BASEBALL

The most coveted free agent in baseball is, without a doubt, Albert Pujols.  He’s coming off a World Series win and is pretty much everyone’s unanimous decision for “Best Player In Baseball”.  The Cardinals definitely want him back, but it’s unclear if they can actually afford him.  And, after all, Pujols wanted a big contract going into the season, and they didn’t grant him one.  That may have left a bad taste in his mouth.  Now, he has two big suitors chasing after him.  First the Los Angeles Angels.  This team dominated the AL West until the Texas Rangers got good 2 years ago.  Having Pujols on their roster would get their big fan base excited and seriously increase their run totals.  The other suitor:  The Miami Marlins.  Yep, that’s right, Miami, as they’re re-branding their team to make their immediate city feel more involved.  They haven’t done well financially lately, and this is their shot to reinvigorate the franchise.  They just brought in Jose Reyes from the Mets, and getting Pujols would further enhance their attempt to pander to huge Latin fan base.  Although, it may be some time before we have a decision from Pujols.

FOOTBALL

And in college football, Stanford’s athletic director is being quite vocal about his disgust for the BCS system.  His team, who finished 4th in the BCS standings, will take on Oklahoma State, but won’t get a shot at the National Title Game.  He says that a “Plus-One Model” (meaning a 4-team playoff) is inevitable.
Also in college football, this is the time of year where some major coaching changes take place.  It seems like an odd time considering that some schools flush their head coach even though they’re headed to a bowl.  And it also works the other way, as good coaches heading to a bowl leave their school for another job that they won’t even assume until next year.  Seems unfair to the players.  The latest major change is at North Carolina — a school that had a burgeoning football program, and was expected to play very well this year, but completely fell off the rails after their coach Butch Davis was fired prior to the season.  Now, they’re bringing in Larry Fedora, a guy who led Southern Mississippi to a fantastic season and an upset win of undefeated Houston in the Conference USA Championship game.  This guy is a great coach who might be able to get the UNC program back on track.