Spring training has started for Major League Baseball, which means that NCAA Baseball has started as well.  The Ohio State Buckeyes are looking for a strong season from starting pitcher, Brad Goldberg.  So far this season, he has lived up to expectations.

In three games so far, Goldberg is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA in 19 innings.  He has only allowed 7 hits, and 2 runs with only one of them being earned.  Opposing hitters are hitting .119 against him.  He has struck out 22 batters that he has faced and walked 9.

Walks and high pitch count have been a concern for Goldberg in the past but so far this season he has improved in both of those stat categories.  It is still early in the season, and therefore the 19 innings probably could be higher, but there isn’t a need to leave him out there in a game to accumulate statistics.

This is why at the beginning of the season major leaguers will often be pulled even with a no hitter going.  Conference play is going to matter much more than these beginning of the season games that have no real effect on the outcome of the whole year.

Goldberg has been getting draft buzz for quite some time now, and if he can keep it up this season, it will only increase his stock.  He features a fastball (sinker), change up, cutter, and curve ball.

He was elected Big Ten Pitcher of the Week 2 consecutive weeks to start the season giving up no earned runs in 13.1 innings of work while striking out 17 batters.  If he stays strong throughout the season he will get serious consideration as Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.

Indiana is slated as the favorite to win the Big Ten this year, but Ohio State’s recruits from head coach Greg Beals are going to be major contributors.  The team is fairly young, but they have veterans and leaders in the right places.

Obviously Kent State stole the show last year qualifying for the College World Series, and will get the bulk of attention for Ohio college baseball teams.  However, the Buckeyes can certainly do damage in the Big Ten this year, and as we saw with Kent State last year, anyone can make a run.

The Buckeyes will head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the long weekend during Ohio State’s spring break.  This could pose a potential matchup with Goldberg on the mound against a dangerous Coastal Carolina squad, in which he his very familiar with, having transferred to Ohio State from Coastal following his sophomore season.

Another matchup to watch is against Ball State, which is where coach Beals was head coach before accepting the Ohio State job.  The Buckeyes home opener is scheduled for March 15 against Bryant University.  Big Ten play opens up at Purdue March 22.

This should be a fun season to watch for the Buckeyes, and it will be especially fun to watch what Goldberg can accomplish on the mound, and going forward in the MLB draft process.

Being an Olympian is a great feat for any individual.  Winning gold for your country must be an incredible feeling that can’t be described.  However, most of these athletes are considered amateurs.

Amateur athletes are not allowed to accept benefits beyond their expenses.  When an athlete wins gold and the endorsement offers start coming in it becomes decision time for a young amateur athlete.  Do you accept the offers and forgo your future as a high school or collegiate athlete, or decline the potential money and remain an amateur keeping your current and future eligibility?

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) also will give an athlete $25,000 for a gold medal which can’t be accepted if the athlete wants to keep their amateur status. In these 2012 London Olympics there are a couple of cases that stick out.

One is Missy Franklin, the 17 year old swimmer who won four gold medals for the United States.  Another, is Gabby Douglas, the 16 year old gymnast who has already brought home two gold medals for the United States.

Missy Franklin has to decide to turn down the $100,000 for her golds and endorsement deals and remain a high school athlete with aspirations of being a collegiate athlete, or accept the money and endorsements and give up her high school and college careers.  Gabby Douglas faces the same situation.

There have been rumors that Gabby Douglas has been offered endorsement deals that could be worth tens of millions of dollars.  That is a large amount of money for any person, let alone a 16 year old.

Many will say take the money and run with it.  However, that means giving up high school and college athletics which provides young athletes with priceless life experiences.

The tough decision looms for a number of athletes during these London Olympics.  Take the money and run or potentially live wondering what could have happened with all of that potential money.

In the wake of the guilty verdict of Jerry Sandusky child molestation hearing, the NCAA is expected to announce harsh penalties on Penn State and their football program as early as Monday.

While I have been very critical of the program and university for allowing Sandusky to terrorize young boys on Penn State’s own facilities, what else does the NCAA want to do that hasn’t been done?

