Bye Bye Kansas

Haven't posted much recently (check out my twitter, always active there), but my last post was praising the Kansas Jayhawks who yesterday were knocked out of the tournament.  It was an amazing game, Sherron Collins really had a tough day and Kansas just wasn't scoring like they are used to.  Check out the roster breakdown I posted and you'll see that despite losing a few guys to the NBA and graduation Kansas will still be good next year.

The Blue Chip Loaded Roster of the Kansas Jayhawks

The 2009-2010 Kansas Jayhawks are one of the best teams in the country this season because of the combination of great returning stars and new freshmen to the team.  With apparent reports of G Tyshawn Taylor saying on facebook he wants to transfer, let's look at the roster of this team.
In 2008-2009, the Jayhawks went 25-7 (14-2 in Big 12) and were the regular season champs of the Big 12 conference.  They were upset in the conference tournament in their first game to Baylor.  In the NCAA tournament, they were a 3 seed that lost in the sweet sixteen to the 2 seed, Michigan State.  All in all a pretty good season for Bill Self, considering they lost to the eventual tournament runner up. 
So far in 2009-2010, the Jayhawks are 17-1 (3-0 in Big 12) with their one loss being a surprise upset at Tennessee.  They still have to play Texas and Kansas State twice, but let's look at this team anyway, who is expected to go far in the NCAA tournament.
2009-2010
Starters:
G Fr. Xavier Henry
G Sr. Sherron Collins
G So Tyshawn Taylor
F So. Marcus Morris
C Jr. Cole Aldrich
Bench: (all player getting more than 5 mpg)
F So. Markieff Morris
G Jr. Brady Morningstar 
G Jr. Tyrel Reed
F Fr. Thomas Robinson
G Fr. Elijah Johnson
G Fr. C.J. Henry
G Jr. Conner Teahan

Taylor may lose his starting spot to Morningstar, but that is not yet definite.  So they have 12 players, including 4 freshmen averaging more than 5 minutes a game so far this season.  Coach Self is splitting the minutes up to everyone pretty fairly then it seems.

Let's look back at last year's team.
2008-2009
Starters:
Brady Morningstar

Sherron Collins
Tyshawn Taylor
Marcus Morris
Cole Aldrich
Bench:
Markieff Morris
Tyrel Reed
G Jr. Mario Little
G Fr. Travis Releford
F Fr. Quintrell Thomas

Thomas transferred to UNLV.  Releford and Little haven't played a minute yet this season.  Morningstar has seen his minutes and role decreased, although now as the tougher part of the season approaches his minutes may rise.  If it wasn't for John Wall, Xavier Henry might have been a more well-known freshmen, regardless he is still having a great season.
This team is basically the same team as last year with a few more pieces added to the puzzle. As long as Bill Self can handle all the players and their minutes this team should be going far into the tournament.

NBA Prospects
According to Chad Ford's Top 100 draft prospects and ESPN Insider rankings, 6 of the Jayhawks could be in the NBA next season.
Cole Aldrich is ranked as Ford's 7th best prospect.
Xavier Henry is ranked as Ford's 8th best prospect.
Sherron Collins is ranked as Ford's 4th best point guard (43rd overall).
Tyshawn Taylor is ranked as Ford's 11th best point guard (70th overall).
Marcus Morris is ranked as Ford's 48th best power forward (168th overall).
Thomas Robinson is ranked as Ford's 50th best power forward (172nd overall).

Collins will be graduating and is likely to get drafted and Henry and Aldrich are both likely to leave as well.  Taylor could test the waters, but should stick around for another year and get some more playing time.

So, all college basketball fans, enjoy Collins leading this team for a final time and Aldrich being that great center for one last season.  The expectations are high and this team can live up to the expectations.

Who is ESPN the Mag's NFL Player X?

