So the Kevin Garnett sweepstakes has expired, and Boston landed the big ticket.
That sucks.
First of all, the specifics: Minnesota sent KG to Boston in exchange for Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, two future first-round picks, possible cash considerations and a partridge in a pear tree.
GREAT deal for the Celtics. Their Big 3 - KG, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen - is the most high-powered line-up of big names in the NBA (over Nash, Amare and Marion in Phoenix) and the second best set or triplets in sport today (behind the Colts' Peyton, Marvin and Addai). They immediately become contenders in the East and could give Phoenix, Dallas or San Antonio a tough match in the Finals.
For the rest of the league? Not so good.
I don't like the deal for Minnesota...but I understand it. They finally decided to re-build, so they get a few decent young guys (I like Jefferson and Green), two draft picks and a fat expiring contract. That said, I still don't understand why they didn't try to build around KG instead of dealing him.
They had one of the best players of his generation, and they never gave him a team that could contend. You have to give them credit for knowing when to fold the cards, but I still don't know if this was the best deal for them.
Two other teams that got screwed over here, but no one seems to have mentioned yet:
The Lakers. Remember how Kobe Bryant said he wanted KG on his team, or he wanted out? Well, uh, it's clear that he ain't gettin' one of those. Nor will he likely get the other one.
The Suns. Phoenix wanted to team KG with Nash and Amare (or Marion) to be the hands-on favorite to win the NBA title next year. Didn't happen. It doesn't make sense for the Suns to try and work a deal with the Lakers - who would they want from LA - so they're stuck with the team that got their tails kicked by the Spurs.
There was one other winner today: my Pacers. Indiana's been trying to send Jermaine O'Neal to Tinsel Town for Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, but LA hasn't been biting. If Kobe stays unhappy (which, if we know anything about Kobe, he will be), he'll want the Lakers to do something. Adding his good buddy (and All-Star) J.O. fits the bill. With KG out of the picture, this could (God willing) lead to Jermaine getting out of town and the Pacers starting over.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
RIP, Bill Walsh
Football lost a legend and one of the greatest minds in the sport's history today with the passing of Bill Walsh. He was 75.
Walsh was a football genius, inventing the West Coast offense most pro (and college) teams run today. Establish the running game, then march down the field with short, dink and dunk passes. The key was passing on the sidelines to open up the middle for more rushes or play-action.
Sound familiar? It's the blueprint for what Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts did to get to the Super Bowl. Rush Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes up the gut, then toss it to Dallas Clark, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne on the wings. Peyton and Co. took it to a new level with the no-huddle, but the basic idea came from Walsh.
As good as he was a coach, Walsh was even better as a mentor and a mind. Aside from perhaps John Wooden, Walsh's coaching tree is the greatest pedigree in sports history.
Of the 32 current NFL head coaches, 11 have ties to Walsh by either playing or coaching under him. Or coaching under someone who coached under him. Or coaching under someone who coached under him. You get the idea.
Walsh won three Super Bowls in the '80s as a coach for the 49ers, but his proteges have won twice that many (one each for Tony Dungy, John Gruden, Brian Billick and Mike Holmgren, and two for Mike Shanahan). And that's just the ones still in the game.
Walsh had the foresight to snatch Joe Montana in the third round of the NFL Draft - not because he was the most talented, but because he was bright enough and could learn his offense quickly enough. Safe to say that that move paid off. Oh, by the way, he also drafted Jerry Rice, the best player since Jim Brown.
His passing is a sad day for the world of sports. My sympathies to his family - his relatives and the football family he built during a lifetime of service.
Walsh was a football genius, inventing the West Coast offense most pro (and college) teams run today. Establish the running game, then march down the field with short, dink and dunk passes. The key was passing on the sidelines to open up the middle for more rushes or play-action.
Sound familiar? It's the blueprint for what Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts did to get to the Super Bowl. Rush Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes up the gut, then toss it to Dallas Clark, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne on the wings. Peyton and Co. took it to a new level with the no-huddle, but the basic idea came from Walsh.
As good as he was a coach, Walsh was even better as a mentor and a mind. Aside from perhaps John Wooden, Walsh's coaching tree is the greatest pedigree in sports history.
Of the 32 current NFL head coaches, 11 have ties to Walsh by either playing or coaching under him. Or coaching under someone who coached under him. Or coaching under someone who coached under him. You get the idea.
Walsh won three Super Bowls in the '80s as a coach for the 49ers, but his proteges have won twice that many (one each for Tony Dungy, John Gruden, Brian Billick and Mike Holmgren, and two for Mike Shanahan). And that's just the ones still in the game.
Walsh had the foresight to snatch Joe Montana in the third round of the NFL Draft - not because he was the most talented, but because he was bright enough and could learn his offense quickly enough. Safe to say that that move paid off. Oh, by the way, he also drafted Jerry Rice, the best player since Jim Brown.
His passing is a sad day for the world of sports. My sympathies to his family - his relatives and the football family he built during a lifetime of service.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Is Tony Stewart the best Hoosier ever?
Some friends and I used to make fun of those Subway commercials with Jared and NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart, saying that those 30-second TV spots showcase two of Indiana's greatest legends. Jared went to school at IU and lost hundreds of pounds eating sandwiches in Bloomington, while Stewart was born in my hometown of Columbus and still lives there.
Although it's a total caricature, it's comical to think of Tony, a NASCAR driver, as one of the finest citizens of a state best known for its corn, there's a kernel of truth to it (Get it? Kernel...kernel...). Love him or hate him, Stewart is one of the best drivers in the country's top racing circuit. He's won the Winston/Nextel Cup Championship twice, and he won his second race at the Brickyard today. Keep in mind that last time he won at Indy, my hometown had a parade in his honor (which I helped cover at The Republic).
Stewart's win today got me thinking: Where does Tony rank among the best Hoosiers in sports today?
Let's find out. Here's my top 10 list of athletes with Indiana ties.
A couple quick clarifications: I stuck to current athletes, so no coaches (sorry, Cam Cameron) or coaches (that means you, Mark Cuban). Also, I extended the list to include players who went to school in Indiana - not just native Hoosiers.
10. Adewale Ogunleye: DE, Chicago Bears. One of the biggest reasons the Bears' D was the best in the league. He went to the Pro Bowl in '03, playing opposite Jason Taylor with the Dolphins and racking up 15 sacks. Only had 6.5 sacks last year, but still got 'da Bears to 'da Super Bowl. Who would have thought an IU grad would ever do anything in the NFL?
9. Scott Rolen: 3B, St. Louis Cardinals. The Jasper native was the second overall pick in the 1993 amateur draft and played with the Phillies. He was one of the best third basemen in the league, but also a self-centered jerk. Pretty decent pro career, winning a World Series ring with the Cardinals last year, but has only hit over .300 once.
8. Mike Conley Jr.: PG, Memphis Grizzlies. The other freshman from Ohio State who went to Lawrence North H.S. in Indy, Conley was the fifth pick of this year's draft by the Grizz. The Nap-Town native is the best young point guard to come along since Chris Paul, and he has the speed and explosive ability to be even better than that. We'll see if he has the maturity and jumper to become a star.
7. Julius Jones: RB, Dallas Cowboys. Notre Dame grad has had a solid but injury-plagued pro career with the Boys, increasing his rushing total each year. Despite sharing the rushing load with Marion Barber, he had 1,084 yards last year and could be on his way to a Pro Bowl in the near future.
6. Tony Stewart: NASCAR driver. We've already been through his credentials. He's won in midget cars, open-wheel cars and NASCAR, including two series championships. Tony has 31 NASCAR victories, including two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something the Columbus native/Rushville Rocket truly treasures. Also, when he wins, the Dairy Queen downtown offers dirt-cheap chocolate milkshakes!!!
5. Brady Quinn: QB, Cleveland Browns. The Golden Boy with the Golden Arm who played, well, within a spiral's throw from the Golden Dome. Either the first or second best QB in the draft, he found a good home with Cleveland and left tackle Joe Thomas. He helped Notre Dame wake up the echoes of years past with a 19-6 record over the last two seasons.
4. Zach Randolph: PF, New York Knicks. Marion native was the NBA's 2003-2004 Most Improved Player with the Trailblazers, but had his real break-through season last year when he averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds a game. Now that he's moved to the Eastern Conference, he should dominate with the Knicks. Even if he is a jerk.
3. Jeff Gordon: NASCAR driver. Born in California, the Rainbow Warrior (hehe) moved to Pittsboro, Ind. for the racing. Smart move. He's won four NASCAR Championships, four Brickyard 400 races and three Daytona 500s. He's well on his way to becoming the best driver since Dale Earnhardt and, fittingly, his first race was Richard Petty's last. Oh, and he's first in this year's Nextel Cup points race.
2. Greg Oden: C, Portland Trailblazers. Conley's teammate at Lawrence North and Ohio State, the Terre Haute native was the first pick of this year's NBA Draft. He led the Buckeyes to the NCAA title game this year and had the best game of his young career there. While his offense needs work (translation: sucks), he's expected to be one of the best defensive big men ever. Oh, and he led Lawrence North to three straight state titles.
1. Drew Brees: QB, New Orleans Saints. One of the nicest guys in sports (and my pick for last year's SI Sportsman of the Year), Brees brought excitement to a city that desperately needed it. He took the Saints to the NFC Championship and could bring them a Super Bowl this year. Better still, it's not the first time the best QB not named Peyton or Brady has worked miracles: he took Purdue from obscurity to the 2001 Rose Bowl.
Although it's a total caricature, it's comical to think of Tony, a NASCAR driver, as one of the finest citizens of a state best known for its corn, there's a kernel of truth to it (Get it? Kernel...kernel...). Love him or hate him, Stewart is one of the best drivers in the country's top racing circuit. He's won the Winston/Nextel Cup Championship twice, and he won his second race at the Brickyard today. Keep in mind that last time he won at Indy, my hometown had a parade in his honor (which I helped cover at The Republic).
Stewart's win today got me thinking: Where does Tony rank among the best Hoosiers in sports today?
Let's find out. Here's my top 10 list of athletes with Indiana ties.
A couple quick clarifications: I stuck to current athletes, so no coaches (sorry, Cam Cameron) or coaches (that means you, Mark Cuban). Also, I extended the list to include players who went to school in Indiana - not just native Hoosiers.
10. Adewale Ogunleye: DE, Chicago Bears. One of the biggest reasons the Bears' D was the best in the league. He went to the Pro Bowl in '03, playing opposite Jason Taylor with the Dolphins and racking up 15 sacks. Only had 6.5 sacks last year, but still got 'da Bears to 'da Super Bowl. Who would have thought an IU grad would ever do anything in the NFL?
9. Scott Rolen: 3B, St. Louis Cardinals. The Jasper native was the second overall pick in the 1993 amateur draft and played with the Phillies. He was one of the best third basemen in the league, but also a self-centered jerk. Pretty decent pro career, winning a World Series ring with the Cardinals last year, but has only hit over .300 once.
8. Mike Conley Jr.: PG, Memphis Grizzlies. The other freshman from Ohio State who went to Lawrence North H.S. in Indy, Conley was the fifth pick of this year's draft by the Grizz. The Nap-Town native is the best young point guard to come along since Chris Paul, and he has the speed and explosive ability to be even better than that. We'll see if he has the maturity and jumper to become a star.
7. Julius Jones: RB, Dallas Cowboys. Notre Dame grad has had a solid but injury-plagued pro career with the Boys, increasing his rushing total each year. Despite sharing the rushing load with Marion Barber, he had 1,084 yards last year and could be on his way to a Pro Bowl in the near future.
6. Tony Stewart: NASCAR driver. We've already been through his credentials. He's won in midget cars, open-wheel cars and NASCAR, including two series championships. Tony has 31 NASCAR victories, including two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something the Columbus native/Rushville Rocket truly treasures. Also, when he wins, the Dairy Queen downtown offers dirt-cheap chocolate milkshakes!!!
5. Brady Quinn: QB, Cleveland Browns. The Golden Boy with the Golden Arm who played, well, within a spiral's throw from the Golden Dome. Either the first or second best QB in the draft, he found a good home with Cleveland and left tackle Joe Thomas. He helped Notre Dame wake up the echoes of years past with a 19-6 record over the last two seasons.
4. Zach Randolph: PF, New York Knicks. Marion native was the NBA's 2003-2004 Most Improved Player with the Trailblazers, but had his real break-through season last year when he averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds a game. Now that he's moved to the Eastern Conference, he should dominate with the Knicks. Even if he is a jerk.
3. Jeff Gordon: NASCAR driver. Born in California, the Rainbow Warrior (hehe) moved to Pittsboro, Ind. for the racing. Smart move. He's won four NASCAR Championships, four Brickyard 400 races and three Daytona 500s. He's well on his way to becoming the best driver since Dale Earnhardt and, fittingly, his first race was Richard Petty's last. Oh, and he's first in this year's Nextel Cup points race.
2. Greg Oden: C, Portland Trailblazers. Conley's teammate at Lawrence North and Ohio State, the Terre Haute native was the first pick of this year's NBA Draft. He led the Buckeyes to the NCAA title game this year and had the best game of his young career there. While his offense needs work (translation: sucks), he's expected to be one of the best defensive big men ever. Oh, and he led Lawrence North to three straight state titles.
1. Drew Brees: QB, New Orleans Saints. One of the nicest guys in sports (and my pick for last year's SI Sportsman of the Year), Brees brought excitement to a city that desperately needed it. He took the Saints to the NFC Championship and could bring them a Super Bowl this year. Better still, it's not the first time the best QB not named Peyton or Brady has worked miracles: he took Purdue from obscurity to the 2001 Rose Bowl.
The week that was: July 22-29
1. Everyone from the Sun-Sentinel to Slate have questioned if this was the worst sports week ever. Baseball is tainted by Bonds and his alleged steroid use. The NBA is scarred by a ref's alleged gambling and mob ties. And one of the NFL's biggest stars was indicted for dogfighting.
Sorry, but not the worst week ever. We've known about Vick for months, Bonds for years and poor NBA officiating forever. None of the scandals are going to hurt sports any more than they already have. Few fans are going to doubt that the results we see in the NBA are artificial, just as few fans doubt (or, more accurately, care) whether the MLB's home runs stem from steroids, juiced balls or corked bats. And the NFL Commish's tough stance on his players' run-ins with the law will go a long way in fixing the NFL's image - which, judging by TV ratings and merchandise sales - doesn't need fixing.
A tough week? Sure. Worst week ever? Hardly. Any lockout/strike period is much worse than this.
2. Props to ESPN and the sports media as a whole for their reporting on NFL training camps, which opened this week. In years past, SportsCenter routinely did a piece on some quick, fairly harmless hazing rituals during training camps, like rookies being duct-taped to goalposts. Other than a stray story or two, that was largely missing.
And it's about time. We cringe when college or high school teams haze with alcohol, stage kidnappings or tie each other with athletic tape. But it's funny when rookies have water dumped on their heads when they're in the bathroom. Sorry, but I don't buy it. It's not OK to call one humorous and the other horrendous.
3. As if anyone gave a hoot, the Tour de France ended today, with some 24-year-old Spanish dude taking the title by 23 seconds. Now that Lance and Landis are gone, it's nice to be able to stop pretending to care about a bunch of dopers riding aroundon tricycles. Instead, we can focus our attention on much more important things.
4. Like Barry Bonds.
Oh wait, he STILL hasn't hit No. 755 yet? Damn, dude. What's the hold up?
5. Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn are being inducted into the Hall of Fame today. A couple genuine nice guys who played hard, played honest and deserve every ounce of success they got, and are grateful of every ounce of it. Good for them.
6. Word on the street is that the Big Ten - which, mind you, already has 11 teams - could be adding another team making it...the Big 12? Or, um, the Big 12 v. 2.0? Possible suitors include Syracuse and Rutgers.
But let's face it. The Big Ten wants Notre Dame. They have for a decade. But ND's not buying in for two reasons: The Irish wanted into the Big Ten 60 years ago (and more recently than that), but the snobs in the front office didn't want a little Catholic school in South Bend. ND is still bitter.
And, more importantly, Notre Dame football is an instutition like the NY Yankees or Dallas Cowboys. They make a fortune on their own TV deal through NBC, so why would they want to join a conference for the right to wallop Northwestern once a year?
As for Syracuse and Rutgers, they don't fit the bill. Penn State hardly makes sense, but Happy Valley seems close enough to the Midwest that it's not outlandish. But teams from New Jersey or New York joining the Hoosiers and the Hawkeyes? No thanks.
7. Last and least, only one week until the PGA Championship - aka, the week of death. Just thought I'd share.
Sorry, but not the worst week ever. We've known about Vick for months, Bonds for years and poor NBA officiating forever. None of the scandals are going to hurt sports any more than they already have. Few fans are going to doubt that the results we see in the NBA are artificial, just as few fans doubt (or, more accurately, care) whether the MLB's home runs stem from steroids, juiced balls or corked bats. And the NFL Commish's tough stance on his players' run-ins with the law will go a long way in fixing the NFL's image - which, judging by TV ratings and merchandise sales - doesn't need fixing.
A tough week? Sure. Worst week ever? Hardly. Any lockout/strike period is much worse than this.
2. Props to ESPN and the sports media as a whole for their reporting on NFL training camps, which opened this week. In years past, SportsCenter routinely did a piece on some quick, fairly harmless hazing rituals during training camps, like rookies being duct-taped to goalposts. Other than a stray story or two, that was largely missing.
And it's about time. We cringe when college or high school teams haze with alcohol, stage kidnappings or tie each other with athletic tape. But it's funny when rookies have water dumped on their heads when they're in the bathroom. Sorry, but I don't buy it. It's not OK to call one humorous and the other horrendous.
3. As if anyone gave a hoot, the Tour de France ended today, with some 24-year-old Spanish dude taking the title by 23 seconds. Now that Lance and Landis are gone, it's nice to be able to stop pretending to care about a bunch of dopers riding aroundon tricycles. Instead, we can focus our attention on much more important things.
4. Like Barry Bonds.
Oh wait, he STILL hasn't hit No. 755 yet? Damn, dude. What's the hold up?
5. Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn are being inducted into the Hall of Fame today. A couple genuine nice guys who played hard, played honest and deserve every ounce of success they got, and are grateful of every ounce of it. Good for them.
6. Word on the street is that the Big Ten - which, mind you, already has 11 teams - could be adding another team making it...the Big 12? Or, um, the Big 12 v. 2.0? Possible suitors include Syracuse and Rutgers.
