Bob Smizik's Blog

Letters: Fairness of Pittsburgh fans

Bob Smizik — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Saturday, 1 a.m.

Q: I may be in the minority, but I thought the intense booing of Brett Farve's return to Green Bay on Sunday was classless by the Packer fans. No matter the reason for his departure in 2008, he has given the Packers 16 years of great, competitive football including one Super Bowl championship. The fans could have at least acknowledged that with applause at the beginning of the game and then moved on to root for their team. I would like to think Pittsburgh fans would have reacted with applause if that situation had or would ever present itself here.

Tom Foster

Bob Smizik: Fans seem to becoming more vindictive all the time. If they can't be on the field, they still want to affect the outcome of the game. My guess is Steelers fans would not react a whole lot differently than the Green Bay fans did. Although, in fairness, if you saw the game, there were some Green Bay fans applauding Favre.

As you might know, a minority of Pitt fans were booing quarterback Bill Stull as late as the sixth game of the season, although Pitt was 4-1 and Stull was among the NCAA leaders in passing efficiency. The reason they were booing him: The final game of the 2009 season. Fans anywhere can be an unforgiving lot.

Let’s not forget the showering of boos Barry Bonds received every time he came back to Pittsburgh. Granted, he was not the hero in Pittsburgh that Favre was in Green Bay. But his departure wasn’t as bitter as Favre's. And Bonds did help the team to get to three playoffs. In his six-plus seasons in Pittsburgh he won more MVP awards (two) than any player in team history.

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Q: As a lifelong Steelers fan, I have been raised to expect nothing but the best from the players week in and week out. Even though Ryan Clark’s previous trip to Denver ended horribly for him, he should still play this week because he is cleared medically. Past events shouldn’t affect future ones.

Ryan Clark is a vital player for the Steelers. Taking him out of the game would severely hurt the defense, and in turn hurt the chances of Pittsburgh winning the game. Logically, the decision by the Steelers to not play him isn’t a smart one.

Matt Blobner

Bob Smizik: You sound a bit selfish, Matt. You seem to be putting your own interest above Ryan Clark’s health. I’m not quite sure what ``medically cleared’’ means. I do know that Ben Roethlisberger was medically cleared following a concussion to play against Oakland in 2006 and had a horrible, horrible game. Troy Polamalu was medically cleared to play against Cleveland and did not appear to be 100 percent.

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Q: I could not agree with you more. One aspect that bothers me with some sports radio show hosts is that the Yankees are winning by simply playing according to the rules and they have no culpability for this terrible disparity in this sport. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Yankees are foremost in their effort to make sure the gap between the halves and have-nots remains as wide as possible. The owners make the rules and the Yankees lead the lobby to prevent a salary cap, limit or eliminate the luxury tax, maintain no sharing of revenue from television contracts, and ensure that their team continues to get he most national TV exposure.

I used to attend over 15 games a year, I have not gone to one now in years, with no intent to do so as long as this is such a poorly managed league. The fact that there is no chance for parity makes this even less appealing.

Barry Vukoder

Bob Smizik: My point was there should be little satisfaction on the part of the Yankees in winning when so much is tilted in their favor. Judging from their reaction and that of their fans, my point was lost on them.

In defense of the Yankees, they are playing within the rules. They have only one vote in MLB and certainly could not stem the tide of change if the other teams wanted change.

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Q: I totally agree with your comments regarding Urban Meyer and his "punishment" of Brandon Spikes. His treatment of the incident is disgraceful, and someone at Florida should step in and suspend Spikes for the remainder of the season. I thought Meyer had a lot more class than this, but I've lost all respect for him. He should be ashamed of himself.

Dan Frost

Bob Smizik: Well said, Dan. Meyer has a blot of his resume that won’t easily be removed.

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Q: Despite my allegiance to Pitt, I've always tried to respect Joe Paterno. With that said, don't you find it incredibly juvenile that after all these years, he still holds a grudge about this league he tried to put together decades ago? He helped to ruin one of the more passionate rivalries in American sport, and despite his most impressive career resume, that should not be forgotten.

