SportsJustice

February 19, 2010

''It's up to me to start living a life of integrity.''

''I brought this shame on myself.''

''Character and decency are what really count.''

''I recognize I have brought this on myself, and I know above all, I am the one who needs to change.''

''I need to regain my balance, so I can save the things that are most important to me—my marriage and my children.''

''I ask you to find it in your heart to believe in me again.''

I don't know what more he could have said. Tiger Woods seemed to be speaking from the heart, from deep within his heart, from a place some of us doubted he was capable of going. He should have done it weeks ago, but that's beside the point.

He offered a stark self-portrait. He made no excuses for his behavior. Zero. He apologized profusely to his wife, said he was working to save the marriage.

If this was a first step, it was a good one. He accepted all the blame for his behavior, admitted there's still work to do and simply didn't know when he would play golf again.

''I convinced myself normal rules didn't apply. I thought only about myself.''

He spoke of the trust that had been broken with his fans, with the parents who believed he was a role model. He seemed to understand he'd done damage that could never be repaired.

''I felt I was entitled.''

He mentioned his fellow tour players and sponsors, too. He pointed the finger at himself again and again. There's really no blueprint for something like this. Did he speak because he was trapped? Sure he did.

Somewhere along the way, he may also have gotten closer to reality than he has been in a long, long time. He spoke of being raised a Buddhist and how his life had gotten so far away from its teaching.

''Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids. I owe all those people a special apology.''

Other public people have offered apologies for their actions, but this one was different. He's the most famous athlete on earth, and his downfall was chronicled in a way no other downfall ever has been.

There was none of the usual Tiger arrogance. If you want dates, times and places, you're not going to get them. That's where he drew a line.

For all those people ranting that Tiger owed the PGA an apology, or that he owed something to the other players on the tour, he offered several.

Did Tiger owe his fans something? Sure he did. He tried to offer it. He said it over and over.

He's a good reminder to be careful about building up people to be more than they are. His skill was hitting a golf ball. If we made him out to be more than that, some of that blame is on us.

Watching him on Sunday afternoon at Augusta National has been a great thrill. Remember those cheers from somewhere behind the leaders? We'd look at one another and say, ''Those are Tiger cheers. Here he comes.''

If you gave Tiger credit for being anything more than a gifted athlete and a great golfer and a man with laser-like dedication to golf greatness, you might be the one that needs help.

He played golf. He didn't provide health care or clean up the planet or slow global warming. If you want a role model, check out Bill Bradley.

Cops and teachers ought to be our role models, not some genetic freak with a golf club in his hand. For God's sake, raise your standards.

Tiger's mistake was freakishly controlling his image and allowing people to believe he was something he never was. People bought it, but how is that different than the spin masters selling empty suits as statesmen? We bought into Tiger because we liked what we saw.

I've never found the guy warm or likeable, but I did find him amazing in his commitment to being great. He entered a group of mostly white, mostly wealthy, mostly boring people and suddenly made it interesting. He came to define his sport as no one ever.

Don't say Ali. Ali was no saint, either, but Ali was also defined, in part, by his opponents. Ali needed Frazier to complete the picture.

Tiger always seemed apart from those he competed against. He was easy to root for, too, when his closest competitor is the insufferably arrogant Phil Mickelson.

Tiger did nothing to answer the real questions on Friday. Those are between him and his family. In the end, those are the only people he owes anything to, and if there's any real healing done there, we won't be allowed to watch.

''It's up to me to start living a life of integrity.''

Do me a solid and follow me on Twitter. Don't do it for me. Do it because it's right for America.

Posted by Richard at 09:33 AM in General Sports | Comments (5)
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The Sports Update: On the Astros and arbitration

Posted by Richard at 08:15 AM in Sports Update | Comments (0)
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February 18, 2010

McGrady's legacy: one amazing moment, many disappointments

Can you do me a solid? Can you follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/richardjustice You won't? Now stop kidding me, you crazy kids. I need 5,000 of you to sign up by Tuesday. There's a free Justice Burger in it for the lucky 10,000th follower.

It was Dec. 9, 2004. Tracy McGrady's 18th game with the Rockets. That was the night he did something absolutely amazing, the night we thought would be the beginning of a beautiful marriage.

He played 35 of the greatest seconds any NBA player has ever played. If you were there that night, you were absolutely convinced he was going to lead the Rockets to a championship and that all the things people in Orlando said about his lack of drive and heart couldn't have been more wrong.

There were other special times. Remember the 22-game winning streak? McGrady was huge. He had some special moments in the postseason, too.

