April 2007 Archives

Did you stay up to watch Dallas and Golden State on Sunday night on the TNT? Or were you watching The Tao of Steve on IFC? Or, like me, were you doing the "Last" channel button on your remote between the two and asking basically the same question:

" These are our leading men?"

I don't buy a 5'11", 215-pound, red-headed, bearded Donal Logue (which, apparently, is something between a monologue and dialogue) as a ladies' man...and I didn't think I'd buy a 6'3", 215-pound, reconstructed knee, bearded Baron Davis as the best player in a series that also involves the Dallas Mavericks. But it seems that Mr. Davis is poised to have his Smashmouth "Hey, now, you're an All-Star/get your game on, go play" moment this spring.

The eighth year guard out of UCLA has simply been the best player on the best team in the first round of the playoffs. It's not that Golden State, which finished the season just 42-40, has gone up 3-1 on Dallas (67-15) in this first-round series. It's that, watching these games, it's no fluke. The Warriors are all limbs and motion on defense, more aggressive than a frat boy at 1 a.m. on a weekend night, and they own the paint both on offense and defense, which is odd considering that the Mavs can put two seven-footers on the floor simultaneously.

And then there's the sweet shooting, symbolized by Davis' half-court buzzer-beating bank shot just before halftime this evening that tied the score.

This blog doesn't hide from its mistakes. It embraces them. Caresses them. Wines them and dines them. Which brings us to our mock draft.

Ahem.

Here's the players I NAILED

1. Jamarcus Russell, Raiders. Yep, I was the only one.

13. Adam Carriker, Rams. Hey, two for 13!

23. Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs. Heating up!

I also got Reggie Nelson to Jacksonville, but not at No. 17. The Jags dealt down to get him. I'll take 80 percent credit.

How many first rounder did this blog get?

26 of 32.

Who did I have as first rounders that dropped out?

Paul Posluszny, Alan Branch, Chris Houston, Tony Ugoh, Dwayne Jarrett and David Harris.

How, for instance, did ESPN's Mel Kiper do?

Well, he nailed 10 guys to the right teams. How many guys did he ticket as first rounders that didn't go in the first?

Four.

But I can beat Mel in the 40. And the 3-cone. And I'm a natural knee-bender.

Circle it on your calendar (unless you keep your calendar on a Palm Pilot or Crackberry, then you really can't):

Sept. 23: Cleveland at Oakland, 4 p.m.

I'll watch.

Brady Quinn's long national nightmare is over. His father, Ty, was crying downstairs after the press conference. Brother-in-law A.J. Hawk was also there.

Brady's mother told me that Brady and his boxing trainer, Doug Owens, were working out every day before he had to fulfill his draft week commitments. One day they got kicked out of the gym and had to spar in his bedroom. Funny.

I thought Zibby was the only boxer on the team. Apparently not.

That's it. I'm off the clock. Enjoy your Saturday night.

Brady Quinn strode onto stage looking more than a little perturbed--as if Rhema McKnight had just run the wrong route-- but when he actually walked onstage he let out a huge breath and pointed a finger skyward. Then he unfurled the brown No. 1 Browns jersey and broke out into a slight smile.

Suit: You saw it. They've been showing it all afternoon.
Posse Count: Eight.

To get Quinn the Browns had to give up their second round pick as well as their first round pick in 2008.

When Quinn was selected, there was an eruption of applause inside the theater, the loudest of the afternoon. It was almost everyone was relieved that we wouldn't have to be mired in that suspense any longer. I was waiting for a camera shot of the green room that just showed a pair of legs dangling in the air.

So Brady Quinn will once again be playing football not far off Interstate 80, just a couple hundred miles east of where he did the past four years. He landed where he wanted to be, not just when he wanted to be.

But he should look on the bright side: He enters camp, and his professional career, knowing that he'll have the best offensive tackle in the draft protecting him. It could be that rare case of a rookie offensive tackle earning more than his rookie quarterback teammate, even though both are starters.

Deejay dude's playing Sinatra's "New York, New York", which means either that the Yankee game just ended (they lost again ?!?) or the Giants are on the clock.

I was thinking about Brady on the brain. BQQB is a little like the gridiron Britney, and I'm as guilty as anyone for helping that situation manifest itself. Basically, I've been spending most of the day talking about a quarterback who hasn't even been selected yet. That's part of the curse of Quinn. He just attracts attention, and perhaps that makes some teams shy away from him.

Quarterback's also a position in which you either need a player or you don't. You don't pick a QB in the first round unless you intend him to start, and soon, and the teams who fit that profile (Oakland, Cleveland, Minnesota, Miami) decided to go another way. Three went the safer route.

I do know that BQQB is going home tonight a lot less wealthy than he thought he'd be. And that his dropping so far in the draft will indirectly affect Notre Dame's recruiting in the coming months. Hey, if you're King Stud QB couldn't go in the top 20 picks, how good, really, is your overall talent?

I've just got one word for everyone who says that they are not surprised that Quinn has yet to be selected: Where were you yesterday? Did anyone see a mock draft--even one--in which Quinn was not a top ten pick? And now suddenly no one's shocked? Interesting.

Don't put too much credence in draft day expertise. I remember a year ago when dolts such as you and I were verklempt at how Houston could fail to select either Reggie Bush or Vince Young, but all the experts assured us that real NFL minds understand the importance of a great defensive end. Hey, so do we. But is Mario Williams a GREAT defensive end? No.

So I'm not too concerned when the draftniks say that Quinn isn't a high first-rounder. I saw what he did in actual games (someone wanna pop in the tape of the fourth quarter at Michigan State) under far more pressure than anyone except Russell could appreciate at the college level. And he seemed to do okay.

Two great contributions from Billy. First,

Dolphins War room:

Guy 1: "Why isn't his girlfriend hotter?"
Guy 2: "Man, I was just thinking the exact same thing!"
Guy 1: "Lack of confidence?"
Guy 2: "Has to be. I mean Shark probably has a hotter chick than that and he looks like Howard Stern"
Guy 1: "That's all we need is to match Culpepper's fragile psyche with this guy's lack of confidence"

Second, Billy notes that three of the top ten picks admitted to smoking weed and two others suffered serious injuries last season during endzone celebrations (we all know AD's dive wasn't necessary). So, yeah, act like Iggy Pop and don't sweat it. You're still gonna be rich.

The deejay is today's MVP. The Titans are on the clock and he's playing "All My Exes Live In Texas". Inspired!

The J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS! just traded up to get the 14th pick from Carolina....severely pissing off the DJ, who had to swipe out James Taylor's "Carolina On My Mind" and quickly replace it with Ace Frehley's "Back in the New York Groove" (great tune; bold choice!).

The feeling here is that the JETS! JETS! JETS! are either going after their own version of Giant tight end Jeremy Shockey, fellow Miami Hurricane Greg Olsen , or they're going to shake the earth by choosing Brady Quinn whom they now, at No. 14, consider a bargain.

Ryan Adams' "New York" is now playing. Big kudos to the DJ for not relying on the old stand-bys, such as Sinatra. I do hope he has time to play Simon & Garfunkel's "Only Living Boy In New York".

JetsJetsJets waited until the finla minute before choosing. This is GREAT suspense as we wait for the dreaded podium to be approached.

That's the tune currently playing....so you know who's on the clock. As if they were going to play Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance". A great and too-soon-forgotten tune by the way, but then again 1989 was an extremely crappy year in music.

Meanwhile, Roger Goodell just "approached the podium" (which is my newest euphemism, by the way) to announce, "Um, that Miami pick? I read that wrong. It was 'Quinn', not 'Ginn'. My bad. No hard feelings, capisce?"

My friend Billy says that Lindy Slinger is seriously "over-duded". I must concur. But what's Brady supposed to do? Date his sister? She's married.

Someone up there likes me....they just put "Buffalo Stance" on the old sound system. Worth the price of the free admission.

Hey, Bruce Smith is announcing Buffalo's selection (seriously)...and they've selected Marshawn Lynch of Cal.

I'm looking at Lynch's head shot (that's head shot, not "head shop") and I am at least 49% positive that Lynch has never smoked pot. At least 49%. God, I'm trying to imagine when it came out that Calvin Johnson had "experimented" with marijuana and Lynch hadn't if Calvin just wanted to scream, "Look at that dude! He's got "Up In Smoke" and "Nice Dreams" on DVD. C'mon!"

St. Louis is "on the clock" (2nd-favorite new euphemism). They're playing some kind of tune out of a Betty Grable movie...and I don't even know who Betty Grable is....I think she was Barney's wife.

Peter Tom Willis!

Wow. The old Florida State quarterback? Hey, gutsy pick, Niners. I'm down with it.

What?

Hunh?

Never mind.

I love Patrick "Whachutalkinbout" Willis . As the kids say, "He has a high motor." Definitely the best player on the Mississippi football club last year. I predict: he'll be a better pro, at linebacker, than former Reb Eli Manning is at QB.

The Houston Texans (or the Texas Houstons) just selected 14 year-old Louisville defensive tackle Amobi Okoye , or as he's destined to be known by me, Non-Christian Okoye .

Neither he nor Ted Ginn, Jr., ever came out on stage, leading me to wonder just how many people Joe Thomas's boat could hold...wait, this just in....Joe Thomas's boat has capsized in rough seas on Lake Winnebago....this just in...the Cleveland Browns announce they were just kidding, that they wanted BQQB all along.

By popular demand, here is a photo (aged) of Laura Quinn-Medicine-Woman-Hawk:

http://www.nbcsports.com/2006/0822/29991_225X300.jpg

Trust me, people. It doesn't do her justice. Just like this blog.

The Houston Texans, by the way, have spent their last two first-round picks on defensive linemen. They'd better be special, cuz defensive linemen who do not put quarterbacks on their fannies (Mario Williams had just 4 1/2 sacks last season) do not put fannies in seats.

San Francisco is on the clock and the tune they're playing is the 60s classic "If You're Going to San Francisco" (sorry, Chris Isaak and sorry, Village People).

From my editor, Barry: "Brady Quinn just signed with the Toronto Argonauts."

Brady Quinn could go to Buffalo, Carolina or Jacksonville at this point. Expect the Chiefs to try and get in position to make a move for Quinn as well, coming up from No. 23. Or Baltimore.

The Miami Dolphins just selected Ted Ginn, Jr. , a dude who was knocked out of the BCS title game by an end-zone celebration. Then again, he did return the opening kickoff for a TD, which is what they "paid" him to do at Ohio State.

The story of this afternoon is "As Brady Slides"....

Before the last pick ESPN showed a graphic of the comely blonde woman seated next to Brady that read "Lindy Slinger, Brady Quinn's girlfriend". If BQQB doesn't get selected in the next hour, it's going to say "Brady Quinn's Ex-Girlfriend".

In related news, "Guest List" Markazi informs me that highly prized USC Song Girl Natalie Nelson , a friend of this site, recently got engaged to Trojan offensive lineman Ryan Kalil . Natalie used to date 'SC linebacker Dallas Sartz , who's prettier, but he doesn't have Kalil's potential first-round talent.

Guest List and I are thrilled that they're serving foot-long hot dogs in the media dining room downstairs. I've asked him how much he'll pay me if I eat my height in wieners this afternoon. "Some amount less than Mitch Cozad's signing bonus," he replies.

Ahhh, Cozad. Who knew he'd be good for so many yuks?

A Dolphins official told me the other day that if Brady Quinn is sitting there at No. 9, it will be very hard to pass on him. He's there. But so are Alan Branch, Amobi Okoye, Leon Hall and Darrelle Revis.

HMMMMMMMMMMM

Is it possible that the Falcons' pick, and BQQB's fate, may come down to Ron Mexico's penchant for pitting pit bulls against one another?

A story surfaced earlier this week that Mexico, better-known as Michael Vick, may be staging dogfights. To the death. Between Michael and Marcus, I don't know why Vicks-burg hasn't been turned into a hit reality TV show.

Anyway, if this allegations are true, the consequences for Vick could be severe in an NFL that is looking for a few Goodell men. That could leave Hotlanta short-handed at QB.

Here it is: Jamaal Anderson , defensive end, Arkansas. He's 6-6, 279 (not 280, mind you, 279).

The first chorus of "Brady Sucks!" just erupted from the rafters.

This is beginning to become a story. Are teams curious about how big BQQB has become? Or are they just not impressed with his big-game win percentage? Or is it just a matter of need at the position?

I'm concerned because I promised myself I'd take a potty break as soon as BQQB was chosen. That was back when the Browns were picking. My bladder is aching almost as much as BQQB's psyche.

....a Notre Dame quarterback, but surprise:

It's JOE FREAKING THEISMANN!

What a bummer for Joe. He spends all those years attending NFL drafts and finally, finally, his Irish have a quarterback who's first-round material (the first since Rick Mirer) and Theismann's nowhere to be found.

You wanna know the bizarre stat: There are two Notre Dame quarterbacks currently playing in the NFL, but both are playing wide receiver: Carlyle Holliday and Jarious Jackson.

On TV Sal Paolantonio said a few minutes ago that the Bucs have Phil Simms on the roster. That's gonna be big news to Greg Gumbel.

Vikes pick.... ADRIAN PETERSON!!!!!!!

Wow. Wow. Wow.

I love AD...don't get me wrong. I saw AD in person as a true frosh against Oregon in 2004 and I was blowed away. Completely blowed away. if he's healthy, this is a fantastic pick.

AD in the TC! What's not to love?

Do you get the feeling, like me, that somewhere in South Bend right now there is a not insignifcantly sized human being who is anxiously shoveling pretzels down his gob.

AD's Suit: Classy. Gray with hints of powder blue and a blue tie. Dude has a sharp build.

Posse Count: Big, big posse. Ox-Bow Incident-sized posse. Nine.

Now I've go to go and comfort Laura Quinn-Medicine-Woman-Hawk.

are nowinextricably linked as the Vikings pass on Brady Quinn and leave Tavaris Jackson as the Minnesota quarterback for the future. Adrian Peterson is the man on the way to Minnesota

With all the great musicians that have come from this state (Dylan, Prince, The Replacements, even The Hold Steady), I wonder what music they'll play.

My buddy Billy, a Minneapolis native, warns that if the Vikes don't take Quinn or Adrian Peterson he may kick in his TV set. If they choose Jamaal Anderson, he says ominously, "they're dead to me."

