Encouraging

From the BBC: Notts Co to revive youth scheme

Notts County have revealed plans to rejuvenate their Centre of Excellence and youth programme.

It closed in May 2006 as a cost-cutting measure but now chairman John Armstrong-Holmes wants to re-open it.

He told the club website: "In the past couple of years we have seen significant financial benefit. But over the next few years we will miss out."

A proposal to relaunch the centre at the start of next season will go before the board of directors on Friday.

Chief executive Geoff Davey explained: "The proposal is indicative of the progress we have made in getting our finances back into shape.

"It's very good news that the club is strong enough to make such an undertaking."

There is no way you can run a succesful club without a vibrant youth program. This is really the first time I'd heard good news about the Magpies finances in awhile.

Baby steps.

This Is Not A Defense Of Eric Brewer's Play

For all the bitching from Blues fans about the howlingly bad play from Brewer the last three weeks or so (here is a good example), you might have figured that his was the worst blueline performance.

You'd be wrong. By every measure Barret Jackman's play has been terrible.


Jackman:
GP G A Pts +/- PIM PP SHG GWG S SPct.
30-0-3-3-(-13)- -29 -0-- 0-- 0--- 32 -0.00

Brewer:
GP G A Pts +/- PIM PP SHG GWG S SPct.
25 -1- 6- 7 -(-5)- 27-- 0--0 ---0-- 36- 2.78

Yet, for some reason, Jackman mostly gets a pass from Blues fans. I don't get it. Brewer's upside is so much greater than our other defensemen (with the exception of Johnson), that it makes no sense to attempt to run him out of town. Brewer was terrific the last 30+ games of last season, and he didn't start badly this one either. True, he has been an outright liability out there for awhile, and I certainly hope he gets some confidence back and quickly.

But, to my mind, it is Jackman that has been the biggest disappointment. He isn't taking the penalties he used to, but he is downright passive out there. A passive Barret Jackman is a completely ineffective Barret Jackman. There is no way he looks like a top four defenseman.

It's time he heard about it from Blues fans as well.

Jimmy Talk

I don't know that there is much to say about the Edmonds trade since we won't know if it's turned out well until we see how the younger guys produce in CF and where the freed up $$ ultimately ends up.

Personally, given what there is in the free agent market, I hope they don't make a signing for signing's sake. I'd rather write off 2008 and use it for 2009. Or, in the miraculous case we are in contention come late July, look to make a deal for someone we would normally say we can't afford and use the money towards their existing contract or locking up an extension before they hit the free agent market.

UPDATE: lboros has a post up on Viva El Birdos about what to do with the money. His first option of starting pitching is obvious but the names mentioned (colon, jennings, freddy garcia, john lieber, matt clement, rodrigo lopez, mark prior, and kris benson) make me cringe. I still can't believe any pair of them for $10-15 million makes us contenders. His second choice is an OF bat, but despite the lengthy assessment, his heart clearly isn't in it. I still think I'd rather suck it up this year with a payroll under $100 million and hope, Hope, HOPE that next off-season we know exactly what we need (right now who the hell can say what we have and need with so many question marks) and ownership is willing to commit to $$ to get it. For once, I'd like to have the feeling in the off-season that the franchise was willing to do some real spending in a manner that is more than just bargain hunting, stop gap measures.

Season Of Transition

No, this is not a post about the Cards trading Edmonds (although that one should be coming soon enough.) I've not said too much about the St. Louis University Billikens in the early part of the season. There are two reasons I've been mostly quiet: 1) I've been real busy in my real world activities, and 2) I knew from the start that the Bills were going to be a mixed bag this season, so why hang on every missed shot?

Don't get me wrong, I still hope they will do well, but the transition to an entirely new scheme under Rick Majerus is going to take time. So far this season the Bills look like a team that is still trying to figure out what they are supposed to be doing. The best case scenario is that they work enough out in the non-conference part of their schedule to scare some folks in the A-10 during the new year.