Much like an ambulance chaser or Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson, the NCAA wants to get their stink on the tragedy that the university and the entire state of Pennsylvania so desperately wants to begin to heal.

Multiple media outlets are reporting that the NCAA is expected to announce harsh and even “unprecedented” penalties, due to lack of institutional control during Joe Paterno’s legendary (and now infamous) coaching career, but look at what has already been done in less than a year that the Sandusky scandal was finally brought into the public eye less than a year ago.

• Paterno is dead.  Unfortunately, he died before he could see his own legend collapse , the legend that he determined was worth more than the innocence of so many young boys that were terrorized by Sandusky.
• Sunday, Penn State president Rodney Erickson determined that Paterno’s famous statue in front of Beaver Stadium was taken down.
• Former Penn State president Graham Spanier and former athletic director Tim Curley are no longer in their positions at the school and are currently facing jail time for perjury and crimes committed by allowing the scandal to reach the heights it did.
• The entire Penn State football coaching staff has been removed, and new head coach Bill O’Brien has brought a new staff that, unlike the last one, has done nothing wrong and has not harbored any pedophiles.

After all the changes have been made, along with the harsh (and fair) public critcism of Penn State and Paterno’s football program, why does the NCAA feel they need to do any more?  Who is left to punish?

The significant loss of scholarships and the loss of bowl games to the university is going to punish the players, new coaches and students who had absolutely nothing to do with Paterno and other former Penn State officials’ lack of judgement.

Instead, the NCAA is going to punish the very people that have joined together to help heal the damage that Sandusky, Paterno and other former admistrator caused.

Unfortunately for Penn State, this is an opportune time for the NCAA to flex their muscles in the public eye and pat themselves on the back for maintaining the status quo in a sport that makes a lot of people, including the NCAA, billions of dollars.

The sad part is that NCAA gladly benefited financially from Penn State football when Paterno was at the helm. All the bowl games, all the jersey sales and all of the video games that used Penn State and NCAA logos have sent a stream of revenue to the NCAA offices.

While the NCAA obviously used the vast majority of those funds to aid other sports programs across all divisions and all sports, salaries were paid, too. In a recent article in USA Today, it was reported that current NCAA president Mark Emmert rakes in $1.6 million per year for his position, and they’re not generating that cash from a 50/50 raffle.  It comes from the revenues from sports, the vast majority of which is football.

By intervening now and hammering an already crippled Penn State program that has shown the world that they are taking every step possible to move on and heal from this tragedy, the NCAA is only going to slow down the progress of all of the good and dedicated people who want to restore Penn State to everything it can be.

photo courtesy of USA Today

Once the Heisman Trophy winner was announced the discussions began for the favorites for the next season.  As we approach the upcoming season it is a good time to take a look at the early favorites.

The Favorites (Alphabetical Order):

Montee Ball, Senior, Running Back, Wisconsin:
Ball rushed for 1,923 yards, and 33 touchdowns while adding 306 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns giving him a total of 39 touchdowns for the season tying Barry Sanders record. Ball will be carrying the offensive load with the departure of Russell Wilson.  The Badgers also will have a new offensive line, but that shouldn’t worry Ball as Wisconsin always seems to have one of the best offensive lines in the country. The stats he put up a season ago are going to be very difficult to repeat, but he should be able to have another great season and be a potential finalist for the Heisman.

Matt Barkley, Senior, Quarterback, USC:
Barkley is by far the best quarterback coming into this season.  Barkley is a complete quarterback and would have been the second overall pick in the NFL draft had he decided to leave school early.  However, the NFL teams will be lining up for him after this season.  Barkley threw for 3,528 yards with 39 touchdowns and just 7 interceptions.  The Heisman Trophy could be sitting there waiting for him as he is the clear favorite.  The Trojans did not lose many players to the draft and they will be returning Robert Woods who was Barkley’s favorite receiver hauling in 111 catches last season as a sophomore.

