Rick Telander Doesn't Trust Anybody

I didn't see Rick Telander's column in the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday until I was already at work, but if I had read it before I left in the morning, I don't think I'd have had any trouble finding something to write about yesterday.

Telander's column was focused on one thing: his Hall of Fame ballot. The ballot he left blank and refused to turn in this year.

I didn't mail my ballot. The stamp is still good.

The Steroid Era has taken the wind out of my sail.

I am weary of the constant insult brought on by doping and stupidity and head-in-the-sand-ism and Bonds-ish arrogance and Clemens-ian tape-recording and duplicity of all manner and the way this has chipped away at the edifice of the wondrous American sport of baseball.

Now I understand where Telander is coming from here. His point is that he just doesn't know whom to trust anymore in the world of baseball. But I still think his not sending in his ballot is absolutely ridiculous.

Especially when he goes on in the column to say things like this.

I read the biographies of the 25 candidates in detail, studying numbers as intensely as an accountant.

Rich Gossage -- nine All-Star teams, 310 saves, 2.36 World Series ERA. I'm delighted Goose was voted in Tuesday.

He deserved it.

I voted for him in 2007.

So he deserved your vote last year, when you already knew about Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and everybody else, but now that Roger Clemens and David Segui's names have come out, you can't vote?

What the hell sense does that make? If you have children, let's say three of them, and you find a bag of weed in your youngest kids' bedroom, do you punish your oldest kid as well because he might have gotten high once in his life as well?

No. You punish the one you busted.

Of course, there's a difference between your kid getting busted with pot, and a baseball player doing steroids 25 years ago. That difference is your kid actually did something illegal, where as baseball players did nothing against the rules.

I won't even get started on the absurdity of what Telander said here.

I saw Tommy John throw some mediocre games. But I saw him come back from radical elbow surgery that one day would be named after him.

Tommy John -- 288 wins -- was a pioneer. He should be in the Hall.

What if Tommy John made his comeback from that tendon grafting because of HGH?

Ok, Rick. Did anyone even know what the hell HGH was back when Tommy John played? Honestly, I don't know.

Maybe things are just different for me because my entire baseball-loving life has existed during the steroid era. I don't know any other game, and guess what, I love the game just as much as fans did before me.

I don't know. All I know is that if I was ever honored with having a ballot for the Hall of Fame, I'd actually use the damn thing.

And not just for a column.

Foul Balls

So Maybe The Falcons Aren't Wasting Their Time (Okay, They Are) - Yesterday I said there was no way in hell that USC coach Pete Carroll would ever leave sunny southern California to take over in Atlanta as coach of the Falcons.

Apparently I was wrong.

Carroll is interested in the job, and he's talking to the Falcons about it.

Southern California coach Pete Carroll is interested in the Falcons' head coach opening and spoke with Atlanta owner Arthur Blank via phone Wednesday, sources at the American Football Coaches Convention in Anaheim told ESPN's Joe Schad.

Blank, who has also been searching for a general mangager, was expected to offer full control of personnel decisions to Carroll, and the sources said that is what intrigues Carroll most. The coach is currently on vacation in Hawaii.

Okay, Pete. Let's think about this for a second. Let's say I had a choice between Jessica Alba and Britney Spears. I could take whichever one of the two I chose, and have complete control over both of them. What they do, and when they do it with whomever I tell them to do it with.

Who would I pick? Let's break down our options.

In the case Alba, you have an established star who's still rising, and oh yeah, she's hotter than hell. With Spears, you have a situation that used to look nice and had a lot of promise, but all we've seen from her the last year is not pretty. Things are falling apart, and fast.

Don't pick Britney Spears, Pete.

The Bears Can Take Derek Anderson's Name Off Their Wish List - So most of the talk about who the Bears were going to go after to play quarterback next season included Donovan McNabb and Derek Anderson.

Word out of Philadelphia is that the Eagles aren't interested in trading McNabb, but that could be nothing more of a way to make sure that if they do trade him, they want anybody who is interested to know that he won't come cheap.

As for Derek Anderson, well, the Bears won't be signing the restricted free agent because he's not going to be a restricted free agent.

The Browns plan to sign quarterback Derek Anderson to a multiyear deal soon, keep him off the restricted free-agent market and let him start at least one more season, Browns General Manager Phil Savage said Wednesday.

In his end of the season news conference, Savage said the Browns have been talking to Anderson's agents and that negotiations could heat up by the end of this week.

So Brady Quinn will be sitting for at least one more year in Cleveland, who now has a situation that's very similar to the one the Chargers faced a few years ago with Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. The Browns may keep both quarterbacks for one more year, but there's no way in hell they keep both in 2009. That's just too much money locked up into your quarterback position, so I expect the "Get Brady Quinn!!" screams to start around the second preseason game next season.

