Friday Five Retires

I'm sorry to say that the Friday Five has gone into retirement... in case you haven't figured that out by it not being around the past couple of weeks.  I have been spending more time focusing on my newest sports/baseball blogging journey, Bases Loaded Balk.  Take a few minutes to check it out!  And, let's face it, the Friday Five was all about the baseball anyway.  The other sports, well, they just don't matter as much.

Friday Five, 6/11/2010

Welcome to this week's edition of the Friday Five! Busy week in the sports world, so... here we go!

5) World Cup begins
Think about it, this is huge. It is a cup that contain the entire world. Awesome. Honestly, I'm not much of a soccer fan, but even I realize that this is one of the largest sporting events in the world. It certainly merits mention in my Friday Five for the week. That is all.

4) Chicago Blackhawks win Stanley Cup
Giving the city of Chicago something to cheer about is no small feat. This city had a brief celebration when the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, and that was it's first celebration since the Jordan era. The Blackhawks beat the Philadelphia Flyers in 6 games to take home another large cup. What is it with uninteresting sports and their cups?

3) Nadal continues clay court dominance
Did you know that Rafael Nadal won the doubles title all by himself? That's just how dominant he is on clay courts. Nadal won the singles title with 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 sets against the only guy to have beaten him in the tournament since the dawn of time.

2) Big 12 sinking faster than the Titanic
There has been a mass exodus out of the Big 12 this week.  Nebraska has left for the Big Ten (which now has 12 teams.  Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Colorado and Oklahoma State are all jumping ship for the Pac-10 (which will now have 16 teams).  Apparently Texas A&M is torn between the Pac-10 and the SEC.  I'm not too sure what just happened.  The middle of the country has somehow exploded, and the conference apocalypse is taking place.  What does all this mean?  Missouri and Kansas are suddenly going to be on top of a non-BCS conference from the looks of it.

1) Tom Izzo considering leaving Michigan State to coach the Cavaliers
In other words, Tom Izzo is about to commit career mistakes made by Calipari & Pitino.  Here's a little unsolicited (and probably unread) advice, Tommy, if you are a great college coach.... stay in college.  You don't get to recruit the way to do for college.  Many players are more concerned about their contracts than winning a championship (not that they'll say that out loud).  Now, all the commentators are really going to talk about how much the Big Ten (twelve) sucks.

Friday Five, 6/4/2010

Welcome to this week's edition of the Friday Five. It's been a big baseball week... oh, and there's a couple other things going on as well.

5) Stanley Cup Finals

This begins a stretch of things that are pretty important in the sports world, but I don't care too much about. Last on the list because I'm pretty sure it is less important than Olympic hockey is the Stanley Cup Finals between the Blackhawks and Flyers. How ignored is it? I had to click 3 pages into ESPN.com to find out who even won Game 3 the other night. It drew the highest Stanley Cup Finals rating in 8 years... on Versus. Wow, people, just wow.

4) NBA Finals

The NBA Finals opened up in Los Angeles last night with the Lakers taking Game 1, 102-89. The big question coming into the Finals is whether or not the Lakers can be physical enough to handle Boston's physicality. Of course, with Ron Artest on the Lakers, Maria Menounos may want to watch her trash talking. He has not qualms about going into the stands after unruly fans.

3) French Open

France is currently peeing its pants with excitement. There are only two reasons why I will mention France - the Open and the Maginot Line. The ironic thing is that both were set up as defenses against the Germans, and neither one of them kept the Germans out because they simply ignored both. The women's final is going to be a thrilling match between Schiavone and Stosur.... wait, who? The men's final is yet to be determined, but let's face it, Nadal is going to win.

2) Ken Griffey Jr. retires

Things are going so bad in Seattle that they finally beat down one of baseball's greatest players. In an interview with Tim Kurkjan, put him as the #5 centerfielder of all time behind Mays, Cobb, DiMaggio and Mantle. I'd say that's pretty good company. Griffey hasn't been playing well this season and was benched, then two teammates went to the papers saying that he fell asleep during a game. After that, apparently, he became withdrawn and wasn't the fun-loving guy that we came to love in the '90's. In a seriousness, good-bye to one of the game's greats.

1) Armando Galarraga gets the shaft.

Unbelievable. Armando Galarraga, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, lost a perfect game on the final out because the umpire thought the runner beat the throw to first. After seeing the replay, Jim Joyce realized that he got the call wrong, and has been a fire hydrant of tears ever since. Commissioner Bud Selig came out yesterday to say that he wasn't going to overturn the call and give Galarraga a perfect game, even though that probably would be the right thing to do. You can't have the Commish overturning every bad call, he apparently has other things to do... like make the All Star game "count."

Friday Five, 5/28/2010

Welcome to this week's edition of the Friday Five, and assuming I finish it up in the next 45 minutes, it will actually be done on Friday this week! Yes, Al Michaels, I do believe in miracles.

5) Stanley Cup Finals are set

According to the picture on the front of ESPN.com, the Chicago Blackhawks are facing the Philadelphia Flyers for the NHL's championship. This is of utmost importance, as you can see...

4) Celtics become first team to make it to the NBA Finals

As I am writing this, the Celtics have closed out the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, making them the first team to play for the NBA Finals. They now await the winner of the Lakers-Suns series. Good thing they have a couple extra days. They're getting pretty old.

3) Cardinal pitchers allow 3 runs in 22 innings, and lose 2 games.

The St. Louis Cardinals managed to hit a new offensive low this season. Adam Wainwright pitched 7 innings, striking out 12 and allowing a solo HR to Jerry Hairston Jr. only to be tagged with the loss in a 1-0 defeat. The next night, Jaime Garcia pitched 6 scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.14, and managed to get a no decision, as the Cards lost 2-1 in 13 innings... on a Jerry Hairston Jr. walk-off HR. Just for the record, JH Jr. has 2 HR's and 15 RBI's this season. You're welcome...

2) Helio wins the pole at the Indy 500.

I don't talk about racing all that much. In fact, I don't care about racing at all, but we're talking about the Indy 500 here... it's a big deal. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to pull a Night-at-the-Roxbury-ish, "HELIO!!!!"

1) UCONN cited for 8 NCAA rules violations

I knew there was a reason why the Huskies didn't make it to the Tourney this year. They suck, AND they are cheaters...

