“Had he asked my advice in advance, I might have suggested that he advise Cleveland at an earlier time than apparently he did that he was leaving…” Stern was quoted. 

Um, you run the freaking league don’t you?  How many days in advance were we all advised this farce of a show was going to occur?  It didn’t pop into your mind “Hey!  Maybe I should say something or put a stop to this.”?  Everybody knew what was going to happen and the man charged with lording over The Association didn’t have the juggernuts to step up and say something until days later?

Stern goes on to say “I think that the advice that he received on this was poor. His performance was fine. His honesty and his integrity shine through.”  Really?  Honesty and integrity?  First, he says that LeBron should have said something to Cleveland up front and shouldn’t have kept it a secret, and then he turns around and says the guy showed integrity and honesty? 

Oh, and to pile on Stern decides to fine the Cleveland Cavaliers $100,000 for the letter owner Dan Gilbert posted to fans of the team.  Of this, Stern said:

“Remarks by Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, catalyzed as they may have been by hurt with respect to the manner and the fact for himself, his team, and particularly for the people of Cleveland, though understandable, were ill advised and imprudent,”

Let me get this straight.  Somebody who speaks their mind and is completely honest about their feelings gets dinged a sizable chunk of change while another who practiced deception and secrecy gets less than a slap on the hand?  Once and for all this proves that David Stern is LeBron James’ bitch.  In fact, he’s the bitch of all “superstar” players.  Yep.  I said it.  Biaaaatch. 

Crap!  How much will that cost me?

There are no teams in the NBA reported to be considering filing tampering charges, which is a good thing.  I agree that it’s LeBron’s decision to make.  Cavalier fans and their organization feel betrayed, and I’m fine with that as well.  The manner at which everything has come about, along with David Stern’s half-hearted attempt to look like he’s in charge of the players has been a travesty.  Unlike Pinocchio, this one still has his strings attached.

At the beginning of the NBA finals there was less significance put on the storied match-up of the Lakers and Celtics.  Magic and Larry saved the league back in the 80′s with their great rivalry and that of their respective teams.  What was the lead-in story?  Where is LeBron going?  The night of the NBA draft, when there are so many young men about to become multi-millionaires, speculation was how teams would draft due to the LeBron factor.  Has there ever been a single individual who has hijacked an organization as much as LeBron has?  David Stern has proven once and for all he’s just a puppet to a bunch of spoiled gansta wannabes.

The other “big” story draft-night was the unceremonious dumping of Trailblazers’ GM Kevin Pritchard.  To a man, the analysts working the draft were shocked at the development.  Here’s a man who almost single-handedly turned around a team with one of, if no the worst reputations in the league.  I thought the “Jail-Blazers” was a local phrase.  Au contra ire. 

Portland was the laughing stock of the entire NBA.  All Pritchard did was come in, jettison the knuckleheads and bring in guys with good character and much better than average games.  They’ve made the playoffs in back to back years and his moves this past season saved what could have been a disaster due to the multitude of injuries.  Some are blaming Pritchard for drafting Greg Oden, who has spent most of his first 3 years on IR.  Let’s also not forget that it was Assistant GM Kevin Pritchard who lobbied to draft Chris Paul instead of Martell Webster.  Yeah, that one worked out well.  Good luck in Minnesota Martell.

Latest word from the land of Vulcan is that they have their sights set on Mario Chalmers.  It has also been said the Trailblazers were interested in bringing both Chalmers and Michael Beasley to Portland in some kind of deal.  Now that Miami has shipped Beasley to Minnesota that doesn’t look to be happening.  However, this signals a step back in philosophy where character is taking a back seat to talent.  Remember Chalmers and Beasley were expelled from the Rookie Symposium for, get this, smoking marijuana in their room.

There is much speculation over what led to Pritchard being fired.  It’s universally agreed that those in control at Paul Allen’s company Vulcan didn’t see eye to eye with what Pritchard wanted to do in Portland.  In my own personal opinion, I feel the final straw was the negotiations with Brandon Roy.  At first there was disagreement over Roy wanting a max contract, which he really did deserve, and the team’s refusal to do so.  In the end, Roy got his way and I believe that was due to Kevin Pritchard.  The original offer by the team reeks with Vulcan all over it.  Those business-lousy, penny pinching misers haven’t a clue as to what it takes to build and maintain a successful franchise.  Just look at the Seattle Seahawks and the condition that team is in for proof.

