And another thing...

Curse won't quit

Here we go again. Jose Canseco has written a new book, and in it he claims Alex Rodriguez approached him some years ago and asked where an individual might get his hands on some steroids. According to Canseco, he directed Rodriguez to a dealer he refers to only as "Max."

(He also claims A-Rod tried to make his wife. Maybe she was the mystery blonde all the tabs had so much fun with last summer).

Anyway ... so I suppose this means we have to root against A-Rod breaking Barry Bonds' home run record now. I'd say we should start rooting for Ryan Howard, in that case, but you know that sooner or later Canseco will probably dish some dirt on him, and we'll be back to square one again.

It just goes on and on, this steroids business. Every time the door closes on one episode, the door to the next opens -- and none of them have an "Exit" sign.

I think I'll go lie down now. My head hurts.

-- Ben Smith

Bailing out

So long, Devin Ebanks. One of the nation's top high school players and the centerpiece of Indiana's next recruiting class has been released from his obligation by Indiana.

And so the fallout of Kelvin Sampson's untimely fall has either begun, or is well underway.

The search committee needs to cracking. The longer the coaching job sits vacant, the more vacating there's likely to be, if you get my drift.

-- Ben Smith

Name that team

On the theory that nobody doesn't like a Name The Team contest (they don't, do they?), here's one for Blobophiles and other people with immense goo-gobs of time on their hands.

It seems the Seattle Supersonics are trying to extricate themselves from Seattle and move to Oklahoma City. BUT team owner Clay Bennett says he wants to negotiate a settlement that will enable Seattle to keep the team's name, colors and records.

In other words: They're the Oklahoma City Somethings right now.

So get crackin', people. No singular nicknames. No derogatory references to Native Americans, Okies and the like. And make it original.

Wranglers, Roughriders, Sodbusters, they're all too easy. Although I kind of like "Dogies."

The Oklahoma City Fightin' Dogies. Now there's a start.

-- Ben Smith

Look of champions

Pack up the balls and bats. The Boston Red Sox are officially unbeatable.

They opened the Major League Baseball season in Japan today by beating Oakland 6-5 in 10 innings, so I guess THAT'S decided. Manny Ramirez drove in the winning runs with a two-run double. Hideki Okajima got the win. Jonathan Papelbon got the save.

So, to recap: The Red Sox are 1-0 and have a half-game lead on the Yankees with only 161 to go. Really, I don't see how the Bombers can catch 'em now.

-- Ben Smith

More on The Streak

Wow, did that ever open the floodgates.

Ever since I weighed in on the Komets' winning streak the other day, I've been getting buried by responses, slandered on message boards and generally called the kind of names for which your mom used to wash out your mouth with soap. And all because I said I thought that the Komets were so well-coached, so well-run and so outrageously talented that they'd turned the IHL into a virtual joke.

Let's rerun that again: Well-run ... well-coached ... talented ...

And somehow that's a slam?

Look, I agree that winning 22 straight home games (soon to be an alltime-record 23) at any level of hockey is a significant achievment. What I'm not sure is exactly HOW significant a achievement it is, given that they're 30 points up on everyone else and winning almost every game they play despite the fact there's no earthly reason they need to at this point. Which is a tribute to both Al Sims' motivational skills and the mental toughness of his players.

Unfortunately, it's also a reflection on the relative merits of the rest of the league, like it or not. I mean, be honest, don't you miss those old battles with Quad City and Rockford right now?   

-- Ben Smith

Adjust your TV

So, anybody see the story about Denver Broncos' wide receiver Brandon Marshall?

Apparently he slipped on a McDonald's bag and put his arm through his TV set, cutting himself several stitches worth. Or at least that's what he's saying.

Some thoughts about that:

1. Those home accidents will get you every time.

2. If this is in fact NOT what really happened, it's the best cover story since "The dog ate my homework."

3. If it IS what happened, it just goes to show that, away from the playing field, the late Don Knotts had better fine motor skills than most professional athletes do.

-- Ben Smith   

Bob Knight, media star

I've caught enough of Bob Knight's act on ESPN  to render a judgment, which is, he's pretty good at this analyst stuff.

I don't know why anyone would be surprised by that. When he wasn't spouting lava and otherwise behaving like a spoiled 3-year-old, no one in college sports could be more charming, thoughtful or fascinating. The analyst gig plays right into the whole General-as-teacher thing, something Coach has always regarded himself as above everything else.

I also love the fact that only Bob Knight is allowed to dress down on the air. It's fun to imagine the conversation he had with the producers about his wardrobe.

PRODUCERS: Bob, here at ESPN our on-air talent must wear suits and ties.

KNIGHT: No.

PRODUCERS: OK, fine, then, you can wear whatever you want.

(And before you start, yes, I know the last time I was on the air locally I wore a golf shirt which did not, shall we say, flatter me. Not that anything could. But I wasn't being obstinate about it, just stupid).

-- Ben Smith 

Tiger goes down

Well, so much for all that talk about Tiger Woods going undefeated this year. He finally lost -- OK, failed to win, then -- for the first time in six months yesterday.

So does this mean Geoff Ogilvy is now the best golfer in the world?

-- Ben Smtih

Hope springs

And just because it's officially spring now, which means baseball can't be far away ...

This just in from Bradenton, Fla.: Paul Maholm spun a six-inning shutout for my Pirates today against the New York Yankees in an 8-0 win for the Buccos.

And, yeah, OK, so most of the real Yankees stayed home.

And, yeah, OK, so Byung-Hyun "Kingsford" Kim, aka the Human Accelerant, struck out three guys the Yankees picked up on the side of the road on their way down from St. Pete -- Brett Gardner, Bernie Castro and Greg Porter.

And, yeah, OK, so it means, nothing, absolutely nothing, in the larger context of things.

A man can dream, can't he?

I mean, Maholm might wind up being a better starter than Tom Gorzelanny. And who thinks THAT isn't significant?

-- Ben Smith    

The real Zeller

Poor Notre Dame. First they get shut down, lit up and plain embarrassed by Washington State in the NCAA tournament, then they find out they recruited the wrong Zeller.

At least, it sure looks that way. After all, they got Luke. North Carolina got Tyler, who is a certifiable beast.

The kid went for a Class 3A state-record 43 points and 17 boards last night as Washington beat Harding for the 3A state title, and it wasn't just because he was a big 7-foot galoot. This Zeller can run the floor, hit the mid-range jumper, even put it on the floor and took it to the rack a couple of times. He can, in other words, play.

Once again the Tar Heels sneak into Indiana and steal the main prize. Sigh.

-- Ben Smith