Should he stay or should he go?

It’s a Clash Monday here on the ol’ blog where we’ll ask the age old question – should he stay or should he go – of Memphis coach John Calipari and whether or not he should entertain an offer from the University of Kentucky to be its new head basketball coach.

Now, there’s some doubt that the Wildcats will run the risk of hiring Calipari, who has a bit of history of running afoul of the NCAA, to repair the damage of the short-lived Billy Gillispie era.

But if they come calling, Calipari will come running.

Here’s why.

1. The big fish/little fish syndrome – Here’s a man who’s won big as a college basketball coach, piling up a 446-140 record in 17 college seasons.

But where has it happened? He was 193-71 at UMass, where he was also 91 up and 41 down in the Atlantic 10. He then left for an ill-fated three NBA seasons in New Jersey before landing at Memphis, where he’s gone 253-69 overall and an eye-popping 117-25 in Conference USA games.

If you’re the best coach of the best team in a crappy conference, does it matter to anyone?

How often have we heard Calipari play the “no respect” card. We heard it this year when his Tigers were passed over for a No. 1 seed after yet another romp through an over matched league slate.

This is his chance to start…

2. Making a legacy- Don’t fall into the trap of recency. Kentucky is a college basketball dream job.

You get to coach in a good, but not great basketball league in the SEC. You have the full support of the university and legions of wealthy boosters to keep you and your staff well funded. You have top notch facilities and a sea-to-shining-sea clout that makes recruiting for a man of Calipari’s skills and connections a snap.

It’s the kind of place, much like Alabama in football, that the right guy can win big and win quick.

Kentucky basketball isn’t dead. It’s just sleeping.

And Calipari could be the alarm clock.

3. The world is out to get me- There will never be a better chance for Calipari to shed his big coach, small school label and come out the shadow of guys like Rick Pitino and Coach K than this one.

What could be easier? All he has to do is return Wildact basketball to its former glory and become college basketball royalty.

Then, he’ll get to slide around on hardwood floors in a button-up shirt and boxers in Guitar Hero commercials with the big boys.

If he gets the call – and avoids any UConn-esque scandals – I think he’s the man for the job.

Ahead of my time

Every once in a while, I like to toot my own horn.

Ready?

Ahem…

Ah, nevermind.

But I was nine months ahead of the discussion of Curt Schilling’s Hall of Fame worthiness.

I wrote this back in June of 2008, and I don’t think my mind’s changed any.

Caught up in a fantasy

It’s a sickness.

It must be.

No right-minded person would willingly sign up for more than six months of daily headaches, the stress of dealing with obilque injuries and the travel issues regarding red-eyes from Louisville to Cincinnati.

I’m talking fantasy baseball, of course, and foolishly, I’ve signed up for two leagues.

Sigh.

My word, what have I done.

Anyway, there are hundreds of places you can go that will tell you that Hanley Ramirez and Cole Hamels (elbow issues notwithstanding) are studs.

But here are a couple of guys flying below the radar that you may want to consider:

5. Wilson Betemit, Chicago White Sox- He’s not exactly guaranteed a starting gig, but he’s eligible at first, third and short in my leagues. He’s raking this spring (.326, 5 HR, 15 RBI) and if he carries that over, the White Sox will find at-bats for him.

4. Michael Bourn, Houston Astros- I hate to list him here, since he’s batting under the Mendoza Line this spring. But he’s faster than an AIG executive leaving a congressional hearing. You can’t steal first, but Houston is going to give him a look in center and near the top of their lineup. He may be worth a gamble.

3. Dave Bush, Milwaukee Brewers – He’s never going to lead your staff in strikeouts, but he’s looking good this spring (2-0, 2.70 ERA in 20 innings) and he’s a solid back-of-the-rotation guy.

2. Paul Malohm, Pittsburgh Pirates – I know he’s a Pirate, but he’s on fire this spring, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.46 ERA in 19.2 innings. I wouldn’t bank on a high-win total, but it could be a breakout year for him.

1. Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies- How far has this slugger fallen? He went undrafted in both of my leagues, probably because of his subpar 2008. But, after back surgery, he’s killing the ball this spring (.348, 4 HR, 9 RBI). If he’s healthy, he could be a steal.

Tournament fun

The Madness is here.

I could go line-by-line and tell you who I’m picking to win each and every game, but honestly, am I going to change anyone’s mind about how to fill their pool bracket?

For fun, of course. Not at all for money.

‘Cause that’s not legal.

But that’s not important.

What we’re doing today is picking a few first-round upsets, the ones that get Gus Johnson screaming at the top of his lungs and end up making CBS so much money.

And here are your candidates…

No. 12 Arizona over No. 5 Utah – I don’t know if this would even be an upset, as the folks in Vegas have installed the lower-seeded Wildcats as a 3.5-point favorite. But as far as the seeds go, it qualifies.

Utah owns a win over Gonzaga back on New Year’s Eve and is riding the momentum of winning the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Runnin’ Utes also have four players averaging double digits, led by 7-2 Aussie center Luke Nevill.

Here’s the problem. They’re only seven deep, which might make Arizona’s pace a bit too much for them. I think if this game leaves the 60s, Utah probably won’t survive.

No. 11 Utah State over No. 6 Marquette - This season had so much promise for the Golden Eagles. But that was before the season-ending injury to all-everything point guard Dominic James. Since then, they’ve lost five of six – granted, all against ranked teams.