I think it's going to be Quinn. He's in the green room now in a pinstriped three-piece suit, trying not to look as pissed off as Matt Leinart was last year.

that NFL Network's Mike Mayock can yell for two days straight. But he has a tremendous motor. The Redskins are about to make their move, Adam Schefter of NFL Network has them taking LaRon Landry....that puts Adrian Peterson and Brady Quinn as likelies for the Vikes.

The Cardinals look like they're going to go away from the BPA (best player available) and draft for need and take Levi Brown. Brown is underrated so it's not as bad as it sounds but it'd be interesting to know if he's the highest rated player left on the board.

Gaines Adams is off the board and Adrian Peterson is sitting there for the Arizona Cardinals to select and usher the calcifying Edgerrin James into that good night.

Will it be Peterson or Alan Branch, Amobi Okoye or Levi Brown?

That is the song that's playing as we wait for Tampa Bay to pick. "We'd like to dedicate this next tune to Brady Quinn."

Now they're playing some country song that I do not recognize, because the only country song I do recognize is "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" by David Allen Coe. And it ain't that song. Maybe it has something to do with Tampa. Hell, I don't know. This ain't CMT.com, know what I'm sayin'?

Hey, I just went on CMT.com. Did you know that there's a show on that network entitled Trick My Truck ? I love it.

Tampa Bay just used the fourth pick to select Gaines Adams , a defensive end from Clemson. "Gaines stops him for no gains."

As Adrian Peterson seethes and slides.

This is a safe pick. A good pick. Not a sexy pick.

Suit: Navy blue pants and slacks, blue shirt/white collar, pink striped tie.

Posse Count: Nine! We have a new leader. And the smallest posse member looks to e about two years old and is napping in his mother's arms.

So, Arizona picks next and the two linemen they wanted are gone. Do they take Okoye, the DT from Louisville? Levi Brown, whom many have as the next-best OL in the draft? Or Quinn, just to have Leinart and Quinn on the same sideline. Don't put anything past the Buzzsaw that is the Arizona Cardinals. You don't complete six decades of utter incompetence without a few moves like that.

Rex Grossman is being interviewed onstage right now. HEe's wearing a suit, but he's got tow days of growth on his face and he looks completely, COMPLETELY hung over. You know that look. I know that look. Rex looks Recked. And he hasn't tied his tie yet.
Another bad sign? He's shorter than the dude who's interviewing him.
By the way, the dude just asked him if he'd rather play for Lovie Smith or Urban Meyer. Rex shot him a, What kind of tool are you, anyway? look, and reminded him of something we all knew: Urban Meyer wasn't in Gainesville when Rex was there.

AZ picks bad, bad Levi Brown, who is not here. He's in San Francisco inking an endorsement deal with Levi Strauss for their new "Levi's Brown Denim" collection. It'll be a hit with the kids.

Washington Redskins take LSU safety LaRon Landry with the sixth overall pick, the NFL's most acclaimed Landry since Tom. LaRon started four years at LSU, and he's big and fast. Great selection. Landry and Sean Taylor in the same DB unit? That's a great set of safeties.

Markazi and I are trying to anticipate which song each city will get before their pick. I guessed "Cleveland Rocks" for the Browns....not much of a stretch....and hit that one. The two of us have no clue what they'll choose for Tampa Bay. Help. Anyone?

On the big screen right now they're showing footage of Bernie Kosar and Tim Couch, in case you're wondering whom the Browns are about to take....

The big suspense on this selection is whether Laura Quinn-Medicine-Woman-Hawk will come out onstage as part of the posse. And will she get the first interview?

Brady's babe is with him, by the way. She seems nice.

Hey, Brady's not on the cellphone. It may be Joe Thomas.

It is! It is!

Wow. Lots of boos from the crowd. Huge "Cleveland Sucks!" cheer erupts from the crowd as somewhere on a lake in Wisconsin, a boat is creating a huge wake. Poor Brady. He so wanted to play for his favorite team growing up. Plus he'll probably drop at least four spots now, which is going to cost him now.

And the Arizona Cardinals, picking 5th, are not very happy about this, either.

Joe Thomas's suit: T-shirt, floppy hat, cargo shorts, Crocs.

Posse: Two dudes with worms in their hands as we speak.

I do wish they had a camera on Brady in the green room this minute. He cannot be pleased. This is like losing to USC a fifth time.

JaMarcus Russell goes No. 1 to the Raiders; Calvin Johnson goes to the Lions. So the player with the most potential is gone and the player with the most production AND potential follows on his heels.

We had the Russell pick. We had Jungle Joe Thomas going to the Lions, however. So now what?

We have the Brownies on the clock and it's got to be between Brady Quinn, Adrian Peterson and Thomas. And maybe a little Gaines Adams coming up on the outside.

This blog likes the draft.

...but maintaining the organization's stand of all-clandestine, all-the-time, they've decided not to tell anybody.

Nice.

That will make this draft much more interesting.

No: JaMarcus Russell.

He's wearing a black suit, black shirt and black tie. Very slimming. (At the end of the round we'll pay tribute to the top three suits....my guess is that Brady Quinn's won't be one of them...nor will Joe Thomas's).

JaMarcus arrived onstage with a seven-person posse. We'll keep track of this for you. Largest posse.

I just spotted Marcus Vick in the green room watching Must Love Dogs on HBO. Crazy, crazy stuff.

JaMarcus's acceptance speech: "I'd like to thank my parents, God, and the Notre Dame defense for making this possible."

Before the Detroit Lion pick, they're actually (no lie) playing "Detroit Rock City". They did a "Sweet Home, California" song before Oakland picked.

If the Lions pick a wide receiver, I fully expect to see a red flag tossed onstage and an official go under a hood.

"Listen, Matt, you've still got a few minutes to change your mind. Are you sure about that?"

Get out your red flag, people: The Lions selected Calvin Johnson . Honestly, I love the pick. He's the best player in the draft. How are you going to do better than him? You trade away another receiver if you need more help.

Calvin's suit: charcoal, pinstriped. White shirt. Pocket-pen protector (Tech student, you know).

Posse Count: Six. So JaMarcus remains ins first place.

Do they go wide receiver and draft Calvin Johnson and stay away from the quarterback position?

That would leave them with Aaron Brooks and Andrew Walter to throw to Calvin Johnson. That ain't quite hell but it's not heaven either.

FOXBORO - The Raiders are still smoking butts and telling stories about the glory days while the time tick, tick, ticks....meanwhile, the Raiders are chatting up the chance to move Randy Moss.

Every preface to Moss going to either New England or Green Bay comes with a ..."don't be surprised..." which is the red flag that there is no fresh information and the speaker - in this case NFL Network's Adam Schefter - doesn't have fresh info. It's cover your ass time.

This blog's got nothing on Moss coming to New England. Put the likelihood under 10 percent. To Green Bay? Better than that.

12:10 p.m. Roger Goodell just announced that the draft is now open. So, I was wondering if they begin with the national anthem....after all, we do have an organist on call. But no. We just begin with a chant of Raiders Suck!"

By the way, I'm downstairs in the media food area about half an hour earlier and there's this absolutely, shall we say, attractive woman there. She's got light brown hair, almost blonde, and I do not recognize her. Who is that, I wonder?

Then my good friend, SI's Arash "I'm on the Guest List" Markazi , gives me a look. "That's Brady Quinn's sister." I look again. What do you know? It is. She's dyed her hair and lost the half-and-half Fiesta Bowl jersey. She's all cleans'd up. If I'm Suzy Kolber, I'm worried.

Hear me now and listen to me later: Laura Quinn-Medicine-Woman-Hawk will be a TV star and soon. Very soon. She's not gorgeous, she's Phyllis Georgeous!

FOXBORO - This blog is in the house at Gillette Stadium tracking the New England Patriots the team with two first-round picks that's already compiled the best offseason - on paper - poised to make it even better.

The Raiders are on the clock. Let's see if they embrace mediocrity and JaMarcus Russell or go with the guy that produced, Brady Quinn...

You think I'm kidding?

http://www.filmforum.org/films/lloyd/safetylast.jpg

11:54 a.m. Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer is onstage along with former Hokie players Bruce Smith, DeAngele Hll and Ron Mexico (Marcus Vick). It was a very classy gesture by the NFL to have Beamer speak and to take a moment to honor the 32 victims.

And I doubt Vick is going to be available to speak with the media about hsi canine contretemps. Here's all I have to say about that if he IS in fact guilty: What an A-hole.

It's my first NFL Draft in person. I don't think the organist will play music to accompany a team's pick, but it would be cool if when the Raiders had the pick, the organist played "Crazy" again. Listen, everything you've read about the Silver & Black? It's all true. That's a franchise in lockdown. There's nothing like it in professional sports, in terms of how they deal with the media and everyone else in general.

It's funny when you consider that one of the most personable dudes in NFL history, and one of its most successful broadcasters, is John Madden, their former coach.

First Overall Pick, my odds:

JaMarcus Russell: 2 to 1
Brady Quinn (whom Al Davis may just think is Daryl Lamonica all over again...he was a big Notre Dame tosser who was the Raider QB in their AFL days): 3 to 1
Calvin Johnson: 3 to 1
Ned, the crutch-wielding Florida International player from last fall's Miami-FIU brawl: 9 to 1
Mitch Cozad (Northern Colorado punter): 110,000 to 1
William H. Macy (I don't know; why not?): 3 million to 1

It's daytime, I'm inside Radio City Music Hall and there are no camels or Santas much stage. Much less Rockettes. Why no Rockettes?

Is it just me or do I feel an NFL-FREAKIN' DRAFT in here?

Yes, that's what it must be. You know how I know? Because the organist is playing NFL Films theme music. I kid you not. But he's also mixing it in with Gnarls Barkley and Outkast. Hey Now! (Honestly, who knew that Hank Kingsley's go-to phrase would become the greatest tune of 2005?). What's next? "Is 'e 'avin' a laugh?"

I'm about to hit the hay, but I just noticed that David Letterman's guests this evening were Andy Dick and Jarvis Cocker . Where was Yankee pitcher Chien-Ming Wang ?

The David Halberstam post. It was inevitable.

I'm no authority on the author. I've read three of his books:

1. "Summer of '49"
2. "The Amateurs"
3. "The Best and The Brightest"

Some background: In March 1985 I was a college freshman headed out to Austin, Texas, for spring break. Two months earlier I'd joined my college crew team, but we'd been confined to winter workouts indoors due to South Bend's less than touristy climes. In Austin I was finally going to sit in a shell and row.

Yankees, trailing 4-0 in the top of the 7th, are about to fall further behind. The Blue Jays, thanks to a pair of no-out walks, have runners on first and second with the heart of their order coming to bat. Can I type "six-game losing streak?" (I guess I can...that's about the limit of my talents, by the way).

The last time New York lost six in a row was two years ago this spring, and that was after they'd started the season 11-19. The nineteenth loss was a 6-3 defeat at home in ten innings against Oakland. Mariano Rivera took the loss (no, Mario (sic) Scutaro did not get the game-winning hit, though he was in the lineup).

Anyway, nervous Yankee fans should remember, New York then went on a ten-game win streak. Order was restored, or so it seemed....until the six-game losing streak. After 58 games New York's record was 28-30. The Yankees did not permanently climb above .500 until the season's 79th game in 2005.

It's not that the Yankees are supposed to win the A.L. East every year...it's just that they spend as if they think they do, and as a matter of fact, they've done so nine years in a row. But as poorly as they've played (or, pitched) this month, it's far too early to be concerned.

Unless you just checked the scoreboard and saw that Boston came back from a 2-1 deficit in the 8th thanks to a Willy Mo Pena grand slam. New York is about to fall 5 1/2 games behind in the A. L. East. On the bright side, Tampa Bay lost earlier this afternoon in Anaheim, providing New York about a three-hour reprieve from the A.L. East basement by falling to 9-13 (New York's Ratt moment....out of the cellar). But after the Yanks lose this game, they'll be back in the cellar.

They're playing "Rapper's Delight" on the P.A. system between innings right now. I just got my Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary issue this afternoon and the The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 classic is listed at one of the 40 songs that changed music.

Agreed.

But here's my question. What was the first "rap" in the rock era? I'm asking because there's another song on Rolling Stone's list, by the Rolling Stones in fact, that came out fourteen years prior. Yes, "Satisfaction". The chorus is a typical melody, but what about the verses? What about...

When I'm ridin' round the world
and I'm doin' this and I'm signing that
and I'm tryin' to make some girl
who tells me baby better come back later next week
'cause you see I'm on losing streak.

Sounds like a rap to me. What do you think?

Looking ahead, the hottest ticket in baseball this summer has to be for a June 22-24 weekend series in San Francisco. The Yankees will visit the Giants and, if Barry Bonds keeps stroking them as he has been, it could very well coincide with 756.

Bonds has seven already through 21 games, so why couldn't he hit 15 more between now and the fourth week of June? Can you imagine that? Bonds within two or three HRs of the record, A-Rod still on a homer tear, and the Zodiac case still not officially solved?

The Phil Hughes debut is over. Hughes lasts 4 1/3 innings and leaves trailing 3-0 with a pair of runners on base. Hughes pitched very well for a 20 year-old making his major league debut, striking out five (equaling the high of any Yankee hurler this season) and walking just one. He threw 90 pitches and did not allow a home run.

Meanwhile, Brian Bruney enters the game with one out, runners on the corner, and Frank Thomas staring back at him ("Thanks a lot, Joe"). Bruney just got Big Hurt to hit into a sacrifice fly. It's 4-0, Blue jays. The best Hughes can hope for is no decision.

The Mystery of the Red Sox' red socks. Speaking of hoaxes, as we were a few posts ago. Gary Thorne will wake up tomorrow thinking, I know how Imus feels.

A-Rod just smacked a rocket to deep center, but the little wind that there is this evening is blowing in and it was just a warning track fly-out. A 400-foot blast, but a fly out.

Phil Hughes failed to record a strikeout in the 4th inning, but he didn't allow a hit, either (just a walk to Lyle Overbay, who was stranded on third). Through four, then, in his Major League debut, Hughes has allowed two runs and right now his pitch count is at about 73 or 74. I'm guessing Torre will leave him in long enough to be the pitcher of record.

Giambi just sliced a weak liner past third base that, because of the shift, was a base hit. But then the "Giambino", as Regis calls him, tried to stretch it for a double. I think he's still running.

Through four it's Blue Jays 2, Yankees 0.

