There obvious flaws with this version of baseball. First off, there would be NO PENNANT RACES! Yeah it makes perfect sense to get rid of one of the most exciting aspects of baseball. Actually that’s all I’m going to say about the flaws. Anyone with half a brain will see the other major issues with this proposal.

Any ways it’s time to get down to business.  If MLB insists on changing the current format I’d propose the following solution:

• The leagues stay same. 14 in the AL 16 in the NL.
• Inter-league play is abolished.(Optional)
• The DH is abolished.(My Biggest wish but the player’s union will never allow it)
• AL & NL both eliminate a division and go back to the 2 division format.
• Division winners get automatic playoff berth and 1 round bye.
• 4 wild card spots per league go to the 4 best non division winning teams.

This proposal would satisfy the league’s desire to get more team in the playoffs. And it actually adds 2 more teams than the bogus proposal reported by Buster Olney. More importantly this keeps the League’s separate and end of the season pennant races in tact.

On paper it looks like this proposal would expand the season too much. However my vision of the playoffs would be the first round made up wild-card teams would be a best of 3series that is completed in 3 consecutive days. The divisional Round would then start immediately on the 4th day of the playoffs. Doing it this way gives the division winners a real reward and condenses the playoff schedule. From this point forward the playoffs would be the same format as now. But once again I’d propose that there would be fewer off days to keep things moving and prevent a November World Series.

Here's how this common sense approach would look.

Bud Selig needs to be removed from office if it happens.

If MLB wants to shake things up they should keep it simple.

I’ll post my own common sense plan tonight.

If he’s still available in your fantasy league you should grab him now! Especially in NL-Only formats.

Cardinals Trade: Mitchell Boggs or Jason Motte + Chris Carpenter + Colby Rasmus

Mets Trade: Francisco Rodriguez

Credit to this idea goes to a poster named bdaniel1984 and you can read the entire thread here.

This guy wants to give up a decent reliever, a starter with an expiring contract and a young cost controlled everyday CF for a very expensive closer who’s talent’s are on the decline. Who in their right mind would give up 3 contributors, especially a highly regarded young centerfielder for an aging one innning guy?

What an IDIOT! I can’t help but laugh at the idiotic trade ideas I see people post in forums and blogs.

Congratulations bdaniel1984 on winning this prestigious honor.

I hate bashing a fellow Cards fans and as a whole I truly believe Cards fans are among the best fans in baseball. However I do not feel that online forums give an accurate representation of any team’s fan base.

Griffin is the right pick at #1 but he will never be a superstar.He’ll be good but not the type of player you can build a franchise around.

A year ago I felt like a genius. Now I feel like a moron. Blake Griffin is already one of the most popular players in the game. If he develops a jumper he will be a superstar for years to come.

I think its time for Vitale to retire.

Still waiting for that retirement announcement.

Almost feel sorry for Griffin the Clips are probably the most poorly managed team in all of sports.

Still true thanks to Mr. Sterling.

Thabeet has great upside. The only question is will the big man’s body hold up.

I meant to say the only question is will  the big man every reach that potential?

I loved Harden in college but I’m not sure how he’ll translate to the NBA.

Mr. Harden is doing just fine in OKC.

Evans is an intriguing prospect. 5yrs down the road I think he’ll be one of the 5 best players from this draft.

Top 5? More like top 3.

Not sure about Rubio but it doesn’t hurt the Wolves to take him there. Gonna take him a few seasons to be an impact player.

Still waiting on Mr. Rubio. He’s also still take a few seasons away from being an impact player.

Rubio was probably a steal at 5. I didn’t think he’d last that long.

It’s still a littler early to judge. However I bet Minnesota would’ve tried trading this pick if they had to do it over again. Or draft Curry.

Flynn will start over Rubio. Not a bad selection but I’m surprised they didn’t go with Curry.

Flynn did start. And I’m still Surprised they didn’t take Curry with one of those picks.

I knew Don Nelson wouldn’t be able to pass on Curry. He’s a shooter with high IQ but he’s not much of a PG yet.

Ok. I’ll admit it. I didn’t foresee Curry putting up big numbers early on.

