If you're stopping by here and wondering why there is nothing new up on the blog anymore, it's because this isn't the blog anymore. The Schmuck Stops Here has moved to a diffferent web address, so you have to go to your favorites menu -- if that's where you clicked on this site -- and delete the link. Then go here:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/schmuck-blog/

Then click on Add to Favorites. It'll be nice to have you back.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Just baseball, Just football, News of the day, Schmuck being Schmuck, Shameless plug
        

Of course, I don't have to remind anybody on this blog of that. With Annapolis right in the neighborhood, we all appreciate the contribution every student at the Naval Academy and West Point makes to our country. The football players will get a little more attention today, but the entire Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen is in the house to celebrate this friendly rivalry that dates back to 1890.

If you're keeping historical score at home. That was the year Idaho and Wyoming were admitted to the union and Yosemite National Park was created by an act of Congress. Before you give me credit for being a fount of arcane information, I lifted those facts from the year-by-year section of the game program.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: News of the day
        

On this Veteran Day -- as we honor everyone who has ever donned a military uniform and served our country -- I don't have to remind you that the "Greatest Generation" is slipping away from us, so this would be a pretty good time to remember what hundreds of thousands of World War II vets did in the jungles of the South Pacific and the European theater.

It's not hard for me to remember, because I'm in California at the moment visiting the last surviving World War veteran in my immediate family. My dad, a U.S. Marine major (at retirement) who served in Asia in WWII, passed away when I was 20. My mom, who was a Navy Lieutenant who helped patch up the wounded at the Naval hospitals along the West Coast in 1944 and '45, is 92 and still has amazing recall about the war years.

She's also a Red Sox fan for some reason, but you can't hold that against her on Veterans Day.

I bring this up because we still tend to stereotype our war veterans as men, even though thousands of women served in the two world wars and women have had a steadily increasing presence in our fighting forces ever since.

My mom (right) graduated from the world-renowned nursing program at Johns Hopkins in 1943 and -- along with much of her graduating class -- answered the recruiting call for nurse/officers to assist in the war effort. She never regretted that decision, though she had a fine job waiting at the hospital upon graduation.

I'm just glad I have never been faced with a decision like that. I was lucky to reach adulthood between the Viet Nam War and all that has happened the past 20 years in the Middle East. My brother went to Viet Nam and I ended up partying my way through college and watching baseball games for a living.

If you sense a tinge of guilt there for being one of the few members of the family who didn't serve, you're pretty perceptive, but it's mostly a sense of gratitude that I think all of us share for those who made that sacrifice so we can sit around imagining we're patriotic because we belong to one of the major political parties or the other.

Thanks Mom, Dad, big brother Paul and Uncle Jack (two Bronze Stars in Europe). My heroes have always been veterans.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: News of the day
        

I'm not really concerned that the Ravens might go into tonight's game against the Jaguars without their usual intensity, but I still think the Jags will be more formidable than people think. Of course, I also thought the Colts would cover 14 points last night, and they couldn't have covered 50.

Don't know why this game concerns me, but I was the only Sun guy in the staff picks section to predict this game will be closer than the 7 1/2-point spread. I think Billy Cundiff will make the difference tonight, for better or worse.

Relax. Probably better.

The Ravens will want to show off a little on Monday Night Football, but that can be a two-edged sword. They need to stop the run and collapse the pocket on the rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Pretty simple equation, but crazy things happen every week in the NFL. Hopefully, for those of you planning a stay-cation during the playoffs, everything will go as planned.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: News of the day
        

If you haven't already, you can check out my World Series prediction column in today's print edition or on the Web site right here. If you want the short form, I picked the Cardinals in six because I think wild card teams have some extra mojo in the postseason.

Sure enough, the Oakland Raiders traded for Carson Palmer, so you can start rooting right now for the Raiders to miss the playoffs. Palmer has always been a huge pain the backside for the Ravens.

Guess we'll find out on Saturday whether Randy Edsall has gotten out over his skis with redshirt sophomore quarterback C.J. Brown, who will be starting at Florida State after his surprising fill-in performance against Clemson. That's a tough assignment, and the Seminoles -- unlike Clemson -- will have some film to study.

The Orioles are scheduled to interview Tony LaCava today for their vacant baseball operations job. Jerry Dipoto interviewed yesterday with the search committee. Too early to consider anyone a frontrunner -- except Yankees fans, of course.

