August 2007 Archives
Rodney Harrison just concluded a conference call in which he confirmed that he will be suspended for the first four games of the NFL season.
There was no Q&A. Here's my transcription of the call (fortunately, Rodney speaks deliberately.
"I'm here to let you all know tomorrow that tomorrow the commissioner will announce I've been suspended by the NFL for violating the league policy on banned substances. My suspension will be for four games.
"I want to make it clear that not once did I ever use steroids. I did admit to the commissioner commish that I did in fact use a banned substance. My purpose wasn't to gain a competitive edge but solely to accelearate the healing process of injuries sustained while playing football. I haven't made excuses nor will I. I made a mistake and I'm very sorry for that."
Veteran Patriots safety Rodney Harrison will be conducting a conference call momentarily to address the news he'll be suspended for the first four games of the season because of HGH use.
Harrison has returned from a severe groin injury, a broken forearm and two torn ACLs in the past five seasons. HGH (Human Growth Hormone) aids in recovery and muscle growth.
A message left on Harrison's cell this evening wasn't immediately returned.
We'll update immediately after the call.
That is, of a year ago. Just saw Brady Quinn . I'm pleased to report to the womenfolk out there, i.e., Brady's Ladies, that in terms of his arms, the gun shop is still open fo bi'dness. He may have a crewcut (rookie hazing ritual), but he still could has biceps that scream, "GO MEAT!"
(Oh. I just saw that "GO MEAT!" ad today for the first time, and I giggled. What a brilliant cheer. "GO MEAT!" I mean, is that not the most Midwestern thing you've ever heard?)
So, I was not at the Charlie Weis presser this evening, but Tom Coyne (I believe it was he) asked Weis the following question: "Was it your plan to keep the pressure off the guy who is going to be the starting quarterback by not announcing it sooner?"
And here was Weis' response: "That might be the best question I've been asked this whole time, Tom. It might be the best question I've been asked because it was by far the number one reason that you do this. Why would you want to take somebody after you've had a guy like Brady Quinn, who has been starting here for four years, why would you want to anoint someone a few weeks ago and have them living under the microscope of being the Notre Dame quarterback before they ever even played a down?
"So when everyone sits there and says Weis is an idiot...ta da ta da ta da.... in the meantime, it's not on them (the quarterbacks) , and it's allowed them to be a lot looser in their preparation."
Weis has been ripped by many in the media for being arrogant or haughty in the way that he has handled this process over the past three weeks. In short, this is a little like a teenager bitching to her parents that they won't let her use the BMW no matter how many times she asks, to which their reply would be, "We said 'No' the first time."
Charlie Weis didn't keep this WHOBETHEQB issue festering for three weeks. The media--and yes, the fans--did. And really, all it did (shrewdly) was keep the pressure not only off the rest of the Irish's underclassmen, but also off the three QBs in question.
Think about it. How many articles have you seen about whether Travis Thomas can really take over for Darius Walker at tailback, or whether Pat Kuntz will be the nose tackle the Irish dearly need? How about David Bruton? He's never started a game at safety for the Irish, and he'll be in there on the first play on Saturday? Never mind that whoever lines up for a field goal for the golden helmets will be kicking his first in collegiate play.
But, like simple-minded children, we let the magician take our eyes where he wanted them to go. So instead of focusing on the big picture, we all became myopic, devoting far too much energy over whether Clausen, Jones or Sharpley would take the first snap.
Who cares?
Better questions on this overwrought QB issue would have been:
1. How do you keep Georgia Tech from cheating with eight men in the box, daring your quarterback to beat them with his arm?
2. Is there a chance that two, or even three quarterbacks, will play on Saturday?
3. Will you have different quarterbacks for different situations?
4. Is the quarterback who starts versus Georgia Tech necessarily going to be the one who starts versus Penn State?
A writer at SI.com chastised Charlie, saying that if anything Charlie should have named the starter before the start of camp "so the kid's parents could cut out the newspaper article. Seriously."
Seriously?!? Seriously??? The parents of whoever becomes Notre Dame's next starting quarterback are never going to have to worry about a shortage of newspaper articles written about their son. Yeah, I think their scrapbooking material will be more than adequate.
Is Weis a little gruff at times? Sure. A little imperious? He can be. But he's also very friendly when you talk to him one-on-one after a presser. He's also the guy who kept a wish to a dying kid by calling the play that kid designed (from his own one-yard line) and before you dismiss that as blarney, remember, Weis never wanted that anecdote to get out.
Weis is also the coach who, after the most heartbreaking loss any underdog has had to deal with in a long time, a loss that a lesser coach may have criticized the referees about for what happened on the game-winning TD, visited the winning side's (USC's) locker room to congratulate them. And brought his son along with him.
Weis is the coach who, after the first game he coached back on the home turf of his alma mater, which was also his first loss as a head coach, had to watch as the victorious team (Michigan State) abased themselves by planting a flag at midfield. But Weis, and his players, kept their mouths shut. And the following season, when the Irish staged a furious 17-point 4th-quarter rally to win at East Lansing, Weis made sure that none of his players desecrated the school's reputation by responding in kind with such a crass act.
(Though, if you remember, a few players from the Spartans still guarded the "S" at midfield, oblivious to the fact that not every team treats a football game like a gang war. That act cemented those Spartans as losers far more than any score could.)
"I just think it's a shame," wrote the SI.commer, Stewart Mandel, "that he's taken a program built on such a rich tradition of pageantry and personality....and essentially turned it into a full-fledged, professional-style, strictly X's-and-O's operation."
It is a shame. It's a shame that Notre Dame had its most players drafted by the NFL last April (seven) in thirteen years. It's a shame that Brady Quinn broke 36 school passing records, mostly in his final two seasons, while never representing his school in anything but the brightest light (wedding reception Village People impersonations notwithstanding). It's a shame that Weis made it a point to have a different Heisman Trophy winner speak at each pep rally last season (rallies that can attract as many as 40,000 fans on a Friday evening), that he's had everyone from Joe Montana to Jerome Bettis to Digger Phelps (me, I'm still waiting for him to extend an invitation to Mark May) address the team, that on the day he was hired Ron Powlus phoned Notre Dame associate athletic director John Heisler and in effect said, "I've never met the man, but whatever I can do to help the program, I'm in." And so today, three years later, Powlus is the quarterbacks coach...quite the siginificant job, if you've been reading the papers the last few weeks.
So, yeah, it's a shame that Charlie doesn't walk to the beat the media sets. It's funny how the media has a lot less problems with Notre Dame and its coaches when Northwestern and their ilk are taking down the Irish.
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Hung out for awhile on Thursday night at the apartment of the incandescent, the uber-incredible, the surreally wonderful Mary Carillo. We had red wine and Cheetos, I sh*t you not. Mary told us this hilariously dirty joke, the context of which I will not repeat here, but I will provide the punch line: "And the bear says, 'Clearly, you're not here for the hunting."
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Thank God for the Red Sox. You can always count on them to swoon this time of year. The Yankees may not catch them, but was anyone really surprised that they got swept in the Bronx? Every time rookie of the year candidate Dustin Pedroia comes to the plate, by the way, I can't help but see Giovanni Ribisi. Is it just me? Honestly, I envision a scene in the clubhouse where a few Sox are sitting around a table, playing poker, and Pedroia marches up to the game, confiscates all the cards, and admonishes, "The entire (bleeping) First Airborne Division is marching by."
Oh, and did you see when Pedroia overslid 2nd base on the steal attempt on Wednesday evening and was tagged out by Derek Jeter. He gets back to the dugout and all you see is this non-stop litany of "F___! F___! F___! F___!" Hilarious.
Funny game, the baseball. On Monday night New York was blanked 16-0 at Detroit, their worst road loss ever. Three days later they've swept a three-game series from the team with the best record in baseball and are in the lead for the wild card.
My editor phoned me in a blather this morning. He always does, but this was an even frothier blather than usual. As you may already know, the Chicago Tribune has a story this morning with the headline "Blogs report Jones as QB starter."
According to the story, AOL Sports and (though not mentioned by name) the Irish fan site "Rakes of Mallow" have found are saying that Demetrius Jones will start at QB on Saturday (ending our long national nightmare of mystery). The reasoning? "Rakes of Mallow" blogger CW writes that he checked out Jones' Facebook wall and he then posts comments of encouragement that D.J. received, such as:
"glad u got the startin nod how many td's u gonna throw?'
and
"I hear your gonna be the starter. good luck, ill be in the stands"
And my reactions to these comments?
1. Maybe I still could get in to Notre Dame today, if the above grammar is any indication (then again, I'm part of the pre-texting generation)
2. It could very well be true. But then, Jones has been the favorite among the media covering the Irish for most of the past week. He's been the smart pick for nearly a week now.
3. For what it's worth, when the Irish held a practice open to the students earlier this week, it was Jimmy Clausen who took most of the snaps.
4. Who cares? Robot Genius is going to be relying on Travis Thomas/James Aldridge/Armando Allen to be his offensive juggernaut this Saturday.
5. It's August. The first week of school. And you've got a campus full of smart-alecks. In my senior year, during this week, we got our jollies by phoning the hottest (relative term, I know) female R.A.s we knew after midnight and pretending that we were freshmen who were still in her dorm after parietals (for the uninitiated, ND has single-sex dorms and you cannot be in a female dorm after midnight on weeknights, 2 a.m. on weekends; if you get caught, you're out for at least a semester. It lent a fun air of danger to undergrad life). So, maybe if we'd had exams upcoming or if the weather was inclement, we wouldn't have been so cheeky. But I can imagine a group of ND students seeing how far they can pull a prank on the internet. I'd almost be disappointed if they didn't.
By the way, Nanette Lafond: We're sorry about the late-night calls.
6. Before you base too much import in predictions, let me remind you that before the 1990 Orange Bowl between Notre Dame and Colorado, prognosticator Danny Sheridan came out in print and predicted, "Lou Holtz will leave Notre Dame before or after the Orange Bowl." Well, six years later Sheridan was correct.
Which is to say, if Rakes of Mallow (and Robot Charlie, another ND student site purporting to know the truth on this issue) is correct, then bully for them. But if they're wrong, what are the odds that they'll post a blog reminding us that they got it wrong?
It's been a few days, so let's catch up, shall we?
--Sat down with my good pal Chris Hansen last Friday night to watch the Miss Teen USA pageant on NBC. "Chris, buddy, it should be illegal to have this much fun watching television."
