaced by frustration, disappointment, and even bitterness.

It seems that Wood has spent more time on the disabled list than on the mound. Even when he is pitching, you have to wonder if he's at a hundred percent or if he's still feeling the effects of his latest injury. Wood's best season was 2003, which just goes to show you how much of an effect he has on the Cubs' fortunes. In that year, Wood started 32 games, and went the distance in four of those. He pitched 211 innings, recording an incredible 266 strikeouts versus just 100 bases on balls en route to a 14-11 record. He yielded 152 hits and 75 earned runs in those 211 innings, for an ERA of 3.20.

In 2004, Wood fought through some injuries, but still managed to start 22 games. However, he only pitched 140 innings in those 22 games, for an average outing of six innings. Wood had 144 strikeouts and 51 walks, which was a good sign. Averaging more than a strikeout per inning showed that he still had his good stuff and was still able to overpower batters.

But then 2005 arrived and Wood experienced his most injury-riddled season as a professional. He appeared in a total of 21 games, but he only started 10 of those and worked just 66 innings the entire season. And now, he is on the disabled list again, and won't be in the Opening Day lineup for Chicago. This has prompted a couple of people formerly associated with the organization to criticize Wood's mechanics as being flawed. The reason that Wood is always on the disabled list is that the way he pitches leads to injuries. His motion and follow-through have been described as "violent." These critics believe Wood exerts too much force on his arm and shoulder (in the wrong way). As a result, the more he pitches, the more injuries he will sustain. I have no way of knowing how accurate this assessment is, but if it's on track, then I guess we'll never truly see Wood reach his full potential.

Mark Prior is another guy who is giving Cubs fans fits recently. Prior also had an excellent 2003 season as the second-half of the 1-2 punch that I alluded to earlier. In that year, he started 30 games and recorded 3 complete games on the season. He had 245 strikeouts and 50 walks in 211.1 innings of work. Prior gave up 183 hits and 57 earned runs in those 30 games, for an earned run average of 2.43. Like Wood, 2003 was Prior's best season thus far.

Then in 2004, Prior -- again like Wood -- had a mostly injury-filled year. He only worked 119.2 innings in 21 appearances and ended the season with a 6-4 record. 2005 saw Prior get a bit more work in during the year, but this was another season in which fans were left wondering just what the extent of Prior's injuries were. He appeared in 27 games, which is a good enough number, but worked an average of just over 6 innings per start.

The Cubs are pretty secretive about Prior's injuries, so it's difficult to get a read on what the nature of the problems are. He reportedly has shoulder problems, but that's about the extent of the details that I've been able to dig up. A knock on Prior (and his coaches, really) in the past has been that he simply throws too many innings. It sounds a bit unusual in this day and age, but I think most people would prefer to see manager Dusty Baker set limits on all of Prior's outings to bring both his pitch count and innings worked under control. Without knowing what's causing Prior's shoulder problems to begin with, however, it's hard to say if that's the right approach to take.

At any rate, while most fans will be looking forward to Opening Day in order to see what a new season brings for their favorite teams, Cub fans will be experiencing a strong sense of deja vu. The only thing to do now is sit back and hope that these two aces make it back into the lineup sooner rather than later.

Money and athletics have gone hand in hand for decades. Although huge multimillion dollar contracts in all of the big sports is a relatively recent phenomenon of the last 25 years or so, professional athletes have been making a comfortable living for much longer than that. It's no wonder then, that if you trace the personal histories of these athletes, you'll probably discover that they've been working hard at their sports for nearly their entire lives.

These days, it's safe to say that for many athletes, even the ones you'll never hear of in the professional ranks, the real drive starts in the early years of high school. I don't know about you, but I'm reading more about high school athletes today than ever before. Ever since the Internet became a part of everyday life, it seems that there's no shortage of information available about high school athletes. For example, there are numerous "scouting" websites that routinely track the top high school prospects in sports like football, basketball, and baseball. These services are probably available for other sports as well, but these are the ones I know of. And these sites aren't just talking about high school seniors, either. In many cases, especially for football, the focus is often on juniors as well. Just remember that we're talking about 16 and 17-year-old kids here!

When I went through high school, a journey that mercifully ended about 15 years ago, things were a lot different for athletes. The Internet was in its earliest stages as far as average people were concerned, and the Information Age was still a couple years away. So there wasn't nearly as much pressure on the good athletes back then as there is now. When I was in school, a top-notch athlete would be under extra pressure to perform well only if he or she knew that there would be college or pro scouts in the stands that day. Otherwise, the athletes could go about playing as usual, which is to say without much fanfare. Back then, a bad game once in a while didn't hurt an athlete's chances for a scholarship unless the cameras were rolling.

These days, the cameras are always rolling. The scouting services that I mentioned above often charge membership fees for fans to access their websites. Therefore, it's imperative for them to constantly monitor high school athletes in order to be able to bring members fresh news and updates. As a case in point, consider this: NCAA football has its national signing day in February. That's when a majority of the potential scholarship athletes announce their commitments to their chosen schools. It's only March now, but those recruiting websites have already replaced the 2005 lists of top recruits with the new 2006 lists. Again, the names on the 2006 list are high school juniors, and football season is still five months away.

This constant monitoring that the top athletes receive must be a huge distraction, to say the least. On the one hand, I can sort of understand why people would be thirsting for this information. After all, everyone wants to be in the know, and they probably feel that if they have an idea of which players their favorite colleges are going to bring in next season, that makes them smarter and more knowledgeable than all their buddies. On the other hand, I can't imagine a high school athlete garnering so much attention. It might be flattering and cool at first, but after a while, I'm sure it gets old. Kids, after all, just want to be kids most of the time.

I personally feel that these kids have enough at stake as it is. Many of them are trying to earn college scholarships, most of which are worth over $80,000 these days. That's a significant amount of money, and for many kids, it's the only chance they'll ever have to go to college. In other words, if they don't win a scholarship, they might not go to school at all.

Even kids in "fringe" sports such as lacrosse, field hockey, and cross country running can win scholarships, so this phenomenon is not just limited to football, basketball, baseball, and hockey players. Then there are those who are involved in extreme sports like snowboarding, motocross, and skateboarding. Though no one's going to win college scholarships in those disciplines, high school kids that excel at those sports are still competing for big stakes in the form of sponsorship dollars or berths on the Olympic team, which could in turn lead to lots of endorsement deals and prize money (the United States pays about $25,000 per gold medal, I believe).

