The NBA has agreed to buy the New Orleans Hornets from it’s current owner. A minority owner of the team Gary Chouest was in negotiations to buy a majority stake in the team, but he has recently expressed concern over his ability to run his family business while taking over a majority stake in the Hornets. The NBA seems to be stepping in to provide some financial stability to the situation as the current majority owner seems like there may be financial trouble of some sort on the horizon especially with the team not meeting attendance minimums currently. It’s usually an odd situation when a sports league purchases one of it’s own teams, and my speak to some of the financial issues that are coming for the NBA.
The BCS Championship game is all set, and once again the horrible system we have for college football has been bailed out. Oregon and Auburn took care of business over the weekend and won their respective conferences to end the season with unblemished records. This will ensure that major power house conferences get their teams in the National Title game, while upstarts like TCU who is also undefeated are shut out again. It should be a great matchup between Auburn and Oregon because of the high powered offenses, Heisman trophy winner Cameron Newton (it’s a lock), and all the controversy surrounding the pay for play scandal. Too bad it’s 35 days away.
The Indianapolis Colts are in unfamiliar territory as they have lost three straight games. The Dallas Cowboys beat them on a field goal in overtime to continue the Colts woes this season. Teams lose games, but not usually teams led by Peyton Manning. He threw four interceptions for the second game in a row and just did not look like himself at times during that game. He led a furious comeback after the Colts fell behind 17 – 0, but a costly interception in overtime set Dallas up in field goal range and it was a done deal after that. The Colts are riddled with injuries on the offensive side of the ball, and it seems that Peyton and his receivers are not on the same page (save Reggie Wayne). They may miss the playoffs this year, which would be the end of an impressive streak.
The Washington Nationals sign ex-Phillies slugger Jason Werth to a seven year $126 million dollar contract. It’s amazing because Werth is a good player, but he is not worth anywhere near that much money. The Nationals could have gotten Cliff Lee for that type of money, and it just makes the whole deal a bit perplexing. No one had even set the market with an offer to Lee, and out of the blue the Nationals break the bank for him? I will applaud the intent of the move because it makes it seem like the Nationals are serious about winning, and bringing in players who will make them a better ball club regardless of the price.
The Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens was an epic battle on Sunday Night Football. The Pittsburgh Steelers edged the Baltimore Ravens 13 – 10 after the Ravens led the entire game, and made a costly mistake with just over two minutes left to play. Ben Roethlisberger came into the game with a broken bone in his foot, and broke his nose on the first drive of the game. You would have thought he was not going to be effective, but in the second half he rallied the Steelers offense to put pressure on Baltimore. The Ravens were game and kept their one score margin until Troy Polamalu created a sack fumble on Joe Flacco that the Steelers recovered in Ravens territory. It was a heart breaker for the Ravens, and has given the Steelers control of their own destiny when it comes to the playoff seeding.