Okay, I've never met the "To Catch A Predator" host, but how beautiful is it that Miss Teen USA and that show both air on the same network (love of my job precludes me from naming that network at this moment)? How beautiful? No more beautiful than Miss Texas, who did not win. Miss Colorado did.
You probably saw the YouTube-worthy response given by Miss South Carolina, Lauren Upton, to the question about how come so many Americans cannot locate the USA on a map. It was rambling and incoherent, and though Upton failed to answer the question in so many words, certainly her response did. After I saw this clip, my first reaction was, "If there's a God, this woman will be the next person to interview Holly Hunter about her new show, "Saving Grace".
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Notre Dame held a practice a few days ago that they opened up to Irish students only. Reporters from the school paper, "The Observer", were admonished not to write anything about it. You wonder if ND officials have heard of message boards, MySpace and Facebook yet. The word out of Stalag South Bend is that all three quarterbacks played and that none looked too effective.
As for Saturday's Georgia Tech-Notre Dame game, hear me now and listen to me later: Win or lose, I am more excited about this weekend's game than any Irish game (with the possible exception of USC) from 2006. Last year's edition of the Irish played a lot like the Jackson 5 on their "Victory" tour. The enthusiasm of '05 was missing. The Irish had gone from unranked underdog (first game of the Weis era) to No. 2 ranked overdog (last year's opener) so swiftly that they didn't have their heads on straight. The Irish played a little smug, a little arrogant, all season. Only in the fourth quarter in East Lansing did they really play with the heart and joy that draws fans to a team.
This year's team is a lot like that son or daughter of yours in their first year of T-ball. As long as you see the effort and the sincerity, you'll get behind them. In so many ways this is a wonderful year to be a Notre Dame fan. The burdens of great expectations that are so pervasive most of the time at ND are absent this season. And even if this teams struggles--I see a 7-5 record, maybe 8-4-- anyone watching them knows that this team will be a year older and better in '08.
It's Our Lady's version of the Lady Madonna edition of the Irish: "Lady Madonna/Children at your feet/Wonder how you manage to make ends meet."
And that should have been the theme of this year's inexperiencd Irish: "See how they run."
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Johntourager E.W. asks an insightful question about not just summer movies, but movies in general. "How come they report how much money the movie made as opposed to the actual attendance?" It's a great point. I'll never forget driving past the movie theaters on Highway 35 in New Jersey in the summer of '75 as moviegoers waited in lines that wrapped around the theater for the chance to see Jaws . Summer movies were an event then. I imagine that "Jaws" failed to make as much money at the theaters as "Spiderman 3", but did it draw more fans? I bet it did...or if it did not, that might be only because there were far less movie theaters, particularly multi-plexes, back then (i.e, "in the day").
Wouldn't it be cool, though, if we knew what film actually drew the greatest number of people to see it a theaters? And isn't that a far more accurate standard as to the popularity of a film than box office receipts?
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Five Thoughts On Michael Vick
1. My colleague Alan Abrahamson, for whom I have great respect not only as a writer but also because he has a law degree, was unmoved by Vick's mea culpa on Monday. I'd have to disagree. I didn't listen to Vick's apology and instantly want to give him a hug, but I thought he acquitted himself well (pun intended). Now the best thing he can do for himself is to not utter another word in public until he's done serving his time.
2. I've heard this a lot this week from Vick apologists: "It's not as if he murdered somebody". Three reactions to that: First, by saying that you're really illustrating that you do not really find dogfighting that reprehensible (which, by the way, has become the buzzword of the week in regards to this case). If I or any white member of the media had appeared on a talk show last April in regards to the Don Imus fiasco and said, "Why the uproar? It's not as if he murdered somebody?", how racially insensitive would I be? Two, he actually did murder some body--not a person, but a pet. He didn't kill an animal for food or clothing or for any reason having to do with survival. He killed it for fun. That's tantamount to murder. Three, in the words of Chris Rock, "You're not SUPPOSED to murder somebody." In other words, you don't get credit for doing what you're supposed to do, or inversely, for not doing what you're not supposed to do.
3. It struck me as bizarrely comical that the NAACP would come out in support of Michael Vick. Sometimes things are so obvious we fail to see them. NAACP is an acronym for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. And that's laudable, of course, that this civil rights organization exists and does so much to promote the rights of minorities. But, from a purely literal sense, how could an organization whose very title informs us that its charter is to advance colored people do anything other than support Vick?
I guess what I'm asking is, Why was it news that the NAACP came out in support of Vick? Any more than it was news that PETA came out in condemnation of the Falcon quarterback? What's next? Does Rod Stewart come out in support of blondes half his age?
4. More than a few jocks or ex-jocks (Keyshawn Johnson, Roy Jones, to name two) went directly to playing the "it's time to move forward" card. Beautiful. I'd love it if Keyshawn caught his wife cheating on him and she just said, "Can't we just move forward?" Not so easy then, is it, Keyshawn? Johnson's "NFL Live" co-host, Emmitt Smith, made more sense than anyone I've heard in discussing the clamor. Smith talked about accountability, and how pro athletes need to learn that lesson.
5. Michael Vick is not a victim. The animals that he and his friends wantonly killed are victims. Roy Jones, speaking on ESPN Radio last Wednesday, seemed preoccupied with lobbying for Vick to return to the NFL, saying that it wouldn't be fair if Vick wasn't allowed to do what he does best.
Everybody deserves a second chance is the notion there. First, if you're already talking about that, then you really do not appreciate the gravity of the crime committed. You just don't think it's that depraved.
Second, here's the problem I have with second (and third, and fourth) chances: People seem to take them. And that, as much as anything, is what plagues that nation that not enough of us can find on a map, these days.
Don't let LANCE BRIGGS borrow your car.
Fantasy Draft - NBCSports.com Crew - Last Night - 7th Pick
Herrrreee'ssss who I will be counting on to take me far into the playoffs this year. I present to you PRIME TIME-Tiff's Fantasy Football Team for Double 07.
*The boys are listed in the round they were taken.
1. Willie Parker
2. Chad Johnson
3. Anquan Boldin
4. Donovan McNabb (Please Please Please stay healthy.. I beg of you!)
5. Lendale White
6. Lamont Jordan (I realized later.. prob not the best to have both but could prove to be a worthy trade later)
7. Jason Witten
8. Bernard Berrian
9. Leon Washington (You think I'd really go a whole draft and not have at least two FSU guys?)
10. Chargers D (Thank you.)
11. Matt Leinart (If McNabb goes down, Leinart better be ready.. NOT on diaper duty or Paris Hilton's arm.)
12. Derrick Mason
13. Ron Dayne
14. Dwayne Jarrett (Wishful Rookie Pick)
15. Dallas Clark
16. Sebastian Janikowski (Also the point of "I don't care anymore just let this thing end!")
Notables: Peyton Manning taken in the first round, 6th overall pick.
Larry Johnson taken first round, number 2.
Gregg (of all people) Mr. Wait to take your QB stole my pick and took Tom Brady as his fourth round pick. I took McNabb right after.
7th Round, 7th pick .. I wanted to take the Chicago Bears D.. was told to wait.. they'd be there the next round. Two picks later they are GONE. Gee.. thanks.
Just to prove a point (what I'm not sure) .. the first pick of the final round .. in a surprise move, Michael Vick - formerly of the Atlanta Falcons - was drafted.
"I will redeem myself.. I have to." -Vick earlier today.
Hopefully he will have the chance to do just that. You'd think a year and some change in prison would give someone an ample amount of time to figure out how to do just that.
I just finished up in the Eagles locker room a short time ago.
Safety Sean Considine suffered a mild concussion in the first half. Other than that, Philly came through their preseason loss to the Steelers without a scratch
The Eagles defense allowed nearly 300 yards of offense in the first half and more than 260 in passing yards. Eagles coach Andy Reid, when asked about his defense, said, "I think we'll be all right."
Reid mentioned that both teams struggled to cover the tight ends down the middle of the field and that Considine butchered a play in the first half by going for a hit instead of playing the receiver. Reid also noted the inability of the Eagles to get off blocks downfield on screen passes which Pittsburgh used effectively in both halves.
Reid said that, despite a decent job done by rookie Kevin Kolb, A.J. Feeley will remain the No. 2 quarterback.
He added that McNabb is still the No. 1 "just so there's no confusion on that."
The Eagles have 89 first-half yards.
The Steelers had 297.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 247 yards (13 for 25). Eagles QBs threw for 67.
Philly's 1 for 7 on third down. Pittsburgh's 4 for 7.
The NFC continues to be worse than the AFC. By a lot. And don't give me that, "It's preseason crap." You know it. I know it. The gap is widening
I've gotten two e-mails from readers/viewers about audio difficulties on the broadcast.
I asked Al and John if they noticed anything different. Al said, "Who the *&*% are you?! Get out of here!" While being whisked from the booth I noticed that a cord had jiggled loose. I secured it. Hope the sound's better where you are.
Also, I need some reader assistance. I was cordially invited to join in a media fantasy football league by the head rabble-rouser at Profootballtalk.com, Mike Florio. This is my second foray into fantasy football. My former franchise, The Daisy Prancers, languished in back-to-back seasons earlier this decade and was disbanded.
I could use some assistance naming the club (speculation with my former squad was that the name wasn't "manly" enough and that caused softness).
So far, “The Balding Gentrlmen” is the name I’m leaning toward. Thoughts?
Eagles receivers have let down Donovan. Reggie Brown has a pair of drops and Kevin Curtis alligator-armed one on the goal line.
McNabb had a rollout throwaway in the first quarter that was as good a test as any of his knee. He passed it.
He's done after going 5 for 11 for 66 yards. Shoulda been 8 for 11.
Aside from the moronic pick on the first drive, Roethlisberger's been nicely in command and made a ton of good decisions for Pittsburgh. When you talk about "mobile" quarterbacks, he's the kind of mobile quarterback I want - big enough to shake a tackle, fast enough to get out of the pocket but not so fast that he gets too inventive.
Ike Taylor looks like he dodged a bullet. The Steelers corner just went down after making a tackle and was clutching at his left knee but he made it off the field under his own power and is trotting around on the sidelines.
After Steelers rookie Daniel Sepulveda "uncorked" a less than awesome 14-yard punt from his own end zone, he returned to the sidelines where he was comforted by head coach Mike Tomlin with a gentle pat on the back.