There you have it - Friday Five in a nutshell... and on a Friday. Hopefully next week will give us a bit more sports fodder to dwell on.

Friday Five, 5/22/2010

It's been a busy week in the Swisher household, so, once again, we have a special edition of the Friday Five. It's special because it's on Saturday, not Friday. See, if I tell you it's a special edition, then you forget that I'm a day late in doing it... except now you're on to me. Oh, LOOK!!! A SQUIRREL!!!!

5) The Washington Wizards beat the odds and get the #1 pick in the NBA draft

With a 10.3% chance of doing so, the Washington Wizards defied the odds and showed the New Jersey Nets that you can't throw away a season and guarantee yourself the #1 pick. Everybody is now thinking that Kentucky guard John Wall will be the top overall pick. I'm not too sure if Wall has the appropriate criminal record to play alongside Gilbert Arenas and Jarvaris Crittendon... is Wall even old enough to have a gun permit? I'm not sure if he's going to fit in. When asked about possible team chemistry, Wall replied, "Nah, I didn't go to chemistry. I just had some guy take notes for me."

4) Floyd Landis admits to doping.

Floyd Landis, the disgraced cyclist (yes, I realize that is redundant), has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling "career." Floyd, now wanting to be referred to as Flose Landseco (stay with it... work it out in your head... there you go...), also implicated other cyclists, including Lance Armstrong, who is denying the claims (duh...). Yet another reason not to trust the Mennonites.

3) LeBron watch begins.

With an embarrassing whimper, the Cleveland Cavaliers were ousted from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics (who are currently up 2-0 on the Magic). The following day all the sports talk guys were talking about was where Lebron was going to end up - New York, New Jersey, Cleveland, Los Angeles (Clippers, that is... hilarious!), Chicago. I don't know why nobody mentioned Charlotte or Memphis, since we're just throwing out random destinations.

2) Favre has surgery on ankle.

Brett Favre had surgery on his ankle, which leaves the door open to his return for the 2010 season. Let me just go ahead and predict what everyone is going to say when it comes to this story over the next 3 months: Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre, Favre. Man, that is a crazy spelling last name... Honestly, I really don't care what he does. Colin Cowherd will say that I really do because the NFL is more interesting with Favre in it, but I don't take what Colin says seriously most of the time because he is in love with Tom Brady. Seriously, it's a bad man crush, the likes of which I haven't seen since I had one on Scott Speizio during the 2006 playoffs.

1) Brad Penny hits grand slam, leaves game.

This week's top story is about the Cardinals because I'm a huge Cardinal fan. Cardinal pitcher Brad Penny hasn't been given a lot of run support so far this year. In fact, he'd probably be 7-1 if the Cards could just give him 4 runs per game. In the game against Cincinnati last week, he gave up 7 runs, and that has been his worst outing of the year, in spite of his 3-4 record. Apparently frustrated by a lack of run support, and angered by the fact the Angels issued an IBB to get to him, Penny took former Cardinal Joel Pineiro deep for a grand slam and a 8-4 lead in what was ultimately a 9-5 Cardinal victory. Unfortunately, Penny also pulled a muscle and came out of the game following his warm up tosses prior to the 4th inning. So, the one time he gets plenty of run support, he doesn't even qualify for the win. Go figure.

Friday Five, 5/15/2010

It's Friday Five on a Saturday! After a two week and a day hiatus, we're back with the Friday Five, the top 5 sports stories of the week... well, as I see it, anyway.

5) Philadelphia Flyers just try to make things difficult.

In the second round of the NHL playoffs, the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves down 3-0 in a best of 7 series. Then, they won the fourth game, and the fifth, and the sixth. You guessed it, they came roaring back to make it a series again. It looked like all the magic had finally worn out though, as the Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Of course, when you've already come back from a 3-0 series deficit, what's 3 goals in one game? Obviously nothing, because the Flyers came back and beat the Bruins 4-3, setting up an even more boring conference finals as the #7 and #8 seeds are meeting for an opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup.

4) The Cleve goes on suicide watch

The Cleveland Lebrons lost in the conference semi-finals to the Boston Celtics. Lebron can opt out of his contract and become a free agent this offseason. Most of the talk has Lebron going to the Knicks... because apparently, the Knicks can win a championship? Yeah, right, and I have some ocean front property in Kansas to sell you, Lebron. If he does jump ship (and who could blame him), Cleveland will be in the familiar territory of becoming irrelevant in the world of sports once again.

3) NBA Playoffs are really bad

Apart from the aforementioned Cavs-Celts series, the other 3 conference semifinals were sweeps, with Phoenix, the Lakers, and the Magic (who still haven't lost in this postseason) sitting at home for the last week wondering what in the world they are supposed to do with a week off. Oh, in similar news, we are still TWO ROUNDS away from crowning the next NBA champ... and people complain about the MLB playoffs taking too long.

2) Tiger Woods withdraws from Players Championships

I have avoided the Tiger Woods talk so far on the Friday Five because none of it has been relevant to what has been going on. Plus, everyone else has been talking about it. However, this is fertile soil for a few good jokes. Tiger pulled out of the Players Championships because: a) he has already established the fact that he is quite a "playa," b) he had a "bulging disk," and c) as one doctor on Mike & Mike in the Morning said, "It could be a case of cervical ridiculitis." I'm just going to leave the jokes for you.

1) Dallas Braden throws perfect game.

Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden, mostly known for yelling at A-Rod earlier this season, went out and threw the 19th perfect game in major league history on Mother's Day. It is a compelling story because Braden's mother passed away several years ago, and he was raised by his grandmother, who (allegedly) told A-Rod to "stick it." Dallas Braden is now know as the guy who yelled at A-Rod AND threw a perfect game. Also, apparently Oakland doesn't give a crap about the A's because there were only 12,000 in attendance for the historic occasion.

Friday Five, 4/23/2010

Much to the enjoyment or disappointment of a handful of individuals out there, next week will not feature a Friday Five. I'll be in New Orleans for the week, and doubt that I'll have the time to post it. If you are really missing it, then you can just come back and read this one again.... or maybe I'll put together a "Best of Friday Five" for next week.... Congratulations, you have just been privy to my thinking process.

5) Ubaldo Jimenez pitches a no-hitter

Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez threw the first no-no in Colorado history when the Rockies played the Braves on Saturday night. Of course, it was lost in the fact that the Cardinals-Mets played a semi-marathon that same day (see below).