Jordan Hill is a skilled big man. Should be a solid contributor but probably won’t ever amount to anything more than a role player.

Spot on.

New York fans are too much. All the LeBron talk is an embarrassment. I don’t know how they can call themselves fans.

How’d that work out for you New York? You’re probably better off with a core of Amare and Melo anyways.

DeMar DeRozan has a ton of potential but don’t expect much out of him for at least 2 seasons.

Off by a year.

Brandon Jennings: Great Pick! Definite ROY candidate.

Spectacular Rookie Season. Solid but disappointing as a Soph. I still really like his upside.

Expect the number of Preps choosing Europe over College to increase drastically after Jennings has a big year.

Not so much. It’s too easy to go to school and not focus on academics for a year.

Terrance Williams is a solid player. Should have decent NBA career as a role player.

Up and down career so far.

Gerald Henderson isn’t your typical Dukie. I like this pick for the Bobcats. Should help them out immediately next season.

He had a decent 2nd year.

Hansbrough would fit in better on a good team but I think he’ll surprise the skeptics.

He opened a lot of eyes after his injury plagued rookie campaign.

Earl Clark is another solid player. Won’t be a star but could spend a lot of time in the league.

Depends on your definition of “long time”.

Not crazy about Daye. Obviously has a lot of potential don’t know if he’ll ever reach it.But I thought the same thing about Tayshaun Prince

Showed some improvement in during his 2nd season. Still a young developing player.

Vitale is a horrible analyst. Shoulda retired a long time ago.

Vitale rant #2.

James Johnson is an improvement over Noah

Decent player…but no not an improvement over Noah.

Jrue Holliday has a lot of upside but I think Lawson would have been the better pick

Holiday has looked pretty good so far. Lawson is older but I still think he is the better player. 5 years from now I may think differently.

Ty Lawson is a great pick but WTF? 3 PGs. T-Wolves are definitely workin on a trade.

Yes they were.

Lawson getting dealt to the Nuggets. Good pick up for the Nuggets if it happens.

Great pick up for Denver.

Don’t know about Teague. Very talented but he’s a 2 trapped in a PG’s body.

Big time performances in the playoffs. Still a man without a true position.

Well I’m out for the night. Will post a draft review tomorrow. Maynor is an excellent pick by Utah by the way.

And that was it. Apparently I was also too lazy(or possibly hungover) to post a review the next day.

Hopefully I’ll find sometime in the near future to update my abandoned blog.

Sam the Ram Bradford made his solid debut for the Rams last week but it seems that the attendance levels have big one of the biggest topics this week. This is bringing the usual dose of Rams and St. Louis bashing. So my advice to anyone planning to do some bashing is simple. Get your facts straight first.

Myth #1: St. Louis can’t support a team unless its winning Superbowls

1995: The Rams were the new thing in town so it should come as no surprise they sold out despite being 4-12 the year before. Record 7-9

1996: Record 6-10: Once again Sold Out

1997: Record 5-11: Sell Out

1998: Record 4-12: Sell Out

1999: Record 13-3 Superbowl Victory: Sell Out

2000: Record 10-6: Sell Out

2001: Record 14-2: Sell Out

2002: Record 7-9: Sell Out

2003: Record 12-4: Sell Out

2004: Record 8-8: Sell Out

2005: Record 6-10: Sell Out

2006: Record 8-8: Sold out every game except last home game

So there you have 11 seasons of mixed performance. Good, bad it didn’t matter. The team sold out 95 consecutive home games! If the fans were as fair weather as most accuse them of being then this streak would’ve ended in ’96 or ’97 once the luster of being new wore off. You can also go back and look at the attendance of the St. Louis Football Cardinals. Despite many, many bad seasons attendance was always relatively high.

And during 2007-09, the team only won 6 games. That’s 6-42. Despite that, there was still 16 home sell-outs.

Myth #2 St. Louis is a baseball town & can’t support Football

As the numbers above show, there is plenty of fan support in St. Louis. The issue is recent years is simple. The quality of play on the field has not been NFL quality & during poor economic times no team will sell out when it’s that bad. No one is going to spend $400 to take their family to a game in which the home team will likely be losing by 3 touchdowns by the end of the first half. Look around, St. Louis isn’t the only NFL team not selling out now. And the fans in St. Louis may not be the “most passionate” fans in the league but they are still great fans. Did you hear the noise level Sunday? It certainly sounded much louder than the reported attendance numbers. And it’s also worth noting that the TV Ratings for that game were the highest they’ve been in years.