Maybe there are some signs that that is exactly what is happening. The Billikens picked up a big win over Southern Illinois last night, and showed some grit doing it. A few victories like this will go a long way to erasing the memory of loses like the ones to Boston College (61-39) and Kent St. (81-40).

So, right now the Bills are sitting at 7-5 with two more non-conference games to go (Loyola-Chicago and IUPUI). Given how disjointed this season was bound to be any record over .500 before the first A-10 game tips will be counted as a bonus.

This is all a long way of saying I haven't written much on the Bills yet because, for me, the season hasn't really started yet.

I'll note that the Bills drew almost 11,000 in the snow for the SIU game. That is also encouraging for the future.

This I Didn't See Coming

I thought when the Blues finally made a move this season it would be shipping off one of the extra defensemen for some offensive help. Swapping out a 35 year old center in Doug Weight for a 30 year old center in Andy McDonald simply was not what I was expecting. We also sent minor leaguer Michal Birner and a low rent draft pick to Anaheim as well.

Weight was a good member of the Blues, and showed his loyalty to the organization by waiving his no trade clause. This deal looks to make the Blues better. Weight wasn't really clicking with any of the forwards we have nowadays, although he picked up some points of late. Weight certainly should be able to help a talented team like the Ducks, so it isn't as if the Blues fleeced anybody.

Still....this is a really good move for the Note. McDonald may not be the flashiest player out there, but he is a proven goal scorer as well as a set up man. If I remember correctly, he plays a strong two-way game as well, so he should fit right into the scheme the Blues have been playing under Andy Murray.

With T.J. Oshie in the pipeline, the Blues should be set at center for a little while.

This isn't a blockbuster, but it is yet another solid move.

UPDATE: Here is THN take, Blues win deal, but is more in store for Ducks?

There are a couple of questions you have to ask yourself when assessing the trade the Anaheim Ducks made Friday.

No. 1, are the Ducks a better team with Scott Niedermayer and Doug Weight than they were without Niedermayer and with Andy McDonald in the lineup?

No. 2, is this part of a bigger series of moves for the Ducks?

What we do know is that in order to get the tagging money they needed to get Niedermayer back into the lineup, they had to acquire a contract that was due to expire after the season. As it turns out, Weight's deal is up after this season, which gives the Ducks an additional $3.5 million in tagging room, far more than the $900,000 they needed to activate Niedermayer.

McDonald, by comparison, is in the second of a three-year deal that pays him $3.33 million per season.

It's hard to believe that the Ducks got anything close to the better of this deal. Even though McDonald has had a sub-par season, he's six years younger than Weight and is coming off seasons of 85 and 78 points. Weight, on the other hand, has slowed down considerably over the past few seasons and it would seem a stretch to expect him to effectively step into the second-line center role vacated by McDonald, behind No. 1 center Ryan Getzlaf.

...

I can't help but think that's what behind all of this. Brian Burke is one of the top GMs in the league and he's not in the habit of getting fleeced in trades, even when he's not dealing from a position of strength.

That seems about right. The Blues needed the player and the Ducks needed some flexibility and someone who can be a second line center for the rest of the season and the playoffs.

Topical BCTP

Today's NYT's Headline: Selig Says Report ‘Is a Call to Action’ and Vows to Act Swiftly


TRANSLATION:My head will be in the sand with such speed, I'll become a god in the ostrich community.











It's been refreshing to read and listen to a large percentage of Mitchell Report punditry that feels little can be done and it is only the beginning of any potential change. There are few things more annoying than commentators who should know better, taking to the microphones to pontificate on the latest event, be it a player's death, arrest, drug OD, or whatever and proclaim it a turning point that will alter human behavior for all eternity. While I wish it were otherwise and I hope that the Players Union gets the kick in the balls it deserves over this one, I'm not holding my breath that the Mitchell Report does anything more than provide the slimmest of openings for meaningful change.