Utah State isn’t ranked, but they probably could be with a sterling 30-4 record. Now, the schedule isn’t overwhelming, but the Aggies do have the firepower (Gary Wilkinson 17.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG) and the bodies (nine guys average around double-digit minutes) to push past the Eagles.

No. 10 Maryland over No. 7 California -Is there a more unpredictable team than Coach Gary Williams’ Terps?

Part of the reason why they are hard to pin down – in both good and bad ways – is their point guard, Greivis Vasquez. He leads the team in points, rebounds and assists, dazzling passes, “how’d he do that” moments and eight other stat categories.

It’s the senior guard theory. Anytime a tournament matchup features two evenly-matched teams, always pick the one with the best guard, giving a slight edge to seniors.

Cal’s got talent and a knack for hitting three-pointers. But I have a feeling that those good looks that might have been there in the Pac 10 won’t be there against a hungry, if unstable, Maryland squad.

No. 12 Western Kentucky over No. 5 Illinois -I don’t want to be accused of hating on the Big 10 – otherwise known as the most offensively challenged conference in the land – but I find it hard to believe that the Illini can win this game without their starting point guard, Chester Frazier.

His 5.7 points a game don’t concern me. It’s the 5.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals that will harm Illinois’ chances of topping the, well, Hilltoppers.

Western Kentucky has two dynamic players in Orlando Mendez-Valdez and A.J. Slaughter, and I’m guessing they cash in on the Illini’s misfourtune.

A pair of nines beats a pair of eights -They’re not really upsets, but I also like Tennessee over Oklahoma State and Butler over LSU in a couple of the 8-9 games.

No real logic here, just hunches.

Enjoy the tournament everyone. Just try to be discreet at work…

Fixing the World Baseball Classic

Let me begin by saying that I prefer the World Baseball Classic over spring training games any day of the week.

That said, this is a competition in need of some tweaking.

Now I realize that the WBC is not designed for my enjoyment. Or yours.

It’s designed to get kids in China, Italy and Holland to pick up a baseball glove. And it’s probably doing a good job in that regard.

But if you want it to pull in good TV ratings and hold the interest of your core audience (read: Americans), here’s what needs to happen:

1. Move it to November - I don’t want my World Series games lingering past October, but I’d have no issue with the WBC running in November. Having it in March causes conflict with spring training camps, which gives players too much to think about. It would also help us…

2. Eliminate pitch limits – In November, it wouldn’t be necessary to have these ridiculous pitch limits. And ditch the extra-inning rule that puts two runners on in the 13th. What is this? Little League?

3. Make it mandatory – I know that this will never happen, but MLB.com’s Seth Everett had a great idea. Put a personal services clause in every contract that makes participation mandatory. If it’s in November and the games are being played either someplace warm or under a dome, I want the best players there. It’s hard for me to take this event seriously when Joel Hanrahan is taking the ball for Team USA.

Steve Czaban weighs in

I love Steve Czaban.

He fills up most of my daily commute with the best sports talk show on the planet every workday.

And today, he has a plan to save my industry:

It’s interesting. My first reaction, being a newspaper person whose primary job function is to blog and slap stuff on the Internet, was to say, “aw, that’s crazy.”

But the electric toothbrush analogy really got me thinking. I don’t think we’re on the way out in terms of producing a print product.

What are you going to do, read the paper online in the bathroom? It loses a bit of luster if you print out a Web page of little Johnny’s spelling bee victory. Wouldn’t you rather have it in newsprint? You know, good ol’ black and white?

The issue of how to use the Internet (read: make money online) is raging in the newspaper industry. The ideas are all over the map. Some people charge for their sites. Some people offer teases. Some people, like us, post everything, all day, all the time.

None of it is making up for the loss of advertising revenue or offsetting the skyrocketing cost of paper.

So I wonder if, in the future, we’ll be a paper-only product. It’s hard to imagine.

But then again, so is a world without newspapers.

I guess both worlds are possible…

Enough of the fake caring

A reporter asked UNC coach Roy Williams if he’d take a pay cut in light of our nation’s struggling economy recently.

He answered the question as best he could, trying to be sensitive to people who are being hit hard by the current dismal economic climate.

This was after Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun ripped a “reporter” for asking him about his salary.

And, of course, Greg Norman, noted financial expert pro golfer, is suggesting that PGA players need to take a pay cut.

Why do people suggest this?

If Williams took a pay cut from his absurdly low $333,000 base salary, where exactly would that money go? Would it come to my house to help pay our heating bill? Would it come to my newspaper to keep them from having to continue making budget cuts?

No, it wouldn’t. It would go back into the UNC general budget, where it would be spent on something else that’s just as unstimulating to the region’s economy.

If Jim Calhoun took a pay cut in Connecticut, a state that has a $2 billion deficit, what exactly would it solve? If he worked for free, the deficit would still be $1.984 billion. What’s the point?

And Greg Norman, a wealthy, highly successful man married to a wealthy, highly successful woman needs to get over his own guilt. Sit on your yacht, drink some wine and shut the heck up.

I’m tired of the attack-the-rich mentality in this country. I’m tired of the notion that successful people who’ve worked hard – Williams, Calhoun and countless others – should feel bad about having money.

Just for the sake of clarity, I’m not rich. I’m 32 years old and have never made more than $40,000 a year. But I’m trying hard to become wealthy. And if I ever succeed, I’m not going to apologize for it.

The nation’s economic crisis isn’t going to be solved by attacking success. It starts with responsible spending from our local, state and federal governments and ends with responsible choices by everyone.