No, the "HUGHES!" cheers have yet to descend upon THTRB (The House That....you know), but here's something you may find interesting. Hughes recorded another strikeout in the 3rd inning (Adam Lind again), which gives him four for the game thus far. The most strikeouts any Yankee pitcher has recorded in a game this season so far is five, by Kei Igawa a week ago Wednesday.

Roger Clemens, as his agent reads that note to him, leans farther back in the Barcalounger and grins.

Hughes actually retired seven consecutive Blue Jays before Vernon Wells singled to center field with two outs. Then he retired Frank Thomas on a fly out to Johnny Damon.

Bizarro Nugget that Peter King may not even be interested in: Mike Mussina, who has more wins than any Yankee pitcher this decade/century/millennium, made his big-league debut 16 years ago...and Frank Thomas was in the opposing lineup that day, as well. In fact, Big Hurt (I wrote this the other day, but I'm sure we have tens of thousands of new readers to the blog this evening) was responsible for the game's lone run, a solo shot in Moose's 1-0 loss.

Tonight Thomas also has one RBI so far. Cool, hunh?

Hughes just threw a much more effective second inning, coming within one strike of striking out the side. One inning he's Chase Wright, the next he's Jake Peavy.

Hughes struck out the first hitter he faced, Jason Hill, on three pitches.

He struck out the second hitter he faced, Jason Phillips, on five pitches.

(We interrupt this chronicle to have the ghost of Peter King hijack this post and provide a "Bizarre Stat That Only I May Be Interested In": Phillip Hughes has struck out every Jason he's ever faced in his Major League career...and he won't have to face Giambi).

With the crowd beginning to get into it, he worked a 2-2 count on John McDonald before the Blue Jay shortstop grounded out to Robinson Cano. I believe Hughes threw 13 pitches in the second inning, half as many as he did in the first.

Just that Hughes was able to retire the side in order is cause for celebration if you're a Yankee fan. That only happened once in sixteen innings in Tampa Bay earlier this week. He has also already, in two innings, struck out as many batters (3) as any Yankee pitcher has in New York's last six ballgames (five of which were losses and the last, a miraculous win).

A-Rod singled in his first at-bat and just stole second.

For the sake of history, Phil Hughes first stepped out of the dugout tonight at 6:37 p.m. He walked out to the centerfield bullpen accompanied by two other Yankees (I assume the bullpen catcher and pitching coach Ron Guidry) and was greeted by a loud cheer.

His first major league pitch, delivered to Blue Jay leadoff hitter Alex Rios, came at 7:08 p.m. It was a ball. The next pitch was hit hard to left field for a single.

It was a rocky first inning in the bigs for the phenom hurler who wears his height (6-5) on his jersey back, if not his heart on his sleeve. Hughes allowed three base hits--to left, to the wall in dead center, and to right--, a stolen base and two runs. He also incurred his first big-league error, a wild pitch to Lyle Overbay.

He recorded one strikeout, a five-pitch at-bat against the second hitter he faced, Adam Lind.

2-0, Blue Jays, bottom of the first. Derek Jeter is not starting tonight. He was a late scratch due to the thigh contusion. Miguel Cairo is starting in his place and Doug Mientkiewicz is batting second.

Greetings from Yankee Stadium... I seem to have stowed away on the Pinstripe Express and, as was the case with the Iona men's basketball team three months ago, am not allowed to leave until they win.

Came across two stories today. One appeared in The Los Angeles Times and the other in GQ . You tell me which story is less plausible:

1) L.A. Times: Sportswriter Mike Penner , in a first-person piece, announces that he is taking a few weeks' vacation and that upon his return he will be Christine Daniels . (Which, when you think about it, is an unbeatable strategy for a white male if layoffs are imminent).

2. GQ: Jason Gay profiles Jonathan "Jake" Nettles Floyd , the 13 year-old general manager of the independent minor league Ash Fork Miners.

Transsexual sportswriter? Pubescent baseball GM? Which one sounds more ludicrous? Cross-dressing sportswriter, sure. But transsexual?

Both pieces are very funny. Penner, who has worked at the Times for 23 years and is married to a fellow female staffer (who will soon be both a fellow staffer as well as a fellow female), relates how he broke the news to one colleague by announcing that he's just like the star of TransAmerica. The colleague seemed concerned, then confused as Penner related the details. Finally, the colleague said, "I thought you said 'Trainspotting'. I thought you were a heroin addict."

Here's the piece in its entirety:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-oldmike26apr26,1,3394028.story?coll=la-headlines-sports&ctrack=1&cset=true

The GQ piece is absolutely hilarious. Floyd, 13, sabermetrics wunderkind who has come up with new-fangled stats such as ISH (Infield Stolen Hits) and OSH (Outfield Stolen Hits) and has an intern, Tyler, who's nine. The Miners have the typical zany minor-league promotional stunts, such as "Wear Your Underwear Outside Your Pants" night and Klingon Night. Floyd, Gay reports, got his start by scouting his own Little League teammates, chastising some for only having "warning-track power".

And, it turns out, even though he's already the GM of a professional baseball team at age 13, he's not overly impressed with himself. "It's like what Theo Epstein's dad said when Theo got the Red Sox job," Floyd tells Gay. " 'At Theo's age, Alexander the Great was already general manager of the world.' "

(To which Tyler, listening in on the anecdote, comments, "His dad said that? What a d___!"

The GQ piece is a must-read (plus there's a cool profile on Ivanka Trump with PICS! in this issue, so what's not to love?). Now, if you have any desire to follow that advice, then don't read what I'm about to post beyond the jump here. But if it doesn't matter to you either way, then go ahead and hit ye ol' "Continue Reading" link:

Normally I associate the word PHENOMENAL with Vince Vaughn and my friend Brendan (Who says it twenty times a day. I'm sure because of Vaughn).

But it wasn't a movie star who dropped it in a sentence this time.

So exactly who is Barry Bonds talking about? Go here.

Pop quiz: What do Barclay Tagg, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Jim Breuer have in common?

An interview with yours truly this week. Yup, its a random mix of what's coming up on Breakfast with Tiffany.

Yesterday morning I went out to Belmont Park to hang out with Nobiz Like Showbiz, a favorite entering the Kentucky Derby. He's beautiful!! Just a few stalls over, the 2003 Derby winner Funny Cide was just chilling, eating some food. He says "Heyyy." (bad joke). The Barclay Tagg piece will be up next Friday right before the Derby goes down that Saturday.

Today I'm meeting with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Confession: His new movie is something that I'd never go and watch. That is until I checked out the trailer. While I'm not an action movie type of a gal (think more Little Miss Sunshine, Wedding Crashers, perhaps a little Borat) I will confess this movie looks awesome. The concept is unlike any other movie I've ever heard of. And Mr. Austin will be telling you all about it .. on Friday.

Now while that interview goes up on Friday, that morning I'll be kicking it with Jim Breuer. I can't wait to hang out and hopefully get a few good laughs in as well.

Top of the 9th, Yankees trail 6-4.

A-Rod bats sixth this inning, in case you were wondering.

As G.A. noted in a previous comment, this would be only the second Devil Rays' sweep of the Yanks in 52 series. Although it is only a two-game series.

Cano just struck out to lead off the inning.

The stingers are ON!

Cabrera just grounded out...two away.

Mientkiewicz has an 0-2 count on him. If/when the Yankees lose, they will be in LAST PLACE in the A.L. East.

Struck him out.

New York is 8-12, Tampa Bay 9-11. Yanks are in last. And they'd be 6-14 right now, facing much more heat, were it not for A-Rod's two game-ending blasts.

A-Rod's hitting streak of 24(?) games is also history.

Devil Ray pitcher Scott Kazmir was pitching a fantastic ballgame with one out in the seventh inning. Up to that point Kaz had allowed just two hits and at one point retired eleven consecutive Yankee batters. Then Hideki Matsui hit a comebacker to him. Kaz took a step back and, throwing toward first from the rubber, fired one in the dirt that first baseman Carlos Pena could not handle.

Matsui was on. The next batter, Jorge Posada, smashed a double to the right-center power alley to score Matsui. Then, after Robinson Cano made an out, Josh Phelps hit the go-ahead single. I know, this is all boring play-by-play, but the point is that Kaz's seemingly simple throw to first got him in trouble. Not that we can truly glean any profound life lessons from this other than Every Little Thing Counts.

Posada, by the way, is having a terrific April, if not quite an A-Rod tonight. "Georgie", as Jeter and Torre call him, is 2-3 tonight and now has his batting average up to .350 for the year.

Sinkerball specialist Chien-Ming Wang is pitching for the Yankees, and were we not playing in a dome, I'd say the difference between him and Kei Igawa is like night and day. Last night Igawa surrendered 15 hits and ten runs to Tampa Bay. Tonight, even though it's only two innings in, Wang has allowed two hits, no runs, and no runner past first base.

Again, it's early, but Wang has fantastic command. He's induced four groundouts, struck out two and walked none. Last night Igawa threw 34 pitches in the second inning. I wonder if Wang will have thrown 34 pitches through the first three.

Wang just retired the side in order on two groundouts and a fly out (nice catch by Bobby Abreu). It's the first time in these two games that New York delivered a 1-2-3 inning. I'm not sure how many innings the streak reached. At least eleven, but I cannot remember what happened Sunday night in Boston.

Derek Jeter just got plunked in the thigh with a Scott Kazmir fastball. Ooh, that's gotta sting. He stayed on the ground for a minute. You knew nothing was broken, but whenever someone gets struck in the vastus lateralis muscle it's gonna hurt. The ol' V.L. is very fleshy. Prime charley horse region.

Anyway, back to the clubhouse confidential.

4:48 p.m. Moose informs us that during his throwing session he may have broken the middle finger of bullpen catcher Mike Borzone. Moose threw a change-up, and as he explained, he's had the same routine with Borzone for five or six years now, so Borzone should have expected it.

"So," asks Newark Star-Ledger beat writer Ed Price, "you broke his finger with a change-up? You must be ready to come back."

5 p.m. Inside the Devil Ray locker room, which is empty save for Akinoro "Aki" Iwamura and his "Cultural Assimilation Liaison". And us, the groveling sportswriters. I look around the spacious digs (it's as big as an NFL locker room) and notice three signs on which are posted wisdom-providing sayings. They are:

"Integrity has no need of rules"--Albert Camus

"Discipline yourself so no one else has to"--John Wooden

"Rules cannot take the place of character" -- Alan Greenspan

Pointing to the last one, I say to Greg Auman, "Look! Andrea Mitchell's husband is being quoted."

"It's always about promoting NBC with you, isn't it?" he replies.

Here we are back in St. Petersburg, my return engagement at the Tropicana. I feel just like Ricky Ricardo. This weekend I'll be playing at the Club Babaloo. One other note before we begin: frequent blogstalker Greg Auman is in the press box tonight as well, so the comments may have a more direct feel...and include more personal (and accurate) attacks upon my hair, wardrobe and overall state of disrepair.

Greg (G.A.) notes that this is how they did it in the "good ol' days of bloggin'", when you'd have to approach the blogger in person to give him your comments.

Anyway, it's fun to come to the ballpark four hours early, especially when you have locker room access. You notice funny things, such as the serious looks on the faces of the Devil Rays grounds crew as they maintain the artificial grass and keep one eye on the roof for threatening clouds.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, profiled by acclaimed author David Halberstam in the book "Education of a Coach", released a statement on the death of Halbertstam today in a car accident in California.

"It was a privilege and honor to watch David practice his craft and an even greater one to call him a friend," said Belichick. "David was as warm, considerate, intelligent, interesting and accomplished a person as I have ever met and his loss is heartbreaking."

The book, released in 2005, detailed the development of Belichick as a coach and focused a lot of attention on Belichick's father, Steve, a respected collegiate coach and scout who died in 2005 soon after the book came out.

Not surprisingly given Halberstam's track record, the book was very well done.

I asked Belichick before the book came out how it came about. He said with a smile, "He asked and I knew he had a pretty good track record. I hope it doesn't end with me."

It didn't.

....if history is one year old.

Alex Rodriguez just simply ABUSED a baseball for a two-run homer in the 9th inning to halve the Yankee deficit from four runs to two with one out.

A-Rod crushed it. Let's get this straight: through almost 19 games, A-Rod isn't just having a great season. Or even his best season. He's having THE season. It was almost predictable that A-Rod would homer as he just did, and when you watch the rest of the All-Star Yankee lineup look merely mortal, it's even more jaw-dropping. The dude has 14 home runs and 34 RBI and the season isn't even one-eighth over.

Giambi whiffed and Matsui just popped out to second to end it.

Tampa Bay wins 10-8. My pen ran out of ink on the boxscore halfway through the sixth. Ridiculously poor pitching and good hitting (the exact ratio of which I cannot be sure). However, I do know that there were 12 pitchers used (and I mean USED), 28 hits and 18 runs. I do not believe there was a single three-up, three-down inning.

Gotta hit the showers.

I'm convinced that when I go to hell I will travel along a long, dark (and perhaps not altogether pleasant-smelling) path. On one side there will be fans rattling cow bells. On the other, fans banging Thunder Stix. In the vehicle with me, Mel Kiper, Jr., and John Clatyton will be discussing a mock draft. Mario Williams will be driving.

Guess waht? Through seven innings the Devil Rays--the last place in the A.L. East Devil Rays, though, to be fair, this is a very entertaining offensive lineup-- have put up season-highs in runs (10) and hits (14). The Rays entered tonight's game with the 2nd-most runs in the A.L. Who had the most runs? Yes, New York.

And yet both teams are under .500. It's pitching. It was, it is, and it always will be.

Even with a four-run lead, Tampa Bay's newest pitcher just walked the first two Yankee batters of the 8th inning. Is it too soon to say that it's all going to come down to A-Rod?

By the way, Brian Stokes and his fearsome 8.68 ERA just entered the game for the Devil Rays. Stokes gave up four runs in the top of the ninth yesterday against Cleveland to blow a save. He's the tenth pitcher in tonight's game.

Now pitching for the New York Yankees, Colter Bean. Whenever I come across a name such as his, I always think I should--but never follow through-- keep a list of weirdly appropriately named athletes. Such as a pitcher named Bean.

This is a desperate plea for G.A. to get involved and provide his master list. But tonight's game has already had twopitchers who might make the All-Appropriately-Named pitching staff:

Colter Bean
Gary Glover

Just throw in Bob Walk and Justin Kaye and there's your four-man rotation. But you need a fifth, so let's add Boof Bonser. Not that his name fits anything, I just like typing "Boof Bonser".

