The conference was trying to get changes made to the BCS system, going as far as the United States Congress to try to get changes made. Sen. Arlen Hatch (R-Utah) has said that he thinks the BCS clearly violates antitrust laws, and is leading hearings into the BCS practices in the House of Representatives.

The agreement with the BCS means that the conference will be much more quiet in the coming years when it comes to fighting for equality in college football’s postseason, but they vow that they are not giving up the fight.

Clearly the Mountain West wasn’t thrilled about having to sign the deal, saying:

“… The Mountain West believes it has no choice at this time but to sign the agreements. If a conference wishes to compete at the highest levels of college football, and the only postseason system in place for that is the BCS, no one conference can afford to drop out and penalize its football programs and student-athletes.”

This, to me, is the definition of anti-trust and monopoly. The Mountain West Conference is basically being forced to sign an agreement that they don’t agree with and know could be detrimental to them, but are left with no other options, so they must enter into an undesirable deal.

And there is no other option. To not sign the deal would be to risk subjecting all of the teams in the Mountain West to financial disaster. Not being a part of the BCS, when there is no other option, means that you are not in position to get your piece of the pie when the money is spread at the end of the season. Right now, there are no other options, so the Mountain West was forced to sign a deal they don’t agree with. If you can find a better definition of a monopoly, more power to you.

With this deal being signed, it is not necessarily the end of the battle. There are far more of us that want things changed, and clearly the legal system is on our side. The BCS thinks that since they are simply a college football postseason system that the law won’t bother with them, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The BCS controls the finances of major educational institutions. Once the effects of their unfair practices are explained to the lay non-sports fan, more people will be on board with the government doing something about this.

At the end of the day, there is far too much money at stake, and the money is essentially for legitimate educational institutions. I’m pretty confident that once legitimate hearings take place, the BCS will be broken up.

As for the Mountain West, they say that their fight will continue, despite being a part of it for a few more years:

“The Mountain West will continue its efforts for change, including a request for dialogue with representatives of the BCS. Our goal is to ensure the eventual outcome of these endeavors is what our universities and student-athletes need, what the vast majority of American sports fans want, and what is long overdue: an equitable system.”

Bottom line: The Mountain West is right, the BCS is wrong. It’s just a matter of time before the right people get involved in this.

With only one weekly football game, no baseball, and no basketball, how has NBC Sports managed to become the worst national broadcaster of sports in the country?

Well, that’s a pretty simple answer: When you screw up the Olympics as badly as they did, and when you consistently mangle your tennis coverage, you end up with a well-earned reputation at being failures at your job. The main problem: NBC refuses to show major sporting events live, insisting instead on putting them in “prime time,” showered with analysis and features. Just show us the damn game/match/event.

There isn’t a lot that NBC Sports is trusted with. But when they are trusted with covering an event, we expect them to do it well. I can put up with glitches in broadcasts and even technical problems — they happen, but what I can’t put up with is not showing the events you are supposed to be showing.

NBC ruined the Olympics in 2008 by insisting on showing the “marquee” events in prime time, even if that meant a long tape delay prior to airing. In today’s world of the Internet and instant news, it is impossible to keep any suspense until the taped coverage begins. So those of us on the West Coast particularly, knew the results of everything that was going to be aired on NBC on the night of Olympic coverage. So what did we do? We didn’t watch it.

Of course, when we really wanted to watch something, NBC forced us to do so on their Web site. Occasionally things were on another channel, which was nice, but too often we were forced to watch these great sporting events in inferior quality on the web. The Olympics was a massive failure for viewers all over the country due to NBC.

This week, they were at it again, as they chose to air a taped Wimbledon match that they damn sure knew was a three set drubbing, rather than show the only American man left in the tournament in the best match of the tournament so far. Viewers in the United States were forced to watch Andy Roddick play Lleyton Hewitt on the Internet (NBCSports.com again), once again in inferior quality, while the television showed a taped, three-hour old Roger Federer drubbing.

Even the New York Times says it is time for NBC to walk away.

The problem is, NBC is convinced that us viewers want to watch a giant production, in prime time, with analysis, of every major sporting event. We don’t. We want to watch the sports, live, as they happen.

NBC screwed up the French Open as well, and they have certainly done this to us sports fans many other times in the past. For that matter, we went through this at Wimbledon last year, too.

