Attention

Attention Loyal Readers:

Around The Corn Sports Blog will not be posting until after Shark Week has concluded.

Sincerely,

K. Becks

No, I'm just kidding. However, it does seem like everything else on TV does take a backseat when Shark Week is on the Discovery Channel. Twice during work today I changed the channel to ESPN and came back thirty minutes later with the TV mysteriously switched to the Discovery Channel. In other words, I'm going to have to put the DirecTV controller somewhere no one else can find it tomorrow.

Sharks may be taking center stage this week, but a certain "island" is competing for the spotlight, for better or worse. The island I'm talking about is "Revis Island", or more specifically, Darrelle Revis. Today the New York Jets began training camp without their All-Pro cornerback, who is sitting out due to a contract dispute. Revis wants to become the highest paid cornerback in the league, and go figure, the Jets don't really want to pay him enough for that to happen. I think the Jets are handling this situation very smartly. For Revis to become the highest paid cornerback in the league, his contract would have to exceed Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha's three year, 45.3 million dollar contract extension that he signed last season. The Jets don't want to pay that kind of money because, quite frankly, Oakland made a poor decision in dishing out that much money to a defensive player. It is true that Revis is possibly the best defensive player in the league, and it is also true that if the Jets don't have him on the field, their defense will likely suffer at least a little bit. However, he isn't worth more than 45.3 million dollars to the Jets, or any other franchise. Nnamdi Asomugha, for as good as he is, isn't worth that kind of money either; he just is lucky enough to play for a franchise with a dysfunctional front office (seems contradictive, right?) that agreed to pay him that outrageous sum of money. The Jets don't have to worry; they'll sign Revis, and for a reasonable amount.

So, on a scale of one to ten, how silly does Albert Haynesworth look now? A month ago, Haynesworth made a huge deal about having to play in a 3-4 defense, and now he is too out of shape to complete the Redskins conditioning test. I don't think this is really about Haynesworth's lack of conditioning. This is about him learning that Coach Mike Shanahan runs the show, and if you don't like the way it is run, too bad. Shanahan is humbling Haynesworth, and we all know that the big defensive tackle is in dire need of some humble pie. When he finally does pass the conditioning test, I don't think we'll be hearing much from Albert Haynesworth until the season is underway. After this humiliation, Haynesworth should get the message that he isn't bigger than the Redskins, especially with Shanahan at the helm.

The more I think about it, the more I am starting to believe that the Ochocinco and T.O. marriage could be a great thing both off the field and on the field. Whenever I see them in an interview together, there is no denying that they are cocky as hell. However, it also is apparent that both men are aware of what kind of things can be achieved if they put aside their personal agendas and work together. In a sense, it's almost like the Miami Heat situation, only on a much smaller scale. Cincinnati is in no way the overwhelming favorite to win the Super Bowl like the Heat will be to win the NBA championship, but the Bengals do have the offensive weapons to overwhelm almost any defense that they will have to face. They also seem to realize that if they demand less for themselves and sacrifice for the good of the team, that they have the ability to reach heights that neither of them could reach on their own at this point in time. Could T.O. really have matured, and realized that this is his last chance at a Super Bowl ring? We'll be able to tell early on, as Cincinnati has to play New England and Baltimore in their first two regular season games.

About seventy-five percent of my readership (in other words, three of the four of you) have already told me that you are anxiously anticipating my college football preview. Well, I have good news for you all; tomorrow I will begin my college football preview by breaking down one conference per day until I have covered each major conference (major in my eyes, of course). I will be working across the United States from East to West, which means that all you Pac-10 fans (come to think of it, I don't know if I have any readers who fit the bill) will have to wait awhile before I tell you all that I think that a team who is ineligible to participate in postseason play will win your conference. Oops. Anyway, college football will be the focus of many of my future posts for at least the next week. Hopefully I will get some conversation started either here or on the Facebook fan page, or as always, you can email me at aroundthecornsportsblog@gmail.com. Thanks everyone.



- K. Becks

Go Big, Or Go Home

This Thursday, an annual summer event that brings almost every kid out on the skate park inside will begin for the sixteenth time. That event of course is the Summer X Games. Personally, I am more a fan of the Winter X Games, due to the fact that they take place at a time where there isn't much else to do but stay inside and find something to watch on TV. However, the Summer X Games bring with it a sense of excitement that almost no other sporting event on earth can provide. That sense of excitement can also be the most obvious downside of extreme sports; the chance for serious bodily injury, or even death. Think about it for a moment; football has improved equipment in order to minimize the risk of injury to players. NASCAR has instituted numerous safety precautions in order to avoid another tragedy that took the life of one of their most iconic drivers. Extreme sports has gone the opposite direction, trying to go "bigger" and "more insane", even after the death of motocross rider Jeremy Lusk and paralysis of BMX rider Stephen Murray. In no other sport will you see athletes doing things more dangerous than before, so soon after a tragedy. One of the things that make these sports so interesting is that there is no ceiling for the possibilities. Cuts, bruises, broken bones, lacerated internal body parts; these athletes will stop at nothing to take their sport to the next level. Some critics call it stupid, but you know what? I dig it. Taking things to the next level is what these sports were built on, and until they reach a point where they can't go any bigger or higher, these sports will continue to grow in popularity. These men and women are true warriors, and even if you don't have very much interest in their respective sport, you have to admire their unwillingness to back down from a challenge, even one that presents clear dangers. MMA and UFC be damned. If you want to see athletes who truly show no fear, tune into ESPN's network of channels Thursday through Sunday to watch X Games 16, and you'll see no fear.

