Sometimes it's best if you don't involve the general public in your decision making processes.  The New York Mets learned this one the hard way.

Before the season started, the Mets decided that they wanted to have their own signature eighth inning sing-along tune - you know, like the ones a lot of teams already have.  So they put together an online poll on the team website to ask fans to choose their favorite for the spot from a list of six tunes.  It was a tough call: do you go with Livin' On A Prayer, Sweet Caroline, Build Me Up Buttercup, or I'm A Believer?  All good choices.  Or would they go with the cheesy late 80's song, Never Gonna Give You Up, by Rick Astley?  Do I even need to tell you which song was the runaway winner?

Let's set aside the fact that Sweet Caroline is synonymous with the Boston Red Sox, so using that song would be borderline sacrilege.  But anyone working in some sort of public relations position in 2008 ought to have known about the phenomenon that is rickrolling, and should be fired for opening themselves up to get rolled.  It shouldn't have been a surprise to them that the song received over five million votes.

For those who aren't familiar with the term (i.e. those that have a life), Wikipedia described it as when "...a person provides a link they claim is relevant to the topic at hand which actually takes the user to the [Rick] Astley video."  So it's basically an embarrassing prank.

Having a tremendous amount of distaste for the Mets, I think this is absolutely hilarious (shockingly, the team has said they'll re-open the vote - who would have thought fans might not like it).  But I say, the phenomenon has all sorts of potential.  Why stop at rickrolling?  How about seaverolling?  Or walshrolling (summer season style)?  How about whamrolling?  Or gibbrolling?

The possibilities are endless.

The Bengals will have plenty of needs as they enter the NFL Draft at the end of this month. From defensive tackle to wide receiver, the team has holes to fill on both sides of the football. The team has a great opportunity to make a splash in the draft as they will have 10 picks in two days, that's as many as the other three teams in the division - the Steelers, Browns, and Ravens - combined!!!

Here are what some of the mock drafts out there are saying:

NFLDraftBlitz.com (Listen to Tony Conty w/us on the Pro Football Face-Off on GetSportsRadio.com)
DT Sedrick Ellis, USC - The Bengals need tons of help in that front seven.  A lack of talent due to unwise free agent decisions, bad drafting, suspensions and injuries have left the Bengals thin up front. Ellis should add some stability to an unstable defense.

Scout.com
DT Sedrick Ellis, USC - The Bengals desperately need help on defense, especially at linebacker and defensive tackle. USC's LB Keith Rivers had a great performance at his Pro Day and solidified himself as a top-ten pick, but the Bengals have to get a push up the middle and another Trojan, Sedrick Ellis, will provide it.

FootballFutures.com
DT Glenn Doresy, LSU - Dorsey slides a little and the Bengals could not be happier. Dorsey is an impact interior lineman and will help the Bengals immediately.

OTHERS
Ourlads - DT Sedrick Ellis, USC
Huddle Geeks - DT Sedrick Ellis, USC
Draft Daddy - DE Derrick Harvey, Florida
NFL Draft Notebook - LB Keith Rivers, USC
The Sports Xchange - DE Derrick Harvey, Florida

The 2007-08 season hasn't even been over for a week, but that doesn't mean that it's too early to already start thinking about next year.  Don't rule Kansas out for a repeat, but North Carolina still tops many analysts' lists, especially if Tyler Hansborough returns for his senior season.

Rivals.com didn't hesistate to put out their list:

1. North Carolina (36-3)
2. UCLA (35-3)
3. Memphis (38-2)
4. Texas (31-7)
5. Kansas (37-3)
6. Connecticut (24-9)
7. USC (21-12)
8. Purdue (25-9)
9. Kansas State (21-12)
10. Gonzaga (25-8)
20. Ohio State (24-13)
25. Xavier (30-7)

This press release was issued by the school on Friday: 

Xavier University men’s basketball head coach Sean Miller announced today that junior center Charles Bronson has decided to transfer from XU.

“I want to thank Coach Miller and his staff for the opportunity I was given at Xavier,” said Bronson. “My goal in coming to Xavier was to graduate and play basketball in hopes of continuing my playing career beyond college. In my post season meeting with Coach Miller a mutual decision was reached to transfer from Xavier to a program where I’ll be able to achieve those goals. I am on track to graduate and the opportunity to earn playing time at another program is what led to this decision. I want to thank my teammates, coaches and the Xavier community for their continued support as I move forward with my college career.”

Bronson played in 16 games this season, his first as a Musketeer, while averaging 2.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.3 minutes per games. The highlight of his season came when he hit 4-of-5 from the field en route to a career-high 11 points against Virginia.

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Bronson's departure creates the needed scholarship for transfer Terrell Holloway, who is leaving Indiana to play point guard for Xavier next season.

One glaring trend that is developing with the Reds during this early season is their ability to drive runners in. In Friday's 1-0 loss in Pittsburgh, the Reds stranded 12 runners.  The team wasted good pitching, including five shutout innings from Edinson Volquez.

Edwin Encarnacion left seven runners on base alone on Friday night. If the Reds are seriously going to make a run in the NL Central, they need their RBI guys to start doing their jobs. There are a few Reds that are producing with runners in scoring position, but not the guys that are being counted on.

The Good
Corey Patterson - .429 (3 for 7, 5 RBI in such situations)
Brandon Phillips - .417 (5 for 12, 4 RBI)
Jeff Keppinger - .333 (3 for 9, 5 RBI)
Paul Bako - .300 (3 for 10, 3 RBI)

The Bad
Adam Dunn - .111 (1 for 9, 3 RBI)
Edwin Encarnacion - .167 (1 for 6, 3 RBI)
Scott Hatteberg .200 (1 for 5, 2 RBI)