Picking Splinters

Sports Blitz Begins

By Mike Hume

I’ve been possessed by sports. Conference tournaments, bubble teams, high school stat tourneys, spring training, stadium deals, the World Baseball Classic — they all have my head spinning like Regan in the Exorcist. Thus, the power of Christ compels me to write in paragraph blurbs about several of these topics.

• It’s no secret that Commissioner Bud Selig wants the WBC to be a success. Heck, he put the word Classic right in the name. Looking at the early rosters, however it seemed like he was really trying to force things. For instance, MLB.com listed Mark Mulder, born in Illinois, on the Dutch roster. Perhaps it was because he was born in South Holland, Ill. Sadly, Mulder is not donning wooden cleats.

With all of the withdrawals and refusals I was dubious about the value of what amounts to a manufactured tournament. But there was nothing manufactured about the raw enthusiasm oozing from the stands at the Venezuela-Dominican Republic game on Tuesday. Nor from the comments of Chipper Jones, Jake Peavey or Mike Timlin, the latter of that group said pitching in the WBC was more exciting that pitching in the World Series. This tournament could have some merit in the future, particularly now that baseball has been banned from the Olympics, but the fans have to buy in too. In order for that to happen, there needs to be a big story line to grab the headlines away from the NCAA Tournament. The U.S. has to lose (it’s trailing 7-0 to Canada as I type this), or an underdog like Italy needs to advance to the quarterfinals. Alternatively a predicted, though potentially explosive, match up in the finals between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic would probably do the trick too. These round robin games against teams like South Africa and China and Australia, just aren’t doing it for me though. I’ll check in again next round.

• At the time Nationals GM Jim Bowden pulled the trigger on the Alfonso Soriano trade, I thought trouble was brewing and wrote to that effect. Well, call me Miss Cleo, looks like I was right. Now that they’re confronted with a stubborn Soriano’s refusal to play left field, they face the question of whether or not they can actually force him to move. If he says no, they could bench him, but that won’t help the team. Of course it won’t help Soriano either, who is playing in the final year of his contract. After Tuesday’s debacle of a spring training game against the Florida Marlins though, just swapping him for a batting tee might be worthwhile. That way, in the off chance the Nationals push 12 men across the plate again, they might not still lose by 10 runs, as they did to the Fish.

• George Mason Head Coach Jim Larranaga took a brave step when he suspended guard Tony Skinn after the senior took out his aggression on the unborn children of Hofstra player Loren Stokes. After seeing Skinn pound Stoke’s privates, Mason and Larranaga did the right thing in enforcing a lesson in values even though it might cost the Patriots an NCAA tournament bid. Frankly, GMU has played highly competitive ball all season with a big win against Wichita State and in this year when major conferences like the ACC, Big XII, SEC and Pac-10 are down, Mason deserves an at-large bid. If they were to be denied a spot solely because of this suspension, that would be a really low blow.

• Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams might have to make like his mascot and crawl into his shell after the Missouri Valley Conference got wind of his proclamation that they haven’t been “banging down anyone’s door in the ACC to play.” This from the coach who has said he wanted no part of the BB&T Classic if the tournament only contained local teams again. (Read: lower RPI teams like George Washington, who has beaten Maryland the last two years.) The reason that teams in the MVC can’t get games against teams in the ACC, is because coaches like Williams won’t put them on the schedule.

Thus, coaches from the MVC have answered the call, even if Williams hasn’t answered theirs. Coaches from each and every MVC school have been calling Williams all week asking for a home and home series next season. Williams, whose team likely needs two wins in the ACC Tournament to crack the NCAAs, has yet to respond.

• After a disappointing effort against South Florida to close out the season and rallying from an 11-0 deficit in the first half to beat Notre Dame in the opening round of the Big East Tournament, it seems pretty clear what the Hoyas need to do to advance in either of the postseason brackets they’ll occupy. Seniors Brandon Bowman (6 turnovers vs. South Florida/25 points vs. ND) and Ashanti Cook need to play smart and play with passion. When Georgetown plays its best ball, these guys are instigating offense on the court, not just hoisting up threes as the shot clock dwindles. If they can attack the basket and get the ball down low to Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green for easy layups, then don’t be surprised if you see these Hoyas in the Sweet 16 or better.