Jordan Wilfong

Bob Smizik: Joe Paterno is a very complex man. It is widely believe he holds a grudge against Pitt and that is why he will not schedule it. If that is the case, yes, it’s very juvenile.

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Q: Why not have sponsors for a Pitt-Penn State game -- something like the “PNC Fall Classic”. With sponsorship and TV rights, this game would make far more money than the weak links both teams currently play – and thus overcome one of PSU’s frequently mentioned obstacles “we need the funds from the extra home game”. Make sense?

Greg Berkebile

Bob Smizik: While sponsorships are a revenue stream colleges certainly mine, I don’t see it happening in this situation. Penn State has gross revenues in excess of $2 million for a home game, regardless of the opponent. I doubt a sponsor's fee could come close to matching that.

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Q: I was born in 1986 and one of my earliest memories of college football is Jay Leno making a joke that went something like, ``Hurricane Andrew is getting so bad, it actually blew U. of Miami football players into the classroom.’’ I am just curious when did Division I athletic departments sell their souls, so to speak (admission standards, on and off field behaviors, etc.). I guess I'm just wondering if there was a time when college athletics were 'pure', because I cannot recall one.

Steven Watkins

Bob Smizik: I think when colleges started to realize how much money there was in football and basketball they became less concerned with a prospective athlete’s grade-point average and more concerned with his time in to 40-yard dash. Once one school lowered its standards, others had to follow in order to compete. Some held out for a long time, but today even the Ivy League and the service academics make exemptions for athletes.

I doubt college athletics ever were pure -- the human specie being what it is -- but from personal experience I can tell you in the early and mid-1960s the football and basketball players were students and had the same entrance requirements as the rest of the student body. I’d say this started to change sometime in the late 1970s.

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Q: Please - enough already of this Pitt-Penn State talk. I watched in the late 1960s as Paterno ran up the score year after year, so he could climb the ladder leading to a national championship. It seems like Pitt has made some very sound decisions - Big East, etc. - in the past 30 - 40 years (well, OK, maybe we haven't always gotten the best coaches). We certainly were correct in staying with the Big East.

I love the Backyard Brawl! As far as I'm concerned, it is THE rivalry. Thank you, Joe, for ending the series with Pitt. Bob, don't you think it's time to file Penn State away with the script logo, as nothing but a memory?

Bruce Lindquist

Bob Smizik: I’m not so sure that Woodland Hills (were it in existence) couldn’t have run up the score against some of those Pitt teams in the late 1960s. I, too, love the Pitt-West Virginia rivalry. For me, it will never replace the Pitt-Penn State rivalry

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Q: I was thinking about the recent posting regarding the ACC's raid on the Big East awhile back. And also about the BE looking for a 9th football school. Do you see any way that Boston College may rethink it's position and move back to the BE? Are there contracts that would prohibit them from doing that? BC in the ACC makes no real sense to me just as DePaul in the BE for basketball. I say the powers that be should lobby for BC to rejoin the BE and allow DePaul to go to another basketball conference where it can be more competitive.

Doug Sekelik

Bob Smizik: Boston College’s decision to leave the Big East for the ACC remains inexplicable to me. I doubt it is currently interested in rejoining the Big East. The administrators at the school certainly would look like fools if that happened. As you suggest, I’m fairly certain there would be harsh financial penalties if they left the ACC.

Somehow I don’t think DePaul would graciously leave the Big East to make room for Boston College. That remains a constant problem for the conference. While it needs a ninth football team, it cannot expand beyond the 16 it has in basketball.

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Q: I read an article awhile ago during the big exodus of Miami, BC, and VT to the ACC, that stated the greatest impact was the loss of Miami because recruiting in Florida would suffer without having a Florida school in the Big East. Does it help to recruit kids in Florida with a Florida school in your conference? The reason isn't so much the brand name alignment but giving coaches an opportunity to recruit face to face during the season. I don't know if it's true or not but I think universities think it is. This may help explain why BC left with Miami and VT for the ACC and why the BE added USF.