Let's face it, the track and field and cycling federations haven't been able to get a handle on doping after years of taking it seriously (and using incessant mandatory testing). Their marquis events, the Olympics and the Tour de France, have been rocked time and again with drug charges and it hasn't brought them down.

So I can't believe that a suddenly 'serious' MLB facing a powerful players union and enjoying rising attendance and revenues is going to accomplish shit. Baseball also appears to have a different drug dynamic. One, the percentage of participants using appears much lower. Secondly, while there are some big names, there are a high percentage of journeyman ballplayers using, while at the Olympic and Tour de France level, it is the biggest of big names being busted. Name a top cyclist or world class track star who hasn't been caught or faced serious allegations. The Mitchell Report doesn't come close to that.

The sad fact is that no one is going to give a damn unless, in a very short timespan, a couple of dozen white, upper middle class American 13-15 year olds drop dead from steroid abuse. And at least a couple of them had better be beautiful blond girls so cable news will cover it wall-to-wall for several days in between Britney Spears court appearances.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for this report. I'm just realistic enough to recognize that the same pigs that are at the trough are the ones in charge of changing things. The only way change occurs is if we fans turn our backs on MLB so I hearby declare I will never watch another MLB game.....at the fucking dome in Tampa... until the drug problem is seriously addressed. I think I'm typical. MLB and Don Fehr's behavior in perpetuating this mess enrages me, but not so much that I won't continue to follow the game. That's not exactly hope inspiring.

We've got about 10,000 years of fairly well-documented human history out there and the record for successful reform in situations with the current dynamic is about 0-1,986,567. Ascendant empires don't engage in introspection, let alone serious reform, and baseball in 2007 is nothing if not an ascendant empire.

Mitchell Report Thoughts

Alright. I read the whole summary and the section where the players implicated by Kirk Radomski are enumerated. Here is my take:

I think Sen. Mitchell should be commended for doing such an even handed job in the report. It seems clear he collected a preponderance of evidence before releasing any names, and gave all of the accused a chance to tell their side of the story...if they had one.

It also becomes clear that the players from the start have been stonewalling, and not just in the sense of trying to keep illegal activities from coming to light. The players or, maybe more accurately, the Players Association have attempted to obfuscate and wrongdoing to the point that they no longer care of the integrity of the game is at stake.

For example:

1. Of the 500 former players the Mitchell investigation attempted to interview, only 68 agreed to do so. That is 13.6%.


2. The Players Association refused to supply any documentation on any matter whatsoever.


3. They refused to make chief operating officer Gene Orza available to be interviewed. (Something to hide one has to presume.)


4. They refused full access to the director of the current drug testing program.


5. They sent memos "discouraging" players from cooperating with the investigation.


6. They refused to respond to any of the specific allegations.

The report goes over all of the information on various drug related matters that have come out over the years, but there were still many things I had never heard before. For example, despite what I have heard and read numerous times, it turns out that MLB had banned all prescription drugs obtained without a valid prescription in 1971. So, while steroids were only banned by name in 1991, their use under the prior policy would have been against the rules of baseball as well.

The report seems to indicate that Gene Orza has been working to undermine the existing testing program by deliberating dragging out the mandated notification process for testing so that players could have the drugs cleared from their system by the time, several months later, when tests were actually adminstered. Mitchell is right that the oversight for the testing program should be removed from the control of the players and the owners and entrusted to an independent body. The incentives are too great for the players to "game" the system.

Of the players whose drug involvement was already open news in the press (Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Jeremey Giambi, Armando Rios, Gary Sheffield, Benito Santiago, Marvin Bernard, Randy Velarde and Bobby Estalella) the only thing new I learned was that Estalella was taking the female fertility drug Clomid.

I don't think I wanted to know that.

Of the new(ish) names that have come to light because of the Radomski information, a lot of them are/were marginal major leaguers. You can understand the pressure they must have felt to try to hold onto or gain a spot on the 40 man roster. It's hard to get too pissed off about those guys. The big names?? Well, its hard not to want to spit at them.

