A few things before vacation....

I'll be taking some time off beginning this Friday, so I am emptying my brain before I go.  Starting with....

The Bobcats coaching search.  Reports are out the Bobcats are down to three coach candidates.  Jerry Sloan, Brian Shaw, and Quin Snyder.  My gut says they go with Shaw, but I think Sloan is the right guy.  And for the record, these are only opinions.

All three have positives.  Snyder is young, and could be the spark to ignite a young team to get them going in the right direction.  Shaw has never been a Head Coach, but has been a solid understudy, and Sloan's record speaks for itself.

Here's the rub for the Bobcats.  They can not afford to miss on their next coach, or what they do with the number 2 pick later this month.  If this franchise is to move towards the goals set by owner Michael Jordan (contending for a top 4 spot in the Eastern Conference consistently, and threaten for a title after that), they have to hit it out of the park with every critical decision going forward.  That's a ton of pressure, but it is the reality.

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Feel badly for NC State baseball in coming up short to Florida.  They may not have won the series against Florida, even if they had won game 2, but losing that second game the way they did was gut-wrenching.  I applaud Chris Diaz for being man enough to apologize for his actions after the called third strike (which was a mile out of the zone by the way).  Diaz showed himself to be a stand-up guy, a leader, and a true representative of what college sports are all about.  He showed passion, emotion, and as he felt he crossed the line, he manned up, and owned it, and apologized.  Me?  I didn't think the apology was necessary.  He had a legit gripe, the ump blew the call, and I likely would have done far worse.  Good on Diaz. 

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Congrats to the Charlotte Knights on getting their assist from the City of Charlotte for a new stadium.  The Knights now face the chore of lining up remaining funding, getting a shovel in the ground, and putting a long overdue ballpark for Uptown.

If you follow me on twitter, you saw me going on and on about Monday's City Council meeting.  The one they voted in favor of the Knights funding.  That was the same meeting they voted down the city's budget.  I won't begin to try and explain all that is going on with the budget (not my lane), but when it comes to the stadium issue, I was amazed that Jerry Reese continued to stand behind a microphone, and lecture everyone about the need for a MLB stadium in Charlotte.

Calling Charlotte "a minor league city," is about as insulting as someone who makes a living here can be.  The National Football League's Carolina Panthers, and National Basketball Association's Charlotte Bobcats are on line one for you, Mr. Reese.  Last I looked the NFL and NBA were not Arena Football, or the NBDL.  NASCAR would also like to talk to you as well.  It's not ARCA, or other lesser known racing series that only race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  It's NASCAR.  You may have heard of them.

He also claimed that Charlotte was bigger than 12 other MLB markets.  12.  Well, since I have no idea what numbers he is using in that regard, let me just give you some of my data.  Charlotte is bigger than five other MLB TV markets.  FIVE.  Charlotte is 25th, Baltimore 27th, San Diego 28th, Kansas City 31st, Milwaukee 34th, and Cincinnati 35th.  By way of comparison, Orlando (19), Sacramento (20) and Portland, OR (22) also do not have MLB teams.  So I guess Orlando with the Magic, along with PGA Tour events is minor league.  Sacramento (the NBA's Kings live there), Portland (the NBA's TrailBlazers are there) are also minor league.  Orlando, Sacramento, and Portland all have minor league baseball teams, too.  They would like to talk to you as well, Mr. Reese. 

Other wonderful cities would be minor league too, I guess.  Indianapolis (26), Nashville (27), Columbus (32), and Oklahoma City (44) are on the list without MLB teams.  All of them, however, are home to pro teams that have competed for (and in the case of the Colts won) league titles.  All four of these cities also possess a AAA baseball franchise.

Another point about MLB in Charlotte.  Filling the stadium that many dates in the season.  If you watch Sports Night (like I know you all do), there are nights we show highlights of an MLB game, or NBA, or NHL, and the stands aren't full unless it's the playoffs.  The Atlanta Braves had trouble selling out playoff games when they were in the 14 year run of division titles.  I'm not knocking Braves fans about that, I'm just trying to prove a point.  If a team that enjoyed so much success had trouble filling their own place for a playoff game, what is there to suggest a new MLB team in Charlotte will get close to filling a new place on a nightly basis?  Bobcats games do not sell out, in part because the team has had one playoff run in its existence, and that was more of a warm-up than a run, since it ended in four games.

I know, I know...trying to talk sense is pointless at times.  Would I love another big league team to call Charlotte home?  Certainly.  Makes my unbelievable job even better.  Do I think MLB would be the right fit?  Not at all.  Too many variables, costs too high.  Guess that makes me minor league, too, eh Jerry?

The time has come for Reese to simply go away, or come clean with what he stands to gain from a MLB team coming to Charlotte.  He isn't doing this for the good of the community, because he has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars in lawsuits filed to prevent this park from coming up out of the ground, a delay of what, four years now?  I know he won't do that, but it's nice to at least ask.

