After Dodgers owner Frank McCourt was able to win a reprieve in bankruptcy court Tuesday to maintain day-to-day operations, Major League Baseball is now looking to seize control of the cash strapped ball club.

According to the Associated Press, a person familiar with the leagues plans says that the league will probably file a motion to seize the Dodgers. The team has been operating under the oversight of a monitor appointed by league commissioner Bud Selig in April.

Baseball’s Constitution does state that the commissioner can seize control of a team that files for Chapter 11. However the League must first file a motion seeking termination of the franchise.

Now it’s unclear if and when that motion will be filed but Judge Kevin Gross asked attorneys representing Selig to give him a copy of the constitution since it has an impact here.

Frank McCourt proceeded with bankruptcy after Bud Selig shot down a multibillion-dollar TV deal with FOX that McCourt was counting on to keep the franchise afloat.

Source: Associated Press, ESPN.com

As the end of June draws near and payrolls are due, the Los Angeles Dodgers have filed for filed for Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code “in order to protect the franchise financially and provide a path that will enable the club to consummate a media transaction and capitalize the team.”

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has found hardships meeting the financial obligations for the team ever since he went through a rather nasty divorce with his wife Jamie McCourt.

Frank McCourt thought he found a solution to the financial problems with the team when he was ready to sign a television deal with Fox Broadcasting. MLB commissioner Bud Selig however shot down this deal. McCourt cites this as the reason for the Dodgers going bankrupt.

“The Dodgers have delivered time and again since I became owner, and that’s been good for baseball,” McCourt said in a statement.  “We turned the team around financially after years of annual losses before I purchased the team. We invested $150 million in the stadium. We’ve had excellent on-field performance, including playoff appearances four times in seven years. And we brought the commissioner a media rights deal that would have solved the cash flow challenge I presented to him a year ago, when his leadership team called us a ‘model franchise.’ ”

The Dodgers were once valued the third most valuable team in the MLB at an estimated $800 million. The Yankees and Red Sox topped that list which was released by Forbes.

Now while under Chapter 11 protection the Dodgers reassured the public and Major League Baseball that they would continue to operate in the “ordinary course of business.” This means that all Dodger employees will continue to be paid with all employee benefits will continue to be honored.

According to McCourt, “The Chapter 11 process provides the path on which to position the Los Angeles Dodgers for long-term success.  The process will allow us to focus on maximizing value in a manner that is transparent and driven by the best interests of the Los Angeles Dodgers and our fans.”

The last MLB team to be under Chapter 11 protection was the Texas Rangers back in 2010. They were eventually purchased by a group led by former Texas Rangers great Nolan Ryan.

There is a rumor that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is interested in purchasing the Dodgers from McCourt.

Source: Yahoo Sports, NBC Sports

Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was savagely beaten during opening weekend last weekend at Dodgers Stadium reportedly sent text messages to friends and family saying he was scared inside the stadium.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Stows family who spoke outside the LA County-USC Medical Center, where Stow remains in critical condition in a medically induced coma indicated that they received text messages minutes before the assault.

In the text message, he said he was “scared inside the stadium,” his cousin John Stow said, adding: “He doesn’t use that term loosely.”

A short time later, after the game had ended, the 42-year-old paramedic and father of two walked out to look for a taxi and was attacked so brutally that he remains in a coma with a brain injury.

Stow’s family also mentioned that the assailants do not represent Dodges fans as a whole.

“We would like to use this as a rallying cry to stop unnecessary violence in our greatest pastime and all other sports, not only here but abroad,” said John Stow, wearing a Giants cap and jersey. “So I ask for one last thing on behalf of Bryan — that we all enjoy a safe and competitive and exciting year of baseball.”

He described the beating as “a terrible tragedy done by cowardly people,” but said he is reassured by people who are outraged and appalled.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department as many as 100 people could have witnessed the assault take place. To aid in helping them catch the perpetrators, the LAPD has set up a tip line and has offered a $100,000 reward, which also includes $50,000 from the Dodges for information leading to the arrest of the individuals involved.

Below is the police sketch of the two individuals believed to have been involved in the beating.

Source: Los Angeles Times, NBC Sports

Andrew Bynum returned to the Lakers and will be in the lineup Friday night after serving a two game suspension when they take on Clippers.

Bynum also had plenty to say about that two game suspension for his flagrant foul on Michael Beasley last Friday night.

“I didn’t think what I did was deserving of it,” he said Thursday after Lakers practice. “I don’t think I really did anything too wrong. It was unfortunate that the guy fell the way he did and got hurt. But at the end of the day, sometimes fouls happen.”

