Well it’s still February, a month that amazingly continues its tradition of feeling like the longest month of the year while remaining the shortest.  Let’s get to the stories of the week.

Tiger Woods y’all. As this post goes up Tiger will be giving his statement to the media from Florida regarding his future and certainly the past few months. I love how the media is so offended and outraged that Woods is controlling the situation. No questions?!! Well, I never! Settle down journos, I think you got your fill of TMZ-ish dirt on Tiger from his harem. Tiger owes you nothing-whether you’re a journalist, a sponsor, or fan-and if he wants to give a statement regarding his future that’s his call and you have no place to dictate or bitch about how it goes down. Now, make it up to me by yelling “you the man Tiger!” when he walks in the room. Thanks.

Olympics opening week.  Personally I have loved the first week of the Olympics more than I predicted. There have been some very compelling and exciting events like Apollo Ohno skating to a medal in short track. Short track speed skating is phenomenal. A small group of skaters fly around this tiny track and pass each other a bunch of times in the last few laps. It’s like a watchable version of NASCAR; there are even crashes! Anyway, America’s biggest stars all found their way to the medal stand this week with Shani Davis (from Chicago!), Shaun White, and Lindsey Vonn taking goldwhile Bode Miller and Apollo Ohno have also medaled.  The US even took gold in men’s figure skating last night as another Chicagoan, Evan Lysacek, became the first American man to win the event since 1988. U-S-A, U-S-A!

NBC fail, but not really.  There has been fury from fans regarding NBC’s Olympic coverage and for good reason. Dick Ebersol and the rest of the folks at the peacock have created an event that is tough to stomach for sports fans. Despite the games being conveniently located in Canada, Americans have been forced to watch many events on tape delay. There have also been a ton of commercials. I like to complain how the NFL broadcasts have the annoying policy of going to commercial after a score, then back for the kickoff, then back to commercial before the ensuing drive. NBC has taken this to another level of torturous viewing hell. During tape delayed skiing runs, they went to break after almost every three minute run, we missed large parts of hockey games while they covered post-game for curling, and there have been times where the advertising has seeped into coverage infomercial style. Despite all of this, ratings have been huge, once again showing that the bottom line is more important than pleasing your audience.

Trades!  The trade deadline in the least competitive league in professional sports passed yesterday. Of the four (two?) teams that could plausibly win the championship this year, the Cavs were the only one to make a big deal, acquiring Antwan Jamison from the Wizards for pretty much nothing. The Bulls made some moves to clear cap space next year, which seemed to be the goal of a lot of teams at the deadline. That is sad. Can the Lakers and Cavs just go ahead and play the finals now? If the NBA promises everyone a few million in cap space, everyone might agree to it.

Pitchers and catchers report. Almost every team in Major League Baseball has kicked off spring training! About a month and a half out from Opening Day, pitchers and catchers reporting is the first sign of hope that winter is coming to an end. It’s time to get your fantasy preview publication of choice and crafting your squad.

• Steve Stone talks about his Playgirl spread in the 1980s.  Yeah, Playgirl. [WBEZ]
• Predictions about Jay Cutler’s upcoming seasons from a bunch of Chicago bloggers (including me).  Check it out. [Jay Cutler Superstar]
• Looks like I’m not the only one who lost faith in Chicago baseball this week.  A depressed White Sox fan talks about no longer believing in his boys. I feel your pain. [MidwestSportsFan]
• So now the government admits that the 2003 list should not have been seized in the first place (finally), but what about the names that were illegally leaked?  I love how the court just comes down and changes their mind about this shit from idiocy to the obvious conclusion, and then they don’t have to clean up their mess.  I’m sure Sammy Sosa loves that about the courts too. [Bootlegger]
• The headline of this piece is “Milton Bradley accuses some fans of racial taunts” but it really should be “Milton Bradley accuses fans of racism again but this time we’ve completely tuned him out”. [Tribune]
• Marvin Harrison to the Bears?  I’m still sour on the idea.  How would that be different than the Muhammed situation a few years ago?  And wouldn’t it stunt the growth of the other young receivers? [Blog Down]
• You guys thought I was pissed about the Cubs?  Some Cubs fan in Jersey is so upset he started robbing ice cream and donut stores.  [WV23]
• NFL fans are kind of sick of the preseason, and Eagles fans are no exception.  I don’t mind watching Cutler get acclimated, but otherwise its just an opportunity for people to get hurt. [Inside the Iggles]
• Top 10 lottery busts of the past decade in the NBA. [BDL]
• There is a new documentary out called “Gunnin’ for that #1 spot” about 8 elite high schoolers on their journey to play in a huge tournament in Rucker Park.  The movie includes Kevin Love, Brandon Jennings, Michael Beasley and others.  This is a review of it with a link to the full feature at the bottom. [Docksquad]
• I think it might be right about that time of year for me to start reading Kissing Suzy Kolber again.  Drew from KSK does a “Why Your Team Sucks” on the Bears over at Deadspin, and it is hilarious. [Deadspin]

