Bye Bye Bobby

University of Cincinnati basketball coach Bob Huggins has until 2pm tomorrow to decide whether he would prefer resigning over firing. If he resigns, he'll receive $3 million; if he is fired, he'll receive $1.9 million. Either way, he is gone, and the city of Cincinnati is an uproar. They're just having a hard time understanding why class is valued more than basketball. The last time I looked, about 90% of poll voters said they were unhappy with the decision to get rid of Huggins. I'm not going to go through Huggins's bio. You can go back to my May 16, 2005 post and look at both sides for yourself.

It appeared this situation died down in May after Huggins agreed to remain at UC for the remainder of his contract. But last month, Huggins's attorney, Richard Katz, has been trying to reopen negotiations with UC President Nancy Zimpher to reinsert Huggins's 4-year rollover option into his contract. The rollover option, which would've allowed Huggins an additional 4 years, was removed after Bobby plead no contest to his DUI charge and a couple more incidents involving a UC recruit and assistant coach were revealed. Basically, it sounds like Huggins got greedy, still thinking he's the biggest thing Cincinnati's ever seen, and Zimpher had enough. Kudos to her for sticking by her tough stance, trying to improve UC's image. There will be many complaining about the timing of this, since fall recruiting has begun and there are only 6 weeks left until practice for this season starts. This is not Zimpher's fault, for now, you can put this all on Huggins. If he would've simply coached the next 2 years, as stated in his contract, he would still be the coach. Since he believes he's the best thing since sliced bread, he's gone.

There will definitely be more about this in the next couple of days.

My boy, Lance Armstrong, is facing new allegations of performance-enhancing drug usage that are in the Paris newspaper L'Equipe. They claim that his blood samples from 1999 reveal that he used EPO, which builds endurance by increasing the production of oxygen-rich red blood cells. The World Anti-Doping Agency was not able to detect EPO in its drug tests until 2001, explaining why it has been popular among Olympic athletes and cyclists, and why Armstrong's sample wasn't positive during the 1999 Tour.

Yet, as in the other French claims of Armstrong drug usage, there are holes in this one also. When each cyclist is tested, the only way they can be identified is with an ID number, which do not appear on any other records. But L'Equipe showed copies of Armstrong's medical documents with an ID number that also appeared on a positive EPO drug test. Unfortunately for L'Equipe, the World Anti-Doping Agency can't confirm that Armstrong tested positive. In addition, Armstrong's other sample from 1999 has already been destroyed. This, to me, is one last ditch attempt by the French to get back at Armstrong for winning their race 7 straight years. I need more concrete proof in order to believe Armstrong used drugs. One interesting source of proof could be ex-wife Kristin. There was a lot of money involved in the divorce settlement, was part of it to keep Kristin quiet??? Maybe she has the answer... But for now, I'm standing behind Lance. As the commercial says, "What am I on???? I'm on bike, riding my ass off 6 hours a day!!!"

Then there are our friends at the NCAA who are letting Florida St. keep their Seminole nickname. Basically the NCAA got some Free shoes and cash from FSU. And in the words of FSU's president, "I'm ready to play football, start school, have classes and all that kind of stuff." So, football does come first at FSU, with classes being those other "things" that are a part of college. Another reason why I root heavily against Florida St.

Texas forward PJ Tucker is academically eligible and will be play for the Longhorns this season. This makes Texas a Big 12 title and Final Four contender. With a starting frontcourt of Tucker, LaMarcus Aldridge and the resurgent Brad Buckman, and the stellar guard play of Daniel Gibson (player-of-the-year candidate), Texas will challenge Oklahoma for the Big 12 title and will be in the preseason top 10.

As I said last night, I went up to Beechwood to play some golf on another gorgeous day (75 degrees, sunshine, northerly breeze, exhilarating). Beechwood is unique because it was built after a tornado destroyed everything where the golf course is today. Beechwood is a technician's course, you can't just grip it and rip it. Many of its holes are tree-lined, which really is an understatement (going in the woods is a 1 shot penalty). If you hit your irons well and make some putts, even if you don't drive the ball well, you can still score, which is what I did today. My 195 yard pop-up draw off the tee was back, but I overcame it with strong iron play and lights-out putting to shoot a 76 (4 over par, 1 off my personal best in relation to par). My round included a 25-foot birdie on 2, and an 18-footer for par on the last hole to send me home with a huge smile on my face. Maybe the best part was there was no one there basically, allowing me to play the 18 holes in just 3 hours (walking).

Just 10 days remain until the big game. No one outside of the Miami community is giving the Redhawks a chance, which I kind of like. EVERYONE thinks it will be a nice tune-up for Texas. Don't underestimate Miami people. Last year, there were a few people who gave us a chance up at Michigan, which eliminated the element of surprise. But I think that surprise is there for this game, so Buckeyes beware, that's why they play the games.

Little League commercial views: 24 (Hey, what am I supposed to watch, poker???)