Marnie Levine

Bob Smizik: I think the Big East took in USF mainly because it needed an eighth team and USF was in a large market. There are positives and negatives to having a Florida team in the Big East. The positive is that it gives the other Big East members additional name recognition in the state, which can help. But by taking USF in as a member, the Big East immediately upgraded the school’s credibility. Where some players might not have gone to a non-BCS school in the past, they now look more favorably at USF and, indirectly, less favorably at the other Big East schools.

Stephens-Howling continues to defy odds

Bob Smizik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Friday 11 a.m.

There’s been quite a bit written and spoken about a couple of Pitt rookies -- DeJuan Blair and Sam Young -- trying to make it in the pros.

Almost nothing has been written or spoken about a third Pitt rookie also trying to make it in the pros.

Blair and Young were basketball stars at Pitt on a highly successful team. It’s understandable there would be focus on them.

LaRod Stephens-Howling wasn’t even a starter as a senior on the Pitt football team which didn’t have the kind of success that the basketball program did.

The story of Stephens-Howling is pretty amazing because a lot of people thought he was too small to play big-time college ball. Now here he is on the roster of the Arizona Cardinals and more than holding his own at 5-foot-7, 180 pounds.

Stephens-Howling is the Cardinals primary kickoff returner. He’s brought back 21 for 480 yards and his longest was for 53 yards. He’s listed on the depth chart as the third-team running back behind Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells. He has two carries for 1 yard. As a receiver, he’s caught four balls for 36 yards. One of those catches was for a touchdown last week in the Cardinals loss to the Carolina Panthers.

It’s to the credit of Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt that Stephens-Howling has this opportunity and to the credit of Stephens-Howling that he‘s making the most of it. With Shady McCoy as the primary Pitt running back last season, Wannstedt could easily have phased out Stephens-Howling. But he kept him in the rotation, played him on special teams and got him ready for a professional career that few could have expected.

He’s never going to be a star, but based on the kind of determination, ability and versatility he showed at Pitt, he has a chance to have a nice NFL career.

The Cardinals are sort of Pittsburgh West and Pitt West. Their head coach is former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt. Their assistant head coach is Russ Grimm, who had the same job with the Steelers and who was an outstanding center at Pitt in his college playing days. Their defensive backfield coach is Teryl Austin, who also played at Pitt.

On the field, Larry Fitzgerald, the Pitt great, leads the team with 47 catches for 509 yards. Gerald Hayes, also from Pitt, starts at inside linebacker and is second on the team in tackles.

Wide receiver Steve Breaston, who played in high school at Woodland Hills, has 30 catches for 400 yards.

Also with the Cardinals are former Steelers Clark Haggans, who starts at outside linebacker, fullback Dan Kreider, quarterback Brian St. Pierre and receiver Sean Morey.

What's Tomlin waiting for?

Bob Smizik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:30:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Friday 8:30 a.m.

Distractions, particularly the week of a big game, are supposed to be the dread of any football coach.

So why is Mike Tomlin allowing the Ryan Clark distraction to linger so long as the Steelers prepare to play once-beaten Denver Monday night?

Is Clark, the Steelers starting free safety, going to play or not? The facts of his situation are well known. Why hasn’t a decision been made?

Clark has sickle-cell trait and had a near-death reaction the last time the Steelers played Denver, which was in 2007. He became violently ill, eventually lost his spleen and gall bladder and did not play again that season.

He has let it be known for some time that he was considering not playing in the game. In that decision, he seemed to have the support of everyone.

But with the game three days away, no decision has been made on Clark, who has received ``medical clearance’’ to play.

In the Post-Gazette print edition today, beat reporter Ed Bouchette said Clark ``is not expected to play.’’

According to Bouchette, the decision will be Tomlin’s. ``Tomlin listened to the doctors, talked to Clark and the coach likely took the choice out of his player’s hands by making the executive decision for him.’’

Good for Tomlin. But why doesn’t he announce this decision?

It has been advanced by some that the longer Tomlin waits the less chance Denver has to prepare its offense.

