MLB Ridiculous Blackout Rules

I have hated MLB's television blackout rules for a while now. In my area we are blacked out of Nationals, Phillies, Pirates, and Orioles.

Now honestly that isn't the worst since I don't really like any of those teams and 3 of them suck. BUT I am a Mets fan. Which means if Mets/Nationals is on ESPN at some point this season (unlikely I know) then I don't get it.

Why? I am not sure. Do they think I am going to drive my happy ass to NY or DC to watch one game? HELL NO!

Do they think I get all Nationals games on TV? I don't. Actually I don't get any.

But I understand that the chances of that happening are slim anyway. Mets/Pirates and Mets/Nationals is not going to be on TV very often.

What really bothers me about it is that I would love to watch an Orioles game every once in a while. And since they play the almighty Red Sox and Yankees they actually do appear on TV from time to time.

But guess what...I don't get to see those games. Why? Why can't I see Orioles games? I don't get a channel that shows them, so why not show them on ESPN?

See MLB just doesn't get it. Families aren't paying to go the ball games as much anymore which means there are kids that don't get to see teams play because they don't get their local station and they don't get to see them on ESPN.

MLB is not necessarily losing fans with the blackout rules but they sure aren't gaining new ones either.

National Championship Game Starts TOO DAMN LATE!

Okay I will admit that I didn't really care about last night's game anyway so it probably wouldn't have mattered but a 9:21 tip off? That is ridiculous.

I understand that CBS wants their west coast viewers to be able to see the whole game but the game was UNC vs MSU....how many west coast people really cared? The only people as a whole who watched that game were people who had UNC in their brackets. Fortunately for CBS that was probably over half the freaking country.

But either way having a game that ends well after 11...I didn't watch so I don't know what time it ended....is not helping the game. It is hurting it.

Every major sport with the exception of the NFL struggles with their scheduling. Baseball starts World Series games around 9 and NBA and NHL playoff games start after 8. The advantage for the NBA and NHL is that their games only last 2.5 hours so it is easier to work with.

But has anyone learned from the success of the NFL? The Super Bowl starts at 6:30 on a Sunday night. EVERYONE CAN WATCH.

The NCAA and CBS actually have a simple solution.

Play the Final Four games on Friday night and have the National Championship game tip off at 6:30 or 7 on Sunday night.

I GUARANTEE you the ratings would be better. People would be partying the entire day like they do for the Super Bowl. Parents would actually let their kids watch if they wanted.


Hell I would watch.

National League Preview

The Major League Baseball season starts on Sunday with the Phillies starting their World Series title defense against division rival Atlanta. I was going to try to do each division or each team or something but I decided that the best way for me to do the baseball preview would to just be each league with giving my predictions for the playoffs and the awards. Some of the interesting story lines are how the Phillies are going to do with all the pressure on them, whether the Cubs can repeat their regular season dominance and whether Manny can hit the way he did for the Dodgers for the whole season like he did for the last 50 games last year.

NL East:

Verb's Predicted order of finish:

1. New York Mets - 92-70
2. Philadelphia Phillies - 90-72
3. Florida Marlins - 82-80
4. Atlanta Braves -72-90
5. Washington Nationals - 69-93

I think the Mets would have won the division each of the last two years if they had at least a decent closer in the bullpen. I know Billy Wagner came in with a lot of expectations but K-Rod is different. The guy can just flat out pitch and blow guys away. 63 saves last year, remember? I'm pretty sure that's a solid guy at the back end. Don't forget they added JJ Putz as a setup guy. He may be as huge as K-Rod. The offense is still great.

The Phillies will obviously still be a very good team but I think it will come down to the last week of the season again but I get a gut feeling that the Phillies will be the ones who choke this time. The offense is really good and they will score a lot of runs but I just can't see the pitching staff holding up the way it did last year. They just named Chan Ho Park the 5th starter. Doesn't that say enough?

The Marlins are a team on the rise and I suspect they will be right around .500 all season. Anything better will be a huge surprise. Hanley Ramirez put on 25 muscle pounds and has now been moved to the 3rd spot in the lineup. He has the talent to be the NL MVP.

Atlanta could be getting better but I don't think adding Derrick Lowe and Javier Vasquez will make that much of a different. The bullpen is a big question and I really don't think the offense is good enough to carry this team.

Washington added Adam Dunn and that's about it. Their is some buzz around some young pitchers they are adding to the rotation but really without some more pop in the lineup this team will struggle to win. I think Ryan Zimmerman is going to have a break out year but that doesn't mean this team gets out of the dump of the division.

NL Central:

Verb's Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Chicago Cubs - 99-61
2. St. Louis Cardinals -88-64
3. Cincinnati Reds - 83-79
4. Houston Astros -81-81
5. Milwaukee Brewers - 76-86
6. Pittsburgh Pirates - 61-101

This may be the deepest division in baseball. I think that the Cubs are the definitive favorite then the next 4 could all finish second with the Pirates still being very very bad. I know I predicted there to be a 12 game difference between the Cards and the Brewers but it would not surprise me if those two records switch.

The Cubs are the best team in the National League on paper. They have the lineup, the rotation depth and the bullpen to be a great team. The recently named Kevin Gregg the closer which may have also sured up the setup spot because Carlos Marmol was excellent in that spot last year. I really don't think this team will have a problem winning this division.