• The Nationals are having a rough season to say the least.  Even the tarp seems to have the upper hand on them.  [Zoner]
• Here’s the video of the scary moment in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals when Adam Burish got sliced in the neck with Ben Eager’s skate.  [Luol's Dong]
• The Wings and the Hawks could be primed for a special series and the future looks good for many great match-ups between the rivals.  Here are the top ten rivalries in Chicago Sports.  [TTCS]
• Kornheiser is out and Jon Gruden is in the booth for Monday Night Football next season.  Hard to say how long that’ll last as it seems unlikely his career in coaching is over.  Oh, and things could be a little awkward with fellow ESPN employee Chris Mortensen [Awful Announcing]
• The Brewers took a hit yesterday as they learned Rickie Weeks will be out for the remainder of the season.  Weeks was pretty good to start the season.  [Sun-Times]
• A Fighting Illini offensive lineman was arrested outside of a bar in Champaign.  Looks like two counts of aggravated battery, with the victim still hospitalized.  Zooker suspended him indefinitely.  [Tribune]
• This racist shirt thing with the Cubs and Cardinals is ridiculous and in the Cubs case very unoriginal.  Boooooo! [Deadspin]
• Game 1 of the WCF match-up between the Wings and Hawks drew the highest television rating for a hockey game on NBC since the lockout.  [FanHouse]
• The White Sox lost 3-2 to the Blue Jays as Toronto completed a four game sweep and the Sox have dropped five in a row. [Yahoo]

• I don’t envy anyone who missed the Hawks game last night.  Chicago won a 7-5 thriller to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1995.  Kane had a hat trick. [Sun-Times]
• Indians beat the White Sox in an AL Central pillow fight.  [Yahoo]
• The Bears signed ex-Lions tight end Michael Gaines.  Quick scouting report from a Lions fan: he sucks.  [Tribune]
• Also, Jose Contreras cleared waivers and will be sent down to the minors to work on his stuff.  Good luck with that. [ESPN]
• Are stolen bases worthless?  If they were, then why do teams try and stop them?  Seriously though, they might not be worth it.  [WSJ]
• Bobby Jenks says he was throwing at Ian Kinsler intentionally the other day.  Gotta admire his honesty.  Plus, what’s Kinsler going to do, come out and sumo fight Jenks? [Deadspin]
• Pat Burrell got a nice surprise when the fans at Fenway went nuts about the Celtics win.  [This May Concern You]

ShysterBall had a post yesterday about the science of pitch counts, citing an article that suggested that teams should look a little more closely at how their pitchers tire during the game.  Sometimes a simple pitch count doesn’t tell the whole story.

However, the most interesting part of the post to me was a section that highlighted a couple of guys and their ridiculous pitch counts.  First was Washington’s Tom Cheney, who in 1962 threw a complete game…in 16 innings.  It took 228 pitches to get the job done.  That would make CC Sabathia blush.

The second example was Nolan Ryan, which was not surprising.  Ryan would routinely flirt with 200 pitches in a game.  He’d walk a lot of guys, strikeout others, and rack up huge pitch counts.

These kind of things are absolutely unheard of these days, in fact last year we all complained about how the Brewers were abusing CC by making him go for 120 pitches in a game.  Then you have guys like Harden who are almost sure injury cases when they pitch over 100 in consecutive starts.

Of course the change in the culture has its pros and cons.  It must have been awesome to watch a guy like Ryan simply never give in and reach back for a heater at 170 pitches.  On the other hand, guys like Harden wouldn’t exist in the majors.  The kid is a strikeout machine and after being pushed like that, he’d be out of the league within a couple years back then (or now if Dusty was in charge).

College basketball is gearing up for March Madness and there is plenty of good action to keep you busy this weekend, if you know what I mean. Okay, onto the games:

*Must see

Saturday:

11:00 AM [NCAAB] Georgetown at (12) Villanova- ESPN

1:00 PM [NCAAB] Notre Dame at (2) UConn- CBS

1:05 PM [NCAAB] Iowa at Northwestern- BTN

3:00 PM [NCAAB] Ohio State at (16) Purdue- ESPN

5:00 PM [NCAAB] Indiana at Penn Sta….ha just kidding, don’t watch this game.