--We just sat through Kei Igawa's 34-pitch 2nd inning in which he walked three Devil Rays and put the rest of us to sleep. He did throw a strike to Tampa's DH/leadoff hitter, Rocco Baldelli , though, who deposited it in the left center stands near the "Power Alley Pub" (note to self: visit Power Alley Pub later).

After two innings it's 4-2, Devil Rays, and Joe Torre is wondering if Andy Pettite can go an inning for him this evening.

Honestly, there was some great theater in this weekend's sweep at Boston (the back-to-back-to-back-to-back homer barrage and Coco Crisp taking himself yard were my two favorites), but it all comes down to this: Boston has stellar pitching and New York's is below average. And the Yankee staff will only be at best average when all the injured pitchers return.

New York has no Iwo Jima (you know who I mean) and at this stage of their careers Jonathan Papelbon is the best closer in baseball, not Mo Rivera. And it's not close. When is the last time you saw some lefty hitter break his bat and ground a weak come-backer to Mo? That used to happen every time Rivera appeared. Hey, we all age-- I can't even shower as fast as I used to--but Rivera is no longer a feared closer. And the Yankees' best set-up pitcher wouldn't even be one of the Angels' top three.

The Yankees lost all three games this weekend because they couldn't hold a lead. And that's not on the starting pitchers (except maybe you, Chaz) or the hitters. That's on the pen.

I just read that author David Halberstam was killed in a car crash in Menlo Park, California earlier today. That's too bad. Halberstam was well-known as a sports author ("Summer of '49" and "The Amateurs"), but he made his bones as a journalist doing the war correspondence stuff in Africa and Vietnam for the New York Times in the early 1960s. Halberstam's reporting from Vietnam, back at a time when tomorrow's newspaper was the closest thing to instant news, won him a Pulitzer Prize by the age of thirty.

If you want to read an absolutely fantastic book, one that Halberstam did not write but in which he is a central character, read William Prochnau's Once Upon A Distant War . It's an amazing book about young reporters covering the Vietnam War before most Americans even realized it was one.

And here's a sign of the times: On Halberstam's Wikipedia entry, the first sentence already places him in the past tense: "David Halberstam (April 10, 1934–April 23, 2007) was an American journalist and author." Eerie.

The Devil Rays brass, mindful of how the Trop becomes a mimosa of Yankee fans when the Bombers visit, are attempting to even the score by offering free cowbells to the first 10,000 fans tonight....who come dressed in Devil Rays apparel. I have no idea if any fans wore Devil Rays gear, then lost them and put on their Jeter jerseys. I do know that I'll be disappointed if I don't hear Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" at least once this evening.

outs, bottom of the first, and Devil Ray cleanup hitter Ty Wiggington hits a hard shot down the 3rd base line. A-Rod dives and, because he has downgraded his friendship with Derek Jeter from "close" to "business associates", fields the ball cleanly and fires a bullet to first that beats Wiggington by a step.

See, that's all because he's not hanging out as much with sordid types like Jeter. It's like what Pac-Man is trying to do.

Now A-Rod is up....stay tuned....unless you're watching this on TV, then don't sweat it...A-Rod is quickly down 0-2 to Casey Fossum....Now it's 2-2...

GONE!

A-Rod smokes one out to left field that Carl Crawford just turns, takes two steps to chase, then stops and watches it. The ball didn't go so deep as much as it just raced out of here on the express train.

That A-Rod. He may catch Aaron before Bonds does ("Oh, if only it were so," says Bud Selig).

That's 13 home runs, and 32 RBI in April, and we still have one week remaining in what for Rodriguez has not been the cruelest month. It's funny. Boss man Steinbrenner used to call his early '80s slugger Dave Winfield (the last Yankee to be as offensively gifted and such a rare physical specimen) "Mr. May". Derisively. With the numbers A-Rod is posting this month, he is Mr. April, and that's not a knock.

New marks for A-Rod:

--His 32 RBI are a career-high for him for any calendar month.
--A-Rod has quietly built a 23-game hit streak dating back to last season.
--He is one homer shy of tying Albert Pujols' all-time record for most home runs hit in the month of April.

If this were twenty years ago, when people still listened to FM radio, someone would write an A-Rod tribute song. I'd like that. How about something to the melody of Outkast's "Hey Ya" ("A-Rahhhhhd, A-Rahhhd").

I'm in sunny St. Petersburg this evening (although the sun never shines in the evening, and especially not beneath the ceiling of Tropicana Field) to watch the Yankees play the Devil Rays. I thought it might be a good idea to catch the A-Rod circus away from the craziness of places where the Amtrak Acela travels (Boston, NYC, Balt.), but apparently so did every other sportswriter.

My old and good buddy, Jeff Bradley of ESPN the Magazine, is here. He's sitting right next to me. The Bradman. Love Jeff Bradley. Love him! Of the Essex Fells, N.J., Bradleys. Brother Scott is the Princeton baseball coach. Other brother Bob is the U.S. men's soccer coach in waiting. When I first arrived at SI in 1989 the only people who liked me were Jeff and Tim Crothers. When I left 12 years later, fewer people liked me. Anyway, the Bradman rules.

The unofficial color of NYC? Nooooo, it's not all black (although that is the color of choice for most people's wardrobe. BORING.)
Actually, the unofficial color of NYC would be pale.
It begins in November and lingers around until April-May.
Yes, I'm talking about that pasty-white-almost-green tint that people begin to get after wearing seven layers of clothes for five months of freezing cold. In the words of Paris Hilton, "That's hot" does not apply EVER in this case.
(I kind of hate that I just quoted Paris in my blog. Call it a moment of weakness.)

So you can imagine the joy, excitement, pure pleasure and bliss New Yorkers felt this weekend as they stepped outside of their cubicle sized apartments. Because for the first time in a "I don't even remember if the sun exists" weekend, NY'ers had a feeling most had forgotten: warmth.

It was hot outside. HOT. Sunny. Pretty, if you will. I don't think there was a spare piece of grass to lay on. Not an extra chair to sit in or a table to eat at outside. Every rooftop was filled with grills, beer and happy people. The jeans came off, sweaters forgotten, and puffy jackets tossed to the back of closets. Quickly replaced by tank tops, shorts, flip flops and for those who dared-bathing suits.

You might think, "What's the big deal?" Obviously you've never lived up North. Or anywhere where it remains cold for this long. Take it from me, it's a big deal. And the fact that I've got on flip flops at work and the beginning signs of tan lines has made this Monday an extra good one.

It was 3-0, bottom of the 3rd inning in Fenway this evening, when Manny Ramirez came to bat. There were two outs and nobody on. Yankee rookie Chase Wright, making just his second big league start, was on the mound. The catcher was backup Wil Nieves.

Ramirez, who grew up just a couple miles away from Yankee Stadium in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan, is one of the all-time great Yankee killers. Tonight he incited an almost unheard of battery battering.

Home run, Manny.
Followed immediately by...
Home run, J.D. Drew.
Followed immediately by...
Home run, Mike Lowell.
Followed immediately by...
Home run, Jason Varitek.

Four batters, four home runs, and for only the second time in Major League history. And just like that Chase Wright became Chased Wright. Well, he'll always have something to tell his grandkids.

It may not make the 11 p.m. SportsCenter this evening--heck, it failed to make the home page of this site-- but earlier this morning at the London Marathon Ryan Hall ran the fastest marathon by an American-born runner in history. Not bad, considering it was Hall's marathon debut.

Hall, 24, and having never run a race longer than 12K (7.4 miles) in his life just a year ago, finished the 26.2 miles on a slightly warmer than comfortable morning in 2:08:24. That is the fastest marathon debut by any American, and among American citizens, only former world-record holder Khalid Khannouchi, who was born and raised in Morocco, has run a faster marathon.

Khannouchi ran in today's race but dropped out before the finish. Hall, meanwhile, finished 7th. He stayed with the lead pack the entire way (Kenya's Martin Lel, who finished 2nd by two seconds last year, won in 2:07:41) and even led the race for a while after the 18th mile.

"I felt good leading," Hall said. "That's why I went to the front. I wanted to taste the lead."

Seven years ago Hall finished third in the Foot Locker Cross-Country national championships in Orlando, Fla. The two runners who finished ahead of him, sub-four miler Alan Webb and Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein, have garnered far more attention than Hall from that day until the beginning of this year. No longer. Hall, now that he's found his niche in the longer distances, is the class of that class. No native-born American has ever run a faster half-marathon (59:43) or marathon.

Ryan Hall is having himself a pretty decent 2007.

By the way, Hall's younger brother, Chad, who did win the Foot Locker championships last autumn, just signed with Oregon last week. Ryan attended Stanford, but both of them signed with the same coach: the legendary Vin Lananna, who was at Stanford and then migrated north to Eugene a couple of years ago.

Did you see the Red Sox-Yankee game last night? How reminiscent of Diamondback Luis Gonzalez's World Series-winning hit over a drawn-in Yankee infield in 2001 was Alex Cora's game-winner in the bottom of the 8th last night?

And it may be too soon to suggest that Mariano Rivera needs to start hanging out more with Bernie Williams, but Mo has given up extra-base hits to Marco-not-Mario Scutaro and now Coco Crisp in the past five days.

A-Rod's homer against the Indians on Thursday wasn't just a walk-off home run, it was the last at-bat of the Yankee homestand. Is that a bus-off home run?

"He really is so nice! Just the nicest guy." -Rep of New York Dragons

I turned around to watch the New York Dragons practice.
I had my eye on number 6.
The tall one.
The guy who played under Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher at LSU.
The one who went on to play in the NFL under Bill Belichick and Charlie Weis.
The back up to Tom Brady and winner of two Super Bowl rings.

On a field much smaller then a traditional football field, Rohan Davey threw ball after ball, ran play after play. Once the team finished practice, Davey stayed behind to throw a few more balls and run a couple of more plays with some of the receivers. Then he talked to his coach. Then he came over to speak to me.

To break the ice, I asked about his hometown Miami. I then mentioned I was from Vero Beach, just a two hour drive North. "No way, really?" We started laughing about how we're two Florida kids who can't take this NE weather anymore. How his kid brother and my kid sis both live in Miami. And both enjoy rubbing it in that they are hanging out in gorgeous weather. I told him my favorite number was six. He loves it too. It's always been his number. The rest of the conversation went easy.

Davey has seen football in so many different lights. College. NFL. Europe. AFL. He's worked under and with some of the best. And that's what he expects from himself, to do the best he can. What impressed me most is his sheer enjoyment for the game. He's done a lot as well as seen a fair amount of setbacks in his career. None of that has kept him from pursuing the game he wound up playing by chance. Once we were done, I smiled and thought, "They're right. He's just the nicest guy."

VITAMIN WATER
VITAMIN WATER
VITAMN WATER...

Please note: All checks payable to the NFL.
Mr. Urlacher, Kindly send your payment of $100,000 to the Commissioner's office.
With love, The NFL.

Who knew a ball cap could cost so much?

Honestly, I was there on Media Day. I was one of the hundreds of reporters at Dolphin Stadium and I stood at Brian Urlacher's booth. I asked questions. I listened to other reporters ask questions. Listened to answers. Reported.

You could've asked me five minutes after seeing him or three months after the Super Bowl and I still wouldn't have a clue what hat he was wearing. A more appropriate response would've been: "Huh? He wore a hat? Oh."

I understand the NFL has the right to be upset. I also understand that as a business, they owe it to their sponsors who pay a large amount of money to be titled "The Official Drink of the NFL". But are you telling me no representative of the NFL was there to say, "Hey buddy, you might want to take off that hat. People will be upset. People as in the league." Shouldn't there be someone there.. if this is SUCH A BIG DEAL... to at least make sure these kinds of things don't happen?

Yes, the athletes are adults. Yes, they should be responsible for their own actions. But come on, we're at the Super Bowl. You're telling me on top of everything else going on in that crazy place, they now have to worry about what hat they have on? This is football and to think that one hat would equal a fine of that amount is a little out of control. It also is probably the best $100,000 Vitmain Water has ever spent.

Here's the scene: A lazy Thursday afternoon (most afternoons with me are lazy). Just finished doing my laundry. Turn on the Indians-Yankees game. Cleveland leads 5-2 in the bottom of the 7th, but I figure I can procrastinate for a good hour if I stay tuned until it's over. Slump down into the comfy chair.

Fast forward to the bottom of the 9th. Now it's 6-2, Cleveland, and New York is down to its final out with nobody on. I have not moved from my recumbent position on the comfy chair.

Josh Phelps (WHO?) comes to bat.
Home run, Phelps! 6-3, Cleveland.
Former Yankee Paul O'Neill, calling the game with Michael Kay, remarks that it's always nice to head onto the plane (the Bombers are off to Boston tonight for a weekend series) following a good at-bat.
Jorge Posada, who'd come into the game two innings earlier and is batting 9th, gets two striikes on him. Then he singles up the middle, a screamer right past Indian relieve Joe Borowski's noodle.
Johnny Damon is up. He also gets to a two-strike count, 2-2. Then Borowski misses twice and Damon is on with a walk.
Derek Jeter, the tying run, line drives a single between short and third. Posada scores. 6-4, Indians.
Bobby Abreu, the potential winning run, comes to bat. Alex Rodriguez is in the hole.
Damon's on second, Jeter on first. Kay asks O'Neill if the Yankees should double steal ( Yes! Yes! Yes!, I scream, and not because that's the name of the network televising the game). That way a single ties it. O'Neill says no.
Damon and Jeter stay put. Abreu becomes the third batter with two outs to come down to the final strike. The count is 1-2.
Abreu singles to left! Damon scores! Jeter to second. 6-5, Indians. If the Yanks had double-stolen (double-stealed?), it would be tie by now.
But then again, here comes A-Rod. He's 0-4 today. After he'd made an out in the 8th, Kay had noted that his consecutive games hit streak (since the start of the season) would end today unless he got another chance to hit in the 9th.
A-Rod swings! HOME RUN! Lucky No. 13 strokes one to straightaway center, not much different from the place where he'd landed the walk-off grand slam twelve days earlier against the Orioles.

Always stirring up trouble. Radio personality and sports hot head Howard Eskin took on Phillies manager Charlie Manuel at a press conference.

