I haven’t been happy with the appearance of WhoLurks. The Blogger people seemed to have reset my colors and it looks like shit. As it was, I wasn’t happy with the way the blog looks. I want to have a different set up. So it’s going to be a couple days, but WhoLurks is going to be relaunching through a different site.

This is similar to Tiger Woods having to breakdown his swing and take a step back in order to move forward.

So give me a couple days, I’ll have something good coming for you all.

Victory is sweet! I had a blast being a part of the Around the Horn competition on Who Lurks, and I can’t say I’m at all surprised my superior reasoning, arguing skills and ability to relate best to Morales landed me the title and subsequent Face Time privileges. My original topic was going to be on the pros and cons of ESPN’s ridiculous influence on sports in this country, but it’s more of an editorial topic so I’ll save that post for another time and not bash the Worldwide Leader since it’s show was the inspiration for our little ATH competition. So, after I rebounded from a poor first-day showing and rallied to win the WhoLurks ATH blog-off, I’m going to take my face time privileges to tell you that it might be time to add another award, separate from the MVP, to the end of the season agenda.

Personally, I’m tired of having the same debate year in and year out, no matter the sports, over what constitutes the criteria for whom to vote for in a MVP race. No matter what the sport, there are a hundred different ways someone could choose to evaluate the term “most valuable,” and very infrequently do they do so in a literal sense, and there really is no right or wrong answer at this point. Is it the player with the best individual stats? Best player on the best team? Player who played best when it mattered most? Player who, if you removed them from their team, their team would suffer the most? Do they have to play for a playoff contender? Does it go to the most deserving player? All of those have been defended as being the best argument in an MVP race. Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com recently wrote an article wondering aloud if any of those are the right way to judge (in the NBA), or if it’s a still-unknown UDF (Ultimate Deciding Factor) that will reveal itself over the season’s final stretch. Truth is, there is no definition that sufficiently indicates how a sportswriter (usually the voters for an MVP award) should vote, so each votes based on their own interpretation. So while that increases the debate, it also means that the vote is being spread across different criteria for the same award. The two main sports this matters in are the NBA and MLB. In both sports, the debate rages over the season’s final weeks. Should A-Rod or Andre Dawson have won their MVP Awards that came when they played for teams well outside the playoff chase? Is Dwayne Wade a serious contender for this year’s NBA MVP despite playing for a team 5 games over .500 (as compared to 44 and 41 for LBJ and Kobe, respectively)?

Introducing an award for the Most Outstanding Player (as is done in the NCAAs) separates what is valuable and what is sheer outstanding performance. Baseball attempted to resolve the annual debate by introducing the Hank Aaron Award in 1999. Problem is it didn’t. It recognizes the “top hitter in each league” but uses a point system to determine it and no one seems to give a damn about it. Know who won in 2008? Bet your first guesses weren’t Kevin Youkilis and Aramis Ramirez. And it also does not solve the debate in years where a pitcher makes a legitimate case for inclusion in consideration for the MVP. Yes, I’m aware they also award a Cy Young Award, but pitchers have the deck seriously stacked against them to merit any MVP discussion, which sometimes they deserve. An MOP type of award would allow for baseball to choose a best player based on performance alone, and then recognize a player that maybe embodies the term “most valuable” a bit better.

In the NBA, how hard is it to figure out right now who to vote for? Kobe and LeBron are putting up great numbers on the league’s top two teams, while D-Wade is putting up eye-popping numbers on a mediocre team, while the actual players who may mean more to their team than anyone else are Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. So which way do you go? To me, the fact that Wade is getting any mention in the MVP race is ridiculous. His stats are fantastic, but the Heat’s ceiling is maybe a first round win. Charles Barkley actually put it best a few weeks back on TNT in saying that Kobe did not win an MVP while carrying a Lakers team to a couple low-seeded playoff appearances while averaging 35 ppg, how can we now reward Wade for doing the same thing? Wade’s story is so much better because it’s a “revival” theme and the Heat were so terrible the year before, but they also played without him so of course they were bad and were going to be better this year. Maybe no one thought over-.500 better, but significantly better. He’s been putting up some incredible numbers, and if there was an MOP Award for the NBA (and I had a vote), he would easily get my support. But he is not the MVP. If you asked me, it would be LeBron, followed closely by Kobe. And there should not be a debate on that. But Wade does deserve recognition (and since there is no Comeback Player of the Year Award in the NBA), he should be getting an award that recognizes his performance as best individual performance of the year, but not anything that associates it with the “Most Valuable.” Some will vote for him because there definition of “most valuable” translates to “best stats” or even “performance of team without player” but I feel that the MVP really comes from an elite team.

