] The AP sent BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg a
] cease-and-desist letter, dated Dec. 21, stating that use
] of the poll is unlawful and harms the AP's reputation.

As if there weren't enough problems with the thing, now the AP wants out? Ouch. Bye bye BCS, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

AP tells BCS to stop using its poll

] In an interview with ESPN The Magazine released this
] week, Clarett accused coach Jim Tressel, his staff and
] school boosters of arranging for him to get passing
] grades, cars and thousands of dollars, including for
] bogus summer jobs.
]
]
] Geiger said many of them were found to be baseless in
] investigations by the NCAA and the university.
]
]
] ``The allegations are so sweeping, so over the top that
] we are going to be forced to spend huge resources, so
] much time and energy and effort, to try and get this
] right,'' Geiger said. ``This isn't going to be solved by
] the Michigan game or by (the time of) a bowl game. It
] will take months, I imagine.'

Gee, wouldn't it be funny if those sweeping and "so over the top" allegations were true? Horrors! Having read some of the things Ohio State does to maintain athletic eligibility (Officiating Softball is a class!) it wouldn't surprise me if it were all true.

Yahoo! Sports - NCAA Football - Geiger glad NCAA is coming to campus to investigate Clarett's allegations

] Capping a season of suspicion and success, the San
] Francisco Giants left fielder became the oldest player to
] win the award. The 40-year-old received 24 first-place
] votes and 407 points Monday in balloting by the Baseball
] Writers' Association of America to earn the award for the
] fourth straight season.

While Barry tends to be much disliked and often maligned, he is also playing baseball like no one ever. Better than Ruth, Mays, Aaron, Williams, or anyone else you want to name.

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Bonds wins record seventh MVP Award

] Roger Clemens easily won his record seventh Cy Young
] Award after putting off retirement and being about as
] dominant as ever -- even at age 42.
]
]
] The Rocket received 23 of 32 first-place votes and 140
] points in balloting released Tuesday by the Baseball
] Writers' Association of America to win the NL Cy Young
] for the first time after capturing six Cy Youngs in the
] American League.

Funny, he doesn't seem that old, but then, he won two of those when I was in high school which was a long time ago. Good for you Roger!

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Clemens wins record seventh Cy Young Award

I saw something the other night I had never heard of before. Bottom of the fourth inning, man on second, one out, the Colorado Rockies gave an intentional walk. This isn't unusual, it was Barry Bonds after all, but they did it with the score 6-1. The Giants were winning.

I was trying to think if I'd ever heard of such a thing and the answer was, no. Barry Bonds is the most feared man in baseball. Ever.

I wanted to make sure about this so I pulled a statitic out. This is the previous best combination of batting, on base and slugging averages I could find. .376 .532 .847 That gets an OBPS of 1.378 (there's some rounding in the actual numbers so it comes out .001 points off). That's Babe Ruth in 1920, what is arguable his best season, and statistically by far his best. Bonds through the first half of the year is doing this, .354 .622 .796 1.417.

Keep in mind, there are only THREE people who have ever broken 1.250 (Ted Williams is the third) and Bonds isn't just beating Ruth, he's beating him handily, and so far ahead of everyone else it isn't funny.

Who else currently stands out? Sammy Sosa? He pulled in a 1.172 one year and has been over 1 a couple times, but he's not close. Junior? Never made a 1.1. How about Big Mac, he of the broken record (before Bonds kicked it to the curb) his best season was 1.222. Not shabby by any stretch, but not even close. Mays? His best season was 1954 and it doesn't make 1.1. Hammerin Hank? At his absolute best, not a 1.1.

Barry destroyed Ruth's walks record years ago. This season he may get walked so many times he won't be eligible for the batting title. A few years ago I thought, as a baseball fan, I'm lucky to be living now, because so many great players are playing right now. I was right, but didn't know I was also getting a chance to see the absolute best.

Hate him or not, no one has ever put up numbers like these.

For sources check www.baseball-reference.com and a very good article on this from the 2001 season at www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1205

Both a bright spot in American History and a sore one. Everyone knows the names Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig, and while most people know the names Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, there are many more that should be known.

Negro League Baseball Dot Com - The Online Home Of Negro League Baseball History