The Final Armchair Superstar Post

Well, as everyone can see, Armchair Superstar has been steadily declining in the blogging industry. We just couldn't compete with the other guys. So, like many other quality news reporting agencies of today (News of the World much?) we've decided to shut our doors. So, we at Armchair Superstar would like to thank you for your loyal readership and we'd like to take this time to say Goodbye.

Thank you & Goodbye!

I just read an interesting piece by Andy Staples discussing some potential issues with the Longhorn Network. The major discussion point wasn’t the fact that the Longhorn Network is going to make the school truck loads of cash. or the fact that now with ESPN, ESPN has incentive for the Longhorns to do well and get ratings, blurring the line for unbiased News/Sports reporting on them.

No, the main issue discussed is how the Longhorn Network is going to be showing High School games featuring kids who have verbally committed to Texas. This could be an unfair recruiting tool for Texas. However, it is likely to be deemed ok by the NCAA.

This got me thinking, if the Longhorn Network is going to show two dozen high school football games a year, why doesn’t the Big Ten Network do the same thing? Instead of watching Friday Night Tailgate (which in 4 years went from (yr 1)mildly entertaining, (Yr2) Hey! They figured it out, this is a good show, (Yr3) This is awful, (Yr4) I can’t believe this should could get worse, but it did.) why not show Gunner Kiel’s game so the IU fans can get a look at their future QB, as well as 3 other players. You don’t think Ohio State fans would have loved watching Terrelle Pryor his last year in High School?

The advantage of the BTN showing High School games over the Longhorn Network is they can show a game the features players that are going to multiple schools. If there was a matchup that featured players going to 4 different Big Ten schools, it would bring in 4 times the amount of viewers.

I say if Texas is going to do it, why not the Big Ten. They already have the Network in place, let’s use it to our advantage.

Sox Beat Twins - Finally

It's one of the enduring mysteries of the American League Central. Why can't the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota (f***in') Twins? Take a look at the stats:

Last ten: Sox 1 - Twins 9

Last 35: Sox 7 - Twins 28

That includes today's win, where Mark Buehrle (who, shockingly, has a winning career record versus the Twins) went eight strong and still had to get bailed out by Alexei "Cuban Missile" Ramirez's ninth-inning RBI single. Jesse Crain (former Twin) vultured the win with a solid 9th.

So, I gotta ask. Is this a style thing? (AJ can't throw anyone out, and the Twins know it) Is it a management thing, and does Ron Gardenhire just have Ozzie's number? Is it just one of baseball's innumerable numerical anomalies? Say that six times fast. And then hope that it is, and that the South Siders will dominate the next fifty matchups.

Anyway, it's frustrating because this Sox team is not that far out of a playoff spot (three or four games, depending on the day), but they can't win against one team they play nineteen times a year, and they aren't a whole lot better against the other three (Tigers, Royals, Indians).

If Konerko and Co. played the NL all year long, they'd be a playoff lock. Once again, they dominated their interleague schedule this year. I'm not going to look it up, but I believe the number stands at twenty straight AL-NL series won. Yeah, playing the Cubs twice a year helps with that, but still.

Unfortunately it seems as though the Sox just can't be a dominant force in their own division. This makes it extremely difficult to gain ground in a playoff push. At this point, I'd almost prefer for them to play against the beastly AL East - it seems like every Red Sox/Yankees/Rays series is at least more entertaining than the beatings regularly handed out by the Twins.

I don't have any answers for this problem. But something's gotta change, and I doubt it's going to involve the Pale Hose changing leagues. Hopefully the win today is the start of something better.

PS - Pauly and Carlos Quentin in the All-Star Game. Good times!

PPS - Sox catching prospect Tyler Flowers is coming up to the majors, since backup catcher Ramon Castro broke his hand today. Hope springs eternal.

Indiana Football Recruiting

Here is a quick update on Scout discussing Indiana's recruiting.

No, Gunner Kiel has not signed yet, but two of his teammates did. That could be helpful in beating out Alabama or Oklahoma for the highest ranked QB recruit. I personally think that Gunner wants to go to Indiana, but knows his talent level is too high to go there right now.

On the plus side if he comes, he can lead the team and potentially turn around the program. On the down side, he might not have any protection or people to throw the ball to which could hurt his draft stock compared to the other two power house programs. I still don't see him coming, but there's always hope.



Lastly. Indiana has started recruiting another Randle El. That's right, Antwaan's kid who plays WR.

Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn Admits to Using Steroids

Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn who was a star pitcher with some control porblems for the 1989 Cleveland Indaians admitted to using steriods today.




Here is some highlight clips of Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn

Joe Posnanski Calls Adum Dunn the Most Boring Player in Baseball

Intresting Article on the struggling White Sox player.

NBA Draft Quick Hits

According to almost every sports pundit I've read recently, this is one of the weakest drafts since 2000. Coming, as it does, during a year with great uncertainty as to the future of the NBA (if there are lockouts in both football and basketball, I'l leaving the damn country), the Class of 2011 is entering The League under a bit of a cloud.

Well, cheer up kids. At least you're not LeBron.

Here are a couple of my thoughts on this year's NBA draft class.

1) How on earth is Kyrie Irving the consensus #1 pick? Let's go to the film, shall we?

He's slower than Derrick Rose and has a tiny fraction of the athleticism. Also, he's smaller. And he can't pass like Chris Paul. I just don't see Irving being that good in the league.

2) Derrick Williams, on the other hand, is a future All-Star. Cleveland should really be taking him #1, and I won't be surprised if/when they do. I love his game. So powerful around the rim, a good rebounder, and terrific range. He's an absolute nightmare for most of the small forwards in the NBA.

3) One of the overseas guys will succeed, and the other two-three will fail miserably. It's just statistics. Try picking which one lasts. I sure can't.

4) The above does NOT include Enes Kanter, who I think will be a viable NBA player.

5) Sleepers. I like Butler's Shelvin Mack as a tough rotation guy, and Purdue's JaJuan Johnson as a big SF a la Kevin Durant (lite, but with better defense).

6) Again, Derrick Williams is a legit baller.

He's only a year older than Kyrie, and he is about five times more NBA-ready. I'm sensing another year of buyer's regret for the teams that pass him up (Greg Oden? Sam Bowie?). He's going to come in and be better than, say, Carlos Boozer... within a year or two.

If you want to read a far better draft preview, head on over to Bill Simmons' Grantland.com (the best thing to happen to online sports journalism that I can recall) and READ THIS.

PS- Grantland.com is named after Grantland Rice. If you don't know, now ya know.