My concern in all of this is the athletes themselves. When I was in school, playing sports was simply a release, a way to have fun and spend some extra time with my friends. No, I was never going to be a scholarship player, but that didn't bother me one bit. I was having fun. I think that element of fun might be missing in the lives of many of today's top players. It boggles my mind to think that high school kids have to deal with all of this constant pressure and seemingly unrealistic expectations. I think many of them probably haven't had truly carefree fun in their sports since their talents started to show in grade school or junior high. And that is truly a shame.

The first major question for the amateur bracketologists has to be: when you picked your Final Four for the NCAA tournament did any of you have George Mason going to the semis? For that matter, how many had any one of LSU, Florida or UCLA taking it to the house?

If you had even two of this year's Final Four you stand a great chance at winning your pool. And now that the dust has settled, there are some aspects that are clear. Crystal clear.

For one, say what you want about the Big East and the Big Ten but the strongest conference, hands down has to be the Southeastern Conference. With two teams in the Final Four, the SEC is the only conference with two teams still playing. But more importantly, consider the following.

Six SEC teams were selected for the tourney. Arkansas was one and done, losing to Bucknell but five other teams won their first round games, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky, along with LSU and Florida. Alabama, a tenth seed not only won in round one in an upset, but the Crimson Tide took UCLA to the final seconds in a three point loss.

Kentucky, an eight seed, won in round one, then gave Connecticut all it could handle before losing by six in round two. Only Tennessee did not live up to its billing, struggling in round one before being eliminated in round two by unheralded Wichita.

Meanwhile, LSU and Florida each have four wins and a spot in the Final Four. For the tournament, the six teams in the SEC have 11 wins already against just four losses. And in case you didn't notice, South Carolina, passed over for the NCAA tournament, is also in the semifinals of the NIT as well.

The Big East, for all its fan fare, sent eight teams to the Big Dance, almost 12% of the entire tournament roster. Though four teams made it to the Sweet Sixteen, three went out in the first round and even though the league had eight teams in the tourney, they still only managed to earn 11 victories against eight losses.

And the Big Ten, well they go down as the Big Bust. Given the pre-tournament designation as the best conference, the league had six teams in and all were eighth seeds or higher. Only three teams would manage a single win as the conference went 3-6 overall and could not send a single team to the round of sixteen.

One other thing is now clear. This year is not like that of any other in tourney history.

Getting back to the overall situation, this is the first time since the field expanded to 64 teams, or since 1985, that no team seeded first earned a spot in the Final Four. It was only the second time ever, all time, that no number one seed remained at this point in the tourney. And George Mason, at number 11, becomes just the second-ever team seeded that low to make the Final Four when LSU did it some 20 years ago.

Don't underestimate this George Mason team at this point even if this is the team that Billy Packer said should not have even been in the tourney. Shows what the big guys actually know.

Of course, amid the surprising George Mason and LSU teams, a number four seed, are two outstanding teams in Florida and UCLA. The Gators were a three seed and the Bruins a two seed, so both clubs were considered to be among the better teams in college basketball this year.

Watching UCLA knock off Memphis was not exactly an exciting way to spend an evening. But Ben Howland has UCLA playing defense at a phenomenal level, making UCLA an interesting pick to take it all. But then how about Florida and former tennis star Yannick Noah's son, Joakim Noah, he of the 21 points and 15 rebounds in the Elite Eight leading the way.

Count out George Mason like you did before? Best not. Then again, LSU, and the Big Baby could just sneak in and take it all.

The Final Four is set and it should be a dandy. And it could just be an all-SEC final between Florida and LSU.

But one last question remains, did anyone out there have three of these four teams in their picks? If you did, talk to CBS - the network just might consider it is time to send Billy Packer to join Dan Rather in retirement.

While the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament went from the Sweet Sixteen to the Elite Eight to the Final Four over the weekend amid great fan fare, the Men's Ice Hockey Championships also went from sixteen to four as well, even if it was with much less hoopla. And like the basketball version, the hockey tourney was also fraught with upsets.

In the West Regional, Holy Cross, the region's fourth seed got the upsets started with an overtime triumph over Minnesota, the region's top seed. Minnesota was not only the top seed in the region, but was considered the number two seed in the entire tournament.

However, second-seeded North Dakota put some perspective on the matter quickly. First the Fighting Sioux stopped third-seeded Michigan 5-1, then the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Sioux handled the upstart Crusaders of the ECAC 5-2 to emerge with a spot in the Frozen Four for the second straight year.

In the North-East Regional, third-seeded Boston College dominated cross-town rival Boston University, the region's number one seed, 5-0, to secure another spot in the Frozen Four. BC earned the spot in the regional finals by whitewashing number two seeded Miami of Ohio, also by a score of 5-0.

The win in the regional finals by Boston College avenged a loss the weekend before in the Hockey East finals where BU had prevailed 2-1 in overtime. The BU Terriers had set up the rematch with the BC Eagles by pummeling Nebraska-Omaha 9-2.

In the Eastern Regional, number three-seeded Maine, also of the Hockey East, earned the trip to next weekend's semifinals with two upsets. First the Black Bears man-handled second-seeded Harvard 6-1 while number one seed Michigan Sate was topping fourth-seeded New Hampshire, 1-0. The Maine Black Bears then jumped out to a 3-1 first period advantage on the Spartans and managed to hold on to a 5-4 victory.

Only in the Midwest Regional did form hold true for both the openers and the final. Wisconsin, the number one seed for the region and the number one seed for the entire tournament shut out the College Hockey America Champions, Bemidji State, 4-0, while number two seeded Cornell edged number three Colorado College 3-2.

Then Wisconsin, using three overtimes, topped the Big Red 1-0 in the regional finals and earned the final spot in the Frozen Four.

In the semifinals next weekend, the Boston College Eagles (25-12-3) will face North Dakota (27-10-2) in one game while Maine (28-11-2) takes on Wisconsin (28-10-3) in the other national semifinal. Wisconsin should have an emormous advantage as the home town favorites as both the semifinals and the finals are being held at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Written by James Fohl

It seems that everyone who would call themselves a baseball fan has their favorite team, and of course their favorite baseball player. Being an avid baseball fan myself, I have my favorite team, which is of course my hometown team (the Pittsburgh Pirates). I also have a favorite player. The thing that is different about me and my favorite player however, is the fact that my favorite player is not one of the All-Stars such as Barry Bonds, Vladimir Guerrereo, or even the All Star of my favorite team (the Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder, Jason Bay).

