So Bill Self won a national championship, and like any college coach who wins a title, a more lucrative offer lurks for him.

Kansas will pay him, there’s no doubt. But his alma mater, Oklahoma State, will shell out nearly 4 million bucks to get him - about a mil and a half more than what KU will offer him.

The chorus among the sports media talking heads is to not sellout. And that is what is ticking me off.

You know you would leave your job in half a heartbeat if you were offered 80 percent more money to do the same thing you’re doing now. It would be irresponsible not too. But with Self, it’s not quite that simple.

The only reason Self would stay at Kansas is that he can be much more successful there. If you were a basketball recruit (I know, I’m asking you to be a lot of different things; just bear with me) would you want to play in the basketball Mecca of Allen Fieldhouse in a basketball-crazed state, or would you want to play in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Under any conceivable circumstance would you ever want to live in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Also, lest us forget the current high-profile coach at OSU is this guy. (Got to the 2:02 mark to get right to the good stuff… but frankly the whole clip is the greatest thing ever. What a turd.)

So if Self stays in Kansas - that should be the reason. Not for some outdated, self-important notion of “selling out.” But because Stillwater is a vapid wasteland where Mike Gundy is king and the Cowboys will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, be able to compete with Jayhawks in terms of signing recruits - especially not now after winning a national title.

As for “selling out,” let these media people get huge offers from a different paper/network/website. Let’s see what they do.

Well, some would say the 28 or so years leading up to that one week would also prove the whole idiot thing. But the baseball season is hammering the point home.

The Detroit Tigers, World Series Champions in Eddie World, are 0-6, four games behind the Kansas City Royals. Baltimore has the best record in the American League.

At least some stuff is going according to plan. The Brewers are kicking butt and taking names and the Diamondbacks are in first place. And apparently I just found out who this chick is. So some stuff is going right.

Quick aside: What’s the deal with anointing every hot tennis player the next Anna Kournakova (yes, I used her name just for a cheesecake shot. Sue me.) Everyone was so quick to give that crown to Maria Sharapova until something funny happened - she actually turned out to be good. And hence my not including gratuitous links to her photos - too much repsect for her, unlike Anna and that Aloha chick or whatever.

And, we’re back. And it ain’t just teams that are doing shockingly good or bad. Remember when Joe Mauer nearly won a batting title? Well, two catchers lead their respective leagues in batting - A.J. Pierzynski and Jason Kendall. I thought Kendall retired three years ago. Ben Broussard leads the AL in homers. David Ortiz is hitting .115. Miguel Cabrera is batting .111, with teammate Placido Polanco at .087. What is going on?

Well, the easy answer it’s just a week. Almost everything discussed here will adjust - not the Brewers, because they’re for real - but the Tigers and various sorry hitters. The worst time to go into a slump is April - then everything is magnified. Just ask A-Rod - October is the time to slump.

Due to the raging popularity of yesterday’s all-80s team, here is “Derrick” and mine all-90s team. However, I will change his pseudonym to “Derek.”

This time, we knew it would be blogged online. So we tried to minimize the overlap. There was just one player neither one of us would give up - Ken Griffey Jr. I even relented on Greg Maddux to get Randy Johnson - and I could argue I got the best of that one.

We also counted only non-roid guys -  or at least, their non-roid stats. So Clemens only counts up until 1997, Bonds until 1998. And for those of you wondering about Belle or A-Rod, we mean proven users.

So here are the lineups for our teams, then some analysis. You decide how much more awesome my team is than “Derek.”

“Derek”                                                        Me

1. Roberto Alomar, 2B                        Craig Biggio, 2B

2. Tony Gwynn, RF                              Ivan Rodriguez, C

3. Ken Griffey, Jr. CF                          Alex Rodriguez, SS

4. Frank Thomas, 1B                           Ken Griffey, Jr. CF

5. Barry Bonds, LF                              Albert Belle, LF

6. Mike Piazza, C                                 Larry Walker, RF

7. Harold Baines, DH                         Jeff Bagwell, 1B

8. Cal Ripken, Jr. SS                           Chipper Jones, 3B

9. Wade Boggs, 3B                               Edgar Martinez, DH

SP Clemens, Maddux, Glavine          Pedro, Randy Johnson, Smoltz

CL Trevor Hoffman                            Randy Myers

Once again, I load up on the offense. Larry Wayne Jones batting eighth? That’s a good team. And I hate Larry Wayne. I also have a power staff, where as behind Clemens, he has finesse guys. Did you know Randy Myers led the league in saves three times in the 90s, not to mention his work as a setup guy for the Reds? That said, Hoffman is tough to argue with.

And like last time, there were some hard omissions. There’s no Jim Thome, Chuck Knoblouch, Dennis Eckersley, Kenny Lofton, Joe Carter, Manny Ramirez, Andres Gallaraga, Derek Jeter, Barry Larkin, Cecil Fielder or Mo Vaughn.

Given all the posts to yesterday’s blog, this one should get even more. Enjoy.

Not that Spring Break is a slow time in the office, but talk today turned - not to monkeys playing poker - but to an all-80s baseball team.

And since I have apparently become the official office stenographer, here is that team.