But let's face it. The Big Ten wants Notre Dame. They have for a decade. But ND's not buying in for two reasons: The Irish wanted into the Big Ten 60 years ago (and more recently than that), but the snobs in the front office didn't want a little Catholic school in South Bend. ND is still bitter.
And, more importantly, Notre Dame football is an instutition like the NY Yankees or Dallas Cowboys. They make a fortune on their own TV deal through NBC, so why would they want to join a conference for the right to wallop Northwestern once a year?
As for Syracuse and Rutgers, they don't fit the bill. Penn State hardly makes sense, but Happy Valley seems close enough to the Midwest that it's not outlandish. But teams from New Jersey or New York joining the Hoosiers and the Hawkeyes? No thanks.
7. Last and least, only one week until the PGA Championship - aka, the week of death. Just thought I'd share.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Who's got Peyton's back now?
It's been a rough offseason for my Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts.
They lost six players who started games last season, including LB Cato June (the third best defensive player on the team), both starting cornerbacks (Jason David and Nick Harper), RB Dominic Rhodes, slot receiver Brandon Stokley and DT Montae Reagor.
But the offseason just got a whole lot rougher.
Left tackle Tarik Glenn announced yesterday that he is retiring from the NFL.
Glenn was the anchor of the Colts' offensive line for the last 10 years charged with the team's most important duty: protecting Peyton Manning's blindside. A franchise left tackle is hard to come by - there's a reason two of the first five picks in this year's draft were offensive tackles. That's why he's a bigger loss than June, Harper, Stokley and all of the others combined.
As a rule, linemen rarely get any love from fans. In my 21 years in Indiana, I've seen fans wearing jerseys for quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, defensive tackles, defensive ends, linebackers, wide receivers and TWO different kickers (Adam Vinatieri and Mike Vanderjerk) - but no offensive linemen.
Glenn was introduced at a Pacers game I went to over Thanksgiving break last year and got a decent roar from the crowd. When coach Tony Dungy was introduced, he got a standing ovation.
From my cheap seats in the nosebleeds, I could see Glenn courtside wearing a Stephen Jackson jersey (God knows why). He wasn't pestered by fans or flooded with autograph requests. Had Manning been sitting there, more fans would have watched him than the Pacers victory over LeBron James and the Cavs.
I understand why offensive linemen rarely get the credit they deserve. They're big dudes who shove people around for a living. Hardly a glitzy job, compared to throwing perfect, 50-yard spirals to men who run 4.4 40s. It's hard to quantify a lineman's success, and most casual observers can't tell the difference between an OK one and a great one. But here's one stat that sticks out: in the last 128 games, the Colts O-line has given up just 155 sacks - fewest in the NFL. Glenn deserves much of the credit for that.
Manning is the NFL's biggest star today and will be remembered as one of - if not the - greatest quarterbacks of all-time, but he wouldn't have been without Glenn. As god-like as Peyton is, he can't do much when he's constantly falling on his backside (even if it is the greatest backside in sports). Just ask David Carr.
I can't blame Glenn for leaving. He's exiting the game in his prime (three straight Pro Bowls), on his own terms, coming off of a championship run. In his last NFL game, he gave Indianapolis its first Super Bowl championship and helped one of the best QBs ever win a Super Bowl MVP. He's going out on top.
Like Manning, Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy, Glenn should be remembered as one of the best of his generation. A Colts hero. An Indiana legend.
The Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravitz summed it up best. Glenn's long, dignified career full of great blocking and a dedication to the community makes him worthy of having his name put up in the Colts' Ring of Fame.
Just to the left of Peyton Manning.
They lost six players who started games last season, including LB Cato June (the third best defensive player on the team), both starting cornerbacks (Jason David and Nick Harper), RB Dominic Rhodes, slot receiver Brandon Stokley and DT Montae Reagor.
But the offseason just got a whole lot rougher.
Left tackle Tarik Glenn announced yesterday that he is retiring from the NFL.
Glenn was the anchor of the Colts' offensive line for the last 10 years charged with the team's most important duty: protecting Peyton Manning's blindside. A franchise left tackle is hard to come by - there's a reason two of the first five picks in this year's draft were offensive tackles. That's why he's a bigger loss than June, Harper, Stokley and all of the others combined.
As a rule, linemen rarely get any love from fans. In my 21 years in Indiana, I've seen fans wearing jerseys for quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, defensive tackles, defensive ends, linebackers, wide receivers and TWO different kickers (Adam Vinatieri and Mike Vanderjerk) - but no offensive linemen.
Glenn was introduced at a Pacers game I went to over Thanksgiving break last year and got a decent roar from the crowd. When coach Tony Dungy was introduced, he got a standing ovation.
From my cheap seats in the nosebleeds, I could see Glenn courtside wearing a Stephen Jackson jersey (God knows why). He wasn't pestered by fans or flooded with autograph requests. Had Manning been sitting there, more fans would have watched him than the Pacers victory over LeBron James and the Cavs.
I understand why offensive linemen rarely get the credit they deserve. They're big dudes who shove people around for a living. Hardly a glitzy job, compared to throwing perfect, 50-yard spirals to men who run 4.4 40s. It's hard to quantify a lineman's success, and most casual observers can't tell the difference between an OK one and a great one. But here's one stat that sticks out: in the last 128 games, the Colts O-line has given up just 155 sacks - fewest in the NFL. Glenn deserves much of the credit for that.
Manning is the NFL's biggest star today and will be remembered as one of - if not the - greatest quarterbacks of all-time, but he wouldn't have been without Glenn. As god-like as Peyton is, he can't do much when he's constantly falling on his backside (even if it is the greatest backside in sports). Just ask David Carr.
I can't blame Glenn for leaving. He's exiting the game in his prime (three straight Pro Bowls), on his own terms, coming off of a championship run. In his last NFL game, he gave Indianapolis its first Super Bowl championship and helped one of the best QBs ever win a Super Bowl MVP. He's going out on top.
Like Manning, Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy, Glenn should be remembered as one of the best of his generation. A Colts hero. An Indiana legend.
The Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravitz summed it up best. Glenn's long, dignified career full of great blocking and a dedication to the community makes him worthy of having his name put up in the Colts' Ring of Fame.
Just to the left of Peyton Manning.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Major League Tragedy in the Minors
Tulsa suffered a tragedy Sunday night.
Mike Coolbaugh, a hitting coach for the Tulsa Drillers AA baseball team, died after being struck by a foul ball by one of his players at a game in North Little Rock, Ark. He was 35.
Deaths in sports happen. When I met Michael Wilbon at Northwestern, he told me that he's probably written about death more often than most Metro or News editors. The untimely deaths of Michael Jordan's dad and Tiger Woods' pop. Stars burning out in their prime, like Derrick Thomas, Lou Gehrig or NU's own Coach Randy Walker. And the deaths of legends like Babe Ruth that signify the end of an era and take away a part of our nation's soul.
It's part of the game. It's part of life.
But that doesn't prepare you for something like this. A coach being struck down during a routine at-bat in the top of the ninth in a game that was a few outs away from being over. As my editor pointed out yesterday, Mike had no idea what was going to happen, no idea anything was going to hit him. He was probably thinking about what he was going to do after the game: Dinner in the clubhouse, phone call home to the wife and a full day at the ballpark tomorrow.
Sadly, tomorrow will never come for Mike.
At the risk of sounding cliche, these are the times that remind us of how little sports matter in the grand scheme of things. A chunk of wood hitting a hunk of yarn and cement into a leather glove. A few numbers on a box score. A few hundred words on a piece of newspaper. That's all.
Nine innings of work a few months a year can't compare to the life Mike built with his wife, Mandy, and their two songs, Joseph and Jacob? Or to the family they were hoping to add to with the birth of their third child, expected in October.
But times like these also remind us of how much sport matters.
As the Drillers family copes with the loss of one of its own and Tino Sanchez, the poor soul on the other end of the fatal foul ball, copes with the guilt of the freak accident, they will find collective therapy through baseball. The clubhouse will become a place to reflect on Mike's life and struggle - together - through the tough times. The diamond will become a way to honor Mike and bury their emotions. The day-to-day routine of long bus trips and long innings, cheap hotels and quick postgame meals, routine fly balls and battles in the batter's box will become a sanctuary to express - or repress - grief.
The games will no longer be just games, mere lines in a boxscore and columns on a newspage. They'll be living, breathing, nine-inning memorials to one of their own. To one who devoted his life to a children's game. To one who taught his players about getting ahead in the count and his children about getting ahead in life. To one who died doing what he loved - right up until the very end.
What better therapy can a grieving family ask for than to play the game they love together?
And what better memorial could Mike ask for than to have his extended family all together - playing for him?
Mike Coolbaugh, a hitting coach for the Tulsa Drillers AA baseball team, died after being struck by a foul ball by one of his players at a game in North Little Rock, Ark. He was 35.
Deaths in sports happen. When I met Michael Wilbon at Northwestern, he told me that he's probably written about death more often than most Metro or News editors. The untimely deaths of Michael Jordan's dad and Tiger Woods' pop. Stars burning out in their prime, like Derrick Thomas, Lou Gehrig or NU's own Coach Randy Walker. And the deaths of legends like Babe Ruth that signify the end of an era and take away a part of our nation's soul.
It's part of the game. It's part of life.
But that doesn't prepare you for something like this. A coach being struck down during a routine at-bat in the top of the ninth in a game that was a few outs away from being over. As my editor pointed out yesterday, Mike had no idea what was going to happen, no idea anything was going to hit him. He was probably thinking about what he was going to do after the game: Dinner in the clubhouse, phone call home to the wife and a full day at the ballpark tomorrow.
Sadly, tomorrow will never come for Mike.
At the risk of sounding cliche, these are the times that remind us of how little sports matter in the grand scheme of things. A chunk of wood hitting a hunk of yarn and cement into a leather glove. A few numbers on a box score. A few hundred words on a piece of newspaper. That's all.
Nine innings of work a few months a year can't compare to the life Mike built with his wife, Mandy, and their two songs, Joseph and Jacob? Or to the family they were hoping to add to with the birth of their third child, expected in October.
But times like these also remind us of how much sport matters.
As the Drillers family copes with the loss of one of its own and Tino Sanchez, the poor soul on the other end of the fatal foul ball, copes with the guilt of the freak accident, they will find collective therapy through baseball. The clubhouse will become a place to reflect on Mike's life and struggle - together - through the tough times. The diamond will become a way to honor Mike and bury their emotions. The day-to-day routine of long bus trips and long innings, cheap hotels and quick postgame meals, routine fly balls and battles in the batter's box will become a sanctuary to express - or repress - grief.
The games will no longer be just games, mere lines in a boxscore and columns on a newspage. They'll be living, breathing, nine-inning memorials to one of their own. To one who devoted his life to a children's game. To one who taught his players about getting ahead in the count and his children about getting ahead in life. To one who died doing what he loved - right up until the very end.
What better therapy can a grieving family ask for than to play the game they love together?
And what better memorial could Mike ask for than to have his extended family all together - playing for him?
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The British Invasion
July has been the month of the Brits.
Our friends across the pond gave us a thrilling Wimbledon a few weeks ago and an exciting British Open this week that ended in a playoff and three different players blowing their chance to win - until Harrington made good on his second shot.
And the Brits threw in two young men who could change American pop culture forever: Harry Potter and David Beckham.
Potter's been the No. 1 name in literature since he first burst onto the scene a few years back and has sold millions of books worldwide.*
*Note: I would give specifics, including links and statistics, but I don't want to Wiki it or Google it, for fear of finding spoilers on the last book
Beckham has been anointed the savior of soccer in America, gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated and landing as much airtime on ESPN as Mike Wilbon or Tiger Woods. ESPN reportedly had one of its 19 (!!!!!!!!!!) cameras of the LA Galaxy-Chelsea FC game Saturday night glued to Beckham at all times.
Both Beckham and Potter have been given nearly impossible tasks: Beckham is supposed to make Americans care about soccer; Potter is supposed to make Americans care about reading.
So which one has the harder task?
Americans stopped reading years ago. Why look at boring words when you can see cute dogs on YouTube or make yourself a video game character and take over the world...of Warcraft? As a self-proclaimed reading dork and journalist hoping to make a living on the printed page, it's a sad truth, but it's a truth nonetheless.
And, frankly, soccer is too boring for Americans. We like our women, cars and sports fast. There's a reason people like watching Peyton Manning (or, *sigh*, Tom Brady) play quarterback instead of, say, Rex Grossman and 'da Bears. There's a reason Steve Nash and the Suns make for good ratings, but Tim Duncan and the snooze-fest Spurs don't.
Soccer's had its chance. Pele came over in the '70s (granted, after his prime) and never made a splash. Kids today play soccer on the weekends as much as they do basketball, I would argue. But the game just doesn't fit our SportsCenter-highlight-reel society.
If Beckham had played an incredible game Saturday, recording an assist or goal or two, and had the game itself been intense, things could have been different. He had the mob there, and people were excited, but nothing happend. His first game had all the hype of the Super Bowl - but with all of the excitement of professional bowling.
Sadly, I don't think Potter will fare any better. Kids - and adults - will read the last book, and maybe a few books about how great Potter is, but that's about it. I certainly hope I'm wrong - for the sake of my career and great literature. But with the way our culture works, I just don't think that's going to happen.
I find it ironic that some members of the media have compared the arrival of Beckham or Potter to The Beatles. Although I'm not a big Beatles fan, they changed America forever by introducing us to a new breed of music.
Just don't expect Potter or Beckham to do the same.
Our friends across the pond gave us a thrilling Wimbledon a few weeks ago and an exciting British Open this week that ended in a playoff and three different players blowing their chance to win - until Harrington made good on his second shot.
And the Brits threw in two young men who could change American pop culture forever: Harry Potter and David Beckham.
Potter's been the No. 1 name in literature since he first burst onto the scene a few years back and has sold millions of books worldwide.*
*Note: I would give specifics, including links and statistics, but I don't want to Wiki it or Google it, for fear of finding spoilers on the last book
Beckham has been anointed the savior of soccer in America, gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated and landing as much airtime on ESPN as Mike Wilbon or Tiger Woods. ESPN reportedly had one of its 19 (!!!!!!!!!!) cameras of the LA Galaxy-Chelsea FC game Saturday night glued to Beckham at all times.
Both Beckham and Potter have been given nearly impossible tasks: Beckham is supposed to make Americans care about soccer; Potter is supposed to make Americans care about reading.
So which one has the harder task?
Americans stopped reading years ago. Why look at boring words when you can see cute dogs on YouTube or make yourself a video game character and take over the world...of Warcraft? As a self-proclaimed reading dork and journalist hoping to make a living on the printed page, it's a sad truth, but it's a truth nonetheless.
And, frankly, soccer is too boring for Americans. We like our women, cars and sports fast. There's a reason people like watching Peyton Manning (or, *sigh*, Tom Brady) play quarterback instead of, say, Rex Grossman and 'da Bears. There's a reason Steve Nash and the Suns make for good ratings, but Tim Duncan and the snooze-fest Spurs don't.
Soccer's had its chance. Pele came over in the '70s (granted, after his prime) and never made a splash. Kids today play soccer on the weekends as much as they do basketball, I would argue. But the game just doesn't fit our SportsCenter-highlight-reel society.
If Beckham had played an incredible game Saturday, recording an assist or goal or two, and had the game itself been intense, things could have been different. He had the mob there, and people were excited, but nothing happend. His first game had all the hype of the Super Bowl - but with all of the excitement of professional bowling.
Sadly, I don't think Potter will fare any better. Kids - and adults - will read the last book, and maybe a few books about how great Potter is, but that's about it. I certainly hope I'm wrong - for the sake of my career and great literature. But with the way our culture works, I just don't think that's going to happen.
I find it ironic that some members of the media have compared the arrival of Beckham or Potter to The Beatles. Although I'm not a big Beatles fan, they changed America forever by introducing us to a new breed of music.
Just don't expect Potter or Beckham to do the same.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
The Week that Was
Big week in Sports Land:
1. Michael Vick indicted on dogfighting charges. Which, needless to say, puts him in the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's doghouse (You'd be surprised how many journalists crack that joke and expect it to be funny the 50th time). In any case, Joey Harrington becomes the possible starter for the Falcons next year - which, as any Dolphin or Lion fan will tell you, is not a good sign.
2. Barry Bonds hit a couple more home runs. Or something. Wake me up when he gets to 755.
3. The Dolphins released Culpepper, finally putting him out of Daunte's Purgatorio. Get it? Get it? I love Medieval Italian literature jokes! Culpepper met with the Bucs earlier in the week, but his likely destination, according to everything I've read, remains with the Jaguars. If he does indeed join the Colts' AFC South rival, he would team up with David Garrard and Byron Leftwich, giving the Jags three black quarterbacks who couldn't escape a blitz if their contract depended on it. I note the black part only because I'm not sure if an NFL team has ever had three black QBs on its roster at one time.
Regardless, I'm glad Daunte's finally on his own to find a deal that works for him. In my interactions with him in South Florida, he was a nice guy who still thinks he can play. My prediction: He lands with one of the Florida teams as a back-up QB, takes a few snaps in meaningless games but is never the same as he used to be. Blame it on the Madden Curse.
4. The Pacers continued their mission to be the whitest team in NBA history, agreeing to terms with the esteemed point guard Travis Diener. His career average of 3.8 points and 1 assist a game will come in handy with the Pacers as they try to destroy the house that Reggie built and alienate the biggest basketball fans in the country from an NBA team. One comment on the Indianapolis Star's story put it best: "What kind of pistol does he carry?" Hey, at least the Indiana Fever is doing well....
5. The Oklahoma City - errr, Seattle - Sonics' owner declared that he wants to stay in Seattle. No, really. He means it. Honestly. But the state better get crackin' on a new arena to replace the ancient, 12-year-old KeyArena. In the team's defense, Seattle's pad is the smallest in the league, but if something doesn't happen by Oct. 31, it's bye-bye to Starbucks and hello to, um, OU?
6. Sergio Garcia is tearing up the British Open, while Tiger Woods is falling apart. Blame it on the new kid. A man can't perform at his best if he's got a crying, snot-nosed little brat waking him up at 3 a.m. every night. Hey, it's a better excuse than "I didn't bring my A-Game..."
As an aside, last week was busy for me. Expect more posts this week.
1. Michael Vick indicted on dogfighting charges. Which, needless to say, puts him in the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's doghouse (You'd be surprised how many journalists crack that joke and expect it to be funny the 50th time). In any case, Joey Harrington becomes the possible starter for the Falcons next year - which, as any Dolphin or Lion fan will tell you, is not a good sign.
