Monday Morning Report

This weekend was exceptional with all the playoff action in the NBA and the NHL. Among this weekends winners are the Milwaukee Bucks, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Phoenix Coyotes were exceptional in their 4-1 win in game 6 at Joe Louis Arena which is a tough place to play on the road. I also want to congratulate Alexandre Vinokourov for winning the extremely difficult Liege-Bastogne-Liege Ardennes Classic. I should also take the time to congratulate Cadel Evans, the current road world champion, for winning Fleche Wallone atop the mur de Huy. Among this weekends losers are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks. There seems to be trouble with the Lakers without Kobe putting up more thirty points in a game. If they don't get their act together they will be at home watching the NBA finals. The Mavericks are in trouble down 3-1.

On recent Drug Tests

Due to the high number of doping instances in the last week I am being forced to write about this. First Edison Volquez is caught by MLB's testing system for a prohibited substance that is supposedly prescribed for a medical purpose. Then yesterday it is revealed that Lashawn Merrit was caught three times for DHEA, which is a banned substance, which apparently is part of a male enhancement medication. I want to commend MLB for implementing a suspension that is significant and not a puhover, but there is still more that can be done. The issue I want to bring up is that these drug testing programs seem to lack an important aspect of the international doping standards.The therapeutic use exemption(TUE) allows athletes with qualified medical conditions to use substances that are banned for medicinal purposes. This in no way protects athletes who are doping with a similar product. Manny Ramirez, Edison Volquez, and other athletes that have been caught by drug testing are not using TUE's to protect their careers from the impeachment of failing a performance enhancing drug test. I feel that the professional leagues that compete in the US need to follow the rules that are imposed on every other sport with a international sports federation. The banned substance lists from MLB, NFL,NBA, and NHL should be the same as the one used by all other sports federations and administered by the World Antidoping Authority so that international athletes are not going to get caught by a substance prescribed by a doctor that contains a banned substance. This issue affects the future integrity of our professional sports organizations.

Monday Report

This weekend saw the opening of the NBA playoffs and the Stanley Cup. There have been some exhilirating starts to first round playoff series in each. Among this weekends winners are Philippe Gilbert in the bergs of Limburg at Amstel Gold Race and Caleb Fairly winning the tour of the Battenkill. The tour of the Battenkill is becoming a serious spring classic in the US.

Expanding The NCAA basketball Tournament!!!

This whole issue started as a rumor in March as it was discussed on tv and the web several times. Apparently the idea of expanding from the current 65 teams to 96 is gaining steam. The main motivation to make this change is the NCAA's ability to get out of its current tournament tv contract. More games means more money. The problem is that it means more time for student-athletes are going to be away from their campuses and the classroom. I don't want to get into the athletic schedules for some college sports as that is another completely different post. The point is that this change to the men's, and eventually women's, tournament is going to happen. The impact will be making it easier for teams to get into the tournament that are deserving, but don't win the conference tournament. We will be subjected to more games in mid to late March and depending on how the scheduling is devised the tournament may end in mid April.
A whole part of the reason the tournament is called March Madness is the ability for upsets. In a single elimination tournament if a team has an off day they are eliminated. While this will still be true in some sense we can only ponder the number of games that will be defined more by worn out players rather than skill, passion, and teamwork.

The Monday Morning Report

A thrilling weekend of sports. This is a highlight of some of the best action in my opinion. I want to give congratulations to Boston College for winning the NCAA college hockey tournament and proving once again that college hockey is still strong on the east coast. I want to congratulate Tiger Woods for proving everyone why he is the best golfer by being in contention all weekend with all the added media pressure from his personal issues becoming public. We now know that all the off the course tribulations had very little effect on him. The best performance of the week had to clearly be Fabian Cancellara who soundly defeated his rivals at Paris-Roubaix. He had all the pressure to complete the Flanders-Roubaix double and won in convincing fashion.

Why?

The most pertinent question that any reader would ask is why am I, the author, creating another sports blog when so many people already have blogs and articles that they write on the Internet. I am creating this blog because somebody close to me said that I should think of getting a job in sports since I seem to spend so much time talking about it. My rationale was that there was more than enough people who are in that business, and more importantly there was such little broad based demand for the sports I particularly enjoy. This blog will be my off beat take on sports that is not necessarily in line with the mainstream. I will not discuss some sports where I have no interest. This will be a different view than what is found on the web. Please be patient as I develop this blog.