It's Time To Crunch The Numbers

By: Pete Yanity News Channel 7 Sports | News Channel 7
Published: February 12, 2009 | 0 Comments | Post a Comment

Now that A-Rod has dropped an A-Bomb (to steal from a post-Rodriguez home run call by Yankees' announcer John Sterling) I've determined that not only do I have "Violator of the Month" fatigue but that MLB commissioner Bud Selig now has to come up with a plan.

I hope that at some point, the folks in the front office determine they need to put together a panel to determine just how the stats will be looked at from here on. Granted, the fact that it doesn't seem like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, etc. will even get a sniff at the Hall of Fame is certainly a first step toward those who juiced.

However, as I grew up idolizing the game's sluggers of the '60s and '70s I certainly want some clarity as a fan as to how many home runs Bonds really did hit when you do the math minus the likely use of steroids.
Was McGwire's 70-homer season more like a 50 or a 55?

Here's hoping that as the smoke clears from the steroids era (and just when we think it has another flash fire pops up) a group of the game's sportswirters, former players (who are clean), former managers, other baseball folks, and some medical people sit down and re-crunch the numbers.

I still think of Aaron's 755 as the home run mark. I'd love to know that's how the world sees it.

Moving to college basketball, I think an interesting race to keep an eye on is the one for SEC Player of the Year that will likely come down to South Carolina's Devon Downey and Kentucky's Jody Meeks. Each is the difference-maker on his team. Meeks probably carries a little more of the offensive burden as he doesn't have a backcourt mate who will try to score as much as Downey has in Zam Frederick.

When Clemson fell to Florida State on Saturday night it was the 12th straight time in the past 10 years that the Tigers have lost in the next game after they defeated a ranked team (Duke, in this case). You have to go back to December 19, 1997 for the last time the Tigers followed a win over a ranked team with a victory in its next game.

My broadcast partner and Clemson's sports information director Tim Bourret points out that it's a trend that's really not that uncommon. In the ACC this season alone, teams are 8-8 under such circumstances. North Carolina is 3-0 in the game after they've defeated a ranked opponent.