There’s nothing to that. Clark is a good player. But no team is going to build its game plan around him or any free safety. Tyrone Carter, who is expected to replace Clark, is a more-than-adequate reserve who filled in earlier in the season for strong safety Troy Polamalu.

Tomlin almost always knows what he’s doing. He has a tremendous grasp on the issues that face is team. He might have a perfectly good reason for delaying this decision.

But with the game almost at hand, his hesitation makes no sense.

Attempts to belittle Pryor halted

Bob Smizik — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:40:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Friday 7:55 a.m.

It's hard to believe there are adults in this world so concerned about making a dollar that they'd go so far as to attempt to embarrass and humiliate a college football player who's one year removed from being a teenager and did absolutely nothing to them.

Some folks either take their football too seriously or are simply too greedy. At Penn State, where wiser heads eventually prevailed, it could well be a combination of both.

I'm speaking of an organization called the Penn State Marketing Association, a university affiliated company that is in need of closer supervision.

This organization designed and was ready to sell a T-shirt that mocked Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, whose team plays at Penn State Saturday.

The T-shirt featured the Nittany Lion mascot presenting a tissue to Pryor with these words: ``The Nutcracker: a Terrell Cryer story.

Fortunately, someone saw the mean-spirited nature of this T-shirt, realized there should be no place in college football of it and it was never put on the market.

But listen to the words of Dan Sturman, the chief executive director of PSMA:

``We did not intend for this shirt to offend Terrelle Pryor, The Ohio State University or Penn State Athletics, and we apologize for any offense it called.''

I don't know Mr. Sturman but does he seriously think the intent of that T-shirt was not to offend, embarrass and humiliate Pryor. It also clearly would have embarrassed anyone at Penn State with half a brain in their head.

This is another example of adults who take their football too seriously and who will do anything to make a buck.

Fortunately, there are enough smart people at Penn State who made sure this T-shirt never hit the market.

Someone needs to review the Penn State Marketing Association.

NFL players call Ward dirtiest

Bob Smizik — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:41:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Thursday, 12:50 p.m.

In a survey of NFL players by Sports Illustrated, the Steelers Hines Ward was voted the league's dirtiest by a large margin.

The results of the survey, which are published in the current edition, show 11.6 of the 296 players surveyed said Ward was the dirtiest. That is almost twice as many as runnersup Albert Haynesworth of the Washington Redskins and former Steelers Joey Porter, who now plays for the Miami Dolphins. Haynesworth and Porter received six percent of the votes.

The 296 players represent about 17 percent of the league.

The story referenced Ward's block on Cincinnati linebacker Keith Rivers last year that broke the jaw of Rivers. There was no penalty on the play. Cincinnati safety Chinedum Ndukwe was quoted as saying, ``That's what he's known for. He's a blind-side guy.'

Bengals safety Roy Williams finished fourth 5.1 percent of the vote and Tennessee center Kevin Mawae with fifth with 4.6 percent.

The voting was conducted in September.

Money talks and Yankees win

Bob Smizik — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:15:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Thursday, 12:30 a.m.

The New York Yankees are the winners of the 2009 World Series, and in the copycat world of competitive athletics it will be interesting to see if other teams try to duplicate their recipe for success, which is:

Build a good but not great team, one that is capable of finishing, say, second in its division, and then add to that by signing three players for $423 million.

What could be simpler than that.

I can just see the Pirates, Royals and Nationals eagerly anticipating winning the ``Yankees Way.’’

Fans in New York are delirious with joy as the most famous team in sports has done it again. But where’s the satisfaction? What’s so great about putting together the best team money can buy and spending your way to a title?

It reminds of me of some of these high school football teams that go out and recruit what amounts to an all-star squad and then think it’s a big deal when they win. It’s not.

When the Yankees finished out of the post-season last year, although they had a payroll in excess of $200 million, they saw only one way to recapture their glory: Spend, spend, spend.