2. Barry Bonds hit a couple more home runs. Or something. Wake me up when he gets to 755.
3. The Dolphins released Culpepper, finally putting him out of Daunte's Purgatorio. Get it? Get it? I love Medieval Italian literature jokes! Culpepper met with the Bucs earlier in the week, but his likely destination, according to everything I've read, remains with the Jaguars. If he does indeed join the Colts' AFC South rival, he would team up with David Garrard and Byron Leftwich, giving the Jags three black quarterbacks who couldn't escape a blitz if their contract depended on it. I note the black part only because I'm not sure if an NFL team has ever had three black QBs on its roster at one time.
Regardless, I'm glad Daunte's finally on his own to find a deal that works for him. In my interactions with him in South Florida, he was a nice guy who still thinks he can play. My prediction: He lands with one of the Florida teams as a back-up QB, takes a few snaps in meaningless games but is never the same as he used to be. Blame it on the Madden Curse.
4. The Pacers continued their mission to be the whitest team in NBA history, agreeing to terms with the esteemed point guard Travis Diener. His career average of 3.8 points and 1 assist a game will come in handy with the Pacers as they try to destroy the house that Reggie built and alienate the biggest basketball fans in the country from an NBA team. One comment on the Indianapolis Star's story put it best: "What kind of pistol does he carry?" Hey, at least the Indiana Fever is doing well....
5. The Oklahoma City - errr, Seattle - Sonics' owner declared that he wants to stay in Seattle. No, really. He means it. Honestly. But the state better get crackin' on a new arena to replace the ancient, 12-year-old KeyArena. In the team's defense, Seattle's pad is the smallest in the league, but if something doesn't happen by Oct. 31, it's bye-bye to Starbucks and hello to, um, OU?
6. Sergio Garcia is tearing up the British Open, while Tiger Woods is falling apart. Blame it on the new kid. A man can't perform at his best if he's got a crying, snot-nosed little brat waking him up at 3 a.m. every night. Hey, it's a better excuse than "I didn't bring my A-Game..."
As an aside, last week was busy for me. Expect more posts this week.
Friday, July 20, 2007
NBA ref brings new meaning to the lottery
Let me get this straight: the NBA won't let a team land in Las Vegas because of the gambling that would ensue...but that doesn't seem to stop refs getting in trouble for gambling on their own games.
Today's revelation that one NBA referee allegedly bet on games he was officiating doesn't surprise me a bit. Coaches/managers have bet on games (See: Pete Rose). So have players -- even my own Northwestern Wildcats. So why not refs?
(As an aside, I'd be willing to bet that the calls made by Tim Donaghy, the ref in question, were still 1,000 times better than Dick Bavetta's)
Athletes, coaches and refs are people, and (sometimes) when they see the opportunity to make some benjamins, they go for it. If that means point shaving, fine. If that means cheating at blackjack, fine. And if that means fixing calls to make a few bucks, fine.
We don't know if Donaghy is guilty of the allegations, nor do we know if he did in fact fix games. If he did, the NBA should fire him immediately and not look back, as I'm sure David Stern will.
The question, then, isn't what to do about Donaghy. The shot clock's already expired on that one. We must decide how to fix this problem in the future.
Sadly, we can't.
You can't police every ref, player, coach or owner off the court. Hell, you can't even always keep track of what they're doing on the court - just ask Mark Cuban (or anyone who was shoved by MJ as the refs looked away).
The only thing the NBA can do is to try to keep its officials well-trained and full of integrity with ethics seminars and the like. Hopefully the cheaters will learn their ways.
But don't bet on it.
Today's revelation that one NBA referee allegedly bet on games he was officiating doesn't surprise me a bit. Coaches/managers have bet on games (See: Pete Rose). So have players -- even my own Northwestern Wildcats. So why not refs?
(As an aside, I'd be willing to bet that the calls made by Tim Donaghy, the ref in question, were still 1,000 times better than Dick Bavetta's)
Athletes, coaches and refs are people, and (sometimes) when they see the opportunity to make some benjamins, they go for it. If that means point shaving, fine. If that means cheating at blackjack, fine. And if that means fixing calls to make a few bucks, fine.
We don't know if Donaghy is guilty of the allegations, nor do we know if he did in fact fix games. If he did, the NBA should fire him immediately and not look back, as I'm sure David Stern will.
The question, then, isn't what to do about Donaghy. The shot clock's already expired on that one. We must decide how to fix this problem in the future.
Sadly, we can't.
You can't police every ref, player, coach or owner off the court. Hell, you can't even always keep track of what they're doing on the court - just ask Mark Cuban (or anyone who was shoved by MJ as the refs looked away).
The only thing the NBA can do is to try to keep its officials well-trained and full of integrity with ethics seminars and the like. Hopefully the cheaters will learn their ways.
But don't bet on it.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Harry Potter and Sports
So apparently there's some sort of new "Harry Potter" book coming out soon, or something.
Because everyone else in the media is talking about it (even Romenesko!), I figure I should, too - in some sort of fluffy way.
So I thought I'd cast each HP character as a sports figure. Think of it as a Xanga quiz meshed with ESPN. Feel free to add your own or belittle my opinions.
Harry Potter: Sports are filled with stories of the boy (or girl) nobody wanted, but became superstars. To me, Joe Montana is the greatest. He was too small to be a QB in high school, but his aerial wizardry eventually made him a Notre Dame recruit - where he sat on the bench for years. Even his incredible comeback against Texas in the 1979 Cotton Bowl (the famous chicken soup game) couldn't land him in the first round of the NFL Draft. When the 49ers stole him in the third round, he fulfilled his prophecy and gave them four Super Bowl titles. We'll see if Harry does the same for the wizarding world.
Ron Weasley: A second-fiddle who can never live up to his family's expectations or his older brother's legacy? Gotta be Eli Manning. Peyton's little bro may be more handsome than the red-headed Ron, but he's just as doomed to wallow in a superstar's shadow.
Hermoine Granger: A child prodigy wise beyond her years, Morgan Pressel hates failure as much as Hermoine does. Good thing neither rarely experiences it. Hermoine has impressed everyone along her way, just as the 19-year-old golfer has after winning the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship, becoming the youngest LPGA player to do so.
Albus Dumbledore: Like the Hogwarts head master, Celtics legend Bill Russell was a well-respected legend in his own day, but his status has grown incredibly since his retirement. And just as Dumbledore has largely given up his own wizarding for education, Russell has tutored many NBA big men, including Pacers scapegoat Jermaine O'Neal.
Snape: Is he good? Is he evil? Is he lying? Is he honest? No one knows for sure, but everyone seems to think he's a lying douchebag. Sounds like Barry Bonds to me. Even if he is innocent of steroids allegations, he's still guilty of being a jerk to everyone - just like Snape.
Voldemort: A heartless creature who inspires fear in everyone? Gotta be George Steinbrenner. The Yankees owner steals talent from small teams, overpays them and then runs them out when their production starts to slip. Even manager Joe Torre isn't safe from The Boss' wrath, despite bringing him three World Series titles.
Draco Malfoy: Draco's a cocky jerk who's got some game of his own but is mostly jealous of Harry's awesomeness. Tom Brady's a cocky jerk with some game of his own but is mostly jealous of Peyton Manning's awesomeness. Makes perfect sense to me. On a related note, my prediction for the last book: Draco impregnates Hermoine and Cho Chang out of wedlock as Harry works on his Quidditch skills, allowing him to kick Malfoy's tail in the Quidditch Cup Finals.
Because everyone else in the media is talking about it (even Romenesko!), I figure I should, too - in some sort of fluffy way.
So I thought I'd cast each HP character as a sports figure. Think of it as a Xanga quiz meshed with ESPN. Feel free to add your own or belittle my opinions.
Harry Potter: Sports are filled with stories of the boy (or girl) nobody wanted, but became superstars. To me, Joe Montana is the greatest. He was too small to be a QB in high school, but his aerial wizardry eventually made him a Notre Dame recruit - where he sat on the bench for years. Even his incredible comeback against Texas in the 1979 Cotton Bowl (the famous chicken soup game) couldn't land him in the first round of the NFL Draft. When the 49ers stole him in the third round, he fulfilled his prophecy and gave them four Super Bowl titles. We'll see if Harry does the same for the wizarding world.
Ron Weasley: A second-fiddle who can never live up to his family's expectations or his older brother's legacy? Gotta be Eli Manning. Peyton's little bro may be more handsome than the red-headed Ron, but he's just as doomed to wallow in a superstar's shadow.
Hermoine Granger: A child prodigy wise beyond her years, Morgan Pressel hates failure as much as Hermoine does. Good thing neither rarely experiences it. Hermoine has impressed everyone along her way, just as the 19-year-old golfer has after winning the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship, becoming the youngest LPGA player to do so.
Albus Dumbledore: Like the Hogwarts head master, Celtics legend Bill Russell was a well-respected legend in his own day, but his status has grown incredibly since his retirement. And just as Dumbledore has largely given up his own wizarding for education, Russell has tutored many NBA big men, including Pacers scapegoat Jermaine O'Neal.
Snape: Is he good? Is he evil? Is he lying? Is he honest? No one knows for sure, but everyone seems to think he's a lying douchebag. Sounds like Barry Bonds to me. Even if he is innocent of steroids allegations, he's still guilty of being a jerk to everyone - just like Snape.
Voldemort: A heartless creature who inspires fear in everyone? Gotta be George Steinbrenner. The Yankees owner steals talent from small teams, overpays them and then runs them out when their production starts to slip. Even manager Joe Torre isn't safe from The Boss' wrath, despite bringing him three World Series titles.
Draco Malfoy: Draco's a cocky jerk who's got some game of his own but is mostly jealous of Harry's awesomeness. Tom Brady's a cocky jerk with some game of his own but is mostly jealous of Peyton Manning's awesomeness. Makes perfect sense to me. On a related note, my prediction for the last book: Draco impregnates Hermoine and Cho Chang out of wedlock as Harry works on his Quidditch skills, allowing him to kick Malfoy's tail in the Quidditch Cup Finals.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Why does Vick gotta vice?
So the Feds finally indicted Falcons QB Michael Vick for dogfighting. Can't say I'm surprised. Sports Illustrated did an incredibly detailed and reported story a few weeks back with more details than you want to hear, which made me suspect the indictment would come sometime.
I hate it when people jump the gun on assuming guilt before a conviction - See: Tank Johnson DUI, Ray Lewis murder charges and, of course, the Duke lacrosse team - so I'll refrain from calling for Vick to be thrown in the slammer or kept off of the field.
Regardless of whether Vick is guilty, many athletes are involved in dogfighting and other illegal activities. Former Cowboy star Nate Newton was accused of dogfighting. Chris Chambers, James Posey and Dominic Rhodes are two of many athletes arrested in the last year for driving under the influence. Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Daly have all reportedly lost huge sums of money gambling.
During the season, athletes thrive on adrenaline. When I write a solid story or feel the crunch of deadline pressure, I get a pretty strong adrenaline rush. I can't even imagine what it must feel like to do your job in front of thousands of screaming fans, a dozen TV cameras and millions of people watching at home.
After years of athletic competition, many athletes get hooked on the rush. So, when the lights go out, the TV cameras go off, the fans go home and their waistlines start to expand, athletes have to do something to keep getting their adrenaline fix.
Which brings us to many of the offseason problems. Pacman Jones making it rain. MJ with big gambling debts. And, at the moment, Michael Vick being indicted on dogfighting charges
I'm not trying to defend anyone. I'm just offering a possible explanation.
I hate it when people jump the gun on assuming guilt before a conviction - See: Tank Johnson DUI, Ray Lewis murder charges and, of course, the Duke lacrosse team - so I'll refrain from calling for Vick to be thrown in the slammer or kept off of the field.
Regardless of whether Vick is guilty, many athletes are involved in dogfighting and other illegal activities. Former Cowboy star Nate Newton was accused of dogfighting. Chris Chambers, James Posey and Dominic Rhodes are two of many athletes arrested in the last year for driving under the influence. Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Daly have all reportedly lost huge sums of money gambling.
During the season, athletes thrive on adrenaline. When I write a solid story or feel the crunch of deadline pressure, I get a pretty strong adrenaline rush. I can't even imagine what it must feel like to do your job in front of thousands of screaming fans, a dozen TV cameras and millions of people watching at home.
After years of athletic competition, many athletes get hooked on the rush. So, when the lights go out, the TV cameras go off, the fans go home and their waistlines start to expand, athletes have to do something to keep getting their adrenaline fix.
Which brings us to many of the offseason problems. Pacman Jones making it rain. MJ with big gambling debts. And, at the moment, Michael Vick being indicted on dogfighting charges
I'm not trying to defend anyone. I'm just offering a possible explanation.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Liveblogging the ESPYs
ESPN bills the ESPYs as the greatest night in sports. I know when I talk sports with my buddies, we'd rather watch LeBron dance than watch LeBron dunk, or watch Peyton get a funny-shaped award than watch him throw a funny-shaped ball, or watch Sharapova walk on a red carpet than grunt sexily as she kicks ass at the U.S. Open.
But how else will I know if ESPN is right if I don't watch it myself - and liveblog it. This was a hard decision to make: I could either blog the ESPYs live (even though it was taped earlier in the week) - or I could watch VH1's "Rock of Love" with Bret Micheals of Poison.
But I decided to do this for two reasons:
1) ESPN's The Sports Guy became big-time by liveblogging the ESPYs. He did it years back for his Web site, and a friend of his passed it to another friend, who passed it to another friend - and so on until it came across some bigshot's desk at ESPN. They loved it. The rest is history. Oh, and I'll be looking for a job in a few months, and I could use all of the help I can get.
2) VH1 is replaying "Rock of Love" at 10:30 - that way I can watch both. Sweet.
Judging by what I've seen so far, the ESPYs have gone to great lengths this year to copy the Oscars in every way imaginable: They're having an hour-long preview show of athletes all dolled up, walking across red carpets, ducking awkward interviews by Chris Connelly and company. The ceremony itself is in the Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars, and statues of the funny-lookin' trophy are everywhere. And they're already giving out the loser awards (Biggest Upset) before the award show begins.
And here's a shocking prediction for you: Jimmy Kimmel will suck as the host, just as Ellen did at the Oscars. Neither have been funny for years. Jimmy hasn't been the same since he left "The Man Show," while Ellen wouldn't know funny if it stood next to her during an American Express commercial. (Swimsuits catching fire?! WTF?!)
But the ESPYs isn't the Oscars - even if its red carpet interviews focus on fashion and other crap no one cares about. The interviewers make it sound like being at the ESPYs is the biggest thing ever. When Connelly interviewed Peyton a few minutes ago, he asked him how great it was to walk on the red carpet, at long last, as a champion. Because that's what Peyton was thinking when he won the Super Bowl. "Oh boy! Now I can show my bling off to Dwyane Wade at the ESPYs in July!!!" Please.
Here's the other thing that the Oscars has up on this: We already know who won the ESPYs - they taped it last week. Think the Oscars would be as popular as it is if we could just log onto Yahoo! and see who won the awards in four minutes rather than a four-hour snoozefest? Of course not. We watch in part to see all of the pretty dresses and pretty people, but we also watch to see who wins. Will "Crash" upset "Brokeback"? Will Martin Scorsese finally get the credit he deserves? And will the Academy finally realize that Tom Hanks, as the profound Eric Cartman puts it, can't act his way out of a wet paper sack?
And we've already seen clips of the ESPYs on commercials and other ESPN shows: LeBron gets in a goofy set of parachute pants and dances, Kimmel cracks a joke about Peyton getting endorsements, and LeBron comes out on a throne ('cause he's King James - get it?). Most fans wouldn't watch a tape-delayed sporting event if they had already seen the score on the Web and highlights on SportsCenter, so why should we watch an award ceremony when the best parts have already been aired and the results are Google-able?
But, alas, I'm sitting here on a Sunday night in the recliner I found by a dumpster. Who am I to tell a multi-billion dollar franchise what to do?
8:00: ...Dude. You're kidding me. I got all gung-ho and revved up for the ESPYs, so I switch it over to ESPN (from the pre-award show on ESPN2). And what's on ESPN, you ask? Baseball.
I'm stuck in the bottom of the ninth of a 10-0 game between the Cardinals and the Phillies. Can't ESPN say "Due to lack of interest and the fact that this game is pretty much over, here's LeBron and company?" Why not? Screw Joe Morgan and company. I'm way too impatient to sit through baseball for an awards ceremony that won't live up to the hype...especially when I could be watching Bret Michaels and 25 mega-hot rocker babes on VH1. Alas, I'm stuck with the Phillies' monumental 10,000th loss.
As an aside, I find the sarcastic enthusiasm of the Philly fans hilarious. "YEAH! We suck more than everyone else! Woo!" Reminds me of the days when "Colts" meant "Count On Losing This Sunday," and I felt ashamed at wearing my Jim Harbaugh jersey to school. That, by the way, is what made our Super Bowl run as powerful as it was - the fact that we'd been at the bottom for so long and then finally made it to the top. And yes, I'm rambling. Blame it on the Phillies for stretching out a loss (the score is now 10-2). See? Philly sucks so much that it can't even LOSE right.
8:11: Finally Ryan Howard strikes out. It's ESPYs time. We begin with a montage of great plays, including some sweet soccer plays no one remembers, LeBron James traveling like a hungry hobo and my boy Marvin Harrison's incredible sideline TD catch against the Patriots. The music, by the way, is some poor remix of U2's "Vertigo." We then get into the sappy highlights - the Saints post-Katrina, Tiger winning after his dad's death and all of the athletes who died in the past year. On a lighter note, we move onto some happy milestones, like Craig Biggio's 3,000th hit, LDT's TD record and LeBron showing that he can, every once in a while, perform in the clutch.
8:21: Dude, this montage is still going on?! At least the MTV Awards' montages are funny...sometimes. It finally ends, and JK makes a couple of stripper jokes, including one about Pacman Jones.
8:22: And here's the TV commercial crack to Peyton. Hilarious. JK then gives a shoutout to Colts fans for standing in the cold to watch the victory proud.
8:24: So basically JK is just rehashing jokes from the entire year, some of which are years old - like the Shaq-Kobe feud. The highlight so far was JK telling Shaq, as a joke, that Kobe is coming to Miami and that he should go back up the beanstalk. Get it, Shaq and the Beanstalk? Well, Shaq does a great deadpan that makes JK look like the idiot he is. Props to Shaq.
8:25: Sure enough, LeBron enters the stage wearing a crown, on a throne, and JK kisses his hand as if he were the godfather. There was no ring to kiss, of course, because LeBron didn't win the NBA title. Thought I'd remind you of that, in case you forget that from all of the hype around a 23-year-old.