Now that former Godfather's CEO Herman Cain is a legit presidential candidate, I'm just going to come right out and say it. Pizza isn't just for breakfast anymore.

Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio is on the hot seat, which has to create mixed feelings about Monday night's game against the Ravens. Maybe catching one of the hottest teams in the NFL at such a vulnerable point is a good thing, since a victory would give the Jags a big boost. More likely, the Ravens take care of business and speculation continues to heat up about a coaching change.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: News of the day
        

Ravens coach John Harbaugh gave the right answer when he was asked who was right and who was wrong in the tiff between his brother and Lions coach Jim Schwartz after Sunday's game in Detroit. Harbaugh said he had an idea who was wrong, but kept that to himself and reminded everyone that blood is thicker than water. Savvy answer.

If you get a chance, Sandy McKee's take on the horrible IndyCar crash that took the life of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon is poignant and spot on. Check it out right here.

Everybody has a right to be excited about the great start that the Ravens have gotten off to, but only me and Ravens writer Jeff Zrebiec have a right to get ahead of ourselves and talk about their favorable schedule. The rest of you need to zip it up or you'll jinx it.

The McCourt divorce reportedly has been settled, with Jamie McCourt accepting $130 million and relinquishing any claim to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Glad to hear it. Now, I think she should come back to Maryland and use all that money to spur the local economy.

The Orioles begin the interview process today to find the guy who will replace Andy MacPhail as the head of baseball operations. The candidates who have been identified are very solid possibilities. If the O's hire any one of their top three choices, they'll be pointed in the right direction. Whether anybody can move them into one of the top two spots in the division standings over the next couple of year might be another story.

If the Raiders complete that deal for quarterback Carson Palmer, they could become a very dangerous playoff team.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: News of the day
        

First off, I'd like to congratulate myself for having my finger on the pulse beat of the Ravens yesterday. My pregame scouting report was pretty much on the money and I believe I predicted a 15-point victory in the paper. You've probably noticed that I don't like to waste your time rehashing this kind of stuff when I'm wrong.

The Ravens continue to look like an AFC title game team to me, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. They've got a leg up on most of the other conference teams already and their schedule seems very favorable. Other than the Steelers and Chargers on the road, I don't see another loss without some kind of letdown. Of course, there's two thirds of the season left to be played.

Upon further review, I blame both coaches for Sunday's postgame unpleasantness in Detroit. 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh clearly needs a refresher course in postgame etiquette and Lions coach Jim Schwartz needed to take the high road and ignore Harbaugh's college-level burst of post-game enthusiasm.

Guess we get a week-long break from the endless back-and-forth about Joe Flacco. He didn't throw any TD passes yesterday, but he played very well. I've never had a doubt the Ravens should sign him to a contract extension -- though they can afford to wait awhile. The guy just wins. What's wrong with that?

If I had it to do over again, I'd still pick the Redskins to beat the Eagles. Rex Grossman threw four picks and the Eagles still couldn't score an impressive win.

The Jets should have an easy time with the Dolphins on Monday Night Football tonight. If they don't, they can stop worrying about the playoffs. There are too many emerging AFC teams ready to take their place.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: News of the day
        

Here are some random thoughts to start your day, since you probably are too tired from the bye week to come up with any of your own.

If you had the New York Giants in your knockout pool, you probably deserve to be watching the five or six people who remain alive split up the pot. I know I do. It was like trusting me with your grocery money.

My candidate for the Orioles GM is still Buck Showalter for two reasons: You don't have to ask anyone for permission to talk to him and you don't have to convince him to come to Baltimore.

So far, Michael Vick's new contract works out to $100 million per win.

The Milwaukee Brewers are going to the World Series. Hope I didn't just jinx them.

This is the first time since 2006 that there hasn't been an AL East team in the ALCS. It's only happened three other times since 1995.

The Steelers hammered the Titans on Sunday. I guess they're not quite dead.

It appears the Ravens will be catching the Houston Texans at just the right time, but since this is the NFL -- which stands for No Freaking Logic -- that doesn't mean a thing.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: News of the day
        

Here are a few observations, opinions and self-corrections to peruse while you wait for the non-Ravens game to start:

The Terps: I owe Maryland an apology. I said in Saturday's "News Item" column that the oddsmakers were giving them too much credit by making Georgia Tech only a 14-point favorite. They showed a lot of grit during their second-half comeback attempt and lost by only five. Small consolation, maybe, but a struggling team showed some character yesterday.