ESPN gets it. For all of the things that I don’t like about the Worldwide Leader, at least they show things live. If a big soccer match starts at 3am, ESPN will show it live. Same with tennis and baseball. Now if only they would learn that when they do show things on tape (sometimes it’s necessary), they remove the final score of what they are showing from their ticker. But baby steps…

In fact, ESPN’s coverage of the first week of Wimbledon was fantastic. DIRECTV even provided a mix channel that let me pick what match I wanted to watch — live, at 4am. It wasn’t until the second week, when NBC played their exclusivity card that all of a sudden I couldn’t watch tennis anymore.

While we’re at it, let’s throw in the story that NBC wouldn’t allow the Pittsburgh Penguins to show a playoff game on a big screen outside of their arena, something that the Pens had done throughout the playoffs. They continued to air any games broadcast on FSN, but NBC put the kibosh on their broadcast being used.

Yeah, I get it — it’s all about advertising. NBC wants more people watching their broadcasts of games at the times they want them too to maximize revenue. But at what cost to the actual broadcast? Sports don’t work in tape delays, and sports broadcasts don’t work when the top priority is the advertisers and not the fans.

Say what you will about ESPN, but at least they put the game first.

NBC, on the other hand, could apparently care less about the sports it is broadcasting. When that is the case, then they need to get out.

When it comes to ranking the sports broadcasters in the United States, the only thing that is clear is the NBC is dead last. The day that NBC is outbid for the Olympics and tennis coverage is going to be a great day for sports fans who actually want to watch sports when they happen. Until then, I’ll just continue to not watch sports on NBC, since I already know the results of what they are showing.

So since I first wrote that piece, here are the updates.

Good:
• Home and away feeds are now available (since 2008 season) when possible. Big upgrade.
• Games now in HD (point goes to Fox Sports affiliates for upgrading, not DIRECTV or Major League Baseball for doing anything.
• Mix channel now comes with HD package (at least - may come with regular package). You used to have to pay extra for this. Great channel.

Bad:
• Still ridiculous home markets. Here in Las Vegas, I am still blacked out from Diamondbacks, Padres, Angels, Dodgers, Giants and A’s games quite often.

Think about how ridiculous that is. I live in a market that has no MLB team. The closest team is several hundred miles away. Only the occasional game from any of these teams is on the local cable (still not on satellite). Yet I am still subjected to the caveman style maps that baseball drew up way too long ago to determine where “local markets” are.

I can’t emphasize this enough: Until the blackout rules are changed and the local markets redrawn, baseball on television will be a failing equation. Yes, I get to watch almost every game that I want to. For that, I thank the powers of technology. But missing just one game because of these absolutely insane rules is beyond explanation.

So in summary, yes Extra Innings is improving, but they still haven’t cured the cancer at the root of it. Basically, they have taken a sick body and given it a makeover and new shoes, but failed to address the disease.

Just add DIRECTV to the list of things that make Bud Selig a terrible commissioner (if you have any room left on that piece of paper).

Quick summary: Texas beat Boston College 3-2 in 25 innings Saturday/Sunday, setting a new NCAA record for the longest game played.

The real story: Texas reliever Austin Wood threw 13 innings of relief ball, including 12 1/3 innings of no-hit ball, while throwing 169 pitches. That’s right, 169 pitches of pure domination, and this isn’t the top story?

BC reliever Mike Belfiore went 9 2/3 innings in the same game and was relegated to the eighth paragraph.

And amazingly, neither pitcher’s arm has fallen off yet. When these two are still healthy in a week, this should be a lesson to the big league coaches who think that if a professional athlete throws more than 100 pitches in a game that his career will end. Blah, blah, protect your investment, blah — it can be done.

I’m not saying that pitchers should routinely be throwing 169 pitches a game, I’m saying that when a guy goes eight scoreless and is at 110 pitches, you don’t have to lift him for a much, much shittier pitcher who you have arbitrarily labeled your “closer.”

Yes, a 25-inning game is the headline, but every single column written about this game should have been about Wood’s amazing performance. And the ridiculousness that is pitch counts.

Well done, sir, Nolan Ryan would be proud (and everyone in baseball history prior to 1980).

After Manny Pacquiao’s amazing beatdown of Ricky Hatton on May 2, here is the Street Fighter II version of that fight. I’m a sucker for cheap entertainment like this.

In a recent Gator Club appearance, Meyer took issue with comments in the last year by former players, specifically but not officially former Gator quarterback Shane Matthews. While Matthews wasn’t called out by name, it was apparent to most that he is who Meyer was referring to.

You see, Matthews had the audacity as a radio host to question some of the decisions made in Florida’s embarrassing 31-30 loss to Mississippi last year.

