One of the best years in Syracuse University basketball history is now in the books. No complaining with the end result here. The Orange beat the teams it should have in the tournament, and it lost to an Ohio State team that was a little better – and a poor matchup for the Orange.

Here’s a quick exit interview with all the major personnel from this year’s club:

– Scoop Jardine: His decision-making could be spotty at times, but Jardine had a good tournament, and probably should have played more down the stretch against OSU. His enthusiasm and influence over teammates will be missed. Next Up: Eligibility expired.

– Kris Joseph: He was the enigma of the team, so talented but not the most assertive personality. A flu bug kept Joseph down in the Big East Tournament, and he didn’t play well in the NCAAs. He’ll probably be a second-round pick in the draft. Next Up: Eligibility expired

– Fab Melo: His loss in the tournament was most felt against Ohio State, as Jared Sullinger did whatever he wanted inside. Is Melo serious enough about college life to come back as a junior? Next Up: My hunch says he declares for the NBA Draft.

– Dion Waiters: He was the team’s best scoring option all year, especially in the halfcourt set. He’ll be a star next season if he returns, but there are whispers that he’s thinking about turning pro. Next Up: As a fan, I really want to see how many points he scores next year in the Dome. But the odds are likely he’s gone.

– C.J. Fair: The team’s most instinctive player, though he was inconsistent in the NCAAs. Next Up: He’ll be a rock as a junior, defending on the interior and perhaps blossoming as a scorer.

– Brandon Triche: He’ll run the show next year as a senior, and not have to worry about being jerked in and out of the lineup. Next Up: Could be an all-league performer next year.

– Rakeem Christmas: He had some good moments in the NCAAs, though Ohio State had no problems solving him. Next Up: Should be a strong, capable starter as a sophomore.

– James Southerland: The pretty shot wasn’t as consistent as we’d like, though he can get it off against anyone. His rebounding was useful in the tournament. Next Up: He might be the most improved player on the team next year, as extra playing time will do worlds for his confidence.

Tiger Woods finally won again on the PGA Tour, capturing his 7th Arnold Palmer Invitational title, 923 days since his last victory on tour. Woods was in vintage form during the weekend, shooting 13-under, fueled mainly by his dominance of the course’s par-5 holes (shot birdie on 12-of-16 par-5 holes).

This victory has been a long time coming, as we’ve seen glimpses recently of Woods once dominant self, although he’s never been able to put it together over the course of a full tournament. Today’s win a Bay Hill changes everything though, and puts him right in the thick of the discussion as one of the favorites to win The Masters at Augusta National next week.

Can he do it though? While I’d love to see it, since I’ve always been a fan of Woods, I’m highly skeptical. I simply can’t get past the fact that he’s been so average for so long. Maybe all Tiger needed was one win to spark a whole new streak of dominance, but that seems a bit far-fetched as well, considering his recent body of work.

Tiger Woods could still add to his major tournament victory tally in the future, but it will take an incredible effort next weekend to add another green jacket to his collection. He’ll have to knock off golf’s latest prodigy, Rory McIlroy, if he intends to reclaim his throne as the world’s best.

This came from Sickels recent ‘All Questions Answered’ discussion on his website:

Question:

Wilmer Flores

The switch from SS to 3B is in full effect.

Can he take over for David Wright at the start of 2014?

He was drawing walks in the DWL, had a productive ST (albeit with a ton of errors, but to be expected) with good OBP and power numbers.

I do truly believe his FSL stats were deflated, and he will have a great AA campaign to put him back in the top 100?

Your thoughts, esp his ability to bounce back, work ethic, stay at 3B, etc?

Thanks in advance.

Answer:

Flores

Well…maybe but like I said before, I tend to skepticism about stuff like winter ball stats, or glowing scouting reports based on games that don’t count. If he can control the strike zone and show some pop in AA, then he could be in line for 2014, but that’s a big if.

I do think he has the physical tools…hands, range, arm, for third base. I’m not worried about error rate at this point. I’m more worried about the bat coming through.

 With Mike Pelfrey once again off to a terrible start in spring training, there has been chatter about the Mets possibly looking to trade or even cut Mike Pelfrey since his 2012 contract is not guaranteed if they cut him before a certain date.  He has a 14.90 ERA and a WHIP of 2.7 so far.  Both John Heyman of CBS sports and Mike Puma of the NY Post have weighed in on the subject in that past few days with Heyman saying the Mets would like to trade Pelfrey but there isn’t much of a market.  While Puma says the Mets have no discussed cutting Pelfrey outright.

