Sunday Smorgasbord 5-6

• College basketball will become harder to watch as they move the 3-point line one foot back for the men but not the women. The additional one foot will cut down on the hacks who think they can shoot threes but will in the end create more space down low for the post players. Teams who can dominate the inside-out game will gain the most but still having the gimmick of the three-pointer will still allow the sacred mid-majors to compete with the big boys.
• I have had some time to catch bits and pieces on the Nationals on TV (I'm not using those letters, sorry) and I have to say, I really do like the announcing team this year. Growing up in Washington, D.C. without a baseball team means that I don't have a really solid knowledge of the game. After listening to Bob Carpenter being teamed with Don Sutton for a few games I began to understand the game a lot better than I did before. Tom Paciorek was fun to listen to (when you could get the game on TV) and Mel Proctor and Ron Darling stunk but there's no doubt that Don Sutton knows baseball and I am glad that he's here to teach the game to fans who weren't allowed to have it for 34 years.
• I read through the articles on the dysfunctionalty of the Nats that William Yurasko mentioned on Thursday and they struck me as "so what?" First of all, it was common knowledge that Major League Baseball ran the franchise into the ground on purpose even after they moved it to Washington, D.C. Secondly, the Lerner's didn't make their $$$$$ by being foolish with it. While there are some things of concern with regards to them asking questions and trying to be frugal, the articles point out that there are things that they have to learn. Don't forget people, the Lerner's didn't take over until after last year's All-Star break. Let's give them more than a year before we start complaining about the job that they're doing.
• On the field though, the Nats are continuing to uphold the grand tradition of baseball in Washington. Forget problems with pitching, the Nats also don't hit, field, or throw the ball very well as the Nats have now dropped five games in a row including getting swept by the Cubs this weekend. It is going to take more than a brand new ballpark and a few splashy free agent signings to reverse the damage done by Major League Baseball.
• On the same day the (Com)Post ran this article, ESPN pushed back the start of the D.C. United-New England Revolution game 15 minutes because of Men's College Volleyball. That's right, Men's College Volleyball is the reason why the game started late. And to be honest, with the crew that ESPN put into the booth, we really could have done without that 15 minutes because it is less airtime for Eric Wynalda who gets outshone, outclassed, and simply outdone by Tommy Smyth. But if this is how ESPN is going to treat a domestic professional sports league that they are trying to partner with, then why in the world are hockey fans still complaining about the NHL leaving ESPN? Remember, in the last year the NHL was on ESPN, they were relegated to ESPN2 until the Conference Finals (where Men's College Volleyball takes precedent over a regularly scheduled professional sports league). Now they're saying that MLS matches (which aren't drawing larger audiences than the NHL playoffs were) aren't as important as Men's College Volleyball. ESPN needs to be taken down a peg or two or three.
• And speaking of United, they are off to another slow start but finally got their first win today and are now 1-3-1 on the season. A lot is being made over Jaime Moreno coming off the bench in Thursday's 1-1 tie with New England, but we need to remember that the team is in transition. Two key players and the head coach left during the off season and D.C. is still trying to incorporate new parts and a new system. Speaking of the departed players, Alecko Eskandarian and Freddy Adu have just one assist between them in 9 combined games for Toronto and Salt Lake City respectively. Adu got the lone assist on the game tying goal last night against the New York Red Bulls in stoppage time. Adu of course is now playing under his third coach in less than year after Real Salt Lake fired their head coach earlier this week. You might remember Freddy wanted to play for this guy after escaping the clutches of the evil Peter Nowak here in D.C. Of the three teams, D.C., Toronto, and Salt Lake, D.C. has the only win so it is way too early to tell who got the better of the deal.
• After firing their trainer, the New York Yankees have turned to 44 year old Roger Clemens to bail them out of their horrible start. Am I the only one offended that this guy can find somebody to pick him up two months into the season three years in a row?
• Finally, this week, the Nats stay on the road for a three game set in Milwaukee starting tomorrow night. The Nats are off on Thursday before hosting the Florida Marlins at RFK for a three game weekend series which starts a 10 game homestand. D.C. United off this week.
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