4) NCAA Tournament expands field, but not as much as originally thought

The NCAA has decided to expand the tournament field to 68 teams for next year, instead of th 65 that currently play. Most likely, all 16 seeds will have a play-in game now, which will allow for more sub-par teams from the major conferences to enter the field and quit their whining.

3) NFL Draft produced some unexpected results for its 1st round

The NFL Draft had its first round in prime-time on Thursday night because the NFL hasn't done enough damage to America's love for baseball. Sam Bradford went #1 overall to the St. Louis Rams. A couple other notable notes: Tebow was drafted by the Broncos, which led to all sorts of "a mile closer to heaven" jokes, and Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen wasn't drafted at all in the first round, which was quite the surprise.

2) Cards-Mets play a marathon... well, almost.

The Cardinals and Mets hooked up on Saturday afternoon for an epic game. This game was scoreless after 18 innings. You didn't read that incorrectly, 18 innings of scoreless baseball. In the end, it can't be called a marathon because it didn't go the required 26.2 innings; however, after 20 innings of baseball, the Mets pulled out a 2-1 win. Congratulations, Met fans, you just had your highlight of the season - a win in a game where 2 position players pitched 3 innings. How bad is it that the Mets had to score twice of an outfielder in order to win a game? Almost as bad as the Cardinals not scoring on the Mets bullpen.

1) Cardinals begin their season by winning first 5 series.

You have to know that if there's anything remotely interesting in the Cardinals' season, it automatically jumps to #1 on my Friday Five. However, this actually is historic. For the first time in their entire history, the Cardinals have taken 2 of 3 in all five of their series to start the season. It's not like the Cardinals are the Rays or Rockies here, they've been around literally for over a century. That's awesome. They are sitting atop the standing in the National League right now with some great pitching, and some good hitting.

Friday Five, 4/16/2010

I totally forgot that today was Friday, and I don't really have time to pull together an all out Friday Five this week, so here's the quick headlines:

5) Look up your favorite sports story of the week and fill in the gap here.

No, seriously, the top 4 are all I can think of right now. Put it in the comments section!

4) NBA Playoffs are set

It came down to the final game for a couple of teams, but the NBA playoffs are ready to get underway. Now, for those who say the baseball playoff system is broken, why aren't you complaining about the NBA? It's April 16th, the playoffs are going to start soon, and the NBA won't have a champion until June. Tell me again how the baseball playoffs are too long.

3) Gordon Hayward declares for the NBA Draft

Butler sophomore, you know, the guy who almost won the National Championship... twice... in the closing seconds, Gordon Hayward has decided to test the pro waters as well. He did not sign with an agent, so when people realize that he's not as good as he thinks, he can jump back on board the Butler bandwagon.

2) Half of the state of Kentucky declared itself eligible for the NBA Draft.

UK is going to be losing, I believe, 4 of their top 5 scorers to the NBA this year. That's what you get with Calipari - great players who only stick around for a year or two at best. Enjoy your small window of opportunity at the Tourney each year Kentucky fans. And, true to form, Kentucky already has commitments from two of the top high school players in the nation.

1) Cardinals win!

Really, are you surprised that this is on here? Since last Friday, the Cardinals have humiliated Trevor Hoffman on two occasions, once when Stavinoha knocked one out to put the Cards ahead and eventually win, and once when Pujols & Holliday went back-to-back to tie up the game in the 9th inning (only to lose in the bottom of the 9th). They have also won a couple of great games against the Astros, and, staying true to form, dropped the final game of the series. The Cardinals are sitting pretty at 6-3 right now after winning the first two and dropping the finale in all three of their match-ups this year.

Friday Five, 4/9/2010

Welcome to this week's edition of the Friday Five in what is quite possibly one of the busiest weeks in sports.

5) The Frozen Four

Okay, I have no real reason to include this in my Friday Five because I don't care about hockey, and I care about college hockey even less. However, before bed last night, I turned the TV on and the BC/Miami(OH) game was on. This final is being played at Forbes Field. That's right, they turned a football stadium into a hockey arena in a town where there is already a hockey arena. I don't know if they were expecting a big crowd, and that's why they had it here, but there couldn't have been more than 4,000 people scattered around that stadium last night. Anyhoo, Wisconsin and Boston College are going to face off for the title game.

4) The Masters gets underway

The first major is underway. Of course, the big story is that Tiger Woods is making his return to the PGA Tour with this event. It's apparently a big story because he cheated on his wife multiple times. I guess that's what it takes to be big stuff in the golf world. Personally, I'm rooting for my childhood favorite Freddie Couples, who is leading after the first day.

3) Women's Tourney Finale

UCONN has continued it's winning ways, but for the first time in their 4,367 game winning streak, they won by less than 10 points. Their second consecutive undefeated season and national championship came on the 2 year anniversary of their last lost, and they beat the last team to win against them in the process. And apparently, since there's not enough hype on the WNBA, they had their draft two days after the championship, and one of UCONN's players was the #1 overall pick - shocking.

2) Men's Tourney Finale

Now that all of the David & Goliath, and Hoosiers references have been used up, I just want to say that this really was a fantastic game. It was back and forth for the majority of the game, and the final shot that would've given Butler the win just barely misses, which is quite an accomplishment for a half-court heave. Congratulations go out to Duke for winning the championship, and to Butler for one heck of a season/tourney.

1) Baseball Opening Day

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Baseball began Sunday night with, guess who, the Yankees-Red Sox. But we all know that it really began on Monday afternoon when the Cardinals beat down the Reds. I have a great feeling about this season, but I have a great feeling about every season. Go Cards!

Friday Five, 4/2/2010

Welcome to this week's edition of the Friday Five! It's been another fun week in sports, let's get to it!

5) NCAA might expand Tourney field

The rumor out there is that there is a lot of talk about the NCAA expanding the current tournament field from 64 (okay, really 65 if you count the play-in game) to a whopping 96 teams. Basically, the top 32 teams would receive a first round bye in the new format. That's right, the 1-8 seeds in each region would get a free pass in the first game. Of course, now the bubble teams are going to be the ones who are somewhere around the 100 ranking. It's all about the money, folks. Let's just be honest. Good-bye 12-5 upsets! Hello infinitely more complicated NCAA office pool!