Had the Steelers former head coach been on the sideline, his spittle would have traveled further than the punt.
On the heels of that, Eagles receiver Kevin Curtis short-armed a slant pass at the goal line that probably would have resulted in a touchdown. Curtis has been impressive for the Eagles so far but that wasn't a shining moment. Philly took the field goal.
Our pal Ron checks in to ask what the green dot on the back of the helmets is.
It's to show that they purchased the helmet. Clearly, they forgot to remove them prior to the game. Preseason means fine tuning.
Actually, it's to show which players have helmet-to-sideline communication via wireless communication. (Of course, it's wireless, Tom, what do you think they're going to do, run around with an extension cord all night?)
It's not that fashionable though, is it?
The 49ers made their first round of cuts today.
Four-year veteran LB Roderick Green, second-year WR Marcus Maxwell, first-year players K MacKenzie Hoambrecker, G Nick Steitz, and LB John Syptak and rookies P Ken Parrish, CB Sammy Joseph, FB Steve Dildine, and WR Dominque Zeigler.
The 49ers placed DE Melvin Oliver and WR C.J. Brewer on injured reserve. Oliver suffered an ACL injury during the OTAs in June, while Brewer suffered an ACL injury earlier in the week.
In short, nothing earth-shaking.
After a terrific first-down throw to Kevin Curtis on the Eagles first play from scrimmage, Donovan McNabb found himself under siege on two of the next three plays getting sacked first by Clark Haggans then by James Farrior and Troy Polamalu.
The second sack came as a disgraceful effort by tight end Matt Schobel in blitz pickup as he got steamrolled by Farrior, allowing McNabb to get accordioned.
There's a cement-headed play by Ben Roethlisberger to harpoon a promising drive.
The Steelers offense, which Bruce Arians told me a few weeks back would look like the explosive Steelers offense of the '05 playoffs was on the march with a 9-yard reverse, a 6-yard Willie Parker run and a flair pass to Parker for 16. Then Roethlisberger's strength got him in trouble as he held up in the grasp of a pair of Eagles defensive linemen and tried to flip a pass out to Wilson that got intercepted.
Bad play.
Talking to Reuben Frank, a terrific Eagles beat writer for the Burlington City Times, I got a rundown of some of the areas the Eagles need to get more feedback on defensively.
Starting up front, second-year defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley, a stiff as a rookie first-rounder from Florida State, has had a very good offseason and is going to be relied upon to help keep the heat off of another second-year second-year man, middle linebacker Omar Haither.
Strongside linebacker Chris Gocong, another second-year man, is the strongside backer and Takeo Spikes is the weakside guy. The ability for linebackers to work in concert and not worry about whether or not a guy has his responsibility down is vital. This will be an area to watch tonight as Pittsburgh brings an offense that gets to the second level with the running game.
Another question, is Jevon Kearse, in his ninth year, still Jevon Kearse. As Frank mentioned, he hasn't been a force since he was an Oiler. He's not far off.
It's a perfect night here as opposed to last week's Sunday Night Football game in Baltimore when players were basically sucking on a humidifier for four quarters.
It's clear and - unofficially - about 72. Trust me, I'm good at guessing temperatures. And at telling time without looking at the clock. I swear, I can come within 5 minutes of the exact time. Talented? Yes. I am.
PITTSBURGH - It's the big one (Elizabeth!). Of the four preseason games each NFL team plays, the third is the one that most closely resembles an actual NFL game. It's the mall Santa with a real white beard and glasses.
Opposing coaching staffs do some game-planning for this game instead of just running the same plays with each group on the depth chart. The starters play longer. Superstars whose former girlfriends just had a baby on one coast fly cross-country to be in uniform on the other coast for this one.
In his first preseason action, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was statistically outstanding going 6 for 9 for 137 yards.
But that was against a Panthers defense that, in this preseason, has shown itself to have serious issues to iron out.
How will McNabb do tonight against an AFC defense? A good one in Pittsburgh.
PITTSBURGH - Zipping up in the elevator at Heinz Field, a scout for an AFC East team said that "bar research" is indispensable in the Steel City.
"I'm telling you, you get here three, four days early, go to the bar and you know all you need to know about the whole team," said the scout. "I'm sitting next to a guy the other night and he has all the cuts already made down to 53. He knows what the depth chart needs to be, has the special teams figured out. These guys could help the coaches, I'm telling you."
John Clayton from ESPN.com, a Pittsburgh native, was in the lift with me and said that the same phenomenon exists in Green Bay but there it's the ushers that carry the encyclopedic knowledge.
Drew Weatherford. Congrats. Now don't f*#@ it up.
Fantasy Fix Live premiered just a short two hours ago.
We handled our first live call in show pretty decent (so bias I know). Gregg, as always, can answer anything thrown at him. I still say Joseph Addai over Frank Gore but whatever. Also, lets just get it out there.. if you can grab BRANDON JACOBS do it. We spent at least 50% of the show talking about that guy. Same answer every time: PICK HIM UP!
We (Gregg, myself and our co-worker Brett) had our NBC Fantasy Football Draft last night. We had the 11th pick (14 teams total). Lesson Learned: NO SUCH THING AS A STRATEGY. We took Reggie Bush as our first pick.. and then on the way back picked up Chad Johnson. Now let me just say that after that second round was done Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Carson Palmer and Marc Bulger were all gone. Cause Gregg's the pro.. we held off on our QB until the 6th round and picked up Big Ben. Another surprise (maybe you won't think so) but one team took the Bears D in the 6th round.
Here's our team in the order we drafted:
R. Bush
C. Johnson
M. Colsten
M. Lynch
S. Moss
Big Ben
L. Betts
B. Watson
L. Washington
J. Campbell
R. Curry
Packers D
D. Graham
A. Peterson (Chicago)
E. Wilford
J. Hanson
Monday night is the big draft... we have a league here at the office. Gregg and I each must manage our own team. He has the 8th pick. I have the 7th. Sucker!
One of my best girlfriends from college works for this place in London and got a great review in Marie Claire Online.
So what if I'm bragging and it has nothing to do with sports?
Jason Whitlock on Michael Vick and what the future should hold for the QB.
If the guy goes to jail and serves his time, doesn't he deserve a second chance? Isn't that the strength of our country... those who make mistakes, can be forgiven and afforded the opportunity at another chance?
"We have to put an end to the political game of "racial gotcha." It's backfiring on everybody. We no longer seek understanding. We seek vigilante justice. We want high-profile people to serve as examples of the kind of harsh punishment America is willing to dole out if you make a mistake. We think if Vick and Imus lose their jobs and are totally disgraced, their demise will make the world a more civil place."
No one is saying what the guy did is acceptable or worthy of anything less then a harsh punishment. But you have to believe that within everyone is a person who is good. Yes, even Michael Vick.
At some point in life, we all encounter a situation where our hearts wish to dictate the punishment rather then the law. A person we care deeply about makes a bad choice. They are forced to pay the consequences. But do we just give up on them? Does a horrible mistake (and yes, what he did is horrible and proves he is capable of using the worst judgement) equal a total lost cause?
Or because we are humans, do we allow Vick the chance to prove over time, that he is in fact at the very least decent?
Or maybe more directly, if it was you.. would you deserve a second chance?
Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis knows who will take the first snap of the 2007 season for the Irish, and you don't. On Tuesday Weis, speaking to South Bend-based TV station WNDU, which 1) abuts the western edge of campus and 2) may have the only brother-sister anchor team in local news (Terry & Maureen McFadden), replied "absolutely" when asked if he knew who his starter was.
Weis called the identity of his starter "no big secret", then kept it the biggest secret heading into Notre Dame's Sept. 1 opener with Georgia Tech by not revealing the identity of the player. "People think that you vacillate," Weis told WNDU. "You know what you're doing. I'm not trying to sandbag anyone, but I think that going into your first game, it's important that any additional ammon that you could have to help you win that one game you should use.
Unlike his Notre Dame counterpart, Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey has open practices and even allowed media members to record last Saturday's scrimmage (requesting only that we keep the shots tight on players and not show formations). Weis is Gailey's opposite in that respect. In terms of media accessibility, you have to love Gailey's approach. In terms of "strategery", I'd do exactly what Weis is doing considering his QB situation.
So, it's no big secret to Weis as to whether the starter will be junior Evan Sharpley, sophomore Demetrius Jones or freshman Jimmy Clausen. But it remains so to the rest of us. Given the success Weis enjoyed in New England when his Patriots were compelled to go with an unproven rookie (Tom Brady) when the incumbent (Drew Bledsoe) went down, do not at all be surprised if the starter is Clausen.
What do I always tell the Johntourage? Baseball is amazing because on any given day you'll see something you've never seen before. Texas' 30-3 win against Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon, for example. The records set are one thing, but consider just how freaky it is that the Texas Rangers, of all teams, did this.
Odd notes about the game you can swap with your buddies!
1. This is the same Texas Ranger team that was no-hit earlier in the season (I believe the only no-hitter of the season) by the Chicago White Sox and that was struck out 17 times just a couple days earlier by Johan Sanatana of the Minnesota Twins.
2. This is the same Texas Ranger team that last month traded its only bonafide slugger, Mark Texeira, to the Atlanta Braves.
3. Only hours earlier the Orioles had announced that manager Dave Trembley would return for the 2008 season. I hope you got that in writing, Skip.
4. That was only the first game of a doubleheader (Texas swept the twinbill, winning 9-7 in the nightcap) and yet in the first game alone the Rangers set a franchise record for most runs in a doubleheader.
5. The 30 runs were an American League record for runs in one game and the 39 in the doubleheader were also an American League record.
6. The last time any team scored more runs than this in the Majors, the American League was not yet born. The Chicago Colts beat the Louisville Colonels 36-7 on June 28, 1897. The ten other National League teams in that year? Boston Beaneaters, Cleveland Spiders, Washington Senators, New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Bridegrooms, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Philles, St. Louis Browns and yes, the Baltimore Orioles.
7. After three innings at Camden Yards, the Orioles led by a score that would later, take away the dash between the digits, be the number of runs Texas would score: 3-0.
8. The Rangers' Travis Metcalf was making his Major League debut, and he was one of two Rangers to hit a grand slam.
9. Texas outscored its run total of the previous nine games combined (28) and also had more hits (29) than they made outs (27).