The Mids: Went to the Navy game as a fan yesterday and it was tough to watch. The Mids offense took forever to click without benched fullback and captain Alexander Teich. The Mids have to start winning some games to keep their bowl streak alive.

The Ravens: The bye week left me with an empty feeling that nothing on today's schedule can fill. Maybe I could have distracted myself by rooting against the Redskins and Cowboys, but they both had byes, too.

The Yankees: As much as everyone wanted the Yankees to lose to the Tigers, now we're left without an ALCS that includes a team you really want to root for or against. Should have thought about that before I pulled for Detroit.

The AFC: If nothing else, you can watch the Jets/Patriots game and see who the Ravens gain ground on in the quest for the best conference record.

The NLCS: Want the Brewers to win. Thing the Cardinals have all the mojo right now.

Andy MacPhail: The only surprise was that it took so long for Andy to say goodbye to Peter Angelos. I wish Andy and his family the best. He's a class act. The results weren't there at the end, but I still believe the team is better off than when he got here. I'm sure a lot of you would disagree, which is your right.

Buck Showalter: Buck isn't going to be the GM this year, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to be the GM. Check out my column in today's print edition or click right here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: News of the day
        

The Ravens obviously are happy to have this week off and there are all sorts of reasons why this was a perfect bye week for them -- and you can check out my latest column on that subject right here -- but that doesn't mean we have to like it.

The Orioles season ended on such a unexpectedly high note, that there actually was a bit of a letdown from that this week, and it's hard to get too pumped up for a weekend of college football when the Terps appear to be cruising for a bruising against Georgia Tech on Saturday.

I wish I could find some reason to think the Terps will rise up and bite Paul Johnson's undefeated Yellow Jackets (5-0) on the rear end, but this one just looks like a major beatdown waiting to happen. Hope I'm wrong, because I think Randy Edsall is going to get the program on the right track -- both competitively and academically -- over the next couple of years.

Meanwhile, Ravens fans will have to settle for rooting against the Steelers and Patriots on Sunday. The AFC North will gain a game in the wild card race on at least one NFC East power, since the Patriots and Jets play each other in the only significant rivalry game of the weekend.

And, no, there hasn't been any word on the Orioles front office situation, though I think that's coming soon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: News of the day
        

Let's not do this. Let's not spend today trying to figure out things that will never be truly ascertained. Let's not trivialize the tragic death of Mike Flanagan by trying to connect some sad dots to the dismal performance of the Orioles before, during and after he was the team's executive vice president/general manager. That's not fair to him and it's shows a lack of awareness of the more complex issues that always accompany this kind of tragedy.

There were multiple unconfirmed reports -- since confirmed by Sun sources -- that Flanagan's death was a suicide, so it didn't take long for the message boards and some commentators to begin speculating about the reasons that he might take his own life. The police have yet to release an official cause of death, but that hasn't kept the public conversation from turning in a seemingly obvious direction. Flanagan supposedly was despondent after losing his dream front office job and failing -- along with everybody else -- to save the deteriorating Orioles organization.

There's no question that Flanagan was devastated when the Orioles hired Andy MacPhail to replace him. Who wouldn't be? Long-time teammate and MASN broadcast colleague Rick Dempsey was the first to articulate that after the horrible news broke on Wednesday night, but Dempsey didn't draw any conclusion. He simply stated the fact that Flanagan had some trouble dealing with his rejection by the organization,

“I know he has gone through some tough times,’’ Dempsey said. “…I think he was very down about the GM job, but it seemed like he rallied when he got the (MASN) color job again.”

Though it's probably natural to try and find some simple explanation for such a horrible event, it doesn't serve any good purpose other than to confirm some preconceived notion that may or may not be valid.

The thing we know is that a good man is dead -- a good man who made the Orioles better as a player and tried to make them better as a front office executive. That should be how we remember him. We need to recognize that there are no easy answers. There are things we will never know and there are assumptions that we have no right to make.

I can't help but be reminded of the night in Toronto in 1989 when I heard the news that Angels relief pitcher Donnie Moore had shot himself. It was three years after he had given up the dramatic ALCS home run to Dave Henderson in 1986 that kept the Angels from locking up their first-ever trip to the World Series.