His larger legacy may be that he never won a playoff series and never came close to delivering the championship he talked about. But there were moments when his dazzling talents flashed before our eyes. That part of the story shouldn't be forgotten.

In the end, he had neither the drive nor the heart to win a championship. He wanted to be like Jordan and Kobe, but he didn't have their work ethic, their burning desire to win.

He was a nice man. He was great with kids. He appeared to be devoted to his family. But there's an inner-something the great ones have, and McGrady never had it.

Jordan could be a raging SOB. Bryant's life seems defined by the basketball court. McGrady just was never that consumed with basketball. God gave him a gift, and he used it to make a nice life for himself.

He said the things those other guys said about winning and dedication, but he never really had that dedication. By the time he seemed willing to put in the work required to be a champion, his left knee failed him.

But back to that night in 2004. The Rockets trailed the Spurs by eight points with 40 seconds remaining. Game over, right?

McGrady then put in a 3-pointer. And then another. And then another and another. He scored 13 points in the final 35 seconds that night and forced a turnover as the Rockets rallied to win.

You can go to hundreds of NBA games and not see the kind of show McGrady put on that night. At his best, he wasn't just a great scorer. He was a great passer, a great playmaker, a guy that attracted defensive attention and could put his teammates in position to make plays.

He lost his teammates last season when he basically quit during a game in Toronto, and then he lost the coaches and front office by telling them one thing in private and then telling reporters another thing.

He essentially wanted the Rockets to put their team goals aside and allow him to use the season as his personal training camp. He'd been allowed to do that last year, and it was a disaster.

All Rick Adelman asked was that when he returned, he was back for good and that there'd be no more pulling himself out of the lineup and practices. Maybe McGrady just couldn't get his mind around the fact that his body had begun to fail him and that he might never be the player he once was.

And then again, he might. The Rockets know this. They believe if he dedicates himself, he might come back next season and prove he's still capable of playing at a high level.

But it was time for both sides to move on. Each was sick of the other. I'm not sure there's any bad guy in all of this. On one side is an organization trying to build a champion. On the other is a once-great player trying to figure out what he's capable of.

If you're bitter at him, don't be. I've been around plenty of bad guys, and I can tell you McGrady is a good guy. He may have a big ego, may see himself as the equal of Kobe and Michael, but there's no sin in that.

It'll be interesting to see how these two unhappy dance partners get along without one another. Both have plenty to prove.

Have I mentioned anything about following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/richardjustice It's where people come for all the best Earl Weaver stories.

Posted by Richard at 02:18 PM in Rockets | Comments (27)
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The Sports Update: Step in right direction for Rockets

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Morey lands a scorer in Kevin Martin and is working toward adding Jordan Hill

Daryl Morey might have just rebuilt this entire franchise in one swoop this afternoon.

Kevin Martin is a pure scorer. Daryl Morey believes he can be a special player. Here's a statistical nugget I heard from David Thorpe on 1560 this morning: Martin is the first player in NBA history to average 9 free throws a game while shooting 40 percent from 3-point land. Translation: impact.

He has been hurt some and his numbers have been down, but he's a guy Daryl Morey has had targeted for awhile. If Morey is right, the Rockets got better.

Morey isn't done. He's still working on landing Jordan Hill from the Knicks, and then the Rockets will have a dramatically different look.

Because it's Daryl Morey, we trust. We believe. He has earned that trust and belief. Look at his body of work with this franchise. He didn't get dumb last night. If Daryl Morey thinks this is a good deal, I think it's a good deal. Sign me up for this deal even though it comes with sirens and alarms.

Kevin Martin's production has declined the last two years. He has been hurt some, but some of those injuries have odd circumstances relating to diagnosis and freak collisions. Yet he's a pure scorer, and that's what the Rockets need. I have no idea how Rick Adelman is going to sort out the minutes, and that's a challenge. Does Trevor Ariza now come off the bench?

On the other hand, if Kevin Martin is healthy, he's 17 points a game. From the beginning, Morey's first priority was to get an impact player who could help the Rockets this season and in the future. This trade does that.

Give Morey credit for not losing sight of the larger goal. Kevin Martin was on his radar screen from the start. Morey believed he'd make a difference this season, and in the future.

The Rockets need interior defense, and they need scoring. Martin fills one of those needs. Look ahead to next season with Yao Ming back in the middle and with Martin on the perimeter. The Rockets aren't perfect, but they've taken a huge step in the right direction.

Martin will also make those around him better. Morey paid a high price in giving up Carl Landry, but this trade appears to inch the Rockets along toward being a serious contender next season.