The list: (Click here for Baseball-References links to all the players mentioned in the report.)

1. Lenny Dykstra - Long rumored, now looking like a slam dunk.


2. David Segui


3. Larry Bigbie - Bigbie did say that members of the Cards clubhouse could hook him up with more drugs if he wanted them. That's real encouraging.


4. Brian Roberts - This hurts. I always admired Roberts' game.


5. Jack Cust - So much for that "breakout" season?


6. Tim Laker


7. Josias Manzanillo


8. Todd Hundley


9. Mark Carreon


10. Hal Morris


11. Matt Franco


12. Rondell White - No wonder he breaks down whenever anyone looks at him.


13. Roger Clemons - The biggest name and the proof that the steroids investigations are not just the "man" trying to keep Barry Bonds down.


14. Andy Pettite - The biggest surprise to me.


15. Chuck Knoblauch - You would have thought he would have focused more on the whole "throwing from second base to first base" problem first.


16. Jason Grimsley


17. Gregg Zaun


18. David Justice - Didn't his career seem to just pop like an over-inflated balloon?


19. F.P. Santangello


20. Glenallen Hill


21. Mo Vaughn - Didn't his career seem to just pop like an over-inflated balloon?


22. Denny Neagle - Really?


23. Ron Villone


24. Ryan Franklin - Oops.


25. Chris Donnels


26. Todd Williams


27. Phil Hiatt


28. Todd Pratt


29. Kevin Young


30. Mike Lansing


31. Cody McKay - Oops again.


32. Kent Mercker


33. Adam Piatt


34. Miguel Tejada - Enjoy Houston. Enjoy.


35. Jason Christiansen


36. Mike Stanton


37. Stephan Randolph


38. Jerry Hairston, Jr.


39. Paul Lo Duca - Too bad. Such an enjoyable player to watch.


40. Adam Riggs


41. Bart Miadich - Never heard of him.


42. Fernando Vina - Will ESPN return his calls? Or will he wind up with Harold Reynolds in Baseball Tonight purgatory?


43. Kevin Brown - He should ask for a refund.


44. Eric Gagne - A theme is delevoping.


45. Mike Bell


46. Matt Herges


47. Gary Bennett, Jr. - One more and we've hit the Cardinals backup catcher trifecta.


48. Jim Parque


49. Brendan Donnelly


50. Chad Allen


51. Jeff Williams


52. Howie Clark


53. Exavier "Nook" Logan - Always liked Nook. Damn.

The other thing I take from this report is the obvious pressure that the Player's Association has been putting on current and former players alike to keep their mouths shut. This makes the performace of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa before Congress more understandable. Not anymore right, but more understandable. I wonder if the media that has spent so much time crucifying McGwire and Sosa will visit the same venom on all the big names in the list above? Clemons and Pettite will face a shit-storm just because they are Yankees, but there are others.

I also wonder if all the pious sportwriters who claimed they could never vote for Rafael Palmeiro for the Hall of Fame will hold the Rocket to the same standard. We will see.

This is a awful day for baseball; an awful and absolutely necessary day.

Sucks Being Gary Bennett

Goddammit, George! Is this necessary? I have a .327 slugging percentage.

Twelve years, seven teams, 21 homers, and a career of obscurity is ended with a mention in the Mitchell Report. Time to do a bit of cipherin'. If his HR to AB ratio is the lowest of the position players named, he'll become immortal as the answer to a bar trivia question.

Cardinals Prospects For 2008 = Bleak

Got this assessment on the Cardinals position from the PD:

In the wake of the organization's four-week search before naming Mozeliak as successor to Walt Jocketty, and Mozeliak's four-week search for an assistant general manager, the Cardinals appear to be playing catch-up.

Any hopes of acquiring a front-line pitcher through trade have been replaced by scouring the free-agent market for a short-term acquisition such as Kris Benson, Bartolo Colon or Josh Fogg. The situation has yet to become bleak enough for La Russa or Mozeliak to suggest Anthony Reyes' possible return as a No. 5 starter, perhaps because Reyes is being shopped widely to teams such as the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies.