What every sports media type in the country wanted to see happen became a reality today. Terrell Owens has signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, and the media could not be happier. "Batman and Robin," Chad Ochocinco calls it. I wonder if Ochocinco has been told that while someone does get to be Batman, the other must settle for the role of Robin, which I'm sure neither of them want to do. There will have to be a clear number one and two receiver on this team. If there isn't by around Week 4, then one of the receiver's isn't doing their job, and it will be reflected in Cincinnati's record. Cincinnati's potential headaches don't end there, though. Fellow receiver Antonio Bryant, running back Cedric Benson, and receiver Matt Jones have all had their issues as well. After reading all five of those names again, it's clear to see that with all the potential problems, Cincinnati does have a lot of talent. If the Bengals organization is able to successfully manage the egos of T.O. and Ochocinco, and the rest of the team can stay out of off-the-field trouble, then the Circus in Cincinnati could be a good thing after all.

The Pac-10 has announced that it will change the name of the conference to the Pac-12 when new members Colorado and Utah join in 2011. Is it just me, or does this name changing thing seem a little premature? I've said this numerous times, and in an interview yesterday on Mike and Mike in the Morning, I heard Texas football coach Mack Brown say it as well; the Pac-10 (or whatever it wants to call itself) will likely become a sixteen team super-conference in the near future. The Big 10 hasn't announced any plans to change the name of the conference, and I could be mistaken, but I don't think that the Big 12 is going to demote itself to the "Big 10 West" any time soon, either. I know this isn't that big of a deal, but it doesn't seem like it's necessary to change the name of the conference in a time of such uncertainty in college football. Don't even tell me that this isn't a marketing ploy, and that it isn't in the back of Commissioner Larry Scott's mind that they will likely have to change the name yet again when the conference expands a second time.



- K. Becks

Time Is Ticking

Time is ticking for the New York Yankees to make a move that will give them another solid arm in their pitching rotation. The trade deadline is just days away, and time isn't the only thing that is working against them. With Cliff Lee gone, Roy Oswalt wanting to stay in the National League (and currently talking to Philadelphia), and now Dan Haren being shipped to Los Angeles, the Yankees options are slipping away one by one. I understand that the Yankees are still playing exceptionally well, and not picking up another pitcher in a trade isn't exactly going to kill them. However, this is the Yankees that we are talking about. They don't leave any room for doubt, and without another great arm in their starting pitching rotation, that is exactly what they will have, even if it is just a little.

You know who is hoping that Terrell Owens will join Chad Ochocinco in Cincinnati? Me; and just about every other sports media outlet in the country. Think of all the possibilities; Ochocinco and T.O. team up to win Super Bowl. Ochocinco and T.O. butt heads in the locker room, causing tension in Cinci. Ochocinco and T.O. leave field to update their fans on Twitter. Any one of those aforementioned "headlines" could realistically happen if the two were to join forces in Cincinnati. In all honesty, the possibility that would be most likely to happen would be that T.O. and Ochocinco would not be able to handle each other, and would create tension in the locker room. Unless T.O. changed his entire persona that he has had throughout his entire NFL career, he will want to be the number one receiver. However, you can't say that having both of them on one team wouldn't be great entertainment. Plus, if Cincinnati is willing to take the risk, it could even work out well for them. Ochocinco is still a good number one receiver, and having T.O. as a two is great for a team that is on the cusp of being an elite team in the NFL. In an ideal world, the two would not only entertain, but compliment each other's play on the field, making Cincinnati a feared offensive team. Well, an ideal world for everyone not in the AFC North.

Welcome to the club, Matt Garza. Tonight, you became the fifth pitcher this year to throw a no-hitter, joining Ubaldo Jimenez, Edwin Jackson, Roy Halladay, and Dallas Braden (the last two mentioned threw perfect games). This is so great for baseball in my opinion. With every perfect game, baseball is distancing itself from the Steroid Era that cast a dark cloud over the game for the past decade or so. Tomorrow on SportsCenter, the talk will not be about Alex Rodriguez, who is still searching for his 600th home run, but about Garza. I'm not saying that we shouldn't cover Rodriguez at all, but the fact that his soon-to-be accomplishment will likely come so soon after a perfect game is fitting. It's almost symbolic, as if these tainted performances we have witnessed will eventually be overshadowed by those that have been done honestly. The sun is finally beginning to peek around that ugly dark cloud that has been around baseball for more than half of my lifetime.

Either Lane Kiffin is a snake, or he is an extremely persuasive man. Almost everyone in Tennessee would choose the first option, as Kiffin is now being sued by the Tennessee Titans for luring away running backs coach Kennedy Pola. I have a hard time figuring out why Pola would want to coach at USC, with their postseason bans and all. Also, I find it hard to believe that you can trust a man who has not once, but twice, left the team he coached for greener pastures. Kiffin is kind of like the bachelor who can get any woman he wants because he has a way with words. Eventually though, the bachelor loses his touch, because it becomes known that his words are hollow. I'm wondering how many more empty promises it will take before Kiffin can no longer talk guys into joining him.



- K. Becks