There are risks in the deal. Martin has missed too many games with injury and his defense is nothing special. But he's a scorer, a special scorer, and there aren't many of those players around.

Posted by Richard at 07:12 AM in Rockets | Comments (68)
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February 17, 2010

Weighing the offers for McGrady and preparing for change

Take a good look at these Rockets tonight because they probably won't look the same the next time you see them. GM Daryl Morey is unlikely to touch his core of Carl Landry, Chase Budinger and Aaron Brooks, but he seems on the verge of adding an interesting young guy and possibly someone to help out in the middle.

When he's done, he will have taken a step toward getting the Rockets back in contention next season, but it'll be nothing more than a step and not a large one. Unless something dramatic happens in the next 24 hours, Morey's real work will begin this summer.

For now, he has taken the Tracy McGrady card game about as far as he can. I prefer the Chicago deal because it includes a bona fide NBA center. There's delayed gratification in the form of 2012 draft pick from the Knicks, but 2012 is too far off. I want happiness now.

Weighing the two offers:

BULLS	KNICKS
Tyrus Thomas, 6-10, 225, 23 yrs old	Jordan Hill, 6-10, 235, 22 yrs old
8.9 ppg, 6.3 rbg, $6.3 million in 2010-2011	4.1 ppg, 2.5 rbg, $6.3M in 2010-11
Brad Miller, 7-0, 261, 33 yrs old	Jared Jeffries, 6-11, 240, 28 yrs old
7.5 ppg, 4.2 rbg, expiring contract	5.5 ppg, 4.3 rbg, $6.9M in 2010-11
John Salmons, 6-6, 207, 30 yrs old	Larry Hughes, 6-5, 185, 31 yrs old
12.7 ppg, 2.5 apg, $5.8M in 2010-11	9.6 ppg, 3.5 rbg, expiring contract
or Kirk Hinrich, 6-3, 190, 29 yrs old	2012 first-round draft pick
10.3 ppg, 4.5 apg, $9M in 2010-11, $8M in 2011-12

Sports Illustrated is indicating the 2012 draft pick could be holding up the deal. If the Knicks include it, the Rockets will trade with the Knicks. Otherwise, it's back to the Bulls.

Will either offer get the Rockets to the playoffs? Yes. Now the unspoken uncomfortable part is that some would argue it's better if the franchise misses the playoffs to get a better pick this summer.

That's bull. Morey will do fine in the draft whether he has the first pick of the 32nd. He'll do better with No. 1, but making the playoffs would be a tremendous shot in the arm in a season when almost no one thought the Rockets were good enough.

What Morey apparently won't be getting in either of these trades is that wing player and 3-point shooter the Rockets need. He tried. Boy did he ever. Now he appears to be weighing two offers for Tracy McGrady, and as Jonathan Feigen blogged, they're eerily similar. At least, he'll have some real important for his summer to-do list.

From the desk of Daryl Morey....

To: self. 1. Check on Yao's foot. Hope for the best. 2. Acquire a shooter. Hope for the best.

Now a word about Tuesday's loss to the Jazz. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. After David Andersen's 3-pointer gave the Rockets a 93-90 lead with 4:41 remaining, the Rockets fell apart, going 0-9 from the field and turning it over three times in a 4-minute, 26-second stretch.

After getting that lead, their next five possessions included three missed jumpers and two turnovers. Until the Rockets get some kind of post presence, that's how a lot of games are going to go.

They've fallen to 10th in the Western Conference, having lost 12 of 19 and 6 of 9. At the moment, they're failing on both ends of the floor, and even with Rick Adelman tweaking his rotation to get Budinger, Landry and Andersen on the floor in crunch time, the outcome was still the same.

Now about those trades. The Bulls appear to be offering 6-10 Tyrus Thomas, 7-0 Brad Miller and either point guard Kirk Hinrich or John Salmons. The Knicks apparently are offering 6-10 Jordan Hill, 6-5 Larry Hughes, 6-11 Jared Jeffries and a 2012 first-round pick.

The Rockets will be taking on some money in both deals, but it's not enough to handicap a signing this summer. Jeffries will make $6.9 million next season. Hinrich will make $9 million next season and $8 million in 2011-2012.

Thomas will make $6.3 million next season, Hill $2.7 million. Those contracts are insignificant because the Rockets believe both players could be contributors.

Miller provides immediate help in the middle, but that 2012 draft pick from the Knicks is appealing, too. Thomas vs. Hill? Thomas has shown flashes of being pretty good, but some scouts loved Hill last summer when he was the eighth pick of the draft.