There was no question that Moore was damaged by that fateful pitch. He was booed loudly by Angels fans the following year and had just been released by the Kansas City Royals when he shot his wife and turned the gun on himself. There were all sorts of issues that contributed to his death -- both professional and personal -- but the media chose to focus on one bad split-finger fastball three years earlier. To this day, most people believe that Moore killed himself because he lost a baseball game.

I remember that night because I went down to the Angels clubhouse to get reactions from the players and veteran Brian Downing waved me and the other reporters off angrily, claiming that it was the media that was responsible for his death.

“You destroyed a man’s life over one pitch,'' Downing said. "The guy was just not the same after that."

No one could deny that Moore's life unraveled after the 1986 playoffs, but there have been plenty of dramatic moments in the history of sports and plenty of athletes who were on the wrong end of them. There were a lot of roads that led to Moore's tragic demise. Not just one.

Similarly, it's not right to look at the disappointing end of Mike Flanagan's front office career and blame it for what happened on Wednesday. We just look for easy answers when we know that we may never know the real ones.

Sun file photo by Gene Sweeney, Jr.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (118)
Categories: News of the day
        

While a lot of you were enjoying a bounce-back performance from the Orioles this afternoon, I was over at Pimlico getting my Preak on. Unfortunately for the sport of horse racing, Animal Kingdom was unable to capture the second jewel of the Triple Crown, so we'll have to settle for a rubber match with Preakness winner Shackleford at the Belmont in three weeks. In the meantime, you can check out a couple of my columns from the past 24 hours to get your Preak on. Here's my column on Animal Kingdom and Maryland-based trainer Graham Motion.

If that's not enough horse Schmuck for you, here's my column from today's print edition on just what the Preakness means to Baltimore. Check it out.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: News of the day
        

If you get a chance, check out my column on the passing to Maryland political icon William Donald Schaefer. I realize that better journalists have weighed in on his amazing career as mayor of Baltimore and governor or Maryland (not to mention stints in the city council and as state comptroller), but I thought I'd focus more on his impact on Baltimore as a sports town.

He was a complex man who had his warts, but no one can deny that he was one of the most important political figures in the history of Maryland. And no one can deny the role he played in the construction of the Camden Yards sports complex.

Here's my take, which will be in tomorrow's print edition of the Sun and on the Web site right here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: News of the day
        

Spent the past 12 hours or so pondering Debbie Yow's comments about Gary Williams at the news conference to announce the hiring of the new North Carolina State basketball coach, and I'm going to try not to take sides.

Everybody who follows the Maryland athletic program knows that Yow and Williams did not get along very well. The fact that she put the thing on the street on Tuesday is interesting because of the venue and the circumstances, not because there were people in College Park who thought that everything was just ducky between them.

Here's my opinion, which has been formed while covering mostly baseball the past 125 years: In a large and high-profile organization, there are always going to be personality conflicts and -- usually -- the organization works very hard to hide them from the public, but seldom succeeds. Williams is a very hard-nosed, strong-willed coach and Yow didn't get into the upper echelon of the college AD ranks by being a shrinking violet. They grated on each other for a long time. Sour feelings die hard.

I don't doubt that Williams has complained about Yow to other coaches over the years, and I don't doubt that Yow has complained about Williams to other AD's. People vent. It is only headline-worthy because it bubbled up in this instance and overshadowed the introduction of new NC State coach Mark Gottfried, and that's on Yow.

She's been in this business long enough to know how to handle a tough question without changing the focus of what is supposed to be an upbeat news conference. Her charge that Williams undermined the coaching search at NC State was -- though I'm sure unintentional -- demeaning to Gottfried, because it implied that Yow could have hired somebody better if not for Williams alleged and strongly denied intervention.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Yow and Williams to kiss and make up, but it's time for them both to get on with their lives.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (59)
Categories: News of the day
        

Just checked out the new Web site for this year's Preakness infield party and I've got just one thing to say:

Is that the guy from "East Bound and Down?"

No, it's Kegasus, the half-horse, half party manimal that has been unveiled as the new spokes-centaur for the infield celebration at 136th Preakness Stakes, and he's already generating just the kind of buzz that you'd expect.

The Maryland Jockey Club did the same thing last year with it's "Get Your Preak On" campaign, and it was so successful it pulled the event back from the brink after an attempt to make the infield more family friendly in 2009 caused infield attendance to crater.