Marcus Lattimore, Junior, Running Back, South Carolina:
Lattimore is an interesting candidate for the Heisman as he is going to be bouncing back from a knee injury that ended his year last season.  Lattimore rushed for 818 yards and 10 touchdowns before his season ending injury.  He is the most talented running back in the SEC and possibly the entire country.  The offense of the Gamecocks will run through him and if he comes back 100% and remains healthy he could see himself in New York as a Heisman finalist.

Aaron Murray, Junior, Quarterback, Georgia:
Coming off a great sophomore season throwing for 3,149 yards with 35 touchdowns and 14 interceptions Murray is set to be the best quarterback in the SEC this coming season.  The Bulldogs could be serious contenders for the national title this season because of Murray.  He is a very talented quarterback and he has experience since this will be his third season as Georgia’s starter.  If Murray continues to improve he could be not only a Heisman finalist, but a hot NFL prospect as well.

Denard Robinson, Senior, Quarterback, Michigan:
Back to back 2,000 yard passing and 1,000 yard rushing seasons have Denard Robinson as the top contender to beat Matt Barkley.  He his electric and creates havoc for opposing defenses.  Michigan is returning a number of starters and they look to be favorites for the Legends Division in the Big Ten with possible National Championship discussions.  Denard Robinson looks to complete his career with both a Heisman and National Championship.

Geno Smith, Senior, Quarterback, West Virginia:
Smith’s 407 yard and 6 touchdown performance in the Orange Bowl victory against Clemson put his mark in the Heisman discussion.  He threw for 4,385 yards and 31 touchdowns with just 7 interceptions last season.  Geno Smith has the Mountaineers back in the National Championship discussions.  He also has a talented receiving group returning which creates an arsenal of weapons for him to succeed and potentially win the Heisman Trophy.

On the Outside Looking In:

Tajh Boyd, Junior, Quarterback, Clemson

Rex Burkhead, Senior, Running Back, Nebraska

Landry Jones, Senior, Quarterback, Oklahoma

Logan Thomas, Senior, Quarterback, Virginia Tech

Robert Woods, Junior, Wide Receiver, USC

The Heisman Trophy race this season is set to be a great one.  There are a number of potential contenders that have not been named and the greatest thing about sports is that they are unpredictable.  So as we can discuss the favorites, it is unknown what will happen during the season.

With this past weekend’s leaked emails from former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley, not only is it clear that the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal is far from going away, but it also solidifies that Joe Paterno’s legacy is not just forever tarnished–it is forever disgraced.

Not only does the Penn State PR nightmare continue for the university and the entire athletic department, but now it could be facing possible NCAA sanctions for a complete and utter lack of institutional control.

Whether or not the NCAA will go after Penn State is yet to be determined, but as ESPN’s Colin Cowherd pointed out on his Monday radio show, the NCAA would seem awfully hypocritical if they don’t.  It was the NCAA, after all, that hammered USC a couple of years ago because former running back and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush’s parents took money and gifts from the program.

The NCAA made an example of USC because of their lack of control, stripping them of multiple scholarships and they deemed them ineligible to compete in bowl games the last two seasons.

So, if putting up parents of a player in a home closer to campus, so they can be closer to their son is lack of control, all eyes will be on the NCAA in the coming weeks to see their take on top administrators, including the former president, AD and Paterno for allowing a sexual predator to stay on the streets and have access to Penn State facilities (which is where a number of the Sandusky’s victims were assaulted).

The recent emails released to the public show that not only was Paterno and other top school officials aware of Sandusky’s bizarre behavior, but they also were going to turn Sandusky over to Child Welfare Services, based on former grad assistant Mike McQueary’s account of Sandusky molesting a young boy in the Penn State shower room in 2001.

Instead of getting Sandusky off the street and preventing him from hurting more children, the decision was ultimately made by the Penn State brass to brush the incident under the rug to preserve the Joe Paterno…I mean, Penn State brand.