Both offers get the Rockets some help immediately, some future help and allow them to retain the flexibility to make a move this summer. By the start of camp, they still hope to have added a healthy Yao Ming, an impact player from the draft and a free agent.

Regardless, the Rockets are on the verge of being changed. This current group was so much fun to watch for a couple of months, but then they lost their mojo, the league did a better job of scouting them and this season became the difficult slog it was supposed to be all along.

Posted by Richard at 07:33 AM in Rockets | Comments (47)
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The Sports Update: Rockets show savvy in McGrady trade talks

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February 16, 2010

Mike Leach is gone, and things have changed at Texas Tech

Assigned seats. Dress codes. Meetings starting when they were scheduled to start. Church attendance encouraged. And team meetings that might have lasted two hours under Mike Leach are over in 20 minutes under Tommy Tuberville.

Yes, friends, there's a new sheriff in Lubbock. Texas Tech football players are going to learn a lot less about pirates and all those other little life lessons Leach bestowed on them.

Then again, practices might be a lot less interesting. Texas Tech players showed up for Leach practices not knowing what might set him off or have him interested.

Tuberville has a different view of the world. He believes in tight schedules, discipline, faith, appearance, on and on. Leach believed in weight training more than some coaches, but Tuberville has toughened up even that part of the program. Instead of the lift-and-run program Leach preferred, it's now run-and-lift at Texas Tech.

Tuberville appears to have pulled together a solid recruiting class despite only three weeks on the job. He focused on the defensive side of the ball, with 18 of his 25 signees on that side of the ball, where Texas Tech has more needs.

For all the great things Leach did at Texas Tech, he never got the Red Raiders into a Big 12 Championship Game and finished higher than third only twice. Still, he averaged 8.5 victories in 10 seasons.

Tuberville had six nine-victory seasons in the SEC, but he typically has done it a different way.

"I want to continue to throw it 45-50 times, maybe run it 20-25. We'll be a little bit more balanced," Tuberville told Dennis Dodd of cbssports.com. "Mike got a little bit overboard sometimes. Sometimes he'd throw it 75-80 times. He'd like working on those stats. I'm not a stat guy."

Now to the man himself. Don Williams of the Avalanche-Journal did a terrific and revealing interview with Tuberville. Here are some highlights:

A-J: You were big on community relations at Auburn, where you did a Thursday night dinner with fans and the Tiger Walk on Saturdays. Why is that important to you, and how will you reach out to the community and the fans here?

Tuberville: Of course, Spike Dykes did a great job and of course, Mike was here and won games, and I think the national spotlight's been on this university and football program. It hasn't won a championship. I've been around a few championships before. To win championships, everybody's got to be a part of it. Miami people were really behind their football team and their program. At Auburn, to get to that 13-0 season (in 2004), everybody's pretty much got to be a part of it, and it's the same way here. We can't do it by ourself. This athletic department and the university can't do it (alone). It's got to be totally supported from the community, and even the alumni and the fans who don't live in Lubbock. It's got to be something we've all got to strive for. It's got to be something that I'll include everybody. When I get my feet on the ground, I'll start going around Lubbock, going around to meetings, club meetings, telling people, giving them my plan, letting them know what I'm about and what we want to try to do here. I like to win games, but I also like to win championships, and I know Texas Tech would love to do that. I'm going to put my plan out, not just to the football players, but also to the city of Lubbock and what we need to do and the support and show the players here that they're behind them. All the little things that really mount up to help get these guys motivated to the point where we can get it all done.

A-J: Can you discuss your religious affiliation and what role that plays in your life?

Tuberville: Yeah, I grew up in the Church of Christ. That's big in my life, my family's life. My mother will move here. She's 80 years old and big in the church. There's something other than football, I believe, and so we'll be active in the church here. Actually, I want to bring in a full-time team chaplain here in our football program. We've done that every place I've been. We don't push any religion. I don't believe in that. I just believe, give players the opportunity to be involved. So we'll have somebody that will be in this office as much as I am in the training room, in the weight room, on the practice field, at games. It's going to be kind of a player development person that will sit down and visit with them. I'm talking about home life, family, somebody they can relate to.

I had a young man by the name of Wes Yeary at Ole Miss. He came with me to Auburn. We started a chaplain program. It got so big, I got more people calling me — my fellow coaches — not about Xs and Os, but about, 'Hey, tell me about your chaplain program. It sounds great.' So what we ended up doing is we started training chaplains in Auburn with the help of the FCA. We started placing them at Southern Miss, Georgia Tech. We had them going everywhere.