Mike Solarte

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer, and do not represent the views of News 14 Carolina, Time Warner Cable, or anyone not named Mike Solarte.  If you agree, or even disagree with the blog, feel free to leave a comment

Sammy "Say it Ain't" Sosa

OK, this being an opinion blog, let me remind you that the opinions expressed here are mine, and mine alone, and do not reflect the views of News 14 Carolina, Time Warner Cable, and anyone connected with the station--from staff to advertisers.

That out of the way, if you thought Sammy Sosa was clean, and not using performance enhancers, then you also believe the earth is flat, and that the moon is made of green cheese.

Now, I speak from a bit of personal history on this. I am a Chicago native, and saw Sosa play for the White Sox. At the time, he was built like a greyhound. Sleek, muscular, and had the propensity to swing at just about anything. Hitters mature over time, and Sosa was no different. He became a little more selective at the plate upon his return to Chicago, but as a Cub. His greatest success came as a Cub, but also his most embarrassing moment. You remember the one, where he claimed that he grabbed a batting practice bat for an in-game at bat, right? The bat in question the shattered and upon closer inspection, was found to have cork in the barrel. I'm no scientist, and won't even claim to know what that will do to a baseball. I do know that Major League Baseball frowns upon that sort of thing, so I can only assume it's not good and definitely not legal.

Oh yeah, and when Sosa was a Cub, he was built like a monster truck. Not speedy. Hulking. I admit, with training, athletes will put on bulk. Even if they are doing it with the help of things that are within the rules, such as protein shakes, and such, they can put on plenty of muscle. Sosa outgrew the norm in much the same way as Barry Bonds, and even to a degree, Mark McGwire.

Now comes the revelation that Sosa tested positive for performance enhancers in 2003, as part of an MLB test to determine a baseline for a potential steroid problem. MLB was sampling players, and not disciplining them for a positive test. That alone boggles the mind, but remember, at the time, there was no drug testing policy in place, so players basically could do what they wanted. Sosa is reportedly 1 of over 100 players that had a positive result, and MLB had told the players that the results would be kept private. This test was for MLB to determine if there was a problem that needed to be addressed.

Here's the rub: If baseball was trying to find the problem, why did they maintain the records? If they were going to keep these results private, then they should have destroyed the records. Period. Would it have suppressed evidence? Yes, but they are now guilty of violating the players trust, as the results are becoming public.

The fact that Sosa, and 100+ baseball players reportedly were dirty at the time is not the fault of the players. At the time, they faced no punishment for this. Now, they face stiff penalties (finally).

Sosa and McGwire are credited with saving baseball, thanks to their epic season record home run race they waged. Admit it, it was fun to watch. I can't stand the Cubs, and even I liked what baseball was getting as a result of this. I wasn't blind to the fact that these 2 were probably juicing--you had to be blind not to at least think it. Still, the game benefited from their on-field exploits. The game owes them both for that.

However, the cost to the game now is big. Baseball is sagging behind other sports in America in popularity, and also in the number of youngsters playing it. When I was a kid, there weren't programs to "foster interest in the game." Baseball WAS the game. It's what you did on a summer day after school let out. You grabbed your glove, met your buddies at the park, chose teams, and played until the sun went down. There was no talk of contracts, endorsements, ESPN, or anything. You played. The stakes are now too high for players to just play--so few roster spots are out there, and so many dollars are on the line. Guys finding a way to be just a little better stronger, or faster was the norm.

The players did the game a disservice by using, The game did the fans a disservice by looking the other way. There is plenty of blame to go around, and sadly, there is likely more bad news to come. More names, more heroes, more tainted records.

Incidentally, there is one constant throughout the timeline.

Bud Selig was named Acting Commissioner of Baseball in 1992.

Mike Solarte

Big UPS!!!!

Jason Spells

So this is the beginning of something I hope will be a regular here on the News 14 Carolina Sports Blog, the BIG UPS column. We get hundreds of emails here in the Sports Department with some incredible stories from all across North Carolina. Sadly to say only a fraction we're actually able to cover. Well here’s my shout out to people doing big things in North Carolina Sports.

Raleigh Ravenscroft senior Ryan Kelly, the 6-10 power forward played on USA Men's Basketball U-18 team. The team earned the sliver medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Formosa, Argentina. Right now he’s looking at Duke, Georgetown, Notre Dame, UNC, Wake and Vandy for college ball.

Next up, the West Raleigh's 10 and under All-Star baseball team. Last week the team clinched a berth in the 10-U Cal Ripken World Series. These kids haven’t lost a game since June. That’s seven tournaments.29-games all with the W.

Alexander Givens and Alexander Long both from Raleigh. These two were invited to travel to England for Chelsea Football Club’s inaugural youth cup. Anytime Americans can take our soccer to England and play, that’s definitely doing big things.

And finally, NC Power Hockey, I’ve been emailing Jonathan Greeson for a few months now. And story behind these guys is just incredible. Please check it out…http://www.ncpowerhockey.com/.

There we go, keep the stories coming. BIG Ups to these guys!!!!