Anyways, that’s my opinion. I would love to hear how other people judge the “MVP” or if they think this would be doubling up. I realize sometimes the same player may win both awards, but then that would be for a truly outstanding achievement (best individual stats while being on an elite team) worthy of the proper recognition. So hopefully I’ll get some opinions from my ATH competitors…it was fun competing against you and I can’t wait to defend my title whenever ATH makes a return appearance on Who Lurks.

Who is your favorite WhoLurks poster?
Amanda: 7 votes
Brody: 3 votes
Big CM: 10 votes
Scotto: 2 votes
Nate the Slut: 2 votes
Gallagher 2 votes

Considering everyone could only vote once, we still got 26 total votes. That’s a pretty solid turnout.

And thanks everyone, at the very least I didn’t want to lose to Amanda. I’d never hear the end of that one. Chances are you all love her posts more than mine, but just wanted to make me feel good. That’s the story I’m going to stick to.

Speaking of Amanda’s posts…

She has started her own blog. I’m going to have to find some new guest posters for WhoLurks. First Gallagher goes and starts his own blog, now Amanda? What’s next? Nate the Slut? Anyways, check it out here… http://livinthedream.vox.com/

And once again, it’s time for another WhoLurks Mailbag. Submit your questions at chrismorales3@yahoo.com

We’ve reached the end of the regular season in fantasy hoops. Playoffs are coming…more on that later.

This week’s North & South will highlight the last month.

North Point Guard: Jason Kidd, Luke Walton’s Stalker
Apologies to Chris Paul, but old man Jason Kidd has put up some pretty solid numbers the last month. Did it do Brandon and good for his playoff hopes? Doesn’t look like it… but there is still a chance. 92 percent from the free throw line, 109 boards, 134 assists to 38 turnovers.
Honorable Mention: Chris Paul, Mo Williams

South Point Guard: Allen Iverson, The Torero Terror
Mark, you should have traded me Iverson a few months ago. He’s done absolutely jack shit since then. He’s only played 3 games in the last month, putting up just 38 points, and 8 assists on 39 percent shooting. That didn’t help your playoff cause.
Dishonorable Mention: Rajon Rando, Mike Bibby

North Shooting Guard: Dwayne Wade, Say it Ain’t So
Ladies and Gentlemen, your #1 ranked fantasy player the last month. 54 percent shooting, 25 3’s, 491 points, 132 assists, 37 steals, and 19 blocks. Let’s just say that Wade is an absolute lock to go in the 3 picks next season.
Honorable mention: Brandon Roy, Jason Richardson

South Shooting Guard: Danny Granger, Hawesome
Playing in just 4 games (all recently) didn’t help Granger’s cause. He’s back, just in time for my most likely disappointing playoff run… he’s still working out the kinks, shooting just 39 percent, good for 84 points, and 28 boards. But he’s back, and the Pacers are kind of still in the eastern conference playoff picture. That in itself is amazing.
Dishonorable mention: Caron Butler, Manu Ginobili

North Small Forward: Ron Artest, Hawesome
One of the ways I didn’t fall off the face of the earth when damn never everyone on my team. The guy made 44 3’s in the last month. Throw in another 334 points, 93 boards, and 30 steals. It’s no wonder the Rockets are in 1st place. Now let’s see if they get past the 1st round of the playoffs…
Honorable mention: John Salmons, Gerald Wallace

South Small Forward: Shawn Marion, The Vanillas Gorillas
I thought we were friends Shawn Marion. You know how Wade is a lock to go in the top 3 next year? Marion is a lock to be boycotted by numerous current Marion owners. No way Gallagher picks him next year. You know what sums up Marion’s month? 13 games and ZERO 3 pointers.
Dishonorable mention: Richard Jefferson, AK-47

North Power Forward: Troy Murphy, Say it Ain’t So
Save from the random Spicoli reference… Murphy has been outstanding the last 30 days. 49 percent shooting, 36 3’s, 247 points, 182 boards, and just 14 games. For a guy who was the preseason 80th ranked player, he comes in the last 30 days at #5. No big deal.
Honorable mention: Antonio McDyess, Boris Diaw