In the last couple of years, we've moved it to Baylor, and Wes Yeary's running that program there now, so I'll lean on him and possibly somebody he might train for us.

A-J: We've heard about your humble roots — grew up in a small town, walked on at a small university ...

Tuberville: Yeah, I graduated from high school there, Camden (Ark.) Harmony Grove. I wasn't the biggest guy or fastest guy in the world, but I wanted to play college football, because I told my dad, 'I'm going to be a college head coach someday.' I said, 'To do that, I've got to play football,' and so I looked around at schools. We had one about 60 miles from us that was a Division II school. It was Southern Arkansas University, and we were the Muleriders. Most of the guys I played with were from Lufkin or (Longview) Pine Tree or Longview. Some of them are principals now over in those areas. But we had a good time. I played free safety — played quarterback and safety in high school, and then I played free safety there. Walked on, had a chance to play some. Had real good college coaches and had a good time, but I truly believe that had I not done that, I wouldn't have ... It's hard to really understand college football unless you've played it. I know there's some guys that have coached college football that didn't play college football. But you really have to understand what you go through as a college football player — the time, the academics, the study halls. It really helped me. Then I got out and coached four years of high school and then decided to get into college football and went from there.

Posted by Richard at 07:24 AM in General Sports | Comments (36)
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The Sports Update: Drafting a plan for the Astros

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February 15, 2010

Do you like Jordan Hill? He could be Morey's price for doing a McGrady deal.

Daryl Morey has resisted trading Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola, Chase Budinger or Carl Landry. Some combination of those four players came up again and again as Morey talked trade with the Sixers, Wizards, Knicks, etc.

Now, though, it appears that Morey is the one holding out for a young player if he's going to trade McGrady. He didn't land Caron Butler and seems unlikely to get Andre Iguodala, in part, because of his desire to hold onto his core players.

He surely would have broken up that core for Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson or Anthony Randolph, but those guys were never available. Now his options seem to be either to trade McGrady for a collection of expiring contracts, or hold onto him and use his cap room to reshape the roster this summer.

The Knicks seem to be the team most interested in acquiring McGrady. They've watched him work out and seem comfortable he's capable of contributing this season.

But Morey isn't going to do the deal for contracts that run past this season unless it's for a player he really likes.

According to the New York Post, the Rockets won't do the deal unless they get one of the Knicks' rookies, Jordan Hill or Toney Douglas. Otherwise, they'll apparently allow McGrady to sit and wait for him to accept a settlement on his contract in exchange for his release.

The Knicks would prefer to unload Jared Jeffries or Eddy Curry to clear more salary-cap space this summer, but the Rockets are also protective of their cap room and have no interest in either player.

Hill was the eighth pick of last summer's draft, a 6-10 forward who has played behind Al Harrington (who will also be part of the trade). Douglas, a 6-1 guard, was taken at the bottom of first round by the Lakers last summer.

El Paso, with a population of 740,000, and Juárez, with one of 1.4 million, have long been urban sisters, as tens of thousands of people move between the two every day, to work, or shop, or visit. But the cartel war has complicated things here: the violence in Juárez can seem so far away, and yet so close. NY Times

I've read this magazine piece about nine times. I'm not sure what the lesson is, but I'm pretty sure it's important. Wash Post Magazine

Posted by Richard at 08:01 AM in Rockets | Comments (33)
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The Sports Update: Appreciating Charles Barkley

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They don't make spring training like they used to. Here's some advice if you're going.

Go early. Go when it's all still fresh and the players are excited. Go before they've been asked for 9,000 autographs and before they've been asked the same question again and again.

If you can spare the time, I'd recommend going for the last few days of workouts and the first couple of games. In a perfect world, you'd go for the first few workouts, and then come back in mid-March and catch a couple of games—if catching a spring game is important.

It's not like this around some teams, but the Astros don't have all that many fans around, especially since the Rocket Man left the building. So you're allowed to wander from diamond to diamond as guys taking batting practice, do the various fielding drills, etc. As an aside, the concession stand is open, and I recommend the pretzels.

Brad Mills may have a different schedule, but players typically are on the field no later than 9 am and done by around noon. They seem to hang around and chat with fans and sign autographs.

Several times a year, I get emails from fans complaining that Lance Berkman didn't sign autographs before a certain game. In a perfect world, players would sign every autograph. They don't. They tire of it. Some of these guys get photos and pieces of paper stuck in their face at every store, restaurant, parking lot and hotel.

They get cynical about why fans want their autographs. There are plenty of you out there that want autographs because you love the Astros, and an autograph is one of the ways you feel closer to the team.

