KANSAS -- Arlen Specter wants to investigate "spygate" and further shame Bill Belichick. Glory-seeking Bay Area prosecutors hunt Barry Bonds like he's Moby Dick.

Meanwhile, the NCAA and its member institutions continue to rape young men -- mining them for their basketball and football gold -- and play dumb and powerless whenever the academic fraud that powers their revenue-generators is unearthed.

I don't know or care whether Kansas basketball forward Darrell Arthur had grades changed while he was a prep star in Texas. It's really irrelevant. We all know it happens. In a country filled with jock-sniffers, no one should be startled that teachers and administrators want a whiff, too.

And, in all honesty, I can understand the logic that would drive a well-meaning person to conclude that one boy's dislike of or struggle with algebra shouldn't keep him out of college and on track for a huge NBA payday.

No. Darrell Arthur isn't the bad guy. Neither are the people who may have protected his NBA future.

The bad guys are the people running the NCAA who refuse to acknowledge that their current system is almost completely void of consistent academic integrity, the people unwilling to recognize that it's criminal to allow the young men who generate all the money to rot in academic wastelands until age 18.

The NCAA knows that nearly all of its member institutions recruit a good handful of kids in football and basketball who are totally unprepared for college.

When you're talking about elite-level hoopers -- kids in Rivals.com's top 250 -- I'd venture to conservatively estimate that 70 percent of them are unprepared academically.

I'm not talking about meeting minimum eligibility requirements. I'm speaking of hitting campus ready to take advantage of the full academic experience a university has to offer.

They're not ready. They need almost 24-hour tutoring or remedial courses.

They've been shuffled through the education process since grade school, either because no one cared or they demonstrated athletic talent at an early age.

The NCAA knows this. Kids get grades changed. They get someone to take their SATs. And what does the NCAA do?

It has a joke "clearinghouse" that examines transcripts and occasionally questions the academic integrity of teenage basketball factories disguised as prep schools.

And when a TV-ratings-driving kid slips by the clearinghouse and is later exposed, the NCAA shrugs its shoulders, pretends it can do nothing and blames the high school.

Well, the NCAA can do more. It should be forced to do more. It owes the Darrell Arthurs of the world more than that. The basketball players are the reason the NCAA inked a gigantic contract with CBS.

The contract is so large that the NCAA is able to provide welfare to all the nonrevenue sports played by kids who look nothing like Darrell Arthur.

The NCAA should be spending money on Arthur's education long before he arrives at Kansas.

The NCAA should finance basketball and football academies for elite athletes starting in ninth grade for football players and eighth grade for basketball players.

You want athletes prepared for college? Prepare them yourself. Don't leave them to rot in poor schools or with jock-sniffing teachers. Get involved with them before the street agent.

Take a significant interest before they've covered themselves in tattoos and owe a debt to someone who cares little about their intellectual evolution.

This current system is broken. Everyone can see it. Players enroll with the intention of turning pro as soon as possible, preferably after a year so they only have to pretend to be a student for one semester.

No one should be surprised that USC one-and-done guard O.J. Mayo may have accepted money from an agent. Why not?

He didn't come to USC looking for an education or ready to get one. The NCAA tried to pay Mayo in a currency (education) that he probably couldn't use and didn't respect. The kids are about the money.

That's all they've heard about. That's what we preach.

The NCAA preaches "free" education but declines to take the common-sense steps to make sure its most vulnerable and valuable athletes can accept what's being given to them.

It's like taking a toothless man to an awesome steakhouse and getting irate when he doesn't enjoy the food and only wants to drink.

And yes, I purposely avoided addressing the notion of whether the NCAA should strip Kansas of its NCAA title if it's proven Arthur or Kansas officials knew Arthur's high school transcript was bogus.

What? Give the title to the dean's list honorees at Memphis? Hell, Davidson might be the only high-quality team in the tournament worthy of the title if across-the-board academic integrity is a requirement.

