Babbling does what he does best

Since I’ve been buried in my books all week and weekend, and since there doesn’t appear to be anything pressing that needs to be addressed in this week’s column, I want to babble a bit about some random sports events of the past couple weeks.

What the hell is going on at the University of Colorado? Are these allegations for real? How does a football program spiral this much out of control? What I’m amazed by most is that after the first rape accusation, five more females jumped out into the public eye with similar accusations. I don’t know about other Amherst and NESCAC athletes, but I was not offered free girls on my recruiting visit here. (At least none that I will admit to.)

What the hell is going on at the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial? How many more witnesses need to sit on the stand and say that they saw Williams wipe off the gun and that Williams told them to claim the limo driver’s death was a suicide? Whether or not Williams meant to kill his limo driver is immaterial. Whether he consciously tried to cover up the death is what’s important. Good luck in jail, Jayson.

The Washington Redskins could be a powerhouse in the NFC next season, whether you want to believe it or not. If they can successfully acquire Clinton Portis from the Broncos, the ‘Skins will be a force to be reckoned with. Joe Gibbs already has the national spotlight on him, next is the playoff spotlight. I like the direction in which the Redskins are going.

Keep an eye on Barry Bonds this season. I don’t expect him to have a 50-home-run season, I expect him to either hit 25 or to hit 75. He’s lost more than his steroid-selling trainer in the past year; he’s lost his father. Bonds’ play this summer could be inspirational; he may be playing not only for his father, but to prove to everyone once and for all that he’s not on steroids. He’s already come forward and said that he’d welcome daily steroid tests-now he needs to show that he can hit 70 home runs while simultaneously taking drug tests. Other upper-body building sluggers should take a page from Bonds and Gary Sheffield and show the fans once and for all that baseball is clean.

Does anyone know what the over-under is on how many episodes ABC will run of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s new reality TV show, “Benefactor”? Cuban is supposedly going to give away $1 million to a lucky man or woman. “The right person is going to get on my good side at the right time, and whoever that is is going to walk away with a check from me for $1 million,” he said. Does this rule out David Stern from winning the contest?

Did George Steinbrenner buy Danny Ainge? That’s about the only logical explanation left after Ainge has mysteriously traded away everyone and everything on the Celtics not named Paul Pierce. It’s almost as if Ainge and the Celtics have decided to tank the season and take their chances with the lottery. How else do you explain their pathetic, uninspired play of late? Let’s just say that John Carroll hasn’t exactly had a Lawrence Frank-type effect on the Celtics’ play. Right now, the Celtics don’t play any defense and they stand around on offense watching whoever has the ball. The only bright spot at the moment is the consistent shooting of Ricky Davis (47.6 percent field goal percentage as a Celtic). Paul Pierce has not been the same shooter or slasher that he was last year, and it’s painfully obvious how much he misses the respect Antoine Walker demanded on the perimeter. The Celtics also have no point guard after trading away Mike James, the only player besides Pierce to start every game this season. With a rookie, Marcus Banks, at the point for the rest of the season, the Celtics lack the court general that all good teams rely on down the stretch.

The Detroit Pistons are absolutely stacked right now. Ben and Rasheed Wallace are the most intimidating one-two punch in basketball right now. Can you imagine if you added Carmelo Anthony to this team? If Larry Brown can’t win the Eastern Conference with the Wallaces, Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince, I think Brown’s Hall of Fame plaque should be taken down.

Is anyone else ready to just scrap the NHL season, drop 10 teams, hold a league-wide draft this summer and start all over again? Who could possibly argue that this solution would be worse for the NHL and for hockey than what looms ahead in the offseason? The NHL is a mess and no one seems ready to step up and fix the problems.

I love the Red Sox. Did I ever mention that? If I had my way, Curt Schilling would already have a statue of himself sitting on Lansdowne Street with the World Series trophy in his arms. I can feel it. This is the year. I’m beginning to believe that last year’s tease of a Cubs-Red Sox World Series was just that, a tease. This year, however, will be the real thing. Can you even imagine the pitching match-ups? Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Greg Maddux versus Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling and Derek Lowe. If those aren’t the greatest playoff starting rotations in the last 50 years, I don’t know what is. Someone please knock me out now and wake me up in October.