Club sources indicated by week's end that Rasmus could lose his "untouchable" label in a potential deal for Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Erik Bedard. Such a deal would have to include at least another prominent Cardinals prospect such as Bryan Anderson or Chris Perez. Of course, the Cardinals envision Perez as a potential heir to closer Jason Isringhausen next season. Rasmus is being groomed to take over for center fielder Jim Edmonds. Isringhausen and Edmonds are owed a combined $16 million in 2008.

Unable to decide whether Rolen is coming or going, the Cardinals are unable to deal either of their power-hitting, lefthanded-hitting outfielders, Chris Duncan or Rick Ankiel. Open to dealing Edmonds to a West Coast team, the Cardinals found his value is diminished by three consecutive injury-scarred seasons. Many within the organization admit Edmonds and Rolen offer more value to their current team than logical trading partners.

So far the Cardinals have signed free-agent catcher Jason LaRue and shortstop Cesar Izturis and drafted Cleveland Indians outfield prospect Brian Barton. They continue to offer assurances about lefthanded starter Mark Mulder's recovery from rotator cuff repair in September. His return to health, according to Mozeliak and La Russa, would answer many of the questions raised by a 78-84 season that never achieved consistency within the starting rotation.

A team that signed Chris Carpenter for the major-league minimum at the 2002 meetings and that once used 11 victories from a former tow truck operator named Jason Simontacchi to save itself five years ago again seeks to "catch lightning in bottle."

That is the long way of saying, "We're screwed."

The key will be if the organization will notice that we are screwed and look more to 2009 and beyond. If they try to salvage 2008 that could just be courting disaster, and dooming us all to a long run of futility. We don't have the prospects in our system to generate trade offers with value. The free agent market is uninspiring at best. The starting rotation and the everyday lineup are best described as representing "a wing and a prayer." And, as of right now, the Brewers, Cubs and Reds are simply better than we are. There is nothing the Cardinals could do between today and the start of Spring Training that can alter all of that. So they shouldn't try.

The impulse is for the Cards to do something...anything. But that impulse is dead wrong in this case. It doesn't even make sense to trade Rolen or Edmonds. Maybe, if they can be productive during the season they could rehabilitate some of their value by the time the trade deadline comes up, and that would represent the best-case scenario for the Cards (and for my mental health.)

As much as it pains me to say it, I think it would be a mistake to trade Rasmus in a package for Bedard. I like Bedard a lot, but he cannot save the Cards 2008 season. (He can make it suck less, but that is not the same thing.) Rasmus could be an important piece for years to come, or he may not. But that is a risk the Cards have to take, especially if they are really going to commit to the player development model.

So, were I advising Mozeliak I'd say, "Try to sign Colon for a year, and sit tight. Don't be pressured into making a dumb move just because you are new to the job. We probably won't be very good this year, and that is okay."

Half of me thinks that is exactly what Mozeliak will do, and the other half of me is waiting for something incredibly stupid that will doom the Cards to a decade of mediocrity.

Glad to Have Barton....but...

more so if his arrival were not heralded by so many potential BCTP posts I hardly know where to start:

not-insignificant power...poor-man’s Ray Lankford...useful player...gives the Cardinals different “looks”...isn’t afraid to get plunked...Busch Stadium will make this man a cult hero.

It's late so we'll start from the end and work our way back....

God Makes A Reappearance

Just when I thought Cardinals fans would forever be forsaken....

The Cardinals have decided to release So Taguchi, ending the outfielder's six-year tenure as a member of the St. Louis organization.

Taguchi was let go in order to clear space on the 40-man roster, which had been at full capacity. By opening up a spot, the Cardinals are now able to make a selection in the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning at baseball's annual Winter Meetings.