10. Somehow, and this may be where the MLB needs to amend its rules, a Ranger pitcher notched a save even though Texas won by a 27-run margin. Wes Littleton, by pitching three scoreless innings in relief when the outcome was still in doubt, earned a save.
A suggested prison reading list for Michael Vick while he's serving his time. Here's hoping two things: 1) that the prison library has these in stock, and 2) that Andy Dufresne hasn't carved through the pages of any of them in order to hide his little geologist's hammer. And so:
1. Where The Red Fern Grows , by Wilson Rawls
2. Clifford The Big Red Dog , by Norman Bridwell
3. White Fang , by Jack London
4. Old Yeller , by Frederick Gipson
5. Snoopy, Come Home , by Charles Shulz
6. Lassie, Come Home , by Eric Knight
7. Marley & Me , by John Grogan
8. The Pokey Little Puppy , by Janette Sebring Lowrey
9. Sounder , by William H. Armstrong
10. Cujo , By Stephen King.
This is something you never want to have to read, regardless of what team you pull for. I can't imagine how hard this must be on the Andrews' family... I'm sure all sports fans hearts and prayers go out to them.
Two little girls run up to me after the SKB Park competition. The conversation goes like this:
Tweens: "Do you know Ryan Sheckler?!"
Tiff: "Yup. I do."
Tweens: (insert squeal) "Is he nice? What's he like? He's so cute, don't you think!?" (insert squeal)
Tiff: "Haha.. yes he is nice."
Tweens: "Are you friends with him?"
Tiff: "Yes, we're friends." *Mentally thinking: "Where in the hell is this convo going?"
Tweens: "Do you have his phone number?"
Tiff: "Umm...."
Tweens: (squeal is notched up a few levels, the jumping begins, the grins grow wider, their goal in sight)
In unison (just like the Olsens) "Will you give it to us?!"
Tiff: "Umm.. no."
Serioulsy. 17 and this kids a stud. So much so he's got his own MTV show coming out. Add another to the list of shameless TV I will be watching during the week.
Will Demps dislocated his elbow. Rookie wideout Steve Smith has a concussion. Tom Coughlin has indigestion and, perhaps, teetering toward a panic attack.
Wideout Michael Jennings, corner Sam Madison and safety Will Demps just left the field with assorted injuries, two of which are going to linger.
Jennings, Al Michaels reported, ruptured his Achilles and that's a season ender. Madison went down with a hamstring and that's always serious enough to limit a guy for as long as a month.
Demps looked like he got a stinger after leading with his head but he also looked like he was gripping at his ribs. Bad deal either way.
Jennings is a guy I got to know when I was on the Patriots for the Providence Journal and he joined the team as a
Good Eli vs. Bad Eli. The struggle continues.
After making the kind of forehead-slapping mistake he's been guilty of way too often - an unforced fumble after he turned to handoff - Eli Manning just strung together a pretty nice drive.
I spent a long time talking to the Ravens director of pro personnel Geoge Kokinis the other night in Foxboro where he was scouting the Patriots and Titans.
One thing I wanted to figure out was just how the Ravens figured Willis McGahee would alter their offense at the running back spot.
I did too many Ravens games last season and came away shaking my head about the monumental struggle they seemed to have generating yards when it mattered.
The plodding style of Jamal Lewis, to me, seemed a real encumberance to their explosiveness.
The Society of Bloggers, or SOBs, sent a memo this morning informing me that I am obligated to weigh in on the Michael Vick situation, so here are a few thoughts:
1. For now, from a legal standpoint, I'm going to presume that Vick is innocent. If it turns out that he pleads guilty or is found guilty, that's another blog for another day. Ever since those two dudes whose names I cannot spell (for the record, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams...okay, one dude whose name I cannot spell) released "Game Of Shadows", it's as if we're allowed to presume everyone's guilty.
2. I wonder if Michael Vick used to subscribe to or at least get his hands on Sports Illustrated when he was a boy. I wonder if he ever thought that, with all the covers featuring NFL quarterbacks he must have seen, that it was the July 27, 1987 cover story on pit bull terriers that would come closest to defining his legacy (you can buy that issue on eBay right now for $3.95...imagine what that issue would fetch [intended] if you could get Vick to autograph it).
3. A confession: I love animals. Love 'em love 'em love 'em. Now, true, I'll eat 'em if they're tasty (as they would me), but dog fighting fans are seriously depraved folk. And, yes, any serial killer profiler will tell you that most of them start out in their youth by torturing and killing animals. It's the absolute lack of respect for life that stuns you when you hear about this case.
4. Say you're Michael Vick's defense team, and you want to gauge the NFL's reaction to a guilty plea before you decide whether to go that route or decide instead to go to trial. So you call up the NFL commissioner's office and ask, "Um, how is this going to go down if we plead guilty?"
And if I'm NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, here's my response. "Why would you do that? Michael assured me himself last spring that he had no involvement in this. And I'm taking him at his words. Because isn't that what athletes are always asking those of us in positions of authority to do? Just take them at their word? That's what I'm going to do then. Take Michael at his word."
"Um, thanks, Commish. But, you know, we're just spitballing here. What if Michael does plead guilty?"
"Hmm. So let me get this straight. You're telling me that four months ago you asked me to take Michael's word for it, and I did and the league did not punish him then. Now you're asking me not to take his word for it and hoping that I'll be lenient about that as well? I'm going to reserve the right to be as truthful with you in replying to your request as you and your client have been with the league. How's that?"
If Vick pleads guilty, Goodell could and should suspend him an extra year just for insubordination. For looking the commissioner of his league in the eye and flat-out lying to him.
5. Which is why Vick should learn from O.J. and take this to trial. He only needs one juror of twelve to be on his side here. If Vick cops a plea, he gets reduced jail time but likely at least a two-year ban from the NFL plus a career's worth of vitriol from most fans who ever encounter him. And the endorsement pool will be empty. His NFL career could very well be over.
If Vick goes to trial, there's always the chance that the defense attorneys can attack the character of the witnesses, i.e. his friends, who turned state's evidence on him. If he goes free, he's back in the NFL by next year. Whether or not you or I want that to happen, or believe he's guilty, once exonerated Vick would be able to return to the life (and contract) he has enjoyed.
The downside risk is potentially greater jail time, but that's just more fodder for an updated, Essence Awards-friendly version of The Longest Yard . ESPN will begin bidding for the rights to prison football games almost immediately. Vick, Rae Carruth, Lawrence Phillips, Maurice Clarett...there's some real talent in the joint.
If one takes into account the manner in which Vick has always played the game of football--a risk taker, a quarterback who will exhaust every last option rather than take a sack or throw a pass out of bounds--it seems in his character that Vick would not take the plea deal. Which means that America might just have the most polarizing case since O.J. and that George Smith and Kelly Naqi will be Pedro Gomezing it all autumn in Richmond.
6. I have a great deal of respect for ESPN's John Clayton (unlike Sean Salisbury), but I "strenuously object" to a point he made in a recent column abou the Vick case (I love that espn.com has its own "Vick" tab now, by the way..."MLB", "NCAA", "Vick"). Clayton wrote that for Vick, either post-trial or post-plea, a good p.r. strategy would be to do "public service announcements to stop people from fighting dogs."
Wait, I thought it was dogs fighting dogs...anyway, that's not my bone of contention. It's the entire idea of sinners warning the innocent not to commit the sins they have. Like when Darryl Strawberry or Doc Gooden would speak to kids about the evils of doing drugs, usually a week or so before either was arrested yet again for possession.
"Kids, don't get involved in dog fighting because if you do then some day you may have to do a humiliating public service announcement of the evils of dog fighting when really, what you'd rather be doing is laying down twenty large on that speckled brown pit bull fighting in Jasper's barn this evening."
Didn't Dave Chappelle just rip this entire practice to shreds in one of his skits a couple years ago?
On Saturday I attended the Georgia Tech football scrimmage in Steamylanta. Afterward, I was waiting to interview Yellow Jacket tailback Tashard Choice , whose brothers Tasters and Peoples (What we all do if Gene Rayburn hadn't been invented?) were not there. Well, let me tell you, if there were a personality component to the Heisman Trophy award, then Tashard, who happened to lead the ACC in rushing in 2006, would be the early favorite.
It was 98 degrees and sunny, so Choice had doffed his helmet and shoulder pads when we met. He was only wearing a T-shirt, which happened to bear the name of his high school (in Georgia) alma mater. And so the gray sweaty T-shirt was adorned with two words:
Lovejoy Football .
I decided, especially after meeting Choice and being inspired by his extroverted nature, to hijack that term from two words to three, and then to make it my new mantra:
Love.
Joy.
Football.
Sorry, John and Paul, but that's really all you need.
By the way, how cool are Coach Chan Gailey and the gang at Georgia Tech? On the Saturday morning before classes begin, they stage a free open scrimmage in their stadium. Anyone was allowed to attend, and if Notre Dame did not have at least one spy (I know what you're thinking...zip it!) inside Bobby Dodd, I'd be shocked. I, in fact, was standing on the sidelines with my camcorder and was inconspicuous save for my tattered Catholics vs. Convicts T-shirt.
A few impressions from the scrimmage:
1. Southpaw quarterback Taylor Bennett, leading the first-string offense against the second-string defense, did not look particularly sharp. Bennett was 10-20 for 95 yards.
2. Durant Brooks, a preseason first-team All-America punter by many experts' standards, had three kicks of 50, 48 and 53 yards. That bodes well for Mr. Zbikowski, who will not have to fair catch as many long balls.
3. True freshman dual threat (i.e., he's black and he's fast...why deal in euphemisms?) quarterback Josh Nesbitt was facing 2nd- and 3rd-string defenders, but he looked fantastic. Nesbitt had three carries for 17 yards and completed a 26-yarder to fullback Lucas Cox, who looks like a reincarnation of Tom Rathman.
4. If the Wreck is looking for motivational fodder, here's some. The regional Athlon College Footbal Preview has Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford on the cover. Inside, the mag does team profiles on all of the SEC teams, Conference USA teams and Sun Belt Conference teams, but not on ACC teams. Then, in their "regional teams" section, you're thinking, Okay, this is where Gailey's Gang will get some love, right? The four teams the mag chooses to feature are Louisiana Tech, Louisville, South Florida and....and...wait for it....Notre Dame. Four pages on the Fighting Irish, under "regional teams". Nada on Georgia Tech. And I bought this mag at the base exchange in Fort Benning, Ga.