The next 4 are all really close. Albert Pujols is probably the best hitter in baseball and one of the best ever. The Astros still have some great hitters but they are getting up there in age and really Oswalt is the only really good pitcher on the entire staff. It wouldn't surprise me if his name is a name you hear around the trade deadline. The Reds are good and they are young. They have some solid young pitchers with the lineup to stay competitive. The Brewers have the Prince still but their story is who they lost. C.C. Sabathia went to some team in the AL and Ben Sheets is now gone too. Yovani Gallardo is the ace of the staff and that makes me nervous if I am a Brewers fan. Either way, this is going be an awesome race for second, but that's the problem, it's for second.

Oh and the Pirates. Ummmmmm...they have a nice ballpark.

NL West:

Verb's Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers - 91-61
2. Arizona Diamondbacks - 85-77
3. San Francisco Giants - 83-79
4. Colorado Rockies - 79-83
5. San Diego Padres -77-85

This division is so up and down and every year you never know what is going to happen. If I remember correctly, last year I picked the Padres to win the division and I think they finished last. This year I am picking them last so don't be surprised if they win the thing. I obviously think that other then the Dodgers this division will be very even. I think my biggest surprise pick is the Giants to be an above .500 team.

The Dodgers have Manny and he could definitely win MVP. I still think he is one of the top 3 hitters in the league. The starting pitching will be the biggest question as they are going to have to rely on young pitchers like Clayton Kershaw much more then they had in the past. The bullpen will be solid even with first year closer Jonathan Broxton as the anchor. The biggest difference will be the offense and the Dodgers have such a huge advantage in this division.

The Diamondbacks are an X-factor in this division in my opinion. Stephen Drew is going to be great as is Justin Upton. But how soon? If it's this year this team could give the Dodgers a run for the division. Brandon Webb and Dan Haren could be the top 1-2 punch in the majors. The could both be 20 game winners which would go a long way towards a division championship.

The Giants, Rockies and Padres could surprise but also could be huge let downs. Randy Johnson is now pitching in San Fran and could be a stud for a dud. The Rockies can hit with anyone but what if they can't pitch. The usually can't and I would beat on more the same this year. The Padres have Peavy at the top but not much after that and have a new closer in Heath Bell. I don't believe they have the offense to carry a bad pitching staff. Those are way too many questions for me to feel confident about any of these teams.

Playoff Predictions:

Cubs over Phillies
Mets over Dodgers

Cubs over Mets

Postseason Awards:

MVP: Albert Pujols
Cy Young: Brandon Webb
Rookie of the Year: Jordan Zimmerman
Manager of the Year: Joe Torre

College Basketball that isn't the Final Four

There are three things going on in college basketball that I want to talk about that aren't the final four. I will get to the final four later this week but for now there are three developing stories that I would love to bring up and share my wonderful, expansive wealth of knowledge with you on.

First, John Calipari signed an 8 year, $31.65 million contract to become Kentucky's head coach this morning. It seemed to imminent for a couple of days but its official now. I think this is great for Kentucky. They needed to make a splash and they did. They needed to do it quickly and they did. They picked out the guy they wanted, they went after him and they got him. There was a lot of talk about Kentucky being a top 5 job in college basketball and I do still agree with that to a certain degree but if they wouldn't have gotten Calipari or another big name, that reputation would have taken a serious hit in my mind.

Do I think Calipari is the right man for the job? I am not sold on this yet. I think Calipari is great! He is a great recruiter and is a great coach! But remember fans, he has never coached at a big school. So far on his resume is Massachusetts, the New Jersey Nets and Memphis. He put UMass and Memphis on the map, but Kentucky is a whole different world. I do believe he can handle and will do a good job but people will need to be patient here and this is a whole new experience for Calipari. He will have the talent to win in 2 years or sooner but a school like Kentucky has so much BS and politics outside of the gym that the coach has to deal with that it will be interesting to see how coach Cal deals with it. I think the Cats will be back and will be back soon with the team that is there and potentially the freshmen that Calipari may bring with him. Everyone just needs to give him a LITTLE bit of time.

The second issue that has come up is the recruiting scandal of Nate Miles at Connecticut. I have a couple of things to say about this. First, I suspect this is something that happens more often then we as fans hear about. I am not saying that every major program does it because I truly don't believe that but I suspect that some do. Even if its not the huge programs, I am sure its out there and we don't hear about it. Jim Calhoun and Connecticut were just stupid enough and not cautious enough to get caught. I suspect there will be some probation. I think it should be one NCAA tournament only because the kid in question doesn't even go to Connecticut anymore. They broke the rules and they should have a penalty for that but you are hurting the players more then the people who committed the violations and that's not cool.

Colin Cowherd brought up a great point on ESPN Radio the other day. For all the fans out there who really honestly think Calhoun didn't know about this, YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS! Of course he knew about this and he probably was on the other end of some of the illegal calls and messages. Calhoun is a great coach and all but he screwed this one up and he deserves to be punished for it. Just because he is the coach of you're favorite team doesn't make him Mr. Innocent. You all know that if it were Boeheim or Coach K or Roy Williams you would all be crucifying the guy right now but because its Calhoun you think he did nothing wrong. Wake up!

Just as an interesting quick little third note, all the experts and most fans for that matter, myself included all said that the Big Ten was down this year and was a weak conference but if you look fans, the Big Ten has a legitimate shot at winning both post season tournaments with Penn State in the NIT and Michigan State in the big dance. Wouldn't that be something!