Go ahead and say it, I already know what you’re thinking: “Aaron, are you really giving us a ‘Things To Look Forward To In 2012 List?’ You’re only like the 3,000th sportswriter to do that this week. Geez, get an original idea. I thought you were better than that.”

First of all, I’m not better than that. But more importantly, come on, lighten up, it’s the New Year! Besides, I could give you a list of 500 things to look forward to in 2012, and it would still be more entertaining, and end quicker than last night’s Baylor-Washington game…which I still can’t believe happened by the way.

All bad jokes aside though, I really do think 2012 could be a banner year for sports. We are in line for quite possibly the most exciting NBA season in recent history, the most exciting NCAA Tournament of my lifetime, and a fantastic Summer Olympics. Not to mention the return of the best pro football player on the planet (Peyton Manning, who we all know will play- and play well- in 2012), the changing address of the best baseball player on the planet (Albert Pujols) and the mental breakdown of the best basketball player on Earth too (I fully expect Kobe Bryant to pull a Tonya Harding and have Troy Murphy clubbed in the knees by the end of February. Mark that down, it will happen.)

Granted, 2011 was a fun year. But there’s plenty more ahead in 2012.

Here are 50 story lines that I’m excited about, plus my BCS bowl game picks… no comments

 
The MLS announced a couple of rule and scheduling changes on Sunday that will be in place for the 2012 season. Here is a breakdown of the new rules...

1. The MLS Cup final will no longer be a neutral-site game at a location predetermined before the season started, instead the match will be played at the home venue of the participating team with a higher regular season point total. 

2. The top 5 teams in each conference will qualify for the post-season without wild card spots. This year, the top 3 teams from each conference qualified for the post-season plus an additional 4 wild card spots that could have came from either conference. Thus, the #4 and #5 seeds will play one match for the right to play the #1 seed in the Conference Semi-Finals. 

3. Just like the Conference Semi-Finals, the Conference Championships will involve a two-leg series instead of a single game. This season the playoff format shifted from a two leg Conference Semi-Finals to a one game elimination match in the Conference Finals. 

Learn about the new regular season scheduling after the jump.... no comments

I have a major problem with sports talk radio. It's a boring, rote, banal format which has given us the guy above...

and this ass clown...

And this waste of airwaves staffed by clowns.

I remember when I was first exposed to sports talk radio years ago when the format hit Detroit in the early 90's. It was an oasis for sports fans. 24 hours a day of talking sports? COOL! But it was all downhill from there. A race to the lowest common denominator listener.

Today? You have to wade through hours of insipid commentary before you accidentally run into something thought provoking. Sports talk radio is little more than a aural lobotomy. A headache inducing waste of time.

I have 15 reasons why.

1. Man talk: I do not want to hear a 30 minute discussion about your favorite Halloween candy or your most embarrassing date. I couldn't care less about what you watched on TV last night (even more so if it's something as lame as "Dancing with the Stars," "X-Factor" or "American Idol"), if your softball team won, that time you drank too much in college, or that you think Lindsay Lohan is a hot skank. Even worse, when these topics are brought up, every yahoo with access to a Tracfone feels the need to call in and tell an equally boring story.

"There was this one time....I got candy corn for Halloween! I didn't eat it. Did you?"

And by the way, no comments

PART 1…

So you want to be a sports agent? You saw Jerry McGuire, just like I did, and got inspired, just like I did, and thought to yourself, I WOULD LOVE to do that; just like I did. And just like a majority of aspiring sports agents out there, reality hits you in the face like a young Mike Tyson not only fighting to defend his title, but after you called him a very bad name right before the fight; Just like it did me.

Yesterday on twitter, a young man by the name of Edward Piontek asked NFL Business Analyst Andrew Brandt, “What advice would you give someone looking to become a sports agent?” Mr. Brandt’s response was short, honest, and to the point. “Have thick skin and a thicker wallet”. A Simple answer,  yet a very true one.

I apologize in advance for the length of this article. But a lot of the emails say that they have read articles, but not really understood the issues involved with becoming an agent. So I will try to break it down for you as thorough as I can. no comments

DAN WHELDON DIES OF INJURIES SUSTAINED IN 15-CAR CRASH AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

What was supposed to be a time of celebration has instead turned into a time of great sorrow as Daniel Clive Wheldon, one of INDYCAR's most beloved champions, is no longer with us.  

On Lap 11 of today's IZOD IndyCar Series season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a fiery crash ensued and collected 15 cars, putting the race under a red flag. Among those in the incident, the 33-year-old Wheldon was the most severely involved as his car went airborne and slammed into the wall and catchfence in Turn 2. He was eventually airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

Roughly two hours into the red flag period, INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard announced that Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, a former series champion, a husband and a father of two young boys, had died of his injuries. 

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family," said Bernard in a brief press conference at the track. 

Bernard then said that the drivers and teams had decided to cancel the rest of the race. Shortly after, the remaining drivers and their cars then ran slowly in three-wide formation for five laps in honor of their fallen peer and friend, with crewmen lining up along pit road and the songs "Danny Boy" and "Amazing Grace" playing over the track's PA system. no comments

Another friendly in the books for the U.S. and yet again another disappointing result, especially if you factor in the momentum gained from the Honduras win and the fact that the U.S. played some great football in the first half.

The result left a rather sour taste in the mouths of U.S. fans and players alike, but as Jurgen Klinsmann put it,"This is a very good experience for us...important for the players to understand that one little thing can change the game and decides the game."