However, there are plenty of you out there in the autograph business. You don't ask a player for an autograph. You ask for three autographs. Or you ask for one today and one tomorrow. You buy them and sell them, and you ruin it for everyone.

OK, go ahead and write me and tell me that Lance Berkman is making millions, and it wouldn't kill him to sign autographs for 10 minutes a day. You're right. Drayton wishes he did.

I'm sorry I can't get worked up about it. I've never collected a bunch of stuff, never cared about autographs or photos. So I just can sympathize. If Lance Berkman not signing autographs keeps you from going to Astros game, I'm sorry. You're missing a lot of great baseball. And a lot of bad baseball.

When I first went to spring training in the late '70s, it was a much different atmosphere than now. For one thing, the ballparks were more like high school facilities. In fact, some of them might have been high school facilities. Tickets prices were, harumph, cheaper back then.

There were very few of these huge fancy complexes with enough diamonds to train several teams at once. In Miami, I think the Orioles might have had two diamonds, and one of them was on the other side of a fence where you didn't want to go if you valued your life.

I went to eight or nine spring trainings in Miami and loved it there because I had a house on Key Biscayne, which back then was one of the garden spots of the world. Never mind that Miami Stadium was in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country.

Back then, the Yankees were just up I-95 in Fort Lauderdale, and if you kept going, you had the Rangers in Pompano, the Braves and Expos in West Palm and the Dodgers in Vero Beach.

Ah, Vero. When the spring schedules came out, we checked for two things: number of trips to Dodgertown and number of trips across Alligator Alley. We hated the later, couldn't get enough of the former.

Dodgertown was the one magic place in all of spring training. With the construction of these fancy new multi-team complexes with their landscaping and souvenir shops and ballpark that are first-rate, spring training has a different feel.

But we always had Dodgertown. It was not unlike walking into Augusta National for the first time. You have a sense you're in a different place and time. The streets were named for the great Dodgers, and on the back lots, you might see Sandy Koufax throwing batting practice and Duke Snider tutoring young outfielders.

There was no place like it. Have I mentioned the shrimp yet? The Dodgers had a work room for their reporters. Not just a work room, but a work room connected to a bar and about eight steps from the home clubhouse.

Around 5 each afternoon, after the game had been played, Dodger coaches and players past and present would gather in that bar to have drinks and snacks (Shrimp! Be still my beating heart!) and talk hardball.

Covering the Dodgers was by far the sweetest assignment a baseball writer could have. The Dodgers wanted coverage and took care of reporters. I know guys that covered the team back then and wouldn't leave the facility except to eat an occasional meal.

They never bothered going to road games. Why go? Just get up, catch some rays, play golf and wait for the bus to come back. Why go elsewhere to eat? Three great meals were served in the Dodgertown dining room.

Dodgertown is gone now. The Dodgers have moved to Arizona and are sharing a complex with the White Sox that's maybe the best one on earth. If you're covering baseball these days, the Cactus League is the place to be.

Out in the northwest Phoenix suburbs, there are a bunch of teams within an easy drive of each other. As for the Grapefruit League, will the last team to leave turn out the lights?

The Astros have a relatively easy drive to play the Braves, but every other bus ride is a hike. That's why veteran players limit their number of trips. They can get their work done back at the complex and spare themselves four hours in a bus or car.

It's a real irritant because if you guy tickets to a Nationals-Yankees game in Melbourne, you might not recognize the club the Yankees put on the field. Spring training goes on way too long, and players get bored quickly.

It's so long because the pitchers need the work so they can be ready to go four innings on Opening Day. Hitters could be ready to go in about 10 days. Oh well. I've enjoyed this trip down Memory Lane.

When I worked in Dallas, we said of one older coworker: ''The more he talks, the more he remembers.'' Now all these years later, I've become that old guy babbling on about how things used to be.

Does anyone want to hear my encounter with LBJ a few days before he died? No? I didn't think so.

If you'd like to hear more about Harry S. Truman and Robert Oppenheimer and things that happened 70 years ago, be listening to 1560 1-3 this afternoon when I'm on with Hoffy and Nuno. I'm the one saying things like, ''The one thing I remember about Alger Hiss...''

The Rockets are insisting the Knicks throw in one of rookies, Jordan Hill or Toney Douglas, in any Tracy McGrady trade. NY Post

Posted by Richard at 06:57 AM in Astros | Comments (11)
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February 13, 2010

Rockets apparently not getting Iguodala or Butler. So what now?

Daryl Morey is an odd duck. Let's just begin with that analysis. Took me awhile to get there, but that's my expert conclusion. And if you ever dreamed he'd end up as general manager of the Astros, you can stick that little thought in a sock. Ain't happening.