4) Dayton Flyers spare UNC from historic embarrassment

The Dayton Flyers ended UNC's historic run to become the first team to have ever won the NCAA Tourney one year, followed by the NIT the next. Of course, I wouldn't really call that an accomplishment. I wouldn't want to be on a National Championship team one year and then be the butt of jokes from goof-balls such as myself the next by winning the #66 spot in the nation. I really think the 96-team expansion in the NCAA tourney is just a way to make the NIT more irrelevant, if that's even possible.

3) Donovan McNabb trade rumors

I've heard a lot of talk this week about possible trades that the Eagles are looking into concerning their "bum" of a QB. After all, he's only led them to five NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl. What a loser! The biggest rumor that got everyone all worked up would have sent McNabb to the Black Hole... literally, Oakland. It's almost like McNabb is a giant fire hydrant, and the Eagles are the local great dane that eats children and pees where it wants.

2) The Denard Span Incident

I caught this one live. I was watching the Twins-Yankees on ESPN (hey, I'm really ready for baseball), when the game's lead-off hitter, Twins OF Denard Span fouled a ball off into the stands. The ball hit a fan that was watching the game, and that person needed medical attention. Span felt so bad that he ran over to make sure the person was okay. Turns out, the person was wearing a Span jersey. Turns out, the person was there because Span gave her the ticket. Turns out, it was Span's mother. That's right, Mrs. Span was smacked with a foul ball hit by her son. (Just a tip, Mrs. Span, you may not want to let him pick out your nursing home.) What's even better, Span was so rattled that he came out of the game to make sure she was all right, and she was mad at him for coming out of the game. That, folks, is what happens to overly competitive Little League parents.

1) Final Four Field Filled Out

My wife is a flippin' genius. I'm not kidding. Her Final Four, which I laughed at: Michigan State, Butler, Duke, Kentucky (who ended up losing to West Virginia, the final entrant). Wow. 3 out of 4 in this year's crazy tournament is pretty darn good if you ask me. I'm still undecided as to who I am rooting for. Should I go with the local team, Butler, whose campus is just 10-15 minutes from Lucas Oil, and 30 minutes away from where I grew up. Or should I go with Duke, the United Methodist institution that was my second choice for seminary? Eh, maybe I'll pull for both to win, and then meet in an epic final game.

Friday Five, 3/26/2010

The Tourney once again takes center stage on this week's Friday Five, but let's be honest most of us stopped watching just before 8 on Saturday night.

5) Milton Bradley continues to be... well, Milton Bradley

Guess Who? That's right, in a span of three games this week, Milton Bradley managed to get Ants in the Pants and in Aggravation, the umpires ejected him from two of the games. It really just Boggles the mind that Bradley is still playing the game. You'd figure the league would Connect Four dots together and just send him away on a Battleship somewhere to be somebody else's problem. You'd think he'd get a Clue and just say Sorry, but it just seems like he's trying to get the Monopoly on crazy in baseball. Okay, that was fun.

4) Eagles listening to trade offers on their QB's

The Eagles have been listening to trade offers for McNabb, Kolb or Vick this offseason. I think a lot of people were wondering what they were thinking in signing Vick in the first place. It wasn't exactly going to be a dogfight to figure out who was going to be the starting QB in Philly... oh wait, did I just say "dogfight"... oops.

3) Bizarre Opening Day starter announced

Okay, usually, when I have baseball news to report, it is usually in reference to a big story or the Cardinals; however, I couldn't help but talk about this. Mike & Mike in the Morning occasionally has a segment called "News of the Weird," and I think this qualifies in that segment. Vincente Padilla was named the Opening Day Starter for the LA Dodgers. That's right, Dodger fans, the man who has a lifetime ERA of "I suck" is going to be your Opening Day starter. Now, the only reason I figure Torre is doing this is because it would put Kershaw as the starter for their home opener. Either way, it's weird, and doesn't project a lot of hope for the 2010 Dodgers.

2) Butler knocks off the second #1 seed

Syracuse became the second #1 seed to disappoint an eager nation. And by "eager nation," I don't mean my lovely wife, who has Butler losing to Kentucky in the National Championship Game. I've already lost the Swisher Family Bracket Challenge for 2010.

1) Northern Iowa caused 60% of America to stop caring about their office pool

We had guests over on Saturday night. We were getting ready to sit down for a nice supper of spaghetti and meatballs (awesome ones at that!), when I decided to check in on the tournament. And then watched all my assumptions melt away with one critical 3-point shot. Now, I went to the University of Evansville, which is in the same conference as Northern Iowa. Therefore, as a matter of the transitive property, I have defeated Kansas, and thus killed my bracket. I don't really know where I was going with that one.

Friday Five, 3/12/2010

This week's Friday Five might be missing something important. That's because it's being written on Thursday morning. In case you didn't know, I'm a very busy and important person, and I have places to be on Friday... right....

#5 - Athlete's foot is more than a fungus

Okay, probably not the best headline I've come up with. But there has been a trend this week of athlete's sticking their foot/feet in their mouth/mouths. The winners for dumbest things said - Milton Bradley (go figure), Torii Hunter (actual surprise) and Derek Anderson (who wouldn't want to get out of Cleveland?).

#4 - Nomar retires

After a 12 year career, Nomar Garciaparra (just a side note, I wrote that last name without looking it up) retired from baseball. He signed a one-day contract with the Red Sox so he could retire with the team that brought him to the Bigs. Nomar started off his career in a very promising manner, but was held back by injuries. The debate now is whether or not he is a Hall of Fame player, and quite frankly, I don't see it. Good player, great guy, but not a HOF'er. But don't worry, he's going to work at ESPN now... and he's still married to Mia Hamm.

#3 - Wofford makes first appearance in the Big Dance

It's championship week across college basketball, and Wofford won its conference so that it can have the honor of being slaughtered by either a #1 or a #2 seed in the tournament. Congratulations, Wofford!

#2 - First Tourney bid goes to an Ivy League school

In keeping with the same line as #3, Cornell (perhaps you've heard of it) was the first team to clinch a spot in the Big Dance. I have no reason to include this in this week's Friday Five other than to make the "perhaps you've heard of it" comment. Don't know why? Click on the link.