South Power Forward: Kevin Garnett, Mighty Pumpkin King
Way to take a giant dump on Fulton’s team. Even though Fulton checked out a couple weeks ago, I’m still taking this opportunity to call him out for being a slut. KG played in just 2 games, with 20 points and 8 boards… in the last 30 days. Annnnd thanks for coming KG.
Dishonorable mention: Zach Randolph, Carlos Boozer

North Center: Andrea Bargnani, Made of Glass
With Shawn Marion taking a shit in Toronto, Bargnani has picked up the slack. 54 percent shooting, 26 3’s, 271 points, and 21 blocks. Not only that… just 27 turnovers with all the additional touches. Maybe this former #1 pick is going to work out after all.
Honorable mention: Yao Ming, Brook Lopez

South Center: Marcus Camby, Mighty Pumpkin King
Not trying to pick on Fulton now… but Camby also took a giant dump on him. 104 total points in 11 games… and just 17 blocks. We’re used to double or even triple that amount. Just 92 boards too. He might as well be the 2nd coming of PJ Brown at this point.
Dishonorable mention: Tim Duncan, Tyson Chandler

This week we’ll tackle the fantasy playoffs and outlooks. Good luck, and to those of you who’s season is over… there’s always baseball.

In case you all didn’t already figure out, Scotto is our winner.

Scotto: 23 points
Nick: 21 points

While both gave valiant efforts, Scotto came through in the end with his Al Davis knowledge, Johan Santana numbers, and cougar mamba trivia.

So congrats Mike. I hope you are working on something special for your face time on Monday. There is no word limit. Knowing your previous no-limit posts, this could be pretty spectacular.

Nick, solid work, I hope you had a good time all week. And thanks again to Brody and Gallagher for participating. Scotto, I’ll send you a prize in the coming week. I think I know the address…

Till next time, which will most likely be in a couple months.
Also, I think I’m going to start to collect questions for the 2nd WhoLurks Mailbag. So bring your questions on. Feel free to email them to me at chrismorales3@yahoo.com

Scott Boras wants 50 mil for a guy who hasn’t played pro ball yet? Umm really? This is a quote from Peter Gammons latest article (mostly talking about Matt Holiday and how, in theory, he’s going to have a great year and prove everyone wrong that he’s not a Coors Field product.
“some club officials think that if Washington takes San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the first overall pick, Boras will ask for Daisuke Matsuzaka money (six years, approximately $50 million) or take him to Japan for a year, a threat that may scare Stan Kasten into selecting a lesser prospect.”
If I recall the record bonus/contract for a player was the infamous Travis Lee situation from a while back. Ironically Travis Lee also went to San Diego State and also was a Golden Spikes Award winner. I’ll go out on a limb and pronounce Strasburg the 2009 Golden Spikes Award winner. If Scott Boras wants to take his client to Japan then good luck with that. See how baseball treats you if that happens. Do I forsee a 10 million dollar bonus in the future? Oh yes. I hope the Nationals have the balls to take him and deal with Boras.

According to a local article, the Angels are looking to trade Gary Matthews Jr.
Does this really surprise anybody? That contract was ridiculous at the time. 5 years and 50 million for a guy who had ONE good season and was basically given up on by 5 other teams? I don’t care how desperate you were for a center fielder, that was a moronic move on their behalf. But now you think… what kind of deals would “make sense” for a trade? The one I think of immediate is Fukodome for Matthews Jr. Both have about 30 mil left on their deals. Both could use a change of scenery (already)… and at least Matthews Jr can play center field. I mean do the Giants try to dump Zito? The Angels have been linked to Todd Helton in the past… but let’s just say, nobody wins in all of these trade options.

Apparently today is Matt Holliday day… Buster Olney wrote a good piece on what teams might be in on Holliday when he’s inevitably a free agent in 6 months. I’d put good money on the Yankees… chances are they don’t win the world series (again) this year and they get upset (again) and bid against themselves for the quasi superstar in Holliday (again). Even with the economy being in the shitter, the Yanks will still print their own money and sign the guy… they practically have about 30 mil coming off the books in Matsui and Damon… if Austin Jackson becomes a decent regular they could easily sign Holliday for 6 years and 120 mil and feel good about themselves.

