The Bakersfield Jam waited a little longer than three days to rise from the dead but the scale-downed business model appears to be winner in theory. Will Bakersfield's fickle market be a true test to whether other D-League teams dip their toes in the proverbial stormy sea? D-League commissioner Dan Reed believes this is the right time and right city.

Moving from cavernous Rabobank Arena to its $2 million practice facility for home games will cut costs and create a "in-your-face" atmosphere but it will come at a cost for casual fans.

Limited seating should drive the price up for seats, and the Jam ownership group is attempting to court 'business associates' with courtside seats, executive suites and luxury lofts.

So what do you think?

That thud you heard this morning was either one of two things:

A) Dodgers fan hitting the floor after hearing or reading, whatever your median of choice is nowadays, that Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games for violating MLB's drug policy.

B) Yankees fans hitting the floor after hearing or reading, whatever your median of choice is nowadays, that Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games for violating MLB's drug policy.

I think we can all understand the Dodgers' thud but why the Yankees? That was from jumping in jubilation. Alex Rodriguez can now focus on baseball for a change rather than dismiss every other question in a postgame interview.

This has become a pattern for all past and present major leaguers that have been involved, directly or indirectly, with PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs).

Barry Bonds slipped out the back door and away from media scrutiny once Roger Clemens' former personal trainer took the stand and exposed Roger's drug use last year. Then, it was Miguel Tejada's little run-in with lying under oath to Congress at the start of spring training that had everyone forgetting about Clemens. Then Tejada was a thing of the past, once the latest revelation of Alex Rodriguez's drug use was released in hardbound form 'A-ROD.' 

Now, Man-Ram's saga will take media resources off A-Rod for a few weeks, months, well at least 50 games.

That's great news for the Yankees, who will have to climb out of a small hole in the AL East  in hopes of making a run at the postseason.

We had some suspicion that the Jam were folding a number of weeks back but nothing concrete. The lagging attendance was obviously the first clue, but grumblings about the high costs that went along with the D-League franchise (for starters the franchise fee, which will remain a secret with owner Stan Ellis because of contractual obligations) were trickling out of the front office with each game.

The Jam is the second minor-league franchise to close its doors to Bakersfield in less than 3 years. Remember, the af2 Blitz? I don't but that's because I was still unpacking boxes from my move to the city.

If indications and inclinations are proven correct, the Blaze will departing Sam Lynn Ball Park for greener pastures at the end of this season. Or maybe the Blaze will just go out to pasture.

So when the Blaze bolt, that would be the third minor-league team to leave the No. 126 media market (Nielsen market rankings) in the U.S.

What's the explanation? I've had discussions with all the principalsinvolved -- Ellis and Blaze owner D.G. Elmore. Even talked with Condors president Matthew Riley, who has built and successly maintained the lone exception to the recent rash of departures.

Now, I'd like to hear from you.

Can Bakersfield support minor league sports? You might be surprised to know that Ellis and Elmore said, YES to this question last week.

Maybe the better question is why should/shouldn't Bakersfield support minor league sports?

If you read the newspaper, you might remember I had a short little column in last Monday's sports section, "10 simple rules for filling out your NCAA bracket."

I'm out of the running for the $1 million in our March Madness contest but I'm holding my own in some other bracket contests.

I wanted to do a little experiment this season, so I filled out two brackets. The first one, I just looked over the brackets and filled in without rhyme or reason. The second, I followed my own advice.

Believe it or not, I'm doing better when I've followed the 10 rules. I have 13 teams in the Sweet 16, with just one team knocked out of the Elite 8 (Florida State).

My Final Four is the same in both brackets (UNC, Memphis, Louisville and Duke) but bracket No. 1 has Memphis defeating UNC in the finals. Bracket No. 2 has top seed UNC defeating second seed Memphis. 

If you have an office pool or you're playing in one of the national contests, how are you doing?

I wore my Ball State Alumni sweatshirt Sunday for two reasons.

No. 1: Because I wanted to show THE MAN that I wasn't afraid of his hate-spewing  e-mail (Given my last blog entry, I won't name names but he knows).

No. 2: The simple fact it was chilly outside.

Little did I know, I'd be celebrating the biggest upset in school history since the Cardinals knocked off No. 5 seed Oregon State 54-53, and followed with a 62-60 win over No. 4 seeded Louisville in the 1990 NCAA men's tournament. Ball State lost to eventual champion UNLV by 2 points in the Sweet 16 but that's the closest any team came to beating the Runnin' Rebels that season.

