Quick Hits

Alright so I'm back from my never ending hiatus from posting blogs (not intentional, just have other things above blog on priority list). Lots of stuff going on in wide world of sports so lets get to some of the more interesting ones, at least I think they're more interesting...

-Ben Roethlisburger was suspended for six games due to detrimental conduct. It's not exactly a good sign when you've been accused of two separate sexual assaults in a fifteen month time period. Could these girls be blowing smoke? Sure! But the fact that each, on two separate occasions, accused Big Ben of this makes you wonder what's going on in the world of the two time Super Bowl champ. Some people think six games is too harsh, others consider it to be too lenient, but as one national analyst said, if it doesn't sting, it doesn't help prevent future problems.

-Jimmy Clausen, the "Golden Boy" with the golden arm (any gold teeth?), has slipped into the second round of this year's NFL Draft and certainly isn't all that pleased. Pre-Draft Clausen went on record saying that he should be taken number one overall by the Rams due to his experience in a pro-style offense, which Notre Dame ran in his years by the Golden Dome under ex-Irish coach Charlie Weis. Obviously, sliding out of that slot and then free-falling out of the first round can't make the guy happy. At least his buddy and favorite receiver Golden Tate (man, how much Golden stuff can Clausen have?) is still with him and without a professional team. And of course, in addition to the blow to his ego, Clausen has to deal with the loss of all that guaranteed gold in his bank account.

-Tim Tebow was selected by the Broncos. Not going to talk about it cause all the talking heads on all major networks are already talking about him enough to give twenty people laryngitis.

-The Mountain West Conference is closing in on acquiring an automatic bid to the BCS. The automatic bid is much needed due to the conferences recent dominance. If they continue their dominance for the next few years, they should have this bid locked up. I think the Pac Ten should just discard their bottom five to the Mountain West who can then send their top four to the Pac Ten (plus Boise State from the WAC). Suddenly, the little conferences cries disappear and the Pac Ten is a dominant conference.

-The TD Banknorth Garden in Boston should've charged every Miami Heat player money for a front row ticket to get in. Just like everyone else in the stands, they appeared to have showed up to watch the game, especially when Dwyane Wade had the ball in his hands and was forced to try and play one on five. Not exactly good offense...

Final absurdity: Oakland Athletics starter Dallas Braden screamed at Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez after A-Rod cut across the mound after a foul ball. Rodriguez simply brushed the entire thing off saying Braden needs to relax but Braden was fuming, throwing his glove around while going nuts in the dugout afterwards. Braden said postgame, "The guy ran across my mound. He had his foot on my pitching rubber. Any kind of disrespect like that has got to be handled and that's what I did. If my grandmother did what he did, I'd tell her the same thing." Poor grandma. Look Braden, this "unwritten rule" of baseball is worth A-Rod knowing, but not worth starting a UFC match over. This is borderline ridiculous. So instead of getting your panties in a wad and giving your best audition for post-audition tantrum on American Idol, focus on your game. Cause last I checked, you aren't exactly Cy Young.

Home Field Advantage?

Sitting here watching the Vikings vs. Saints game, I'm wondering why the Vikings players are allowed to wear earplugs to compensate for the crowd noise. The Superdome is acknowledged by many to be one of if not the loudest stadiums in the nation. The dome helps trap the noise, the fans are passionate, and the noise is tremendous. High noise levels like this often cause opposing offensive linemen to commit false start penalties.

So, when thinking along these lines, why then does the league permit the Vikings players, most notably their offensive linemen, to wear earplugs? Teams fight all season for home field advantage so that they don't have to play in hostile stadiums. I believe they shouldn't be allowed to wear earplugs because if they didn't want to be in a hostile building, they (the Vikings) should have won more games in the regular season. That would've allowed them to play in the Metrodome in front of a home crowd who would remain quiet while they had the ball.

If homefield advantage is to remain a big deal, the league should prevent things such as earplugs that neutralize the disadvantage for the opposing team.

Athletes make the coach, not the other way around

Many people mention certain coaches as being the best in their respective sports. While I'll agree that not all coaches are the same, I will disagree that one coach's strategies or policies can change a team of bad athletes.

Consider this, head basketball coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers was hired by the Boston Celtics in 2004-05. He found some success in his first two seasons, including a playoff appearance his first year (lost in first round). His talent tailed off and the Celtics record in 2006-07 was 24-58 (.293 win percentage) and Celtics' faithful were calling for his job. When people named the elite coaches in the NBA, hardly anyone mentioned Doc Rivers (even after being named NBA Coach of the Year in 2000).

Enter Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. GM Danny Ainge brought in talent, kept star forward Paul Pierce, and drafted well to create a team with all the pieces to win an NBA Championship. That following season, the Celtics rolled to a record of 66-16, won the Atlantic Division, and won the NBA Championship over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Oh and guess who was credited with an outstanding coaching job and mentioned by many as an elite coach in the NBA? Yep, you guessed it, Coach Rivers.

My point in all of this is that the coach didn't change, yet he went from being on the hotseat with a poor record to being on top of the world as the coach of an NBA Championship team. So what changed? Uh, those new guys certainly helped. A solid young point guard with tremendous upside plus two future hall of famers in Garnett and Allen made Rivers an instant genius in Boston.

Also, before anyone comes to the conclusion that this is just a personal attack on Doc Rivers individually, that's certainly not the point. I'm simply using his situation as an example to prove my point. Any sport on any level that you look at, coaches without talent don't succeed and those with talent do. Notice Urban Meyer at Florida in college football and Roy Williams at North Caroline in college basketball. Both dominate the recruiting battles in their respective sports and both have found tremendous success. Currently Florida has seven of the top 33 recruits for the 2010 recruiting class according to espn.com's ESPNU 150 and North Carolina had the top recruiting class in basketball this past year according to multiple recruiting websites.

So before anyone tells you that one coach is on a different level than any other coach, check their rosters. I'd be willing to bet their athletes are also on a different level than anyone else.