8:27: Maria Sharapova is out to present an award. SCHWING! (Who am I to talk about old jokes, eh?) She's up to present the Breakthrough Athlete award. The nominees: Deven Hester, Morgan Pressel, Ryan Howard and Kevin Durant. Hester gets the award, but I think Durant got robbed. That's OK - he'll tear it up in the OC (Oklahoma City) in a couple years, while Hester is stuck in Chicago with a quarterback who couldn't find an open receiver with directions from Google Maps and OnStar.
8:36: A lame sketch with JK, Danica Patrick and a horse leads us to the next award: Best Championship Performance. The nominees: Serena Williams, Jimmie Johnson, Peyton "God" Manning and LeBron James. Manning somehow gets the nod, even though he wasn't that great in the Super Bowl. But who am I to complain? He's PEYTON! He gives a classy, short speech, thanking his teammates and, of course, looking classy. Much better than TO's lame white and black suit with the Cowboy emblem on the back. By the way - PEYTON'S WIFE IS HOT! I have the feeling that if I didn't worship him, I'd hate his guts for having everything...
8:40: Danica Patrick is out to present best sports movie - hoping, no doubt, that if she ever wins an Indy race, she'll be able to star in a movie about herself someday. The nominees: "Talladega Nights", that one about swimming, "We are Marshall," and "Invincible." Of course, "Talladega Nights" wins, even though it was completely overrated and not one of Will Ferrell's better performances. Actually, Ferrell's acceptance speech was funnier than the movie itself, even though it was the same gag repeated a few times. But hey, that's what Ferrell's become. In other news, I still can't believe I picked this over drunk chicks fighting over that guy from Poison.
8:47: Hey, did you hear that David Beckham is playing in America soon?
8:50: You know what's really funny? Claymation characters running really fast and hitting each other. C'mon, ESPN: Celebrity DeathMatch was SO six years ago. That said, "Lebrontourage" would be entertaining. His new crib is rumored to have a bowling alley, barbershop and a casino. Think of how much fun MJ and John Daly could have there...
8:51: Time for Best Game, presented by Matt Leinart and Vince Young. Three good ones here: the Colts-Pats AFC Championship, Durant's coming out party for Texas and Oklahoma St., and the Fiesta Bowl miracle for Boise State. I'm partial to the AFC Championship because, you know, I was there and all. I still get chills, as does my buddy Jared, when we talk about or see highlights of Addai's game-winning TD, or that beautiful pass to Klecko. But seriously, the Boise State game was incredible. Hook and ladder play. TD pass to a back-up quarterback. The Statue of Liberty play. Best college game I've seen in years. And, sure enough, it wins. Props to those guys for kicking some Sooner tail. Even though I could get lynched from the oil refineries down here for saying that...
8:56: Ashley Judd and Pat Summit (most underrated basketball coach ever) out to present a Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. I'm not going to make a joke here. Instead, I urge you to watch Jimmy V's speech at the first ESPYs here. If you can get through it without choking up, you're a stronger man than I am. Don't give up. Don't ever give up.
9:04: As we head to commercial, we see LaDianian Tomlinson holding a LaDainian Tomlinson bobblehead. Dude, I totally want my own bobblehead. Prompting this discussion with my buddy Jared:
navinjohnson3: i want my own bobblehead
jaredbmartin: haha someday we will have our own
jaredbmartin: ill see to that
jaredbmartin: if it's the only thing i accomplish in life
Since nothing else is going on, I thought I'd share.
9:05: An UnderArmour commercial shows a lot of chicks practicing sports: lacrosse, volleyball, softball, field hockey and soccer. Which means it's a good time to share my theory that soccer players are the hottest female athletes, just ahead of tennis players. Sharapova is certainly hotter than Mia Hamm, but the average soccer player is hotter than the average tennis chick. Trust me, dude. If I'd spent as much time reading or writing as I had pondering this quandary, I'd be the world's greatest journalist...rather than a loser liveblogging the ESPYs on his dumpster recliner. By the way, I don't regret my decision in the slightest.
9:09: WHY IS KELLY CLARKSON AT THE ESPYS?!?!??!! If this award show were about talentless, overrated idols, than Tom Brady would be hosting tonight. BURN! Serena Williams and The Rock (?!?!) are out to present the best record-breaking performance award to either Michael Phelps, LaDainian Tomlinson, Bobby Knight and Kelly Slater. Knight should get the award, but he'd probably choke The Rock - which would certainly liven up the event. Knight broke a record few thought would be broken...but LDT gets the win, naturally. He handles the speech with class, giving a shout-out to his O-Line (not sure why they showed Colts center Jeff Saturday then, but OK. Better than Christian Slater, I guess - whom we already saw).
9:14: JK makes a good joke!!!, saying he didn't know TO was Jewish (alluding to the star on TO's suit). Peyton is out with Kate Walsh from some ABC show (ESPN keeping Disney happy with product placement) to present the Best Female Athlete award. The writing is so poor that it almost looks Peyton look stupid - but hey, it's Peyton. He could make a fez look cool. Ochoa, Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie and Taryne Mowatt are the nominees. Mowatt was INCREDIBLE last year when she mowed down my Northwestern Wildcats at the Softball World Series...and she wins! Wow. There's an upset for ya - even Walsh was surprised, seeing as she mispronounced the winner's name. Take that, Title IX!
By the way, the show is about half over now (so says my TV guide from today's newspaper). And "Rock of Love" is getting ready to conclude its epic first episode. *sigh*
9:22: Samuel L. Jackson is up, wearing his festive black and silver weirdo hat thingie, delivers a nice speech on Northern Ireland to present the Arthur Ashe Award to a pair of men who started a basketball tournament to try to bring Catholics and Protestants together (ESPN The Magazine ran a pretty solid story about it in its last issue). We finally learn why Christian Slater is here: he's narrating this piece. Apparently Zach Braff was busy...In any case, the story is pretty nice: A couple washed-up athletes start a basketball tourney to try to unite Ireland. But it's overly simplistic. The lesson here: If we bring baseball to Iraq, everyone will be happy and stop blowing each other up. Slater actually called these two "visionary leaders" - a bit too dramatic, if you ask me. That said, I'd rather watch a long piece of journalistic merit like this than Stephen A. Smith scream at Dick Vitale or Stuart Scott tell me "Who's Now." By the way, I'm not belittling these two guys: They're working hard to right a wrong. But let's not give them the Nobel Peace Prize for a basketball tournament or two just yet. The two give a strong speech and call out today's athletes to do more to make the world better, so props to them for that.
9:42: Here's the much anticipated LeBron Brown performance of him, um, singing (?) "My Perogative." He sounds like William Hung - if he were a 6-9 NBA superstar wearing leopard print parachute pants. This would have been hilarious...had ESPN not already shown me everything I needed to see. Seriously, this was awful. AWFUL. If the ESPYs hadn't jumped the shark with JK's poor jokes, they just did here. And Dane Cook's appearance makes it official. It was fun while it lasted...
9:46: Best Play time. Boise State's nominated, as is a beautiful scoop by D-Wade against the Pacers, a beautiful leaping grab and double-play by Endy Chavez, a gorgeous punt return TD by Pitt and a motocross thing by some dude. Boise State should win for its 2PC Statue of Liberty play...but I want to give a shout-out to Wade because I saw it in person. Wade lit up the Pacers that game as I sat idly by in the 18th row, watching with my mouth on the floor. Wade was INCREDIBLE that night - the most electrifying, incredible player I've ever seen in person (other than Peyton Manning). I called a friend from Miami afterwards to tell her how lucky she is to be able to see Wade on a regular basis. I'm rambling...but yeah. Wade rocks my socks off.
9:50: Shaq tells Greg Oden that he'll see him soon. Apparently Oden is an overweight child...? Anyway, he's presenting Best Moment, with nominees being Tony and Lovie being the first black coaches to coach in the Super Bowl (in case you forgot), Derek Fisher's tough journey with the NBA playoffs and his daughter battling cancer, Tiger winning the U.S. Open for his father and the Saints returning to the Superdome. I'd give the nod to New Orleans, and ESPN agrees. I give enormous props to Drew Brees for playing there and for what he and Reggie Bush have done for the community. They deserve the best.
10:00: Chris "Boomer" Berman and a couple actors are out to show us the loser awards: Best NBA Player (LeBron), Best Coach (Tony Dungy!!!), Best NHL Player (Sidney Crosby - one of the most exciting players in sports right now), Best Female Tennis Player (Sharapova), Best MLS Player (Landon Donovan, as if anyone cares) and others too numerous to mention because you're getting bored and so am I.
10:02: Time to present Best Team...with Jimmie Johnson and Kelly Clarkson?! It's like they put a list of big athletes and fairly hot women, put them in two separate hats and drew one from each to see who'd present. In any case, my Indianapolis Colts, Florida basketball, the Spurs, the Tennessee Lady Vols, St. Louis Cards and Florida football are the nominees. To me, it's not even a question: Gotta give it to Nap-Town. For everything the team, Peyton and the city have been through, it's gotta be the Horseshoe...and it is! Peyton, Tarik Glenn, Dongy, Jeff Saturday, Adam Vinatieri and some others I can't see because ESPN isn't showing them all are out to accept it. Dungy gives a nice speech (and he's wearing his ring!!). My boy Dwight Freeney shows Kelly Clarkson what real bling looks like, as he should. He can afford it with his new deal...
10:07: Oh God. ESPN promises a musical number that'll rock our socks off coming up soon. If LeBron sings again, I'm going to throw my Nikes through the TV immediately. There's only so much a man can take...
10:11: Another JK shower gag, this time involving Mike Tyson and his tattoo. Surprisingly, no one cracks an ear-biting joke. Anyhoo, Wayne Gretzky and Mary J. Blige are up to present the award for Best Male Athlete to either Tiger, Roger, Peyton, LeBron or LDT. Looking at it objectively, Peyton doesn't deserve it - it wasn't his best year individually. Nor does Tiger (iffy year), or LeBron (tanked in half of the playoffs). I won't argue with Roger or LDT...but I'd probably give it to Roger because of how freaking dominant he was. But if you think American fans are going to give it to a tennis-playing Swede over a football player, you're nuts. Sure enough, LDT gets it and makes a short and sweet speech.
10:16: T.I. and some chick I've never heard of introduce Macy Gray, Common and some other dude for a musical number...but I've had enough. I need to get ready for "Rock of Love." As an aside, apparently ESPN is having A BACKSTAGE SHOW on the ESPYs. Quite frankly, THAT'S INSANE!!!!!! I'm so out of here.
Hope this liveblog was more entertaining than the awards show itself...but it couldn't have been worse, am I right? Peace out.
But how else will I know if ESPN is right if I don't watch it myself - and liveblog it. This was a hard decision to make: I could either blog the ESPYs live (even though it was taped earlier in the week) - or I could watch VH1's "Rock of Love" with Bret Micheals of Poison.
But I decided to do this for two reasons:
1) ESPN's The Sports Guy became big-time by liveblogging the ESPYs. He did it years back for his Web site, and a friend of his passed it to another friend, who passed it to another friend - and so on until it came across some bigshot's desk at ESPN. They loved it. The rest is history. Oh, and I'll be looking for a job in a few months, and I could use all of the help I can get.
2) VH1 is replaying "Rock of Love" at 10:30 - that way I can watch both. Sweet.
Judging by what I've seen so far, the ESPYs have gone to great lengths this year to copy the Oscars in every way imaginable: They're having an hour-long preview show of athletes all dolled up, walking across red carpets, ducking awkward interviews by Chris Connelly and company. The ceremony itself is in the Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars, and statues of the funny-lookin' trophy are everywhere. And they're already giving out the loser awards (Biggest Upset) before the award show begins.
And here's a shocking prediction for you: Jimmy Kimmel will suck as the host, just as Ellen did at the Oscars. Neither have been funny for years. Jimmy hasn't been the same since he left "The Man Show," while Ellen wouldn't know funny if it stood next to her during an American Express commercial. (Swimsuits catching fire?! WTF?!)
But the ESPYs isn't the Oscars - even if its red carpet interviews focus on fashion and other crap no one cares about. The interviewers make it sound like being at the ESPYs is the biggest thing ever. When Connelly interviewed Peyton a few minutes ago, he asked him how great it was to walk on the red carpet, at long last, as a champion. Because that's what Peyton was thinking when he won the Super Bowl. "Oh boy! Now I can show my bling off to Dwyane Wade at the ESPYs in July!!!" Please.
Here's the other thing that the Oscars has up on this: We already know who won the ESPYs - they taped it last week. Think the Oscars would be as popular as it is if we could just log onto Yahoo! and see who won the awards in four minutes rather than a four-hour snoozefest? Of course not. We watch in part to see all of the pretty dresses and pretty people, but we also watch to see who wins. Will "Crash" upset "Brokeback"? Will Martin Scorsese finally get the credit he deserves? And will the Academy finally realize that Tom Hanks, as the profound Eric Cartman puts it, can't act his way out of a wet paper sack?
And we've already seen clips of the ESPYs on commercials and other ESPN shows: LeBron gets in a goofy set of parachute pants and dances, Kimmel cracks a joke about Peyton getting endorsements, and LeBron comes out on a throne ('cause he's King James - get it?). Most fans wouldn't watch a tape-delayed sporting event if they had already seen the score on the Web and highlights on SportsCenter, so why should we watch an award ceremony when the best parts have already been aired and the results are Google-able?
But, alas, I'm sitting here on a Sunday night in the recliner I found by a dumpster. Who am I to tell a multi-billion dollar franchise what to do?
8:00: ...Dude. You're kidding me. I got all gung-ho and revved up for the ESPYs, so I switch it over to ESPN (from the pre-award show on ESPN2). And what's on ESPN, you ask? Baseball.
I'm stuck in the bottom of the ninth of a 10-0 game between the Cardinals and the Phillies. Can't ESPN say "Due to lack of interest and the fact that this game is pretty much over, here's LeBron and company?" Why not? Screw Joe Morgan and company. I'm way too impatient to sit through baseball for an awards ceremony that won't live up to the hype...especially when I could be watching Bret Michaels and 25 mega-hot rocker babes on VH1. Alas, I'm stuck with the Phillies' monumental 10,000th loss.
As an aside, I find the sarcastic enthusiasm of the Philly fans hilarious. "YEAH! We suck more than everyone else! Woo!" Reminds me of the days when "Colts" meant "Count On Losing This Sunday," and I felt ashamed at wearing my Jim Harbaugh jersey to school. That, by the way, is what made our Super Bowl run as powerful as it was - the fact that we'd been at the bottom for so long and then finally made it to the top. And yes, I'm rambling. Blame it on the Phillies for stretching out a loss (the score is now 10-2). See? Philly sucks so much that it can't even LOSE right.
8:11: Finally Ryan Howard strikes out. It's ESPYs time. We begin with a montage of great plays, including some sweet soccer plays no one remembers, LeBron James traveling like a hungry hobo and my boy Marvin Harrison's incredible sideline TD catch against the Patriots. The music, by the way, is some poor remix of U2's "Vertigo." We then get into the sappy highlights - the Saints post-Katrina, Tiger winning after his dad's death and all of the athletes who died in the past year. On a lighter note, we move onto some happy milestones, like Craig Biggio's 3,000th hit, LDT's TD record and LeBron showing that he can, every once in a while, perform in the clutch.
8:21: Dude, this montage is still going on?! At least the MTV Awards' montages are funny...sometimes. It finally ends, and JK makes a couple of stripper jokes, including one about Pacman Jones.
8:22: And here's the TV commercial crack to Peyton. Hilarious. JK then gives a shoutout to Colts fans for standing in the cold to watch the victory proud.
8:24: So basically JK is just rehashing jokes from the entire year, some of which are years old - like the Shaq-Kobe feud. The highlight so far was JK telling Shaq, as a joke, that Kobe is coming to Miami and that he should go back up the beanstalk. Get it, Shaq and the Beanstalk? Well, Shaq does a great deadpan that makes JK look like the idiot he is. Props to Shaq.
8:25: Sure enough, LeBron enters the stage wearing a crown, on a throne, and JK kisses his hand as if he were the godfather. There was no ring to kiss, of course, because LeBron didn't win the NBA title. Thought I'd remind you of that, in case you forget that from all of the hype around a 23-year-old.
8:27: Maria Sharapova is out to present an award. SCHWING! (Who am I to talk about old jokes, eh?) She's up to present the Breakthrough Athlete award. The nominees: Deven Hester, Morgan Pressel, Ryan Howard and Kevin Durant. Hester gets the award, but I think Durant got robbed. That's OK - he'll tear it up in the OC (Oklahoma City) in a couple years, while Hester is stuck in Chicago with a quarterback who couldn't find an open receiver with directions from Google Maps and OnStar.
8:36: A lame sketch with JK, Danica Patrick and a horse leads us to the next award: Best Championship Performance. The nominees: Serena Williams, Jimmie Johnson, Peyton "God" Manning and LeBron James. Manning somehow gets the nod, even though he wasn't that great in the Super Bowl. But who am I to complain? He's PEYTON! He gives a classy, short speech, thanking his teammates and, of course, looking classy. Much better than TO's lame white and black suit with the Cowboy emblem on the back. By the way - PEYTON'S WIFE IS HOT! I have the feeling that if I didn't worship him, I'd hate his guts for having everything...
8:40: Danica Patrick is out to present best sports movie - hoping, no doubt, that if she ever wins an Indy race, she'll be able to star in a movie about herself someday. The nominees: "Talladega Nights", that one about swimming, "We are Marshall," and "Invincible." Of course, "Talladega Nights" wins, even though it was completely overrated and not one of Will Ferrell's better performances. Actually, Ferrell's acceptance speech was funnier than the movie itself, even though it was the same gag repeated a few times. But hey, that's what Ferrell's become. In other news, I still can't believe I picked this over drunk chicks fighting over that guy from Poison.
8:47: Hey, did you hear that David Beckham is playing in America soon?
8:50: You know what's really funny? Claymation characters running really fast and hitting each other. C'mon, ESPN: Celebrity DeathMatch was SO six years ago. That said, "Lebrontourage" would be entertaining. His new crib is rumored to have a bowling alley, barbershop and a casino. Think of how much fun MJ and John Daly could have there...