#1 - UCONN women's basketball continues ridiculously long winning streak

The women of the University of Connecticut defeated Notre Dame to win it's 71st straight game, and then proceeded to win their 72nd straight by beating West Virginia in the Big East championship game. Their last loss came on April 6, 2008 against Stanford in the Final Four, and their closest game in that stretch was a 10 point win over Rutgers on March 2, 2009. I'm fairly certain they could beat the New Jersey Nets right now.

Friday Five, 3/5/2010

Welcome back to this week's Friday Five! All sorts of excitement going on in the sports world, so let's dive right in!

#5 - Barry Zito and the Giants can't let things go.

So, apparently the Giants can't seem to let things go. After winning a game against the Giants in the 12th inning with a home run, Prince Fielder and his Milwaukee teammates scripted a little bowling sketch (maybe it was a cannonball, who cares?) that was so awful it could've ended up on SNL. The Giants felt slighted because, since signing Barry Bonds in 1993, they haven't been allowed to have fun on the baseball field. As a result, Zito drilled Fielder in the back with a first-pitch fastball in the first inning of their SPRING TRAINING GAME!!!! You'd figure a team with a weed-smoking Cy Young winner would know how to chill and let things slide.

#4 - Brittney Griner throws down... in more ways than one.

Apparently Baylor University's women's basketball program is becoming more and more indistinguishable from the men's basketball program. Brittney Griner has been making some waves for the #14 Lady Bears. She is one of the first females to dunk consistently on the basketball floor, throwing down some YouTube-worthy jams. Unfortunately, she did something the other night that was also YouTube-worthy. She threw a punch at a Texas Tech player, whose name I don't care enough to look up. Griner has been suspended for two games for the punch, which I don't believe was Hawaiian.

#3 - Jake Delhomme released by the Panthers

Who saw this one coming? Just over a year after signing a "lucrative" contract extension, the Carolina Panthers have released their QB Jake "the Snake" Delhomme. I was just thinking that maybe we should change his nickname to "the Quake" because the coaches trembled with fear every time he went to throw a pass. In all fairness though, I don't think this release was the right thing for Carolina. After all, it was Delhomme's horrible passing that turned them into a running team featuring Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams.

#2 - Canada beats Team USA on overtime goal by Sidney Crosby

The Olympic closed out on Sunday (finally!!!!!) with the men's hockey final between Canada and the US. As you can guess from the headline above, Canada won it on an overtime by Sidney Crosby. Upon returning to the home ice for the restart of the hockey season, Crosby was playfully booed by the hometown Pittsburgh fans, who apparently like it when Crosby brings them a Stanley Cup, but don't like it when he denies the US a gold medal.... bandwagon fans. They, however, may be excited to hear that the Pirates are considering making Crosby a midseason acquisition to extend their streak of losing seasons to 18. Because, let's face it, the Pirates aren't going to get anybody in the seats at the end of the season without such shenanigans. Seriously, I went to a Sunday afternoon game last September that couldn't have had more than 10,000 "fans" there.

#1 - Spring Training games have begun!!!!!

Baseball has returned!!! The Cards did manage to drop their opening Spring Training game to the Mets, but in their defense... nobody cares, it's Spring Training. The two clubs are meeting again today, and this time Pujols and Holiday will be in the lineup for at least two innings. It's showtime!

Friday Five, 2/26/2010

I can't wait until the baseball season starts. I gave serious thought to putting Spring Training at the #1 spot again on this week's Friday Five, but thought better of it. So, without any more boring introduction:

#5 - Canadian women bring home hockey gold

Apparently Canada has had a heck of a time in these Olympics. It's hard being the host and living up to the overly high expectations (just as Albert Pujols about last year's All Star Game in St. Louis). Of course, according to Deadspin.com the real story is that after they won the gold, the ladies decided to celebrate... with beer and cigars... on the ice... and at least one of them is underage. Oh, Canada....

#4 - USA Hockey beats Canada

In what some were calling the biggest US Olympic hockey game since the 1980 Olympic game against Russia, the US hockey team beat the Canadians. It is the first victory over Canada since 1960 for the men's team. The men could very well have a rematch against Canada if both teams win their semi-final match-up today.

#3 - Kentucky gets a little payback on South Carolina

You may remember a few weeks ago, just after Kentucky hit #1 in the Men's College Basketball polls, they promptly went into South Carolina and lost. Well, on Thursday night, they exacted their revenge. Kentucky beat down South Carolina 82-61 at Rupp Arena. Why is this #3? Because it's my top 5!

#2 - Purdue loses Hummel for the season

Junior Robbie Hummel, a key player on #3 Purdue, busted up his knee in the game against Ohio State this week. It is a major blow to the Boilermakers. However, it goes about as far in hurting their Final Four chances as them making the tournament in the first place. In other words, don't expect to see Purdue in the Final Four, with or without Hummel.

#1 - "Old" star running backs released

The running back fraternity took a major blow this week when two quality veterans were released by their teams. LaDainian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook were released by their respective teams this week. Westbrook has dealt with injuries nearly every season that I have had him on my fantasy teams, and LT has had a severe drop-off in production in the last couple of years. This just goes to show you that 30 really is old, so I'm gonna live it up while I'm still young.... i.e. for another 362 days.

Friday Five, 2/19/2010

Not a lot going on in the sports world this week... you know, apart from the Olympics. Unfortunately, I haven't watched a single minutes of the Olympics so far.

#5 - Olympics

A bunch of stuff has happened, and some people have won gold, silver and bronze metals. How's that for in-depth, cutting edge coverage? I don't know what it is, but I've never really gotten into the Olympics all that much. Growing up we used to watch the women's figure skating, but I'm not even really sure why. I think it was the whole Nancy-Tonya thing. Maybe if somebody got whacked in the knee, I'll tune back in.... maybe not. The one piece of big news that I did hear is that Ms. Vonn won gold in something related to skiing. It's a big deal because she caused a bit of a ruckus with her "controversial" Sports Illustrated cover, and she did it with an injured shin.

#4 - NBA All Star Weekend

Again, something that I don't really watch, or care about, but it was pretty big for the sports world this week. I think either the East or the West won the game. Some guy won the dunk contest, and 14 people showed up to watch the 3-point shooting contest because, unlike in baseball, chicks don't dig the long shot.