Unfortunately for the U.S. that one "thing" that decided the game was Walter Ayovi's cross to his cousin Jaime Ayovi, which resulted in a beautifully headed goal. What makes it even worse is that it was Tim Ream who lost his mark and allowed Ayovi to latch onto the cross. That's the type of season Tim has been having with national team and his club team, the New York Red Bulls.

When asked about brining Ream into the game in front of his home town fans, Klinsmann said, "We throw him in now in a moment like that because he needs to smell that level, he needs to get a taste of it, he needs to make minutes in order to learn." no comments

Changes to team uniforms in sports have become serious news stories in recent weeks.  From Maryland's state flag themed home unis vs Miami to Nike's new wave of Pro Combat unis (which are starting to get weirder and weirder from some schools, see Georgia andOhio State) and the recent leak of a possible new (and disgusting) Florida Marlins logo, switching up your uniforms has become cooler than ever. Here is a list we put together of teams that will hopefully be making switches in the near future. We're not going to suggest any changes, we aren't graphic artists, we're just going point out what stinks about their current situation.

First up are the Arizona Diamondbacks...or D-Backs as they are often referred to as.  I certainly applauded Arizona for ditching the purple pinstripe vest look which always reminded me of that gang The Warriors but what I don't understand is the organizational acceptance of shortening the name to... D-Backs. Diamondbacks is cool. Snakes are cool. Everytime I see,  D-Backs, It sounds like D-bags. The Arizona D-Bags... And its not just a moniker used by fans and broadcasters, D-Backs is right on the uniforms.  You're in a pennant race, we can't take you serious running around sliding in to second base and having a sandy D-Bag all over your chest...



The D-Bags were bad but so are the Tennessee Titans.  In Greek mythology Titans were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary Golden Age... Apparently in Tennessee they are some office supplies set a blaze. The logo resembles more of a flaming thumbtack then a powerful giant.  They should have just stayed the Oilers in the first place because keeping their color scheme is just a tease.  Besides, oil rigs have just as much to do with Nashville as Greek gods. no comments

The purpose of a friendly in international soccer is to try new things.  These are not games that should be solely judged on the final scoreline --despite the fact that FIFA rankings do take them into account-- but rather by what sorts of innovations happen on the pitch.

Friendlies are nothing more than scrimmages that everyone gets to watch.  The outcome doesn’t determine tournament placings or World Cup Qualifications.  In a way, we are watching the try outs for Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad.

With that in mind, the 1-0 loss to Costa Rica was not as bad as it felt.  The USMNT outplayed Costa Rica for the majority of the game.  They dominated possession.  In the first 30 minutes, they looked like a top 10 team in the world with excellent ball movement.  However, they just could not finish off several opportunities.

The next game is in Belgium, on Tuesday.  Landon Donovan will not suit up, but Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo, and Kyle Beckerman will all be available for that one.  While preparing for Belgium --realistically a tougher opponent than Costa Rica-- these 11 points should be considered when thinking about this practice game. no comments

The US will look to rebound from their disappointing 1-0 loss to Costa Rica against a highly talented Belgium squad (tomorrow @ 2:30pm ET, ESPN), who will be hungry for a win as well after a disastrous 1-1 draw in Euro qualifying. Fans will get a chance to see if Klinsmann’s new passing-intensive link up play can withstand the pressure applied by the world class players Belgium puts on the field.

The Belgian side is chock full of young talent but they have yet to see that talent transfer into results on the pitch. Belgium currently sits third in their Euro 2012 qualifying group behind Germany and Turkey. The Belgians have one qualifying game left and will need a lot of help from Turkey in order to qualify for the Euros.

As for who to watch on this Belgian side, well there is quite a few young talents on this team, starting with Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku is a physical specimen and is already being called the "second coming" of Didier Drogba. This is very high praise for an 18-year-old, but he has all the raw attributes to become a player of that caliber. Then you have Eden Hazard, who helped lead French side Lille to a league title last season. Hazard is a very skilled and speedy winger who has been tracked by various top clubs across Europe, including Arsenal.

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Jurgen Klinsmann's debut as manager of the U.S. National team was full of ups and downs. The expectations were certainly not high, as the U.S. were matched up against a team that had thrashed them not so long ago. Klinsmann set the tone from the start when he decided there would be no names on the back of the U.S. players jerseys. You could certainly feel a new sense of invigoration in the team with Klinsmann unveiling a fresh new brand of U.S. soccer. There are a plethora of things that can be learned from this game, but for now I am going to focus on three specific things...

1. Landon Donovan is most effective playing through the middle

For just about three quarters of the match Landon Donovan was being deployed as a wing player. During his time on the wing Landon struggled to find the game and get the service he needs to be a dangerous, playmaker. Landon is arguably the most lethal US player, Dempsey being the other, and if he is not involved in the attack then there is almost zero chance the U.S. can create scoring opportunities.  

When Klinsmann made a few lineup adjustments and moved LD to a more central role just underneath the lone striker a tremendous change in the U.S. play occurred. In Klinsmann's post-game on-field interview with Rob Stone, Klinsmann harped on the fact that Donovan needs to have the ability to let the game come to him.

Donovan was allowed the freedom to drift into different sections of the field to find the ball and open up space for other players. This was evident late in the game when LD found space centrally and was able to turn and run at the center of the Mexican defense. Then when a defender committed to stepping to Landon, he calmly slid a through ball for Brek Shea to run onto. Shea nearly finished off the play with a wonderful goal but Ochoa was up to the task. It's plays like that which make me believe Landon is best off playing centrally. no comments