Headlinin’: The first round is still the best round (and we can prove it)

Making the morning rounds.

? Today in Duh Studies. You know that one guy, that guy at the end of the bar who keeps comparing Tom Brady to JaMarcus Russell and going on about how "the experts" don't know jack? Yeah, when he starts up tonight during the first round of the NFL Draft, point him to the Wall Street Journal, which did the math and found that, in general, first rounders are worth the hype. Over the last nine years:

?�85 percent of first-round draft picks are still playing, 20 percent better than the rate for second rounders.
?�First-rounders are 140 percent (!) more likely to make the Pro Bowl over the last decade than second rounders.
? The average first-round pick plays for nine years, nearly triple the league average.
? 40 percent of team captains are former first-round picks.
?�Among players who started at least six games in 2010, first rounders earned 55 percent more than everyone else.
? Of the top 50 NFL players in jersey sales, 32 of them (or 64 percent) were first rounders.

Et cetera. Also note that five of the last six Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks since Brady's last ring in 2004 were first-round picks, and the one that wasn't (Drew Brees) was the first pick in the second round. The scouts are professionals, too, you know. [Wall Street Journal]

? They're sincerely sorry. Killers on the green, too. Fiesta Bowl officials seem to have successfully convinced BCS head Bill Hancock that they're "dead serious" about reforming the culture of corruption that led to the ouster of bowl CEO John Junker, the looming threat of criminal charges and possible expulsion from the BCS, in large part by following all of the recommendations of an attorney the bowl hired to conduct an internal review. "The Fiesta Bowl issue happened, and yes, it was disturbing," Hancock said Wednesday from the annual BCS meetings in New Orleans, where Fiesta officials rehashed a presentation they initially made for a seven-man "task force" last week in Chicago. "But people in Phoenix are as disturbed as we are and … they want to do something about it." [Associated Press]

While we're on the subject, you can also check out the original draft of the extremely detailed talking points crafted by Ari Fleischer's public relations firm and distributed (via Hancock) to "task force" members after the Fiesta Bowl scandal hit the headlines last month. [via Playoff PAC]

? They see me bowlin'. So much for starting the "Cougar Bowl": With privileged BCS status out of the question, newly independent BYU announced bowl tie-ins for the next three seasons Wednesday, beginning this December with a guaranteed invitation (assuming the Cougars are bowl-eligible, etc.) from the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth. Looking ahead, 2012 and 2013 will send the Cougars to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego and the Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco, respectively. [Salt Lake Tribune]

? Playing time is all you need. Washaun Ealey's status as Georgia's top tailback was already in jeopardy with the arrival of hotshot recruit Isaiah Crowell ?�for whom Mark Richt was not only willing to all but promise the starting position but also to break minor NCAA rules ? but it's never a good sign for your prospects when the head coach calls you out in front of a roomful of boosters. "Washaun has a ways to go still to show me that he deserves to start or even play right now," Richt said Wednesday at a "Bulldog Club" meeting in Augusta. "He has a ways to go in my book. We'll see. I love him, though." When you put it that way, the bench doesn't so bad … as long as there's love. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

? Send help. This is what ripped through Tuscaloosa Wednesday afternoon:

4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo.

And this is what it looked like when it was done:

The University of Alabama campus was somehow spared, but the rest of the city was not: As of this morning, 32 people are confirmed dead, hundreds more are injured and untold millions are mounting in property damage. Across the South, the death toll from Wednesday's storm is approaching 200 in five states. You can donate to the mid-Alabama chapter of the Red Cross here, or text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to donate $10 to relief. [Tuscaloosa News, Associated Press]

Quickly… Ex-Virginia Tech starter Lyndell Gibson is found guilty of drunk driving, and plans to transfer to Hampton. … Mississippi State unveils plans for expanding Davis-Wade Stadium, complete with ghost people. …
Louisville unveils some new uniforms that look pretty much exactly like the old ones. … The Fiesta Bowl is hiring. … Examining recruiting expenses in the SEC. … A page from Gus Malzahn's playbook. … A Rebel/Black Bear compromise that leaves everyone mad. … And sorry to spoil the magic, but Paul Rhoads didn't really punch a moose.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Video: Was Brian Cardinal’s pick on Patty Mills a cheap shot?