#3 - Frank Thomas retires

The Big Hurt, who played the last half of his career battling big hurts, called it a career this week. I think we perhaps forget about how good Thomas was for the first several years of his career. But let's face it - he was dominate. AL MVP in 1993 & 1994, a 5 time All Star, won a batting championship in 1997 with a .347 average, also had seasons of .353 and .349. A career .301 hitter with 521 HRs and over 1700 RBI's. In the early '90's, few were better than Frank Thomas. Unfortunately, he continued playing well past his prime (and was still a pretty good ballplayer), and many people may have forgotten about how good he really was. I think he is certainly a Hall of Fame player. I guess we'll find out in five years what everyone else thinks.

#2 - Tracy McGrady traded to the Knicks

Allegedly, this is the Knicks way of clearing some salary room so they can sign LeBron James in the off-season. We'll see how that pans out, but let's not forget that McGrady is quite a player himself. He's not going to do anything to make the Knicks a threat this season, but at least the people going to Madison Square Garden will have at least one name that they'll recognize in the starting lineup.

#1 - SPRING TRAINING!!!!!!!

That's right folks! Baseball has officially begun! Pitchers and catchers officially reported this week, and all the pre-preseason workouts are in full swing. Spring training games start in about a week and a half, and the season will be upon us before we know it. Cardinal Nation is turning its eyes toward Cincinnati where the Cardinals will be opening the season on April 5th, the day after Easter (y'all know what I'm going to be doing on that Monday - chilling out and watching Cardinal baseball on ESPN!!!)

Friday Five, 2/12/2010

I realize that today is Saturday; I'm not calendarily challenged (yes, I did just make up that word). However, most of my Friday was spent in a place without internet, and so I could not do a Friday Five on Friday. Thus, this is a special edition of Friday Five on a Saturday.

#5 - Illinois wins consecutive games against top-15 Big Ten teams

Okay, the real reason this is on here is because I'm an Illinois fan. However, it is nothing to sneeze at when you beat the #5 and #11 ranked teams in a matter of days. On Saturday, the Illini welcomed in #5 Michigan State, and sent them to #10 in a thriller. And on Tuesday, they went into Madison and snapped Wisconsin's ridiculously long win-streak against Big Ten teams at the Kohl Center. Next up for the Illini: #16 Ohio State on Sunday. Talk about a rough 9 days!

#4 - Cavs continue major win-steak

Apparently the Cleveland Cavaliers are pretty good. It seems like they just keep winning. Their count is at 13 now heading into the All Star break. They pick up after the break against a pretty good Denver team, so we'll see how it goes for The Akron Hammer and the Cavs.

#3 - Georgian luger dies in training accident

On the day of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, Georgian (the Soviet, not American Georgia) luger Nodar Kumaritashvili passed away due to injuries sustained in a training accident. He lost control of his sled at around 90MPH and hit a steel pool near the finish line. Officials were unable to resuscitate him.

#2 - The Olympics start

The opening ceremonies for the Olympics were Friday night. I'm not much of a fan of the Olympics, so don't expect to see too much on this space about them. Welcome to Vancouver!

#1 - The Saints win the Super Bowl

In case you haven't heard by now, the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts to win their first Super Bowl. Drew Brees was named MVP of the game, and all the commentators once again get to talk about how Peyton Manning chokes in the big game. Overlooked was an outstanding performance by Colts running back Joseph Addai, 130+ total yards and a TD. As if they needed it, the people of New Orleans were given an excuse to party on Bourbon Street until morning, vomiting and flashing one another until collapsing in a drunken puddle of urine.

Friday Five, 2/5/2010

It seems to be a rather slow week in sports, as we are in the limbo between the Championship games and the Super Bowl. Not surprisingly, the majority of the talk in the sports world is centered in Miami for the build up to the Super Bowl. Ironic how people complain about there being too much of a delay between the LCS and the World Series, and yet there are two weeks between the championship games and the Super Bowl. Hmmm....

#5 - Australian Open

It's not often that I'll dive into the world of tennis; however, it's hard to ignore a major. The Australian Open is the first of four majors in tennis, and so, it is appropriate that it is on this week's Friday Five. Roger Federer dominated Andy Murry to extend his record Grand Slam collection to 16. On the woman's side, Serena Williams beat the recently unretired Justine Henin to tie Billie Jean King with 12 Grand Slam singles titles.

#4 - Baylor goes into Austin and takes care of Texas.

I don't know why a Texas loss actually deserves to be in the Friday Five for a second time; however, this is really more about the Baylor win. This one is really more for my buddy Joseph, a Baylor grad. It is the first time that Baylor has beaten Texas in Austin since 1998. While the win took place in OT, Baylor held the lead for most of the game, opening up a 13 point lead at the beginning of the 2nd half.

#3 - Dwight Freeney's ankle

This has been one of the major stories that Colts fans have been following this week. It was originally reported that Freeney had a ligament tear and probably would not be able to play in the Super Bowl. The latest that I have seen is that he is doing much better and will play on Sunday. Freeney is going to be an important part of a pass rush that cannot allow Drew Brees to have plenty of time to throw if the Colts want to win.

#2 - Pro Bowl played with paltry players in power positions

I didn't watch it this year. Actually, I don't know if I've ever made it a point to sit down and watch the Pro Bowl. This is the first time that they played it the Sunday prior to the Super Bowl, and a lot of people weren't particularly happy about it. Super Bowl teams had their representatives in Miami to be introduced before the game, but did not participate. Considering that was 11 or 12 of the best players in the game, it was certainly a disappointment. However, Matt Schaub and David Garrard lit up the NFC secondary for 372 combined yards and 3 TD's, and Chris Johnson scored with 5 minutes left to give the AFC a 41-34 victory. Schaub was the MVP of the game. That's right, Matt Schaub was the starting QB and Most Valuable Player; do I need to say more about why I don't watch the Pro Bowl?

#1 - Kurt Warner retires

After jumping onto the scene in 1999 with the Rams, disappearing for a while with fumble problems and helping turn the Arizona Cardinals into an offensive power house, Kurt Warner has retired. In 1998, Warner was bagging groceries, in 1999 he was bagging the NFL MVP and a Super Bowl ring. Not a bad turn around. Some sports talkers were saying that Warner doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, but I have a feeling he'll get in and be right at home. He has the top three passing games in Super Bowl history, and the only reason why he doesn't have three rings is because of last minute drives when the defenses couldn't fend off the Patriots or the Steelers.