"Kegasus" is being billed as the "Lord of the InfieldFest," and the Jockey Club is already taking more heat for embracing an image that clearly is encouraging twentysomething race fans to come out and get liquored up. He's not exactly Joe Camel, but the whole thing is not terribly subtle either.

I've got no big problem with it. Everybody knows what goes on in the infield at Pimlico, and the new infield beer rules do allow a measure of control over what used to be a totally out-of-control situation.

If co-opting a mythological beast and putting a beer in his hand (hoof?) will keep Maryland's thoroughbred industry from going the way of the chariot races, I'm going to have to give the marketing campaign my blessing. If they had gotten Danny McBride to play the character, it would have been even better.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: News of the day
        

Since I've had to suspend my "News item" column for a few weeks during spring training, it's only fair that we spend a little time on current events in the blog. Here are some of the morning headlines that caught my eye:

Wooden's great grandson makes final basket at Pauley Pavilion

Well, at least the current version of Pauley Pavilion, which is being closed for renovation. Bruins walkon Tyler Trapani was in Saturday's game at the end of a lop-sided upset victory over No. 10 Arizona when Jack Haley Jr's three-point shot missed everything and fell right into his hands. He put it back up for the final Bruin basket at the old Pauley, leading coach Ben Howland to tearfully claim that the old coach was still in the house. Who knows?

Nice story.

NFLPA plans to decertify in advance of owners lockout

This is a routine threat in big-time sports labor battles and the NFLPA has the approval of players to decertify. The problem is, federal law technically requires that the decertification is a sincere attempt to disband the union and not just a collective bargaining ploy. If it stands up in court, it carries with it all kinds of legal implications. If nothing else, it would likely lead to an injunction delaying the lockout.

I've pointed this out before, but everything that happens during the collective bargaining process has happened many times before. When it's all said and done, they'll have to come to an agreement to keep this from impacting the 2011 season.

Bad day for Top 10 teams:

Duke wasn't the only top NCAA mens team to go down yesterday. No. 4 San Diego State lost to BYU for the second time this season, No. 5 Texas lost to Colorado and No. 10 Arizona lost to UCLA.

More proof that this year's NCAA tournament is ripe for a couple of surprise Final Four teams.

Jenks, Guillen feud heats up

The running war of words between former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks and manager Ozzie Guillen reached the boiling point this week when Guillen reacted to a Jenks comment with a tirade that included this pithy quote: "I wish I was mad about it because I will rip his throat (out)."

Nice.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (48)
Categories: News of the day
        

Don't know about you, but I've been wondering for quite some time if it's true that a lot of people drink at sporting events. I know there are long lines for beer, because I once missed a whole quarter in the upper deck at a Ravens game waiting to buy one, but I never actually had proof that people (other than me) go back to their seats and actually drink that seven-dollar lager.

Now, I can rest easy, because there's a real study out there that proves a lot of people leave sporting events less than sober. If you want to read about it, you can take a look right here.

Disclaimer: If you've listened to me on WBAL Radio (1090AM) over the years, you know that I'm about as anti-drunk driving as you can get. If you get in your car drunk, I hope there's a checkpoint right around the corner. So, I'm not making light of drunk driving, which remains a huge public safety issue.

However, the fact that somebody actually commissioned a study to determine the extent of alcohol consumption at sporting events confirms my belief that there are a lot of people out there with too much time and money.

The study was done by asking 362 volunteers at 13 venues to take a breathalyzer test on their way out of sporting events. The results indicated a lot people had significant alcohol in their systems. The issue, of course, is whether they drove themselves home, but the study apparently didn't monitor that. Seems like a fairly important point, don't you think?

I'm not a researcher, but this "study" seems to have more holes in it than the Buffalo Bills defense. The sample was self-selecting, since sports fans had to volunteer for it, so there's no way to know if the 8 percent reported to be over the legal driving limit was a legitimate number.

There's also the small matter of objective selection. The people doing the testing chose, I presume, about 30 people at each venue. Did they just pick the people stumbling out of the arena? Did they wear blindfolds so they couldn't gauge the visible impairment of the subjects? Did they do the study in Pittsburgh?

The conclusion, of course, was that a lot of people leave sports stadiums with unsafe blood-alcohol levels, though anyone who has attended an Eagles game would tell you that 8 percent figure is probably pretty low.