BLACK MAN
FOR SALE

ALFONSO SORIANO &
YANKEE $$ MACHINE



PICK OUT THE BLACK
BALL PLAYER ABOVE

Don't get all Flustered and out of joint with today's Headline. It's there to get your attention as it should. The person completely Lost in all the media Buzz about Alex Rodriguez being bought by the Yankees ( that's right bought pure & simple ) and the new 'team' ( sic) of Jeter & Arod - the person Lost is the only one is the story with shinning Black skin Alfonso Soriano.

Yes Jeter & Rodriguez are players of Color. Jeter half African American, half white, and Arod Dominican. Still you put the two of them together on tv in commercials as we are now sure to see, and with the right lighting viewers will think they are looking at two All American young men from Kansas. Just the impression Desired.

Soriano on the other hand you can call the Blackest Yankee if you like. So are we saying Steinbrenner is letting him go because of skin color. Absolutely not. Just that he is being thrown overboard by the Yankees and he is the Blackest Yankee. There is a clear distinction between the two, and as much a deeper Message.

Here is the Point. The Yankees could have also bought Arod in a heart beat in return for Derek Jeter. The Yankees would never have done that. Jeter has been marketed as the Image of the Yankees, Soriano has not. But you say Jeter is the better ball player and more important to the future of the Yankees. We say WRONG.

Soriano more than Jeter has been the heart & soul of the Yankees on the field in the game these last three years but you'd never know it for the Yankee PR machine. Nor by Soriano's paycheck. Even before the Rodriguez deal Soriano was in line for a Box over the scandalously low pay he has received from the Yankees even with his new just one year deal. Yes just one year. Not a contract to insure he would stay a Yankee.

Soriano has literally carried the Yankees for long stretches over the last three years yet the Steinbrenner Money Machine has been paying him less than $1million a year. They may well pay their head groundskeeper more. In a new one year deal he was scheduled to make $5.4million after taking the Yankees to arbitration and gaining the largest arbitration salary increase in MLB history.

Soriano appeared on the Yankee scene when New York was desperate for a new second baseman after 2000. Even though Soriano was a shortstop prior in the minor leagues he did fine at second base, much more with his bat, and spectacular base stealing. By comparison Jeter will be 30 in a few months while Soriano just turned 26. Jeter has a lifetime all important Slugging % of .462 to Soriano's .502. In 8 full time seasons Jeter has 128 home runs. In just 3 full time seasons Soriano has 98 home runs. Jeter has averaged 77 RBIs a season over his career, Soriano 90 RBIs.

Soriano then just 23 when he began playing full time, now 26 was and is the complete package. He became the team's anchor as lead off batter even though with his power and his production he deserved to bat third or fourth. In that slot, and much more likely to have runners on base ahead of him rather than coming up first, then hitting after the 7th, 6th, and 9th place batters, his batting average and home run production could have zoomed even Higher.

Finally after howls of complaints the Yankees abruptly placed him hitting 3rd for a short period in 2003 and when he did not adopt spectacularly to the sudden change in mid season ( rather than intelligently at the start of the season and after spring training in that role ) he was sent back to lead off.

Here is the even Bigger Point. There is no better Talent on the New York Yankees nor more exciting a player than Alfonso Soriano. He has had some slumps, who hasn't, and he needs to work at striking out less, just like lots of other outstanding batters, but he is the Complete Package. With adequate attention, treated with the respect he has earned but does not receive from Steinbrenner, Soriano has ( now it appeared had ) the potential over the next decade to become one of the 3 or 4 greatest Yankees ever.

Except that ALL the other Yankees who are at the Pinnacle as the greatest Yankees ever are white. So again are we saying Steinbrenner is a letting him go because of skin color. No we are saying he is letting him go while he would not trade others like Jeter or Giambi even to get Arod but he will Soriano. And Soriano is the Blackest Yankee, and arguably the most Talented.

Ladies & gentlemen, girls & boys, sports fans it is the same story over and over and over again. Rather than not even knowing it exists in cases like this, and even though you will never read it anywhere else, give the obvious some Thought.

Our position again and again is to raise the issue of 21st century style Racism. Not over racism of the past. Not an unwillingness to associate with Black Americans. Something more insidious and less visible. Opportunity denied.