Friday Five, 1/29/2010

This week's Friday Five was written on Wednesday, and set to post on Friday. For those calendar wizards out there, that means if anything significant happens/happened on Thursday it's getting the shaft this week. If it is super-major-significant, I'll give it a shout-out on next week's Friday Five. So, for this week:

#5 - Top prospect Grant Desme retires from baseball to enter the priesthood

Grant Desme, a top prospect outfielder for the Oakland A's, decided to end his baseball career to pursue a higher, and significantly lower paying, calling as a priest. In case you were wondering, this isn't a case of a guy trying his hand at baseball, being unsuccessful at it, and deciding to go elsewhere. Desme was the sole player in all of minor league baseball to post a 30-30 season in 2009, and he was named the MVP of the Arizona Fall League. There's a good chance that he would have been invited to Spring Training, and even an outside chance that he would have broken camp with the team and traveled back to Oakland. Desme battled some injuries early on in his minor league career that gave him plenty of time to think about his faith. As a pastor, I am always pleased to hear when people decide to pursue their calling into ministry. As a pastor who played baseball from 4th to 8th grade and dominated at church/seminary league softball, I'm a little jealous that he got to play professionally for a little while before entering the ministry.

#4 - Kelly Kulick becomes the first woman to win a PBA tournament

My initial reaction to hearing this story was, "Why do women need to be in the PBA when there is an LPBA... or something of the sort?" Now that I have started this, I realize that most people may not even know what the PBA is - it's the Professional Bowler's Association. It's like the PGA for bowlers. Anyhoo! After bowling for several years myself, I know that there is no reason why a female cannot beat a male at bowling. Yes, it is a bit of a power sport, but there is a lot of skill that is involved, and skill is not gender-biased. However, what sealed this as a top story for me is 1) she is the first woman to win a PBA event, and 2) she totally dominated her competition. The final score was 265-195. She could have thrown gutters for the last two frames and probably have won.

#3 - UK gets second #1 ranking of the decade... and then loses to South Carolina

Last week, I mentioned that Lexington, KY was probably going into some sort of hysteria because UK was going to move into the top spot in the college basketball rankings. Indeed, from what I saw on Facebook from my Lexington friends, that is what happened. On Monday, UK was announced at the new #1 in men's college basketball, and on Tuesday, they went out and stunk it up against an inferior foe in South Carolina (who was 11-8 before the game). I'm pretty sure some people in Lexington bars were ready for Calipari to get fired so Pitino could come back to UK and they could once again, rise to glory... and fall very quickly.

#2 - Arenas and Crittendon suspended for remainder of the NBA season

Apparently Gilbert Arenas and Javarias Crittendon forgot that in 1997 the NBA team in Washington, D.C. changed their name from the Bullets to the Wizards, and in doing so, decided to bring what they thought was the team mascot to the locker room. As a result, the Wizards lose two players for the season, and fall further into mediocrity.

#1 - NFC/AFC Championship Games

The Super Bowl has been decided, and I can't help but take some credit for it. Here's how it played out: Katie and I were at Wal-Mart doing some grocery shopping when the AFC game between the Colts and Jets started. We get out to the car and I found the game on the radio, score tied at 0-0. The Colts drive down the field and kick a field goal to go up 3-0. I get annoyed at the radio commercial and shut it off. I turn it back on and Feely is kicking an extra point to put the Jets up 7-3. Colts get another field goal to make it 7-6. We get home and I start taking everything in the house and putting the groceries away. I come back, and the Jets are up 17-6. Hmmm. So, I finally sit down to watch the game. Feely misses a field goal, and a couple plays later, Manning hits Collie for a 16 yard touchdown. I'm feeling pretty good about a 17-13 deficit going into the half. From that point on, Manning cuts up the Jets top-ranked defense, and the Colts stop the Jets top-ranked running game. Colts win 30-17. You're welcome.

Later that night, Katie and I go downstairs to watch television. The Saints and Vikings are tied up at 28, and the Vikings have driven down to field goal range with less than 2 minutes left. It's 3rd down, and I am thinking that the Vikings are probably going to run it to the middle of the field and kick a field goal to win it as time expires. Then I see that it's a passing play and I say to my lovely wife, "About the only chance the Saints have now is for Brett Favre to do something stupid, get intercepted and have it returned for a touchdown." As soon as I am done saying that, Favre does something stupid and the Saints intercept the ball. They don't return it for a touchdown, but they do get the ball in overtime and end up kicking a field goal to send them to the Super Bowl in Miami. Saints win 31-28. You're welcome.

Friday Five, 1/22/2010

And here's your top 5 stories from the world of sports; at least, the world of sports as I see it, for the week of 1/15-1/21.

#5 - #1 Texas loses to #9 Kansas State, and it's no upset.

College basketball's #1 ranked team brought it's 17-0 record into Manhattan, Kansas to face the K-State Wildcats, and left with its longhorns a little shorter. But here's the thing, Kansas State reacted to the win like they expected to win. And, of course, maybe that's not so far-fetched. Kansas State was 15-2 entering the game, and had only lost one game at home this year. In fact, I haven't seen anything to verify this, but I heard that K-State was actually favored in this game. This loss by Texas left Kentucky as the sole unbeaten in college basketball, so euphoria is setting in in Lexington... at least until Calipari leaves for a better job and Kentucky ends up getting investigated and placed on sanctions.

#4 - Memphis loses its first conference game

Speaking of Calipari, the now Calipari-less Memphis Tigers lost to UTEP to snap its 64 game conference winning streak. In the game recap, it mentions that Memphis senior Pierre Henderson-Niles has never lost a conference game. Wait a minute, Memphis has a guy that stuck around for his senior season? Regardless, a 64 game conference win streak is pretty impressive, even if you do play in Conference USA, known for such college basketball powers as Rice, SMU, and Tulane... Wait, what?

#3 - Kobe v. LeBron II

Now, it's not very often that I'm going to have a lot to say about the NBA, and this is the reason. The Laker-Cavs game had been billed as Kobe v. LeBron all week. It was supposed to be the matchup of the year with two of the best players in the game today. But here's the thing: basketball is a team sport. It wasn't like Kobe and LeBron were going to go one-on-one for a full 48 minutes. There are always going to be another 8 guys on the floor. Are these two of the most exciting individuals in the game right now? Yes, but they aren't the only ones. Oh, by the way, Kobe became the youngest to 25,000 career points, LeBron dropped 37 points and the Cavs won.

