This week's baseball Scout's Honor podcast looks at the biggest free agents still unsigned as Major League Baseball gets ready to begin spring training.
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/17005653
Paul Crane and the Director of Operations of Scouting Services, Inc., which works directly with several MLB teams, Dave-Te' Thomas discuss the two most significant unsigned free agents, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, along with several others.
Thomas also provides insight in to the trade which saw the Marlins send catcher J.T. Realmuto to the Phillies, how that deal was far less than others which had been offered and why Miami ended up in the situation it found itself.
It's another must listen for baseball fans with a new season right around the Craw's Corner.
Monday, February 11, 2019
Sunday, February 10, 2019
An Impressive Arrival: Alliance of American Football
By Steven Weldon
With one crack of a helmet to the turf, the Alliance of American Football, or AAF, had arrived. Within moments, a huge hit that would ideally be called a flag in the NFL, spread through every social media application possible. What is this? The Super Bowl was last weekend, why is there still football?
The demand has always existed for more football. Thousands travel to spring intra-squad scrimmages at colleges around the country, just to get that fall feeling again. Millions attend NFL training camps; so much so that a television series covers one NFL team every preseason. All of these events came into existence to whet the fans' insatiable appetite for big hits, insane plays, and sweet juke moves.
That won't end any time soon.
The AAF enters with eight teams, six with no NFL team, but large enough markets to support other professional leagues. Only Atlanta and Arizona are located in cities with NFL franchises in the metro area, and the Birmingham Iron is the first professional football team in that city since the XFL in 2001.
The talent and coaching level, at first glance of week one, is there. 81% of the players in the league signed an NFL contract at some point in their career. Three teams allowed less than eight points with their defenses making big plays, and four teams scored over 20 points. The star of the first weekend was former Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford, now of the Arizona Hotshots. His four touchdown, 275-yard day was the most prolific performance football fans have witnessed since January. The league's head coaches include big names such as Mike Martz, Dennis Erickson and Steve Spurrier. Even Michael Vick has a job as an offensive coordinator.
The league also created some reasonable innovations. Play starts at the 25-yard line, no kickoffs of any kind. Even the onside kick was eliminated in favor of a 4th-and-12 rule. There are no extra point attempts; only two-point conversions. Also, to speed up the game, there are no TV timeouts. When there is a short stoppage in play, the station covering the game goes split screen with an ad on one side. Play resumes shortly after. Watching the Salt Lake Stallions take on the Arizona Hotshots start to finish only took about two and a half hours.
One of the most important aspects was the most integral to those who don't live in the immediate area of all eight teams. Luckily, the founders of the league are well-versed in the media business. Charlie Ebersol, son of NBC executive Dick Ebersol, founded the league with former NFL players. The league then signed a deal with CBS as well as NFL Network and Bleacher Report Live. Every single game will be televised on one of five channels that are accessible via cable or the internet.
The AAF has a solid foundation. It has good, solid football. It's very watchable. Let's see how far they can take it.
Watch the AAF on Saturdays and Sundays from February 9th until April 27th on CBS Sports Network, NFL Network, and Bleacher Report Live.
With one crack of a helmet to the turf, the Alliance of American Football, or AAF, had arrived. Within moments, a huge hit that would ideally be called a flag in the NFL, spread through every social media application possible. What is this? The Super Bowl was last weekend, why is there still football?
The demand has always existed for more football. Thousands travel to spring intra-squad scrimmages at colleges around the country, just to get that fall feeling again. Millions attend NFL training camps; so much so that a television series covers one NFL team every preseason. All of these events came into existence to whet the fans' insatiable appetite for big hits, insane plays, and sweet juke moves.
That won't end any time soon.
The AAF enters with eight teams, six with no NFL team, but large enough markets to support other professional leagues. Only Atlanta and Arizona are located in cities with NFL franchises in the metro area, and the Birmingham Iron is the first professional football team in that city since the XFL in 2001.
The talent and coaching level, at first glance of week one, is there. 81% of the players in the league signed an NFL contract at some point in their career. Three teams allowed less than eight points with their defenses making big plays, and four teams scored over 20 points. The star of the first weekend was former Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford, now of the Arizona Hotshots. His four touchdown, 275-yard day was the most prolific performance football fans have witnessed since January. The league's head coaches include big names such as Mike Martz, Dennis Erickson and Steve Spurrier. Even Michael Vick has a job as an offensive coordinator.
The league also created some reasonable innovations. Play starts at the 25-yard line, no kickoffs of any kind. Even the onside kick was eliminated in favor of a 4th-and-12 rule. There are no extra point attempts; only two-point conversions. Also, to speed up the game, there are no TV timeouts. When there is a short stoppage in play, the station covering the game goes split screen with an ad on one side. Play resumes shortly after. Watching the Salt Lake Stallions take on the Arizona Hotshots start to finish only took about two and a half hours.
One of the most important aspects was the most integral to those who don't live in the immediate area of all eight teams. Luckily, the founders of the league are well-versed in the media business. Charlie Ebersol, son of NBC executive Dick Ebersol, founded the league with former NFL players. The league then signed a deal with CBS as well as NFL Network and Bleacher Report Live. Every single game will be televised on one of five channels that are accessible via cable or the internet.
The AAF has a solid foundation. It has good, solid football. It's very watchable. Let's see how far they can take it.
