Texas Wins Big for Big East and more....

OK fans, you can take off your hard hats and come out from the bomb shelter. The decision by Texas to stay in a downsized, but more lucrative Big 12 means the aerial assault on college athletics has ended, at least for now.

Much like the aftershocks of an earthquake, the defection of Texas and subsequently Texas A&M and Oklahoma to the Pac-10 super-conference would have been felt across the nation, including the football poor, basketball rich Big East.

In the short term, the realignment would have likely added Kansas to the Big East, but the long term would have been a disaster. Composed of a handful of football/basketball schools and a plethora of basketball only (or FCS) football teams, the football heavyweights would be left in a bind, playing in a sub par BCS conference while the Pac-10, SEC and Big 10 ruled the land....relocation would be imminent.

As wonderful as the NCAA basketball tournament is (and I have argued for a similar format in football), the hoops revenue does not compare to that of football. Teams claiming to have football programs like Syracuse, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and even South Florida would be forced to move, taking some perennial basketball contenders out of the best hoops conference in the land...that doesn't even mention Notre Dame which is potentially a couple years from defection to the Big 10 itself.

Since Texas and its little brothers didn't run away from home, the balance of power hasn't shifted dramatically, and at least for now the Big East will survive.

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- The Jets need to sign Darrelle Revis. He deserves to be highest paid corner in the league and as the team has a history of blowing up these sorts of situations, they better act quickly on this. Signing key players, particularly fan favorites like Revis would help sell some of those PSLs the team can't seam to get rid of. Not to mention Revis is the sole Jets jersey I own (save Brett Favre).....

- Call me unpatriotic if you wish, but I am not into this World Cup. Any sport in which a tie is considered a good outcome, I'll have trouble watching. As Herman Edwards famously said, "You play to win the game."

- I still maintain that the Lakers will win the NBA Championship, but the player rotation has to change if it's going to happen. Paul Pierce walking in front of Ron Artest during foul shots late in the game reaffirmed what we already knew...Artest is a head case. After the incident, he missed 3 straight crucial foul shots and failed to foul Rajon Rondo, a bad foul shooter, late in the game, instead allowing Rondo to throw it back to Ray Allen, one of the best. Look for the offensively inept Luke Walton to play on offensive possessions late in the game for his decision making while Artest sticks to the only thing he is good at, defense.

Rest Assured: Could Innings Limit Bar Hughes from All Star Game?

As Phil Hughes, the Yankees young ace in the making takes the mound tonight, he will look to add to his All Star credentials, but the Yankees and Joe Girardi may have other thoughts.

Hughes has been brilliant this season, only Andy Pettitte has been better in the Yankees rotation and to this point, Hughes' numbers could warrant a trip on what could be a jam packed charter plane of Yankees headed for Anaheim this July.

Before tonight's start against the Orioles, Hughes' six wins were good for second in the AL. He is fifth in the league with a 2.70 ERA, third in WHIP at 1.06 and has a team leading 57 strikeouts in just 56.2 innings of work, not bad for a guy making his first full run as a starting pitcher.

But even though his numbers seem deserving, if he is not voted one of the five top starters by the players, Hughes' fate as an All Star will be directly in the hands of his (and the AL team's) manager and taking him could be risky.

The Yankees, for better or worse have put Hughes on an innings limit this season, likely somewhere around 175. While in typical Joe Girardi fashion nothing has been released, it has been rumored that the team is planning on using scheduled off days surrounding and including the All Star break to give Hughes a sort of "midseason rest" helping to limit his innings and keep him strong for the stretch run.

If this is indeed the case, Girardi is caught between a rock and a hard place. If he selects Hughes for the game, he doesn't need to have him actually pitch, but in baseball, the all star game decides home field advantage for the World Series so having useable pitchers on the roster is certainly a factor. If he doesn't take Hughes he runs the risk of upsetting his young star, especially if Hughes clearly deserves it.

Frankly I am not a fan of innings limits in general, though I do believe this plan makes worlds more sense than the disaster employed to ruin Joba Chamberlain last year. My view is let him pitch in the game, one or two innings won't hurt Hughes and in fact with a long layoff, getting some meaningless innings in might actually help keep him fresh.

Girardi however, has the final call and if Hughes is lucky, the call will be his name on the bullpen phone.