#2 - Young pitchers making big news

I couldn't pick between the two stories, so I thought I'd join them into one story instead. Mariner's pitcher Felix Hernandez signed an extension to stay with the Mariners for at least another 5 seasons. The deal is reportedly worth $78 million and will keep Felix in Seattle until 2014. The Mariners, with their offseason moves, have apparently put themselves in a position to be the favorites in the AL West. And the second young pitcher making waves is the pot-smoking, Cy Young-stealing, phenom Tim Lincecum, who filed for a record $13 million in arbitration. I don't know much about the arbitration process, but I know that the player submits a figure, the team submits a figure and the arbitration wizard decides how much the player will be making next season. The Giants countered with an $8 million figure. I think Lincecum has a pretty good chance of getting his money, seeing as he has won two Cy Young awards in his young career.

#1 - NFL Playoffs

In case you didn't know, the Divisional round has happened since last week's Friday Five. The Vikings embarrassed the Cowboys, the Saints sent Kurt Warner off into the sunset, the Colts looked refreshed against the Ravens, and the Chargers managed to blow their shot at shutting up Rex Ryan and the Jets when All-Pro kicker Ned Kaeding missed three field goals and they lost by 3 at home. It does set up some good match-ups for the Conference Championship games. The NFC's top 2 teams get to decide who is really the best, and the Colts have a chance to prove that they could have easily beat the Jets had they not pulled their starters in the 3rd quarter of their Week 16 game.

Friday Five

The Friday Five is, hopefully, going to be a weekly edition, we I take a brief look at the top 5 sports stories of the week. I'm attempting to be more disciplined about my blogging, and hopefully, this will help be write more often.... or I'll stop inside of two months. One or the other....

Anyway! This week's Friday Five:

#5 - Favre/Cowboys press conference bantering.

Brett Favre continues to endear himself to the nation by saying stupid things. In a press conference earlier this week, he said that it would be a "shock" if they are not spending next week preparing for the NFC Championship Game. But would it really? The Cowboys are playing very well right now, and the same cannot be said for the Vikings down the stretch. Cowboys safety Gerald Sensabaugh said in reply, "We have to beat ourselves. The way we're playing right now, I don't think we can be beat."

On the one hand, it's nice to see players having so much confidence in their team's ability to win the game. One the other hand, this is the reason why there is a phrase "bulletin board material." Playing for the NFC championship is going to be motivation enough to have every body jacked up to play a great game. Is there really any need to be cocky and arrogant about it? Not really. This will probably be a good game, but that's it. It's the Divisional Round guys. Keep it to yourselves.

#4 - Blake Griffin, NBA #1 overall pick, injuries knee and will not play this season for the Clippers.

The Clippers continued their fall from mediocrity just a few years after making the playoffs. They ended up with the #1 overall pick and selected Blake Griffin, the Oklahoma big man. However, Griffin injured his knee after landing awkwardly from a dunk in the final preseason game. He had be rehabbing the injury, but the increased workload ended up requiring surgery that will end his season. The good news is that he still retains his rookie status... I'm not sure why that's good news, but there had to be something to put there.

Griffin becomes the second #1 pick in the last few years to injure himself and miss his rookie season. Indianapolis product Greg Oden left after one year at Ohio State when he was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, and ended up missing his rookie season due to injury. This brings up the question of whether or not teams should be looking at drafting big with their high draft picks. Big guys have a lot of weight on their frame, and a larger chance of being injured. Is it worth the risk? It's hard to put a blanket statement out there, but in the last couple of years, it hasn't looked like too good of an idea.

#3 - Pete Carroll returns to the NFL to coach the Seahawks.

Apparently this wasn't too much of a surprise, which surprises me. I didn't think that Carroll wanted to work in the NFL again, and after building a legacy at USC, I thought for certain that he would retire from there. And I was wrong. Apparently the Seahawks opportunity was the one that he was waiting for. Not only is he going to be the coach, but he is going to be the executive vice president of the team as well. They are giving him free reign to do what he sees fit to build a dynasty in the Pacific Northwest.

One thing is for sure. Pete is going to the best division to make the biggest impact possible. Let's face it, Arizona has been pretty good for the last couple of years, but neither the Rams nor the 49ers have put up too much of a fight in the division for quite some time. It's basically been Arizona or Seattle for the last several years. To win in the playoffs, you have to get to the playoffs, and with the news that this might be Kurt Warner's last go-around, Seattle is in a great position to build a dynasty.

#2 - Lane Kiffin bolts the University of Tennessee for the University of Southern California.

I already wrote about the reaction in Tennessee to this news. Basically, Lane Kiffin decided to take his dream job, replacing Pete Carroll at USC. This kind of stuff happens all the time. Coaches leave for bigger programs. Let's face it, USC is a much bigger program than Tennessee. The people in Tennessee need to handle themselves better about it, because they are just going to turn around and hire another team's coach, effectively doing exactly what they are complaining about.

All that being said, why Kiffin? What in the world has he done to prove himself on the big stage? His record as coach of the Raiders wasn't very good. It's hard to gauge his impact on Tennessee because he really wasn't there long enough. What happens when Kiffin falls flat on his face at USC because he doesn't have the experience to handle a big-time program? I'll tell you: he'll get fired and wind up as a coach or coordinator in the NFL again. It's only a matter of time.

#1 - Mark McGwire admits steroid use.

And, finally, I don't think this being at #1 on my list is any surprise. Mark McGwire released a statement this week admitting to steroid use during his career, even including the '98 season when he hit a record (at that time) 70 home runs. Big Mac was interviewed by Bob Costas on Monday night so that he could tell his side of the story. Basically, he was injured so much, he thought that they would help him get back on the field. He truly believes in his ability to hit the ball and to hit it a long way.

It was sad, but not terribly shocking when I heard this news. I have always been a fan of McGwire, even before he was on the Cardinals. What gets me now is all the people who think they were justified in withholding HOF votes because they suspected him of using PED's, and now they are saying that they definitely won't vote for him because he confirmed their suspicions. It raises all sorts of questions about what is the HOF - should it represent the best of the era, regardless of what that era looked like, or should it represent the best all time? It's exceedingly difficult to justify the latter because we simply don't know. Players who were the best in the Dead Ball Era may not have made it onto the field in different era. Players get better through the years, and we have to take the best from their time in the game.