So we have had Cardinals headlines talking about two-shit shutouts, we had another one that said the Cards were "done in by wet balls," but today's Cardinals headline mine take the cake and be the best of them all.
Funny thing is that I had tweeted a few weeks ago, while listening to the radio broadcast of a spring training Cardinals game, that Zack Cox was my new favorite player on the team. Of course those that know me well know I enjoy juvenile humor and mainstream references to genitalia. But of course my main reason for saying that Cox was my new favorite player was because of seeing headlines like this.
Now I just can't wait to hear Mike Shannon say things like "Cox hit that hard," or "Cox goes deep," and of course the inevitable "Now Cox steps in and COME ON BABY, GET UP, GET UP, GET UP, OH YEAH."
If there is an award for the biggest snubs in the NCAA men's basketball tournament not only would Missouri State have won it far to many times, they might just have to re-name it in the programs honor.
This is the same program I covered in a variety of different journalism roles from 1994-2004 and one in which I still hold near and ear to my heart.
To this day Missouri State's 2006 campaign remains the biggest "snub" in tourney history, and the proof is in the numbers not just a impartial opinion.
It was in 2006 that then head-coach Barry Hinson's squad was left without an invite to the big dance after having an RPI of 21. In 1997 I had a front-row view on selection Sunday as coach Steve Alford's team was standing without a dance partner after finishing with 24 wins, back then a near record high number of wins without getting an invite. Hinson also had snubs in 2000 and 2007 when his teams reached RPIs of 34 and 37. This long list of snubs means Missouri State holds the honor of having 3 of the top 5 rated RPI teams to not make the NCAA tourney, enough to make a Bears fan sick.
Each one of these teams though had valid strikes against them as reasons for being snubbed. The degree to which those strikes should have mattered is another point. In 1997 the general consensus from selection committee members (of which I had interviewed one) and the bracket "experts" back then was that the team's strength of schedule was weak and the number of wins was somewhat watered down.
Mo State started scheduling better, didn't get as many wins in 2000 but had that killer RPI in which everyone knew they were going to get in only to be told, "no sorry, you didn't win enough." Some of the experts also said that year that Mo State's inability to win the conference title hurt their at-large chances.
So now here we sit, less than a week before selection Sunday. The 2011 version of Missouri State has won the regular season Missouri Valley Conference title, amassed a record of 25-8 and currently sits 42 in the RPI.
If the Bears are left again without a ticket to March Madness it might be the most drastic snub in the long-history of snubs for the program, and a low water mark for the Missouri Valley. It would mark the first time since 1992 that the conference regular season champ isn't in the tournament and the 4th year in a row and a far cry from the four that made it in 2006.
This isn't about who should be in or out (Big East gets 11 teams?), but the NCAA would do well to at least give consistent guidance to programs and coaches so they know what they have to do to get in. Let Cuonzo Martin know what he can do better next year (outside of course from winning the conference tournament and getting the automatic bid) to ensure his program isn't snubbed once again.
And if that answer is "win more games," then he knows. If it is "get a better schedule," then he knows. But you can't move the goalposts next year after you use one set of guidelines to pick your tournament field this year using a completely different set of standards.
Unless of course, your corrupt as all hell and just want to ensure the "right" kind of teams are "invited" to your dance. Can anyone else say "BCS."
In the late summer of 2000 I walked into an office among the quaint and busy historical district of Historic Main Street in St. Charles Missouri that would forever change my life.
I walked into the world headquarters of River City Group for an initial job interview, one that was followed up with an offer and subsequent 5 years of work at the company. It changed my life because while I was hired as a staff writer for an online trade publication (www.IGamingNews.com) it was a clear step away from the print newspaper world I had gone to school and trained for.
Not only was the shift away from traditional media a big one, it was a larger shift into the specific world of online gambling and the general sector of web operations that would set the course for the rest of my professional career.
I only give you that brief background of my professional journey during the first half of the last decade to point out the fact that I have been around the block for a little while when it comes to online gambling (the "it" referenced in the headline above) specifically and the web in general.
I won't bore you with a lengthy history lesson on the industry or its lobbying efforts for the last 15 years, some of which I played a small but direct role in and had a front row seat as they played themselves out. But anyone who has had any discussion with me about how the industry is regulated/prohibited in the United States knows my mantra has always been that "it" will happen some day.
As states and jurisdictions deal with tightening budgets and massive cutbacks the online gambling industry offers a revenue producer that could be taxed at over 20%. The industry has always offered to pay hefty taxes as the benefit of being able to operate freely within the United States far outweighs the risk of having to operate covertly from a foreign jurisdiction.
New Jersey took a major step today when its governor approved a bill allowing for the state's 11 current casino operators in Atlantic City to create an intrastate system that would make it possible for Garden State citizens to log on and play black jack, roulette and other table games. The bill was approved after passing both the State Senate and the House.
Even though the system is "intrastate" only it is projected to inject the state with $100 million in tax revenue (the casinos agreed to be taxed at 23%) and create 500 jobs, something every state I am sure would embrace right now.
This bill no doubt will be the proverbial breaking of the dam and you can expect other states to follow suit in order to a) stay competitive and b) keep jobs and money in their state. Similar bills have been introduced or reached various stages in states like California, Nevada, and North Dakota and looked for these to pick up steam again or be revisited and for many of the other states (28 in all) who have casinos already to study this issue.
It may not seem like much right now, but the steps taken today in New Jersey were of the Neal Armstrong variety, one small step for a state but one massive leap for an industry.