In the off-season, they added starting pitchers C.C Sabathia (seven years, $161 million) and A.J. Burnett (five years, $82 million) and first baseman Mark Teixeira (eight years, $180 million).

On a team that had won 89 games the previous year, the addition of that kind of talent will usually get it over the top. If the Pirates had added that kind of talent, it might have got them into the post-season.

This was the Yankees lineup last night that beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3. in Game 6 of the Series:

Derek Jeter, ss -- $21.6 million

Johnny Damon, lf -- $13.0 million

Mark Teixeira, 1b -- $20.6 million

Alex Rodriquez, 3b -- $33.0 million

Hideki Matsui, dh -- $13.0 million

Jorge Posada, c -- $13.1 million

Robinson Cano, 2b -- $ 6.0 million

Nick Swisher, rf -- $ 5.4 million

Brett Gardner, cf -- $ 414,000

Andy Pettitte, p -- $ 5.5 million

If you’re counting, that’s $131.6 million for the starting lineup. If Burnett is pitching, the 10-man lineup goes to 142.7 million. If it’s Sabathia’s turn in what has been a three-man rotation in the post-season, the figure is about $142 million.

One question: How did they lose any games? The Yankees’ starting lineup was paid more than double the Phillies’ starting lineup. Credit does to the Phillies for beating the Yankees twice.

There will be praise all around in the days ahead for the Yankees and their manager Joe Girardi and their general manager Brian Cashman. That’s wrong. John Russell could have managed this team to the World Series. I could have been its general manager. I know how to sign checks.

It wasn’t like the Yankees went out and made some deep deliberations over the winter and craftily decided who to sign. They simply went out and bought the two best pitchers, Sabathia and Burnett, and the best hitter, Teixeira, who were on the market.

Simple but highly effective.

MLB isn’t close to getting a salary cap. The sport is making too much money to go through the labor trouble needed to produce one. Nor does it look like fans in cities when teams don’t have the money to come close to matching the Yankees will rise up in anger and cause the sport to rethink its economic position.

The Yankees are the most successful franchise in the history of professional sports and will continue to be so. That's good for the Yankees, bad for baseball and worse for the fans of baseball.

Iwamura: Did he say `playoffs?'

Bob Smizik — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:55:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Wednesday 10 a.m.

Judging from comments he made following his trade to the Pirates, second baseman Akinori Iwamura is quite the clubhouse comedian.

Speaking through a translator on a conference call, Iwamura, acquired from Tampa Bay yesterday for reliever Jesse Chavez, has this to say about his new team:

``I'm definitely interested in the long term, but I first have to do what I can do. We'll see what happens. Hopefully, we can go to the playoffs next season.’’

Did he say, ``playoffs?’’ Ha-ha-ha-ha. What a cutup.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that Iwamura, who is contracted to make $4.85 million next season, is aware of the Pirates well-known frugality and actually said:

``Hopefully, I can get paid off next season.’’

You never know with these translations.

The Pirates decision to trade for Iwamura, who will be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season, means they won’t go with the most bare-bones payroll possible. The team could have stuck with its late-season experiment of converted-outfielder Delwyn Young at second base and saved about $4 million.

This trade speaks clearly to the Pirates dissatisfaction with Young as a second baseman and the fact their payroll is so low, after the massive trading spree last season, that even this addition will not cut into the profit.

On his PBC Blog, Post-Gazette beat writer Dejan Kovacevic wrote that Iwamura’s contract would put the Pirates payroll at about $32 million.

Any time a team can significantly upgrade a position without giving away too much it’s a good trade. And the Pirates did that with this deal.

Yes, Chavez showed some promise last season. The key word in that sentence is ``some.’’ He slumped badly in July in August. His earned run average those months were 5.40 and 5.93. He did come back to pitch well in the final month.

But if there’s one place the Pirates have some depth it’s with right-handed relievers. They have closer Matt Caps and setup men Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek. They also have Steven Jackson and Jeff Karstens.