Tyler Hansbrough Fears No Giant - UNC-Asheville has a 7'9 7'7" (Ed. Note: Thanks to Jenks for pointing that out) center named Kenny George on their team. No joke, the kid is 7'7. The UNC Tar Heels have Tyler Hansbrough, who's nearly a full foot shorter than George at 6'9.

That didn't stop Tyler from dunking on the big man on Wednesday night though.

The Big Ten Network Is Starting To Cave

I don't feel like talking about last night's Ohio State loss and what it means for the Big Ten here today, but if you're really interested in what I have to say about it, I'll probably be writing something over at FanHouse on the subject later.

I will say that last night's Buckeye's loss is a huge blow for the perception of Big Ten football across the country.

Another huge blow for the Big Ten's perception as a conference this season has been directly related to the fact that most people can't see the Big Ten, at least not in Chicago. That's because the Big Ten Network and Comcast have been at war since the summer about how much cable customers should pay for BTN and yadda yadda blah blah blah.

If you're a sports fan in this town, you already know the story. You can't turn on the radio for more than 15 minutes without hearing an ad from one side of the debate telling you what assholes the other guys are being.

Well, after the football season ended, the talk kind of died down a bit. Now though, we've reached the Big Ten's conference schedule in basketball, and guess what, people would like to be able to watch it.

And it also seems the BTN is finally starting to relent on it's demands, and may actually show up on Comcast sometime in our lifetimes.

Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said Monday he was "cautiously optimistic" an agreement could be reached with Comcast, the largest cable distributor in the area. The parties began having "productive conversations" in December, Silverman said.

"We're cautiously optimistic because we've addressed what we were told were their concerns," Silverman said. "We've been consistent all along. We want to get a deal done. We're looking forward to hearing from them, hopefully shortly."

Comcast spokesman Richard Ruggiero confirmed that discussions were ongoing. "We have continued the dialogue," he said. "We've said all along we're trying to work out an agreement that makes sense for all of our customers."

There is a different tone to what both sides are saying now as compared to what it was before. The key there is Silverman saying the BTN is addressing Comcast's concerns, which means they may finally be relenting on their insistence that customers pay $1.10 a month for the network.

The BTN also realizes that if they don't work out a deal with Comcast now, the cable company has no reason to even consider negotiating with them again until the summer before football season starts again.

Hopefully the two sides will get something hammered out soon, because I have to tell you, it's really hard for me to cover both football and basketball in the Big Ten for FanHouse when I can't see 75% of the games being played.

Don't get me wrong, I can get by on my good looks and charm for another 5 years, but I wouldn't mind actually knowing what I'm talking about as well.

Foul Balls

Joe Gibbs Is Retiring....Again - After honoring the memory of Sean Taylor with their 21-point loss to the Seahawks this last weekend, the Redskins will be saying goodbye to their head coach Joe Gibbs yet again.

Joe will be announcing his retirement later this afternoon.

After the toughest season of his Hall of Fame career, one that tested his leadership like never before, Joe Gibbs is stepping down.

He retired as coach and team president of the Washington Redskins on Tuesday, three days after a playoff loss ended an inspirational late-season run that followed the death of safety Sean Taylor.

Gibbs will remain as a special adviser to owner Dan Snyder and was to discuss his retirement at an afternoon news conference at Redskins Park.

Gibbs was never able to recapture the magic formula that he used in his first time around with the Redskins, but he did manage to get them to the playoffs twice. He even won a playoff game.

Still, there were too many instances during his return that showed the NFL game may have passed Joe by during all those years he spent on NASCAR infields, and getting out is probably the best thing for him and his legacy.

As for who will replace Gibbs in Washington, my money is on defensive coordinator Gregg (The second G is for victory.) Williams or Tom Cruise.

Blah Blah Roger Clemens Blah Blah - Ok, so I have no idea what to make of the phone call that Roger Clemens played at a press conference yesterday between himself and Brian McNamee.

Nobody says anything in the call, and nobody denies anything either. All I know is that Roger is fighting this thing more than any other player I've ever seen before, which in a way makes me wonder if he just might be telling the truth. I doubt it, but I can't be sure.

Which in reality, is probably all Clemens wants out of the entire thing. All I do know is that the back and forth between Clemens and McNamee is incredibly entertaining. I feel like I'm in high school again watching two girls talking shit to each other in the hallway for five minutes before finally getting down to business.

I don't know when it's going to happen, but sooner than later the hair pulling will begin, and the linoleum will be covered in extensions and blood.

At Least One Good Reason LSU Won - I already posted this video over at FanHouse, but I enjoyed it so much I'm going to post it here as well.

I'm partially concerned about this kid's future seeing as how he's being raised by people who give him bottles of beer and take him to parties, but at the same time, the kid's a natural born entertainer. He's working the crowd at an 8th grade level.



Let's hope his life takes a different path than that of another Louisiana born and bred entertainer who got their start at a young age.