In fact whenever I talk to other avid baseball fans about my favorite player, many of these avid fans actually have no idea of whom my favorite player is. My favorite player is Freddy Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Although Freddy has been in the Major Leagues since 2002 (spent two years with the Boston Red Sox, before getting traded to the Pirates) he has seen very little action on the playing field until this season. This is due to the fact that the Red Sox only utilized Freddy as a pitch hitter, and after he was traded he wound up on the disabled list due to a foot injury that kept him from playing most of the 2004 Pirates baseball season.

After being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Freddy wanted to show the world what he was capable of doing on the baseball field, despite finding himself injured, Freddy still went and played in the 2004 Arizona Fall League to sharpen his skills.

Freddy Sanchez came back better than ever for the 2005 Pirates baseball season, and has pretty much become one of their very best players. Not only can Freddy hit the ball all over the field, but Freddy also has the ability to play a variety of infield positions. So far this season he has played third base, shortstop, second base, and it has even been rumored that he has also played first base during practice sessions. Given the fact that he is able to play around three of the four bags has made Freddy Sanchez the Pittsburgh Pirates ultimate utility player.

Freddy Sanchez is also making it to the baseball scene as a power hitter. In the 2005 Major League baseball season Freddy managed to only hit a single home run from April until September 2005. However, so far at the time of this writing, Freddy Sanchez has managed to hit four home runs in a mere seven games.

Just a few months ago, when I told everybody that Freddy Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates was my favorite Major League Baseball player, I received quite a few laughs. However, as it is nearing the end of the 2005 Major League baseball season, a lot of the people who were laughing at me for my decision are now talking about how great a baseball player Freddy Sanchez will be for the 2006 Major League baseball season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Even though the Pirates have picked up Joe Randa to play third base for the 2006 Major League Baseball season, I still believe that Freddy Sanchez will be a important part of the 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates lineup.

Although he will not be able to play in every game like I had hoped, he will still be able to play every once in a while as a utility infielder. As I mentioned before, Freddy Sanchez has the ability to play a wide variety of positions, which makes him a fantastic utility fielder that could also step up to the plate as a pitch hitter.

I still think that Freddy Sanchez is a fantastic player, and even though he really does not have a permanent position on the Pittsburgh Pirates 2006 team yet, I still think he will be able to play in enough games that will warrant enough surprises that will eventually lead to Freddy Sanchez getting a permanent position in the 2007 Pittsburgh Pirates roster. I guess that until that happens, I will continue to support Freddy Sanchez by proclaiming him as my favorite Major League Baseball player, and collecting all of his baseball cards, waiting until the day that he lives up to his expectations.

Spring football workouts opened for colleges and universities across the country last week. Spring ball marks a one-month period during which teams are allowed to hold up to 15 NCAA-approved practices. This gives the coaching staff, media, and fans a chance to see how their favorite teams are handling all the changes that inevitably occur between the final regular season or bowl game of the previous year to the beginning of the workout period.

These are almost entirely personnel questions, as teams must fill holes left by graduating seniors and other players that decided to try their luck in the NFL draft. Such departures can decimate a team. One need only look at the USC Trojans to see a case in point. That team lost starting quarterback and former Heisman winner Matt Leinart, starting running back and Heisman winner Reggie Bush, tailback LenDale White, and tight end Dominique Byrd. Those are just the big names that left; several other seniors graduated as well.

Fortunately for Notre Dame fans, their beloved Irish don't have it so bad. The most significant players they lost are wide receiver Maurice Stovall, tight end Anthony Fasano, linebackers Corey Mays and Brandon Hoyte, and backup wide receiver Matt Shelton. Of those four, Fasano and Mays will be the most difficult to replace, but at least there's no shortage of candidates for the jobs.

Instead of focusing on the players that were lost, Notre Dame fans should turn their attention to those that are returning. Headlining the returnees is quarterback Brady Quinn. A senior-to-be, Quinn was recently named the second-best returning college football player in the country by Sports Illustrated magazine. Indeed, Quinn is already being talked about as a major Heisman contender, and the Fighting Irish have to like their chances to bring home the National Championship. With Quinn at the helm, anything can happen. The top-rated QB already owns no less than 30 individual school records, and will definitely be gunning for more in his final year.

Of course Quinn won't be able to do it alone, so it's a good thing that many other starters on both offense and defense are also returning to South Bend. For example, wide receiver Jeff Samardzija, who burst onto the national scene last year with a record-setting performance of his own, will be back and ready to make more acrobat, leaping catches for his personal highlight reel.

This consensus All-American will be paired up with 5th-year senior wide receiver Rhema McKnight, who received a medical hardship pass that will allow him to take advantage of a fifth year of eligibility. McKnight went down with a horrific knee injury in Notre Dame's second game of the season last year, and wasn't able to return. Prior to his injury, McKnight had been Notre Dame's leading receiver for two years in a row. The Irish will need him to get back on track to replace the 1,000 reception yards they're losing in Stovall. So far, things look good as far as McKnight is concerned. Head  coach Charlie Weis has been quoted as saying that McKnight seems to be every bit as fast as he was prior to the injury and hasn't shown any lingering effects thus far.

Things don't look as bright on the defensive side of the ball, at least not at linebacker. Even though Corey Mays didn't exhibit NFL-caliber talent, he was still the undisputed leader of the team on defense. When he was on the field, he made things happen and he fired up his teammates. Hoyte was also an excellent player whose contributions went beyond what showed up on paper. While there are plenty of linebackers still left on the roster, not many of them have logged the kind of playing time that you'd like to have at this position entering the regular season. Contenders for the two vacant starting roles include incumbents Maurice Crum, Nick Borseti, Joe Brockington, Mitchell Thomas, and Anthony Vernaglia, as well as new freshmen Steve Quinn, Scott Smith, and Kevin Washington.

The outlook in the secondary is a little better. The Fighting Irish will be returning all four defensive back starters from one year ago. Mike Richardson, Ambrose Wooden, Chinedum Ndukwe, and third-team All-American Tommy Zbikowski are all entering spring workouts intent on holding on to their starting jobs. While it's usually always better to have players with as much experience as these guys have, the Irish coaching staff will still be looking for significant improvement out of the secondary unit. In fact, Coach Weis has mentioned that limiting opponents' "big plays" is one of the things the defensive backs will have to work on improving.