Iwamura, who will be 31 in February, is expected to bat second and in that role he’ll give the team a different look than did Freddy Sanchez, who often batted second before being traded. Iwamura is more patient than Sanchez. Although his lifetime batting average is 20 points lower than Sanchez’s (.301 to .281), Iwamura has a .354 on-base percentage compared to one of .333 by Sanchez.

Just how good Iwamura is at second base remains to be seen. He was a third baseman in Japan, where he won six Gold Gloves, and played that position his first season (2007) in MLB. He was switched to second base to make room for prize rookie Evan Longoria.

It wasn’t just the prospect of having to pay Iwamura almost $5 million that prompted the Rays to trade him. Iwamura missed much of last season with a knee injury and when he was out Ben Zobrist took over the position and hit 27 home runs.

Although an upgrade, this deal by itself does not come close to giving the Pirates the level of talent they had before they began a trading spree that eventually sent away regulars Nate McLouth, Nyjer Morgan, Adam LaRoche, Jack Wilson and Sanchez.

Which is to say they’re still expected to finish last in the National League Central and still expected to lose 100 games.

Ryan Clark should just say no

Bob Smizik — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:30:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Wednesday, 12:30 a.m.

A poignant drama has been playing out the past 10 days or so inside the mighty and all-consuming drama that is the Steelers and the National Football League season.

To play or not to play? That is the question Steelers free safety Ryan Clark has been weighing since the NFL schedule was announced in the spring.

Does he take the field in Denver Monday night in a crucial AFC game against the once-beaten Broncos? Or does he sit this one out?

The last time Clark played in Denver the Steelers lost the game and he almost lost his life.

Clark has sickle cell trait, which makes it dangerous for him to play in high altitude. When the Steelers played in Denver on Oct. 21, 2007, Clark’s blood reacted so poorly in the thin air that he became violently ill after the game. The result of that illness was he had his spleen and gall bladder removed and he lost 30 pounds. He did not play again that season.

At his news conference yesterday coach Mike Tomlin said, Clark has ``received medical clearance to play in this football game.’’

I’m certain Clark finds that reassuring. The Steelers medical staff is first rate. But knowing what he knows, knowing what he went through the last time the Steelers played in Denver and knowing that anything can happen, he understandably remains concerned. He can’t think just about himself. He has a wife and three children.

This isn’t a knee or an ankle. This could be his life.

With the game five days away, neither Clark nor the Steelers have said whether he’ll play.

``The decision lies with him and myself,’’ Tomlin said. ``We’re going to weigh all our options and evaluate things as we proceed throughout the week.’’

That sounds, and this is just a guess, like Clark is probably going to play. If he were not, Tomlin likely would have ruled him out of the game yesterday and the Steelers could have got down to the business of preparing for the Broncos without him.

I hope I’m reading that wrong because I don’t think Clark should play. I understand the Steelers medical staff would not have given him clearance if it felt there were great risk. I also understand Clark will be monitored closely as the game progresses, something that was not done the last time because no one had an idea he would have such trouble in high altitude.

But there’s too much at stake here.

And beyond that, It’s time for someone to stand up and say a football game isn’t worth this. Yes, it’s important and, yes, Clark wants to play. He’s a ferocious competitor. Small as football players go -- 5-foot-11, 205 pounds -- he is fearless on the field and an integral part of a great defense.

He needs sit this one mainly for himself and his family. But he also needs to sit it out to send a message to the thousands of kids, high school players and even college players who willingly and recklessly too often risk their health to suit up for a game.

Clark needs to tell the world that football is second to your health. Football is a chapter in your life. Your health is forever.

The Steelers have a more-than-adequate replacement for Clark in Tyrone Carter.

But even if Carter were not available, for the good of himself, his family and the people who worship the Steelers, Ryan Clark should not be in uniform Monday night.

MLB umps strike out again

Bob Smizik — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:45:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.

Early in the Game 5 telecast of the World Series, play-by-play announcer Joe Buck made this comment about how home plate umpire Dana DeMuth was calling the strike zone.

It is ``tight side to side,’’ said Buck. ``That’s bad new for [New York Yankees starter A. J.] Burnett.’’