In St. Louis teams have to show heart. It isn’t just about winning Superbowls. The last few seasons this team has:

• Lacked talent
• Not spent money on Free Agents: See 2009 NFL team payrolls
• Had Poor Drafts
• Gone Through Coaching Changes
• Had NO owner
• No Heart or Desire to Win

Each of those factors is a major issue on its own. But having all of them at once is a very serious problem.

The Future In St. Louis

Currently things are looking bright. Stan Kroenke has finally been approved as owner and that should enable the team payroll to greatly increase. The team had a good draft and landed a franchise QB in Bradford. Steve Spagnuolo is going strong into his 2nd year as Head Coach. This season will have its rough patches but improvement will be shown. As the team improves and shows signs of effort the fans will come back. Hopefully they come back before it’s time for stadium negotiations.

James Harden, Oklahoma City: 17.5ppg, 4rpg, 1.8apg, 1.5stl, 1.0bpg

All Orlando SPL Teams

Heres the official All League Teams. I disagree with many of the selections but this what they announced. And why the hell did the name 3 teams when there was only 8 teams altogether?

First Team
James Harden, Oklahoma City
Gerald Henderson, Charlotte
Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia
Damion James, New Jersey
Derrick Brown, Charlotte

Second Team
Terrence Williams, New Jersey
Luke Harangody, Boston
Byron Mullens, Oklahoma City
Eric Maynor, Oklahoma City
Jodie Meeks, Philadelphia

Third Team
Patrick Ewing Jr., Orlando
Magnum Rolle, Indiana
Kosta Koufos, Utah
Paul George, Indiana
Kyle Weaver, Oklahoma City

Thunder      4-1
Bobcats      3-2
Jazz             3-2
Nets             3-2
Pacers         3-2
Sixers          3-2
Celtics         1-4
Magic          1-4

Individual Leaders(min 3 games played)

Points Per Game

1. 19.3    Jrue Holiday, G, Sixers
2. 18.8   Terrence Williams, G-F, Nets
2. 18.8   Damion James, F, Nets
4. 17.8   Joe Crawford, G, Magic
5. 17.5   James Harden, G, Thunder

Rebounds Per Game

1.   9.0   Marreese Speights, F, Sixers
2.   7.8   Paul George, F, Pacers
3.   7.3   Kosta Koufos, C, Jazz
3.   7.3   Jeff Adrien, F, Magic
5.   7.0   Derrick Brown, F, Bobcats
5.   7.0   Magnum Rolle, C, Pacers

Assists Per Game

1.  6.0    Jrue Holiday, G, Sixers
2.  5.8   Oliver Lafayette, G, Celtics
3.  5.3   Jeremy Pargo, G, Bobcats
4.  5.0   Eric Maynor, G, Thunder
4.  5.0   Oliver Lafayette, G, Celtics
4.  5.0   Terrence Williams, G-F, Nets

Blocks Per Game

1.   2.0  Magnum Rolle, C, Pacers
2.   1.4  Daniel Orton, C, Magic
3.   1.4  Conor Atchley, F, Nets
4.   1.3  Kosta Koufos, C, Jazz
5.   1.0  Several tied

Steals Per Game

1.   2.4   Paul George, F, Pacers
2.   1.7   James Harden, G, Thunder Jrue Holiday, G, Sixers
3.   1.6   Evan Turner, G, Sixers
3.   1.6   Mike Green, G, Sixers
5.   1.5   James Harden, G, Thunder
5.   1.5   Donnell Taylor, G, Magic
5.   1.5   Russell Robinson, G, Pacers

Turnovers Per Game

1.   4.8  Paul George, F, Pacers
2.   4.2  Terrence Williams, G-F, Nets
3.   4.0  James Harden, G, Thunder
3.   4.0  Jrue Holiday, G, Sixers
3.   4.0  Oliver Lafayette, G, Celtics