The special teams unit is another area of concern for Notre Dame heading into the 2006 season. Gone is D.J. Fitzpatrick, who last year handled punts, kickoffs, field goals, and extra point tries for the Irish. A player with that kind of versatility will be extremely hard to replace. Although Fitzpatrick didn't have as high of a field goal conversion percentage as might be expected (66.7 percent success rate), you can't quibble about the 88 points that he scored last season. That's a significant contribution from the kicker, as evidenced by Fitzpatrick's 28th-place ranking in the nation in kicking points.

The Fighting Irish have three guys who will be contending for the kicking duties, and will probably end up using more than one guy to replace Fitzpatrick. Leading the way will be senior Carl Gioia, who has played in several games in his Notre Dame career. He has 20 kickoffs to his credit, and was able to notch the first field goal of his career in last season's Stanford game when he came on in relief of an ailing Fitzpatrick. Although Gioia's numbers aren't all that impressive, he's the only one of the Notre Dame kickers to have attempted a field goal in Division I-A ball.

Two other guys hope to challenge Gioia for a majority of the playing time next season. First up is Bobby Renkes, who was a walk-on a couple of years ago. He made several game appearances during the 2004 season and recorded 23 kickoffs. However, he didn't get into any games in 2005, so it's not clear how he will do in spring ball. Another guy that could challenge for the job is new recruit Ryan Burkhart. He was heavily recruited out of high school, and was rated the second-best kicking prospect in the country. His presence in the lineup should push both Gioia and Renkes, and will likely result in an excellent battle in the preseason. It will be interesting to see which of these guys comes out on top. This is a critical area that Irish fans should focus on because an extra field goal here or there can often make a big difference in games. In fact, looking back to last year, Notre Dame's two regular season losses were by a difference of 3 points each, and in both of those games (against Michigan State and USC), then-kicker Fitzpatrick missed a field goal attempt. If he had been able to convert those chances, then obviously the season would have been a whole lot different for the Fighting Irish.

Even with a bunch of question marks at several key positions, the Fighting Irish seemed very confident in the first few days of spring ball. The media were allowed into the practice facility, and all of the player interviews basically said the same thing: the Irish are not satisfied with last season's 9-3 record and will be looking to go all the way this year. There is a quiet confidence in their words. Just listen to a few of Brady Quinn's or Jeff Samardzija's interviews. They are confident without being cocky, and that's a combination that ought to have opponents worried. Fighting Irish fans, on the other hand, probably can't wait for the Georgia Tech game to get here!

For fans of professional football, there's nothing like the anticipation that comes with the annual entry draft held in April. That's the time when every team has the opportunity to get a little bit better by picking players that will help them round out their rosters. The teams that finished at the bottom of the league in the previous season get a huge consolation prize in the form of top draft picks. This can of course result in acquiring a player that can turn the entire franchise around. For example, quarterback Peyton Manning has emerged as exactly that kind of player. Drafted number one overall by the lowly Colts in 1998, Manning has elevated the team to a perennial playoff contender.

There's plenty at stake in this year's entry draft as well. Former USC star running back Reggie Bush will most likely be selected first overall, and he has shown that he can absolutely dominate games. If he makes a smooth transition to the NFL, watch for him to do some damage. There are also several quarterbacks, tight ends, and defensive backs in the mix that can improve a team's performance. So the fans are definitely anxious to see what draft day surprises their teams will pull off.

While most people might be content to just sit at home and watch draft day coverage on ESPN, a lot of NFL teams have recognized an opportunity to make the event much more fun for everyone involved. As a result, official Draft Day Parties are now the norm for many franchises.

Draft day parties are a relatively new concept. Here in Chicago, I believe they started just a few years ago; in Tampa Bay and Houston, the parties have been going on for just two years. Meanwhile, the New York Jets will be hosting their seventh annual draft day party. Other organizations probably fall within this range as well. What happens is the team will open up a portion of the stadium (usually a large party room) and sell a limited amount of tickets to fans. Once inside, there are multiple banks of televisions carrying the live draft proceedings for fans to watch. In addition, there are refreshments available so you can have a few beers and some grub while watching your team draft its future stars.

Televisions, food, and drinks probably wouldn't be enough to entice much of a crowd, so as an added bonus, most teams promise that several players and organizational members will be on hand as well. The players spend some time mingling with the crowd and doing the usual things that are expected when interacting with fans, such as signing autographs and posing for pictures. The organizational members are there to field questions from the audience regarding specific picks. They will also provide a bit of analysis as well, meaning that they'll explain why a certain player was selected and why others were passed over.

In addition to all of the above, there are usually contests, games, and giveaways during the course of the event. As you probably know, the draft can drag on a bit and isn't very exciting after the big-name guys in the first round are gone. So having contests gives attendees another reason to stick around and some more things to look forward to. Typical prizes include game day packages (featuring tickets to a particular event, free parking, sideline passes and more), trips to away games, officially licensed team merchandise, autographed products, and things like that.

I have never personally attended a draft day party, but it sounds like it would be a good time, especially if I went with a bunch of friends. From what I've found out, tickets are only $20 per person here in Chicago, and that rate drops to $17 per person if you buy the tickets in blocks of 10 or more. I would definitely pay that much to hear some immediate reaction from current players and see what other fans think of the Bears' newest picks.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in doing as well, I suggest you visit the website of your favorite team to see if they're having an official Draft Day Party. Better hurry though, because this year's draft is on April 29, and you never know when the tickets will be sold out!

For almost the entire offseason, Chicago Bears' General Manager Jerry Angelo has insisted that the team has very limited needs to fill through free agency and the draft. Tight end is one; cornerback is another. Those were the positions that Angelo acknowledged the team was looking at. Apparently, backup quarterback was a third.

The Bears announced that they had agreed to terms with free agent quarterback Brian Griese, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They signed Griese to a 5-year contract, despite the fact that Griese is currently hobbled from knee surgery he underwent last season after suffering an injury in Tampa Bay's fifth game of the season. Neither Griese nor the Bears are sure when he will be ready to play, but it might not be in July when training camp starts up in earnest.