From SI.com: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was provoked by a local radio personality in the postgame news conference who asked why Manuel didn't show more anger in news conferences. Manuel -- nicknamed "Red Devil" when he played in Japan because of his explosive temper -- challenged his questioner to meet him in Manuel's office, where, Manuel promised, he would display temper.
-- Philadelphia Daily News

Basically Eskin was challenging Manuel to get angry and maybe that would fuel some kind of passion within his failing team. Manuel shot back with a come-into-my-office-and-I'll-show-you type response.

I've met Eskin a couple of times. Most recently I ran into him at lunch during Meida Day at the Super Bowl. Just a few months before that I interviewed him on his home turf at his radio station in Philly. When I listened in on his radio show one thing was certain, that man knows exactly what he is getting into at all times. Any viewer who calls and DOESN'T agree, Eskin goes at him. He knew he was going to piss off Manuel with a comment like that. I just don't think Manuel knew he himself would get so mad.

I'll keep this short. I now know more about Cho Seung-Hui than I've ever wanted to, thanks to CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. But I also know far more about Cho Seung-Hui than I do about any of the 32 people whose lives he took on Monday.

To the producers of cable and network news: On Monday and Tuesday you were providing a valuable service. Today and onward you're teetering on the brink of exploitation. I just watched CNN's Gary Tuchman interview two of the killer's former roommates, and yes, it was fascinating. But when they returned to the studio the first thing that anchor Tony Harris said was, "What a fantastic interview from Gary Tuchman!"

I need to take a shower.

The murderer is far from being the only disenfranchised violent male in this country. Hell, I went to a nice prep school in Phoenix and we still had two classmates who walked around nearly every day wearing fatigues and spouting para-military lingo (and, no, the chicks didn't dig them, either). If either of them had ever gone Columbine on us, looking back, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise.

All of which is to remind the producers at these news networks that every extra minute you devote to the murderer from this point on--as opposed to the 32 victims, most of whom we've not even seen a photo of thus far-- makes you complicit the next time this happens. All you're doing is assuring the next fanatic that he'll receive far more than just 15 minutes of fame.

But, hey, that was a fantastic interview from Gary Tuchman.

And while we're at it, enough with the tinkling piano music already. I'm not buying your sincerity.

Since when did going to a baseball game result in a food fight? Apparently Boston fans are still elementary school kids in the lunch room at heart.

I had about three people IM me this link all at the same time. Watch the whole thing... and listen to the announcers Emmy-Award worthy analysis of the unfolding events. Definitely some quotable moments from these two.

At least that is what Vince Young did when he agreed to be the new cover boy for Madden 2008.

Honestly, name one person who after being on the cover has had a good season? One. I can't think of anything he should've run away from faster. Ok, maybe hanging out in Vegas with Pacman but even that might be safe in comparison.

Last night I tuned in to the start of The Daily Show on Comedy Central to see how they would handle the shootings at Virginia Tech. Of course it would have been ludicrous of them to plumb any of that horrible situation for even a smirk, but I was curious if host Jon Stewart would even discuss it. After all, the Daily Show did--after a few days' retreat--handle the 9/11catastrophe.

And, ironically enough, in just yesterday's New York Times there appeared a brief story about how the most knowledgeable Americans, in terms of current events, are very familiar with the "fake news" that breaks on The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert's wickedly witty Colbert Report .

The TV era of Tiki Barber.

I love how the use of quotations in the title stress the word GIANT and REAL JOB. As if it wasn't obvious.

Extra time on your hands? Take this Tiki quiz. Apparently I know him pretty close to perfect.

With the NFL Draft right around the corner (there are signs promoting the event all over NYC), the hype is a growing, the teams are a debating, and some players are just sitting, waiting to learn their fate. While others are campaigning for the top spot.

I personally don't care when Brady Quinn gets drafted. Just pick the guy (someone) and move on. In my opinion, no one's proved anything until they've played in the NFL and all this self-promotion of "I'm the best, take me number 1" is getting old.

Exhibit A: Sugar Bowl 2007. Case closed. Just get drafted, win a few games and then make the team who passed you up feel like an idiot. (Yes, I'm talking about the Texans with Reggie Bush/Vince Young).

One player we here at NBC have kept a close eye on is Rutgers hero Brian Leonard. Apparently USA Today had the same idea.

Aaron Gleeman's blog... read it.. he's funny. And it was his blog that directed me to this blog. You may have heard of it, if not add it to your favorites.

Over the past few weeks, members of the Fantasy Fix team have been making fun of Gregg. The boy is getting married in t-minus two weeks. I have had the pleasure of meeting his lady (love her, she's the cutest not to mention sweetest person).

But of course because none of us are married, we singles reserve the right to make fun of his impending walk down the aisle. And so we taunt him with constant reminders that his freedom, bachelorhood, basically his LIFE is rapidly ticking down to a big fat OVER. He laughs, puts his head down and smiles. Then he changes the subject to something like football. I'll be sure to post pictures of the moment his new life begins (or ends depending on your personal stand on marriage) the week after the 'big day'. Until then, who has wedding gift ideas??? Cause after what seemed like 50 weddings last year, I'm fresh out.

12:25 p.m. Congratulations to Peter Gilmore for being the first American male finisher in 2:16:41, which is a terrific time on a crummy day. The former UC-Berkeley team captain finished 8th overall. Seven of the top ten finishers, including the top four, were Kenyans.

12:31 p.m. My apologies to Larry Ross, who had on a nice violet tie and whose name I didn't know all morning. Then again, he doesn't know mine. Okay, now I'm either watching a sports fishing show or the Boston Marathon has taken a bizarre dramatic turn. Time for me to get on with my day.

12:33 p.m. Google up $9.45. I'm just trying to help you get rich. Just like Cramer.

12:09 p.m. Deena Kastor is about to finish fourth in just over 2:35, which is well off her 2:19 U.S. record of a year ago at London. Her time is 2:35:09. Boston also happens to be the U.S. Women's Marathon Championships so Kastor, who finished fourth overall, won that. She likely was hurt by not having a male pace-runner to run alongside.

12:12 p.m. They're talking about Robert Cheruyiot, who's about to win his third overall Boston. He's a very tall marathoner-- 6'1"-- but the amazing story behind Cheruyiot is that he was abandoned by both his parents when he was a child. Not emotionally abandoned. Literally abandoned. And he's not in therapy or on crystal meth. He's just tough. He never gave up. God, I love non-Americans. I'm a xenophile.

11:58 a.m. We're about to hit "Power Lunch" on CNBC while Russian's Lidiya Grigoryiva has broken away from Perez and Prokopcuka. Less than a mile to go and Grigoryiva, who dropped a 5:10 mile 24, is speeding up toward the finish. Prokopcuka, who finished 2nd a year ago, looks to be the runner who's the runner-up for the second year running.

12:00 p.m. The real race is for 2nd. Perez is catching up to Prokopcuka. Man, I wish the Kentucky Derby announcer was here right now....nope. Prokopcuka is going to hold on to second, while the Russian Grigoryiva, who I believe won the Los Angeles Marathon, is going to break the tape.

11:41 a.m. What was E. thinking last night on Entourage? The more the merrier, dude. Plus, you hang with Vince in Napa all weekend and your hands never touch your wallet.

11:43 a.m. On Vs. they just talked about how New York Marathon prez Mary Wittenberg announced earlier today that the NYC Marathon will no longer have pace-setters, or rabbits. Which is the way it should be. Boston has never used rabbits, which is why you won't see a WR at Boston (that and the hills are the reason for that) but why you will see a more strategic race.

A quick word about Mary Wittenberg: she may very well be the coolest person involved in road racing. And her husband is named Derek, so she's married to Derek Wittenberg, but he's not the dude who had the game-winning "assist" when N.C. State shocked Houston in the NCAA men's hoops final. That was Derek Whittenberg.

11:21 a.m. Apple (AAPL) is up 75 cents to $90.99. I sold AAPL a couple years ago at $36, and that was before the two-for-one split. Watching AAPL is like watching the gal you broke up with go on to much better things (another sensation I'm oddly familiar with).

11:23 a.m. Both CNBC and Vs. are on commercial breaks. Time for me to visit my namesake. Be right back...I hope.

11:31 a.m. The men in the lead pack are flying. They're about to catch Jumpin' Josephat at about the 16-mile mark on a 600-yard uphill.

11:15 a.m.

Run Like Hell.......................... Pink Floyd
Run......................................... Snow Patrol
Running to Stand Still...............U2
Running on Empty....................Jackson Browne
Run, Baby, Run.......................Sheryl Crow
The Wall..................................Pink Floyd
Comfortably Numb..................Pink Floyd (Why not, right?)

11:17 a.m. Kastor is fading. That gives you 365 days to train hard and attempt to become the first American to win Boston since 1985 and the oodles of cash and fame (ha) that will go along with it.

10:51 a.m. Liz Claman is monitoring a debate about whether Google's gotten too big ( I swear I didn't plan this). The tagline on the story is "Google: 800-Pound Gorilla?" I'd rather it be "Google: $800 Gorilla!"

10:56 a.m. The two dudes wearing identical singlets/shorts/running shoes are still way, way up front. And I think the announcers have been googling like crazy. And, by the way, Anonymous, they're quite strapping young gents and I'm in full envy of their quadriceps muscles.

10:58 a.m. It's "Wardrobe Malfunction" time in the women's race. Prokopcuka literally and figuratively made a "The gloves are off" gesture, doffing her black elbow-length gloves and then surging. She took off her black cap, too, like a bank robber shredding her clothing after the heist has been pulled off. About five or six other women went with her, but Kastor chose not to go with her. Were' only about 60% through the women's race, so I wouldn't be too worried about it.

The race really doesn't get interesting until after Heartbreak Hill on Mile 18. Now, I understand, for a lot of people the race never gets interesting. But I'm not one of those people. And by the way, how many sporting events can you watch where the athletes shred their clothing in the midst of it and nobody has a cow over it?

11:01 a.m. I just wanted to take this moment to wish a fond farewell to Johnny Sack. And I think Christopher better watch his back.

11:03 a.m. The women are at a 2:34 marathon pace, which is absolutely glacial.

11:04 a.m. I miss Uta Pippig . Just saying. Carol "Sister-of-Carl" Lewis has just announced that she thinks Deena is out of the race from a competitive standpoint. Kastor's about a quarter-mile back. It's a little early to make that pronouncement, but just to be safe Vs. is rollling out another Kastor feature right now just in case she officially drops out of the race soon. They've just shown their 17th shot of her standing in a forehead-high field of wildflowers. Here's a thought: Allergies are forcing her out of the race.

11:05 a.m. What do professional marathoners do to burn off stress before or after work? I mean, the rest of us run. What do they do? TPS reports?

10:26 a.m. Google is up $5.41 so far this morning! That's lunch! Yess!

10:30 a.m. I'm not going to devote any time to discussing the astronaut who's "running Boston" in outer space this morning (morning/afternoon/night for her). Please, Sonny, act like a regular astronaut and go make goo-goo eyes at your commander.

10:32 a.m. One of the Vs. commentators just compared the Boston Marathon to Google stock! Can you say, "Mind meld?!?" He was making the point that the first Boston had 18 runners and this one has more than 20,000. And unlike any other marathon, you actually have to qualify for Boston.

10:16 a.m. Why hasn't an American won Boston since 1985? Let's see, we live in a country that hailed the invention of the Segway and where at certain supermarkets they have designated parking spots for expectant mothers. We sell jars of peanut butter-and-jelly together, so you don't need to go through the trouble of opening TWO JARS.

We're soft (says the unshaven guy seated on his couch in his flannel sweats drinking a cup of coffee, the guy who seriously considered having a package of Yodels for breakfast until he realized he'd eaten them last night while watching "Entourage".) ("Ari Gold, you're my hero!")

10:17 a.m. One idea to generate excitement at Boston. Take the trio of race announcers from the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and Belmont. Each one calls the race just like he's calling his horse race, with the three of them rotating at two-minute intervals. Not only will that call be fun to listen to, but their own battle against vocal attrition would add a layer of tension not currently seen in the race. Where do you hit "the wall" vocally as an announcer?

10:02 a.m. Two dudes have decided to go out at an insane pace (4:43 first mile) in what is probably an egregious bid for face time. I salute you gentlemen. I mean, not many of us can run even one sub-five minute mile, so who are we to judge.

By the way, the elite men (and rest of the field) take off half an hour later than the elite women so that the top females don't get bothered by the good but not quite elite level dudes who often like to run near them for their own camera time. So the officials were looking out for the elite women. Then again, Kastor has run with a male pacer in setting her U.S. records in the past, so she may not like this.

Kastor's getting a lot of up-close-and-personal face time on the camera this morning. That's because 1) she's the only American with a chance of winning 2) English is her first language and 3) she's a cutie pie (if you like thin babe types).

9:47 a.m. This is the 111th annual running of the Boston Marathon. It has never been canceled due to inclement weather. Never. Even though in 1976 the temps reached 100 degrees (the Run for the Hoses) and that in other years it's been in the low 40s which, as runners will tell you, is not really all that disagreeable.

Yesterday the East Coast got pummeled by the proverbial pets with rain, but today it's just light rain and light wind. Not the best day for marathoning, but better than running in temperatures above seventy degrees.

Top female runners, today: Reigning champ Rita Jeptoo of Kenya, Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia (recently voted Latvia's top athlete! woo-hoo!) and Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor. They just did a nice profile on the comely Kastor, who never has run Boston before. She had a funny quip on that.

Kastor noted that whenever people ask her what she does for a living, she says, "Marathoner." But then they ask her if she's ever run Boston and she has to say no, and that completely discredits her in the average person's eyes. So she's putting herself through this to get all those fat-asses she meets at Whole Foods off her back. That and the $100,000 first-place check.

Just occurred to me: Will Ferrell hasn't done a movie about marathoning yet. Next year.

Monday morning, but there's no reason to be anything but fired up. On CNBC, as I type this, the "Opening Bell" is ringing. Meanwhile, on the only network named for a Pearl Jam album (Vs.) the Boston Marathon's starting gun just fired for the women's race.

Great, great morning. The S&P is looking to hit a seven-year high while Deena Kastor is hoping to become the first American, male or female, to win the Boston Marathon since 1985. In the inimitable words of the Black Eyed Peas, I can only say, "

Jackie Robinson Day. Jackie Robinson wore No. 42.