First of all if you are a subscriber of ESPN the Magazine I hope you enjoy reading the articles by "Player X".  He is a player in the NFL and has written 10 different articles for the Mag.  I know not everyone is an ESPN Insider so as I'm rereading I'll highlight some of the hints as to who exactly Player X is.
Before I get into it, let me first say I really enjoy the articles so I'm not trying to "out" him or anything, this is just a fun little exercise to see if this anonymous author gave away a few too many hints.
So think of the stars on different teams and as I eliminate teams, we'll see if we can figure out which star he is.

Meet Player X:
- not Ben Roethlisberger.

Vick deserves right to play:
-he believe's Vick deserved a shot to play, does that eliminate anyone?

NFL rookie hazing has purpose:
-he likes rookie hazing and says it has a purpose, so he's not an Eagle? Any other teams?

Currency of pain:
-he's not Carson Palmer
-he's been around long enough to remember the days when it was easier for players to get painkillers.
-he's not Brett Favre
-he's not Hines Ward
-he's been injured. wait, that doesn't eliminate anyone.

Team chemistry overrated:
-he's not Chad OchoCinco
-he's not Terrell Owens
-he played in college

How to spot a contender:
-he's not on the Colts or Texans
-he's not on the Ravens or Steelers, but watches tape of them
-he's not Troy Polamalu or James Harrison
-he's not on the Saints
-"My team lost a division game this year (so now you know I'm not on the Colts or Saints)"
-he has made the playoffs (not on the Texans).

It's mailbag time:
-he's not on the Raiders
-"I know I'm better than a couple of guys at my position who are paid more than me". so he's not the highest paid at his position
-not Chad Pennington or Chad Henne. but maybe he played with them since he think they are funny. also says Ochocinoc and Brett Favre are funny too.
-He's not Donovan McNabb, but that's fine since I already eliminated the Eagles.

Tiger shoulda known:
-he's not Tom Brady
-he has endorsement contracts, doesn't eliminate much
-he's not Peyton Manning

10 NFL playoff lessons:
-he's been far in the playoffs (whatever far is we can say that means his team made it to the final 8)
-he's not Kurt Warner
-he's an old enough veteran to call out/joke with rookies (probably doesn't mean much)


Gun culture changing in NFL:
-he has bought a gun

So, basically I skipped a lot of maybe hints and just went for what seemed like definite stuff about Player X and we still don't much about who it is.  Teams I eliminated: Eagles, Raiders, Ravens, Steelers, Texans, Colts, Saints.  That still leaves a lot of options, hopefully we get some more hints in a few more articles from Player X.  If you have any hints, tips, or opinions add them in the comments.

Phillies Pitchers in 2010 and beyond

I like my post about the entire roster of the Phillies, but this is just to keep track of the starting pitchers (taken from my post about the Roy Halladay signing).  Again, mostly all thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts.


2010: Halladay ($15.75), Cole Hamels ($6.65), Blanton ($7), J.A. Happ ($0.405), Jamie Moyer ($6.5)
2011: Halladay ($20), Hamels ($9.5), Blanton ($8.5), J.A. Happ
2012: Halladay ($20), Hamels ($9.5+arbitration), Blanton ($8.5), J.A. Happ
2013: Halladay ($20), J.A. Happ
2014: Halladay ($20)

-Halladay's 2014 option will likely vest as long as there aren't any major injuries.
-This season will do a lot determine the long term prospects of Hamels, if he performs it is likely that the Phillies will want to lock him up even longer.
-So long to Cliff Lee, Brett Myers, Pedro Martinez, and Chan Ho Park.  They all did pretty well for the Phillies and they will be missed.

-Halladay, Hamels, and Blanton are locked up through 2012 together, get used to them folks.

It wouldn't be surprising nor would it be a bad idea if the Phillies went after another starting pitcher, most people aren't expecting a great year from Jamie Moyer, but crazier things have happened.

Phillies 2010 Player Salaries and Overall Payroll

As of Jan.21, 2010


Thanks to the wonderful website Cot's Baseball Contracts I was able to build this spreadsheet with the Phillies salaries for 2010.  I did this so that we could have an idea of what the owners are seeing on their books and how much flexibility they have with the roster. A few things to take note with this spreadsheet.