This weirdo has decided that making a bad deal is worse than making no deal. Yes, you read that sentence right. Can you imagine such a thing? I know some of you are going to be upset by this situation.

Some of you want change, and you don't care if it helps the Rockets or hurts the Rockets. There's still a strong possibility Morey will make a deal before next week's trade deadline, but it's probably not going to be one of the ones you've been hoping for. I'll get to that later.

I guess I've spent too much time around the Astros. Those boys see the world differently. Drayton McLane wants action. He doesn't seem to get caught up in whether the club is going forward or backwards. He just wants the club going some direction.

I can't tell you how easy this philosophy makes my job. I get up in the morning wondering if there'll be anything to write about, and along about 3 p.m., here it comes. Kaz Matsui. Miguel Tejada. Jason Jennings. Woody Williams. Carlos Lee. Brandon Lyon. Mike Hampton. My eyes light up like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. They've done it again.

We're not likely to have that kind of fun when Thursday's NBA trading deadline passes. This smarty-pants Morey has decided he's either going to help the Rockets, or not do anything.

At the moment, not doing anything meaningful seems to be the option with increasing appeal. Let's update the dwindling list of options:

• The Mavericks acquires Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood from the Wizards for Josh Howard and a package of other players. Morey thought Butler and Haywood would have been a decent fit—that's decent fit, not great fit, don't confuse the two—for the Rockets. But he couldn't have made the deal without surrendering a big chunk of his core players — Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry, Chase Budinger, Luis Scola, etc. — and he was unwilling to do this.

• The Sixers have informed the Rockets that Andre Iguodala isn't going to be traded. This could be a bluff, but Morey apparently believes the Sixers are serious. So those discussions have ended for the time being.

• Morey had less interest in Amare Stoudemire, who appears headed for the Cavs. The Rockets were never really comfortable with Stoudemire because he's unwilling to commit to a long-term contract and because he's a liability on the defensive end of the floor.

• As for the other players, he was had on his wish list — Kevin Martin, Corey Magette, Anthony Randolph, etc. — there's nothing cooking. Things could change as Thursday's deadline approaches, but the Rockets aren't confident they'll make an impact move.

• Now to the next-to-last option. That's to trade Tracy McGrady for a bundle of expiring contracts. That kind of deal still could happen. If it were me, I might just let the little diva sit the rest of the year, but I hold grudges.

So where does this leave us? The Rockets would enter the off-season with a likely lottery pick, the core of the team still together and some salary cap room. If they renounced contracts, they'd have the flexibility to bid for LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade or Joe Johnson, but a more likely scenario would be to keep most of the team together, to add at least one player from the draft, to get a healthy Yao Ming back on the floor and then to have some money to spend in free agency.

(I wouldn't hold my breath dreaming about Bosh, Johnson, etc. Max-contract players would be giving up about $20 million in salary. Johnson and Wade seem unlikely to leave. The Rockets hope to make a recruiting pitch for Bosh, but it appears a longshot.)

First, before you write to tell me the Rockets shouldn't bring Yao back, that's a dead issue. He has a player option, and seems likely to exercise it. Leslie Alexander wants him as part of the team, and the team's medical staff seems cautiously confident he'll be able to resume his career. There are no guarantees, but unless there's a setback, Yao seems likely to be part of the Rockets next season. Remember that when he's healthy he's 20 points and 10 rebounds, and this season has reminded us how valuable he is.

The intriguing part about this final scenario is that the Rockets believe they'd be able to get an impact player in the draft. Considering how many good players Morey has found with lower picks, it's certainly seems realistic that he would do something good with a higher pick.

What this final option doesn't do is address the needs for this season. Iguodala or Butler might have elevated the Rockets into a lower-tier playoff team this season. Neither seems to be an option at this point, and none of the other options seems likely to happen.

Over at Minute Maid Park, there'd be panic in the streets. There'd be a telephone call from Temple wanting action. And there'd be a deal even if it didn't make any sense. There'd be a good manager fired and a bad manager hired, a coach dismissed. At least, there'd be action.

Morey sees things differently, and while he's not much for column material, he's better for the basketball team. He has made enough smart moves that it's OK to trust him. If he says there's no deal out there that will help the Rockets, then I say there's no deal out there that will help the Rockets.

So next week, we'll root for our little team to get its mojo back, not to mention it's injured players, and then we'll see how this season plays out. Between now and then, the Texans will have time to add six more ex-Broncos, and the Astros, well, who knows what those crazy kids will come up with?