Watch the AAF on Saturdays and Sundays from February 9th until April 27th on CBS Sports Network, NFL Network, and Bleacher Report Live.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Zach Richardson's 42 Points Keep Multnomah In Playoff Hunt
by Harry Cummins
Freshman guard Zach Richardson, thrust into a position of offensive leadership due to an injury to the nation's leading scorer, Justin Martin, responded with a composed 42 point performance from the backcourt in leading the Multnomah Lions to a key 112-105 road win over the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers in a Cascade Collegiate Conference contest Saturday night.
Richardson shot a blistering 13 of 25 from the field, including 8 of 16 from 3 point range. He also registered 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in playing the full 40 minutes. Teammate Ben Grandle was equally as impressive, hitting 9 of 14 3's in scoring 32 points in the game. On the night, the Lions connected for 23 3-pointers.
Multnomah (14-14,5-11), is fighting to nail down one of the final spots in CCC post season play, and was coming off an 108-93 loss to College of Idaho (24-3) Friday night in Caldwell. The Lions were forced to play the weekend road set without Justin Martin, the nation's leading scorer at 31.38 ppg. Richardson scored a game high 31 points in the loss to the nation's 3rd ranked team (COI) the night before, unperturbed in first assuming the team's point guard responsibilities. Martin, nursing a sore knee, hopes to return in time for the Lions final 2 games at home to end the Cascade Conference regular season next weekend.
With the 23 made shots from behind the arc Saturday night, The Lions now lead the NAIA with 494 3's on the year, and remain the highest scoring team in the nation. The 42 points by Richardson was the 2nd highest point total of his young career, just short of the matching 49 points he scored in tandem with Justin Martin in an early season record setting win over NCAA D-3 Pacific University.
Eastern Oregon placed 5 players in double figures in the Saturday loss to Multnomah, led by the 20 points and 14 rebounds of Landon Jones. In winning, the Lions also received major contributions from Brett Blackstock with 23 points and 7 assists and Andy Brown with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Jesuit takes control of Metro race
By Allan Classen
Jesuit’s Justin Bieker may have been the best player
in the gym Feb. 8 in the Crusader’s showdown game against Sunset, but the 6-5
do-everything guard has to thank his teammates from bailing him out of an
embarrassing meltdown.
Bieker blocked a shot in the last two minutes of the
game, protecting a 57-51 lead. But he drew a technical foul for taunting the
shooter, giving Sunset two free throws and a possession that resulted in a
three-point basket.
Before the Crusaders could get their hands on the
ball again, their lead had melted to two. Sunset would have two possessions
more to at least tie the game. Each time, the Crusaders defense turned up,
causing forced shots and a turnover.
Bieker had a chance to pad the lead in the final
minute but missed a one-and-one. That gave Sunset its last chance to knot it
up, which appeared to occur as Cody King powered in a put-back shot. It was nullified
by a traveling violation, however.
Otherwise, Bieker was superb, finishing on drives
and draining jump shots from around the foul line with ease. He had five
rebounds and four assists. He is scoring 17.8 points per game this season.
Braeden Sato, a 5-10 point guard averaging 16 points
a game, scored 14 for Sunset. But only three came in the second half and
Jesuit’s defense gave him no open shots in the closing minutes.
The teams entered the contest tied for first in the
Metro League with 7-1 records. Jesuit now leads by one game with three league
games to go.
Allan Classen is editor and publisher of the NW Examiner
Craw’s Corner Looking To Get Even Biigger
As the editor and founder of Craw’s Corner we can never thank our readers enough, our growth in readership is off the charts. Today we have announced that Harry Cunnins will not only continue his great writing, but is now been named our Managing Editor. A few other thoughts.
1) We are always looking for writers to cover the following, a. NFL b. Ccllege Football c. Soccer d. High School sports in Oregon.
2) We have signed a long term deal to have Allen Perez as our Senior NBA writer.
3. You can rest assured our coverage of golf, tennis, baseball, track & field and college basketball is going to get bigger and better than ever.
4. The icon Bob Rathbun will be contributing a weekly column.
Your thoughts and ideas are always respected.
Crawford’s Sports Biz 59 Seconds, 2/9/19
Mobile ticket marketplace app, Gametime, now will allow you to buy tickets to sporting events up to 90 minutes after a game starts. Yes, there is a market here. Estimated value example, average NBA seat of $125.00, after game start, $40.00. Would you be buyer?
Friday, February 8, 2019
3 Things We Are Watching This Weekend
by Harry Cummins
1. WR Attempt at 112th Millrose
Word out of New York City that Yomif Kejelcha, the 21-year-old Ethiopian middle distance runner, will attempt an assault on the existing world record Saturday in the famed Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile.
The red-hot Nike Oregon Project athlete will attempt to shatter the current indoor mark of 3:48.45 set by the great Hicham El Guerrouj in 1997. Guerrouj also holds the outdoor world record of 3:43.13, established in 1999.
Edward Cheserek, owner of the 2nd fastest indoor mile in history at 3:49.44, is also in Saturday's elite lineup. This could be 'one for the books.'
2. Russell Westbrook's NBA streak
Already a notable year of individual achievement in the NBA, stop to consider this:
OKC's Russell Westbrook goes for his 9th straight triple-double in Saturday's road game vs the Houston Rockets. He has now passed Michael Jordan for the longest such streak in the NBA in the last 51 years.
3. Lame Lady Ducks
A legion of Oregon Duck softball supporters are eager to sift thru the highly publicized rubble of its once proud program as the Lady Ducks begin the 2019 season this weekend with 5 games in Arizona.
For background information, refer to the earlier January 28, 2019 posting on Craw's Corner-'Duck Soup'
I am betting this weekend uncovers diamonds amid the dust!
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