Asfor the latest upset, the 12th-seeded Cardinals absolutely annihilated defending national champion Tennessee 71-55 on Sunday. I knew the Vols were down but didn't expect that outcome.

Congrats to my Ball State Cardinals. I might just end up watching a women's basketball game this season after all.

 

I'm not afraid to say it: Watching college women's basketball is boring. I wouldn't pay to watch my unborn daughter play. If and when my wife and I have a daughter, I will steer her as far away from basketball as I can. Give me softball, track and field, volleyball, field hockey, lacrosse, water polo, figure skating, ... anything but girls' basketball.

Fundamental basic basketball is fun to watch if it's at the junior high level. But there is nothing sexy about women playing fundamental defense and running a motion offense at the college level. Let's stop kidding ourselves. I had an open invite to watch CSUB women's basketball this year. That seat was empty the whole season. Don't be too offended, I didn't watch the men either.

Yes. There are bright spots in women's basketball Candace Parker, Sheryl Swoopes are two I can think of. I had the pleasure of watching Candace's older brother play at Bradley University. I know she has a great bloodline. I've played basketball against a three-time Missouri Valley Conference all-defensive team member and she was good, unfortunately watching her and the rest of the team was about as exciting as having your nostril hairs waxed and plucked.

I've never really had a problem with college women's basketball until this most recent and absolutely ridiculous phone call from one Jane Hasten. She has a 760 area code, so I'll leave it at that.

Ms. Hasten decided to call the newsroom today and asked to speak with the sports editor. Fortunately for our sports editor, I was in the office to answer this poignant and bothersome question: "Are you married?"

Yes, I am.

"Do you treat your wife the way you treat women's basketball? Two pages for a men's tournament bracket, and you can't even read the women's."

Before I could even answer that question, the phone clicked.

Well here's my answer, Ms. Hasten. It comes down to money. It comes down to viewership. It comes down to readership.

Men's basketball generated an estimated $643.2 million last year in advertising revenue on the NCAA tournament alone. According to the NCAA, total attendance was 763,607 for the men's tournament. The smallest crowd was the second day of the first-round games in Birmingham, Ala., with a minute crowd of 14,315.

Last year’s attendance for the women’s tournament was 236,464. The NCAA didn’t have site-by-site attendance figures. Please keep in mind that the NCAA switched to top-seeded schools becoming host sites, so they could draw more. Those sites still aren't selling out.

Now on a local level, we had at least 10 advertisers come forward and want to be a part for a men's basketball bracket. We had ZERO come forward for a women's bracket.

No one is passing a women's bracket around the office today, and asking for a $5 donation. I was in the top 99.8 percentile in a women's basketball bracket in 2001 when I had all 4 teams in an ESPN pool, but who really cares.

The daily newspaper doesn't follow Title IX. If you want fairness Ms. Hasten, call me when the women's tournament can draw the same numbers (attendance and ad revenue) as the men.

There's your answer. Next time you ask a question, please stick around for an answer.

One of my duties at The Californian is to schedule our staff's workweek. I try to plan two weeks in advance and make decisions on our coverage with input from our staff writers. Usually this takes 5 minutes. It's taken a month to prepare for the week of March 2-8. And we're still trying to tie down the loose ends.

If this was a fraternity, March 2-8 would be HELL WEEK. With March Meet, the CIF wrestling championships, Bakersfield Speedway opening, and the Central Section championship games for boys and girls basketball, all falling on the same weekend, there aren't enough writers or Advil to help me cope with this monstrosity.

Usually we have a weeklong buffer between March Meet and the CIF wrestling championships. March Meet, the drag racing festival at Auto Club Famoso Raceway, is usually run on the second weekend in March. The CIF wrestling championship at Rabobank Arena is usually the first weekend of March. But because of the calendar, March 1 falling on a Sunday, we're left with Bakersfield becoming a pit stop for grease monkeys and grapplers March 6-8.

But our sports schedule follows the weather proverb about the month of March: In like a lion, out like a lamb. We'll be twiddling our thumbs begging for stories at the end of the month.
 

I knew from the moment, I researched the subject of "pay-to-play" I was in for fight. Two years ago, I had this conversation with my dad on eliminating sports from high schools entirely, and I fought against his argument. Now, I agree with his stance. Maybe it's time to make students and parents "pay-to-play" sports or just eliminate them.

Times are tough, and taxpayers can't even support students' rights to a basic education. Now, taxpayers are suppose to pay for an education that's been maimed (cutting industrial arts, shop class, home economics, band, drama is ridiculous) but also pay for high school football teams traveling to Sacramento, baseball teams trips to Santa Barbara and volleyball teams trips to Las Vegas.