At the time, Matthews said, “When I watched the Ole Miss game and Ole Miss played our wide receivers about 90 percent man-to-man, it was a slap in the face to our wide receivers and passing game. I can’t understand why we didn’t take advantage of that.”

Apparently, Meyer didn’t like that. And while Matthews has absolutely nothing to be sorry for and no need to explain himself, he still cleared the air with Meyer and made nice.

Now, with Matthews in mind, Meyer sent out a clear message to former players:

“If you want to be critical of a player on our team or a coach on our team you can buy a ticket for seat 37F, you’re not welcome back in the football office. You’re either a Gator or you’re not a Gator.”

So get it straight, former Gators. If you want to take a job in television, radio, or in coaching (not at Florida), you are likely forfeiting your Gatorhood.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if Matthews was right. All that matters is that you don’t dare question Sir Urban and the Mighty Gators, else Lord Tebow will strike down upon you.

I mean really, come on. Criticism is part of the game. Let’s face the facts. Urban Meyer cost his team the game against Mississippi in 2008 with terrible play calling. You are not being anti-Gator to point that out, you are being mildly educated in football. When down by one, in field goal range and facing a 4th and 1, you don’t call a shotgun quarterback sneak. Simple as that. If all Matthews said was what is quoted here, he was being soft on Florida and Meyer.

But hey, Meyer’s got himself two national championships, so he calls the shots. Let’s see what happens when Tebow himself criticizes Florida in four years if Meyer is still there. How do you banish the football Messiah to seat 37F?

It is just unreal the power that college football coaches (think they) have. It’s this mentality that keeps most of them from succeeding in the NFL.

Sports betting in Delaware is expected to bring in nearly $50 million for the state, money the governor says is crucial in today’s times. Delaware is the only state east of the Mississippi to allow any form of sports betting, joining Nevada, Oregon and Montana as the only states with legal sports betting.

Delaware was grandfathered in back in 1992 when a federal law was passed that banned sports betting. Since Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon had all previously had some form of sports betting, they were all excluded from the federal ban.

On of the interesting topics to follow still is just what kind of betting will be allowed. For months, it was said that only parlays will be legal (two or more games on the same ticket), but now there is word that they will attempt to make it legal to wager on individual games.

The bill was passed in the senate on Tuesday, meaning that only the governor’s signature is required to make it law, a signature he has been promising for some time.

While leagues like the NFL and NCAA vehemently oppose sports betting in any way, make no mistake about it that this is a good thing for the people of Delaware (and the surrounding states), and is actually a good thing for the very sports that oppose it. Well regulated sports betting does more to police game-fixing and point-shaving than anyone else, and unless the NFL and NCAA feel that they are going to stop ALL gambling, they need this regulation.

Well done, Gov. Jack Markell. Let’s hope the federal ban is overturned and all states can enjoy some of this money, as well as the federal government with online betting.

UFC chief Dana White nixed a potential boxing match between the superstar MMA-er and the past-his-prime boxer, refusing to allow Silva to risk himself in a boxing ring while he is under contract with the UFC. According to Jones, White had said that he didn’t want Silva and the UFC embarrassed if Jones were to knock out the UFC’s star attraction.

But recently, Jones said that he is willing to turn it around and meet Silva in the Octagon, and fight him under UFC rules. How would White respond to that, and is there a chance it could happen?

White’s response: None chance.

According to CBS Sports, via BloodyElbow.com, White confirmed that the offer was presented to him and that he passed on it.

“You won’t see a Silva versus Jones fight while Silva is under contract with me,” White said Tuesday. “I don’t want to say anything bad about Roy Jones, I like Roy Jones and was a fan of his, but he mattered like fifteen years ago. He’s not anywhere near the best boxer in the world. He must’ve spent all his money.”

…..

“I could do it, make it huge, make money, but I could have done a fight like this when we were bleeding money (in the early 2000s),” White said. “The fight would make some money, but it hurts MMA in the long term. We don’t do that because we love the sport. That’s a Pride or K-1 matchup. It’s not what we do.”

In White’s defense, he’s right. It would be a novelty match that would not be good for the overall image of the UFC.

But on the other hand, it may be what the fans, his fans, want to see.

In the never-ending boxing vs. MMA debate, it always seems to be that the MMA fans are the loudest and proudest. Boxing fans tend to stick to the “boxers will win at boxing, MMA guys will win at MMA” argument, but many MMA fans (from my experience) seem to want to have a chance for the MMA world to prove its dominance over boxing.