The Mets are going to start Livan Hernandez as Freddie Garcia is about 5 minutes from retiring and their blah farm system can’t produce anybody decent enough to roll out every 5th day. They insist they aren’t going to bring back Pedro Martinez. I’ve gone over this before, but what’s the downside? Give Pedro 1 year and 6 mil. Let him roll out there every 5th day and throw 6 innings. Rest him up and come playoff time (in theory the Mets don’t jack it up this year…again) you’d have a solid veteran that’s ready to go to battle. Pedro is back throwing 92-93 as evidence in the WBC, so what’s not to like about the guy? I think as the years go on I lose more and more respect for Omar Minaya. When he was with the Expos he was one of the brighter upcoming GM’s in baseball. For all his abilities he’s f-ed up a lot in recent years. Lucky for him the Mets have the money to piss away…but he needs them to make the playoffs this year… otherwise it’s all going to shit.

Question #1:
Who would be worse for your football team, Adam Jones, Terrell Owens or Al Davis?

From Scotto:
By all accounts, Terrell Owens is a polarizing teammate, but he has always brought something to the table on the field. And in the NFL, where guaranteed money is hard to come by, you’ll always find a team willing to take a flier on getting a year from him like his first years in Philly or Dallas. So I can understand that while the guy is on his fourth NFL team, he’s still got a job. At least he stays out of legal trouble…unlike Pacman Jones. Jones was a backup corner last season with the Cowboys, so you’re definitely not getting the on-field results to justify putting up with his transgressions.
That leaves Al Davis. Did you know he secretly ousted one of his original partners while the guy was on a philanthropic trip to the 72’ Olympics?! Sure the guy won in the past, but unlike bumps in production TO and Pacman have brought their teams, you can’t cut the owner. Now you’ve got an egomaniac bordering on senility making all the decisions…which leads to a seemingly never-ending line of guys like TO or Pacman coming in. At least with those guys, the teams use them and lose them, but Davis just goes after anyone. It’s why they broke the bank for 8 games of DeAngelo Hall last year, or why they drafted McFadden last year and will draft Crabtree or Maclin this year. He just wants the biggest name that excites him. On top of that, try 8 coaches in 12 years, and we all know how the Lane Kiffin era ended. The guy is a nightmare but accountable to no one. That spells disaster for just about any team. Those players can disrupt a locker room, but this guy is handicapping the future of an entire franchise.

From Nick:
Al Davis. Terrell Owens still has some “oomph”, and you can’t fault the guy for wanting to win. And because Pacman and T.O. are both players, there’s ways of dealing with them; you can bench them, you can cut them. You can’t bench or cut Al Davis. He has a track record for overpaying over-hyped players. If I was only good not great, and just got a ridiculously high salary, I wouldn’t need or have any desire to put out 100% effort (ask Javon Walker among others). The only way he goes away is when he dies. With T.O. and Pacman, you risk signing a behavior issue for too much money. Al Davis, as an owner, would be the one risking the behavior issue, and the cap space by signing a player like either one, and I don’t think any of us would put it passed Al to sign either player. Also, you can’t have any kind of consistency when you fire your head coach every other season.

Big CM Scoring:
Nick: 5
Scotto: 8
Both had the correct answer. Al Davis at this point is basically Bernie from Weekend at Bernie’s. Are we sure he’s alive? Scotto brought more numbers and data to the table all while formulating a nice argument. Nick… I expected more from you as the Raiders are in your backyard….almost literally.

Question #2:
Who is the best pitcher in baseball?

From Nick, STILL just living the dream…
Allow me to walk you through my extremely meticulous process. I threw out a half dozen names. I pulled up stats side by side for all 6. I looked at win percentage, total wins, complete games, strike out average, shut outs, ERA average, innings pitched average, and wins average. Comparing these things side by side weeded out Peavy, Hamels, and Lackey; leaving me with Sabathia and Lincecum. Here’s my issue with Lincecum; he’s outstanding right now, but what if, and that’s a big IF, it’s a fluke? Maybe he goes through a sophomore slump and never recovers (ie Barry Zito?). CC is proven. He’s been in the game a long time. He leads all 5 guys listed in wins, complete games, and innings pitched average. He’s tied for first in shut outs with Lackey, and tied for first in wins average with Hamels. He also takes third of all named in win percentage. Granted Lincecum is in first in that, but only with 1.5 seasons; Hamels in 2nd with only 3 seasons. Also, I would like to point out just for devil’s advocacy, CC does not pitch well in playoffs, or in Oakland. He’s still my pick. He’s solid, consistent, durable, and can be a difference maker for a team as he was for the Twins and Brewers.