Seems my recent column, "It's time for KHSD students to 'pay-to-play'" struck a nerve with folks in Bakersfield. Good. That's what I wanted.

We'll have a story on how school districts in other states are utilizing the system in coming weeks. Don't worry, we'll get it done before the state passes a budget.

Local resident Roy Contreras has heard me say it, a good friend has heard me say and my wife has heard me say. Now, I'm officially telling the public -- The Arizona Cardinals will win the Super Bowl.

Actually, I sheepishly predicted the Cards to advance to the Super Bowl before they played Carolina. Roy can attest to that. He called the office because he's one of the unfortunate folks that have DISH Network and couldn't watch the football games. I told him my prediction but I prefaced that by saying,  "I wanted the Colts to win but since they're done ..."

Well, these Arizona Cardinals remind me of the 2006 Indianapolis Colts. And here's how:

In 2006, the Colts had the league's worst run defense and their run offense was grounded near the end of the regular season. Indy won its first nine games of the season, only to lose three out four, including a 44-17 blowout loss to Jacksonville. The Colts allowed 375 rushing yards in that game. Once the playoffs started it was another story.  The rush defense held Kansas City to just 44 yards in the first half and didn't allow a first down until the end of the third quarter in their 23-8 win. The next week, Adam Vinatieri had 5 field goals in their 15-6 win over Baltimore.

In the AFC Championships game, Indianapolis rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half as Joseph Addai scored the game winner with under a minute left.  Marlin Jackson sealed the 38-34 win with an interception.

Sound familiar. It should because it's a similar recipe the Cardinals have used. Arizona lost 3 of its last 5 games, including blowout losses to Minnesota (35-14), New England (41-7) and Philadelphia (48-20), and the national media had they losing in the wild-card round.

But once the playoffs started, Arizona was "in the zona."  The Cardinals passing attack struck for two long TDs in a 30-24 win vs. Atlanta before its rushing attack and defense dominated Carolina. Arizona forced five interceptions in the win.

While they didn't have to stage quite the rally Indianapolis did two years early, Arizona needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to take the lead and its defense forced Donovan McNabb to turn the ball over on downs to seal the 32-25 win over Philadelphia.

So now, the Cardinals play the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl. A defense-driven, ball controlled team, sort of like the Chicago Bears.

I think Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, two former Steelers assistant coaches, have a pretty good idea how to disrupt Ben Roethlisberger.

Should make for a great football game, and the first Super Bowl title in Arizona.

On Sunday, ESPN will unveil its latest gimmick to kill the time between the Super Bowl and start of spring training. The all-sports network is asking readers/viewers to nominate, then vote for, each state's own Mount Rushmore of Sports.

ESPN's definition is vague but from what I've gathered it's the four greatest sports icons that were either born or made a name for themselves in that state.

Columnists Rick Reilly, along with PTI's Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser and one Associated Press writer from each state will debate the merits of each of the nominees.

After a 30-minute discussion between staffers Zach Ewing, Todd Camps, Tony Lacava, Mike Griffith and I, we decided that picking just four would be an injustice for California's rich sports tradition.

So, I decided to take it a step further and bring the list closer to home. What about Bakersfield's Mount Rushmore of Sports? The two names that come to mind that would be no-brainers are: Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears. Don't even try to argue that those two don't belong. You can't do it.

Now here's the hard part. Who are the other two?

Here are few names that were mentioned as possibilities:

Johnny Callison, baseball, Philadelphia Phillies, 3-time NL All-Star, 1964 All-Star Game MVP

Joey Porter, football, 4-time All-Pro linebacker, 4-time AFC Pro Bowler

Dennis Ralston, tennis, 1960 Wimbledon doubles champion, two-time NCAA singles championship

Dawn Dumble, track and field, four-time NCAA champion (2 indoor shot, 1 outdoor shot, discus), 7-time Pac-10 champ

Lisa Kiggins, women's golf, 1990 World Junior champion, 1991 Pac-10 champion, NCAA All-American first team, LPGA Rookie of the Year, 1 LPGA tour event victory

Kevin Harvick, auto racing, 2007 Daytona 500 winner, two-time Busch Series champion

Jeff Siemon, Minnesota Vikings lineman, inducted into 2006 College Football Hall of Fame

Larsen Jensen, swimmer, 2004 and 2008 Olympic swimmer

Louis Wright, football, Denver Broncos defensive back, member of NFL 1970's all-decade team