A Twitter BroMance

In this social media world we live in its easy for people to connect. That is what Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel and Ole Miss cult hero Marshall Henderson have done. The duo exchanged twitters all but shutting down the SEC. The best BroMance in the history of sports.

Prospects Plus: Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr.

Baseball season is almost here, so that means the return of our Prospects Plus feature. During Prospects Plus we break down the up and coming players in the minor league and college players.

Name: Jackie Bradley Jr.
Organization: Red Sox
Position: Outfield
Stats Wednesday against the Yankees: 2 for 4 with a double

Strengths: Has a great eye at the plate. Bradley knows the strike zone better than most players at his age. He has a great commitment to the game. A tremendous outfielder he can chase anything down in the outfield. A winner, won back to back National Championship at South Carolina. When he was at USC he was one of my favorite players in college baseball

Weakness: There aren't many. The only thing that would keep him off the major league roster is that the Red Sox don't want his free agency clock to start.

It will never be the same

For all of the talk last week of Big East Tournament ending as we know it. The grand daddy of them all, The ACC Tournament, is set to go through changes that will change it forever. With all of the talk of the possibly moving the ACC tournament to NYC, Greensboro and ACC are at a crossroads. As a fan of the ACC, the last place that I want to see the tournament its home is in Greensboro. Yes Greensboro.

My Bracket

The Front Page: Selection Sunday

The teams have been selected, the brackets have been now all we are waiting for is the games. Here is how newspapers all over this great country covered Selection Sunday.

   

Once a Heel always a Heel

So it did not go the way of the Tar Heels in the ACC final.
Despite the loss this team continues to grow and one of those in particular that has grown is freshman point guard Marcus Paige. After the game Paige tweeted about the loss and former Heels All American Sean May was quick to offer so positive words for the point guard. It's good to see a former Heel supporting a current one

OTWT NCAA Selection Committee Thoughts

So we have our field of 68 for the NCAA Tournament and for the most part you can't argue with the teams selections. The biggest issue I have with this committee is the seeding of the teams that they selected.

Here are some quick thoughts about the field:

• How is Miami not a number 1 seed. They won the ACC regular season and tournament title and they are only a 2 seed. Would that have happened if this was UNC or Duke.
• The committee must hate Larry Scott the Pac 12. How does the Pac 12 tournament champion, Oregon, ended up with a 12 seed. A 12 seed from a power conference is usually saved for one of the last at-large bids from a power league, not a tournament champion that was ranked for most of the year. 
• A couple of upsets: Colorado over Illinois; Ole Miss over Wisconsin; and Oregon over Okie State.
• Players that America will get to know: Colorado guard Spencer Dinwiddie and Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson. 

A different story

Two years ago the Eagles broke the bank on free agents, this year they took a lower key approach. Their signings left many asking: Who are these guy."

The power of TV

There used to a time when I would have to watch the Premier League on an illegal box at my then girlfriend's, current wife, parents house. Fast forward 15 years and you can watch a variety of different leagues on your tv. This week that is what I did.

Friday:
French League: Stade Rennais vs. AS Saint Etienne

Saturday:
FA Cup: Wigan vs. Everton
Premier League: Aston Villas vs. Reading
League Championship: Crystal Palace vs. Leeds United
MLS: New England at Chicago
Spain: Barcelona vs. Deportivo La Coruna
Mexican League: Cruz Azul vs. Jaguares

Sunday
FA Cup: Millwall vs. Blackburn
FA Cup: Manchester United vs Chelsea
Premier League: Spurs vs. Liverpool

Now I'm not saying I watched all of these games in their entirety, but I did flip between all of them. It's amazing to know that soccer fans in this country have more options than people in Europe or even South American. Isn't cable great.

Eskin Fail

Yesterday I received a text alert about the the Eagles releasing Nnamdi Asomugha later in the day. The report came from Philly sports personality Howard Eskin. Today Nnamdi is still with birds and Eskin is still full of shit and terrible sources.

The end of the treble

Manchester United saw their dreams of a second treble come to end earlier today. The game against Real Madrid turned on a terrible red card against Nani. It's not often you get all of the English papers to agree but they did on the red card, using words like robbed and cheated.

The Global Munich

Last year Bayern Munich broke the bank and signed Javi Martinez for a German record 40 million euros from Athletic Bilbo, that move may have set the wheels in motion to the turn the German giants into a truly global club.

Not saying that Munich is not a global club. For generations Munich has a been a club that has been rooted in German players and coaches but that might be changing. Last years move for Martinez may have been the start of it.

Earlier this year, the German Giants tabbed former Barca manager Pep Guardiola to head the revolution. This is not your typical hire for Munich. In the past they would have targeted someone like Jurgen Klopp to run the show. The Guardiola hire shows that the largest club in German is up for more than more than German domination.

Then today more signs that Munich want to be global club. Rumors all over Europe are linking Munich to signing Neymar for 86 million pounds, according to the British press. The club is no stranger to signing Brazilian. Munich currently has three Brazilians on their roster, no of the quality or cost of Neymar. Munich brought the three in for a total of $30 million Euros.