Howard Cosell used ot have an expression for a conclusion like that. It's in the headline of this item.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: News of the day
        

If you didn't see me around yesterday, it wasn't because I was lying around ignoring the blog. The Schmuck still stops here, but Monday was a pretty busy day for the Baltimore Sun Sports department.

We had to dig up the latest developments on the Alfredo Simon case -- and Dan Connolly and Nick Madigan are doing a great job of that -- and there were the other small matters of the University of Maryland introducing the new Terps head football coach and the Ravens beginning to prepare for Sunday's playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Which is why I actually had two columns in today's print edition. Check out my take on the Randy Edsall hiring right here, and -- if you're not tired after that -- you can read my column here on why the Ravens caught a big break when they drew the Chiefs in the Wild Card round.

It isn't easy to be such a tireless workhorse, but I make up for it with my modest and humble nature.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Just baseball, Just football, News of the day
        

What a shocking way to start the new year. Orioles reliever Alfredo Simon has been named as the chief suspect by police in his native Dominican Republic after a 25-year-old man was shot to death and the man's brother was wounded on New Year's Eve.

Here's the Associated Press report, but there isn't much detail yet.

Simon, who is being sought by police, reportedly has denied involvement in the incident to an Orioles official in the Dominican Republic.

Don't really know what to say at this point. For Alfredo's sake, I hope this is a case of mistaken identity, but this is a tragic story no matter who is the culprit. I'm guessing the Orioles will withhold anything but a perfunctory "no comment" until they get more information.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Just football, News of the day
        

Listen, you didn't want to go outside today anyway, so check out my "News Item" column in the print edition of the Baltimore Sun or go to the Sun Web site and take a look at it right here. I'll warn you that the first item is about NASCAR, but I think you'll get a chuckle out of it and there are plenty more opinions and quips for your reading enjoyment.

Later tonight, I'll have another column up stating my opposition to an expansion of the current baseball playoff format, which seems to be a done deal if you listen to Bud Selig or players union chief Michael Weiner. It apparently is just a question of when and how.

While I'm rambling, here's my take on today in college football. I think at least two of the remaining big-time unbeaten teams will go down later today, and it's possible that all of them will. If so, look for a one-loss team to sit atop Boise State and TCU in the new BSC standings tomorrow.

The most interesting game -- to me -- is USC/Oregon. I think the Ducks will survive this trip to Los Angeles, but it could be a very exciting and action-packed game and it will be televised nationally on ABC at 8 (EDT).

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: News of the day
        

If you were looking for a watershed day in Baltimore sports, I guess today would be right near the top of the list. The Orioles wrap up the 2010 season with a chance to sweep a four-game series from the Detroit Tigers and there's a fairly important NFL game going on over at Heinz Field.

I'm guessing you know how important that game in Pittsburgh is -- even at this early stage of the season -- but why don't you check out my column on the subject right here if you haven't already. It'll be good for my self-esteem, which has been sagging since my deflating defeat at the MCW event in Dundalk a few weeks ago. Kevin Eck continues to duck me, by the way, so I may have to go on a "Bum of the Month" tour. I wonder if Roch has any nights off coming up.

There's a lot of great reading material on the Orioles and Ravens in today's newspaper and on the Web site, including a voluminous profile of Peter Angelos by Childs Walker and Jeff Zrebiec's story about Andy MacPhail's offseason plans.

While you check all that out, I'm heading for the man cave to watch the Ravens.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: News of the day
        

My latest "News item" column just went up on the Web site. If you haven't already, take a look at it right here and let me know what you think.

While I'm plugging stuff, Jeff Zrebiec's story about the relationship between Felix Pie and Luke Scott is a must-read. You can find it right here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)
Categories: News of the day
        

Let me preface my comments about Sunday's PGA Championship by pointing out that I am enough of a golf fan to spend the last four days in the Lake Tahoe area trying to gain some command of the game, which brings me to my first question of the day:

When you need to birdie the eighth and ninth holes to finish the front nine at 45, is that good?

Didn't think so, but that's not really what I wanted to talk about. I'm pondering what happened to Dustin Johnson and trying to make sense of a sport that has no problem turning to instant replay to scuttle the guy's chance of joining a three-man playoff for the PGA championship, but clings inflexibly to a set of arcane rules that create that kind of sad scenario.