Sure you can't fault Steinbrenner for destroying professional baseball by eliminating the entire foundation of sports which is legitimate competition, unless you want to. This is different. We contend that certain players are not expendable on the Yankees even to get the great Alex Rodriguez as we have named above.

In fact the best team that money can buy could have constructed any number of packages the Rangers would have found attractive to dump Rodriguez, his salary and his disinterest in playing for Texas. In fact many teams would have decided Alfonso Soriano is not up for trade under any cir****tances. His long term potential maybe as great or greater than Arod.

In fact the easy trade would have been Rodriguez for Jeter which the Rangers would even more quickly have accepted. Each team trading their starting shortstop for another starting shortstop who each preferred to have. Instead what do we have. The best player in baseball today Arod is now forced to play a position he has never played in his life third base.

That is worth repeating. Instead what do we have the best player in baseball today Arod is now forced to play a position he has never played in his life third base. And the Yankees will have to scramble to find somebody anyone worthwhile to play second base and be another stand out in the Yankee line up. They will not be any kind of a substitute for Alfonso Soriano !

This deal is definitely not good for Baseball. And raises other troubling questions as to why Boston was prevented from making a comparable deal, the deal of a lifetime, for some ridiculous technicality not worth discussing, but a Yankee trade sails through unopposed.

And yes it's not good for the Yankees if they were a real baseball team that had a long term strategy, and cared less about buying World Championships no matter what the cost to them or Baseball.

But inevitably the saddest part of this depressing story is the one player who is the part of it who is being largely ignored and discounted Alfonso Soriano.

If there was anything to the vaulted and ever more phony Yankee Tradition, Soriano should be a Yankee now and forever, rising to Greatness in the Bronx. Not available for trade under any cir****tances. A player who should have been offered a long term contract equal to or better than Jeter's, but wasn't.

And very soon Alfonso Soriano will no longer be the Blackest Yankee.

COMPARE BOBBLE HEAD DOLLS
SORIANO RODRIGUEZ JETER

NEW YORK -- Disgraced basketball referee Tim Donaghy told investigators in the NBA betting probe that relationships among officials, coaches and players "affected the outcome of games," his attorney said. The league said the charges were unfounded.

Donaghy

Donaghy's attorney made the assertions in a letter filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Monday, in which he argued that his client should be sentenced to probation because he fully cooperated with prosecutors and has been undergoing treatment for his gambling addiction.

The attorney also suggested that Donaghy told investigators about the gambling activities of other NBA officials and about a referee that passed "confidential" information to an unidentified coach.

The attorney, John F. Lauro, wrote that the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District agreed to plea agreements with other defendants in the case, even though his client told investigators about NBA matters outside of the government's initial investigation. Lauro said the disparity in treatment could not be fully explained because prosecutors have "surrounded this case with a cone of silence."

In a footnote, attorney John F. Lauro suggested that the NBA might have "pressured" the attorney's office "into shutting down this prosecution to avoid the disclosure of information unrelated to Tim's conduct."

The U.S. attorney's office said Tuesday it has no comment.

In a footnote, the attorney suggested that the NBA might have "pressured" the attorney's office "into shutting down this prosecution to avoid the disclosure of information unrelated to Tim's conduct."

"The letter filed today on Mr. Donaghy's behalf contains an assortment of lies, unfounded allegations, and facts that have been previously acknowledged, such as the fact that certain NBA referees engaged in casino gambling in violation of NBA rules," said Joel Litvin, the NBA president for league and basketball operations, in a statement. "The letter is the desperate act of a convicted felon who is hoping to avoid prison time."

The 42-year-old veteran referee pleaded guilty last August to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he officiated. Donaghy's sentencing was pushed back to July 14 on Monday; by law, he faces up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, though the term could be much lower under sentencing guidelines.

While citing Donaghy's commitment to his family, charitable activities and positive feedback for his career as a referee prior to his "tragic fall from grace," his attorney said that his client's "aberrant conduct" can only be understood in the context of his gambling addiction, a "crippling disease, which prevented him from exercising complete rational self control."

