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There will probably be an announcement this week about a new program that I'm going to be hosting in the near future.....check here for details. When it gets finalized this week, I will let you know on this site and on my Twitter account. It will be completely different than anything I've done before, and I'm looking forward to having some fun with the folks associated with the show. I am honored that this particular company asked me to join them in some capacity. I look forward to being a part of their rotating host role in the process. When I decided to leave WFNZ late last year, I made a list of things I would like to do that would be personally fulfilling and challenging. They didn't necessarily have to be sports-related, nor did they have to involve any form of media. It was sort of a "career bucket list". After spending 13 years at one place, it made me feel like I was missing out on some very cool opportunities, and now I have a chance to play catch-up. When the announcement is made...I can check this one off the list. It came sooner than I anticipated. But that's one of the reasons I left CBS Radio; because I had stuff I wanted to explore and accomplish before I decide to chill-out for good, somewhere "west" of the Carolinas. As for sports, it has been a very interesting start of 2011. What in the world is wrong with UNC's Roy Williams? His outburst last week to the media following yet another win over Clemson in Chapel Hill (55-0, if anybody is still counting?) was simply ridiculous. It's not the first time Ol' Roy has given the media and his own fans a reason to rip him....but he earned this one. It was inexcusable as a coach, much less the head man at a school that loves and has supported the basketball program like the one at UNC. Plus, as I tweeted last week: if Coach Williams needs a smile, he just needs to check out my "Infamous ACC Index Card". The Heels are doing quite well in that department....of course the Heels dominated the stats last year, and they were the 10th-seeded team in the ACC. How about the deal last week between ESPN and the University of Texas? I thought it was a brilliant move by both parties....The Worldwide Leader will fork over 300 million bucks over 20 years to launch the University of Texas TV Network. ESPN continues to be one of the smartest, boldest companies on the planet....they are powerful and progressive with their thinking. Texas is a great brand and they have a rabid following. There are only a handful of schools in the country that could pull off this deal in a perfect setting, and the Longhorns are one of those schools. Now granted, if you are somebody like Texas A&M or even Oklahoma, you gotta be pissed-off. The deal gives Texas a huge advantage over not only what's left of the Big XII (that is what they are still calling their 10-team league), but anybody else around the country, for that matter. This deal makes the ND/NBC arrangement look like chump change. The deal also begs the question of why does Texas need the Big XII? The Longhorns leveraged everyone in the expansion process, and they came out laughing all the way to the bank. I can assure you that there are many school presidents and athletic directors that are taking a close, hard look at this relationship and set-up. Speaking of Texas, Jerry Jones and the NFL are selling tickets outside of the stadium for the Super Bowl.....for a mere 2 C-notes you can stand in the parking lot and watch the big game on a Texas-sized jumbotron. I doubt they will let you bring your own cooler NASCAR-style....if so, you know they'll have to charge you for that one, too. What a deal. I've been to the new JerryWorld Stadium, and it is awesome. But they would have to pay me 200 bills to watch a game from the parking lot. Jones is excited about the league approval because the NFL will count those poor fools outside the stadium in the official attendance figures, as Jerry and the boys look to break the Super Bowl attendance record. In case you didn't know, nearly 104,000 showed up at the Rose Bowl in 1980 to watch the Steelers win another Lombardi Trophy. Why don't they open up the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington across the street and jam another 50,000 fans and charge them $50 to witness the miracle of the NFL's Super Bowl? There's even a super-sized Wal-Mart between the two stadiums...how about for 20 bucks, you can walk in and grab a seat in a cozy recliner and watch the game against a wall of flat screens? I love the attitude of the folks in Texas, and they do love their football.....but you'd have to be an idiot to go for that deal. I hate the LA Dodgers. They are the only team in sports that I truly hate....and I "hate" to use the word "hate"...but in this case, it applies.
It's only natural, since I am fan of the SF Giants....and have I mentioned lately that they are the World Champs? This week, one of the biggest lard-asses on the planet, the late Tommy Lasorda (he's been dead to me for decades), decided to run his mouth about the current World Champs of baseball. As for the Giants' World Series title, Lard-sorda said: "Well, it took them 50 years to win it. It may take them 50 more; I don't know." The reason he doesn't know is because he's still suffering from memory loss after Vlad Guerrero's bat knocked his fat ass over in the 2001 All-Star game in Seattle. I love it when a guy runs his mouth about the champs, when his team hasn't won anything in recent memory. Here are the facts:
Beat LA.....somebody prop up Tommy-Boy from his nap, and cut up his noodles. 70-year-old Larry Brown is bored.....wait until he's as old and senile as Lasorda. After being fired by Michael Jordan and the Bobcats, he wants to get back into coaching. Isn't this the same guy that was having a tough time last summer deciding if he should spend time with his family in Philly or return to coach the Bobcats in 2010-11? I thought so. So, after a couple of months of "Honey Do's", he has to get out of the house. I can't blame him. I'll tell you who should hire Larry Brown.....Wake Forest. The Deacons are one of the worst-looking ACC teams I've seen in quite some time. The 39-point effort against Georgia Tech set the Deacon program back to the days of Billy Packer, for crying out loud. I take that back....the Deacs were pretty good in the early 60's...or at least Billy tells me that was the case. It's hard to believe that Wake Forest was the #1 ranked basketball team in America, just two years ago. Today, they are getting pounded by the likes of Stetson and Presbyterian College and somehow scoring together less than a point a minute against a dog like Georgia Tech. Ron Wellman has made some great hires and moves at Wake Forest...he still has time to save face with his basketball program. Championship Sunday in the NFL was a bit of a downer. I wasn't surprised to see Pittsburgh and Green Bay win....I picked both of them on Friday's TV commentary....it was the manner in which both teams controlled the game. The Packers and Steelers were simply better and deserved to win and move on to Big D. One thing is certain: the hype will be great, and so will the setting. Both fan bases will travel and swarm the Metroplex....it will be a tough ticket, even with 100,000 fans in attendance. I think Dallas will be an awesome host city....it's one of my favorite places in the country. Between a great venue, great fans, a rabid football city, along with great nightspots....what is there not to like about Big D as a Super Bowl city? I can only imagine how nervous Cowboy fans will be the next couple of weeks, knowing that the Terrible Towels are headed their way. There is no love lost between the two franchises....and if Pittsburgh wins, they will claim their 7th Lombardi trophy....and to do it in Dallas. Ouch. |
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