The signing of Griese was seen as somewhat of a letdown by some fans, who thought that if the Bears were going to pursue a quarterback at all, it should have been someone like Josh McCown, now with the Detroit Lions. After all, McCown has experience as a starter in Arizona, has a lot of talent that can still be developed, and is five years younger than Griese. Or, some of the more wishful fans held out hopes that the Bears would make an effort to get Drew Brees, who was essentially released by the San Diego Chargers following an injury to his throwing shoulder that was sustained in the Chargers' final game of the season. But anyone who has followed the Bears for more than a few years knew that Brees wouldn't even be in the realm of possibility because of his price tag. The Bears would never cough up the $60 million package that Brees eventually accepted with the New Orleans Saints.

At any rate, the Bears got Griese, and the coaching staff have already anointed him Rex Grossman's backup. This means that Kyle Orton will slide to number three on the depth chart, and former third-string quarterback Jeff Blake will likely be looking for another job sometime soon. Blake must have expected something like this to happen because he didn't really contribute much to the squad last year. But Orton has got to be extremely disappointed in the lack of faith the Bears' organization is showing in him.

All Orton did as a rookie last season was win the starting job in training camp after Grossman went down with an injury, and then lead Chicago to a 9-4 record during the regular season. His best game came in Week Two against the Detroit Lions. He completed 14 out of 21 passes for 150 yards in guiding the Bears to their first win of the season (by a final score of 38-6), which was also his first career victory in the NFL. Orton also threw his first career touchdown pass in that game, a 28-yarder to wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad in the 2nd Quarter.

But Orton failed to show any consistency under center, and he wasn't able to demonstrate that he was getting better despite gaining what should have been very valuable experience week after week. In fact, over the course of the next 12 games, Orton's QB rating was below 50 in five of those contests, including an embarrassingly low 14.7 rating against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week Three. His QB rating was below 70 in 8 of those games, and never got above 90, except in the Detroit game. Indeed, by the time the Atlanta game rolled around, Orton was pretty much just expected to hand the ball off to running back Thomas Jones.

With Rex Grossman fully dressed and healthy, head coach Lovie Smith had no choice but to yank the ineffective Orton after halftime against the Falcons. To that point, Orton was just 2-of-10 for 12 yards on the day. Grossman finished up the game with a win, and that pretty much spelled the end of Orton's stint as Chicago's starter. He would return to start the final game of the season against Minnesota, but that was just in an effort to preserve Grossman for the playoffs.

I fully agree with Bears' management that Orton is not yet good enough to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. His 9-5 record as a starter might say otherwise, but the wins and losses alone don't tell the whole story. He was just as jittery and uncertain in the final game against Minnesota as he was in the first game against Washington, and failed to show very much poise at any time during the season. Orton's low statistical ratings as a rookie were pretty much to be expected. After all, he was a fourth-round selection in the draft, not a highly touted prospect that was expected to come in and deliver right away.

What was alarming, however, was the fact that Orton never got comfortable even as the season progressed. The Bears' coaching staff did what they could to make things as easy on him as possible. They didn't call many passing plays, and kept things pretty basic. The coaches said all along that they didn't want Orton to have the pressure of carrying the team on his shoulders. So that burden fell to Thomas Jones and the defense. Even so, Orton couldn't be counted on to execute.

So a starter he is not. But I think that Orton is adequate as a backup. He has demonstrated that in a pinch, he can go out there and show enough presence of mind to get through a couple of games with a winning record. Being the number two guy for an entire season actually might have helped him out. He would have been able to get plenty of reps in practice, he would have been able to watch and learn from Grossman, and he wouldn't have any of the pressure of game-time situations to worry about. He would have been able to spend the year learning and developing. Orton has shown that he has a solid foundation to build on, and just needs time to smooth out the edges and get used to playing in the NFL. I think he at least earned that much during his stint as the emergency starter last year.

But the Bears apparently don't even have enough confidence in him to trust him with backup duties. Either that, or they don't think that Grossman will make it through a 16 game schedule without visiting the injured reserve list, so they decided to shop for a guy who is a proven starter. That's definitely what they got in Griese, but I think they overpaid for a position that isn't really a priority. Grossman has been identified as the starter by Coach Smith. Fine; he's got the resume for it, even if he doesn't have the experience. Orton should have been the backup, and I think he would have done fine in that role. So bringing Griese in at this point doesn't make any sense, unless the coach thinks he will actually be the starter. Then that would put Grossman at number two, and Orton would be at number three. That actually seems like a much more solid depth chart than having Grossman as a starter.

So far, the Bears have publicly proclaimed that Grossman will be the team's starter heading into training camp. But those who know Griese have said that the former University of Michigan quarterback wouldn't have gone to a team where he had no shot of winning the starting job. That means Bear fans could be treated to a fun show in training camp as these two guys battle it out.

And still Orton will be the odd man out. It hardly seems fair, considering that he has more NFL experience than Grossman and that he led the Bears to the playoffs last season. But it just goes to show how precarious jobs in the NFL are.

By Ed Jennett


The recent war of words between New York Knicks Head Coach Larry Brown and his best player, All-Star PG Stephon Marbury, seems to have come to an end, at least temporarily. Their embarrassing, ridiculous, and unprofessional feud has been covered ad nauseam by the media, but as usual, the most interesting aspects have been ignored.

Brown initiated the truce by pulling Marbury aside at practice and telling him that he did not want him traded, as had been speculated, and to try to do what was being asked of him. What Brown failed to mention in that brief conversation, and what has barely been acknowledged by the media, is that Brown only did this after having had a meeting with Knicks owner James Dolan and Knicks President/GM Isiah Thomas. During the meeting Brown was told by Dolan to end the feud.

The obvious reason for the intervention of Dolan was that he was tired of the apparent determination of the duo to make the Knicks disaster of a season even worse. It was also becoming quite apparent that they were not mature enough to end the bickering on their own. Even though both Brown and Marbury have been out of line, many observers felt that the team would suspend Marbury for his actions. However he did not even receive a fine or any sort of reprimand from the team.

No one seems to have picked up on it, but there is another huge reason that Dolan told Brown to keep quiet and that the Knicks did not punish Marbury. Kevin Garnett.

The Timberwolves superstar PF was furious recently that his teammates were relaxed and happy in the locker room after a loss. It is becoming more likely that Garnett will demand a trade out of Minnesota this offseason and New York is one of the teams that could put together an attractive enough package to acquire him.

