Paper Broncos? Sure seems that way.

It's recently become a rite of fall. Every year it happens. You can count on it. Somebody from the mainstream media is going to say that Boise State can compete with the other top teams in the country.

This time it is Mark Beech of Sports Illustrated. He thinks the Broncos have a chance to beat Oklahoma in Fiesta Bowl Jr. this January.
Don't bet on it. Every time Boise State steps out of the weak Western Athletic Conference it is reminded that it is still a guppy on the college football food chain.

In 2002, the Broncos lost one game and finished 12-1 and ranked 15th in the Associated Press poll. But their sole defeat — a 41-14 blowout at the hands of Arkansas — came against an average team from a power conference. Still, everybody bought into the fact that Boise State should be mentioned in the same breath as some of the best programs in the nation. Flash forward to 2005 and the Broncos were once again being touted as a legitimate contender before the season began. They were coming off an 11-1 season and were ranked No. 18 before they took a little trip to Georgia.

In Athens, the Bulldogs not only blasted the Broncos 48-13; they also destroyed the foundation for the argument that Boise State could hold its own against elite competition. Of course, that had been proven long ago.


Boise State has only lost seven times in the last four years. But here's the funny thing: until this year, the Broncos had defeated only two teams affiliated with a Bowl Championship Series conference — Iowa State and Oregon State. This year, the Broncos blew out the Beavers again, dominating a 9-4 Oregon State team ranked 24th in the nation that world defeat Southern California later in the year. Not bad, but it should also be noted that they barely outlasted San Jose State 23-20.

Boise State may be fun to watch with its high-flying offense moving up and down a blue field. Certainly, college football's favorite outpost makes for a good story. But the Broncos have yet to prove they can compete with the heavyweights. It's time the so-called pundits stop believing that they can. In the end, there is an old saying from Tennessee that sums up the situation pretty well: Fool Mark Beech once...shame on Boise State. Fool Mark Beech twice...shame on Mark Beech.

Photo Source: Boise State University athletics

Boras Loses!

Well it looks like Scott Boras has lost. So much for Daisuke Matsuzaka being worth $100 million. Reports are that Matsuzaka will be earning $52 million over six years, with another $8 million in incentives. That is a long way from $100 million. I mean if the Red Sox had met Boras's demands halfway, that's one thing, but it appears the Red Sox made a take-it-or-leave-it offer and Matsuzaka hopped on the plane back to Boston. The leverage was taken away from Boras and everyone came out a winner. Matsuzaka gets a ton of money and to fulfill his dream of playing in the Majors and the Red Sox get the pitcher they desperately wanted. Boras doesn't get as much of a cut, but he now has a happy client who is about to make a ton more money in endorsements. Life isn't all bad for Boras, but it's certainly not as good as he wanted.

I guess he'll just have to wait to cash in on Barry Zito, and the expected $100 million he is going to get. Unless, Zito, like Matsuzaka, decides there is more to choosing what to do than just money. That could start an unsettling trend for Boras who is known to be all about the bottom line.

Boras in a Bind

For one of the few times in his career, Scott Boras is in a bind. He holds little to no power in negotiations with the Red Sox as they try to sign Daisuke Matsuzaka. Boras cannot negotiate with other teams, and the Red Sox have already put up $51 million for Matsuzaka without actually paying him a penny.

Boras recently said Matsuzaka is worth $100 million. Funny thing, the Red Sox actually agree. Except the Red Sox believe the $51 million they put up to have the ability to negotiate with Matsuzaka should be considered part of that $100 million. Boras believes he’s worth a salary of $100 million regardless of the posting fee. Boras thinks Matsuzaka is worth as much as or more than Barry Zito, who has shown incredible durability and won a Cy Young Award already. That’s a stretch.

The Red Sox have all the leverage. If they can’t sign him, he simply goes back to Japan and has to wait another year and go through another posting process. It’s not like the Red Sox could potentially lose him to the Yankees, and they know that. The Red Sox would be smart to hold strong and stick to their guns. Offer Matsuzaka four or five years in the $10 million to $12 million range (that’s more than fair for someone with no MLB experience) and not budge.

Boras is not used to being in this position. Usually he has multiple teams bidding on his clients. Now he has only one team. A deadline is looming – the deal must be done by Thursday. Boras has little leverage in the negotiations and no other teams to run up the bidding (like Zito and rumors of $100 million over six years from the Texas Rangers). His player desperately wants to play in the Majors. If he doesn’t sign, it’s going to be an embarrassment to Boras, and he’ll probably be fired as Matsuzaka hops on a plane back to Japan. Boras has his back against the wall and, in the next few hours, he is going to get a take-it-or-leave-it offer from the Red Sox.

Really, he has no choice but to accept because taking a deal for less than what he thinks his client is worth is surely better than watching him go back to Japan to pitch for another year while searching for a new agent to handle the process next year.

Mustain and Nutt Clash

Note: Posting this for Rainer.

A book about an Arkansas high school team is about to be released that is causing quite a stir in the state. In the book, current Razorbacks quarterback and hot-shot recruit Mitch Mustain rips Hogs coach Houston Nutt and says Nutt should have been fired.

These comments were made before Mustain signed with Arkansas last February. Mustain's former high school coach, Gus Malzahn, is now a first-year offensive coordinator at Arkansas. Talk about a sticky situation.

Read Rainer's full column here.

Three years later, Yankees recover what they lost

Three years ago, it was hard to understand why the New York Yankees parted with Andy Pettitte. He was a productive southpaw who was more effective against right-handed hitters, pitching in a home ballpark that had deep dimensions in left-center field.

More importantly he was a proven performer in the postseason. Now that Pettitte is back after three seasons with the Houston Astros, the Yankees have improved their chances to return to the World Series for the first time since 2003.

Since it's pretty much a given that New York will be playing in October each year, why haven't the Yankees focused before on landing and keeping pitchers who have had a strong track record in the postseason? New York hasn't missed the playoffs since 1993 (1994 doesn't count because of the strike), so the Yankees can take a different approach than most teams.

They should and can go after guys like Pettitte and Orlando Hernandez, who has at times looked lost between April and September only to turn it around when the klieg lights were brighter than ever and each moment was tense.


Both Hernandez and Pettitte are perfect fits for New York. Nothing fazes them. They are clutch.
In many ways, Houston was never going to reap the return from its investment in Pettitte that the Yankees did and still could. The Astros made the playoffs just once during his time there and Pettitte may not warrant being paid his asking price of $14 million for what he does in the regular season.

But as Houston should have considered when it was negotiating with him is that Pettitte is valuable not only for his postseason potential but also for the influence he exerts over Roger Clemens. Clemens, who has seven Cy Young awards, has been teammates with his good friend since coming over to the Yankees in 1999. They hang out with each other, they work out together, and their career paths intertwined for the last seven years. It's Pettitte and Clemens. Clemens and Pettitte.

You think Pettitte could convince his good buddy to come out of retirement and take the mound for the Yanks again? It doesn't seem too far-fetched and if that's the case New York will be getting another pitcher who has been very successful in the postseason. Only someone who is naive would think Yankees general manager Brian Cashman hasn't thought about this.

Six years removed from their last title, Cashman and New York have finally realized that it's not the players who put up numbers during the regular season that bring championships; it's the guys that have a knack for getting the job done in October. That's why former third baseman Scott Brosius, a .257 lifetime hitter, is loved by New Yorkers while the guy now playing his position, future Hall-of-Fame inductee Alex Rodriguez, has been skewered.

Pettitte is what the Yankees need. Three years after the fact, they finally realized what they were missing.