From Scotto… man crushing on Tim Lincecum….
Look at these comparisons of 3 pitchers and their first 2 full seasons as starters, each of whom won the Cy Young Award in that time:

Pitcher A: 40-13, 3.10 ERA, 4 CG, 2 SO, 390 Ks
Pitcher B: 25-10, 3.16 ERA, 2 CG, 1 SO, 415 Ks
Pitcher C: 36-13, 2.74 ERA, 4 CG, 3 SO, 503 Ks

Each make for dreams of winning many more Cy Youngs for years to come. But which has lived up to it? Pitcher A is Barry Zito, the same Barry Zito that has lost 30 games over the past two seasons. Pitcher B is Tim Lincecum, whom I will readily admit to having a man-crush on and am genuinely giddy about the fact that I dealt for him as a rookie in my keeper league. But looking at what Zito has done since those first two years is the reason why the answer to this question is not Lincecum, but rather Pitcher C, aka Johan Santana. While Lincecum’s first two years have been fantastic, and I am a believer that he has a special career ahead of him, people thought the same of Mark Prior. Bottom line is that he still needs to continue to perform at this level to be labeled as the best. Johan Santana, on the other hand, is a model of consistency. Beginning with the season he was first exclusively a starter, he has made at least 33 starts, pitched 219 innings, won 15 games, and struck out 200 batters in EVERY SEASON, all while only once seeing his ERA above 3.00. And he just turned 30, so there is no reason to believe he’s near the end. So while Lincecum may be the future, Santana has been the present example of baseball’s best for some time now.

BIG CM Scoring:
Nick: 8
Scotto: 6
One thing that Scotto fails to mention is that while Santana has experienced tremendous regular success… his numbers keep getting worse. Not falling off the table worse, but alarming enough worse. He has lost about 4 mph off his fastball in the last 2 years. He’s having elbow issues and his WHIP has gotten worse each of the last 5 years… in a row. VERY alarming. While I believe CC is the correct answer for 2009, I would also have bought into Tim Lincecum…for 2009.

Question 3:
Make your case that your cat is better than the Cougar Mamba:

From Nick:
So in comparing Abu to the Cougar Mamba, there really isn’t much going for Abu. CM is ridiculously cute; so little you want to fold her up, put her in your pocket, and take her with you. She’s feisty, quick, and loves to play. Abu…Well, he throws up on the carpet. He wakes us up every morning around 5am. He gets into the tub and lets it drip on his face, then rubs his wet head, face, and nose on our guests’ ankles while they sit at the kitchen table. He’s overweight, and yet he still begs for food, cat and human. Worst of all, he sheds everywhere. So in trying to convince you, Mr. Morales, Amanda, and the general public, there is nothing I can say that will make you think Abu is better than the Cougar Mamba. However! It’s like a worker trying to explain why they love their job, and remain pumped up even though the team they work for is in last or near the bottom every year. They don’t know why, but they just love it. For Amanda, because Chris doesn’t like babies, it’s like mothering an ugly baby. No one else will love it, but you. No matter how ugly, smelly, and retarded your baby/cat may be, it will be a part of you, your life, and your family; you will love that cat to death, and it will always be your number 1 pet. That is why Abu is the shit.

From Scotto:
Short answer…he’s not. And I hate to say it. The Cougar Mamba set the bar so high as a cat that it made me unsure of if I should even get one because how could it possibly live up to the Lil CM’s sluttiness? Now that being said, Binx has definitely got some potential. He is a hugely personable cat, is actually adjusting to life with my parents’ dogs pretty well, and likes to play around, but he has some quirks. First of all, he and I don’t seem to agree yet on when is an acceptable wake-up time. For some reason, he thinks that it is time to get up and pet him when it’s still dark out. When he makes this decision, so help me God if he can see any part of my body, he’s going to start rubbing on it and it takes every ounce of control in me not to lock him out of my room to go back to bed. And while he is very playful, he can be a biter and shows more of a penchant for wanting to play with the shoelace than the laser pointer, and as CM and Amanda know, that’s a deduction in my eyes. So while he’ll chase the lil red dot for a while, he won’t go 6 feet up the wall after it, which was my favorite pastime with the Cougar.
All in all though, I’m very happy with Binx and I think that it’s still unfair to judge him against the lil CM since I’ve still had him only a month and a half. So while he’s got big shoes to fill, he’s certainly still growing and shows lots of potential to maybe eclipse the greatest one day (like the Lincecum-Santana parallel in Answer #2!)