I know that the rules are the rules, but when the incompetence of the PGA creates a situation where hundreds of spectators are allowed to obscure an obstacle so that one of the tournament leaders cannot even see the entire area around his ball, it would seem reasonable to expect something more than a strict interpretation of a local course rule that was news to most of the players in the event. Especially when that player has already walked off the course in an apparent three-way tie for the lead.

Of course, why should anyone be surprised? This is, after all, a sport that is willing to disqualify a player for accidentally misreporting one stroke even though the scores of every player are kept independently and broadcast by the television networks on a minute-by-minute basis. Do you really think somebody ought to lose the U.S. Open after four hard days of competition over a typo?

This is just the latest stupid golf trick, but don't expect it to be the last. I watched the interviews after the PGA and the golf bureaucrats are sure they did exactly the right thing. Give Johnson credit for handling the situation with class when he could have been forgiven for signing his scorecard and sticking it in somebody's ear.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: News of the day, Schmuck being Schmuck
        

Today's sports schedule in the greater Baltimore area is all over the map. The big soccer game between Inter Milan and Manchester City is expected to draw more than 40,000 to M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens drew a record crowd (12,000) to their public workouts on Friday and are expecting similar numbers today. And, of course, a solid crowd is expected for Maryland Championship Wrestling's Shamrock Cup event tonight at the New Green Room in Dundalk.

The Orioles play the Kansas City Royals on the road, so you could stay home and watch them on TV, but I think the evening will be a ratings challenge for MASN, especially after last night's disheartening collapse.

Self-promotion dept: It's a nice day, but why risk skin cancer by going outside. I'll be talking sports all afternoon on WBAL (1090AM) and WBAL.com, so tune in at noon and join in the conversation. Obviously, we'll be talking about a very eventful week for the Orioles and a discouraging weekend for the Ravens. Orioles beat reporter Jeff Zrebiec has had a very busy week himself, but he'll will check in from KC to update us ahead of the 4 p.m. deadline for making trades without passing players through waivers.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (56)
Categories: News of the day
        

Congratulations to Lookin at Lucky, who helped the city of Baltimore stick it to New York for the 33rd straight year. No Triple Crown intrigue for the upcoming Belmont Stakes, though I guess they're used to that by now.

One of the Pimlico track officials told me after the race that he knew Bob Baffert's horse was going to win because his saddle towel was orange and black. I don't know why those colors would be a sure sign of victory, since they aren't at Camden Yards, but the Orioles have been playing better lately, so who knows?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (32)
Categories: News of the day
        

I felt a little guilty taking money out of Pimlico at this difficult time for the racing industry, so I'm now intentionally betting on bad horses and have recently slipped below sea level. So it goes.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: News of the day
        

The first four races haven't gone well for me. I dropped 18 bucks on the Maryland Heritage Purse, when I should have stood down after my favorite horse name of the day -- Wink At the Girls -- was scratched.

Fortunately, I missed the second race because I was appearing as a guest on 98 Rock from the infield, but Race 3 and Race 4 didn't go well for me either.

It was at that point that I decided to forego my own horse sense and enlist the assistance of the brother-in-law of WBAL-11's Pete Gilbert, who came down from Philadelphia and actually knows something about handicapping. He gave me the 13-1 exacta -- Lighthouse Sound and Macho Chick -- and it came home to pay $110 for my $3 bet.

What a country.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: News of the day
        

If wanted a better day than this for the 135th running of the Preakness Stakes, you might have to move it to Honolulu. Oh, sorry, I guess I shouldn't give anybody ideas.

The temperature at 10 a.m. was about 70 and -- according to weather.com -- the temperature at race time is expected to be 76. The infield is starting to fill up with revelers who clearly are ready to get their Preak on (within reason, of course).

First post is in 20 minutes and I'm going to bet it off the board. I was pretty fired up when I saw that the second-favorite in the Maryland Heritage Purse was named Wink at the Girls, but the horse has been scratched, so I'll have to throw my money away on somebody else.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: News of the day
        

If you get a chance, take a look at my column for tomorrow's Preakness edition, which you can read right here. I defend Pimlico -- sort of -- from a broadside attack by ESPN's Pat Forde, but have to agree with him that high-handed complaints about the "Get Your Preak On!" promotional campaign seem out of place considering the Second Jewel's saucy recent history.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: News of the day
        

Trust me, you don't want to see me get my Preak on. I'm not sure it will even fit anymore. But I've always enjoyed the annual rite of spring that is the Preakness infield party, even if I only get to watch from a distance.