What we have here is Brian Cardinal, a reserve forward with the Dallas Mavericks who looks like your dad, setting a strong, rattling pick on Patty Mills, a reserve guard with the Portland Trail Blazers who looks like a pretty smart dude with those glasses, in the final minute of the Mavs' 93-82 win over the Blazers in Game 5 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Monday night. That much is crystal clear; that much is not in dispute.

What is up for debate, however, is whether or not said play was dirty. The Blazers sure seem to think it was, according to The Oregonian's Jason Quick:

Blazers guard Wesley Matthews sought out Cardinal after the game and had a few choice words for him at halfcourt, during which Mavericks reserve DeShawn Stevenson interjected. Matthews and Stevenson exchanged pointed expletives from about 10 feet apart before Stevenson was bear-hugged by a teammate and pushed toward the Dallas locker room.

"I know it's the playoffs and everything, but come on,'' Matthews said. "With four seconds left in the game? But that's cool. I'm not going to forget it, that's for sure.'' [...]

Mills said the Blazers players felt it was a "cheap" play by the Mavericks.�[...]

"At that point in the game, I don't know … I don't know if you do that when you are up that much,'' Mills said.

Unsurprisingly, Cardinal saw the play differently. He told�Sekou Smith at NBA.com's Hang Time blog that he was "surprised [the Blazers] are so mad about it," considering how hard they were playing as the clock ran out:

Cardinal said he wouldn't have done anything other than watch the final seconds click off the clock if Mills hadn't picked Barea up full court and been so aggressive with the game already decided. [...]

"If they are mad," Cardinal said, "they should be mad at [Earl Barron], [Nicolas Batum] or whoever else was in the game, for not calling out that screen."

As of 8:45 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, about 2,350 readers of the fantastic blog Blazersedge had cast their votes as to the relative cleanliness of the play.�Cheap shot? Fifty percent. All's fair? Forty-nine percent.

On a Blazer-friendly blog, that's pretty remarkable.�And while I'm not going to get all gleeful on the opposing side, it also seems about right to me.

While the waning moments of a double-digit win are usually run at quarter-speed, with players on both sides content just to hit the showers, as�ProBasketballTalk's Kurt Helin noted, "Portland defenders kept pushing [and] trying to force a turnover without fouling." Playing pesky and aggressive, then getting mad when the opponent's pesky and aggressive play lands you on the seat of your pants, seems a bit off. And Cardinal's 100 percent right about one thing: If Mills is going to be ticked at anyone, it ought to be the teammates that failed to notify him that he was about to slam headlong into a 6-foot-8 dude.

That said, while there's absolutely nothing illegal about the screen, I can certainly understand Blazers fans, protective of their own, thinking the Mavs could have closed things out without the bell-ringing. It's an unnecessary physical play that sends a message, and I can't blame about half of the people for not particularly appreciating that message. It's not a foul, but I can see the argument that it's, in a sense, "cheap."

Hopefully, we all get lucky and this turns an end-of-the-bench big into a venom-receiving villain in the Pacific Northwest come Game 6 on Thursday. More people should feel passionately, one way or the other, about Brian Cardinal.

Original video via Ben Golliver.

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Puck Daddy Game 7′s Live Chat: Habs/Bruins, Bolts/Penguins

Another night, another pair of Game 7's. Hope your fridge is restocked.

At 7 p.m. ET, the Montreal Canadiens visit the Boston Bruins in the finale of their epic series. At 8 p.m. ET, the Tampa Bay Lightning try to take out the Pittsburgh Penguins inside their spiffy arena to advance for the first time in ... er ... when was that Cup year again?