Posted by Richard at 07:23 AM in Rockets | Comments (51)
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February 12, 2010

The Sports Update: Texans on verge of contention

Posted by Richard at 09:55 AM in Sports Update | Comments (29)
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Texans hire another guy with no ties to the Broncos, so take that, you cynics.

The Texans just hired a new coach, and he never worked for the Denver Broncos. And you thought there was nothing new under the sun. Hey, you never know. Next thing you know, the Texans will have more than 30,000 in the stands at Reliant Stadium for kickoff.

His name is Marc Lubick. He last worked at Colorado State, which is a couple of hours from Denver. During that time, he coached four players currently on the Texans' roster: David Anderson, Mike Brisiel, Joel Dreessen and Jesse Nading. But he never worked for the Broncos.

I'm presuming he attended a bunch of coaching clinics around the Broncos, or once hung outside the facility to get autographs. Otherwise, it makes no sense for Gary Kubiak and Rick Smith to bring in someone from outside the family.

If my math is correct, the Texans have hired four new coaches this off-season. New offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and strength coach Cedric Smith (Rick Smith fires the strength coach every year; this is where he lets people know he's in charge) have ties to the Broncos. Lubick did not. Nor did Greg Knapp. I worry about these guys.

What are they going to talk about when the coaches are in the lunch room? When they're talking family vacations? I assume they all go where Mike Shanahan tells them to go.

Maybe things are changing around the Texans. Maybe they're actually fresh ideas. Nothing wrong with hiring a coach from outside the family, a guy with maybe a different way of looking at the world.

I've heard the Rockets do this. I've heard Leslie Alexander and Tad Brown and Daryl Morey say things like, ''Let's go find someone that's really good.''

When Ed Wade hired a scouting director, he went for a guy he didn't know—Bobby Heck.

On the other hand, what the Texans have done seems to be working. Under Kubiak and Smith, they've gone from 2-14 to 9-7. They missed the playoffs by one teensy weensy game in 2009. So there. New ideas just might be overrated.

Posted by Richard at 06:28 AM in Texans | Comments (30)
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February 11, 2010

Texas to the Big Ten? Just do it!

First, as a personal aside, I'd be trading Waco for Madison on my travel schedule. Don't cry for me, Argentina. I'd manage. I'd rather have an annual trip to Berkeley, and maybe it will be on the table before this is done.

Lubbock for Columbus? Check. College Station for Ann Arbor? Don't ask. As for giving up Stillwater and Manhattan, well, it would be a struggle, but the Twin Cities is way nicer than any Big 12 city.

Oklahoma would remain on the schedule, so Texas would still be playing the only team with a realistic chance of beating it in the Big 12.

There'd be more travel involved, but Big Ten schools have shown it's possible to travel long distances and still find the time to get the kids a couple of math classes.

Texas might consider the Big Ten only if Texas A&M could come along, and that would create a numbers problem. Penn State might prefer the Big East or ACC, but then we're in a complicated game. Once the horse trading began, who knows who it would shake out?

In case you haven't heard, there's a report out today that the Big Ten is whispering sweet nothings at Texas as it attempts to expand for 12 teams and have an annual conference championship game.

On one level, this isn't really news. Texas is No. 1 in terms of generating revenues, media coverage, merchandise sales, etc. Texas is the school every other is measured against. So the idea that the Big Ten would want Texas is a giant, ''Duhhhhhh!''

Of course, the Big Ten wants Texas. So does the Pac 10, SEC, Big East and ACC. Texas can play where it wants to play.

Texas is appealing to the Big Ten because it would bring even greater national television ratings to the conference. Texas has tremendous drawing power.

In weighing the pros and cons, there's just one huge one for Texas. That's the long-distance travel. One of the selling points for recruits is that parents will have relatively easy trips to Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor and Oklahoma State to see their kids.

If Texas moves to the Big Ten, only the OU game and the A&M game would be relatively close, and that's presuming the Big Ten wants A&M.

Would Texas make more money? I have no idea. I would presume so. Why else would it come up?

Would it mean more in terms of prestige? I would doubt it. It would mean less prestige for the Big 12, but that would not be Texas' worry.

In the end, I can't see why Texas would do it unless the money is dramatically better. Seeing how Texas football generated around $80 million, it's hard to see it being more.

I have to say trips to Madison, Minneapolis and Ann Arbor are pretty darn appealing. I could pay Commissioner Selig a surprise visit every other year, and by gosh, that makes it worthwhile. Let's do it!

Posted by Richard at 12:21 PM in | Comments (133)
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