There have been rumors all season that the Knicks were interested in acquiring Garnett. An early season rumor had New York trading Minnesota the expiring contracts of PF/C Antonio Davis and PG/SG/SF Anfernee Hardaway for Garnett, Long Island native SG/SF Wally Szczerbiak, and either PG Troy Hudson or SG Trenton Hassell. The elimination of those huge contracts would have saved the Timberwolves about $100 million and would have gotten them under the salary cap so they could begin rebuilding. That trade obviously never took place and Szczerbiak, who had been involved in numerous trade rumors was eventually traded to Boston.

Despite being friends with Dolan Szczerbiak would have most likely been a poor fit. Garnett and Szczerbiak supposedly despised one another. This would have also led to friction with Szczerbiak and Knicks PG Stephon Marbury, who had recently rekindled his friendship with Garnett following a long feud. Garnett was mad at Marbury for forcing his way out of Minnesota and abandoning him there. Marbury was mad at Garnett for not being happy for him getting to play close to home (Marbruy was traded to the New Jersey Nets).

Ironically Marbury now has his own problem with Szczerbiak. Marbury injured his left shoulder on a Szczerbiak pick in a January game against the Timberwolves and maintains that the pick was dirty because Szczerbiak leaned into it. Clean or dirty, the pick ruined the Knicks season. New York had just come off a loss to the Toronto Raptors following a six game winning streak. Marbury had led the resurgence by averaging 23 points and 9 assists during the six games. The Knicks quickly fell apart while their best player missed games and was ineffective in others due to the injury.

Right before the trade deadline a new rumor began that New York would trade Hardaway and rookie PF/C Channing Frye to Minnesota for Garnett. This obviously never materialized either, but a similar scenario could be revisited this offseason. The Knicks will be looking to trade the expiring contracts of PF Maurice Taylor and PG/SG/SF Jalen Rose. The Timberwolves will definitely be one of the teams that they are peddled to. It remains to be seen if Frye will be traded. He is considered to be virtually untouchable, and has been referred to as the future of the team and as a cornerstone by both Brown and Thomas.

If the Brown/Marbury feud renews it may not matter if Frye really is untouchable. If Thomas decides to trade Marbury Garnett will not have any interest in playing for New York. Not only is he friends with Marbury again, but Marbury is the Knicks best player. It is highly unlikely that Garnett would want to leave a horrible situation in Minnesota for a horrible situation in New York.

While it is still unclear if New York will be where he ends up next season, it is starting to become clear that Garnett will be leaving Minnesota. Despite agreeing with recent sentiments that the current Timberwolves roster needs more playing time together and also needs to go through a training camp, Garnett has also said that the team needs to add some major pieces. Besides Garnett the team does not have any assets that are in great demand. Because of that it will be very difficult for the club to make any major changes this offseason, unless the change is Garnett moving to another city.

While the NCAA men's basketball tournament dominates the sports pages and the office topics, the parallel women's edition continues to climb in prominence with games regularly on the ESPN 2. But a third such tourney, one that harbors enormous interest in the Midwest and Northeast, the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey, is also set to begin this weekend.

The less-ballyhooed Ice Hockey Selection Committee recently selected the 16 teams that will do battle for the chance to play in the Frozen Four and earn the trophy associated with winning the 2006 Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship.

Each year, the championship playoff format involves four regional sites, like the basketball tournament, with each site determined prior to the selection of the team's that will participate. At each region, four teams compete for the regional title and a chance at the Frozen Four at yet another predetermined site. Like the basketball version, the entire championship uses a single-elimination format.

Also as with basketball, many teams qualify automatically. Six conference champions earned automatic bids: Holy Cross of the Atlantic Hockey Association, Michigan State of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, Bemidji State of College Hockey America, Harvard of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League, Boston University of the Hockey East Association, and North Dakota of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

The remaining ten slots are filled by teams selected at large. Number one seeds in each of the regionals went to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the overall number one seed, the University of Minnesota, Boston University, and Michigan State University.

In addition to the Wisconsin and Minnesota, other at large bids went to Michigan, Nebraska-Omaha, Miami (Ohio), Boston College, New Hampshire, Maine, Cornell, and Colorado College. With Maine, New Hampshire, three teams from the Boston area (BU, BC, and Harvard) along with Holy Cross of Worcester, Massachusetts, New England is well represented once again at the tourney. Likewise, with Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Bemidjii State (Minnesota) and Miami (Ohio) the Midwest is also well represented.

Unbeknownst to many, the ESPN will air all 15 tournament games live. The sports network will produce the eight semifinal and four regional final games, but will be only syndicating games to local cable systems and regional sports networks and selected over-the-air stations.

ESPN2 is set to broadcast both semifinal games at the Frozen Four while the ESPN will televise the national championship game live. The semifinals are set for April 6th and the championship for April 8th, with all games set to be played at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

For many football teams, the position of place kicker is merely an afterthought, a position to be filled once all the big bucks have already been spent on marquee quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and linebackers. Sure, there are the occasional kickers like Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders who come in via the first round of the NFL draft, but those guys are few and far between. Instead, most are selected in later rounds of the draft or make it onto teams via tryouts. Then, once they have been in the league for a while, they can bounce from team to team through free agency.

This season, there happen to be two top place kickers on the market. Mike Vanderjagt, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts, and Adam Vinatieri, formerly of the New England Patriots. Both of the kickers were in rather similar positions. Vanderjagt has been in the league for eight years and is the highest-rated active kicker in terms of regular season games. Vinatieri has been in the league for 10 years, and is considered the best kicker in terms of playoff games. Both are coming from teams that seem to make it to the playoffs year after year. The difference is that Vinatieri won three Super Bowl rings as a member of the Patriots, while Vanderjagt and the rest of the Colts have always come up short.

After today's news, however, things are looking up for the Colts. That's because they've agreed to terms with Vinatieri and have reportedly signed the veteran kicker to a long-term deal. This is particularly noteworthy to Indianapolis fans because the Colts were ousted from the playoffs last season when Vanderjagt missed on a late 4th quarter field goal attempt against the Pittsburgh Steelers that would have sent the game into overtime. The miss sealed the victory for the Steelers, who then went on to crush the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

Vinatieri meanwhile, has forged a reputation of being one of the coolest kickers on the planet, especially when the game is on the line. He has two Super Bowl-clinching field goals to his name. The first came in the Patriots' first championship run in the 2001 season when Vinatieri drilled a 48-yarder as time ran out in the 4th quarter to lift the Patriots over the St. Louis Rams by a score of 20-17. Then, two years later, he did nearly the same thing in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers by hitting a 41-yard field goal with four seconds left in the 4th quarter to put the Patriots on top by a score of 32-29.