And with that pick in the Rule 5 draft we selected Brian Barton. Here is Get Up, Baby's take on Barton:

As a late-blooming, fast outfielder with not-insignificant power and a good on-base percentage, Barton reminds me the most of Matt Lawton, with the optimistic projection being some kind of right-handed poor-man’s Ray Lankford. Ah, the Ray Lankford stamp of approval–that lets you know that I am optimistic about Brian Barton. The main concern, besides his gimp knee, is that that on-base percentage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be–take a look at those hit by pitch totals! But even if you cut them in half he gets on base plenty.

Barton’s not a star in the making, but he’s got the potential to be an extremely useful player, even a starter, and with the current makeup of this team he gives the Cardinals different “looks”, as sportswriters are so fond of saying. As a fast outfielder who isn’t afraid to get plunked, one thing is certain: Busch Stadium will make this man a cult hero.

A hero of any sort would be nice, but Barton is already a hero to me since his arrival meant the departure of Taguchi.

Rolen Mania

Most of the things I read about the Rolen trade situation focus on the Cards perspective (how much salary to eat, what we need in return, etc). To the extent the other GM's viewpoint is taken into account, it's whether Rolen is healthy and will return to earlier offensive form.

I haven't seen much, if anything, on the other simple and obvious complicating factor that he may be a headcase. It's kinda, sorta said in a roundabout way. I guess since he doesn't mouth off in front of the camera, the enigma factor remains. But any GM has to take it into account if they are thinking about acquiring Rolen - the guy is 0-2 in getting along with managers. Maybe it's no big deal because he never loafs, but do you really want to gamble with a guy coming off injuries and sub-par seasons who doesn't appear to have been happy on a club where in 5.3 seasons he won four division titles, four NLDS, two pennants and a World Series ring?

I don't know what he does or does not get in the way of respect from La Russa in the clubhouse and really don't give a shit, but it sure as hell seems like there is no respect from him towards the guy who has skippered the team to a fuckwad of success (it's a technical term, you can look it up elsewhere) since 2000. Tony may micro-manage and I piss and moan about him sometimes too, but at some point you have to accept that when we look back on the La Russa era-Cards, it is pretty much as a good run of Cardinal baseball as our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers ever got to witness. Put another way. It sucks to be a Tampa Bay fan.

Say What?!?!?

This may be the only thing that surprises me more than 9 wins and a BCS bid. I never thought I would see this day come for Illini football recruiting:

There's one small problem with Illinois' remarkable Rose Bowl-tinted success.

There might not be enough scholarships to accommodate all of the recruits who want to become Illini....

...With 22 oral commitments on their current list -- and room for perhaps 10 more -- the Illini are in the unprecedented position of having to express their condolences to recruits who are recruiting Illinois.

"They're turning down guys right now that, a year ago, they would have been jumping up and down to get," said Jeff Johnson, Rivals.com's Illinois recruiting expert.

I need a Kleenex. And not to wipe away the tears of joy....

Isn't It About Time For Rolen To Man Up?

Or is he just gonna continue to be the world's biggest pussy?

Let's face it, it is an open question if he will ever get over his shoulder problems. His bat looked slow all last season, and he was even a little erratic in the field trying to compensate for something. As is he seems to be an average number seven hitter, someone who can get a hold of the occasional mistake made by a pitcher, and not in any way, shape or form "protection" for Pujols.

Given that, what more can Rolen expect from this organization? They have got a shit load of money invested in this player who will never, dollar for dollar, deliver the production one would expect. So La Russa sits him after he looks like utter crap at the plate, so what? Lots of players who look like utter crap at the plate find themselves left off of the lineup card. Scott Rolen gets all the respect he should need every time he cashes a paycheck.

So, shut up and play ball...if you still can.

It's Sad....

...When the only thing Cards fans seem to have to look forward to this winter is the resigning of So Taguchi.

Great.

Don't Worry About That Trigger

Five Minutes Ago on the P-D website:

Cabrera and Willis to Detroit for a six player package.

What Am I Missing Here?