Two outs, nobody on, bottom of the ninth in Oakland, and New York has No. 42, Mariano Rivera, on the mound (Rivera is the last Major Leaguer who will wear "42" because he is the only one who had the number before MLB retired it in 1997 that is still in the bigs).

The score: 4-2.

If you're into numerology, you had to be loving the harmony of it all. I'm not into numerology, but I am into the Yankees.

So what happens? Todd Walker singles. Then Jason Kendall fouled off three pitches on a 3-2 count before drawing a walk. Then Marco Freakin' Scutaro, the No. 9 hitter on one of the most anemic offenses in the A.L., with an 0-2 count, hits a game-ending HOME RUN.

Baseball, you are a cruel mistress. And you ruined my Sunday afternoon.

Call it The Bummer of 42 .

Author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. died yesterday.

We all read Slaughterhouse-Five in high school (and maybe your way-cool English teacher even showed you the film in class...thanks, Mr. Labonte!) and some of us recognize that Mr. Vonnegut also had a fine little cameo in the '80s near-classic Back To School .

And so, yes, I liked Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., as much as the next guy (although I've always thought "Catch-22" was the best book on World War II, not to mention the best of the WORD + INTEGER title books, that I've ever read).

But then a little later on I learned something about Mr. Vonnegut that vaulted him to heroic status for me....

"What's also apparent, however, is that FSU's long, six-year nightmare is over."

Words have never sounded so sweet. I just finished reading Stewart Mandel's article, A Fresh Start, and its made me excited for college football - yes a whole five months early. After last years disasterous season, that says a lot.

"Following a staggering run of dominance during the late '80s and '90s, including 14 straight seasons (1987-2000) ranked in the top four of the AP poll, the 'Noles had sunk deeper and deeper toward mediocrity the past six years, culminating in a 6-6 regular season record in '06, including a 3-5 ACC mark."

Exactly. It felt as bad as it sounds. Then came hope... in the name of Jimbo Fisher.

"The winningest coach in [Division I-A] history was going through a tough situation with his son, who was also a very good friend of mine," said Fisher, a former counselor at the Bowden Academy passing camps. "For him to come ask you to be the guy to help, you have to step back and be like, 'Wow.' He's what's right about college football -- he deserves everything good to happen to him. To hopefully play a small part in helping to fix that, to me, it would be great self-satisfaction."

Every FSU fan out there (and even some who are no longer kicking it with us) hopes that Fisher will be able to help fix our team. And not to play a small part but a HUGE part. A dominating part. A part that takes FSU up to the level most of us are used to.

No one expects us to make a run at a National Championship next year. We gotta build back up to that level. However things in Tally are slowly returning to normal. The swagger of Bobby and his boys is coming back. And that makes me very very excited about August.

I, like everyone else, applaud Roger Goodell, Gene Upshaw, the NFL and all other parties willingly backing the new smackdown. It's a step in the right direction- keep the boys in line, the league respectable, and the game a money-making machine.

However, I think it's important not to go overboard with the high-fives and congratulations to Goodell and Co. for making this decision. Why? Because this did not take rocket science. Nor did it take a huge amount of courage. It was the right thing to do when backed against the wall. They didn't really have a choice. And had Goodell looked the other way, he would've been crucified for a blind approach to the NFL's bad boys.

Let's be honest... Where else can you work making millions upon millions of dollars, get arrested on multiple occasions and keep your job? Why should someone who happens to be a really fast runner and can catch/throw/block/kick or warm the bench be able to get away with breaking the law?

From NBCSports.com AP article on Pacman Jones and Travis Henry's many run-in's:
Henry, one of nine Bengals arrested last season, was arrested four times in a 14-month span, resulting in two benchings by Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and a two-game league suspension.
Jones' off-field conduct has included 10 instances in which he was interviewed by police.
The most recent took place during the NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas. Police there recommended felony and misdemeanor charges against Jones after a fight and shooting at a strip club that paralyzed one man. Police are still investigating.

It's about time these players realize that they aren't above the law. They are employed by the NFL and their football career is a job, not a right. The opportunity given to them can just as easily be taken away if necessary. This is a simple reminder that the risk is far higher and the loss greater then those temptations that have gotten some of these players in trouble.

If you are a secretary, lawyer, doctor, teacher, bus driver or accountant and break the law chances are you are going to suffer some kind of ramifications for doing so. It's the world we live in. And today, Roger Goodell re-introduced that world to the players of the NFL.

(It was between that and "Nonsense and Sensibility")

Some facts about those NHHs from Piscataway:

--The coach, C. Vivian Stringer , has been a college head coach for 36 of her 58 or so years on the planet. Only two coaches in all of Division I women's basketball have more lifetime victories than Stringer's 777. They are Pat Summitt of Tennessee (the team that defeated Rutgers in last Tuesday's national championship game) and Jody Conradt of Texas, who retired last month.

--During the Thanksgiving weekend Rutgers, then 2-2, had a game in the Virgin Islands against Arizona State, a team that would be ranked higher than the Scarlet Knights all season. On the morning of the game Jordan Johnson, the 15 year-old brother of Sun Devil co-captain Aubree Johnson, died in his sleep. He was there to watch his sister play. The Sun Devils chose not to play that day.
All Rutgers had to do was show up at the game and Arizona State would have forfeited the game. Nobody would have thought too poorly of Rutgers for doing so. Instead, Rutgers chose to respect their opponents' greater loss by flying back home. The game was canceled with neither team's record changing for the better or worse.

--The Rutgers roster had only ten players this season, seven of whom were underclassmen (including five freshman). Not surprisingly, they started out 2-4. On December 4 they lost at home by 40 points to top-ranked Duke, the most lopsided loss of Stringer's 1,000-plus games career. One hundred and ten days later, in Greensboro, N.C., the Scarlet Knights shocked the No. 1 Blue Devils with a 53-52 victory in the round of 16 in the NCAA tourney.

--In the national semi-final against LSU, Rutgers held the Tigers to the lowest point total (35) in the history of the Women's Final Four.

The thing about apologies -- and CNN's Jeannie Moos had a nice little segment on the "Apology Hall of Fame" earlier today -- is that there are levels of sincerity. So far Imus has not come close to approaching the second-highest level of contrition, which is the face-to-face apology with the party you've wronged. Apparently, he's working on that.

And, as someone who's seen three Rutgers games close-up this winter, it would seem that the best outcome to this dispute would be to leave Imus alone in a room with the Scarlet Knights' starting five for one hour. Or just center Kia Vaughn . That would heal a lot of Rutgers' emotional wounds, while perhaps creating some new ones for Imus.

For sixteen seasons Bernie Williams owned one of the most exclusive pieces of real estate in all of sport: centerfield at Yankee Stadium. But in the first half of the 2005 season, Williams, Joe Torre's favorite player, began to show his then 36 years. Williams made a few clumsy plays in center field. The nadir may have occurred when the formerly fleet-footed perennial All-Star, one of the most graceful-looking athletes you've ever seen, was even taken out of a game for pinch-runner Bubba Crosby.

When the season was over Williams was replaced by Johnny Damon (a Red Sox, of all things, which is ironic not only because of the rivalry but because in his prime, when Williams became a free agent, he turned down a huge offer from Boston to remain in pinstripes). But he remained a Yankee and after injuries took out corner outfielders Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield for most of the 2006 season, Bernie wound up getting a lot of playing time. He actually played all three outfield positions during the season, plus DH.

Sopranos.

Entourage.

And the return of HBO dominated Sunday nights.

I admit I've never seen an episode of The Sopranos and last night was my first time ever watching an Entourage episode that wasn't a re-run. That being said, Gregg, our "Boss" Matt (he hates it when I call him Boss) and intern Brett are sure to keep me updated on what happens with Tony and the Gang.

As for Vince and the rest of the male version of Sex and the City, I'll be tuning in for the rest of the season.
Great moment: Drama standing on the side of the road under his own billboard waiting to get noticed. Even better was when he stood up in the limo and was pissed to find out the spotlight on his billboard had blown out. Haha...

Everyone should have a friend like Lloyd. Just for the sheer ridiculousness of it. Loudest laugh was when he and Ari did the whole charade scene in the office.

And if you ever have a birthday bash on the Queen Mary, I will be sure to consider myself a guest and show up. Well done Turtle, well done.

Some of Baseball's best moments go here and check out these photos...

A few of my personal favorite pictures are:
Number 8- the Mariners chilling in the snow.
Number 10- Just looking at it makes your work day seem not so bad.
Number 13- C.J. Wilson could be a Rockette.
Number 15- The cigar smoking "Phillies Bunny".

Now that's just mean.

I missed half "The Sopranos" last night (Damn Easter!), so I'll wait until I see it to write about it. But Entourage was caught in its 22-minute entirety, and it's nice to see my favorite Hollywood power couple--Ari and Lloyd-- back in business.

Watching the show inspired me to create a blog-based haven for the terminally uncool. A clique that just has no chance of clicking. That's correct...a Johntourage .

Sign up now and avoid the rush. So far the charter members, even if they don't want to be, are G.A., Moose and E.W. This is NOT the Heathers gang, I can tell you that.

Don't know if you saw this, but radio host Don Imus described the Rutgers women's basketball team, which went from a No. 4 seed to the NCAA championship game, as "some nappy-headed hos right there, I'll tell you that". Someone off-camera on Imus's radio show (which is simulcast on MSNBC, which is related to this site somehow I just know it) described the match-up of Tennessee versus Rutgers as "wannabes versus jiggaboos".

And Billy Packer is taking heat for "fag out"? When Packer, say what you want about him, actually used the term as a verb correctly ("to tire or weary by labor")?

I don't know much about nappy heads (just nappy time), but I've seen "The Cathouse" on HBO a few times and most of their hos are white and blonde. I'm just sayin'...

Hope you enjoy the holiday weekend, no matter what you are celebrating. If anything, have a nice few days off!

Mi Familia:... This lil note will have to do until my card arrives, of course in true Simons fashion: LATE. Have fun without me!!

I must admit one of the devestating things about not going home for Easter is the family egg hunt. My parents or shall I say the "Easter Bunny" insisted on having the egg hunt OUTSIDE every year. So all four of us would stumble to the front door in our pj's and tennis shoes and pose for family pictures with our baskets. However, no one is actually looking at the camera because we were all scoping out for eggs and planning our attack. I love Easter for one simple (albeit selfish) reason: money. In our house, every egg gathered equaled an instant profit! Hard-boiled, plastic egg, slip of paper inside plastic egg, golden egg...whatever. It was a one hit lottery ticket on Easter Sunday. No other holiday like it. And I'm missing it. Sigh. That is what happens when you move far far far away. Haha.. I'm kidding. Not trying to promote a pity party here.

In all seriousness, hope everyone has a great holiday!

PS: Bud- you better win the egg hunt. Don't dissapoint me Boo. Also let's split the profits? Remember I taught you everything you know.

Hey you, yes you who has missed a few Breakfast Episodes here and there...

Play catch up and enjoy a breakfast sampler of CHRIS ROCK, BRIAN LEONARD, RANDY COUTURE, CHARLIE WEIS, TOM ARNOLD AND ADAM VINATIERI. We sit, we laugh, and we chat sports, sports, sports.

A little nibble at next weeks episode? DeAngelo Hall from the Atlanta Falcons. Verrrryyy nice!

This week Adam Vinatieri was my guest on the show... Despite what is happening in the NFL (over the course of the last few months players getting in trouble off the field has continued to make headlines) here's one man who represents all that is good in his profession.

He couldn't be nicer and more willing to sit down and have a chat while taking a break from signing some autographs for fans. We met up with the kicker at Legends of the Game in Westport, CT. Which by the way, next time you are looking to get some autographed sports gear... stop by this store. THEY HAVE EVERYTHING.

With Adam, you get what you see... a really nice guy who has been blessed by a successful career. Whoever said nice guys finish last never met this nice guy. Hello, 4 Super Bowl rings?

So I just spent another Thursday night watching the Phoenix Suns play a half-hearted first three quarters, make a too-little-too-late 4th quarter surge, and ultimately lose on the road to a Western Conference opponent. Last Thursday night it was at Golden State, tonight it was at San Antonio.

Now, yes, these are the senioritis days of the NBA regular season, and Phoenix basically realizes that all that's at stake is home-court in the second round against the San Antonio Spurs, but as a Suns fan for nearly three decades and as someone who considers the Valley his second home, let me say this:

This is just another "nice" Phoenix Suns squad that will win one, perhaps even two rounds of the playoffs but will ultimately fall short ot the NBA Finals. And the thing about it is that fans from Gilbert to Goodyear will figuratively pat their nice little team on the head, be satisfied with that, have their boobs done, then drive to San Diego for the summer.

Don't know if you caught the 11 p.m. "SportsCenter" last night, but they found it worth reporting that in an interview on a soccer blog, former U.S. World Cup star Eric Wynalda reportedly said, "Jim Rome can VERB + POSSESSIVE PRONOUN + NOUN".

Not that they reported it thusly. They showed a fuller quote, and on the screen the offending comment appeared as "can suck __ ____."

For the love of Sepp Blatter, what's going on here?

Before a confetti deluge buries me, let's give it up for Tennessee earning Pat Summitt her seventh national championship and first in nine seasons.

Well done, Lady Vols!

My Most Voluble Player is Nicky Anosike, who finished with 16 rebounds and 4 points.

It's raining paper, people.

I'll check back in a moment.

The NCAA just sent around a memo telling us which players are designated to appear in the postgame interview room (each side sends three). The Lady Vol trio does not include the team's current leading scorer (Shannon Bobbitt) or leading rebounder/myMOP (Nicky Anosike). They are a wise and august body, the NCAA.

Earlier this evening they sent around a memo warning us that confetti would be dropping from the ceiling at game's end. No kidding.

My request for the postgame interview room trio--Stacey Dales and the Indigo Girls, with or without their instruments--was turned down by NCAA poobah Myles Bland.

46-31, Tennessee's lead, with 8:48 remaining. And Nicky Anosike (my MOP of the game unless something drastic happens) just grabbed her 8th offensive rebound.

Wow. Here's a symbolic play. 5'2" Shannon Bobbitt just grabbed an offensive board off a missed free throw (by Anosike). What Bobbitt was doing on the line anyway is a mystery, but the fact that she came down with the miss is emblematic of Rutgers' woes all night long. Bobbitt missed the put-back, which would have been the dagger.

-Rutgers' first basket of the contest was a three-pointer (and a disputed one). The Scarlet Knights have not made one since.