I just don’t see either scenario happening simply because the Mets have no pitching depth.  They just don’t have anyone to absorb those innings if they part ways with Pelfrey and they aren’t going to get major league ready talent in return if they trade him. I hate the term ‘innings eater’ but thats what he is.  Pelfrey has been good for close to 200IP for each of the last four years.  I understand that the value of those innings goes down if he isn’t pitching effectively but the Mets right now aren’t in a position to be picky out where they get their innings from.  When a team has as little depth as the Mets, they aren’t in a position to just give away a horse like Pelfrey.

The only way I see Pelfrey being moved is if the Mets find a trade partner who has another pitcher in a similar situation as Pelfrey and they make a ‘change of scenery’ type move where they they exchange one promising yet disappointing player for another.  If that happens I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but that type of deal is difficult to get done and doesn’t happen all too often.

Forbes recently released their yearly reports on estimated MLB team values.  The Mets were valued at $719M and one of only two teams who’s value was down from last season. This report has become a hot topic among Mets fans the past few seasons in light of the the teams financial struggles.  But I have always been skeptical of what Forbes is doing here.

First, the MLB is a private organization that does not release it’s financial information.  Even though Forbes is a reputable publication that likely has resources to piece this information together, it’s impossible that they have all the information needed to make a proper valuation.

Second, even if Forbes were to have access to all of the financial records, professional sports franchises are not easy to value.  Forbes seems to treat these MLB teams like they are typical businesses, basing their valuations on the operations of the teams.  The Mets valuations for example directly correlate to the teams on field success and revenues.  Forbes’ highest valuation for the team was back at the start of 2009, when the Mets had just come off three straight winning seasons, and has been on a steady decline each year since, just like the team. The short term successes or failures just don’t effect the overall value of a team like that. The value of the team is based on the market, the fanbase, the potential etc. Not a few good or bad seasons.

A team is simply worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it, and determining the intangible value of owning a professional sports franchise is nearly impossible.  The oppurtunities to buy an MLB team, especially a large market team are so few and far between that it’s impossible to accuratley determine what type of premium a buyer would pay at any given time.

The Dodgers this season are a perfect example.  Forbes last season had them valued at $800M but this year bumped the valuation up 75% to $1,400M, based on the recent reported offers to buy the team.  This is the correct on the part of Forbes, but they didn’t take into account the comparable nature of other large market teams.  The valuation of the Dodgers is now completely askew from  the rest of the list.  The Dodgers are based on real market value while the other teams are not.

Are the Dodgers really worth twice as much as the Mets & Phillies?  Are they really worth 40% more than the Redsox?  Are they really even that close in value to the Yankees?  Logically the answer is no and it shows the limitations of trying to value such businesses. The Forbes list is fun to look at and creates alot of media fodder, but it is ultimately worthless in terms of determining the true value of an MLB team.

NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell really dropped the hammer on the Saints for “Bounty-Gate”, hitting Head Coach Sean Payton with a one year suspension, GM Mickey Loomis with an 8 game suspension, and suspending former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams indefinitely. 

SNYWhyGuys colleague Mike Salfino absolutley nailed this one from the start, and I agree that these penalties were warranted, especially after it came out that the Saints were caught lying to the Commissioner when the NFL originally confronted them. I think Goodell has every right to treat those situations like being “under oath” in an NFL context. Otherwise he’d be powerless to police the league. 

That being said, politicians should stop wasting their time and taxpayer resources sticking their nose in the NFL’s business. Even though by all accounts this punishment was severe, the headline sniffing politicians now feel the need to get involved, calling for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on bounties in professional sports.  Illinois Senator Dick Durbin who is the one calling for the hearing even admitted:

“I am encouraged by what the National Football League did. What they came down with as a penalty on the New Orleans Saints was decisive and historic,” Durbin said, adding that he thought the league was “taking this very seriously.”

If that’s the case, why get involved?  And not only are they going to waste our time and money, and the NFL’s time, they are bringing the NBA, MLB, NCAA, and NHL along for the ride too.  I mean hockey I can see, but bounties in non-contact sports like baseball and basketball?  It’s ridiculous, but hey, if its gets some headlines in a few more publications why not. 

The last time sports and politics crossed paths like this was the Congressional hearings on steroid use in baseball back in February of 2008, and we all know what an disaster that turned out to be. All that time and money, and the only thing that came out of those hearings was a perjury charge against Roger Clemens.

I know on the surface it’s hard to feel sorry for Mark Sanchez.  The guy is the QB of the NY Jets, who despite not playing very well, just managed to sign a contract extension guaranteeing him another $21M.  But there’s really no way around it, Sanchez is getting the shaft here.  The Jets signing of Tim Tebow is just the latest chapter in the mess they have made of Mark Sanchez’s career.