Would getting Neymar allow Munich to be a force in Brazil? It might.

The changes are coming fast at the German giant, I want to see how this all ends.

How Bale Almost Left Spurs

The idea that Gareth Bale was going to be a star at Spurs was not always a forgone conclusion. Lets go back four years ago when Spurs wanted to sent him out of White Hart Lane. Boy has times changed. Thanks to 101 goals for the photo.

Premier League Playoffs?

The Premier League Title race looks like its over and all that is left to play for Champions League, Europa League and relegation spots. Will this be enough to hold the interest of the avid soccer fan around the world. 

The idea that every season is going to come down to the final minutes like it did last year, is just nuts. Last year was a once and a lifetime type thing. 

Would the Premier League be suited to moved to a NFL type model to crown their champion. Daily Columnist Adrian Durham makes the case for moving in that direction.  

"It’s flexible but you could have the top four involved – fourth plays third, winner plays second and winner of that plays the 'champions' after 38 games in a huge Grand Final at Wembley,'' Durham wrote. "It would generate more money from TV and sponsorship and it would mean more football and extra excitement for fans."

As an American, I'm very familiar with the playoff system and for one I'm not the biggest fan. When you move to the type of system you don't always get the best team as your champions. The best example is the when New York Giants beating the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. 

As the old saying goes "The Table Never Lies" and that is true the way Premier League stands now, if playoffs are introduced to determine the champion, that statement would ring hollow. I would hate to see them change the current format of the league. 

Two faced.

The British press has had a field day with United goalkeeper David de Gea. This photos sums up their feelings. They go back and fourth between him being superman and a terrible keeper.

This is Gus Baby

This is not Dave O'Brien at the World Cup, but I was afraid that it would be. Gus Johnson became the voice of soccer on Fox Sports when he called the first leg of the Champions League epic clash between Real Madrid and Manchester United.

For a first outing it was not that bad. I was at work for the game, so I listened to it on Sirius and they used the Fox Sports audio featuring Johnson and Warren Barton. To be honest, I'm not the biggest Johnson fan to begin with. Never been a huge fan of his over the top style.

But to his credit he was a true professional during the game, he seemed to do a great deal of research in preparing for the game and that showed during the broadcast.

My concern about Gus was that he would not let the game breath and he allowed the game to breath, which was good to see. What makes English announcers so good is that they don't talk over everything and Gus did not. Fair play to him.

Gus said a couple of little things that annoyed me, the main one being when he called the ball a "football"

I think that Awful Announcing summed up Gus's performance perfectly.

"Gus didn't sound like a basketball announcer calling soccer, he sounded like a soccer announcer,'' Awful announcing wrote. "The rhythm of his calls and his excitement as the action reaches a crescendo is a fantastic pairing."

The Premier League Fashion Runway

From track suits to baseball caps to suits. The touchline fashion in the Barclays Premier League is something that is up for debate from Wenger's puffy coat to Sir Alex and Harry suits to Jol's track suit. Recently the NY Times took at the fashion in this great story:  Premier League Soccer Coaches Struggle With Fashion. I wish more coaches would wear suits, I understand that weather can be an issue,  but at least try to look professional.

National Signing Day: An Ode to the Fax Machine

Over the last couple of years as the use of email has become more and acceptable, the fax machine has been rendered useless. Sure most offices still have them, but the constant hum of them has been replaced for the most part by the bing of email in a person inbox. 

But on the National Signing Day, the fax machine takes its spot at the top of the technological chart. Recruits from all over the country will be sending their National Letters of Intent by fax to their schools. Without the fax machine recruits would have to FedEx their letters of intent and that would not be good for television. 

While the concept of fax machine has been around for nearly 70 years, it really gained in popularity during the 60's. A landmark year for fax machines was 1964, in which the Xerox Corporation introduced (and patented) what many consider to be the first commercialized version of the modern fax machine, under the name (LDX) or Long Distance Xerography. This model was superseded two years later with a unit that would truly set the standard for fax machines for years to come. Up until this point facsimile machines were very expensive and hard to operate. In 1966, Xerox released the Magnafax Telecopier, a smaller, 46-pound facsimile machine. This unit was far easier to operate and could be connected to any standard telephone line.

The use of fax machines is not without its negatives, early on National Signing Day FSU officials told ESPN that they were having issues with the fax machines. Lets hope that they got that fixed, so they can get their letter of in intent.

So as we get excited for the classes that our schools get, just remember that the real star of the day is the fax machines. This is one of the few days in the sun that this machines has, so lets respect it.

National Signing Day Giveaway

A National Signing Day giveaway at a liquor store, yes its happening. @birds60 send me this photo of a local liquor store that was offering car magnets to people who stopped by on National Signing Day. Now that is something new.

Social Media: a recruits worst nightmare

As National Signing Day has grown, so has the reach of the recruits. Social media has also increased that reach and also that danger. Social media pose risks for recruits from photos of co-eds to photos at bars. Social Media has really changed the recruiting landscape.