--Assists for Rutgers: 2

--Shots attempted by Epiphanny Prince: 0

--Free Throws Attempts for Rutgers: 2 (Tenn had 9)

--Rutgers' rebound total: 12

--Nicky Anosike rebound total: 8

*****************************

Update (11:10 of the 2nd half)

Tenn 43, Rutgers 28

If only I knew how many points Rutgers was trailing by. But, unfortunately, THE DIFF is not operating this evening, so we'll just have to remain in the dark.

Rutgers' Matee Ajavon had three fouls in the first five minutes of the second half. She had none in the first.

Heather Zurich and Epiphanny Prince, two Rutgers starters, have a total of 1 point after nearly 30 minutes.

You cannot say enough about how dominant Tennessee's front line of Nicky Anosike, Sidney Spencer and Candace Parker have been on the offensive boards tonight. Kia Vaughn of Rutgers has played heroically against them--leading RU in scoring--but Anosike has 13 boards. Monstrous. Alexis Hornbuckle of UT has 7.

That and great defense has been the difference.

Just before halftime, Tennessee has more offensive rebounds (11) than Rutgers has total rebounds (9). The Lady Vols have 21 rebounds total. Rutgers has just two offensive boards.

That's the main reason why the Lady Vols are up. The only "hot" Lady Vol is Sidney Spencer, who has nine points on 3-8 shooting.

The Scarlet Knights start three underclassmen (and zero seniors) and after twenty minutes it shows.

It's 29-18 at the half, Lady Vols. At halftime on Sunday Rutgers was up 18 and had made 8-10 three-pointers. Tonight they trail by 11 and have made 1-3 threes. If Tennessee is going to play that relentless perimeter D--and they have--then RU needs to pick-and-roll, penetrate, and find Kia Vaughn in the low post.

Hand it to the Lady Vols. They showed up to play this evening.

The Lady Vols are doing it with defense. They're up by four thanks to a diligent full court press and a halfcourt D in which they are overplaying the passing lanes. I imagine Geno Auriemma sitting somewhere in the Q right now telling whomever is sitting next to him that Rutgers needs to start employing some backdoor cuts.

Also, C Viv's two E's, Essence Carson and Epiphanny Prince, are both good penetrators. They need to drive and dish a little more. It's a tight game (now a two-point diff....oh, and by the way, THE DIFF is not up on the scoreboard this evening) but the Lady Vols are dictating tempo...despite their below 25% shooting, Tennessee is playing much more passionately this evening than they did on Sunday.

Then again, why not? It is the national championship.

As in, "Offensive Rebounding". Tennessee has a 6-4 lead at the first TV timeout, but it would be much greater if they were shooting well. So far UT has at least four offensive rebounds, which is a trend C. Viv is probably worried about. Nicky Anosike and Alexis Hornbuckle have been kickin' glass so far. I don't think RU has an offensive board yet.

UT just grabbed another offensive rebound. You cannot give a good team that many chances.

Starting lineups coming, meaning that here go the flaming guitar hair-singers. I'm telling you, I'm worried Candace Parker's hair extensions are going to catch on fire.

These are not duelin' guitars...they're fuelin' guitars.

Just after the national anthem, the two coaches, Pat and C. Viv, met at halfcourt and shared a longer embrace than any I saw at the Indigo Girls show last night. Actually, it was sweet. Pat's happy for her friend. As you may or may not know, these two coaches were part of the NCAA's first Final Four, in 1982. Neither came away victorious. Both lost to Louisiana Tech, coached by Sonja "Ball" Hogg.

Here's the tip...

Bill Belichick holds Florida hoop coach Billy Donovan in high esteem but It wasn't just professional respect that dragged the Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to Monday night's national championship game.

Belichick, taking in the Gators win over OSU with his girlfriend Linda Holliday of Florida, had just completed his annual predraft junket of the Sunshine State. On his way North, he dropped into the Final Four to root on Donovan, who had Belichick address his team earlier this year.

Over the weekend, Belichick fished with former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson, a tradition the two men started in 2003 when Belichick sought the well-coiffed one's advice on attacking the draft. Since then, Belichick's gone back every year to talk team-building and draft strategy.

Prior to fishing with Jimmy, Belichick and some members of the Patriots scouting department got an up-close look at draft prospects from the Florida schools.

New England, which has two picks in the first round of April's draft (24 and 28), has shown interest in Miami linebacker Jon Beason. He's a little on the small side at 6-1, 230, but Beason's production and energy level for the Canes may cause New England to go against form and draft a linebacker. Normally, they convert college ends into linebackers to play in their 3-4 scheme.

In addition to being tight with Donovan, Belichick also has a good relationship with Florida football coach Urban Meyer. The Patriots used a second-round pick last year on Florida receiver Chad Jackson and could be looking at that program again for safety help in the form of Reggie Nelson.

Ok, in all seriousness, congrats to UF and the Gator Nation.

On with the more important topic...the lingering question surrounding the NCAA Tournament.

Does Billy Donovan stay? Does he continue to build what he's started?
Or does he take the ring, the trophy, the money and run all the way up to Kentucky?

I'll be honest with you. I hope he stays. I vote Donovan, in Florida at Florida. Here's why... I don't care how many people say basketball will always be the step-child to football at UF. You do what Billy and the kids did last night, make history with back to back championships with a returning starting five (a historical note that has never been done before) and people at ANY school will start to pay attention. Will attend games. Will love the sport.

Yes, Kentucky has long dominated basketball. Yes, the tradition is built. FACT: Basketball and UK are ingrained in generation upon generation, all who grew up bleeding blue and white. Fine. Fabulous. Fantastic.

But Billy, here's your chance to build it on YOUR OWN. You've got every recruiting weapon in your back pocket. You've got a school, town and alumni who ADORE YOU. According to Dick Vitale, members of your extended family just moved to G-Ville. Your roots are growing ever so deeply into the kool-aid of orange and blue.

And you might walk away? From all this?

Hear me out for a sec: A few weeks ago I interviewed Brian Leonard, the star RB at Rutgers who will enter this year's NFL Draft in a few short weeks. He told me he chose Rutgers over dominate football programs like Penn State, Syracuse and Notre Dame for one simple reason: to have the opportunity to help build a foundation from the ground up. Leonard wanted that chance to create something special, legendary, and long lasting for the first time at a school who'd never had that before. He skipped last years draft, came back for another year and saw his team reach higher acclaim then they ever dreamed of. His plan worked.

So Coach, I say, keep building upon the empire you have going on in Florida. Kentucky had its day and may return to dominance once again ... but right now, its UF who's dominating all of us. And you sir, are at the head of it all.

In keeping with the rock and roll theme of this Final Four, may I suggest the following hed should the Scarlet Knights win:

RU EXPERIENCED

Woo. Hoo.

Atlanta Hawk Shelden Williams is here. Not because he loves women's basketball as much as he loves women who plays basketball. Or, one in particular: Tennessee's Candace Parker. The two have been an item for awhile.

Parker's brother (as opposed to Parker Brothers, which is not to be confused with Milton-Bradley, which is not be be confused with Milton Bradley of the Oakland A's) is Anthony Parker of the Toronto Raptors...who oddly enough attended Bradley.

If I had more time, I may have been able to massage that better.

Anyway, with both a brother and a potential husband playing the same sport professionally--not to mention being a fabulous babe-- Candace is sort of the Laura Hawk (Quinn) of hoops. That is, if Laura played college football.

Gail Goestenkors has apparently decided to change addresses from Durham to Austin.

You wonder why.
You wonder if she'd still be at Duke if the Blue Devils had not screwed the pooch against Rutgers in the Sweet Sixteen and were playing in tonight's final.
You wonder if Goestenkors, 44, who's won at least 30 games a year for an incredible seven consecutive seasons, has noticed that BCS power schools have come to own the last few national championships in men's basketball and football.
You wonder if she believes that it may be easier to get every last recruit she wants in to Texas than in to Duke.
You wonder if she watched "Real World: Austin" and thought, Now that's a happening town.
You wonder if she wants to play bongos with McGonaughey.

No matter, you cannot blame her. More money. More recruiting advantages. More Tex-Mex (mmm!). Until the coaching carousel stops spinning-- LSU, Florida and now Duke are searching for coaches-- the Big 12 now can lay claim to the nation's top young coaching clique, with GG, Oklahoma's Sherri Coale, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Oklahoma State's Kurt Budke.

Any combination of 161 New York Yankee wins and Boston Red Sox losses, and the Bombers will secure their tenth consecutive A.L. East title. I'm just sayin'.

Did you catch any season-openers yesterday? I watched the first two innings of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays-Yankees game. After one inning in the Bronx, Alex Rodriguez already had one error and one strikeout. It was looking a lot like October in April. But A-Rod straightened out and had two base hits, including a two-run homer, in New York's 9-5 win.

And, let's be fair, even though A-Rod looked like a beer-league softballer pursuing that foul pop (for which he was given the error), you didn't see catcher Jorge Posada going after it. Posada couldn't find it in the gray ceiling overhead, so A-Rod gets penalized for having keener eyesight. Not exactly fair. Showing solidarity with his infield mate--and showing as well what a true team-first dude he is--Derek Jeter committed an error the very next inning.

I was seated at a bar with Graham Hays of espn.com, who was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat, but despite that fact, we seemed to get along well (that's what you think, Walters). For instance, we both agreed that The Gilmore Girls and Scrubs are most excellent shows. See? There's always common ground to be found.

Too much shooting...too much speed...not enough of anybody not named Greg Oden for OSU.

Signing out from the world of college hoop....

T

Ohio State is taking an exceptionally long time to get its shots off and when it does take one it tends to be a shot that isn't better than ones it passed up earlier in the shot clock.

Ron lewis has been a little more aggressive to start this half but he still needs to do more.

OSU ain't dead yet but you know a Gator run's coming in the next five minutes.

Meanwhile, Billy Donovan and the Gator bench went cuckoo over a call against Florida for hooking Oden as he tried to establish position.

"He's got one foul!" Donovan raged, referring to Oden.

The Buckeyes are 2 for 12 from 3-point range...

The Buckeyes have two points off turnovers...Florida has 12...

Ohio State has only gotten to the line once and Oden went 1 for 2 on that trip

Oden is 5 for 9...the rest of the starters are 5 for 18....

In Ohio State's favor at this point. Conley has been neutralized by Taurean Green, Ron Lewis is a complete non-factor thanks to Corey Brewer and Ivan Harris seems the only Buckeye willing to pull the trigger...that leaves Oden who is playing like an absolute monster so far with 11 points and utter domination in the paint...trouble is, down 11, with an inevitable Florida run coming to start the second half the speed with which the Buckeyes will need to rally may render Oden moot.

The barrage of 3s unleashed by Florida's Humphrey, Brewer and Green have pushed the lead to 11...Florida coach Billy Donovan just hemorrhaged over the foul call on forward Chris Richard for putting his forearm in the back of Greg Oden while Oden was backing Richard down...at the other end, Richard got an alley and went straight at Oden....there was plenty of contact but no foul called...

"That's a disgrace...what a joke!" railed Donovan....

Tell you this, there is no space for right now for the tournament's leading scorer entering the Final Four, Ron Lewis. Corey Brewer just won't give him any space and when he faces up, Brewer's 5-inch reach advantage dissuades him from trying to put up any jumpers...looks like it's going to be Oden's show....

and his quick return, it appears Corey Brewer may have gotten hit in the unmentionables...

Not a good start for Al Horford who's 0 for 3 from the floor and missing badly on his attempts...Oden is really asking for the ball in the post...given the amount of time he's sat so far in the tournament with foul trouble it will be interesting to see how much gas he has as the game wears on...

The Gators are doubling down on Oden when he gets the ball in the post...his power and length are tremendous in helping him gain position. He's going to get called for some hooks though if he's not more careful...

There were some shakeups today in the coaching ranks...

The moves....

Dana Altman goes from Creighton to Arkansas...

Todd Lickliter goes from Butler to Iowa...

Stan Heath, just relieved of his duties at Arkansas, goes to South Florida...

John Beilein at West Virginia is closing in on the Michigan job

ATLANTA - The Gators are on the floor. They're wearing the whites tonight; OSU is in the reds.

I'm watching Joakim Noah warm up and wondering how in the name of all that's right and holy he's allowed to shoot the ball with that ridiculous sidespin he puts on it.

There's absolutely no advantage to it at all.

This may be the last game in which Noah plays where he's among the best players on the floor.

He'll be no more than a role player at the next level. Basically, he'll be Shane Battier without shooting range.

The best situatin for im at the next level would be with an elite team where he could be a spare part energy guy to come in and clean boards.

Hey...Nick Faldo just walked by.

ATLANTA - It's 8 p.m. and there are four Buckeyes shooting around with Jamar Butler, Mike Conley and Ron Lewis among them.

No Florida players have emerged yet.

A few nuggets to chomp on before this one gets started...

Jamar Butler, asked how good the Buckeyes can be next season if everyone returns, had a telling comment on Greg Oden...

NCAA College Championship.
Same Two Teams.
Different Sport.

Just a few days ago, my bracket looked pretty nice. All I needed was Georgetown to beat Ohio State and Florida to lose to UCLA.
Of course, the exact opposite happened.

Final Two:
Ohio State vs. Florida.
(Haven't we seen this before?)
Greg Oden and company vs. Joakim Noah and the defending champs.

If these two schools don't hate each other enough already, tonight's game will lock in the rivalry.
In less then four months:
Ohio State lost to Florida in December in a regular season (yet big) basketball game.
Ohio State lost to Florida in the National Championship game, football that is.
Will Ohio State add another loss to the Gators? A national championship loss at that?
There are a lot of people out there who are saying yes.

I will say this, the last national championship (football) where a certain team (Buckeyes) was heavily favored to beat the other (Gators), the exact opposite happened.

When: Tonight
On: CBS
Tip Off: 9:18 pm EST

Carl Pavano.

Talk about pressure.

Opening Day for the Yankees.

He's the starting pitcher because everyone else CAN'T pitch today.

His girlfriend dumps him and it makes the front page of The Post.

He signed with NY for some 40 million dollars.

However the last time he actually pitched in a major league game was back in 2005.

It's not just Opening Day for the Yankees. It's also Pavano's personal plea for a little respect in the Bronx.

First pitch: BALL.
Second pitch: Swing and a miss-STRIKE.
Third pitch: BASE HIT.