FOXBORO - Vince Young went 5 for 17 for 102 yards, got sacked four times and failed to lead the Titans to the end zone Friday night against the Patriots.
After being benched for violating a team rule last week, the 2006 Pro Bowler was a little sluggish in a game eventually won by Tennessee, 27-24.
"There were little things here and there,' said Titans head coach Jeff Fisher. "He misfired a couple of times. I thought he was in command with what he was doing and had a good understanding of what they were trying to do."
FOXBORO - Rainy night in Foxboro. The commonly used slang for the conditions here are “raining like a mutha” but I’m not sure that’s wholly appropriate for a family blog. Suffice to say the precipitation is heavy.
And it’s already entered into the equation in this preseason grudge match between the Patriots and Titans as Donte Stallworth slipped on a third-and-6 throw into the flat and Titans corner Cortland Finnegan went 51 yard the other way for the score.
Heat was applied on the play by Titans maniac Kyle Vanden Bosch.
As I got that typed up, Brady came back with a five-play, 58-yard drive including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker. On the play, Brady scurried out of some chaos to the left, directed Welker back to the left pylon and drilled him in the chest for the score.
The AST Dew Tour has set up camp in Portland, Oregon. Already 4 of the 6 prelims have taken place.
Surprises:
BMX Dirt: No Cameron White, Luke Parslow, Steven McCann or Allan Cooke.
Looks like marriage suites Morgan Wade- he took first place with James Foster and Diogo Canina right behind. Ryan Guettler and Ryan Nyquist rounded out the top 5.
BMX Vert: Congrats to Austin Coleman who made it to his first BMX Vert Final ever! Steven McCann looking like a real threat in the Vert world as he placed third in prelims. Jay Eggleston came out swinging and placed second behind the big guy himself, Jamie Bestwick.
SKATEBOARD Vert: Shaun White just might be the real thing. He wants to be an amazing skateboarder. He won in Baltimore, Cleveland, X Games and now takes first in place in prelims in Portland. Bucky Lasek, the defending champ, finished in fifth place... for now.
SKATEBOARD Park: Lights, camera, Sheckler. MTV is here (again) filming the 17 year olds new reality show and he definitely gave them some good footage as he took first place in prelims. But Greg Lutzka, who looks so smooth, is right behind him in second. Austen Seaholm is back in the action sitting in third going into tomorrow's Finals.
Be sure to watch NBC this weekend and catch SKB Park on Saturday and then BMX Park on Sunday. Also on USA Network there will be an hour show of BMX Vert Friday night followed by SKB Vert on Saturday night.
I can say it's official. I've played basketball with an NBA player.
David Lee of the New York Knicks had a basketball camp for aspiring youngsters last week. I caught up with him at his camp and took on the challenge of playing a little game of "Knock Out". No, inspite of what you might think, the NBA coaches have not started calling to sign me up.
So what if my NBA career will never be, this is a guy who is certain to have an amazing career. He enjoyed hanging out with the kids and did an excellent job of staying positive while offering constructive advice to help the young athletes better their skills.
Rex prediction for this season:
Rex Grossman is a free agent at the end of the year. The quarterback tells us it was his decision not to negotiate a new deal. Grossman said, "You want to re-up after a big season. My numbers will be much better after 2007." And after watching him in practice, we believe Grossman is primed for a huge season.
Physical traits: 6' 2" and 240 pounds.
Profession: Baseball Player.
Greatest Achievement: Home run king*.
Key personaliy trait: Highly sensitive to those who accuse me of doing bad things.
Seeking: Two lawyers to defend me against my enemies. Which is basically everyone.
Ohhh Barry. You do keep it interesting. After all that has been said about Mr. Bonds, and let us be honest, is there anything that has NOT been said? He goes and does something like this. The guy, who has had his name damaged in ways that can never be repaired and owns the charming title of Most Hated in Baseball (exception: Bay Area) has now decided to hire a few lawyers to defend him against those who say mean things,false things, fairy tale things, illegal things.
From MSNBC: "While pursuing Hank Aaron’s home run record, Barry felt that it was more prudent to remain silent," a statement read. "Now that the record has been broken, Burris and Schneider will evaluate any and all statements attributed to him that are false."
Huh?
Dear Barry,
Question:
You let 'them' (the old girlfriend, the former dude you did business with, that guy who plays for the Red Sox) say whatever they wanted about your character while you were out going after the single greatest record in all of sports and then once you shatter it, suddenly it's time to put Operation Save Barry into action?
What. Kind. Of. Plan. Is. That?
Answer (from eager new lawyer Mr. John Burris) is something along the lines of: not to go after media publications or to curtail free speech and opinions against the controversial baseball player. Instead, he said, it is to stop those who might think they know something about Bonds from telling a false story.
False story??
I wish this story was FALSE.
NFL DENIES REPORTS THAT VICK WILL BE SUSPENDED.
I mean really, you don't think they will suspend him?
The can deny all they want.. until next week.
A dear co-worker at NBCSports.com left a few weeks ago to make it big in Chicago. Aside from being hilarious (I'm a sucker for anyone who is funny) it was our mutual love for Eddie Vedder (mine more circa mid 90's, hers still present day) that led to a budding friendship. Since she has left, well let me just say, the office isn't the same. AT ALL.
But distance doesn't stop this girl from being a die hard METS fan. So I present, for your viewing pleasure, her website. GO TO IT!!
So enthralled was I by the German film The Lives of Others that I saw last Friday that I went out and rented "The Lives of Otters" yesterday. Totally different type of movie, I must say. And yet, it too was in German. Hmm.
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You're Cleveland Indian manager Eric Wedge ("Wedgie", as I like to call him). You enter the bottom of the 9th inning trailing the New York Yankees 5-2 and your first three batters hit line-drive single, single and double against Mariano Rivera (who had entered the game in the 8th inning; Joe Torre, will you ever learn? Were you not there at Bank One Ballpark in November of 2001????).
Anyway, so now your Tribe trail the Yankees by just 5-3, men on second and third and no out. Your batter is some dude named Asdrubal Cabrera. He hits 9th in your lineup and is batting .222. Maybe you try--at least try--having this lefty bunt down the first base line. If it works, you've got a man on third with one out, you're now within one run of tying the game (effectively knocking Rivera out of it, by the way) and guess what? Grady Sizemore's coming to bat.
But nooooooooooooooo! Wedge has Cabrera swing away. He strikes out. Then Sizemore whiffs. And the final batter, Casey Blake, lifts a lazy fly to Bobby Abreu in right field. Game, Yankees. Series sweep, Yankees. Season sweep, all six games, Yankees.
If Wedge were managing in New York City, he'd be hearing about this today.
You know those dudes who do "Power Rankings" on the various sports sites? Well, if I were one of those guys (I'm not; instead I do "Flower Rankings"....hydrangea made a huge leap to No. 3 last week), I'd have the Yankees at no lower than No. 3 right now, with only the Angels and/or Mariners ahead of them right now.
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So I'm watching The Bronx Is Burning late on Saturday afternoon (Can anyone match my rock-and-roll lifestyle?) and they run this graphic during the episode that reads, " On August 10, 1977, the Yankees trailed the Boston Red Sox in the A.L. East by five games". Guess--yes, you're correct. On August 10, 2007, the Yankees trailed the Red Sox in the A.L. East by five games.
The '77 Yanks won the A.L. East by 2 1/2 games.
The '07 Yanks, I believe, will win it by more than that.
Yesterday all it did here in Manhattan was rain, but this morning is the payoff: The weather is here, as Jimmy Buffett says, wish you were beautiful. Idle thoughts....
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I'm at the gym yesterday and I go to take a shower. My locker is locked, but I leave my undergarment material on the bench next to it. When I return from the shower, the undies are gone. The locker room attendants, whom I spot immediately, assure me that they did not accidentally--or intentionally--abscond with said undies. So there is an underwear thief about. I am quite discomfited by that fact.
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Look at the face of 21 year-old Yankee pitcher Joba Chamberlain . Closely. Look again. Remind you of anyone? I'm going with Babe Ruth. I mean, David Wells would probably give his signed DVD ("Yes, it is. Stands for 'Digital Video Digital") copy of Beerfest to have that pug.
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I don't have too much experience covering the NBA, but no coach, while he was a coach, was ever more cool to me than Mike Fratello. So it pains me to make this comparison, but seeing him sit in a luxury box with Joe Torre (who was serving a one-game suspension) last night at Jacobs Field, I was alarmed by how closely his "hair" resembles the "hair" of Jeremy Piven. You might even say that I wigged out.
By the way, the reason Fratello was so cool? I was trying to interview Zydrunas Ilgauskas when he was a rookie, and between the language barrier and the altitude barrier--dude's nearly a foot and a half taller than me--it was tough to get anything. Fratello took me aside and just said, "I'll tell you everything you want to know about Z." Saved me.
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Yes, Bill Simmons is the competition, but only in a way that Buddy Biancalana would refer to George Brett as his competition in the hearts and minds of K.C. Royals fans. Anyway, I'm not sure who's funnier, The Sports Guy or his readers. In his latest mailbag, one reader refers to Reggie Miller as having "Apollo Creed Syndrome" while another describes how his drunk brother sat a few seats away from Tim Robbins at a recent Mets game and kept yelling "Meat" at him. Good stuff. And, yeah, I don't mind sending you over there.
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By the way, before Mariano Rivera pitched the 9th inning last night against the Indians, the Yankees used two pitchers (Phil Hughes and Chamberlain) whose ages combined (21 + 21 = 42) are less than Roger Clemens'. And you don't even want to know how much less their salaries combined are as compared to the Rocket's.
You may not love Rocket, but isn't the AT&T ad with him phoning his wife pretty inspired? I'm sure more nefarious types can come up with other questions Rocket asked his wife, things for which he was seeking permission.
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Of the new things that I learned this week, maybe the most fascinating is that there exists a breed of animal called a zonkey . Here's a photo:
http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/animals/assets/zonkey.jpg
Zonkeys. A week ago if you had asked me what zonkeys were, I would have replied, "Zonkeys is the neologism that would be created by the unholy love child of Shaggy and Thelma...even though each's sexual orientation (one loved dogs, the other Daphnes) of each would probably preclude that from ever happening."