8:51: Time for Best Game, presented by Matt Leinart and Vince Young. Three good ones here: the Colts-Pats AFC Championship, Durant's coming out party for Texas and Oklahoma St., and the Fiesta Bowl miracle for Boise State. I'm partial to the AFC Championship because, you know, I was there and all. I still get chills, as does my buddy Jared, when we talk about or see highlights of Addai's game-winning TD, or that beautiful pass to Klecko. But seriously, the Boise State game was incredible. Hook and ladder play. TD pass to a back-up quarterback. The Statue of Liberty play. Best college game I've seen in years. And, sure enough, it wins. Props to those guys for kicking some Sooner tail. Even though I could get lynched from the oil refineries down here for saying that...
8:56: Ashley Judd and Pat Summit (most underrated basketball coach ever) out to present a Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. I'm not going to make a joke here. Instead, I urge you to watch Jimmy V's speech at the first ESPYs here. If you can get through it without choking up, you're a stronger man than I am. Don't give up. Don't ever give up.
9:04: As we head to commercial, we see LaDianian Tomlinson holding a LaDainian Tomlinson bobblehead. Dude, I totally want my own bobblehead. Prompting this discussion with my buddy Jared:
navinjohnson3: i want my own bobblehead
jaredbmartin: haha someday we will have our own
jaredbmartin: ill see to that
jaredbmartin: if it's the only thing i accomplish in life
Since nothing else is going on, I thought I'd share.
9:05: An UnderArmour commercial shows a lot of chicks practicing sports: lacrosse, volleyball, softball, field hockey and soccer. Which means it's a good time to share my theory that soccer players are the hottest female athletes, just ahead of tennis players. Sharapova is certainly hotter than Mia Hamm, but the average soccer player is hotter than the average tennis chick. Trust me, dude. If I'd spent as much time reading or writing as I had pondering this quandary, I'd be the world's greatest journalist...rather than a loser liveblogging the ESPYs on his dumpster recliner. By the way, I don't regret my decision in the slightest.
9:09: WHY IS KELLY CLARKSON AT THE ESPYS?!?!??!! If this award show were about talentless, overrated idols, than Tom Brady would be hosting tonight. BURN! Serena Williams and The Rock (?!?!) are out to present the best record-breaking performance award to either Michael Phelps, LaDainian Tomlinson, Bobby Knight and Kelly Slater. Knight should get the award, but he'd probably choke The Rock - which would certainly liven up the event. Knight broke a record few thought would be broken...but LDT gets the win, naturally. He handles the speech with class, giving a shout-out to his O-Line (not sure why they showed Colts center Jeff Saturday then, but OK. Better than Christian Slater, I guess - whom we already saw).
9:14: JK makes a good joke!!!, saying he didn't know TO was Jewish (alluding to the star on TO's suit). Peyton is out with Kate Walsh from some ABC show (ESPN keeping Disney happy with product placement) to present the Best Female Athlete award. The writing is so poor that it almost looks Peyton look stupid - but hey, it's Peyton. He could make a fez look cool. Ochoa, Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie and Taryne Mowatt are the nominees. Mowatt was INCREDIBLE last year when she mowed down my Northwestern Wildcats at the Softball World Series...and she wins! Wow. There's an upset for ya - even Walsh was surprised, seeing as she mispronounced the winner's name. Take that, Title IX!
By the way, the show is about half over now (so says my TV guide from today's newspaper). And "Rock of Love" is getting ready to conclude its epic first episode. *sigh*
9:22: Samuel L. Jackson is up, wearing his festive black and silver weirdo hat thingie, delivers a nice speech on Northern Ireland to present the Arthur Ashe Award to a pair of men who started a basketball tournament to try to bring Catholics and Protestants together (ESPN The Magazine ran a pretty solid story about it in its last issue). We finally learn why Christian Slater is here: he's narrating this piece. Apparently Zach Braff was busy...In any case, the story is pretty nice: A couple washed-up athletes start a basketball tourney to try to unite Ireland. But it's overly simplistic. The lesson here: If we bring baseball to Iraq, everyone will be happy and stop blowing each other up. Slater actually called these two "visionary leaders" - a bit too dramatic, if you ask me. That said, I'd rather watch a long piece of journalistic merit like this than Stephen A. Smith scream at Dick Vitale or Stuart Scott tell me "Who's Now." By the way, I'm not belittling these two guys: They're working hard to right a wrong. But let's not give them the Nobel Peace Prize for a basketball tournament or two just yet. The two give a strong speech and call out today's athletes to do more to make the world better, so props to them for that.
9:42: Here's the much anticipated LeBron Brown performance of him, um, singing (?) "My Perogative." He sounds like William Hung - if he were a 6-9 NBA superstar wearing leopard print parachute pants. This would have been hilarious...had ESPN not already shown me everything I needed to see. Seriously, this was awful. AWFUL. If the ESPYs hadn't jumped the shark with JK's poor jokes, they just did here. And Dane Cook's appearance makes it official. It was fun while it lasted...
9:46: Best Play time. Boise State's nominated, as is a beautiful scoop by D-Wade against the Pacers, a beautiful leaping grab and double-play by Endy Chavez, a gorgeous punt return TD by Pitt and a motocross thing by some dude. Boise State should win for its 2PC Statue of Liberty play...but I want to give a shout-out to Wade because I saw it in person. Wade lit up the Pacers that game as I sat idly by in the 18th row, watching with my mouth on the floor. Wade was INCREDIBLE that night - the most electrifying, incredible player I've ever seen in person (other than Peyton Manning). I called a friend from Miami afterwards to tell her how lucky she is to be able to see Wade on a regular basis. I'm rambling...but yeah. Wade rocks my socks off.
9:50: Shaq tells Greg Oden that he'll see him soon. Apparently Oden is an overweight child...? Anyway, he's presenting Best Moment, with nominees being Tony and Lovie being the first black coaches to coach in the Super Bowl (in case you forgot), Derek Fisher's tough journey with the NBA playoffs and his daughter battling cancer, Tiger winning the U.S. Open for his father and the Saints returning to the Superdome. I'd give the nod to New Orleans, and ESPN agrees. I give enormous props to Drew Brees for playing there and for what he and Reggie Bush have done for the community. They deserve the best.
10:00: Chris "Boomer" Berman and a couple actors are out to show us the loser awards: Best NBA Player (LeBron), Best Coach (Tony Dungy!!!), Best NHL Player (Sidney Crosby - one of the most exciting players in sports right now), Best Female Tennis Player (Sharapova), Best MLS Player (Landon Donovan, as if anyone cares) and others too numerous to mention because you're getting bored and so am I.
10:02: Time to present Best Team...with Jimmie Johnson and Kelly Clarkson?! It's like they put a list of big athletes and fairly hot women, put them in two separate hats and drew one from each to see who'd present. In any case, my Indianapolis Colts, Florida basketball, the Spurs, the Tennessee Lady Vols, St. Louis Cards and Florida football are the nominees. To me, it's not even a question: Gotta give it to Nap-Town. For everything the team, Peyton and the city have been through, it's gotta be the Horseshoe...and it is! Peyton, Tarik Glenn, Dongy, Jeff Saturday, Adam Vinatieri and some others I can't see because ESPN isn't showing them all are out to accept it. Dungy gives a nice speech (and he's wearing his ring!!). My boy Dwight Freeney shows Kelly Clarkson what real bling looks like, as he should. He can afford it with his new deal...
10:07: Oh God. ESPN promises a musical number that'll rock our socks off coming up soon. If LeBron sings again, I'm going to throw my Nikes through the TV immediately. There's only so much a man can take...
10:11: Another JK shower gag, this time involving Mike Tyson and his tattoo. Surprisingly, no one cracks an ear-biting joke. Anyhoo, Wayne Gretzky and Mary J. Blige are up to present the award for Best Male Athlete to either Tiger, Roger, Peyton, LeBron or LDT. Looking at it objectively, Peyton doesn't deserve it - it wasn't his best year individually. Nor does Tiger (iffy year), or LeBron (tanked in half of the playoffs). I won't argue with Roger or LDT...but I'd probably give it to Roger because of how freaking dominant he was. But if you think American fans are going to give it to a tennis-playing Swede over a football player, you're nuts. Sure enough, LDT gets it and makes a short and sweet speech.
10:16: T.I. and some chick I've never heard of introduce Macy Gray, Common and some other dude for a musical number...but I've had enough. I need to get ready for "Rock of Love." As an aside, apparently ESPN is having A BACKSTAGE SHOW on the ESPYs. Quite frankly, THAT'S INSANE!!!!!! I'm so out of here.
Hope this liveblog was more entertaining than the awards show itself...but it couldn't have been worse, am I right? Peace out.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
The week in review
As I settle into the blog, I thought I'd start a weekly segment catching up on some of the odds and ends of the week that slipped through the cracks (as my hero Jon Stewart says to lead into Lewis Black). So, without further ado, here's the week that was in the sports world:
1. My boy Dwight Freeney signed a long-term deal with the Colts - six years, $72 million. Re-signing Dwight was the most important offseason move for the Colts...but DAMN! I don't know if he's worth $72 mil. - the most expensive deal in NFL history for a defensive player. Between Dwight and Peyton Manning, the Super Bowl Champs have 24 percent of their salary cap wrapped up in two superstars. And with Bob Sanders (the best safety in the league and the unheralded reason we're world champs) able to opt out of his contract for free agency next year, that's not necessarily a good thing. But we had to keep Dwight in the blue and white for another year. We'll worry about next year when it comes.
2. The NBA suspended former Pacers Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson for general douchebagery...and being convicted by the po-po. They're lucky they're not doing hard time in jail, so they certainly deserve being kept off of the hardwood for a few games. Granted, it's not going to deter Jack or Ron-Ron from future foul-ups, but the NBA has to do something to seem as if it's keeping its players in check to prevent an even bigger PR crisis than it already has.
3. As a soon-to-be college grad preparing to enter the workforce, I wish the journalism business - and real world as a whole - were like NBA free agency. Mo Williams, a shoot-first point guard who never averaged more than 12 points a game until last season, suddenly becomes a sought-after franchise savior worth paying almost $9 million a year. The Magic want a star to blossom alongside its monster phenom Dwight Howard, so they pay $19 mil a year to Rashard Lewis, a solid swingman and great scorer who couldn't find open teammates if they had those little multi-colored triangle things over their head like in video games. And, the biggest dud of them all, one of the most poorly run teams in pro sports spends $6 mil a year on one of the worst draft picks in NBA history, Darko Milic. If Darko Duck's past performance is any indication, Memphis will get about a point a game for every million dollars they pay him over the next three years. I wish the NY Times and SI would overpay me by that much just because of my potential or because I know how to blog or something.
4. The Yi watch continues in Milwaukee with rumors that Yi would accept a trade to Sacramento. My prediction: He eventually plays with the Bucks but never amounts to much more than a glorified Wang Zhizhi.
5. Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who apparently has more money than he knows what to do with, has made an offer to purchase the Chicago Cubs. Sadly, it won't happen - you think Bud Selig would give a franchise to a young billionaire who wears shirts saying "He Fine Me" and a DQ uniform with the name "Tony" on it? In any case, it'd make for an interesting contest between Cuban and Cubs manager Lou Piniella to see who was fined more and ejected from more games....
6. In case you haven't been watching SportsCenter over the last month, David Beckham is in LA and will play in the MLS (that's pro soccer, if you didn't know or don't give a hoot) next week. Unless Beckham can make soccer games 30-35 slugfests, it's not going to change Americans' perception that the game is slow and boring. Baseball is America's pastime, but it's losing fans in part because it's slow and boring. Think a British dude with a hot wife can save a sport most Americans view as a game for snobby foreigners?
7. I was so bored today that I started watching arena football on ESPN - and was entertained.
1. My boy Dwight Freeney signed a long-term deal with the Colts - six years, $72 million. Re-signing Dwight was the most important offseason move for the Colts...but DAMN! I don't know if he's worth $72 mil. - the most expensive deal in NFL history for a defensive player. Between Dwight and Peyton Manning, the Super Bowl Champs have 24 percent of their salary cap wrapped up in two superstars. And with Bob Sanders (the best safety in the league and the unheralded reason we're world champs) able to opt out of his contract for free agency next year, that's not necessarily a good thing. But we had to keep Dwight in the blue and white for another year. We'll worry about next year when it comes.
2. The NBA suspended former Pacers Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson for general douchebagery...and being convicted by the po-po. They're lucky they're not doing hard time in jail, so they certainly deserve being kept off of the hardwood for a few games. Granted, it's not going to deter Jack or Ron-Ron from future foul-ups, but the NBA has to do something to seem as if it's keeping its players in check to prevent an even bigger PR crisis than it already has.
3. As a soon-to-be college grad preparing to enter the workforce, I wish the journalism business - and real world as a whole - were like NBA free agency. Mo Williams, a shoot-first point guard who never averaged more than 12 points a game until last season, suddenly becomes a sought-after franchise savior worth paying almost $9 million a year. The Magic want a star to blossom alongside its monster phenom Dwight Howard, so they pay $19 mil a year to Rashard Lewis, a solid swingman and great scorer who couldn't find open teammates if they had those little multi-colored triangle things over their head like in video games. And, the biggest dud of them all, one of the most poorly run teams in pro sports spends $6 mil a year on one of the worst draft picks in NBA history, Darko Milic. If Darko Duck's past performance is any indication, Memphis will get about a point a game for every million dollars they pay him over the next three years. I wish the NY Times and SI would overpay me by that much just because of my potential or because I know how to blog or something.
4. The Yi watch continues in Milwaukee with rumors that Yi would accept a trade to Sacramento. My prediction: He eventually plays with the Bucks but never amounts to much more than a glorified Wang Zhizhi.
5. Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who apparently has more money than he knows what to do with, has made an offer to purchase the Chicago Cubs. Sadly, it won't happen - you think Bud Selig would give a franchise to a young billionaire who wears shirts saying "He Fine Me" and a DQ uniform with the name "Tony" on it? In any case, it'd make for an interesting contest between Cuban and Cubs manager Lou Piniella to see who was fined more and ejected from more games....
6. In case you haven't been watching SportsCenter over the last month, David Beckham is in LA and will play in the MLS (that's pro soccer, if you didn't know or don't give a hoot) next week. Unless Beckham can make soccer games 30-35 slugfests, it's not going to change Americans' perception that the game is slow and boring. Baseball is America's pastime, but it's losing fans in part because it's slow and boring. Think a British dude with a hot wife can save a sport most Americans view as a game for snobby foreigners?
7. I was so bored today that I started watching arena football on ESPN - and was entertained.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Cheaters never win...except in the NCAA
Pardon the lack of post yesterday, but I was up to my cheatin' heart in the new sanctions the NCAA is placing on the University of Oklahoma.
Here's the 411: Three OU football players took a total of $17G's (or, if you prefer, 170 Benjamins) from a car dealership that does business with the athletic department. Shady, no? The university is in trouble because it didn't properly monitor NCAA regulations on its athletes' summer employment.
Because of that, OU got a semi-harsh penalty that doesn't really do much:
1. The wins from the 2005 season (the year those three players were on the team) are erased.
2. Two more years of probation (even though other programs at OU were already on probation).
3. Loss of two football scholarships for two years.
If this were the first time OU had been in trouble with the NCAA, the punishment would have been much less severe, and the media wouldn't be making a big deal of it.
But here's the thing: it's not the first time the Sooners have been in trouble. Not even close.
Since 1953, OU has been cited for SEVEN major infractions - six of them by the football team (the other was last year by the men's basketball team). If Myles Brands' po-po were anything like the real cops, the Sooners would have been given the death penalty twice by now.
Most of OU's violations have been recruiting-related - giving prospects free rides on jets, free rental cars, envelopes of cash or new wardrobes. Others have dealt with paying players, giving rides to athletes, free hotel stays rooms and selling tickets and giving the money to athletes.
What's as surprising as the number and variety of NCAA violations is the tremendous scope of the allegations. Four different coaches. Five different decades.
It'd be easy to dismiss a charge or two, but violations after each of the school's national championships?! That's a bit much.
OU has built a culture of cheating - either in reality or in public perception. So have Arizona State (8 major violations) Texas A&M (7), Auburn (7), Minnesota (7) and Wisconsin (7).
What's worse is that none of them are likely to change. Why would they? Recruits still flock to these major schools to play in big-time programs. And as a highly sought-after recruit, why wouldn't I want to go to a college that could give me kickbacks, help me pass my classes while doing as little work as possible and give me jobs so I can get paid for nothing?
If the NCAA is serious about reform, they have to start making examples of repeat violators - like OU's two major violations in the two major sports in two years. Suspend them from televised appearances. Keep them out of bowl games. Cut their scholarships in half.
It took the Sooners a decade to rebuild their program after NCAA's sanctions in 1988. Since then, college football has become an even bigger business, so a similar relapse for a major program would cost a school millions. That's something they'll understand. In the meantime, OU, Auburn and company will continue to ignore the rules until they have a reason to change.
I always heard that cheaters never win. But in the NCAA, not only do cheaters win - they keep winning, even after they're caught.
Here's the 411: Three OU football players took a total of $17G's (or, if you prefer, 170 Benjamins) from a car dealership that does business with the athletic department. Shady, no? The university is in trouble because it didn't properly monitor NCAA regulations on its athletes' summer employment.
Because of that, OU got a semi-harsh penalty that doesn't really do much:
1. The wins from the 2005 season (the year those three players were on the team) are erased.
2. Two more years of probation (even though other programs at OU were already on probation).
3. Loss of two football scholarships for two years.
If this were the first time OU had been in trouble with the NCAA, the punishment would have been much less severe, and the media wouldn't be making a big deal of it.
But here's the thing: it's not the first time the Sooners have been in trouble. Not even close.
Since 1953, OU has been cited for SEVEN major infractions - six of them by the football team (the other was last year by the men's basketball team). If Myles Brands' po-po were anything like the real cops, the Sooners would have been given the death penalty twice by now.
Most of OU's violations have been recruiting-related - giving prospects free rides on jets, free rental cars, envelopes of cash or new wardrobes. Others have dealt with paying players, giving rides to athletes, free hotel stays rooms and selling tickets and giving the money to athletes.
What's as surprising as the number and variety of NCAA violations is the tremendous scope of the allegations. Four different coaches. Five different decades.
It'd be easy to dismiss a charge or two, but violations after each of the school's national championships?! That's a bit much.
OU has built a culture of cheating - either in reality or in public perception. So have Arizona State (8 major violations) Texas A&M (7), Auburn (7), Minnesota (7) and Wisconsin (7).
What's worse is that none of them are likely to change. Why would they? Recruits still flock to these major schools to play in big-time programs. And as a highly sought-after recruit, why wouldn't I want to go to a college that could give me kickbacks, help me pass my classes while doing as little work as possible and give me jobs so I can get paid for nothing?