Lauro wrote that Donaghy is taking steps to get treatment for his condition, including therapy with a gambling counselor and attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

"Without a doubt, Tim made significant errors in judgment, but he also tried to right the wrongs of his conduct by assisting the government and seeking treatment for his disorder," Lauro wrote.

THE NEW DARRYL STRAWBERRY

Darryl Strawberry has been

up and down up and down

up and down

This Spring he is UP again. As a springtime instructor with the Mets. A  FULL time instructor FULL time with the Mets for the first time since  1990. When  Strawberry last played for the Queens based franchise. Since then he  has been up and down up and down. With a faltering career then cancer  and drugs and all kinds of problems.

No doubt the highlight of Strawberry's entire career indeed his life  was the Season of 1986 when he ws the SuperStar who propelled the New  York Mets to their last World Series. Long ago and far away and the  biggest Ticker Tape Parade in modern New York City annals bigger than  any the more frequent New York Yankees can boast.

Since his Baseball Days Darryl has spent a year in prison following a  cocaine possession conviction and violating parole. A number of broken  marriages. He has been convicted of Tax Evasion. And on top of that  Colon Cancer twice. For a long while you could have called Darryl  Strawberry a Dead Man Walking. Now he is a Survivor at 46.

And looking very good and fit

some say he looks like

he could play !

And once spring training ENDS he will switch to yet another new role New York Mets AMBASSADOR to the World. Well at least the Mets World in and around New  York City. Making goodwill appearances for the team and whatever else  makes sense.

Beyond the Mets not surprising he has his own Foundation named of  course The Darryl Strawberry Foundation. The purpose to assist kids  with Autism. As Darryl puts it, "I never  realized what children with autism went through until I went in  there and saw it. It touched me. It's made a big  difference in who I am and how I see things.

That is really all there is

we can't make this into

more of a Story then it

is Good Luck Darryl

THE OLD STRAWBERRY

Jose Mendez

NEW HAVEN, Ct.---Jose Mendez was perhaps the first Latino baseball legend ever. In his homeland of Cuba, they called him "El Diamante Negro," The Black Diamond.

From 1908 to 1914, Mendez was one of the greatest Negro League pitchers, along with Rube Foster and Smokey Joe Williams.

Born on March 19, 1887 in Cardenas, the slightly build (5-foot-8) Mendez threw hard (he reportedly killed a teammate when he accidentally hit him with a pitch in the chest in batting practice) and had a "jug handle curve."

In an exhibition game in 1908 he beat Christy Mathewson and Eddie Plank, both Hall of Famers. That same season, the Cincinnati Reds came to Cuba and Mendez beat them 1-0 on a one-hitter.

In 1910, he and Rube Foster pitched to an 11-inning 4-4 tie. A year later, he beat Smokey Joe Williams 1-0 in extra innings. His record against American teams in ?08 and ?09 was 44-2, and in his career he won more than 70% of his decisions.

Going into 1914, Mendez hurt his arm and became one of the best shortstops in Black baseball. Mendez signed to play for the famous All-Nations team that also featured fellow Cuban superstar Crisobel Torriente.

After several seasons barnstorming the Midwest with the All-Nations, Mendez came to the Kansas City Monarchs where he probably achieved his greatest fame.

From 1920 to 1926, Mendez managed, pitched occasionally, and played shortstop. With Mendez at short, the Monarchs won three straight pennants from 1923 to 1925.

In 1924, the Monarchs beat the Hilldale Daisies of Darby, Pa. in the inaugural Negro League World Series.

In that series he pitched in four games, winning two without a loss. In the deciding game Mendez went the distance in a shutout win, despite being warned not to play by doctors following surgery.

On October 31, 1928, Mendez tragically died of pneumonia at the tender age of 41 in Havana, Cuba. He would later be elected into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

During the first quarter of the 20th century, there was arguably no better pitcher than "The Black Diamond". That was the opinion of many, including the great major league manager John McGraw.

It was in Cuba that "El Diamante Negro" regularly beat the greatest major league pitchers in exhibition games. Sometimes, when Mendez walked into restaurants in Cuba, people stood up and clapped.

With this look back at his great career, we at BASN humbly give the great Mendez his final standing ovation.