Bynum was ejected for the flagrant in which his forearm sent Beasley sprawling to the court. After taking two free throw attempts, Beasley left the game. The Lakers went on to beat Minnesota as well as their next two games without Bynum including an 84-80 decision over Portland and a triple-overtime 139-137 victory over Phoenix.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Bynum is averaging 13 points, 13.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots in his last 10 games.

Source: Los Angeles Times

USC  has reinstated their head basketball coach Kevin O’Neill after being suspended for the Pac-10 Tournament.

Athletic director Pat Haden announced the decision Sunday.

According to the Associated Press, O’Neill was suspended by the University after USC’s semifinal loss to Arizona where he got into a verbal altercation on Friday with his wife and a Wildcat’s booster. The altercation reportedly took place at the teams hotel Thursday night.

Haden believed that the suspension served it’s purpose but did make it clear that the University may still implement further punishment and fines.

In a statement by O’Neill he says that his wife and himself regret the embarrassment they caused USC. He says he made a “serious error in judgment” Thursday.

#6 San Diego State exercised the Brigham Young demons of the 2010-2011 campaign with a decisive 72-54 victory over the #8 Cougars at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas tonight and claimed their second consecutive Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship.

Billy White had 21 points and 12 rebounds in the Aztecs’ winning effort.  Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and nine rebounds as well for SDSU.  Jimmer Fredette, less than 24 hours removed from his 52-point performance against New Mexico, scored 30 points in the losing effort for BYU (30-4). 

The Aztecs (32-2) took advantage of poor shooting by the Cougars, using constant defensive pressure and forcing BYU into bad decisions, opened up a 60-37 lead mid-way through the second half.  Fredette, not looking tired from the stellar Friday night performance, led a ferocious 15-2 charge to bring the Cougars back to within 10 points with just under five minutes remaining.  San Diego State pulled away with a 10-2 run to end the game.

The Aztecs avenged their only two losses on the year, both at the hands of BYU 71-58 at the Marriott Center in Provo January 26th and 80-67 at Viejas Arena in San Diego.  The mood on the Thomas & Mack court in Las Vegas and on Montezuma Mesa in San Diego this evening was sky high, as Coach Steve Fisher and the 2010-2011 version of the San Diego State Aztecs will raise another Mountain West Championship banner to the rafters of Viejas Arena. 

Fredette was named Mountain West Tournament Most Valuable Player, averaging 32 points a game.  His 52 point effort against the Lobos on Friday night is the highest in nation through Saturday night’s action.

 The tournament appearance is Brigham Young’s last one as a member of the Mountain West Conference.  They will return to the Western Athletic Conference this fall.

So where will the committee place the Aztecs?  Though the official announcement will be Sunday afternoon, many experts expect SDSU to be a #2 seed. Coming into the conference finals, the Aztecs had the #3 RPI rating and BYU was #4.  They are 2-2 against Top 25 opponents, defeating Gonzaga on the road and going 1-2 against BYU.  The Aztecs have impressed the masses and the statistics do not lie.  The question is whether or not the NCAA Tournament Committee is paying close attention to what is happening out here in Southern California.

When people think of professional teams in Los Angeles they will most likely think of the Lakers, the Dodgers, or the Los Angeles football team that “should” be there. The Los Angeles Kings are often put on the back burner, but they have quite the team this year. They are 8th in the Western Conference standings, which isn’t great, but they’re in the playoffs at the moment. So, making the assumption that they will win the Stanley Cup within the next five years is strong possibility. To some it’s a stupid statement, but here are three factors that can propel a team from average to being great, and the Kings possess them all.

1. They have up and coming talent on defense

The Kings have some great defensive talent on their squad. They have future NHL superstar in Drew Doughty, who has displayed and uncanny skill set for only being 21 years old. They also have Jack Johnson, who is young like Doughty, and will provide some defensive help in the future. These guys are still newcomers to the NHL, and it will take another year or two for them to show their true skills. Matt Greene is another key for the Kings, and he should be a big part of their future success. In five years he will be 32 which could still be considered prime for an athlete. All in all, if the Kings use their draft picks on defense, they will live long and prosper (Star Trek reference everybody).

2. Jonathan Quick is between the pipes

When a team has a strong defensive core, than things really gel together nicely. But when that core gets injured or underperforms, than it could cause a franchise to get sick their stomachs. The benefit for the Kings is that they have a great goaltender in Jonathan Quick. He’s posted up a 28-17-2 record, which is 7th in the NHL. His save percentage is .918%, which is higher than most of my grades! He is having his best year save percentage wise, and last year he put up 39 wins, so he has shown he is not a one-good-season-and-done player. Plus, at the age of 2 he will most likely be the franchise’s goalie for a long time. Things are looking good for the Kings between the pipes.