If the NCAA is serious about reform, they have to start making examples of repeat violators - like OU's two major violations in the two major sports in two years. Suspend them from televised appearances. Keep them out of bowl games. Cut their scholarships in half.
It took the Sooners a decade to rebuild their program after NCAA's sanctions in 1988. Since then, college football has become an even bigger business, so a similar relapse for a major program would cost a school millions. That's something they'll understand. In the meantime, OU, Auburn and company will continue to ignore the rules until they have a reason to change.
I always heard that cheaters never win. But in the NCAA, not only do cheaters win - they keep winning, even after they're caught.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Even though nothing is going on in the sports world tonight - save the WNBA, which is as close to nothing as you can get - I did not watch the MLB All-Star Game tonight. I'd rather watch Stephen A. Smith analyze a root canal than watch A-Rod slug it out with Barry Bonds.
Simply put, all-star games are the blandest, dryest pieces of entertainment sports have to offer. There have been two remotely entertaining all-star moments in the last 15 years: Magic Johnson winning the 1992 NBA All-Star MVP, and the 2002 MLB All-Star Game that ended in a tie.
All-star games are great in theory: Watch all of your favorite stars all in one night and see the very best take on the other very best.
But in practice they fall woefully short for one simple reason: no one cares. Think Tom Brady would risk breaking a nail on a game that doesn't really mean anything? Think A-Rod will lose sleep over losing tonight's game? Think Shaq would work his tail off on an event that's just for fans - even if he doesn't do that at all during the regular season?
Part of the fun in sports is watching the best athletes in the world compete head-to-head with something on the line - pride, a championship, whatever. Winning a dunkfest with a combined 250 points doesn't register for them.
And it shouldn't. Athletes work non-stop for the games that matter - the playoffs and the regular season match-ups that get them there. Anything else that stands in the way - like a meaningless game just for fans - becomes a nuisance. That's why five NBA All-Stars sat out of this year's event due to injury. And that's why, in light of Robert Edwards blowing out his knee in a Pro Bowl event, players would rather sit at home and watch highlights on SportsCenter than risk injuring themselves further.
Granted, MLB has tried to make the game matter by having the winning league get homefield advantage in the World Series. But - NEWSFLASH - it's still crap.
So what can be done to make all-star events relevant? Your thoughts?
Simply put, all-star games are the blandest, dryest pieces of entertainment sports have to offer. There have been two remotely entertaining all-star moments in the last 15 years: Magic Johnson winning the 1992 NBA All-Star MVP, and the 2002 MLB All-Star Game that ended in a tie.
All-star games are great in theory: Watch all of your favorite stars all in one night and see the very best take on the other very best.
But in practice they fall woefully short for one simple reason: no one cares. Think Tom Brady would risk breaking a nail on a game that doesn't really mean anything? Think A-Rod will lose sleep over losing tonight's game? Think Shaq would work his tail off on an event that's just for fans - even if he doesn't do that at all during the regular season?
Part of the fun in sports is watching the best athletes in the world compete head-to-head with something on the line - pride, a championship, whatever. Winning a dunkfest with a combined 250 points doesn't register for them.
And it shouldn't. Athletes work non-stop for the games that matter - the playoffs and the regular season match-ups that get them there. Anything else that stands in the way - like a meaningless game just for fans - becomes a nuisance. That's why five NBA All-Stars sat out of this year's event due to injury. And that's why, in light of Robert Edwards blowing out his knee in a Pro Bowl event, players would rather sit at home and watch highlights on SportsCenter than risk injuring themselves further.
Granted, MLB has tried to make the game matter by having the winning league get homefield advantage in the World Series. But - NEWSFLASH - it's still crap.
So what can be done to make all-star events relevant? Your thoughts?
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Tiger or Roger?
After Roger Federer's thrilling five-set win over Rafael Nadal and his guns, it's time (again) for tennis fans to debate who's the greatest player ever: Roger and his 11 Grand Slam titles, Pete Sampras and his 14 or Bjorn Borg and his 11.
Personally, I object to these kinds of discussions to start with because Roger's career isn't over. I love Peyton Manning to death, but it's too early to compare him with Dan Marino because he's just now hitting his prime. Too many things could happen between now and his retirement, so I stay away from these debates.
That said, I'll take it a different route, inspired by this Nike commercial. Who's more dominant: Tiger Woods or Roger Federer?
Granted, this is hardly a new topic. The Sun-Sentinel, ESPN and other outlets beat it into the ground when Roger and Tiger were both in South Florida in March at the same time - Roger for the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Tiger for the Ford Championship in Doral.
But no one came up with a good answer. Let's break this down and see what we find.
Major titles: Tiger has 12 Grand Slam titles in 48 appearances. Roger has 11 in 33 appearances. Roger has the better winning percentage (.333 to .250), but it's difficult to compare across sports. When Tiger wins a major, he has to beat out about 80+ guys; when Roger wins a major, he has to beat seven guys. But for the sake of argument, we'll give Roger the edge.
Biggest stage: To be the best, you have to shine on the world's biggest stage. For Roger that's Wimbledon; for Tiger, Augusta. Roger's five Wimbledon titles put him second behind Pete's seven; Tiger's four wins at The Masters is second behind only Jack Nicklaus. Both have dominated while doing so: Roger's only had one five-set match the last few years, and Tiger won his first Masters by 12 (!!!!!!) strokes. Tie.
Pure dominance: This is when it gets fun. Woods is the only golfer to have all four majors on his mantle at the same time (2000 U.S. Open - 2001 Masters), and only one of those wins was close ; Roger's 54 (and counting) straight wins on grass is a record, as is his 56 straight on hard court. Roger's streaks are impressive, but you've gotta give Woods credit for the Tiger Slam.
At the moment: No one touches either. Here's how Woods has done in his last 10 majors: First, Second, First, Fourth, Third, Missed Cut*, First, First, Second, Second. (To be fair, he missed the cut shortly after his father passed away - he gets a pass on that one). As for Roger, his last 13 majors: First, First, Semis, Semis, First, First, First, Second, First, First, First, Second, First, First. Wow. Roger has the slide edge: three wins in his last four Grand Slams, compared to Tiger's two and two runners-up. But seriously, wow.
Biggest moment: This one's easy. Roger's biggest win came at Wimbledon when he knocked off the then-unbeatable Pete Sampras in the only time the two ever met. You could also make a case for today's win over Nadal as one of his biggest moments because of the drama, the stakes (Borg watching from the stands, for God's sake) and, of course, the fact that it was so freaking close - easily one of the top five best games of the year (the others being the Colts over the Pats in the AFC Championship, Boise State's incredible win in the Fiesta Bowl, the entire Mavericks - Warriors series and Barton's upset of Winona State for the NCAA Division II basketball championship). But Tiger's win at the 1997 Masters trumps it. He dominated as a young gun few had heard of. His fist pump became an emblem for a sport. A minority's win at a course known for its intolerance is legendary. And his tearful hug with his father gives me goosebumps.
Achilles heel: Roger can't beat Nadal on clay to win the French Open. Tiger can't come from behind to win majors. Until they do, I'm not sure if either can be considered the greatest in their sport's history. That said, I give the edge to Tiger, simply because once he gets the lead, he grasps onto it (like, um, a tiger clasping meat?), so why does he need to come from behind?
Cultural impact: Roger is almost too humble, Woods is almost too quiet by completely ignoring social issues when his voice could do so much good in the world. But Woods has made golf the fourth major sport in America (a story for another day's blog entry), while Roger hasn't made most Americans care about tennis. It's not his fault, mind you - he just doesn't have the fist pump that Tiger - or Nadal - has. Winning looks too easy for him, so it's hard to get wrapped up in his triumphs.
The verdict: While Roger is more dominant at the moment, Woods gets the edge for his career's work. Somehow I don't think Roger would mind being second to Tiger - as long as he still beats everyone else on grass.
Personally, I object to these kinds of discussions to start with because Roger's career isn't over. I love Peyton Manning to death, but it's too early to compare him with Dan Marino because he's just now hitting his prime. Too many things could happen between now and his retirement, so I stay away from these debates.
That said, I'll take it a different route, inspired by this Nike commercial. Who's more dominant: Tiger Woods or Roger Federer?
Granted, this is hardly a new topic. The Sun-Sentinel, ESPN and other outlets beat it into the ground when Roger and Tiger were both in South Florida in March at the same time - Roger for the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Tiger for the Ford Championship in Doral.
But no one came up with a good answer. Let's break this down and see what we find.
Major titles: Tiger has 12 Grand Slam titles in 48 appearances. Roger has 11 in 33 appearances. Roger has the better winning percentage (.333 to .250), but it's difficult to compare across sports. When Tiger wins a major, he has to beat out about 80+ guys; when Roger wins a major, he has to beat seven guys. But for the sake of argument, we'll give Roger the edge.
Biggest stage: To be the best, you have to shine on the world's biggest stage. For Roger that's Wimbledon; for Tiger, Augusta. Roger's five Wimbledon titles put him second behind Pete's seven; Tiger's four wins at The Masters is second behind only Jack Nicklaus. Both have dominated while doing so: Roger's only had one five-set match the last few years, and Tiger won his first Masters by 12 (!!!!!!) strokes. Tie.
Pure dominance: This is when it gets fun. Woods is the only golfer to have all four majors on his mantle at the same time (2000 U.S. Open - 2001 Masters), and only one of those wins was close ; Roger's 54 (and counting) straight wins on grass is a record, as is his 56 straight on hard court. Roger's streaks are impressive, but you've gotta give Woods credit for the Tiger Slam.
At the moment: No one touches either. Here's how Woods has done in his last 10 majors: First, Second, First, Fourth, Third, Missed Cut*, First, First, Second, Second. (To be fair, he missed the cut shortly after his father passed away - he gets a pass on that one). As for Roger, his last 13 majors: First, First, Semis, Semis, First, First, First, Second, First, First, First, Second, First, First. Wow. Roger has the slide edge: three wins in his last four Grand Slams, compared to Tiger's two and two runners-up. But seriously, wow.
Biggest moment: This one's easy. Roger's biggest win came at Wimbledon when he knocked off the then-unbeatable Pete Sampras in the only time the two ever met. You could also make a case for today's win over Nadal as one of his biggest moments because of the drama, the stakes (Borg watching from the stands, for God's sake) and, of course, the fact that it was so freaking close - easily one of the top five best games of the year (the others being the Colts over the Pats in the AFC Championship, Boise State's incredible win in the Fiesta Bowl, the entire Mavericks - Warriors series and Barton's upset of Winona State for the NCAA Division II basketball championship). But Tiger's win at the 1997 Masters trumps it. He dominated as a young gun few had heard of. His fist pump became an emblem for a sport. A minority's win at a course known for its intolerance is legendary. And his tearful hug with his father gives me goosebumps.
Achilles heel: Roger can't beat Nadal on clay to win the French Open. Tiger can't come from behind to win majors. Until they do, I'm not sure if either can be considered the greatest in their sport's history. That said, I give the edge to Tiger, simply because once he gets the lead, he grasps onto it (like, um, a tiger clasping meat?), so why does he need to come from behind?
Cultural impact: Roger is almost too humble, Woods is almost too quiet by completely ignoring social issues when his voice could do so much good in the world. But Woods has made golf the fourth major sport in America (a story for another day's blog entry), while Roger hasn't made most Americans care about tennis. It's not his fault, mind you - he just doesn't have the fist pump that Tiger - or Nadal - has. Winning looks too easy for him, so it's hard to get wrapped up in his triumphs.
The verdict: While Roger is more dominant at the moment, Woods gets the edge for his career's work. Somehow I don't think Roger would mind being second to Tiger - as long as he still beats everyone else on grass.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Numb3rs: Continued
Since my last update on how there's no real news in the sports world at the moment, ESPN further proved my point with its list of NFL players most valuable to their franchise (Peyton Manning is No. 3?! WTF?!) and yet another preseason top 10 list. Sigh.
Without further ado, here's the exciting conclusion of best players to wear each number EVER!!!!! (By the way, here is SI's list.)
51 - Randy Johnson. The best lefty pitcher since Koufax barely gets the nod of Dick Butkus, who, by the way, ranks No. 3 on my list of people I would least like to meet in a dark alley, behind only Chuck Liddell and Diddy.
52 - Ray Lewis. Who ranks first on my list of people I'd least like to invite to my Super Bowl party.
53 - Don Drysdale. The other legendary Dodgers pitcher of the '50s.
54 - Randy White. Legendary Cowboys linebacker wins out due to lack of competition.
55 - Junior Seau. One of the best linebackers in NFL history, he singlehandedly took the awful Chargers to the 1994 Super Bowl.
56 - Lawrence Taylor. Best. Linebacker. Ever. He was LT before LDT started thinking he was LT.
57 - Dwight Stephenson. Hall of Fame center for Dan Marino's Dolphins teams.
58 - Derrick Thomas. The second-best linebacker of the 1990s, behind Seau. He lost his life in a car accident far too soon.
59 - Seth Joyner. Great linebacker for the Cardinals who would have been better had he not played on some sucktastic teams.
60 - Otto Graham. Legendary Cleveland Browns quarterback and, more importantly, the best Northwestern athlete ever.
61 - Chan Ho Park. *sigh* We're getting desperate here.
62 - Jim Langler - Six-time All-Pro center with the Dolphins.
63 - Jeff Saturday. The Colts center is part of why Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning.
64 - Randall McDaniel. Great offensive guard for the Vikings who wins because I can't think of anyone else.
65 - Elvin Bethea. Never heard of him, either, but apparently he went to the Pro Bowl eight times.
66 - Mario Lemieux. The best hockey player not named Gretzky, but the worst owner since George W. Bush ruined the Texas Rangers.
67 - Russell Maryland. Underrated defensive tackle for those great Cowboys teams of the 1990s.
68 - Jaromir Jagr. The other half of the Penguins teams that starred Lemieux. But that was back when more people watched the Stanley Cup than NCAA softball. Not anymore...
69 - Mark Schlereth. Mediocre offensive guard and even more mediocre ESPN analyst.
70 - Sam Huff. Great Giants and Redskins linebacker of the 50's and 60's.
71 - Tony Boselli. Big left tackle who kept many a quarterbacks safe, both in college and the pros.
72 - Ed "Too Tall" Jones. Awesome defensive end with an even more awesome nickname.
73 - John Hannah. SI called him the best offensive lineman ever at one point. So he was probably good, or something.
74 - Bruce Matthews. Second-best Houston Oilers player ever, behind Earl Campbell.
75 - Deacon Jones. Bad-ass sackmaster with the Rams who used to be No. 1 in league history in that category.
76 - Shawn Bradley. He doesn't deserve it, but it's been far too long since we've had a basketball player in here.
77 - Red Grange. If I could go back in time and watch five athletes in their prime, I think seeing The Galloping Ghost run over defenses would be one of my picks.
78 - Anthony Munoz. It kills me not to pick Colts tackle Tarik Glenn...but Munoz gets my vote for best offensive lineman ever.
79 - Bob St. Clair. I know nothing about him, but apparently he had a thing for eating raw beef. I don't mess with people who eat raw beef.
80 - Jerry Rice. Montana-to-Rice is the best sports combination (just barely edging out Manning-to-Harrison).
81 - Tim Brown. If you didn't know it, you'd never guess the Notre Dame grad ranks third all-time in TD catches.
82 - Raymond Barry. Before it was Manning-to-Harrison, it was Unitas-to-Barry.
83 - Mark Clayton. Marino wouldn't have been Marino without Clayton.
84 - Shannon Sharpe. Yes he's louder and more annoying than Stephen A. Smith, but he's also the best tight end in NFL history.
85 - Jack Youngblood. Great D-lineman who played the 1980 Super Bowl with a broken leg. Seriously.
86 - Buck Buchanan. Hall of Fame defensive tackle whom I know nothing about, but I really don't want to pick Steelers wideout Hines Ward.
87 - Dwight Clark. If only for "The Catch."
88 - Marvin Harrison. Before Peyton led us to the Promised Land, Marvin was my all-time favorite football player. Now it's a tie. If Harrison keeps up his pace (knock on wood), he could have better career numbers than even Rice himself. Plus he's humble and doesn't brag about it.
89 - Mike Ditka. Even if he did trade an entire draft for Ricky Williams...
90 - Niel Smith. Monster D-lineman who teamed with Derrick Thomas with some solid Chiefs teams.
91 - Dennis Rodman. Say what you will about his hair, nudity or sanity, but the man could rebound. And it's been too long since we've had a balla on the list.
92 - Reggie White. My vote for best defensive end ever.
93 - Dwight Freeney. My vote for best defensive end in the game today.
94 - Charles Haley. Great linebacker and D-lineman for the 49ers and Cowboys. Remember, the Cowboys didn't start winning Super Bowls until Haley came over. You can't mess with his five rings.
95 - Richard Dent. Focal point of the Monsters of the Midway. Just don't ask him to do the Super Bowl Shuffle.
96 - Pavel Bure. Russian hockey star for the Vancouver Canucks who was a speed demon on the ice.
97 - Jeremy Roenick. The recently retired hockey player is third in NHL history in goals scored by an American. U-S-A! U-S-A!
98 - Tony Siragusa. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE was the size of a semi-truck who plugged holes in the defensive line for my Colts and the Baltimore Ravens.
99 - Wayne Gretzky. Best. Hockey. Player. Ever.
And there we are. Moral of the story: Never start writing an enormous list that takes hours to write and is completely unoriginal. That goes for you, too, SI.
Without further ado, here's the exciting conclusion of best players to wear each number EVER!!!!! (By the way, here is SI's list.)
51 - Randy Johnson. The best lefty pitcher since Koufax barely gets the nod of Dick Butkus, who, by the way, ranks No. 3 on my list of people I would least like to meet in a dark alley, behind only Chuck Liddell and Diddy.
52 - Ray Lewis. Who ranks first on my list of people I'd least like to invite to my Super Bowl party.
53 - Don Drysdale. The other legendary Dodgers pitcher of the '50s.
54 - Randy White. Legendary Cowboys linebacker wins out due to lack of competition.
55 - Junior Seau. One of the best linebackers in NFL history, he singlehandedly took the awful Chargers to the 1994 Super Bowl.
56 - Lawrence Taylor. Best. Linebacker. Ever. He was LT before LDT started thinking he was LT.
57 - Dwight Stephenson. Hall of Fame center for Dan Marino's Dolphins teams.
58 - Derrick Thomas. The second-best linebacker of the 1990s, behind Seau. He lost his life in a car accident far too soon.
59 - Seth Joyner. Great linebacker for the Cardinals who would have been better had he not played on some sucktastic teams.
60 - Otto Graham. Legendary Cleveland Browns quarterback and, more importantly, the best Northwestern athlete ever.