Big CM Scoring:
Nick: 8
Scotto: 9
Nick makes a great point about having an ugly baby that you just have to love because well I guess it’s your baby. Scotto bring it home here though as he mentions the Cougar Mamba’s tremendous leaping ability. Both cats have their downfalls… neither of you mentioned that your cats meow entirely too much. Maybe we’re spoiled bc the cougar mamba only speaks when answering questions about her slut-ness… but your cats are just way too loud.

if you recall, a few weeks ago I had this post about the same hockey announcer.

There is a new video of the Florida Panthers announcer up. Check it out here:

The standings as of the end of Thursday:
Scotto: 25 points
Nick: 23 points
Gallagher: 20 points

Which means… Gallagher is frozen, his freeze frame is most likely him with a cigar and a mountain man beard. Perfect.

So it’s time for the final questions. I’ve changed the rules. Here you go:
Each question is worth 10 points.
All points before today are now clean, winner take all in these 3 questions.
You have a limit of 300 words per question, use the word count function to keep track of this. You need to get back to me by 7pm Friday, Pacific time.

1. Who would be worse for your football team? Adam Jones, Terrell Owens, or Al Davis?
2. Who is the best pitcher in baseball?
3. Both of you own cats and have met the Cougar Mamba. Make your case that your cat is better than the Cougar Mamba. (Amanda’s Idea)

Cal Poly is looking for a men’s coach.
What’s that? Is that Brad Holland’s music I hear? Because it would make a ton of sense. You know what else would make sense? If Rob Jones followed him there. Does that seem too perfect of a fit? Rob would have to sit out a year, but that could help his transition. He could take the time to get his academics straight and get acclimated to the school. It could be a perfect situation for Rob. It’s no secret that he loves to party and the white girls. Shocking combination for a USD student. It might be best for him to get to a place like Cal Poly SLO and kind of get to a more college town. Not saying he’s going to go hide, but he might want to get to a place that accepts college behavior better than the private, catholic, hollier than thou school on the hill.
And Holland? I mean the guy isn’t really cut out to be an assistant coach. He’s not the best recruiter, but he’s more of a guy that oversees a bunch of shit. Sometimes, to be a head coach, you need to not f things up (like Mike Brown in Cleveland), not be the next Pete Carril.

No matter what team you root for, would you want to be Portland right now? On the outside… Portland Pilot basketball (both men’s and women’s) made the postseason. The downside? Their men’s team made the CIT and their women’s team made the WNIT. I’ve hosted the WNIT twice (San Diego and Virginia Tech) and I’ve said before that it’s the worst event I’ve ever done. Incredibly bad… mediocre women’s hoops, playing games 3 weeks after the season was thought to be over, against another mediocre team, in which you have to sell tickets, and your coaches are all fired up… just a terrible combination. Nobody wins. And for their men’s team? Going on the road to lose at Pacific in the 3rd or 4th level postseason tournament has to be brutal. Not sure what’s worse? To pay a ton of money to go on the road and lose a borderline meaningless men’s postseason game or to lose money and have to host the WNIT? Lucky for Portland…they didn’t have to host the WNIT… congrats….i think.

SDSU Home Game at the…JCP?
No, this isn’t the bi-annual USD vs. State game at the JCP… State is using the JCP for their 2nd round NIT game. It’s the next best thing because their actual home arena is being used by the NCAA for the women’s hoops 1st and 2nd round. Which brings up a question I’ve asked for 4 years. Why the hell don’t USD and State play each other twice a year? Doesn’t it make more sense for State to play USD again rather than Riverside, UC San Diego, or Northridge?? Doesn’t it make sense for USD to play State again rather than Bakersfield, Academy of Art or San Diego Christian? You get to sleep in your own bed. You save money in your travel budget. You sell tickets. You give people in San Diego a reason to care more than once a year (now twice) about your local teams playing each other. Just do a straight home and home. No guaranteed money on either end, just good games, and fun times for the kids and the community.

Speaking of State and their home arena…it’s no longer going to be “Cox Arena” rather Viejas Arena. A VERY nice deal too… 10 years, 6.9 mil… for naming rights. Fantastic for everyone involved. I’ll call it now, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Jenny Craig Pavilion soon becomes the Cox Center and the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Put it on the board. Unfortunately USD won’t be getting 10 years and 6.9 million bucks. I remember when I was at Tech Jim Weaver turned down 1 million bucks a year from Advance Auto Parts… it would have been the “Advanced Auto Parts Complex at Lane Stadium Worsham Field” now that’s a mouthful… but for a mil a year? Yea… I’d do it. That’s a lot of bills getting paid.