A-Rod just dropped a pop-up.
Now if you're Pavano, that's one guy who'll take the focus off of you.
If only for a little while.

Scoreless first inning.
Pavano survives ... for now.

Opening Day has arrived. So all you baseball fans, get ready for long days lounging in the sun, eating hot dogs, drinking beer and singing traditional songs. Oh yeah.. and watching some games.

The greatest thing about Opening Day is every fan, player, and front office really believes this is the year that October will be theirs. Admit it, even YOU are filled with the inflated hope that this year will be the one where your team goes to the World Series. And here's to hoping that hope hangs around as long as possible.

SI.com writer John Donovan wrote an article about ten things we should be ready to hear, see and remember for this season. Check it out.

Rashanda McCants injured her knee, and Tennessee took advantage of UNC offensive diffidence to come back and take the lead.

It's 51-50, Tennessee.

Jessica Breland of UNC made a great block of a Tennessee lay-up attempt, but then 5'6" Tar Heel guard Alex Miller picked up her dribble and had the ball stolen in a two-man trap. Parker was fouled and made both free throws.

Ivory Latta just attempted a game-tying three--she had a good look--but it was way off. Now Alexis Hornbuckle is on the line, shooting two.

Missed the first. Made the second. It's 54-50, Tennessee, with :24.2 left.

Lady Vols are going to win. Nice comeback for the LVs. They looked dead in the water with about nine minutes to play.

Tennessee was down by as much as 13 (THE DIFF, coming through again), but now the Lady Vols have it down to four points with 4:18 to play (as the suits in Bristol cross every appendage they can). And Candace Parker, noted three-position athlete, has been stepping up, scoring the last four points.

Just between you and I: Candace seems a little high-maintenance. She got a small cut on her shin and as two trainers tried to tape her, she said, "That ain't gonna do it. Get me a wipe. Get me a wipe."

To be fair--if that's still possible--CP was right. All she needed was a small towle...or a wipe. But what self-respecting kinesiology major would pass up the chance to spray some disinfectanct and tape a shin? Any idiot can get a wipe.

Get ready for a frenetic final four....minutes.

UNC 48, Tennessee 46.

The Tar Heels are in the midst of a 17-2 run, going from a six-point deficit to a seven-point lead (I know that cuz THE DIFF told me so). It's time for Candace Parker to take over the game. The Lady Vols list Parker, officially, as a "G/F/C", which is a little presumptuous, don't you think? So far Parker the G/F/C has found the bucket less often than a counter worker at KFC. She has seven points through 28:26.

Parker is physically gifted and the most talented player on the courtn. But thus far she's been outplayed by UNC's Rashanda McCants. And I'm reminded of former UConn player Diana Taurasi. D was touted, for the final two, if not three, seasons of her career, as the best player in the game. And you know what? In the Final Fours, she played like it.

Tonight the two best players in the Final Four--Fowles and Parker--have combined for a total of 13 points.

Ivory Latta just hit a three to pull the Tar Heels within three. The Lady Vols had their largest lead of the game at six at the time.

Shannon Bobbitt hust ran into a LaToya Pringle pick at midcourt that sent her ass-over-tea kettle. No foul was called, but then it wasnt' a foul.

The Summitt brood, seated right behind me, are becoming quite vocal. My ears hurt.

Walked past Stacey Dales in the tunnel at halftime. With heels, she's about an inch taller than I am. I don't know what the height difference would have been if I weren't wearing heels.

It's 28-27, Tar Heels, with 15:45 to play. The Lady Vols have just had a few bunnies rim in and out in the past couple minutes, or else they'd be up.

I'm looking over to my left, watching the ESPN GameNight crew (Trey Wingo, Kara Lawson and Dales) sitting in their elevated booth above the stands. You can't look at it without thinking of "American Bandstand". Well, most normal people can, but I can't.

So it's halftime of the second game of the evening, and NOW they're playing ACDC's "For Those About To Rock"? Timing, people. Timing.

Anyway, because the guitar is omnipresent as an icon at this Final Four, and since every team is a five-man band in a manner of speaking, here's a quick list of five memorable five-man bands:

1. The Rolling Stones
2. Radiohead
3. The Go-Go's (of course we need a girl group)
4. Oasis
5. The Sir Douglas Quintet (had to include them)

By the way, on the bak of every chair on the team benches is the motto, "And Then There Were Four". Agatha Christie's estate should file suit tomorrow morning.

And yet Kevin "Durant" Durant will most likely win the Wooden Award when it's given out next Saturday.

In case you were wondering, UNC has its Rameses mascot in attendance tonight. I don't know if the school had two different Rameses mascots for the men's and women's teams, but it's odd, in the wake of Jason Ray's death just last Monday, that the Tar Heels have a mascot out on the floor. Almost as odd as seeing a mascot wearing a black armband--as the mascot is doing.

This from faithful Everlasting Blogstalker Greg Auman, who attended the post-game press conference for Rutgers and LSU:

So a reporter asks C. Viv how she's been a Hall of Famer but has never been to the championship game, and she kind of cocks her head and somebody politely reminds him that she went in '82 with Cheyney .State. Everybody laughs, and then ten minutes later, Bob Starkey opens his comments by saying how he has tremendous respect for Stringer and how special this must be because it's her first championship game.

My friend and seatmate Matt Waxman is emailing Chuck Klosterman at the moment. I couldn't be any more jealous if he were trading emoticons on IM with Stacey Dales.

22-21 Tennessee at the half.

The difference in energy between the first and second games or the difference in the wait time to get a stall in the men's and women's bathrooms? Go with the latter.

Candace Parker just picked up her second foul, a charge, and Summitt put her on the bench. Candi came back to the bench saying, "Bullsnit!" or some such term, hence making her an UnLadylike Vol. Now Parker's teammate, 6'4" center Nicky Anosike, just got whistled for a (n obvious) charge. Parker, noting that it was the same male ref who whistled her, just shook her head and kept repeating, "Same dude! Same dude!"

Anosike, by the way, is also a Ba-Donk-a-Donk first-teamer. Our WFF All-Ba-Donk-a-Donk team:

Kia Vaughn, Rutgers... (more like Subaru Outback Vaughn)
Erlana Larkins, North Carolina
Nicky Anosike, Tennessee
Matee Ajavon, Rutgers
Courtney Paris, Oklahoma (The Sooners didn't make it here, but it would be a shame to leave her off this list)

and yours truly, simply for the times I've been referred to as "the biggest ass".

I feel like Ed Viesturs right now...surrounded by Summitts.

Pat Summitt is standing on the sidelines right in front of me...and looking suspiciously younger. The woman seated directly behind me HAS to be her sister, Linda. And the young man sitting just behind me and three seats over is her son, Tyler. No sign yet of the family's yellow Lab, Sally-Sue...but then, Smoky the blue-tick hound has yet to doff his mask.

UNC looks disoriented thus far. Maybe it's their coach's sweater that's distracting them.

Ivory Latta just picked up her second foul with 13:45 to play in the first half, but Sylvia Hatchell is keeping her in the game.

It's 7-2, Lady Vols.

With 1:55 to play Bob Starkey just emptied his bench. Good for him. It was 56-35, anyway, and now everyone on LSU can say that at least they played in a Final Four.

Compare that to the men's game, where one team will be up 20 in the Final Four and the micromonaging martinet either never lets the subs in or waits until there are literally like, three seconds to play. You know, because he just doesn't want to concede defeat. "You, Shep, get in the game and stand on the foul line! Then try not to screw up the inbounds pass as the clock expires!"

Man, I hate that. This is cool, though. The LSU subs will actaully get to run up and down the court a little. They'll need a shower.

The Rutgers fans have started a "CVS" cheer. Not to be outdone, the LSU fans have started a "Rite Aid" cheer. Leaving those fans of Walgreen's feeling a little left out.

Yes, the "CVS" is for head coach C. Vivian Stringer. But you have to hope that someone makes a sign reading

"CVS: The Rx for Hoops"

C. Viv just walked off the court arm in arm with Matee Ajavon. And no, Carla Berry did not report her to Rutgers officials.

Matt Waxman and I are compiling a list of Initial + Middle Name + Surname peeps in honor of C. Vivian Stringer:

G. Gordon Liddy
F. Scott Fitzgerald
J. Edgar Hoover
M. Night Shyamalan
L. Ron Hubbard
A. Whitney Brown
C. Everett Koop

So far, C. Viv is still our only woman.

(I just know G. Murphy Auman will weigh in on this.)

Not really, but could you blame her? Rutgers is up by 19 and LSU, whose lowest scoring output of the season thus far is 45 points, has 33 with less than four minutes to play.

Hand it to Charlene Vivian Stringer. She can coach the defense. Rutgers leads the nation in scoring defense, as mentioned previously, and tonight they're probably going to hold the Tigers under 40.

Has there ever been a better year to be a student at Rutgers?

Sylvia Fowles just shot an airball from point-blank range. Her head just seems to be somewhere else tonight.

I'm staying at the LSU team hotel. Gonna be a quiet night.

We could be witnessing the final eight minutes of Bob "No Relation to Ringo" Starkey's head coaching career. Starkey, who assumed Pokey Chatman's role as head coach for the Tigers before the start of the tourney, has adamantly stated that he doesn't want a head coaching job, at LSU or anywhere else. It's a Starkey thing, I guess. They love being in the band, but they're content to play drums.

Anyhoo, Starkey finally got frustrated with superstar Sylvia Fowles' less-than-stellar performance tonight and yanked her. I think she has five points and six rebounds, if that. Starkey looked over at 6-3 backup Mesha Williams and, for the first time this evening, barked. "Mesha, I need your ass on the glass!" Starkey yelled.

You cannot fault Starkey. This is the 5th game he's head coached in his career. C. Vivian Stringer is coaching her 1,036 game tonight. Let's ask THE DIFF how many more that is.

"1,031," says THE DIFF.

With 6:03 left to play, it's Rutgers by 19.

Rutgers is shooting 80% from beyond the arc in the first half (8-10). LSU is shooting 20% (1-5). Even without the benefit of "THE DIFF", you can see that that represents a 21-point differential. The score at the half was 37-19, Rutgers (which is not exactly 21 points, but close).

LSU came right out and went to Sylvia Fowles in the low post for a bucket to start the second half.

With that bucket Fowles doubled her scoring output in tonight's game. The player guarding her, Rutgers' Kia Vaughn, only has two points herself, but her defense has been relentless. Vaughn surrenders two inches guarding Fowles, but she owns a distinct advantage in the ba-donk-a-donk department. Her "Sir Mix-a-Lot" physique has allowed her to get leverage on Fowles all night long.

In an earlier blog today I mentioned that last night's VIP/Media party seemed bereft of any VIPs (with the exception of the unforgettable Mel Greenberg). However, I did speak an MIP, a "Most Impressive Person"...whose last name, even better, is in fact Person.

Tom Person. Tom's niece, Ann Marie, is an old pal of mine. She used to be the women's hoops sports info director at UConn. Now she works in a similar capacity for the Atlantic 10 conference. Anyway, Ann Marie, her dad and her uncle were hanging out and we got to talking about Tom Person's hobby. He collects children.

Tom and his wife, who live near Albany, have one biological child. But, over the years they have welcomed, at their own expense, 59 foster children into their 5-bedroom home. Most of them teens or 12 year-olds. The kids few adult couples want to adopt. Officially, Tom and his wife have adopted 19 children, most of them minorities and inner-city kids.

So, there you have it: Tom Person, my official "Most Impressive Person" of the Women's Final Four."

LSU's Sylvia Fowles just twisted her ankle during pre-game warmups and now looks doubtful to play.

Check the calendar.

So we're live from the WFF. One man's predictions: ESPN is lathering for an LSU-Tennessee finale, featuring the two best players in the game, Fowles and Candace Parker . (Somewhere in Bristol: Those are the two who dunk, right?). For that reason and nearly that reason alone, I'm predicting a Rutgers-North Carolina final.

And that may be the idiot in me writing. However, Rutgers is tough defensively and they are as hot as any team in the tourney right now. UNC beat Tennessee earlier this season and have both size and arguably the Final Four's best point guard in Ivory Latta. They lost twice to Duke this season, but never looked outclassed versus the nation's No. 1 team.

Favorite term of the week: "heteronorm", which was used as both a noun and a verb at a Title IX conference that too place earlier this week in Cleveland. According to Cindra Kamphoff, a faculty member at UNCC (the University of North Carolina-Cornbread), "heteronorm" is "the process of disguising homosexuality".
Don't you just love academic types? What was wrong with "over-compensate"?
The term appeared in a story that ran in today's "Cleveland Plain Dealer" headlined "Number of Women's Coaches Dwindling". "Pressure to heteronorm", according to Kamphoff, is just one of a number of reasons as to why, percentage-wise, there are fewer women head coaches at Division I women's basketball programs than there were thirty years ago.
Listen. There are some very prominent people--V-E-R-Y P-R-O-M-I-N-E-N-T--in women's college basketball who resemble this neologism. Very prominent coaches. Very prominent commentators. Very prominent players. Very. Prominent.
So? Should they be compelled to reveal their sexual predilection? You want to say No. In fact, you probably should say No. On the other hand, does a potential recruit to that school have the right to ask of that head coach whether or not he (okay, or she?) is gay? Tougher question. If you reply, "Yes, look what happened at LSU with Pokey Chatman", well then my response is that it's just as easy for a male coach to enter into an "inappropriate relationship" with one of his players. In fact, the women's gymnastics coach at Utah, Greg Marsden, did just such a thing with one of his gymnast two decades ago.
They got married. Marsden was never fired. In fact, he remains at Utah and is one of the two or three coaching legends in the sport.
I don't live in a rural town, so it's hard for me to gauge the pressure that a college coach in a small-town commmunity would feel if she outed herself. It seems to me that in 2007 a coach can be open about her (or his) sexuality without any recriminations, whether it be from the media or her university or even the alumni and students. It would seem to me that, in fact, the coach who did not worry about disguising her sexuality would be praised, especially by college-aged kids.
Women's college basketball would benefit greatly if the women who carried these secrets did not wear one face while hanging out at parties during Final Four weekend and another in the public eye. But that's their choice and they have the right to make it. And, besides, that's easy for me to say. I'm hetero.* Not heteronormal.

* The fact that I'm a 40-year-old, never-married, cat-owning, "Gilmore Girls"-watching guy covering the Women's Final Four notwithstanding.