61 - Chan Ho Park. *sigh* We're getting desperate here.
62 - Jim Langler - Six-time All-Pro center with the Dolphins.
63 - Jeff Saturday. The Colts center is part of why Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning.
64 - Randall McDaniel. Great offensive guard for the Vikings who wins because I can't think of anyone else.
65 - Elvin Bethea. Never heard of him, either, but apparently he went to the Pro Bowl eight times.
66 - Mario Lemieux. The best hockey player not named Gretzky, but the worst owner since George W. Bush ruined the Texas Rangers.
67 - Russell Maryland. Underrated defensive tackle for those great Cowboys teams of the 1990s.
68 - Jaromir Jagr. The other half of the Penguins teams that starred Lemieux. But that was back when more people watched the Stanley Cup than NCAA softball. Not anymore...
69 - Mark Schlereth. Mediocre offensive guard and even more mediocre ESPN analyst.
70 - Sam Huff. Great Giants and Redskins linebacker of the 50's and 60's.
71 - Tony Boselli. Big left tackle who kept many a quarterbacks safe, both in college and the pros.
72 - Ed "Too Tall" Jones. Awesome defensive end with an even more awesome nickname.
73 - John Hannah. SI called him the best offensive lineman ever at one point. So he was probably good, or something.
74 - Bruce Matthews. Second-best Houston Oilers player ever, behind Earl Campbell.
75 - Deacon Jones. Bad-ass sackmaster with the Rams who used to be No. 1 in league history in that category.
76 - Shawn Bradley. He doesn't deserve it, but it's been far too long since we've had a basketball player in here.
77 - Red Grange. If I could go back in time and watch five athletes in their prime, I think seeing The Galloping Ghost run over defenses would be one of my picks.
78 - Anthony Munoz. It kills me not to pick Colts tackle Tarik Glenn...but Munoz gets my vote for best offensive lineman ever.
79 - Bob St. Clair. I know nothing about him, but apparently he had a thing for eating raw beef. I don't mess with people who eat raw beef.
80 - Jerry Rice. Montana-to-Rice is the best sports combination (just barely edging out Manning-to-Harrison).
81 - Tim Brown. If you didn't know it, you'd never guess the Notre Dame grad ranks third all-time in TD catches.
82 - Raymond Barry. Before it was Manning-to-Harrison, it was Unitas-to-Barry.
83 - Mark Clayton. Marino wouldn't have been Marino without Clayton.
84 - Shannon Sharpe. Yes he's louder and more annoying than Stephen A. Smith, but he's also the best tight end in NFL history.
85 - Jack Youngblood. Great D-lineman who played the 1980 Super Bowl with a broken leg. Seriously.
86 - Buck Buchanan. Hall of Fame defensive tackle whom I know nothing about, but I really don't want to pick Steelers wideout Hines Ward.
87 - Dwight Clark. If only for "The Catch."
88 - Marvin Harrison. Before Peyton led us to the Promised Land, Marvin was my all-time favorite football player. Now it's a tie. If Harrison keeps up his pace (knock on wood), he could have better career numbers than even Rice himself. Plus he's humble and doesn't brag about it.
89 - Mike Ditka. Even if he did trade an entire draft for Ricky Williams...
90 - Niel Smith. Monster D-lineman who teamed with Derrick Thomas with some solid Chiefs teams.
91 - Dennis Rodman. Say what you will about his hair, nudity or sanity, but the man could rebound. And it's been too long since we've had a balla on the list.
92 - Reggie White. My vote for best defensive end ever.
93 - Dwight Freeney. My vote for best defensive end in the game today.
94 - Charles Haley. Great linebacker and D-lineman for the 49ers and Cowboys. Remember, the Cowboys didn't start winning Super Bowls until Haley came over. You can't mess with his five rings.
95 - Richard Dent. Focal point of the Monsters of the Midway. Just don't ask him to do the Super Bowl Shuffle.
96 - Pavel Bure. Russian hockey star for the Vancouver Canucks who was a speed demon on the ice.
97 - Jeremy Roenick. The recently retired hockey player is third in NHL history in goals scored by an American. U-S-A! U-S-A!
98 - Tony Siragusa. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE was the size of a semi-truck who plugged holes in the defensive line for my Colts and the Baltimore Ravens.
99 - Wayne Gretzky. Best. Hockey. Player. Ever.
And there we are. Moral of the story: Never start writing an enormous list that takes hours to write and is completely unoriginal. That goes for you, too, SI.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Who's No. 1?
This stretch of summer is more boring than a lecture by Grandpa Simpson. You've got baseball for a little but until the All-Star break. Basketball free agency is (officially) a week away. Football training camps are a month away. Even Wimbledon is struggling to stay relevant as it battles the rain.
Which leaves us with...arena football. No wonder we're spending so much time talking about Kobayashi and A-Rod's wife's tanktop.
Thankfully, we have the sports media to keep us entertained with crap like ESPN's "Who's Now" and, more recently, Sports Illustrated's list of the best players ever to wear each jersey number. Riveting. Too bad SI's own Rick Reilly did it a decade ago.
But, alas, I have nothing else to blog about, either, so here goes...
00 - Robert "The Chief" Parish. Celtics great got his nickname because he was quiet and big like the chief from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
0 - Gilbert Arenas. Agent Zero is one of the best second-round picks ever and had my vote for NBA MVP last year.
1 - Oscar Robertson. Aside from having a comically inappropriate nickname (if you're as immature as I), "The Big O" averaged a triple-double in the 1961-1962 season. Plus he's an Indiana boy and therefore awesome.
2 - Moses Malone. Sixers star went pro out of high school before going pro out of high school was cool. One of the NBA's 50 Greatest. Please note that SI put Secretariat here. Sorry, but I refuse to put a pony before a person - even if that pony was a really fast pony who ran faster than a bunch of other ponies three times.
3 - Babe Ruth. With all apologies to Dwyane Wade.
4 - Lou Gherig. If you haven't read "The Luckiest Man," you should. Gherig played the game the right way.
5 - Joe Dimaggio. And not just because he knocked boots with Marilyn Monroe. In an age where baseball records are sinking faster than Kevin Nealon's career, his 56-game hitting streak still seems untouchable.
6 - Bill Russell. Best NBA bigman ever. You can't knock his 11 titles in 13 years.
7 - Mickey Mantle. The last Yankee to make the list, he's a personal hero of mine for reasons I couldn't tell you. Though a shout-out to John Elway here, too.
8 - Troy Aikman. Close call between Aikman, Steve Young and Cal Ripken, Jr., but it' simple math: 3 (Aikman's rings) > 2 (Young's rings) > 1 (Ripken's ring).
9 - Ted Williams. Like Dimaggio's streak, Williams' .406 still looks untouchable.
10 - Pele. Best. Soccer. Player. Ever.
11 - Mark Messier. Second on the all-time regular season scoring list and captained two teams to the Stanley Cup. I would have considered Isiah Thomas here, but he ruined my Pacers as head coach. Jerk.
12 - John Stockton. Close call over Terry Bradshaw, Joe Namath, Roger Staubach and Ken Stabler, but the No. 1 assist leader gets my vote.
13 - Dan Marino. Wilt Chamberlain can have his 10,000 women. I'll take Marino's 61,131 passing yards.
14 - Pete Rose. You can bet on me picking Charlie Hustle over A.J. Foyt every time.
15 - Bart Starr. MVP of the first two Super Bowls and still a Green Bay legend.
16 - Joe Montana. Best quarterback ever...for now.
17 - John Havlicek. Great sixth man on some of the greatest teams of all-time. That and he really doesn't have much competition.
18 - Peyton Manning. Did ya need to ask?
19 - Johnny Unitas. He was Peyton before Peyton was born. Except with a crew-cut.
20 - Barry Sanders. Ran like a pissed-off gazelle and made cutbacks that looked like ballet moves. Gorgeous.
21 - Tim Duncan. Over a pair of baseballers, Clemente and Clemens. But the best power forward ever is the best No. 21 ever.
22 - Emmitt Smith. All-time leading rusher and all-around nice guy, despite being undersized and underappreciated.
23 - Michael Jordan. Even if he is a jerk.
24 - Willie Mays. Even if his godson (Barry Bonds) is a jerk.
25 - * (Note: I refuse to designate this number, seeing as the accomplishments of the top two choices, Bonds and Mark McGwire, are tainted by steroid allegations)
26 - Rod Woodson. One of the best CBs ever - and a Purdue grad.
27 - Carlton Fisk. Baller catcher with one of the biggest moments in baseball history (waving his homerun ball fair).
28 - Marshall Faulk. Like Emmitt, an all-around nice guy and incredible running back who could do it all. Glad he won a ring with the Rams. He deserved it.
29 - Eric Dickerson. Is my Indiana bias showing yet?
30 - Nolan Ryan. Best pitcher ever.
31 - Reggie Miller. NOW is my Indiana bias showing?
32 - Jim Brown. Best football player ever? With a shout-out to Magic Johnson, Shaq, Karl Malone and Sandy Koufax.
33 - Larry Bird. Even if he is doing a pretty poor job running the Pacers, he's still Bird, an Indiana legend who took little ol' Indiana State to the Final Four.
34 - Walter Payton. Sweetness was, well, sweet. I wish I could have seen him play. Sorry, again, Shaq.
35 - Phil Niekro. Not many other good ones.
36 - Jerome Bettis. The Bus was underrated as an RB, and it was great that the Notre Dame grad finally got his ring...even if it was with the dreaded Steelers.
37 - Doak Walker. You know, the guy you've never heard of who has an award named for him dedicated to the best RB in college football.
38 - Curt Schilling. And his bloody sock.
39 - Larry Csonka. Dolphins great who did everything.
40 - Gale Sayers. The other legendary Bears RB who had a career that was far too short.
41 - Tom Seaver. Sorry, Dirk, but the three-time Cy Young winner is more Dirkalicious.
42 - Jackie Robinson. One of the five most influential athletes ever, there's a reason the entire MLB retired his number.
43 - Richard Petty. The King deserves this crown.
44 - Hank Aaron. Greatest home run hitter ever whose head DIDN'T grow 1/8 of an inch in the pros.
45 - Pedro Martinez. Sorry, Rik Smits, but Pedro in his prime was a thing of beauty to watch...not that your jump hook wasn't...
46 - Andy Pettitte. No one good here. We're all losers at No. 46.
47 - Mel Blount. Four-time Super Bowl winner with the Steelers, and a solid cornerback, too.
48 - Darryl "Moose" Johnston. One of the best fullbacks ever. Remember: they're not saying "Boo," they're saying "Mooooooooooooooooooose!"
49 - Ron Guidry. I agree. Who?!
50 - David Robinson. The Admiral was a class-act guy on a class-act team.
That's all for now. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting (?) conclusion!!!! You'll never guess who No. 99 is...
Which leaves us with...arena football. No wonder we're spending so much time talking about Kobayashi and A-Rod's wife's tanktop.
Thankfully, we have the sports media to keep us entertained with crap like ESPN's "Who's Now" and, more recently, Sports Illustrated's list of the best players ever to wear each jersey number. Riveting. Too bad SI's own Rick Reilly did it a decade ago.
But, alas, I have nothing else to blog about, either, so here goes...
00 - Robert "The Chief" Parish. Celtics great got his nickname because he was quiet and big like the chief from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
0 - Gilbert Arenas. Agent Zero is one of the best second-round picks ever and had my vote for NBA MVP last year.
1 - Oscar Robertson. Aside from having a comically inappropriate nickname (if you're as immature as I), "The Big O" averaged a triple-double in the 1961-1962 season. Plus he's an Indiana boy and therefore awesome.
2 - Moses Malone. Sixers star went pro out of high school before going pro out of high school was cool. One of the NBA's 50 Greatest. Please note that SI put Secretariat here. Sorry, but I refuse to put a pony before a person - even if that pony was a really fast pony who ran faster than a bunch of other ponies three times.
3 - Babe Ruth. With all apologies to Dwyane Wade.
4 - Lou Gherig. If you haven't read "The Luckiest Man," you should. Gherig played the game the right way.
5 - Joe Dimaggio. And not just because he knocked boots with Marilyn Monroe. In an age where baseball records are sinking faster than Kevin Nealon's career, his 56-game hitting streak still seems untouchable.
6 - Bill Russell. Best NBA bigman ever. You can't knock his 11 titles in 13 years.
7 - Mickey Mantle. The last Yankee to make the list, he's a personal hero of mine for reasons I couldn't tell you. Though a shout-out to John Elway here, too.
8 - Troy Aikman. Close call between Aikman, Steve Young and Cal Ripken, Jr., but it' simple math: 3 (Aikman's rings) > 2 (Young's rings) > 1 (Ripken's ring).
9 - Ted Williams. Like Dimaggio's streak, Williams' .406 still looks untouchable.
10 - Pele. Best. Soccer. Player. Ever.
11 - Mark Messier. Second on the all-time regular season scoring list and captained two teams to the Stanley Cup. I would have considered Isiah Thomas here, but he ruined my Pacers as head coach. Jerk.
12 - John Stockton. Close call over Terry Bradshaw, Joe Namath, Roger Staubach and Ken Stabler, but the No. 1 assist leader gets my vote.
13 - Dan Marino. Wilt Chamberlain can have his 10,000 women. I'll take Marino's 61,131 passing yards.
14 - Pete Rose. You can bet on me picking Charlie Hustle over A.J. Foyt every time.
15 - Bart Starr. MVP of the first two Super Bowls and still a Green Bay legend.
16 - Joe Montana. Best quarterback ever...for now.
17 - John Havlicek. Great sixth man on some of the greatest teams of all-time. That and he really doesn't have much competition.
18 - Peyton Manning. Did ya need to ask?
19 - Johnny Unitas. He was Peyton before Peyton was born. Except with a crew-cut.
20 - Barry Sanders. Ran like a pissed-off gazelle and made cutbacks that looked like ballet moves. Gorgeous.
21 - Tim Duncan. Over a pair of baseballers, Clemente and Clemens. But the best power forward ever is the best No. 21 ever.
22 - Emmitt Smith. All-time leading rusher and all-around nice guy, despite being undersized and underappreciated.
23 - Michael Jordan. Even if he is a jerk.
24 - Willie Mays. Even if his godson (Barry Bonds) is a jerk.
25 - * (Note: I refuse to designate this number, seeing as the accomplishments of the top two choices, Bonds and Mark McGwire, are tainted by steroid allegations)
26 - Rod Woodson. One of the best CBs ever - and a Purdue grad.
27 - Carlton Fisk. Baller catcher with one of the biggest moments in baseball history (waving his homerun ball fair).
28 - Marshall Faulk. Like Emmitt, an all-around nice guy and incredible running back who could do it all. Glad he won a ring with the Rams. He deserved it.
29 - Eric Dickerson. Is my Indiana bias showing yet?
30 - Nolan Ryan. Best pitcher ever.
31 - Reggie Miller. NOW is my Indiana bias showing?
32 - Jim Brown. Best football player ever? With a shout-out to Magic Johnson, Shaq, Karl Malone and Sandy Koufax.
33 - Larry Bird. Even if he is doing a pretty poor job running the Pacers, he's still Bird, an Indiana legend who took little ol' Indiana State to the Final Four.
34 - Walter Payton. Sweetness was, well, sweet. I wish I could have seen him play. Sorry, again, Shaq.
35 - Phil Niekro. Not many other good ones.
36 - Jerome Bettis. The Bus was underrated as an RB, and it was great that the Notre Dame grad finally got his ring...even if it was with the dreaded Steelers.
37 - Doak Walker. You know, the guy you've never heard of who has an award named for him dedicated to the best RB in college football.
38 - Curt Schilling. And his bloody sock.
39 - Larry Csonka. Dolphins great who did everything.
40 - Gale Sayers. The other legendary Bears RB who had a career that was far too short.
41 - Tom Seaver. Sorry, Dirk, but the three-time Cy Young winner is more Dirkalicious.
42 - Jackie Robinson. One of the five most influential athletes ever, there's a reason the entire MLB retired his number.
43 - Richard Petty. The King deserves this crown.
44 - Hank Aaron. Greatest home run hitter ever whose head DIDN'T grow 1/8 of an inch in the pros.
45 - Pedro Martinez. Sorry, Rik Smits, but Pedro in his prime was a thing of beauty to watch...not that your jump hook wasn't...
46 - Andy Pettitte. No one good here. We're all losers at No. 46.
47 - Mel Blount. Four-time Super Bowl winner with the Steelers, and a solid cornerback, too.
48 - Darryl "Moose" Johnston. One of the best fullbacks ever. Remember: they're not saying "Boo," they're saying "Mooooooooooooooooooose!"
49 - Ron Guidry. I agree. Who?!
50 - David Robinson. The Admiral was a class-act guy on a class-act team.
That's all for now. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting (?) conclusion!!!! You'll never guess who No. 99 is...
Is eating a sport?
Less than a week before yesterday's Nathan's hot dog eating competition, defending champion Takeru Kobayashi announced in his blog that he had pain in his jaw. SportsCenter listed him as "day-to-day."
At which I laughed.
The notion that a guy who makes a living shoving hot dogs (and buns) down his throat being billed as an athlete seems, well, a bit much. It's one thing if Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis is day-to-day because of a tweaked hamstring, or if Tom Brady is doubtful for Sunday's game because he injured his hand lugging around all of his illegtimate children. But an eater with an injury report?!
It all boils down to (pun intended) a simple question: Is competitive eating a sport?
Well, depends on what a sport is. Critics of competitive eating point out that there's nothing special about eating; everyone does it, so why pay attention to these yahoos?
But there's nothing inherently difficult about sports - that's why most athletes start getting serious about sports at a young age. Just about everyone can take a block of wood and hit a hunk of leather and rubber with it. Most people can also take a piece of leather and throw it in a cylinder or pass it to a friend. As Kelly Bundy once said, "It's not rocket surgery."
The beauty of sport comes in seeing people like us do things we can't: run 100 meters in 10 seconds, hit a baseball 500 feet or hit a tennis ball 120 miles an hour. Just as most of us can't do any of those things, it's unlikely that anyone short of Homer Simpson can devour 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes.
If there was a time where competitive eating and its governing body, the International Federation of Competitve Eating, were as unwelcome in the world of sports as jock itch. Then ESPN got on board, televising Nathan's Fourth of July event live in 2004. As it did with bass fishing, bowling and poker ESPN made what used to be a fun activity into a corporate-sponsored sport.