3. An offense full of lamplighters

The Los Angeles Kings might have to put some money aside to buy some more red light bulbs, and it won’t be because Jonathan Quick is letting everything by him. The Kings offense can make even the best defense look silly. They have Dustin Brown, who reminds me of a younger Cal Clutterbuck, but Brown puts up more points. Anze Kopitar is their big name franchise player who puts up points as if he thinks he is Kobe! Kopitar has 65 points so far this year, and is ranked 11th in the league in the points category. He is an assist guy as well! He has dished out 45 assists and is ranked 5th in the leaue. Justin Williams is also a guy who flies under the radar when the Kings are brought up. Williams has 52 points, and has put 21 biscuits in the correct basket (goals). I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a big name soon.

As I have clearly stated, the Los Angeles Kings have plenty of young potential on both the offensive and defensive slots on their roster, and they have a great young goalie to hold down the fort. I will stand by my earlier statement with full confidence, and in time you will see that I was right. The Los Angeles Kings will win the Stanley Cup, and it will happen before these next five years come and go.

Fed up with one-year deal after one-year deal and no long-term security, Vincent Jackson does have a point.

The 28-year-old wide receiver is one of the league’s best at a position that plays to his 6’5” stature. Jackson, a seasoned veteran, sat out a good portion of the season in 2010, and the Chargers as a result suffered mightily. A team that is a perennial Super Bowl contender took a nosedive into third place early in the season, and Philip Rivers’ late-season heroics weren’t enough to rescue this team from playoff irrelevancy last season. Vincent Jackson’s worth to the offense, however masked by the stats of such targets as Seyi Ajirotutu and Randy McMichael, was only quantifiable in the win-loss column.

It is not enough to say that Seyi Ajirotutu’s 4-catch, 111-yard, 2-touchdown performance against Houston for example, neutralizes what Vincent Jackson could have done in that game. Just because Ajirotutu posted a nice set of numbers against Houston doesn’t tell of the offensive schemes that San Diego could or couldn’t run with Jackson sitting in street clothes. Jackson’s mere presence on the field opens up one side of the field for Philip Rivers, while giving star tight end Antonio Gates the opportunity to get some one-on-one matchups. Vincent Jackson, or any top-flight receiver for that matter, can’t be measured in entirety by how many balls they bring in or touchdowns they score. While it is helpful to measure their individual prowess, the numbers don’t tell of the plays Norv Turner can run with Jackson on the field.

Jackson is a big-bodied receiver who has built tremendous rapport with Philip Rivers. Rivers is one of the game’s best at his position, and he needs to have adequate help around him if the Chargers have any shot. This is the latest NFL trend, and we saw evidence of it in Arizona. If you don’t make the playoffs with start players, than they are probably not being given the weapons they need around them to succeed. Arizona coach, Ken Whisenhunt, even asked star wide-out, Larry Fitzgerald, who to bring in at quarterback in the interest of maximizing Fitzgerald’s performance. As per Arizona, when a star player has the necessary tools around him to succeed, chances are good that the team is a fierce playoff competitor. Philip Rivers needs a star receiver like Vincent Jackson to keep the offense flowing and the playbook all the way open. Rivers can pass to basically anyone for 111 yards and two touchdowns, but it’s Jackson that makes the difference by way of game planning and scheme for San Diego.

Don’t be fooled by the numbers that one may throw at you about how the Chargers’ offense and defense were top ranked and that the special teams was the ultimate downfall of the team. Certainly, it hurts a team to let up a few special teams touchdowns every now and again, and Leon Washington’s single-handed takedown of the Chargers brings back painful memories for Charger fans. But, there is no way that a dismal special teams effort could make a Super Bowl contender into a non-playoff team. In Green Bay, the injury bug hit the special teams unit and the Packers turned in a bad year on special teams, but won the Super Bowl nonetheless.

The problem in San Diego was that Rivers could put up whatever numbers he wanted, at one point challenging Dan Marino’s single-season yards record, but without Vincent Jackson on the field Rivers could only lead an offense that feigned explosiveness to mask its severe limitations.

The truth is, the Chargers offense put up a lot of yards, but was actually a unit handicapped by deficiencies; which started at wide receiver and the loss of Vincent Jackson. With the offense flowing through Jackson and Gates as it had in 2008 and 2009, the Chargers were a true playoff-caliber team. Take away the top receiving threat, and the San Diego offense is a shell of its former self.

San Diego gave Vincent Jackson the franchise tag in a move to preserve the passing prowess of San Diego’s offense, but the receiver would prefer long-term security over one year of a top-five salary.