Some might argue that, although those kicks were indeed "clutch," they weren't as pressure-packed as they could have been because even if Vinatieri had missed, the Patriots wouldn't have automatically lost either game; they would have just headed into overtime. Although I can see that point of view too, no team wants to roll the dice in overtime in the NFL because the sudden-death nature of the extra period means that the winner is often the team that wins the coin toss.

No matter how you slice it, Vinatieri is one of the premier kickers in the NFL right now, and will likely remain at the top of his game for many more years. He is going into a great situation in Indianapolis. The Colts are a hungry team with a group of seasoned veterans at the helm, led by league-leading quarterback Peyton Manning and All-Pro wide receiver Marvin Harrison. The team wants to win now, and they are making some moves that will help them do so.

From a kicker's standpoint, Vinatieri really couldn't ask for anything more. By joining the Colts, he will now play eight games per year in the kicker-friendly indoor environment of the RCA Dome instead of the often cold and windy conditions he faced at Gillette Stadium. When you combine this with the fact that the Colts average more points per game than just about anyone, it stands to reason that Vinatieri will have a chance to boost his field goal stats considerably.

Speaking of Vinatieri's stats, he has spent 10 years in the NFL, all of them with New England. He has converted 263 out of 321 field goal chances, for a career percentage of 81.9. Vinatieri is 8 out of 17 from 50 or more yards, 70 out of 99 from 40-49 yards out, 76 out of 92 from 30-39 yards, 103 out of 107 from 20-29 yards, and a perfect 6 out of 6 from 1-19 yards. In addition, he is 367 out of 374 in his career in point-after tries. Vinatieri has scored 1,156 points in his career.

His best season percentage-wise came in 2004 when he converted 31 out of 33 field goals and 48 out of 48 extra points, for a 93.9 percent mark on field goals and a perfect 100 percent on point-after tries. Vinatieri's worst season in terms of field goal percentage as a pro came in 2003, when he converted just 73.5 percent of his regular season kicks.

Overall, I think the Colts made an excellent choice in signing Vinatieri. It was obviously going to be a tough task to replace a kicker like Vanderjagt, but Vinatieri is definitely a guy who can do it. His exceptional postseason experience will give the Colts an edge this year if they make it to the playoffs. And even if it's just a psychological edge, I'm sure they'll take it!

One of the best things about the World Baseball Classic is that it gives fans a chance to check out the top talent from other countries around the world. While United States and the Dominican Republic teams both had rosters loaded with names already familiar to fans of Major League Baseball, most of the other teams did not. But there were definitely a couple of players who showed that they have what it takes to make it to the big leagues in the U.S., which is where most probably aspire to play at some point. One of those who really emerged during the tournament was Daisuke Matsuzaka of Japan.

Matsuzaka is only 25 years old, but he has been a big name in Japanese baseball for almost 10 years. In Japan, there's not really a minor league or college system to speak of. As a result, high school baseball garners as much attention as college or Triple A ball in the United States. In fact, the annual high school baseball tournament generates as much betting action in Japan as March Madness does here at home. At any rate, trust me when I say that Matsuzaka has been in the public eye in Japan for a long time.

Right out of high school, Matsuzaka was drafted by the Seibu Lions, one of the professional baseball teams in Japan. He was so good and dominant even as an 18-year-old that he immediately broke into the starting rotation. He put together an incredible 16-5 record in his rookie year, striking out 151 batters in 180 innings of work. His earned run average was a very respectable 2.60.

As Matsuzaka has matured in age, so has he matured as a pitcher. Before, he seemed to be content to just throw as hard as he could, with little regard to mechanics or control. Over the years, however, he has reigned in his fastball a bit in order to be able to get better placement on it. He has also added a couple of pitches to his repertoire, including something called a "shooto," which is a basically a double-spin pitch where the ball rotates one way, and then suddenly breaks back the other way. This pitch was highlighted in the 1992 movie "Mr. Baseball" and has been legendary in Japan for some time now. Most baseball players from Western countries have never seen this kind of pitch before. Matsuzaka is the universally acclaimed master of this pitch in Japan, and it's thought that this is one of the pitches that will help him dominate in the United States.

If there's a concern about Matsuzaka, it's his health. He throws so hard and works so many innings each year that there has been a lot of speculation as to just how much longer his arm will hold out. This is even more of a concern when you take into consideration the fact that Matsuzaka has been a workhorse since his high school days, when he reportedly once threw a mind-boggling 249 pitches over the course of an extra-inning game. Although he doesn't approach that kind of pitch count in Japan's big leagues, he does work plenty of innings each season.

Because of Japan's very strict free agency rules, Matsuzaka won't be allowed to try his luck in the U.S. until he has played at least 10 years in the Japanese league -- unless he gets a special dispensation from his team, which isn't likely to happen. That means he has three more seasons to go, and will be 28 by the time major league teams can start bidding for the right to negotiate with him. So he'll have even more mileage on his arm by then, and will be an even bigger risk for whichever team decides to take him on.

Nevertheless, he is such a skilled player that teams are already lining up to get a good look at him. Barring any serious injuries in the next three seasons, I think it's safe to say that we'll see Matsuzaka pitching in a major league uniform before his career is over. Hopefully, his best days as a pitcher won't be behind him by that point, because he really seems to be that rare player of exceptional skills that comes around only once in a generation.

Well, the first-ever World Baseball Classic is in the books, and the last team standing happened to be Japan. They defeated the Cuban team 10-6 in the championship game to bring home the title. But what I don't understand, and what many other people surely must be asking at this point, is how did Japan even advance that far in the tournament to begin with?

The rules regarding which teams advance and which teams have to go home are not very clear at all, and I'm wondering why it's necessary to make things so complicated. The basic format of the tournament is that it consists of two rounds of pool play, followed by a semi-final round, and then the championship game. Let's work backwards on this one and take a closer look at each round.

First of all, I want to say that I like the fact that there is a single, winner-take-all championship game. To me, that provides a lot more drama than a best of 3, best of 5, or best of 7 series format that is usually used in sports championships. Having the World Championship hinge on a single game makes it a lot more exciting for both the players and the fans. Just take a look at other sports for a comparison. The Super Bowl is the most-watched television event each and every year primarily because the NFL championship is decided by that one game. When you have a championship decided by a series, like in the NBA, NHL, and MLB, then casual fans would most likely tune in only for the deciding game rather than for the entire series.