Everything else fell in place. The competitors got nicknames like "Tsunami" and "Jaws." Kobayashi, like Ichiro, A-Rod, Peyton or MJ, became a one-name athletic icon. Families still waiting for their charcoal to heat up on Independence Day started watching the festivities because nothing else was on TV.
Even the writing began to look like sports writing. Take a look at this AP story. Gastric gladiators. Joey Chestnut as the red, white and blue hope. More beef than a slaughterhouse. That delicious brand of hyperbole is straight out of 1920s sports writing: I can almost picture Kobayashi, Chestnut, Patrick Bertoletti and Steve Keiner riding across the Cony Island grounds against the sapphire blue July sky.
Fortunately, competitive eating, like horse racing or open-wheel racing, is something Americans only care about once a year. Come December, no one cares how many Christmas hams Jaws Chestnut can shove down his throat.
But on July Fourth, watching these glorified gluttons becomes acceptable - as long as no one has "a reversal." I still don't know if competitive eating is a sport, but once a year, it's something I can stomach.
At which I laughed.
The notion that a guy who makes a living shoving hot dogs (and buns) down his throat being billed as an athlete seems, well, a bit much. It's one thing if Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis is day-to-day because of a tweaked hamstring, or if Tom Brady is doubtful for Sunday's game because he injured his hand lugging around all of his illegtimate children. But an eater with an injury report?!
It all boils down to (pun intended) a simple question: Is competitive eating a sport?
Well, depends on what a sport is. Critics of competitive eating point out that there's nothing special about eating; everyone does it, so why pay attention to these yahoos?
But there's nothing inherently difficult about sports - that's why most athletes start getting serious about sports at a young age. Just about everyone can take a block of wood and hit a hunk of leather and rubber with it. Most people can also take a piece of leather and throw it in a cylinder or pass it to a friend. As Kelly Bundy once said, "It's not rocket surgery."
The beauty of sport comes in seeing people like us do things we can't: run 100 meters in 10 seconds, hit a baseball 500 feet or hit a tennis ball 120 miles an hour. Just as most of us can't do any of those things, it's unlikely that anyone short of Homer Simpson can devour 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes.
If there was a time where competitive eating and its governing body, the International Federation of Competitve Eating, were as unwelcome in the world of sports as jock itch. Then ESPN got on board, televising Nathan's Fourth of July event live in 2004. As it did with bass fishing, bowling and poker ESPN made what used to be a fun activity into a corporate-sponsored sport.
Everything else fell in place. The competitors got nicknames like "Tsunami" and "Jaws." Kobayashi, like Ichiro, A-Rod, Peyton or MJ, became a one-name athletic icon. Families still waiting for their charcoal to heat up on Independence Day started watching the festivities because nothing else was on TV.
Even the writing began to look like sports writing. Take a look at this AP story. Gastric gladiators. Joey Chestnut as the red, white and blue hope. More beef than a slaughterhouse. That delicious brand of hyperbole is straight out of 1920s sports writing: I can almost picture Kobayashi, Chestnut, Patrick Bertoletti and Steve Keiner riding across the Cony Island grounds against the sapphire blue July sky.
Fortunately, competitive eating, like horse racing or open-wheel racing, is something Americans only care about once a year. Come December, no one cares how many Christmas hams Jaws Chestnut can shove down his throat.
But on July Fourth, watching these glorified gluttons becomes acceptable - as long as no one has "a reversal." I still don't know if competitive eating is a sport, but once a year, it's something I can stomach.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
How do you stop the coaching carousel?
There are many things in life I don't understand. Why does Fox cancel shows in their prime? Why is Jamaal Tinsley still a Pacer? And why, in the name of all that is holy, does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?
But today I'm intrigued by a different rhetorial question:
Why do pro teams keep hiring the same coaches over and over?
The Seattle (soon-to-be Oklahoma City) Sonics are the latest victim, hiring P.J. Carlesimo from the Spurs to be their new head coach. Carlesimo was pretty medicore as a head coach who in four years never took the Blazers past the first round of the playoffs despite having one of the game's best guards, Clyde Drexler, on the team. His records in three years with the Warriors: 19-63, 21-29 and 6-21 (before being canned in the 1999 season). Hardly the stuff of champions.
But Carlesimo and his legendary lacklustery have found their way to a third head coaching job after five years as an assistant with the Spurs. Which begs a simple question: Why?
Did anything change from his days with Portland or Golden State (other than the fact that Latrell Sprewell is no longer squeezing his windpipe)? Probably not. Maybe he picked up some pointers from Pops in San Antonio, but I doubt it.
Take a look at the last six coaches to win an NBA title:
* Gregg Popovich (never fired as head coach)
* Pat Riley (never fired as head coach)
* Larry Brown (who's been fired a couple of times...but he's the only coach ever to lead a team to an NCAA title and an NBA title)
* Phil Jackson (never fired as head coach)
* Rudy Tomjanovich (never fired as head coach)
* Chuck Daly (fired after 41 games in his first job after he was hired as a mid-season replacement. He then led the Pistons to two NBA titles)
To review: Only one of the last six coaches to win a ring was a journeyman coach with multiple firings - and that was Larry Brown, one of the greatest basketball minds ever. Carlesimo is no Larry Brown. So why are the Sonics expecting similar results?
The NBA surely abides by the Kyoto Protocol with all of the coach-recycling it does. Orlando hired Stan Van Gundy, a veteran coach who couldn't make it in Miami. The Rockets hired Rick Adelman, who has a career playoff record of 70-68. And my Pacers hired Jim O'Brien, despite two uneventful head coaching jobs. Brown and Stan's brother, Jeff (another journeyman coach) are going to be mentioned as potential replacements to any remaining/future coaching jobs.
And that's just dumb. If you're going to take the team in a new direction anyway, why not go with a new guy. Steal an assistant from Phoenix (like the Grizzlies did). Bump up a coach from the college ranks (like the Kings did). Or even hire a former player (like my boy, Mark Jackson). But why hire someone else's mistake?
Each coaching gig is different, so it's impossible to predict how a coach will act with a new group of players (or how the players will react to a new coach). But the best predictor of future performances is past results. And if your past results are 0 NBA titles (O'Brien), being relieved of your coaching duties only to have your boss win a ring for you (Van Gundy) or ticking off players to the point where they choke you (Carlesimo), what does that say about the future?
Einstein supposedly said that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results.
If that's true, then most NBA teams are freakin' nuts.
But today I'm intrigued by a different rhetorial question:
Why do pro teams keep hiring the same coaches over and over?
The Seattle (soon-to-be Oklahoma City) Sonics are the latest victim, hiring P.J. Carlesimo from the Spurs to be their new head coach. Carlesimo was pretty medicore as a head coach who in four years never took the Blazers past the first round of the playoffs despite having one of the game's best guards, Clyde Drexler, on the team. His records in three years with the Warriors: 19-63, 21-29 and 6-21 (before being canned in the 1999 season). Hardly the stuff of champions.
But Carlesimo and his legendary lacklustery have found their way to a third head coaching job after five years as an assistant with the Spurs. Which begs a simple question: Why?
Did anything change from his days with Portland or Golden State (other than the fact that Latrell Sprewell is no longer squeezing his windpipe)? Probably not. Maybe he picked up some pointers from Pops in San Antonio, but I doubt it.
Take a look at the last six coaches to win an NBA title:
* Gregg Popovich (never fired as head coach)
* Pat Riley (never fired as head coach)
* Larry Brown (who's been fired a couple of times...but he's the only coach ever to lead a team to an NCAA title and an NBA title)
* Phil Jackson (never fired as head coach)
* Rudy Tomjanovich (never fired as head coach)
* Chuck Daly (fired after 41 games in his first job after he was hired as a mid-season replacement. He then led the Pistons to two NBA titles)
To review: Only one of the last six coaches to win a ring was a journeyman coach with multiple firings - and that was Larry Brown, one of the greatest basketball minds ever. Carlesimo is no Larry Brown. So why are the Sonics expecting similar results?
The NBA surely abides by the Kyoto Protocol with all of the coach-recycling it does. Orlando hired Stan Van Gundy, a veteran coach who couldn't make it in Miami. The Rockets hired Rick Adelman, who has a career playoff record of 70-68. And my Pacers hired Jim O'Brien, despite two uneventful head coaching jobs. Brown and Stan's brother, Jeff (another journeyman coach) are going to be mentioned as potential replacements to any remaining/future coaching jobs.
And that's just dumb. If you're going to take the team in a new direction anyway, why not go with a new guy. Steal an assistant from Phoenix (like the Grizzlies did). Bump up a coach from the college ranks (like the Kings did). Or even hire a former player (like my boy, Mark Jackson). But why hire someone else's mistake?
Each coaching gig is different, so it's impossible to predict how a coach will act with a new group of players (or how the players will react to a new coach). But the best predictor of future performances is past results. And if your past results are 0 NBA titles (O'Brien), being relieved of your coaching duties only to have your boss win a ring for you (Van Gundy) or ticking off players to the point where they choke you (Carlesimo), what does that say about the future?
Einstein supposedly said that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results.
If that's true, then most NBA teams are freakin' nuts.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Is A-Rod the new J-Lo?
One of the biggest news in sports today wasn't Serena Williams' epic comeback from a leg injury that forced her to collapse, or Roger Clemens winning his 350th game or even Tank Johnson being under the legal alcohol limit when he was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
It was a t-shirt Alex Rodriguez's wife wore to a ballgame.
His wife, Cynthia, wore a white tank top with a naughty message (as the AP put it, a "common, two-word obscenity ending with 'you'") on it to the Yankees-A's game Sunday. The New York Post thought it was important enough to put it on the front page.
My reaction: Why?
What knowledge does the public gain from hearing that Mrs. A-Rod wore a tank top with the F-bomb on it to a ballgame? Or, for that matter, that A-Rod went into a strip joint with a woman he wasn't married to.
Nothing. Zip. Nada.
So why is it news?
As Stephen A. Smith would put it, "Quite frankly, IT ISN'T!"
It's sports celebrity journalism. And it makes me want to roll up a copy of People magazine and beat the head honchos at ESPN over the head with it.
The public certainly has a right to know what athletes do off of the field. They're important people, and children look up to them (for better or worse). So we deserve to know if they help out hurricane victims, like the angelic Peyton Manning does, or if they're monsters like Tom Brady, who impregnates women out of wedlock.
But it shouldn't be front-page news, and it doesn't deserve more than a brief in the newspaper or a blip on SportsCenter.
It troubles me that sports journalism is heading down the same path as the rest of journalism. I hate the fact that Paris Hilton's prison saga monopolizes media coverage while few reporters talk about the prison system itself. I despise the idea that Lindsay Lohan's drug and alcohol problems become big news, but no one talks about where we stand in the war on drugs. And I'm sickened by the fact that CNN talked so much about Prince Harry's tough decision about being deployed to Iraq while so little time is spent on the soldiers who aren't in a position to make that decision.
I don't want that to happen to sports, too.
Athletes, like celebrities deserve their privacy. They should be able to go into Starbucks, shop at Target or, yes, go for a night on the town with a friend without reading about it in the newspaper the next day.
If their off-the-field exploits start affecting their performance in the arena, then let's hear about it. If Maurice Clarett's love for Grey Goose keeps him from suiting up for the Broncos, it's fair game. Or if a defensive tackle bites cops on the wrist and bruises their legs, then the public's right to know trumps their right to privacy.
But until then, athletes deserve to live their lives just like everyone else. No matter what t-shirt they wear.
It was a t-shirt Alex Rodriguez's wife wore to a ballgame.
His wife, Cynthia, wore a white tank top with a naughty message (as the AP put it, a "common, two-word obscenity ending with 'you'") on it to the Yankees-A's game Sunday. The New York Post thought it was important enough to put it on the front page.
My reaction: Why?
What knowledge does the public gain from hearing that Mrs. A-Rod wore a tank top with the F-bomb on it to a ballgame? Or, for that matter, that A-Rod went into a strip joint with a woman he wasn't married to.
Nothing. Zip. Nada.
So why is it news?
As Stephen A. Smith would put it, "Quite frankly, IT ISN'T!"
It's sports celebrity journalism. And it makes me want to roll up a copy of People magazine and beat the head honchos at ESPN over the head with it.
The public certainly has a right to know what athletes do off of the field. They're important people, and children look up to them (for better or worse). So we deserve to know if they help out hurricane victims, like the angelic Peyton Manning does, or if they're monsters like Tom Brady, who impregnates women out of wedlock.
But it shouldn't be front-page news, and it doesn't deserve more than a brief in the newspaper or a blip on SportsCenter.
It troubles me that sports journalism is heading down the same path as the rest of journalism. I hate the fact that Paris Hilton's prison saga monopolizes media coverage while few reporters talk about the prison system itself. I despise the idea that Lindsay Lohan's drug and alcohol problems become big news, but no one talks about where we stand in the war on drugs. And I'm sickened by the fact that CNN talked so much about Prince Harry's tough decision about being deployed to Iraq while so little time is spent on the soldiers who aren't in a position to make that decision.
I don't want that to happen to sports, too.
Athletes, like celebrities deserve their privacy. They should be able to go into Starbucks, shop at Target or, yes, go for a night on the town with a friend without reading about it in the newspaper the next day.
If their off-the-field exploits start affecting their performance in the arena, then let's hear about it. If Maurice Clarett's love for Grey Goose keeps him from suiting up for the Broncos, it's fair game. Or if a defensive tackle bites cops on the wrist and bruises their legs, then the public's right to know trumps their right to privacy.
But until then, athletes deserve to live their lives just like everyone else. No matter what t-shirt they wear.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
I miss football
It's Sunday afternoon at 3:23, and you know what I'm doing? Watching the LPGA U.S. Open. So not only am I so bored that I'm watching golf (which is as exciting as watching cows graze) - I'm watching women's golf. Kill me now. With my hours of boredom, I can't help but wonder why some billionaires have'nt come up with a good sport to watch in the summer.
OK, there's baseball, but that hasn't been America's pastime since steroids tainted the Home Run Chase of 1998. Tennis is solid, but I'd rather not get up at 6 a.m. to watch Roger Federer destroy some dude I've never heard of at Wimbledon. And then there's golf. Which would be fine, if I were a retired, 60something with an expanding wasteline, receding hairline and those awful golf pants.
God, I miss football. Save me, Mark Cuban!!!
In the meantime, I'll settle for Maria Sharapova and Morgan Pressel.
*******
Now that my ears have finally stopped ringing from the Stephen A. Smith-Dick Vitale scream-off Thursday night, I thought I'd give my reflections on the NBA Draft as a whole - as if my 2,700-word liveblog wasn't enough:
* The Pacers screwed up - as usual. We traded a future second round pick to Miami for the No. 39 pick: Stanko Barac, a center from Bosnia. I try not to question Larry Bird's basketball moves too much - he is kind of a living legend, or something. But still. We traded two future second round pick last year to draft James White...who didn't make our roster. And Thursday, in the deepest draft in years, we trade a future pick for a guy who won't play on the Pacers in three years. If you're the Spurs, you can afford to do that. If you're a struggling team with a ticked-off superstar that's losing its fanbase, you can't. If you think Indiana is going to get behind a guy we've never heard of named Stanko, you've got another thing coming.
* I realize my hating on Yi the other night could be seen as xenophobic - it wasn't intended to be. It's really hard to get behind international players in a draft because most Americans (myself included) know nothing about them. Who thought Dirk would be an MVP? Or that Peja would be one of the best shooters in the league? With college players, we know who they are, where they're from, what they can do against good competition. Even with high school players, we can watch them in the McDonald's High School All-American game or read about them in SI. But with international players, all we get is some grainy highlights that look like they were recorded onto a VCR from stolen cable and clips of them posting up short, white dudes during practice.
* Speaking of Yi, interesting pick by the Bucks, seeing as China doesn't want Yi to play there. Perhaps Bucks fans - all two of them - should be making "Yi Hate Me" t-shirts? When I've got the No. 6 pick in this draft, no way am I taking a risk like that. I'd rather have Cory Brewer's versatility or even Joakim Noah's bowtie.
* Glad the Bulls picked up Oklahoma State's JamesOn Curry, even if he is undersized. I've heard he's a nice guy, and the Bulls were rumored to have told him that they'd take him. Nice that they kept their word...though I'm still not sure where he fits in with that team.
OK, there's baseball, but that hasn't been America's pastime since steroids tainted the Home Run Chase of 1998. Tennis is solid, but I'd rather not get up at 6 a.m. to watch Roger Federer destroy some dude I've never heard of at Wimbledon. And then there's golf. Which would be fine, if I were a retired, 60something with an expanding wasteline, receding hairline and those awful golf pants.
God, I miss football. Save me, Mark Cuban!!!
In the meantime, I'll settle for Maria Sharapova and Morgan Pressel.
*******
Now that my ears have finally stopped ringing from the Stephen A. Smith-Dick Vitale scream-off Thursday night, I thought I'd give my reflections on the NBA Draft as a whole - as if my 2,700-word liveblog wasn't enough:
* The Pacers screwed up - as usual. We traded a future second round pick to Miami for the No. 39 pick: Stanko Barac, a center from Bosnia. I try not to question Larry Bird's basketball moves too much - he is kind of a living legend, or something. But still. We traded two future second round pick last year to draft James White...who didn't make our roster. And Thursday, in the deepest draft in years, we trade a future pick for a guy who won't play on the Pacers in three years. If you're the Spurs, you can afford to do that. If you're a struggling team with a ticked-off superstar that's losing its fanbase, you can't. If you think Indiana is going to get behind a guy we've never heard of named Stanko, you've got another thing coming.
* I realize my hating on Yi the other night could be seen as xenophobic - it wasn't intended to be. It's really hard to get behind international players in a draft because most Americans (myself included) know nothing about them. Who thought Dirk would be an MVP? Or that Peja would be one of the best shooters in the league? With college players, we know who they are, where they're from, what they can do against good competition. Even with high school players, we can watch them in the McDonald's High School All-American game or read about them in SI. But with international players, all we get is some grainy highlights that look like they were recorded onto a VCR from stolen cable and clips of them posting up short, white dudes during practice.
* Speaking of Yi, interesting pick by the Bucks, seeing as China doesn't want Yi to play there. Perhaps Bucks fans - all two of them - should be making "Yi Hate Me" t-shirts? When I've got the No. 6 pick in this draft, no way am I taking a risk like that. I'd rather have Cory Brewer's versatility or even Joakim Noah's bowtie.
* Glad the Bulls picked up Oklahoma State's JamesOn Curry, even if he is undersized. I've heard he's a nice guy, and the Bulls were rumored to have told him that they'd take him. Nice that they kept their word...though I'm still not sure where he fits in with that team.
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