Got this from the PD today discussing a potential trade of Scott Rolen to Florida:

The Cardinals may wait until the Florida Marlins resolve the status of third baseman Miguel Cabrera before acting.

...

Cabrera would fit the Cardinals’ need for Rolen’s replacement. However, all discussions have begun and ended with center field prospect Colby Rasmus, whom the Cardinals so far have deemed untouchable.

This makes it sound like Florida might accept a Rolen/Rasmus for Cabrera deal. It that is true.....

JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER ALREADY!!!!!WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!ARE YOU MORONS!!!!!!!!!!!

And I'd add:

AUGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It especially hurts when the only other deal mentioned is one for the Brewer's Chris Capuano. Don't we already have 6 or 7 Capuano's in our organization. Do we really need yet another lefty with 15+ loss potential?

It's Bitter, Not Bittersweet

I know the BCS is always complete and utter shit, but it still rankles that Illinois and Kansas get BCS berths while Mizzou is stuck in a total crapola non-BCS Cotton Bowl with unranked(!) Arkansas. It is small consolation that the game is a New Years Day game that will feature the two best players in college football this year. It is a ridiculously boring matchup and Missouri deserved better.

It especially sucks that Kansas gets rewarded for their special-Olympics style schedule (although one could say the same about Ohio State as well.) It says something when the number one team in the nation can lose its conference title game to the team that ends the season at #4 in the BCS, and the former #1 drops entirely out of the BCS series matchups.

It says the entire system is a joke and Ohio State and LSU aren't really playing for dick.

UPDATE:

This is from Burwell at the PD:

Of course it doesn’t make sense. You know it, I know it, even the doofuses who continue to perpetrate this idiotic Bowl Championship Series system have to know just how fatally flawed and hopelessly messed up their multi-million dollar scam is.

So Sunday night was just one more bit of annoying confirmation of how defective the BCS is.

From the broad national perspective, to the narrower parochial one, I truly hate it with all my heart. But since sports is very much like politics -- everything is local -- let’s deal with how Mizzou got robbed Sunday night by the BCS and its convoluted computers.

Missouri finished its finest season in the history of the program with an 11-2 record, won the Big 12 North, knocked off both arch rivals in Kansas and Illinois, and the Tigers finished with a No. 6 ranking in the final BCS standings.

Logic says the Tigers had to get a BCS bowl bid, right?

So why are they sitting on the outside of the BCS with an invitation to the still prestigious (but non BCS) Cotton Bowl, while five other schools that ranked lower in the BCS standings -- including the 8th-ranked Jayhawks and 13th-ranked Illini -- received bids to the more preferred BCS bowls?

...

By the time the Fox network BCS bowl selection show began at 7 p.m., Rucker and his teammates had already left the building. They couldn’t bear to watch it. They had been instructed to take the high road and go with the company line that they’re “excited” to be Cotton Bowl bound.

But Rucker, the senior who has seen Missouri football grow from inconsequential to important, couldn’t play the game. In the course of 48 turbulent hours, he’d watched his team go from No. 1 in the country with a legitimate shot at a national championship bid, to disappointed and disgusted outsiders with their noses pressed to the glass watching the BCS dance cards being handed out.

Someone asked if this obvious slight was further proof of how badly college football’s top division needs a playoff system to decide its national champions and perhaps prevent a situation like this where Mizzou was unjustly left on the outside looking in.

“I don’t know if you need a playoff system to see that it doesn’t make sense that one team (Illinois) lost three games and lost to you, and you only lost two games, and they’re going to a BCS game and you’re not,” said Rucker with a resigned shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t think we need a playoff system to understand that, do we?”

You could see the disappointment in their faces as the players got the official word and most of them quietly left the alumni center without saying a word. “I have a bunch of players who have a bunch of frowns,” said Pinkel.

Of course they have frowns. They were screwed over and left to play in a game they can gain absolutely nothing by winning. And trust me...the Tigers will not show up ready to play, and why should they? What are you going to tell them? That they are gonna be rewarded for their effort? They already know that is bullshit.