I subscribe to the theory that the fighter fighting in his professional discipline has a nearly insurmountable advantage in any mixed action fight. But of the two, I give a boxer a better chance in the Octagon than a mixed martial artist in the ring. The simple reason being that most MMA fighters have limited boxing skills and nothing else to fall back on in the ring, while boxers are experts at at least one discipline in MMA. Roy Jones stands a better chance at landing one great punch in the Octagon then Silva does at either winning a decision or beating Jones at his own game in the ring.

To me, White’s argument hasn’t changed. A Roy Jones win over Silva in the Octagon would cripple the UFC. A Silva win does nothing but land the company some great promotion. It’s a bad fight for White to accept.

I personally would love to see it for the sport of it. But White can make whatever decisions he wants. He’s managed the UFC pretty well so far, and if he doesn’t want to risk its reputation, I can respect that.

What I don’t get, and the argument that many are ignoring in this scenario is this: The UFC was created to measure different combat disciplines against each other. To answer the age-old questions of what is better. Karate or wrestling? Jiu-jitsu or taekwondo? Why can’t boxing be a competitor in the game?

Perhaps it’s as simple as the fact that the UFC has evolved. It is no longer a battle of martial arts, but a sport of one thing: mixed martial arts. No one seems to really be one discipline anymore, but a combination of many of them. If things were how they were back in the day, there would be a legitimate complaint from a boxer being excluded.

In Dana White’s UFC, however, it is no longer a battle of several combat arts. It is a league of mixed martial artists, and apparently boxing isn’t enough of a martial art to get a seat at the table.

I would love to see it happen, but the UFC of today is not what it was years ago. Roy Jones vs. Anderson Silva would make for great debate and a great event, but right now, White clearly isn’t ready to risk his empire on one fight.

According to sources, Ramirez tested positive for HCG — human chorionic gonadotropin — a woman’s fertility drug used by athletes to restart the body’s testosterone production after a steroid cycle. While the drug only amounts to circumstantial proof of steroid use, it was enough to suspend Ramirez under the collective bargaining agreement’s “just cause” provision, meaning that he could be “penalized for use, sale or distribution of banned substances, even where the agreement doesn’t specify a particular penalty, such as for a positive test.”

Ramirez withdrew his appeal almost immediately, instead choosing to serve his suspension right away.

In a statement, Ramirez blamed himself for the suspension, saying that the illegal substance in his system was given to him by his personal doctor for a legitimate health issue. Given the quality of MLB’s health care, it is highly suspect that a player would take a drug like this on a personal doctor’s recommendation and not seek the medical advice of his team’s doctor.

Manny’s statement, via the LA Times:

“Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.

“I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I’m sorry about this whole situation.”

While other stars have been named in steroid scandals, notably Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, and Jason Giambi (among many others), Ramirez instantly becomes the highest profile player to have actually been suspended by the league for a violation of the drug policy.

Ramirez will be eligible to return to the first-place Dodgers on July 3. During his suspension, Ramirez will forfeit about $7.7 million of his $25 million salary.

Upon his return to the ring in July, Mayweather will have been out of the ring for over 19 months, with his most recent fight being his knockout win over Ricky Hatton in December of 2007. Early in 2008, Mayweather reportedly told his advisers that they were free to listen to potential offers and to see what his boxing options would be.

Mayweather will square off with Marquez, who has been extremely impressive at lightweight, at a catchweight of 144 pounds on HBO Pay-Per-View at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather has fought his five most recent fights at welterweight or above, while Marquez has never fought above 135 pounds.

Part of the reason for Mayweather’s return is his alleged problems with the IRS. Despite making enormous amounts of money against both Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton, Mayweather had apparently found himself in some financial trouble, specifically tax trouble. His summer return against Marquez should bring a lucrative payday, but more importantly there is the potential for a mega-fight for mega-money against the Hatton-Manny Pacquiao winner if Mayweather defeats Marquez.

The camps of Mayweather and Marquez had been working on a deal for sometime and were very close before reaching a few sticking points in the final negotiations. Not only was settling the catchweight an issue that has been resolved, but the potential for Mayweather to sign with Don King has been averted, allowing this negotiation to move forward. It was reported that the final details were agreed to in a six-hour negotiating session on Friday afternoon.

Mayweather retired as the mythical pound-for-pound champion, having held that title in Ring magazine for nearly three years. At just 32-years old, Mayweather can walk right in and once again be a major player anywhere between 140 and 147 pounds. He is currently 39-0 with 25 knockouts.