We went with a DH, a three-man pitching staff, and a closer. And there were a few unanimous choices - Gary Carter catching, Eddie Murray at first base, Ryne Sandberg at second, Reggie Jackson at DH and Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens on the hill.

And then the debate began. I go with an all-power lineup. Ripken at short, Schmidt at third and an outfield of Jim Rice, Andre Dawson and Dave Winfield. Give me Lee Smith closing and Steve Carlton, who won two Cy Young awards in the 80s.

A co-worker of mine, let’s use the alias Derrick, insists Rickey Henderson must be on the team, taking him over Dawson and Tony Gwynn over Jim Rice. He too goes with Winfield. He’d also take Dave Stewart as his No. 3 starter, who would actually be my No. 4 guy if that was an option. He’d also have Sutter close. Wade Boggs would play third for him with Ozzie Smith at short.

(Note: Two other of my co-workers participated. Boss Man’s team would essentially be the 1984 Detroit Tigers - Guillermo Hernandez included - while the Golf Pro’s team would feature sentimental and fun picks like Will Clark and Wally Joiner. He’d also take George Brett at third. But “Derrick” and I got ultra-competitive on who’s team would win.)

So here are the lineups and the one different starter

“Derrick”                                                Me

1. Henderson, CF                                   Dawson, CF
2. Gwynn, LF                                          Sandberg, 2B
3. Boggs, 3B                                            Murray, 1B

4. Murray, 1B                                         Schmidt, 3B

5. Winfield, RF                                       Jackson, DH

6. Jackson, DH                                       Rice, LF

7. Sanberg, 2B                                        Winfield, RF

8. Carter, C                                             Carter, C

9. O. Smith, SS                                       Ripken, SS

P Stewart                                                Carlton

Cl Sutter                                                  L. Smith

How do you stop my lineup? With Dave Stewart pitching is a step in the right direction, but that’s still is not enough. Not counting Murray, Carter, Sandberg, Jackson and Winfield - the five overlap guys - my other four players have 1,799 home runs and a career batting average of .280.

Carlton may not be as intimidating or as clutch as Stewart, but he was a winner. Stewart pitched for three teams before Oakland and never won a Cy Young. His four different guys - Smith, Boggs, Henderson and Gwynn - have 578 total homers. His biggest bopper in those four, Henderson, had 297. My weakest, Rice, has 382. He does have me by a mile in batting average, with his group hitting .302. Plus, Ozzie - a .268 hitter for his career with 28 career home runs - brings a top level of defense at short (although Ripken was no slouch and much better at the plate.)

Obviously, I think my team has the upper hand. They’ll slug the crap out of the ball, where as “Derrick” will depend on doubles, steals and Dave Stewart thinking it’s a playoff game.

Just for fun, here were some other names tossed out there, serious or not: Lance Johnson, Dave Parker, Jack Morris, Dwight Gooden, Fernando Valenzuela, Goose Gossage, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Kirk Gibson and Tom Henke.

If I had readers, I’d ask you to post your team or your thoughts on my chances against “Derrick.” But since I have no readers, I’m crowning myself champ.

Once again, please allow me to differentiate between blogging Eddie (Bleddie) and journalistic Eddie (Jeddie). When (Jeddie) covers a game, he is the consummate professional. He doesn’t take sides. He’s like Switzerland - totally neutral.

But this is a blog, and this is by Bleddie. So I’m gonna talk about local teams and players, but my opinions are not reflected in print. I promise.

Anyway, the GVR is seemingly wide open. I’ve been very impressed by Kofa so far - and they’ve been doing well despite one of their best players in a slump. Preston Burrell’s ERA has ballooned his past few starts, and he’s now batting under .300.

But when he gets back on track - and there’s little doubt he will - the Kings will be a force. Not that they’re not already. They took two of three from Yuma and still have three left against each Cibola and San Luis. And with Sergio Sanchez dominating on the mound and at the plate (check out a feature Jeddie wrote on him that will run this weekend), I think they probably have the best chance to win the region.

But let’s not count out the Cibola Raiders . They’re fresh off a throttling of San Luis in the GVR opener for both. They struggled early, but are seventh in power points (Kofa is fifth) and, although having played just one game, are perfect in region. Oh yeah, they’ve also dominated the past eight years, so counting them out is as stupid as comparing a golfer to a football team.

As good as those two are, San Luis will not get swept by anybody - they may not have a clutch hitter; essentially fielding a lineup from one to nine of a group of number 2 hitters (not a lot of power, but anyone can get a single. At least in the games I’ve seen them the play.) That will keep them in games. If they can figure out their fielding, they’ll probably hang around their current No. 8 spot in the power points.

And for a team with a six-game losing streak and just one win in power point games, Yuma showed with a win over Kofa Wednesday, they should not be taken lightly. With Brock Jacobo on the mound, they can beat anybody. Their offense has struggled, but in the aforementioned Kofa game, Alex Stratton - the eight-hole hitter - hit a grand slam in a 6-3 win.

Probably what happened in boys soccer will happen in baseball - three teams will make the postseason, with the fourth just missing out. Of course, Bleddie is rooting for all four to make the playoffs. Jeddie, on the other hand, just wants to see some good baseball.

Both might get their wish.