To which color analyst Tim McCarver said, ``The opposite of last night.’’

The shame of MLB umpiring continues.

Could you see this same Buck, announcing the Super Bowl and saying, ``The officials today are calling the out-of-bounds lines differently than in the AFC title game?’’

Or an NBA announcer wondering how the game officials will call the 3-point line.

Although the strike zone differs from football boundaries and the arc in basketball in that its parameters are not marked, they are just as well defined.

The strike zone is the width of home plate. How can there be any flexibility in that?

But there is and has been. It’s basically public knowledge that in their prime Atlanta pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were given expanded strike zones. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. And while it might not be as flagrant as it was in the past, it still exists, with the conversation of Buck and McCarver proof of that.

In all the criticism of MLB umpiring this post-season almost all the critics said, ``Don’t change the umpires calling balls and strikes.’’

To which, I say: Why not?

If almost everyone is in agreement that strike zones differ from umpire to umpire, then baseball has a problem. The technology is there to fix the problem. Any business that has a problem and can fix it and doesn’t, well, there are some pretty stupid people running that business.

In terms of MLB leadership, if the shoe fits . . .

The technology is available to electronically call balls and strikes, and get it perfect. I understand that’s a path many people don’t want to see baseball travel. But by the way they take the game away from the players with their arrogance and incompetence, MLB umpires are all but begging to have themselves removed from calling balls and strikes.

It’s time for baseball to step into the 21^st century in regards to officiating its games.

Shame on Urban Meyer and Florida

Bob Smizik — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

By Bob Smizik | Monday | 7:10 p.m.

Urban Meyer, the University of Florida football coach, got it half right.

As a result of Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes attempting to gouge the eye of a Georgia running back, Meyer suspended Spikes for the first 30 minutes of Florida’s game Saturday against perennial Southeastern Conference bottom-feeder Vanderbilt.

The remainder of the penalty should be this:

After such a totally gutless decision, Meyer should suspend himself for the remainder of the season. If he refuses, his superiors -- if he has any at Florida? -- should do it.

What other penalty should there be for such a total abdication of responsibility?

Meyer is the hottest coach in America and a very smart guy. How he got this decision so blatantly wrong is beyond belief.

Spikes didn’t punch Georgia running back Washeau Early. He didn’t try to take out his knee. He tried to TAKE OUT HIS EYE.

Does Meyer get that?

Apparently not, and shame on him, and shame on the Florida administration, which allowed him to get away with this grotesque miscarriage of justice.

Earlier this football season, the nation, myself included. was outraged when Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount sucker punched Boise State linebacker Byron Hout. There was, most rational people agreed, no place in football for such an action, even if Hout had precipitated the punch with some cheap talk and a shove.

As a result, Blount was suspended for the remainder of the season, although that penalty since has been reduced and he probably will play again. But he has not played since that incident, which amounts to a suspension of at least seven games.

Think about it. Which is the worse crime and which deserves the harsher penalty? A punch in the jaw or a gouge of the eye?

Since Vanderbilt is a dead-certain win for Florida, Meyer easily could have suspended Spikes for the entire game and not hurt his team. For that matter, he could have suspended him for the remainder of the regular season -- Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Florida International and Florida State -- and not hurt his team’s very real national championship hopes.

In other words, Meyer believes this to be a just punishment. On what planet is he living?

What a disgrace.

Equally disgraceful is that, according to the Associated Press, the following event happened in the Florida-Georgia game, which is one of the great rivalries of college football.

``Officials even gathered Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Georgia linebacker Marcus Dowtin together in the second quarter and warned them things were getting out of hand.’’

That’s clear evidence that Meyer did not have control of his team. Can anyone imagine that happening in an NFL game, not matter how bitter the rivalry? That’s because NFL coaches have control of the teams and their players know there will be dire consequences for that kind of behavior.

Meyer’s team clearly does not know that. And on the basis of the laughable penalty he levied against Spikes, it still doesn’t know it.

The following bears repeating:

Shame on Urban Meyer, shame on the University of Florida, shame of college football.