Yes, that would have been my reply. But now we know that there are actual animals called zonkeys. It's also a good derogatory term to call a ref who is making an ass of himself.
By the way, if I were a water buffalo, I'd be walking around in a T-shirt right now that reads "BATTLE OF KRUGER: I WAS THERE".
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Two things jumped out at me while watching Platoon the other night: 1) The only women you ever see in the film are South Vietnamese who are either killed or raped and 2) the cast includes three actors currently starring in hit TV shows:
Charlie Sheen........... "Two and A Half Men"
Kevin Dillon.............. "Entourage" ("Let's grease the entire village, Sergeant!")
John C. McGinley......."Scrubs"
And, without even including the two primary characters (besides Sheen), you can also find an Oscar winner (Forrest Whitaker), an A-list movie star (Johnny Depp) and a former lead singer (Corey Glover of "In Living Colour")
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Phyllis, a.k.a. my mom, emailed yesterday to tell me that a friend of our family is the person who actually shot that "Battle at Kruger" video. I"ll have to double-check the sources on that one. What I'd really enjoy is for HBO to re-air that fight while Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant supplied a running commentary.
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I was just channel surfing, and there's no college basketball on this afternoon. Don't read too much into that.
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Saw a great flick last night: "The Lives Of Others". And then I was shown this amazing speakeasy sake bar in the East Village, "Decibel". It was like an Axis powers theme evening. If you're visiting New York City soon and you want to experience a real New York atmosphere place, go to Decibel...if you can find it (or just email me, and I'll tell you how to get there).
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I think I have a man crush on Mark Schlereth. And I'm not proud of that.
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There should be a "This Is SportsCenter" ad where all the anchors (i.e., "the talent") are posing as if for a team photo (and who would be holding the ball?) and then, as in the opening sequence from "Soap", they begin scuffling. In fact, I'm sure they could even get Billy Crystal to revise his role as Jodie and be part of the photo, too. "Soap". Do you remember "Soap"? What other sitcom ever had the cojones to use a ventriloquist as a central character throughout the entire series?
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On my top ten list of movies that not enough people talk about but that always makes me laugh, I'm including "Stuck On You". Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear should team up for more films. And Kinnear has two absolutely classic lines in this movie:
1. "That Robert Evans, he banged 'em all."
and
2. "Boozin' with Cher."
If I had a fantasy league team, then I think I'd name it "Boozin' With Cher".
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Am I the only one growing a little weary of Kenny Mayne's dry humor? I am? I am the only one.
Just
So my friend Moose, who also goes by the alias "Laundry Girl" (which is of no import here) phones the other day and asks, "Did you get the 'Thank You' card that I sent you?"
And that question, to me, opened up a Davidian (Larry, not Branch) can of worms. The quandary is this. Say you send someone a nice--some might even say, overly generous--birthday present. Now, in return, that person sends you a Thank You card, which is very sweet. Are you now obligated to acknowledge said Thank You? And how gracious should you be about it? Should you:
1. Text them: "Got it. Thx4thx"?
2. Call them and say, "Cool beans on the thank you card"?
3. Head to Hallmark and ask them if they have a "Thank You for Your Thank You Card" section, otherwise known as an "Oppressively Polite Society In Which We Live" cards section?
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Rick Ankiel's home run was the most heartwarming thing that's happened in pro sports all summer...okay, the only heartwarming thing. It even humbled Tony LaRussa, and that's saying something. Did you notice a difference in the way that Ankiel's teammates treated him when he returned to the dugout with the way another home run hitter's teammates responded to him earlier this week after he belted one?
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According to ticket brokerage site Ticketcity.com, which college football game do you think is the most expensive on the black market right now?
A. (9/8) Notre Dame at Penn State
B. (9/15) USC at Nebraska
C. (10/6) Texas-Oklahoma
D. (12/1) UCLA at USC
The answer: A. Notre Dame-Penn State tix are going for $1,100, which is astounding when you consider that neither team is in most preseason pollsters Top 25. Penn State is considered 4th in the Big Ten and the Irish are unranked. Charlie Weis may not have made Notre Dame more well-liked, but the anti-Irish animus is as healthy as it's been since Lou Holtz was lisping his way through press conferences. Four of Ticketcity.com's five most expensive tickets involve the Irish: at Penn State, versus USC ($950), at Michigan ($696) and versus Boston College ($661). The only other game in their top five is Ohio State at Michigan ($1,000).
Savvy buyers may want to wait awhile before purchasing ND tix. If the Irish get off to the start most experts expect (2-4; maybe 3-3), then prices for the BC and USC clashes may drop faster than you can say "sub-prime loans".
--The Irish, by the way, are holding their only open practice of training camp tomorrow, Saturday, at Notre Dame Stadium. Interested fans and media can look forward to being treated to two hours of stretching and special teams exercises beginning at 9 a.m. The session is free.
Georgia Tech, Notre Dame's first opponent (Sept. 1), will stage an open practice tomorrow...and the next day....and the day after that....and the day after that...and so on, and so on, and so on. You can even shoot video.
By the way, Notre Dame just redesigned their athletic site this week. Check out und.com when you get a chance, if you're interested.
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Steely McBeam Me Up Scotty
Every time I look at an illustration of the Pittsburgh Steelers' new mascot (and isn't it obvious how badly the Steelers needed a mascot? That franchise has been floundering for ever, and this is the reason why)...anyway, every time I see the new Steeler mascot, the first word that comes to my mind is, "LLOYD!"
Also, wouldn't Steely McBeam be the perfect arch-villain for those not-so-private-dicks Brock Landers and Chest Rockwell?
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Flight of the Conchords staged an episode two Sundays ago that was utterly devoid of Mel. That just can't happen. It would be like One Day At A Time without Schneider, or Laverne and Shirley minus Lenny and Squiggy. "A Kiss Is Not A Contract" vaults into my top three FotC songs, primarily because of this lyric:
"Just because we play tonsil hockey,
Doesn't mean you get to score the goal that's in my Jockey"
Some enterprising HBO p.r stooge needs to send Bret and Jemaine out on the road for a mini-tour. Where would they play? At aquariums, of course.
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Can I Borrow Your Towel? My Car Just Hit A Water Buffalo
Did you catch the lion-water buffalo-crocodile melee, i.e., "The Battle at Kruger", captured on video and then shown on ABC's new show, "iCaught", earlier this week? Simply incredible (in fact, if this were a different era, we'd be seeing that footage on "That's Incredible"; so don't get too uppity, there, iCaught crew). This is more dramatic than any fight I've seen in an octagon all year.
Anyway, I could describe it but it's better that you see it yourself. You won't see anything more courageous all summer, not even from someone playing outfield for the St. Louis Cardinals. Suffice it to say, this could be a huge evolutionary breakthrough for all horned herbivores out there in the Kalahari and the Serengeti. Strength in numbers, fellas.
Here it is:
Is the Barry Bonds controversy about race? Apparently, some readers believe so.
After the blog I wrote on Tuesday, one reader wrote me the following note:
It's all very SIMPLE to me! It's a black/white thing! Always have (sic) been always will be here in this place we call America!!!! The end!!!!!!
Another reader , FMP, commented after the "Balco Knees" blog that many of us in the press owe Mr. Bonds an apology, since he has not been convicted of anything.
FMP does bring up a worthy point. In the last few days we in the media seem to have passed a tipping point, as author Malcolm Gladwell (who, to quote Gary Sheffield, "is black and white") would call it, regarding Bonds' innocence/guilt regarding steroid use. The headlines (How do you top the New York Post using syringes on its cover to spell out "756"?) themselves render no doubt as to how most of us in the media feel about whether or not Bonds was guilty.
Is it a black-white issue?
Let me respond this way: Have you ever read a journalist, white or black, write anything negative about Derek Jeter? Now, is that because he is "black and white" (as Sheffield said; that's whom he was originally referring to) or is it simply because we admire the way that he plays the game? Have you ever read a journalist write anything negative about John Rocker? About A. J. Pierzynski? About Roger Clemens?
Barry Bonds has never tested positive for steroids, but the evidence is overwhelming and it is out there. It's almost as if one can picture Bonds writing a book a decade or so from now entitled, "If I Took Them, Here's How I Did It". And, once more, to reiterate, if he indeed buffed up due to steroids, he most likely joins Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and Brady Anderson and dozens of others who benefited from performance-enhancing drugs.
The difference with Bonds is that his record became a litmus test. What he achieved, 756 home runs, is extraordinary and it does not invite apathy. You cannot hide that news. As a fan or as a sports journalist, you cannot not care about this record. So the question becomes, if you do care, How do you feel about it?
And no one can tell you how you should feel. That's up to you. You have to listen to what the little voice inside tells you. It is not up to you, the fan, to indict or exonerate Bonds. It is only up to you to be true to your feelings. And to examine from where they come. Do they come from prejudice? Do they come from an objective, as possible, assessment of the facts? From your own common sense?
Is it really possible that Barry Bonds' body could naturally change that much in his late thirties? That Patrick Arnold is lying? That the authors of "Game Of Shadows" fabricated all of their evidence? That Gary Sheffield was lying when he discussed "the cream and the clear"? That trainer Greg Anderson enjoys sitting in jail for no reason at all? When it's a matter of who's telling the truth and who is not, I always try to look at who has the least to gain by being truthful. And who has the most to lose.
Are white writers giving Barry Bonds an unfair shake by "convicting" him of taking steroids? That's up to you. But I ask you this: How many black sports columnists are writing that they do not believe Bonds ever took steroids? A few may choose, as Rob Parker did the other morning on ESPN2, to believe that the entire issue of steroids is moot. Or irrelevant. When the best case that you can present on someone's behalf is that cheating is irrelevant, maybe it is time to reassess the case you are making. Or the person whom you are defending.
Out to dinner the other night with a crew of friends. FSU comes up and someone (we'll call him Jack) asks:
Jack: "Who is your QB going to be this year?"
Friend responds: "It doesn't matter who our QB is going to be."
Jack: "What? Of course it matters."
Friend: "No way. Jimbo Fisher is the man... he can turn anyone into a good quarterback."
Yes, he can. It is sooooooo good to have Jimbo Fisher on FSU's sidelines this year. And anyone who thought Fisher was going to come into the Seminole locker room quietly should just read this article. He's not looking to do anything less then turn our offense around.