To find Vincent Jackson’s true worth he must be compared to a few players with newly minted contracts with comparable circumstance. One such player is Cowboy wide receiver Miles Austin. Austin is the number one receiver on a team with a franchise quarterback and a top-five tight end similar to the Chargers. The Cowboys are a perennial Super Bowl pick as well, and they recently rewarded Austin for one great year with a gargantuan contract. Granted, Austin is two years younger than Jackson, but the Dallas Cowboys signed Austin for six years and a total of $54 million. Jackson understandably wants a similar deal. He won’t whine this year, and is willing to compromise for the best of the football team and his impending free agent status, but Jackson wants a long-term deal.

For a guy whose offense goes from division-winning to not-quite-playoffs when he’s not on the field, Vincent Jackson does have a point.

The Los Angeles Lakers are on top at the moment; however the signs of aging are starting to rear its ugly face.

Derek Fisher is 36, Kobe Bryant is 32, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom are both 31, and Pau Gasol and Matt Barnes are 30.
Age has not become a real problem yet, but in the next couple years, it will.

Being such a strong team, the Lakers are unable to use the draft to re load on potential filled youngsters that facilitate the continued success of a team when the starters leave or retire. Instead they are forced to acquire these prospects via trade or free agency, and unless they accomplish this over the off-season and throughout the next couple seasons they may be faced with a dive down the standings.

The average player age on the Lakers is currently 29.5 years. Andrew Bynum (23), Shannon Brown (25), Derrick Caracter (22), and Devin Ebanks (21) are the only players on the current roster under 30 years of age.
Andrew Bynum, provided he can stay healthy, and Shannon Brown if he stays in LA, certainly have bright futures. However, once the starting core finally sputters out are these really the two guys that the Lakers want to build their team around? The duo of Bynum and Brown is not even tops in Los Angeles let alone the NBA.

Also, with Andrew Bynum’s history of injuries, and Shannon Brown possibly entering free agency this off-season with the chance to be a starter somewhere, I am convinced that there is much that Lakers management needs to accomplish in order to ensure a brighter future for the team.

On the flip side, even once Phil Jackson is gone the Lakers will remain contenders for another two to three seasons if they try to keep consistency on the roster, and continue to make minor tweaks as they did last off-season. Than once Kobe and company retire they need only dip into the free agent pool and pull out a star caliber free agent, say Chris Paul or Dwight next year…Right?
I feel that we often times we give the Lakers management far too much credit when it comes to being able to land the big name free agents, and as a result we do not fully understand the situation at hand.
Yes, I do think that the Lakers will make a big push for Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, or Deron Williams next year. However, what happens if they cannot sign any of them?

The Lakers do not have the best track record when it comes to signing free agents, and if you look at the last couple of years many of their big name acquisitions have come via trade, notably Pau Gasol.
In addition, with a new collective bargaining agreement on its way it will be far more difficult to form a super team like in Miami or Boston, and instead the Lakers will need to build a deep talented roster filled with young players two or three years away from becoming solid NBA players. This will be crucial, because if the Lakers continue with what they have now, there will be nothing for them to fall back on should they under perform in free agency.
Conclusion: Win now or win later?

If Lakers’ management starts planning ahead now and works to come up with a long term strategy that will allow them to shave a couple years off their age, all while continuing their winning ways, the Lakers will be able to win both now and later, and ultimately they will succeed in making a smooth transition into the post Kobe era which means they will remain contenders even after Kobe and company hang up their shoes for good.

For the first time in conference history, the Pac-10 conference will combine the men’s and women’s tournaments in Los Angeles.  The host sites for the Pacific Life Pac-10 Tournament will be Staples Center and the Galen Center and get underway tomorrow.

Staples Center will host the entire men’s tournament, with the #7-#10 and #8-#9 games being played tomorrow. Stanford, the #7 seed Stanford will play #10 Oregon State at 6PM PT (TV: FSN) and Oregon will play Arizona State at 8:30PM PT (TV: FSN).

The winner of Stanford-Oregon State will play the #1 tournament seed, Arizona, on Thursday at 2:30PM PT (TV:FSN) as part of a four game men’s quarterfinal schedule.  The winner of Oregon-Arizona State will play #2 UCLA at 6:00PM PT (TV: FSN).

The other two games of the quarterfinals will pair #4 Southern California again #5 California (TV: FSN) at Noon PT and #3 Washington will take on #6 Washington State at 8:30PM PT (TV: FSN).

The semifinals will be at 6:00PM PT and 8:30PM PT on Friday, with the finals being played at 3:ooPM PT (TV: CBS).

The Galen Center will host the first and second round women’s tournament games on Wednesday and Thursday. The conference’s top two seeds, Stanford and UCLA, have first and second round byes and will not play until the tournament reaches the Staples Center for the conference semifinals on Friday afternoon. Saturday’s final will be played at 11:30AM PT (TV: FSN).