The Jets first mistake was making Sanchez the starter in his rookie year.  As talented as Sanchez was, he was young and had only one real season of experience in college.  Depite the team’s success, he was clearly overwhelmed at times, which led the team to try gimmicks like the ridiculous color coded wrist band. They put him in there, and instead of just letting him play and learn, they basically handcuffed him to some stupid color coded play chart. 

From that point until the start of this past season the Jets seemed to do everything in their power to keep the ball out of Sanchez’s hands.  When it finally looked as though the Jets would take the reigns off him in 2011, they Jets panicked at the first hint of a problems.  In the blink of an eye the offense was back to “ground-and-pound” and 7 yard passes. 

Fast forward to 2012 and the circus continues.  The Jets extend Sanchez and guarantee him $21M, solidifying their commitment to him.  But they decide to bring in an offensive coordinator known for running the football, and now they bring in Tim Tebow!!!  And Mike Tannenbaum and Rex Ryan say the move was done to help Mark Sanchez!!!

The idea that having Tebow around is going to help Mark Sanchez, and that they will be harder to prepare for is a joke. What is Tebow’s role going to be?  We keep hearing about these “Tebow packages”, and how much the Jets missed Brad Smith last season.  But Tim Tebow is not Brad Smith.  Smith is a hybrid running back, returner, wide receiver type who can change the pace, and maybe break a big play.  Tebow is a big bruising runner who grinds it out.  More importantly though Tebow is a quarterback.  When Brad Smith came in the game it was a gimmick. No matter how well he did, he was never a threat to the quarterback job. 

Tebow on the other hand will be a threat.  (more…)

Some interesting thoughts from Maury Brown in his Baseball Prospectus chat:

ScottyB (Nyack, NY): The Madoff settlement was clearly great for the Wilpons, but isn’t it the worst of all outcomes for Mets fans (if there are any left?)- Wilpons don’t lose it all and thus can keep the team, but lose enough that it will constrain payroll for the foreseeable future?Maury Brown: Hey Scotty,
The worst of all outcomes would have been for Sterling (read: read Mets ownership) to have gone to trial, lose the case, and still be struggling. But, where we are now is probably a close second. Yes, the Mets now have revenue to keep them afloat through the season due to the sale of minority shares, but it’s a bandaid. Clearly, the Mets need to get it turned around in the standings to get fans to the ballpark. Here’s something to chew on… while anything could happen, I would not be surprised to see the Mets try and work a deal to sign Wright to an extension. Whether it’s done for baseball purposes, PR purposes, or both, inking Wright to an extension might be one method for Wilpon to put words into action (and possibly) save some face with fans.

I think just about every Mets fan realizes the way back to success if putting a winner on the field and getting fans in the seats. Having David Wright as part of that is a no-brainer, but is the club willing to get the deal done?

At the same time, does Wright fit into the current youth movement the Mets appear to be moving towards? In reality, no, but I think keeping him long term is the one way the franchise can get away with completing a rebuilding effort and continuing to keep people coming to the ballpark.

If Wright goes, the fans may just follow him right out of the park. That is, until another franchise star emerges, and that is no sure thing as of now. Ike Davis could be that guy, but he needs to have a strong 2012 to solidify his standing among the fan base.

What do you think the Mets should do with David Wright, with respect to the current direction of the organization, loyal fans?

According to this Associated Press report running on Sports Illustrated:

NEW YORK (AP) — A person familiar with the New York Jets’ plans says the team is trying to trade quarterback Drew Stanton.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because the team hasn’t announced its plans.

It all comes down to Tebow, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter):

@AdamSchefter Tim Tebow is being allowed to pick the team he wants to go to. He picks the trade. Jets or Jacksonville.

This seems too obvious, as Tebow is originally from the Jacksonville area. It could be a blessing in disguise for the Jets, as they would only be using Tebow as a backup and gimmick player.

I keep hearing all this chatter about Tebow being the guy that will come in and fix the fractured locker room, but I think that’s nothing but a bunch of nonsense. The Broncos had a group of unheralded guys on offense that rallied around Tebow; the perfect storm, if you will. The Jets have an egomaniac in Santonio Holmes, and a high priced incumbent quarterback in Mark Sanchez already in place and butting heads, and adding Tebow to the mix could make things even more toxic. Sure, he’s a popular guy among his teammates, but asking him to step into the current Jets situation and be the guy who brings everyone together (in a backup capacity, no less) simply isn’t fair to him.

Jacksonville is a rebuilding squad with low expectations. Tebow could continue to develop as a quarterback, and maybe eventually turn into an adequate signal caller in the NFL. He’s a nice story, and finding success in his hometown would be a perfect next chapter in what has already been an interesting football career.

 UPDATE: Just as I post this, the Jets finalize the deal for Tebow. Schefter breaks the news:

@AdamSchefter

Denver is trading Tebow to Jets. More now on ESPN.