The Semi-final round in the World Baseball Classic is also pretty straightforward and doesn't need any revision. Four teams make it to the semi-final games, and each game is single-elimination. That means that there's a lot of drama in this round as well, because each team knows that it's do or die time. The teams that made it to the semi-final round of this year's World Baseball Classic were of course Cuba and Japan, plus the Dominican Republic and Korea.

Now, the first and second round of pool play is where the rules get a bit murky and confusing for average fans such as myself. At the start, there are 16 teams divided into four separate pools of four teams each. So far so good. Within each pool, the teams play each other in a round-robin style, meaning that each team plays every other team one time. Since there are four teams in the pool, that means each team has to play 3 games. We're still clear so far, as that makes sense. However, because there are only four teams in each pool, it's very likely that there will be a couple of ties along the way. Sometimes the pools work out perfectly, like in Pool A in the first round. Korea had a 3-0 record, Japan had a 2-1 record, Chinese Taipei had a 1-2 record, and China had an 0-3 record. It's easy to see that Korea and Japan should advance.

Where things start to get sticky, however, is when there are ties, like in round two of this year's tournament. Pool One of round two featured the United States, Mexico, Japan, and Korea. Korea again went undefeated in this pool, posting another 3-0 record in round robin play. The United States and Japan ended up tied, with losing records at 1-2. Japan lost to Korea and the United States, while the U.S. lost to Korea and Mexico. So now that there was a tie, we have to have a tiebreaker. But instead of that tiebreaker being something simple to figure out, such as head-to-head play (in which case the U.S. would have won because they defeated Japan 4-3 in their matchup) or by total runs scored in the round (in which case Japan would have won because they scored 10 runs while the U.S. only scored 8), or even by a playoff (another head-to-head game between the tied teams), the tiebreaker involves mathematical calculations.

According to International Baseball Federation rules, which the World Baseball Classic follows, "tied teams shall be ranked for that round according to fewest earned runs allowed divided by the number of innings (including partial innings) played in defense in the games in that round between the teams tied."

This is where I get lost because that just seems like such an odd thing to base a tiebreaker on. It's not something that casual fans would even know about, much less be able to calculate in the middle of a game. If the tiebreaker were based on any of the other scenarios I mentioned, then anyone would be able to figure out who will advance and who will stay home. As it was, however, I think most people didn't know what the outcome of the U.S. vs. Mexico game meant as far as the Japanese team was concerned until the announcers performed the calculations for us.

I know that IBF rules have been in place for a long time, and I'm not suggesting that those be changed. But I think it would help the World Baseball Classic become even more fan friendly if the format for this particular tournament was altered just a bit to make the tiebreakers more understandable to average fans. Other than that, I think the World Baseball Classic was a true success, and I'm looking forward to the next tournament!

As March Madness moves into the round now known as the "Sweet Sixteen," some very interesting story lines have been developing.

One is the somewhat shaky performance of the tournament selection and seeding committee. Though these folks generally do a decent job, many pointed early on to some glaring issues that have proven to be most prophetic.

Two seedings made absolutely no sense to any self-proclaimed bracketologist, Tennessee earning a number two slot and Syracuse a number five. The Volunteers headed into the tourney ranked 18-19th in the country in most polls - how the committee saw them as a number two was beyond everyone. Some how Tennessee managed a win in the first round, albeit on a last second shot, but the Volunteers were quickly eliminated in round two.

Also, most noted that Syracuse was a outside shot at being in the tourney before somehow winning the Big East Tournament Championship. Yet with just one hot week, the Orange somehow landed a number five seeding. The notion that they were completely overrated came to full fruition when the Orange were eliminated in the first round for the second year in a row.

Yet another error had to be the view the Big Ten was the strongest overall conference. Such a notion led to six teams being selected, all with relatively high seeds within the 65 team tournament.

Backed up by the so called RPI, the measure of overall team quality, the Big Ten had Ohio State at a two seed, Iowa at a three and Illinois at a four seed. Three more teams also were favored in the first round, Michigan State and Indiana, both at number six and Wisconsin at number eight.

The Big Ten not only did not have a single team make it to the Sweet 16, the league also was home to the biggest tourney shocker, No. 14 Northwestern State over No. 3 Iowa in round one. Six teams in, for a league that as a whole would go 3-6 in the tournament, was outrageous.

But then again, there were many the positive choices, although after day one, the eight teams selected from the Big East also looked like a major botch. The losses by Syracuse, Marquette, and Seton Hall would make the Big East 0-3 on the first day of the tourney, with both Syracuse and Marquette losing to lower seeds.

But on day two, the Big East would come back and run the table, with all five remaining teams making it to the round of 32. On the weekend, with Villanova, Connecticut, West Virginia and Georgetown winning, the Big East would run their tourney record to nine wins and four losses and send four teams on to the Sweet Sixteen.

Trailing the Big East are four other conferences. Powers like the ACC (Duke and Boston College, the SEC (Florida and LSU), and Pac 10 (UCLA and Washington) each have two teams while the lesser known Missouri Valley Conference also has two teams in Bradley and Wichita State.

Among the other great story lines is an incredible ninth straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen for the Duke Blue Devils. The Dukies are officially the modern equivalent of the UCLA Bruins and the legendary John Wooden.

Among the smaller schools, there was George Mason and head coach Jim Larranaga suspending Tony Skinn, the team's second-leading scorer, before the team's first round game with Michigan State. After knocking off the Spartans without Skinn, the youngster would return in time to help Mason knock off the demanding champions, North Carolina to make it to next weekend.

Then of course, there is Gonzaga, considered by many to be overrated, yet they are still playing. And though Adam Morrison has garnered most of the press during the season, this team has a great deal of talent in Sean Mallon, Derek Raivio, and the underrated J.P. Batista.

And finally, there is LSU and the latest Shaq reincarnation by the name of Glen Davis. Many hoop experts are drooling over the thought of Davis going head-to-head with the ACC inside force, Shelden Williams. Though Davis is quite the presence in the middle, many think he would be an even better tight end prospect in the NFL, especially given both his mobility and his soft hands.

The Sweet Sixteen is set, and if the first two rounds are any indication, many more story lines are likely to follow in the rounds ahead.