Please join your pals at Puck Daddy for an evening-long mega chat that covers both of these games. You bring the funny; we bring the abrupt changes in tone and Hamburger Women. That's how it works.

Should be a hell of a night, eh Guy? Chat begins at 7:30 p.m. Tell a friend.

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What ESPN was offering the NHL before NBC megadeal

The ink's dried on the NHL's $2 billion, 10-year deal with NBC, and the general opinion from pundits is that it's a winner. It may even be as far-reaching as to influence the NHL to return to the Olympics for the 2014 Sochi Games, should NBC win the bid.

There's still a segment of fans and media, despite compelling arguments to the contrary, that believe ESPN would have been the better destination for the NHL's U.S. television contract.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal had a piece this week that detailed the NHL's negotiating process with NBC, ESPN, Turner and FOX. In it, we get some interesting details on what the WWL was offering the League as a television partner. Here's Ourand, writing about Gary Bettman and Comcast's Brian Roberts:

Though the two are friends, Bettman had a tough message to deliver: Days earlier, ESPN told the league that it would make an aggressive bid on the NHL's media package. Bettman told Roberts that ESPN's planned bid of $160 million to $170 million per year would test NBC's and Versus' right-to-match clause, which several media executives described as the tightest such clause they had ever seen. The clause gave NBC the right to match any deal the NHL signed with another network.

But it would be hard for NBC to match ESPN's planned offer. ESPN told the NHL that it would televise every Stanley Cup playoff game nationally. ESPN said that it would stream the games to authenticated broadband and mobile users. And ESPN guaranteed an international component as part of its planned offer. ESPN's deal would include a regular-season Game of the Week, but it was not making the broadcast network ABC available. The details were new for Roberts, who did not want to lose the NHL. In early discussions with the league, the NBC Sports Group had resisted the idea of televising every Stanley Cup playoff game nationally. And Comcast could not match ESPN's streaming plans or international offerings.

Comcast/NBC's reaction? The deal that was eventually agreed upon that gave the NHL 100 broadcasting "windows" on NBC and whatever VERSUS will become and a nationally televised game the day after Thanksgiving.

SBJ reports that the NHL never went back to ESPN for a counteroffer, nor did ESPN ever submit a formal proposal.

Again, there were virtues to hitching the wagon to ESPN: There's no question the post-lockout product on the ice, the current crop of stars and the growing audience all position the NHL to be more palatable to the ESPN marketing machine than in their previous contract. It's still a network that drives the conversation for a large segment of fans that aren't (yet) watching hockey.

But it's clear that for what the NHL wanted out of this network contract, NBC was able to provide it ? if not the ESPN casual fan seal of approval.

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The 10-man rotation, starring the Philadelphia 76ers

A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: The 700 Level. Andrew Unterberger on a 76ers team that we'll all miss.
PF: The Point Forward. Good stuff on Trevor Ariza. Also a nice Blazers/Mavs preview.
SF: CBSSports.com. Is Pat Riley going to win the Executive of the Year award? Jealous?
SG: The Dream Shake. Tom Martin takes on a one-note Houston columnist.
PG: Hardwood Paroxysm. Rob Mahoney leaves no stone unturned defending Russell Westbrook.
6th: ESPN. Rick Reilly with a must-read (you heard me) piece on Chris Paul.
7th: Indy Cornrows. Larry Bird is going to stick around. What do Pacer owners do now?
8th: The Painted Area. Typically perfect Haubsian observations.
9th: TrueHoop. "What do you think about at the line?" My personal answer? "How terrible I am at this."
10th. NBA Playbook. Why the dearly departed Nuggets couldn't get open for a game-tying trey Wednesday night.

Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Holler at me at KD_BDL_ED (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter.

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Can LSU fans survive another year of Jordan Jefferson, starting quarterback? Do they have a choice?