"Two things in football you can never fake - toughness and intelligence."- Jimbo Fisher.
Welcome to Florida State... we love you already.
Busy week in the world of baseball. And for once, the headlines were screaming about what players did on the field rather then exploiting the latest mess they got themselves into off the field.
Bonds.
Rodriguez.
Glavine.
756. (now 757)
500.
300.
Good for them.
The glistening shine cast on baseball lasted for all of about two seconds. And then sports turned back to what it has been doing best lately, exposing a side most of us try to avoid. Controversy. Cheating. A tarnished game.
Now, about Chipper Jones and his latest rant on Alex Rodriguez. I understand why this would be a big story. But this was way overblown and completely out of proportion. Frankly I don't think Chipper was 'attacking' or dropping an 'A-Bomb' on anyone or anything. He was probably just answering the questions he was asked.
On if the steroid questions once targeted solely at Barry Bonds will now be attached to Alex Rodriguez:
"There's going to be the questions because his name's been brought up," Jones told the Associated Press before last night's game at Shea. "If I had to pose a guess on A-Rod, I would say no. But I don't know. He's going to have to answer the questions. And that goes for everybody that approaches the number. It's just so farfetched, the numbers that those guys are putting up. And a lot of it comes from the era that they're playing in."
True A-Rod's 500 mark tags him as the next potential future Home Run King and could raise a few eyebrows. However any speculation may stem more from Jose Canseco's recent comments where he claimed to have "other stuff" on the Yankee player.
Jones on Jose Canseco:
"There's been a lot of validation to some of the things that Jose Canseco has said over the years," Jones said. "At first when it came out, a lot of people didn't want to give him a lot of credit for it. But a lot of it has been proven true. Now, when he opens his mouth, people listen. And unfortunately, this cloud is following probably two of the best players of this century."
Unfortunately this 'cloud' seems to never go away. And it is getting annoying.
A few Bonds' follow-ups:
1. A reader, Maxie54, was cool enough to send in a comment and it deserves a response. Here's the note:
I find it very curious that Mr. Walters unabashedly extols the virtues of Mr. Costas. This is the same Mr. Costas that said that Ruth's home runs had a romance and an aura to it that Bonds does not have. May I remind Mr. Costas that most of Mr. Ruth's home runs were achieved when black players were not allowed to play, thus Ruth did not face the best pitchers around during that era. I find Mr. Costas views to be very inconsistent and hypocritical.
It's true. For the most part, I'm wholeheartedly, without the slightest tinge of abashment (Bob and I are virtually the "Unabash Brothers"), a proponent of Costas. As for Costas' position on Ruth, I don't have first-hand knowledge of that, but I do recall that a few weeks ago on "Costas Now", Chris Rock broached this very topic. And Costas seemed to agree with him, that yes, Ruth never had to face the greatest pitchers from the Negro Leagues in MLB. And that, yes, when Negro League All-Stars played MLB All-Stars, that they often beat them.
Maxie54 makes a valid point. Ruth never had to face the very best baseball players, only the very best white ones. However, there's a marked difference between Ruth's feat and Bonds' feat. Ruth lived within the parameters of his era. I guess you can say that Bonds lived within the parameters of his, too---taking steroids to keep up with the Joneses...and Sosas. But, really, Ruth did not cheat. If you don't think taking performing-enhancing drugs is cheating, well, then, you and I simply disagree and that's cool. But if you do--as I do--then you have to recognize that Ruth, within the circumstances of his era, did nothing to compromise his integrity. Bonds, if you accept the overwhelming evidence, did.
2. We--myself included--are far too obsessed with this entire home-run chase, anyway. Records, within the confines of a sport, are no more than subplots. The game's the thing. Helping your team to victory is far more important than setting a record...which is why I find Derek Jeter to be a more valuable teammate (not player, teammate) than Bonds. Which is why I agree with Matt Morris, that his former team (the Giants) have their priorities out of order by bowing to Bonds instead of committing themselves to getting younger this year (they will next season, once the albatross of 25 is shuttled). Which is why, as remarkable as his achievement was on Tuesday, that I would have loved if Bonds had insisted on remaining in the game against the Nationals. After all, he was already 3 for 3 (just a triple away from the cycle, as if that would happen) and the Giants were only up 5-4. Thanks to him.
But Bonds, after taking a curtain call by walking out to left field in the top of the sixth, left the game. The Nationals won, 8-6.
Yes, the Giants are a last-place team in August and yes, if anyone deserved the rest of the night off, it was Bonds. But isn't it all about winning the game?
3. Bonds' 757th lands in McCovey Cove. That's almost cruel, considering how many man-hours were devoted by cupiditous kayakers hoping to fish out 756. And, you know, San Francisco in July/August? It ain't warm out there in the drink.
Barry Bonds. Emptying out my brain on the topic:
1. Two of the more symbolic moments of the Barry Bonds 756 chase occurred in the scrums of fans fighting for the home runs Bonds hit on Saturday in San Diego and on Tuesday in San Francisco. If you watch the replay, after Adam Hughes came up with 755, he is seen hoisting the ball in his right hand as he is led away by Padres security. Then, suddenly, some dude in a camouflage Padres jersey makes a desperate--and unsuccessful-- snatch for the ball that Hughes is clutching.
Last night at AT&T Park, Matt Murphy came up with Bonds' record-breaking homer (Adam Hughes. Matt Murphy. America's sportswriters can only say, "Thank you for having such easy names. Not like that dude who collared A-Rod's 500th."). Before we even realized who had the ball, as we watched the scrum on TV, we saw a big dude in an orange jersey work his way through the mob and then suddenly toss himself on top of the pile. He was nowhere near the ball but he decided that he'd do his best to wrest the ball from whatever fan already had it.
To me, those two unidentified would-be ball thieves exemplified not only what Bonds has "accomplished" in terms of the home run mark, but also, and I'm going to get sociological on you here, why Bonds' 756 is such a polarizing number today.
There's a large faction of society that believes that it's now how you get there, it's that you get there. If you need to cheat to win a race (Ben Johnson) or sully some other candidate's reputation in order to get elected, or lip-synch your appearance on Saturday Night Live to sell your records, do it.
Then there's the other faction, among which more than a few overly idealistic--some might say overly judgmental-- journalists and parents and killjoys and probably Sheriff Andy Taylor and Richie Cunningham belong to. This is the group that believes that what truly matters is that it's how you get there.
Greg Brady could have been Johnny Bravo, sure, but he didn't want to be famous just because he "fit the suit". He wanted to be famous because his music mattered. Or, for a better and relatively more recent example, watch School Ties . Matt Damon's character is the former type, and Brendan Fraser's is the latter.
What it all comes down to is character. There's a reason that one of the only--if not the only--unifying aspects of this entire chase is Hank Aaron. Because, as anyone can see, Aaron never sacrificed his honor or integrity to achieve what he has. Barry Bonds and Bud Selig cannot say as much.
2. Bob Costas, appearing on Mike and Mike this morning, applied the equivalent of a logic smackdown to guest host Rob Parker. A columnist with the Detroit Free Press , Parker clearly positioned himself on the former side, saying basically, "It's 756 home runs, I don't care how he got there."
Costas, meanwhile--and this is absolutely no surprise-- was articulate, insightful and dead-on. Parker posited that since baseball, in terms of attendance, is more popular than ever, then why does a fan such as Costas have any problem with what's happened in the past decade or so in regard to steroids. Costas fired back that baseball was immensely popular before blacks (and Parker is black) were allowed to play and it was immensely popular before Curt Flood took his stand for free agency, but that does not mean that the game was not flawed in those eras. "Reasonable people," Costas said, "can separate the two."
Parker remained on the offensive, asking Costas how come so many people vilify Bonds as if he's the only player who ever took steroids. Costas, on the phone and clearly stupefied that Parker was receiving such a national forum to air such childish arguments, retortred, "I hope you're not including me among those who would hold such a simple-minded view."
Costas then proceeded, in as polite a way as possible, to deliver a useful analogy. He said that if the President of the United States broke the same law as a congressman, well, wouldn't we expect that the president's transgression would receive more attention because, after all, he's the prez?
The chasm between the wisdom and ability to reason of those who appear on TV and those who watch TV gets narrower each passing day. Especially in regard to ESPN, which seems to have an insatiable appetite to put new faces behind a desk.
Some people just belong on TV, either because they look good (Erin Andrews, Kirk Herbstreit) or because their words flow with reason and insight(Costas, Kirk Herbstreit). Listening to Costas on ESPN2 this morning, it was evident what a vacuum exists in sports television of men or women who are not afraid to be contrarian and bright. Costas himself--and this was beautiful--called out players "and ex-players who are now holding microphones" (were your ears burning, Rick Sutcliffe and John Kruk?) for the craven position they have taken during the Bonds chase. I don't have Costas' words in front of me verbatim, but in essence he said that you cannot state that 1) Bonds likely used performance enhancing drugs but 2) he's still the greatest player of all time, as if those are mutually exclusive assertions.
If you believe No. 1, Costas said, then how can you grant No. 2? Amen. It's not that Bonds is not a superlative ballplayer, one of the top "half dozen", as Costas asserted, who ever played the game. But if you buy the overwhelming evidence that between 1999 and say, 2004, Bonds was juicing, then you either say it's okay to cheat and call him the best player who ever lived or that it's not okay to cheat and then you cannot just grant him the tremendous offensive stats he posted from '99 on.
It's like this. You're one of the smartest students in your class. Definitely top 5%. Then you get the answers to the final exam, use them, and get the highest grade on that test. You cheated. Should your test score be wiped out? Or does the professor recognize you as the best student in the class because, even if you did cheat, you already were one of the smartest students anyway?
3. Can Pedro Gomez go home now?
4. Bud Selig does not understand leadership. Not in the least bit. As J.A. Adande said on "Around The Horn" this evening, Selig should have either had the courage of his convictions and said that he did not recognize Bonds' home run record because it's tainted by steroids, or he should have just congratulated Bonds succinctly and with class, as Aaron did.
5. Two arguments that Bonds and his apologists often use that, were I Mitt Romney, I'd tell you that "I'm sick and tired" of hearing them:
A. "Steroids can't help you hit a baseball."
No duh. But, if you already have the talent to hit a 96 m.p.h. fastball or an 88 m.p.h. slider, steroids will help you hit a baseball farther. And, they will help you see better, which is invaluable when you're standing at the plate.