USC never knowingly allowed a sexual predator to roam free among society, and they certainly didn’t give him the keys to their facilities to lure young boys, but that didn’t prevent the NCAA from arrogantly flexing their muscles to show the world what happens when your program doesn’t police itself to their satisfaction.

The NCAA backed themselves into quite a corner, and as more and more information from the Penn State scandal continues to leak, and former officials, including Curley and former president Graham Spanier face possible jail time, the sports world will be watching and waiting to see how the powers that be in the NCAA will react to an actual lack of institutional control.

photo courtesy of abcnews.com

The 2012 NBA Finals ended way too early, and now attention throughout the association is directed toward the Draft.  In Part 2 of our NBA Draft Preview we look at the players most likely to become All-Stars, as well as the later picks to keep an eye on.

Jerry Stackhouse Group (Potential All-Stars)

Harrison Barnes – The UNC swingman had a rough finish to his career as a Tar Heel, but he has rebounded nicely in pre-Draft workouts and the Scouting Combine.  Testing as one of the best athletes in the Draft, Barnes’ stock has risen, and there is no denying his shooting touch and ability to score.  His game could mature into something resembling Danny Granger circa 2009, which would be a great addition to any team in the early lottery.

Andre Drummond – The biggest boom-or-bust prospect in the Draft, we believe Drummond will succeed given he’s selected by the right team that has strong veteran presence.  He’s a very athletic 4 who has all the skill needed to play at a high level in the NBA.  The glaring questions, however, are his motor and desire to play.  This has been seen many times before, and Drummond can choose to follow the path of Eddy Curry (not good) or Shawn Kemp (good).

Jared Sullinger – Sullinger was a beast at OSU, and that will translate into the pro-game.  He has all the skill a team looks for in a power forward, including a capable mid-range jumper.  What he lacks in athleticism he makes up for in ability to score in multiple ways.  He is comparable to Kevin Love, another 4 who’s athletic ability was believed to hurt his game in the NBA.  The real concern with Sullinger is his back, which has recently begun to scare NBA teams.  As long as he remains healthy, look for Sullinger to play in future All-Star games.

Dion Waiters – One of the best sixth men in college basketball at Syracuse, Waiters’ game translates well into the NBA.  He’s relentless going to the rim and can finish in traffic.  He’s drawn comparisons to Dwyane Wade throughout his career at Syracuse and has the ability to be a combo guard in the mold of a Tyreke Evans at the pro level.  His shot could use some work, but a tough, physical 2-guard is something that will help any team in the lottery.

Monta Ellis Group (Sleepers)

Tony Wroten Jr. – The Washington PG had his ups and downs his freshman year, but his talent has been evident from day one.  At 6’5″, he has great size to run the point, and his athletic ability is freakish.  His court vision is good and he’s a very capable passer.  One of the flashier players in the Draft, his decision making is suspect at times and his shot needs to improve.  The ability is there, however, and he can be a cross of Russell Westbrook and Jason Williams if he develops.

Doron Lamb – Kentucky’s leading scorer in their National Championship victory, Lamb can shoot the lights out.  He has one of the purest strokes in the Draft with seemingly unlimited range.  He’s a smooth player who has the ability to score in the NBA.  He can flourish as a bench player and we see him as a solid sixth man down the road – similar to what Jason Terry has done throughout his career.

Andrew Nicholson – A stretch 4 who was overlooked because he played at St. Bonaventure in Olean, NY, Nicholson received great national exposure in the Bonnies’ run throughout the A-10 and NCAA Tournaments.  Nicholson is a player who can be good at everything and he reminds some of Davis West.  Whichever team selects him will be drafting a player who can contribute from day one and make the team better.

Hollis Thompson – Arguably the best long-range shooter in the draft, Thompson will find a spot on an NBA roster.  At 6’8″, he can get his shot off against most defenders.  He has the ability to drive to the basket and rebound as well, grabbing over 5 boards per game his Junior year at Georgetown.  He reminds us of Jeff Green, and if he develops into what Uncle Jeff was during Green’s first couple seasons with the Thunder then Thompson will be one of the better steals in the Draft.