The equation describing the relationship between most fan bases and their starting quarterback is pretty straightforward: Winning = Love. Or, if not love, at least forgiveness. Then there's the relationship between Jordan Jefferson, who's won 20 games as a starter for LSU since taking over in late 2008 ?�including last year's triumphs over Florida, Alabama and Texas A&M en route to a top-10 finish ?�and Tiger fans, who showed up to Saturday's spring game largely hoping to see Jefferson ousted from his perch on the depth chart by junior college transfer Zach Mettenberger. That, despite an impressive touchdown bomb by Mettenberger and an uneven, three-turnover afternoon by Jefferson, did not happen.

In fact, it so emphatically did not happen that a beat writer who accurately conveyed the coaches' clear preference for Jefferson after the game felt compelled to defend himself from attacks that he was stumping for the incumbent. Fans didn't see anything new over the weekend, but Les Miles and new offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe left no doubt: Jefferson was awarded the team's "comprehensive Spring Award for Outstanding Leadership, Effort and Performance," and Kragthorpe said emphatically after watching his Outstanding Leader complete four of 14 passes with an interception, no touchdowns and two fumbles, "Jordan is our starter."

OK then: So LSU is a serious national championship contender with a quarterback who, after 27 career starts, whose fans still do not trust. (And whose coaches are probably only saying they do.) That's a far cry from the momentum the Tigers seemed to carry into the spring after the offense came to life in the 41-24 Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M, Miles spurned a pay raise from his alma mater and maligned offensive coordinator Gary Crowton was kicked to the curb after overseeing attacks that stumbled in at or near the bottom of the SEC two years in a row. Even Jefferson rode in on relatively good vibes: The Cotton Bowl was one of the most efficient efforts of his career, good for almost as many touchdown passes in one night (three) as he managed to hit over the entire regular season (four). Jefferson was a well-regarded recruit and has the body of a big (6-foot-4, 225 pounds), athletic, NFL-bound slinger, and the two long touchdown throws he uncorked to senior Terrance Toliver gave a rare, tantalizing glimpse of the potential that had been bottled up in (statistically, anyway) the least threatening assault in the conference. It was the first time since 2007 an LSU offense put more than 40 points on the board against a defense that didn't finish in the bottom 25 nationally in points allowed.

Any flicker of that Saturday, and the biggest cheer of the afternoon may not have been for Mettenberger's entry to the game. Instead, Jefferson was back to looking like a within-the-offense manager whose coaches are reluctant to cut the apron strings, and Tiger fans went back to imagining all the ways their mediocre QB is going to undermine their title shot. Yes, it was a spring game, where "boring" is fine. But Jefferson has never been anything but boring, and there's still no reason to think he's ever going to be.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Buster Posey’s sister knows her way around a batter’s box

Buster Posey may have the only World Series title in the family, but Samantha Posey isn't above playing a healthy game of "anything you can do, I can do better."

The sister of the San Francisco Giants catcher is a star softball player at Valdosta State University in Georgia. And on Monday, she achieved something that her big bro will likely never touch in the big leagues ? a home run cycle in a doubleheader.

That would be, of course, a solo home run, a two-run home run, a three-run home run and a grand slam. Samantha Posey notched them all in two games against Albany State, recording 11 RBIs on the day and bringing the junior third baseman's season average to .468 with eight homers. She currently has a slugging percentage of .909.

Yeah, not too shabby, considering her more famous brother has a total of three homers, 12 RBIs and an OPS of .798 through 16 games this season. College softball and professional baseball might not be the best comparables, but hey, all's fair in sibling rivalries.

By the way, if you're wondering, no big league ballplayer has ever hit for a home run cycle in a single game, although Mark Whiten came close. He replaced the solo shot with an additional three-run jack in his famous four-homer game back in 1993.

As for doubleheaders, neither Stan Musial nor Nate Colbert hit one of every variety when they set the record for home runs in a doubleheader with five. (Musial had five homers for eight RBIs in 1954 while Colbert had five for 13 in 1972).

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