"Stick it, A-Rod"

Those were the words of Dallas Braden's grandmother, Peggy Lindsey, moments after her grandson pitched the 19th perfect game in Major League Baseball history. Sure, she retracted her statement a day later, saying she didn't mean to say that, but don't tell me that those words weren't exactly what Braden and Lindsey were thinking after Braden's pitching gem on Sunday afternoon. In fact, I don't think they were the only ones thinking it either. Braden may come off as mouthy, or even a little bit of a punk, but it's still great, not only for him but for baseball as a whole when something like this occurs. Also, contrary to A-Rod's statement made a couple of weeks ago, Braden is receiving much more than "15 minutes of fame". This guy has come a long way, evident in the tough times he went through before making it to the MLB. Regardless of how the rest of his career plays out, it is likely that the first thing that will come to people's mind when talking about Dallas Braden will be "the guy pitched a perfect game". As for A-Rod, no matter how great his career ends up, it will always be marred by the fact that he took steroids. Quite frankly, I'd rather be a guy who took his 15 minutes of fame and ran with it than a guy who cheated the game.

The possible expansion of the Big Ten has been a hot topic lately, and since my readers are primarily from the Midwest, it is even more prevalent and interesting. It is anyone's guess as to which teams will join which conferences in the next few months (or years), but here is one thing that I am confident in saying: the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will not join the Big Ten. There are a couple of reasons for this. One reason is that their contract with NBC to broadcast their football games is much better than anything that Jim Delaney and the Big Ten Network can offer. Also, rather than having to share the revenue with ten other teams, Notre Dame pulls in all the money with their current contract. Another reason that Notre Dame will stay independent in football is because, at least as of now, it looks as if the Big East will stay relatively intact. With that being said, Notre Dame is part of arguably the best basketball conference in the nation in the Big East. Unless the Big East were to be decimated by the Big Ten and the ACC, Notre Dame would have no reason to switch conferences from purely a basketball standpoint. It looks as if the Big Ten is looking at expanding West (by possibly taking some Big 12 teams) rather than East, which means that the Big East will likely survive as a conference. The last reason that Notre Dame will keep its football independence is, simply put, history. Much of Notre Dame's rich history in college football (which we all know they love to bring up) is due to the fact that they played quality teams week in and week out because they were not limited to the confines of a conference. Although as of late their schedule has been significantly watered down, independence is still something that the Irish hold near and dear. Notre Dame losing its football independence would be as tragic to some Irish faithful as Touchdown Jesus being sold for advertising space. The bottom line is it's not going to happen.

Last week I put up a poll asking readers "who would you rather have on your team" in which the choices were Milton Bradley and Pacman Jones. Pacman received twice as many votes as Bradley, but I am going to have to disagree with my readers on this one. Although Pacman is arguably a more productive player than Bradley (and believe me, that is arguable), Bradley has never had an altercation with the law. Pacman's problems are external, while Bradley's are internal issues that the team can handle on their own. If I were management of a team, I'd much rather deal with a guy on my own than have to cooperate with the police. Also, from a media standpoint, who causes more trouble? Pacman's issues with the law are conversation on Sportscenter for weeks, while Bradley's issues usually only stay relevant in the news for a day or two.

For the next poll, I want to hear your thoughts on which team(s) the Big Ten will take when they expand. I realize that they may take more than one team, which is why this poll allows you to vote for more than one choice. I'm sure this will generate conversation, so leave me a comment in the comments section, or send me an email at aroundthecornsportsblog@gmail.com with your thoughts. Thanks guys.



- K. Becks

"Don't Tase Me, Bro!"

It has effectively been two and a half weeks since my last blog post. I swear, every day during these past two and a half weeks, I have said to myself "I am going to post a new blog entry today", only to fall asleep for two hours and not have time to do so. I don't know why the end of April and May are so busy, but other than the nice weather, this time of year sucks. Anyway, hopefully this is a good entry, because I kind of owe my subscribers (who, at this point, I know every one of personally and who really don't care whether or not I post a new entry) for my absence. So, here you go guys; here's something for you to read instead of paying attention in class.

Most people have probably heard of Steve Consalvi by now, or at least are aware of his famous stunt performed on Monday, when he ran onto the field at a Philadelphia Phillies game and was tased by police. I thought that it was hilarious, and since no one died, I have no problem with saying that. However, on Tuesday night, another man decided that pulling essentially the same stunt would be just as funny. First off, nothing is as funny the second time. Secondly, this guy (who is known as DJ Thoroughbred in Philadelphia) had illegal narcotics in his pocket when he was taken off the field. Not only did the novelty of his action wear off the night before when Steve Consalvi was walked off the field, but when you throw in that Tom Betz (okay, he should have to legally change his name to DJ Thoroughbred for this) had illegal drugs in his pocket, it's just plain stupid. Steve Consalvi is famous for being funny. Tom Betz is infamous for being dumb, and will likely be forgotten in a week. Remind me again which one of these guys is seventeen...

Since we've covered sports where fans go onto the field, we should probably cover a sport where players have been known to go into the stands (okay, I know that was 2004, but I needed a lead into this topic). The Phoenix Suns have decided to voice their political views by altering their jerseys for Game 2 of their playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. The "Los Suns" will be honoring "our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation," according to Suns owner Robert Sarver. I've heard some people say that politics has no place in sports, but I actually like this idea. Sure, I find it hard to rattle off names of current NBA players with Hispanic backgrounds, but this is good publicity for the league. Hell, even Obama is getting into it. If anything, it's probably going to increase ratings for the game tonight, since people will want to see the jerseys.

The Bengals must like trouble. Well, that's a given; we know they like trouble. Cincinnati is at it again, as it looks like they will sign cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones to a deal, after he was out of the league for the entire season in 2009. However, he wasn't out last season because of any suspensions or arrests. No, he just isn't that good. It seems that the Bengals have a knack for picking up players that are troublemakers and not that good, as they also signed wide receiver Matt Jones to a deal. My question is what was their rationale in signing Pacman? They already have a solid cornerback core, and they just drafted Wake Forest cornerback Brandon Ghee in the third round.

This last topic is somewhat dated, but was the biggest event of the last weekend in sports. The Kentucky Derby was won by Super Saver, who was ridden by jockey Calvin Borel. I think it goes to show how important an experienced jockey can be, as this is Borel's third Derby win in four years. However, I think that we're going to have to wait another year to see a Triple Crown winner. The muddy conditions made it hard to determine who the overall best horse could be, and it's likely that both the second and third place horses at the Kentucky Derby will be racing at the Preakness as well.

I've already talked about Pacman Jones today, but I'm bringing him up again for the sake of the newest poll. Jones is a troublemaker, but is he as hard for teams to handle as Milton Bradley? Bradley is in the news today for reportedly asking the Mariners' organization for help with stress. It's kind of ironic that a player who throughout his career has been such a headache for management is now asking for help with his own stress. There's an article about him, and it actually makes me feel a little bad for him. So, what do you think? Vote on the newest blog poll, and I'll give you my thoughts on what I think when the poll expires. As for my opinions on the last poll, "Will the Browns ruin Colt McCoy", I feel that they will. Although Mike Holmgren is running the show in Cleveland now, they still have major issues concerning the offense, ones that will take more than the mind of Holmgren to fix. Assuming that McCoy will be thrown into the action sometime during the upcoming season, he will be subject to learning on the job, just as Tim Couch was. How did that work out for Couch, anyway?


As I said, I'm extremely busy right now, but I'll try to update more frequently than every two and a half weeks. Thanks for staying with me, guys.



- K. Becks