The search for the next GM is producing some names that don’t elicit much excitement.  First, there was Danny Ferry late of Cleveland.  What did he really do there?  Draft LeBron James?  Any monkey could’ve made that decision, and now he’s gone.  Next on the list was Randy Pfund.  True, he put together a championship Miami team in 2006 but that too didn’t take a genius.  Shaq had already made indications he wanted out of L.A. and talked about going to Miami.  Throw in some role players and benchwarmers and Shaq goes to South Beach.  Look at what the team has become since.  With LeBron and Chris Bosh coming in their future just got a lot brighter, but Pfund had nothing to do with those developments.

Next up, Kiki Vanderweghe.  Seriously?  Most recently the GM in New Jersey?  Yeah, he’s done a stellar job there with a team that flirted last year with the distinct possibility setting the record for most losses in a season.  They didn’t of course, but what a disaster.  It is true though that he was the arcitecht of the resurgence in Denver, but again not rocket science.  Carmelo Anthony was the best player when they drafted.  Not a difficult choice.  But he may be on his way out after the upcoming season, and Vanderweghe obviously has already been put out of his job.

I’m a little concerned for the future of my favorite team.  I wonder if maybe Paul Allen got his medical marijuana card to offset the side effects his chemo has and doesn’t have a clear mind when making these decisions.  Can’t you just imagine him sitting around with his Vulcan chronies enjoying a fat one, and somebody throws out the idea to get rid of one of the best GMs in the NBA?  After the initial laughter subsides Allen can be heard saying “Dude, let’s do it.”  I’ll be watching in earnest, waiting to exhale.

As you head out of town, I just want to take a moment to thank you.  Thank you for coming to Oregon in the first place.  After that one, stellar year at City College of San Francisco and finishing with a #3 national juco rating I can see how you’d bolt for a bigger program.  I mean, all you did in that single year was throw for 3065 yards with 26 touchdowns and a completion rate of 61.3%.  It’s just too bad we couldn’t have had you here a year sooner.

I do understand the circumstances surrounding why you chose a junior college.  It’s kind of tough getting to a D-1 school with a criminal record.  Sure, kids will be kids….and I’m sure you needed the money that you muscled out of people in the Hillsdale Mall and those unsuspecting folks who were just waiting for their bus.  I think the school was a little harsh in expelling you for these transgressions, but as you stated your time in juvenile detention helped you to grow up.  Your quote sure showed your maturity:

“It is what it is.  It’s life, and that’s what happened.  And now I’m here doing this.”

Thank you also for your performance winning the 2008 Holiday Bowl against Oklahoma State, and for leading the Ducks to this past Rose Bowl.  Even though Ohio State won the game, at least those waiting for a bus afterward felt safe.

I also want to thank you for the disappointment you gave myself and other fans of Oregon by putting yourself in a situation with Garrett Embry that netted a 2nd degree burglary conviction.  I want to thank you for first lying to your head coach and basically forcing him to suspend you for the upcoming 2010 season.

Most of all, I want to thank you for not living up to some simple expectations to remain with the team.  I want to thank you for not realizing that with all the mistakes that you’ve continued to make you needed to keep yourself out of situations that could cause you some problems.  Driving with a suspended license AND having a stash of weed really was a fantastic decision on your part.  I mean your coach had the balls to keep you with the team instead of kicking you out on your ass and you’ve shown him what’s most important to you.

Jeremiah, I do want to thank you for all you’ve done for the team as far as the level of play you’ve displayed on the field and furthering a work that was already in progress.  You should be proud that your actions will serve as an example for those who come along after you’re gone.  The name Jeremiah Masoli will resonate for some time.

Lastly, I want to thank you for not allowing the door to hit you in the ass on your way out.

Sincerely,

Sandcrabs.