• Unless it was done on the Cot's Contracts site, I did not prorate the signing bonus over the life of the contract, I just added it to the first year's salary (since that is when the Phillies will have to pay it).
• Contract Renewals and Arbitration still needs to be decided for many of the younger players, but that will not come until January.  Those players are in italics.
• I haven't included them yet but you can expect a number of other rookies or youngsters to be added to the roster at a salary close to the league minimum ($400,000).

Given all of that and the $6,000,000 from the Blue Jays and the reported desire of the Phillies to keep their payroll below $140,000,000, I believe the Phillies have about $10,000,000 to operate with for the rest of the off-season.  Keep in mind that with another great season expect a lot of raises in arbitration and the possible performance incentive payments.  Any comments or questions feel free to comment or e-mail me.

Updated with announcement of Shane Victorino extension, but don't have details yet.

Roy Halladay Close to Becoming a Phillie

Update: Roy Halladay is a Philadelphia Phillie and we can thank his family partially for that.  Prospects came and went and Roy will be here for at least 4 seasons.  Check out my Google Shared Items over on the right for all the great articles dissecting the deal.  It's the biggest deal of the off-season so everyone has chimed in with their opinion.

Best Sports Commercials

I'm trying to get together some of the best sports commercials, if you have any suggestions tell me in the comments and I'll add them to this post.  Eventually when its grown enough I want to try and rank them, but that's a ways away.

Courage (Nike)

No matter what your opinions are about Nike, everyone has to like this commercial.  If you didn't like this one, you probably won't have similar opinions has me on the rest of these commercials.

Leave Nothing - LT vs Polamalu (Nike)

Probably the best commercial from last year's football season.

My Better is Better (Nike)

Cool commercial for Nike Sparq Training (great equipment). Lots of great athletes in this one.
This is the same commercial, but the 60 second version so it's a bit better.
Here is a second one that is just all trash talk.
Kind of reminds me of UnderArmour, so...

We Must Protect This House (Under Armour)

I think this was the first in a series of now memorable Under Armour commercials, the 'protect this house' series has been really cool and this one started it off.  So you know that reminds me of some good ol' Johns Hopkins Lacrosse guys:
Kyle Harrison - K18 commercial (STX)
Paul Rabil - Cold Abuse Simulator (Under Armour / Dick's)

Terry Tate: Office Linebacker (Reebok)

"You can take the fish out the sea, but you can NEVER take the linebacker out of me!"
I love Terry Tate and there are at least 4 other videos like this, each one is great.

Take It To The Next Level (Nike)

It may be soccer, but its still a cool commercial with lots of famous guys. This is the long version.

TigerWoods - Bouncing the Ball (Nike)

This was a great commercial, that's all there is to say about it.

Charles Barkley and Dwayne Wade - Fave 5 (T-Mobile)

I've stated many times before that I'd love just a Charles Barkley channel on TV and you can see why.

Bo Knows! (Nike)

"Bo, you don't know diddly!"

That's all I got for now, add some in the comments, e-mail me, tell me on twitter, whatever it takes.  I want to get a pretty good list going.  Anyone who knows me knows my love for YouTube, but you can send me links from other sites.  Send me any good commercials or whatever, doesn't have to be just sports.  The only rule I'll say is that part of it has to have appeared on TV.

Back in Action

Going to start posting again on here, we'll see how that goes.
Let me know what you like. There are plenty of blogs and websites out there to give you the news so I won't do that.  Also there is twitter for sending you interesting links, so I won't just post other peoples articles, follow me on twitter if you want that.  I definitely won't be just sports.  I won't kill you with too many posts.  I am still obviously a huge Philly fan so I will definitely have some opinions on Philly sports, but there are other websites much better at that than me.  Let's see where this goes.
http://twitter.com/experienceTed