I also enjoy the annual attempt by the Maryland Jockey Club and the city mothers and fathers to come to grips with what the infield celebration represents, when what it really represents is something that they just don't understand anymore. It's a limited-time-only opportunity for teenagers and young adults to wallow in the sheer joy of being young and -- well -- drunk and stupid.

The trick for race and city officials is to allow that while protecting the craziest of the crazies from themselves, and you can read more about the effort to do that in today's print edition or right here.

If we didn't live in a society where the real national pastime is litigation, I suppose they could just let everybody do what they want and guard the perimeter so some idiot doesn't jump in front of the horses -- as happened quite frightfully a few years ago. But we live in a world where somebody has to be responsible for all those drunk people, so the recent attempts at controlling the environment were as logical as they were unpopular.

While we're on the subject, however, I'd like to relate my favorite infield memory. I was assigned the infield story one year during the 1990s, and it was one of the times when the infield had been turned into a swamp by heavy rain. That certainly didn't stop anyone from having a ball, including one young man who had overindulged so heavily that he was sleeping it off behind one of the parimutual structures.

When I happened upon him, he was lying on his back fast asleep and his friends had piled a small mound of mud on top of his ample belly and -- I'm not making this up -- planted a tiny tree in it.

I wish there were cell phone cameras in those days, so I could prove it.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: News of the day
        

While we're all waiting for the first prime time NFL Draft and the other shoe to drop at the Warehouse, some interesting things are happening elsewhere in the wide, wide world of sports. Here are some of the recent headlines:

NCAA to expand tourney from 65 to 68 teams

This is a great step forward, because it means that the 66th best college basketball team no longer has to whine about being the No. 1 seed in the NIT. Now, the 69th best team gets to do that.

Brees chosen for cover of Madden 11

Great news for the Ravens, who will play the Saints well after Brees is put on Injured Reserve.

Cubs move Zambrano to bullpen

I probably don't have to tell you who was one of the top picks of my fantasy draft.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: News of the day
        

The news that Tiger Woods is actually a flawed human should not come as a great shock to anyone who has seen so many of our celebrity heroes show their unseemly side. Doesn't make him a particularly bad fellow -- just a guy with the same weaknesses as a lot of other guys and a lot more opportunity to surrender to them -- but it does require everyone who had put him on a pedestal to re-evaluate him as a role model.

The thing that stands out for me is fairly simple: We want our sports heroes to be the same people in private that they are in public, which is a pretty high bar for a guy whose image has been crafted so carefully to simulate personal perfection.

Don't get me wrong. That doesn't let him off the hook for embarrassing his wife and family and disappointing his public. He can talk about his right to privacy all he wants, but he's the one who -- quite literally -- put this tawdry business on the street and he's the one who has to clean up this mess, though he'll certainly have a lot of high-priced help with that.

I'll give him this, his latest statement -- which you can read right here -- is the first thing he's done right since the one-car crash early Friday morning that set off the media chain reaction which led to his apologia today.

His refusal to be interviewed by police for several days and his decision to hire a high-powered lawyer to handle a relatively minor traffic offense just ramped up suspicion that there were deep, dark secrets behind that nasty fender bender. That suspicion apparently was warranted, but Tiger's generic admission that he had committed personal transgressions that let down his family would have rang truer a few days ago, before he created the impression that he viewed himself as being above the normal legal processes the rest of us have to go through in that kind of situation.

Really, do you honestly think you could have turned the police away from your door three days in a row under the same circumstances? And, for that matter, since when is driving your car into a tree on your neighbor's lawn at 2 in the morning not "probable cause" for a blood-alcohol test?

There is a part of me that actually feels sorry for Tiger, though I feel a lot sorrier for his wife and family. He willingly made the devil's bargain to live in a gold-plated cocoon his whole life, so he got what he's being paid all those millions for. He can fly anywhere in the world on a private jet any time he wants and he can afford to buy or do anything his heart desires, but there isn't enough money in the world to buy him a little anonymity when he can't live up to the outsized expectations he has created for himself.

I know you won't believe this, but I wouldn't trade places with him for all the tee boxes at Turnberry.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (38)
Categories: News of the day