7:30 PM [NBA] Houston at Chicago- WGN

Sunday:

12:00 PM [NCAAB] Marquette at Louisville- CBS

12:00 PM [NBA] Detroit at Boston- ABC

1:00 PM [NCAAB] Michigan at Wisconsin- BTN

2:00 PM [NHL] Los Angeles at Chicago-WGN

2:00 PM [NCAAB] Missouri at Kansas- CBS

2:00 PM [MLB LA Dodgers vs. Chicago White Sox- CSN

4:00 PM [NCAAB] Michigan State at Illinois- CBS*

Yesterday at FanHouse’s MLB section, there was a post about the 11 players that we need to be clean.  It was a good list, and a great idea for a post, so I thought I’d look a little closer here.  We’ve largely ignored the whole steroids debate here, since you’re getting all you can handle from the MSM, but here’s a chance to take a look at some guys who represent what’s been pure about the game and some guys who can serve as a foundation going forward.  Let’s get right to the list.

Greg Maddux- Maddux won about 3 million games in his career and for an extended period was the most dominant pitcher in the game, without an overpowering fastball.  Maddux was great because he was a genius when it came to mixing up the pitches and hitting his spots (even if they were six inches off the plate).  Even Steve Stone would be predicting a curve when Maddux would throw that 92 MPH fastball by a batter.  If it came out that he did PEDs, you have to ask yourself if there was room for anyone to succeed without them.

Derek Jeter- All of us Yankee haters might not identify with this right away, but this is an important one.  Here’s a guy we admire because of how well he plays the game.  While he hasn’t been amazing recently, he’s the guy that can be spectacular, while at the same time not making mistakes.  Much like Maddux, it was the mental aspect that seems to give Jeter the edge.  He’s cool under pressure and has the presence of mind to make plays like the amazing late cut-off against the A’s.  Derek Jeter doesn’t need steroids.  Right? I guess he could always blame a positive test on his herpes medicine. Boom, roasted.

Ken Griffey Jr.- Oh, please no.  Junior is a lock for this list.  He’s the highest home run hitter with no suspicion and a positive test would have the effect of invalidating the entire era of home runs in the record books.  Griffey exploded onto the scene with his athleticism and that sweet swing.  We need those things to be the reason for his numbers, not steroids.  Griffey is our proof that pure home run hitters still exist.  Plus, he’s too fun to take steroids with the jokes and backwards hat at the all-star games.  In my generation, this is the first home run type icon I watched throughout his career, so a positive test would be devastating.

Cal Ripken Jr.- So far I could see any of these guys doing the most damage to baseball, but Cal Ripken Jr. might take the cake.  Griffey and some of the others have implications on home runs, but Ripken leads the crew that would just be awful for baseball as a whole.  Ripken’s run to the most consecutive games played is one of my fondest baseball memories and he’s just such a great ambassador for the game that a positive test would cause me to question other things, like gravity and whether certain countries really exist.

Frank Thomas, Albert Pujols, and David Ortiz- I’m going to group these guys, despite the age gap with Thomas in relation to the other two.  I would throw Thome and Ryan Howard in this group as well.  We’re talking about guys that are just plain huge.  A positive test here makes you wonder whether anyone can just hit homers based on the fact that they’re as big as an aircraft carrier.  Pujols has been outstanding his entire career and has a serious shot at some records and David Ortiz has provided some of the greatest baseball moments in recent memory with his late game heroics in the playoffs.  Thomas fits into the Griffey category as well, as the Big Hurt was a fan favorite and one of the first iconic home run guys of our generation.

Pedro Martinez and Mariano Rivera- Martinez was absolutely dominant in the 90′s.  This is amazing when you think of how widespread steroids were among batters at the time.  The 1999 All-Star game was a good example mentioned in the FanHouse post, when Pedro struck out five of the six batters he faced in two innings.  Mo Rivera was just as dominant as Pedro.  Aside from a couple of post-season stumbles, when Rivera came in the game, you knew it was over.  His cutter is still one of the most dominant pitches in the game.  Here are a couple of pitchers that owned roided up batters throughout their careers and it would be a shame to realize that they needed some juice to accomplish that.

Tim Lincecum and Evan Longoria- I get what they’re doing here, putting these two on the list.  Tim and Evan are young prospects that have shown they have promise.  They can be the foundation of a clean game going forward.  Lincecum is simply too tiny to be roided up apparently, his laser fastball a result of a slingshotting delivery.  Longoria has shown he has power as well, and we can only hope that it isn’t a result of PEDs.  Obviously there are plenty of players you can add in this category, depending on who turns out to be the face of the game in the next ten years.

So that’s the entire list from FanHouse.  Overall, it’s hard to disagree.  One point that I take away from it is that I, along with many others, may have overlooked the impact that a positive test on Maddux or Ripken would have on the game.  To this point, the only guys we seem to care about are the home run hitters.  What would the impact be of the pure baseball players?  What about Ichiro?  The steroids debate and fallout will continue ad nauseum for the foreseeable future, but this is a good list of guys we hope stay out of the discussion.  What do you think and who did they miss?