Indiana Football Recruiting

Here is a quick update on Scout discussing Indiana's recruiting.

No, Gunner Kiel has not signed yet, but two of his teammates did. That could be helpful in beating out Alabama or Oklahoma for the highest ranked QB recruit. I personally think that Gunner wants to go to Indiana, but knows his talent level is too high to go there right now.

On the plus side if he comes, he can lead the team and potentially turn around the program. On the down side, he might not have any protection or people to throw the ball to which could hurt his draft stock compared to the other two power house programs. I still don't see him coming, but there's always hope.



Lastly. Indiana has started recruiting another Randle El. That's right, Antwaan's kid who plays WR.

Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn Admits to Using Steroids

Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn who was a star pitcher with some control porblems for the 1989 Cleveland Indaians admitted to using steriods today.




Here is some highlight clips of Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn

Joe Posnanski Calls Adum Dunn the Most Boring Player in Baseball

Intresting Article on the struggling White Sox player.

NBA Draft Quick Hits

According to almost every sports pundit I've read recently, this is one of the weakest drafts since 2000. Coming, as it does, during a year with great uncertainty as to the future of the NBA (if there are lockouts in both football and basketball, I'l leaving the damn country), the Class of 2011 is entering The League under a bit of a cloud.

Well, cheer up kids. At least you're not LeBron.

Here are a couple of my thoughts on this year's NBA draft class.

1) How on earth is Kyrie Irving the consensus #1 pick? Let's go to the film, shall we?

He's slower than Derrick Rose and has a tiny fraction of the athleticism. Also, he's smaller. And he can't pass like Chris Paul. I just don't see Irving being that good in the league.

2) Derrick Williams, on the other hand, is a future All-Star. Cleveland should really be taking him #1, and I won't be surprised if/when they do. I love his game. So powerful around the rim, a good rebounder, and terrific range. He's an absolute nightmare for most of the small forwards in the NBA.

3) One of the overseas guys will succeed, and the other two-three will fail miserably. It's just statistics. Try picking which one lasts. I sure can't.

4) The above does NOT include Enes Kanter, who I think will be a viable NBA player.

5) Sleepers. I like Butler's Shelvin Mack as a tough rotation guy, and Purdue's JaJuan Johnson as a big SF a la Kevin Durant (lite, but with better defense).

6) Again, Derrick Williams is a legit baller.

He's only a year older than Kyrie, and he is about five times more NBA-ready. I'm sensing another year of buyer's regret for the teams that pass him up (Greg Oden? Sam Bowie?). He's going to come in and be better than, say, Carlos Boozer... within a year or two.

If you want to read a far better draft preview, head on over to Bill Simmons' Grantland.com (the best thing to happen to online sports journalism that I can recall) and READ THIS.

PS- Grantland.com is named after Grantland Rice. If you don't know, now ya know.

US Open Preview

The US Open is this weekend in DC. Its being played at Congressional Country Club and its a Par 71. The defending champ is Graeme McDowell. Now there are going to be a few story lines that will for sure be talked about to much. First story that will probably talked about way to much is the absence of Tiger Woods. Woods will be skipping the event because of knee problems. This will be the second time Woods will miss a tournament because of his knee which makes me wonder how much golf he has left. He is four away from tying Jack Nicklaus's record but not sure if he we will get there.

The next storyline you'll hear about most likely will be about Phil Mickelson and how he will be going for his first US Open win. He could have already won this tournament before, but he decided to hit a driver on 18 out of bounds. He ended up doubling the hole and losing the tournament. Of course another story you will hear about will be about Rory Mcilroy and can he start off as well as he did at The Masters and finish that way.

Players to watch this year are the usual suspects. They are Phil, Furyk, Rory, Luke Donald, Ricky Fowler. My pick this year to win this year is Luke Donald. The current number 1 player in the world hasnt won a major yet so its interesting how he is actually number 1. I think a win here will help his cause and hes been playing pretty well.

If this Doesn't Get You to Watch the US Open, I don't Know What Will

Golphers clearly have too much free time on thier hands. Atleast we know the US Ryder Cup Team has Chemistry.

Viciedo Could be Called up Soon

According to this article, Kenny Williams has been really impressed with the way Dayan Viciedo has been playing in right field and he could be called up soon.

I am not exactly sure how often he would play if he got called up with Carlos playing excellent in right field. Even if they set up a rotation with the outfielders, it could still be tough for him to find regular at bats.

Plaxico Free!

Those of you that know me well (wait a second, that's basically everybody that is reading this right now... never mind) know that this story has a special resonance for me.

If you've never been in jail, you lucky li'l devils you, let me compare the feelings expressed in this ESPN article to the sense of relief you get after finishing an extremely difficult semester, and it's 85 and sunny out, and you all of a sudden have all day to DRIVE AROUND IN A DAMN RANGE ROVER WITH YOUR FRIENDS YOU HAVEN'T SEEN FOR TWO YEARS. I mean, yeah, unfortunately Drew Rosenhaus is also there, but still... pretty awesome.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=6630528

Look, I don't love Plaxico Burress. I think he's a great wide receiver. I don't think he'd be a good fit with the Bears. But I do think that we as fans should give this guy every opportunity to prove that he's done his time - by the way, it was an insanely unfair sentence - and is ready to return to society and redeem himself.

Plax, wherever you end up, I wish you the best.

Oh, and one other thing, bro. STAY OUT OF THE DAMN CLUB.

Trivia: Title Less NBA MVPS

In the history of the NBA there are 7 NBA MVPs that never won an NBA title. After the 2011 NBA finals, there will be only 6. Name all 7.

Answers will be in the comments on Monday.

Blackhawks Division Likely To Change

With the move from Atlanta to Winnipeg, it looks like the NHL divisions will look a little different starting in 2012. According to this article the three most likely teams to move East to make room for the Jets in the West are Detroit, Columbus and Nashville. This make sense as these are the three most eastern West conference teams and they all play in the Eastern Time Zone.

All three of these teams are in the Blackhawks division, so it appears change is on the horizon for them.

The Current Central Division is

Chicago
Columbus
Detroit
Nashville
St Louis

Personally, I think the following scenario makes the most sense. Winnipeg moves from the Southeast to the Northwest (to join with the 3 other Canadian teams in the Western Conference), Minnesota moves from the NW to the Central and Nashville moves from the central to the the Southeast.

Three moves that make geographic sense, and don't mess up too many teams. Saying that, I've already heard rumors that Colorado could be going to the pacific and Dallas could join the central. I hear if Detroit moves East, then the Penguins would move to the southeast. Then you start thinking of the different scenarios and your head hurts.

Bottom line is, the Central will not have the same teams in 2011-12 as they will in the 2012-13 season.