One other viable version came from Texas, which shows they’re interested in the original proposal.  Instead of Colorado they wanted to bring Baylor under the guise of keeping the Texas schools in the same conference.  I don’t think so.  Texas really doesn’t want to travel to Boulder in November and they have a better record in games played at Waco.  Hell, who doesn’t?  Baylor’s fine.  Just be sure to bring the big boys.  Besides, Colorado just found themselves being penalized for an Academic Progress Rating that doesn’t meet NCAA standards.  You know that rating.  Alongside the RPI and polls, the APR is very important to high profile schools.  If their athletes aren’t graduating the school can lose out on scholarships, just like Colorado has.  They lose 4 for football.  C’mon Mr. Hawkins!  Get those kids to class!

Another fortunate by-product of this merger: complete and utter distruction of the BCS.  Sweet hallelujah!!!!  A flawed system to begin with, the BCS has pretended to match the two best college football programs in a supposed National Championship game.  A lot of people will say the BCS has done exactly what it promised; a game between the #1 and #2 teams in the polls.  Unfortunately those polls are severely flawed.  The Boise States and TCUs of the world would attest to that.

What this merger really sets up is a true playoff format.  Have 4 mega-conference champions and 4 “at-large” teams, such as Boise and/or TCU, and have a 3-week playoff culminating in a true National Championship game (great idea John Canzano).  Of course there will still be teams who cry about being passed over, but that’s what the bowl season is for.  Teams not included are sent off to the myriad of bowl games.  Having 8 final teams can incorporate the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta bowls are first round playoff games.  Move the championship game as it is done now.

There will never be a perfect system, however it looks like this may come to fruition.  Word out of Nebraska is that they are going to announce a move to the Big 10, or Big 11, or whatever the hell they’re going to call themselves.  In any event you can have one team can get hot and knock off the thought-of champion in an earlier round.  People will complain about it, much like they do now with March Madness.  I say they can all just grab a sugar-tit and start sucking.  This is true progress.  The sooner this gets done the quicker other conferences join the fray.

The Big 12 is holding their annual Spring Meetings.  It was the hope of Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe that they would come to a consensus to keep the current conference intact.  Well, that didn’t quite happen.  In fact there wasn’t really any consensus on either subject.  This all began when the Big 10 mentioned expansion and both Nebraska and Missouri expressed interest.  (The Big 12 has given Nebraska and Missouri until Friday 6/11 to make their decisions)  The Pac-10 then stepped up with a plan to add Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Colorado, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the mix and create a division to include Arizona and Arizona State.  The original Pac 8 would then be in a division together with the champions of each division playing for the conference championship at the end of the year.  How fantastic would it be to see USC and Texas playing in a meaningful game other than a bowl game?  Or an Oregon/Oklahoma rematch?  Think that would pique some interest?

To help matters along, Fox Sports has stepped up in an effort to create a network specifically for this new conference.  And the money being thrown around?  Reports are that each school would receive $27mil annually for this partnership.  The Big 10 already has their own network and it’s doing quite well, thank you.  The new network wouldn’t be relegated to only football mind you.  All sports would be included.  Just the basketball tournament alone would generate mass revenue for all the teams.  How can they not say yes?

Well, quite simply, Texas is the biggest prize and they can pretty much do whatever they want.  In my opinion, Texas has become as viable an entity as Notre Dame.  They can chart their own destiny and go in whatever direction they choose without getting hurt in any way.  Texas, here, is the belle of the ball.  If they come on board then all the other schools surely will.  They’d be stupid not to.  This new mega-conference would then be the model for other schools and conferences.  Just the money alone being offered up is incentive enough for others to closely watch the talks and the progress of it all.

I’m a bit of a traditionalist.  I long for the old days of the Pac 8.  Too much corporate sponsorship has partially bastardized a lot of college sports.  However, this new innovative plan is a winner all around.  Every school will benefit financially from it while raising the level of competition immensely.  Of course this will be a tremendous benefit for the fans.  Getting the chance to play teams the caliber of Texas or Oklahoma or Oklahoma State for that matter makes for great drama.  I say, let’s bring it on!