Catching Up

As I've been gone for over a week a lot has happened in the world of sports so here are some quick stories to get me up to date:

Strasburg Dazzles in First Major League Starts
Stephen Strasburg made his highly anticipated MLB debut on June 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and put together a performance that left Nationals' fans excited more than ever about their young franchise. He pitched 7 innings allowing only 4 hits and striking out 14. In his second start against Cleveland on Sunday, he put together what many analysts consider to be an even more impressive outing. Strasburg battled a hostile crowd and a disintegrating pitcher's mound for 8 strikeouts and 2 hits in over 5 innings. The Nationals may have something really special in this kid and they need to start building around him. Excitement in the team has not been this high since they moved to Washington from Montreal, and it won't last forever. If the Nationals hope to build on the current interest, they will have to build a team around Strasburg sooner rather than later.

Nationals Select Harper with Top Overall Pick in the Draft
With all the excitement over Strasburg, it is easy to forget that there are other things happening in baseball, but the draft did take place the Nationals hope they have just taken another step forward by selecting Bryce Harper. Harper is the first junior college player ever selected number one overall in the MLB draft, but his talent and performance last season makes this no real surprise. In 66 games he has hit 98 RBIs and 31 home runs, breaking the previous school record of 12. The league in which he played, the Scenic West Athletic Conference, uses wooden bats so there is no issue of inflated batting stats as you see with players in division one baseball who use aluminum bats. There are questions, however, about Harper's character. Harper was ejected twice in 2010, including during the National Junior College World Series. After being struck out, Harper drew a line in the dirt with his bat indicating where he thought the pitch actually was and was ejected. As this was his second ejection of the year he was suspended for two games and his team lost the series. Many have described Harper as an arrogant jerk and scouts have reported he has a disturbingly high sense of entitlement. Well, that will happen when your parents allow you to get your GED after two years of high school so you can start your professional career sooner and you get drafted number one overall at the age of 17. That's right, 17. Harper may have some growing up to do before he shows up in the Nationals' lineup.

USA Manages a 1-1 Draw with Favored England
USA opened up the 2010 World Cup with their highly anticipated game against England on Saturday and managed an impressive 1-1 draw. England always comes into the World Cup with high expectations and talent to match, but remain dreadfully inconsistent in international play (they failed to qualify for the last Euro Cup). USA came into the tournament with high hopes after an impressive second place finish in the Confederation's Cup a year ago, but also with the cloud of the last World Cup's terrible finish (0-2-1, including a loss to Ghana) and the daunting task of facing England to start. Four minutes in, England embarrassed the US team with a goal from captain Steven Garrard which made the defense look outmatched, unprepared, and just plain sloppy. The US really picked things up after that and matched England step for step. What many no doubt remember from this game, is goalie Robert Green's failure to corrale Clint Dempsy's innocent shot which tied the game at 1. Most would say the US was lucky to walk away with a tie, but after England's quick start, the US looked much better and even had the better chances. Late in the second half, Jozy Altidore burned England's defensemen and banged a shot off the post that would have given the Yanks the lead. Tim Howard, who was just cleared to play in Friday's game against Slovenia, looked very solid in net and US looked every bit England's equal late in the game.

What is important now is for USA not to have any feelings of "mission accomplished." True, they walked away with a point against the best team in their group, but the pressure is on after Slovenia's win over Algeria. In the last World Cup, the US managed to tie eventual champion Italy 1-1, but then lost to Ghana 2-1 in a game that could have earned them a spot in the second round. A 1-1 draw against England means little if the USA cannot follow up against Slovenia and Algeria.

College Shake Ups
When I left, there was talk of Big 10 expansion. When I came back, all of the sudden college conferences seemed to be breaking at the seams. While there seems to be a new story everyday, here is what has happened so far: Colorado is leaving the Big 12 for the Pac 10, Nebraska is leaving the Big 12 for the Big 10, and Boise State is leaving the WAC for the Mountain West. The Texas shakeup has been avoided for the time being, keeping Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State in the Big 12. I was surprised by how deep this story went. When I heard the Big 10 extended offers to Nebraska, Notre Dame, Missouri, and Rutgers, the only team I thought would consider the move was Rutgers. I was very surprised not only that Nebraska accepted, but that they did so because most of the conference was considering moving as well. The Big 12 is considered second only to the SEC in college football and I was shocked that so many were considering leaving the conference. Silly me, I forgot what drives all these decisions: money. In the end, the Big 10 Network and the money it brings is what won Nebraska over.

And let's not forget Boise State who has gotten lost in all the speculation over Texas. The Pac 10 really dropped the ball by not getting Boise State. I do not know all the details of how this happened, but if the Pac 10 did not do absolutely everything they could to bring Boise State in, then they messed up. Boise State is a major competitor in college football and seemingly the only thing keeping them out of the National Championship game was their non BCS conference. Boise State would have brought a lot of interest, media coverage, and revenue to a conference who's traditional powerhouse has now been banned from postseason play for 2 years. It may have turned out that the Pac 10 did pursue Boise State and they chose the Mountain West anyway to help out fellow "ignored by the BCS" contenders TCU, BYU, and Utah. If that's the case, then you cannot fault the Pac 10, but this really seemed like a good fit to me and they must be kicking themselves now for not getting it done. What this means for the Mountain West is that they are going to push hard for a BCS bid and no doubt, because the BCS is run by morons, they will be ignored until conference expansion destroys the Big 12 or the Big East. Still, the Mountain West is now poised to become a power conference very soon.