B. "If you're going to indict Barry Bonds, why don't you go after everyone else who used steroids?"
Would love to. It was cheating, even if baseball did not have a specific rule against it for so long (and this, Mr. Selig, is why you will not be standing on the right side of this issue when history records this era). I'd love to examine how Brady Anderson hit 50 home runs in 1996--more than double the number he hit in any other season of his career-- or the entire lineup of the '98 Texas Rangers or the '01 Oakland A's. But, as Costas said, Bonds became the symbol of the era, the "Sultan of Syringe" as one New York tabloid put it today, because he took down baseball's greatest individual career record with the help of steroids.
6. More than a few media members noted, fondly, that Bonds showed a very human side of himself last night. That he was, almost for the first time, likeable. And that's true. He was. But who isn't at their best in a moment when so much glory is coming your way? It's how you treat people on a Tuesday in Milwaukee that is a better indicator of your personality.
Parker, on Mike and Mike , brought forth the old argument that sportswriters have it out for Bonds because he is not nice to them. I disagree. I feel that the same hubris that Bonds has shown toward the media is what made him think that he could use steroids with impunity. He put himself above others, and then he put himself above the game.
Nor did steroids "affect" Bonds' personality.
In May of 1993 Richard Hoffer of Sports Illustrated went out to San Francisco to do a feature story on Bonds, then in his first season with the Giants. Hoffer waited eight days before Bonds would finally sit down with him for a few minutes--and probably thought to himself, Thank God he doesn't play in Pittsburgh any more.
Bonds' blowing off of Hoffer actually became a source of clubhouse hilarity. The other Giants kept track of how many days Hoffer was being held hostage and it was probably only a matter of time before Ted Koppel did so, too.
7. The numbers just don't matter any more. There was a time, before performance-enhancing drugs, before East Germans who looked like cyborgs, before Ben Johnson, before Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire--and after Greg Lemond--when we cared about records. In track and field. In baseball. In the Tour de France.
Now? Do you know what the world record time in the mile is? Or in the 100 meters? Or who even holds those records?
Steroids have made many records negligible. Impure. Unworthy of our faith in them. I know for certain, as someone who was allowed to stay up just long enough to see Hank Aaron blast 715 when I was seven years old, that Bonds' 756th will not have the aura to it that Aaron's did. It can't.
8. Those hugs Bonds' teammates gave him after 756 last night? For the most part, they were perfunctory. No one denies that he is a magnificent ballplayer. You cannot take that away from him. But Barry Bonds has diminished his own legacy more than any sportswriter ever could.
It's funny. You cannot cut corners when you hit a home run. You may have blasted a ball 435 feet to dead center, but you still have to touch first, second and third base before you can claim your reward. You cannot cut the corners of the diamond. In life, though, you can. All too easily.
As I've written before, the Yankee season bottomed on May 29 in a 3-2 loss at Toronto. The defeat was the Yankees' fifth straight, their 13th loss in 18 games. New York fell eight games below .500, to 21-29, and if it's possible to put a metaphorical nail into a team's coffin before Memorial Day, well, Aaron Hill's steal of home in the 7th inning off Andy Pettite seemed to be it.
One night later, Alex Rodriguez became Bray-Rod with the "Ha!" spurned 'round the world. But New York won that game, and while it hasn't all been guns and roses since that outing, they've never been that far below .500 since.
If you take the suspended Baltimore game (that was completed last Friday) and put its "W" in chronologicl order, New York entered the All-Star Break with a .500 record. At the All-Star break I wrote that the Yanks would need to play .700 ball the rest of the way to make the playoffs. Since the All-Star Game in S.F.--an American League win, yet again; any coincidence that the A.L. has not lost an All-Star Game and the Yankees have not failed to make the playoffs both since Derek Jeter entered the league?-- New York's record is 19-7, or .731. That's the best in the majors.
Offensive numbers worth noting:
*Between the at-bat in which A-Rod hit his 499th and 500th home runs, nine different Yankees hit a total of 18 home runs. Hideki Matsui led the barrage with four, Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano blasted three and Bobby Abreu and Shelley Duncan two. Derek Jeter, Melky Cabrera and Wilson "He Just Smiled And Gave Me A" Betemit "Sandwich" hit one.
*The Yankees, since the All-Star break, are averaging 7.7 runs per game. They've tied a Major League record for the most runs scored in consecutive games (38) and a team record for home runs in one game (8...none of which A-Rod hit). In four separate games they've scored at least 16 runs.
*At the break some blogger we all know also wrote that a key to the Yankees making the playoffs would be for Abreu, Cano and Cabrera to at least begin playing to their potential. Some numbers on each before and after July 7, the Saturday before the All-Star Game and also the last day that the Yankees, after a 2-1 loss in 13 innings to the Angels, were under .500:
Batting Averages At Break:
Abreu: .260
Cano: .272
Cabrera: .276
Batting Averages Since Break:
Abreu: .364
Cano: .423
Cabrera: .353
Batting Averages Overall:
Abreu: .284....a 24-point jump in 26 games
Cano: ..308....a 36-point jump
Cabrera: .298...a 22-point leap
All three players had five home runs apiece at the All-Star Break. That's fifteen, of course. And in the 26 games since? The trio have combined for fourteen home runs, with Abreu and Cano each hitting six. What, or who, woke this trio up?
Hideki Matsui, who had ten home runs at the All-Star Break (that's 86 games), has twelve homers in the 26 games since.
So the Bronx is Bombing. And as I write this the Yankees have caught up to Detroit for the wild-card lead. And it's only August 6th. Will the Yankees make the playoffs? If they keep playing this way, yes. But they're not going to hit this way in the postseason. The arms they'll face will be too good.
Insomniac Notre Dame football fans/Johntouragers, this program note (with very little advance warning) is for you. I'll be on some radio show on the Sports Byline Network at 1:10 a.m EST this morning. That is, in less than two hours. If you cannot find it on the dial, you can listen in on sportsbyline.com. But you really should be sleeping at that hour.
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Our good friend Katie McCollow (yuckysaladwithbones.com) just won a writing contest staged by Writer's Digest for a feature story she wrote on her children's bizarre but brilliant karate sensei. I think the award was "Awesomest Story Ever" or something like that. When I phone her husband, Mike, to congratulate him, I said, "Aren't you proud of your better half?" and his reply was, "Are you referring to the area below my waist?"
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People ask me all the time what Steve Rushin is up to. Well, I don't have the time to answer that, but if you have Time magazine, you know the answer. Steve's penned Time's last two back-page essays, and they're classic Rushin, complete with pop cultural references and word play. His recent column is about that study that says that your friends make you fat. "If Ringo Starr could get high with a little help from his friends," Steve writes, "surely he can get pie with a little help from his friends."
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Funniest thing that I read today: Former SI writer/contributor Don Yaeger is traveling around to college campuses as a media consultant, charging $2,500 per pop to instruct D-I athletes on how to interact with media. Step one: "When the media misquote you or fail to corroborate your controversial quote ["It's rollin', baby"], sue their ass off."
Yaeger's story on Alabama coach Mike Price cost Price his job and cost SI, reportedly, $10 million. So he's just the guy to have your scholarship athletes taking advice from.
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How about Michael Irvin's Hall of Fame induction speech on Saturday? I haven't seen that much self-generated moisture on a man's face since Ted Stryker tried to land that big bird in Airplane!. And for all the less-than-Landry-like acts that Irvin committed (off the field) during his career, and for all the needless bombast he created on "NFL Live" the past few years (Tom Jackson only said what so many of us were thinking when he asked, "Are you retarded?"), you have to give Irvin props for that performance in Canton. He was candid, he was humble and he was funny. His heart was totally in the right place and I found myself hoping someone would hire that Michael Irvin for this season.
On a two-year junket that will bring him to every team's facility, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stopped in Nashville Saturday. When asked if Titans corner Pacman Jones, the No. 1 player in the league knucklehead rankings, has a chance to get Goodell to reduce his year-long suspension, the Commish said, "Absolutely."
"Again, these are his opportunities to do the right thing to earn your way back onto the field," cautioned Goodell.
GEORGETOWN, Ky - Leon Hall looks like a good one. At the very least, all the pub about how well he can come up and tackle wasn't bogus.
On one of his first plays in Friday night's intrasquad scrimmage, Hall sniffed out a screen came up strong and blasted receiver Reggie McNeal.
He played solid if unspectacularly for the rest of the evening which is what you want from a corner. They're like umpires and referees - if you don't notice them, they're doing great.
I asked Hall, the 18th pick out of Michigan, how the adjustment was coming.
"The biggest difference is at Michigan we ran a lot of different defenses from how we run them here. How we play cover-2, how we play quarters. The longer you're here the more adjustments you make. I'd say just recognition of what the offense is trying to do and how it affects our responsibilities."
Hall embraces the chance to go against wideouts Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh in practice.
"Especially durng the season, if I do well against them during the week, I’ll have a lot of confidence going into the game because they're probably one of the top (tandems) in the game and going against Carson Palmer is a plus. Going against the people I'm going against every day has just made me better. I'm a smarter player (since Michigan)."
GEORGETOWN, Kentucky - On a sauna-hot evening in Kentucky, the Bengals held a 40-play full-contact scrimmage at Georgetown College.
The Bengals offense got the W, winning 35-31 over the D as the team used a scoring system that awarded the offense points for touchdowns and first downs and gave the defense points for stops and turnovers.
The biggest buzz generated by the Bengals came from rookie second round pick Kenny Irons from Auburn who ran for 65 yards on 10 carries. The only blemish? A fumble at the end of a 24-yard burst.
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer was efficient for the most part, finishing 7 of 9 for 79 yards with a touchdown and a red-zone pick. He helped punch it in on the Bengals first drive hitting Chad Johnson three times for 44 yards and T.J. Houshmandzadeh for 17 before Rudi Johnson carried it in from 6 yards out.
"I thought it went pretty well," said Palmer. "We got a number of different situations in - third down, red zone. You always want to score every drive but when you stand back and look at it again you want the defense to stop you too."
A crowd of 8,500 showed up to sit on hot metal bleachers and watch the scrimmage. Pretty impressive and a definite signal that the Kentucky fanbase for this team that plays its games about 90 miles away in Cincinnati is rabid.
One weird sidelight. The radio broadcast of the game was piped into the stadium so players got to hear the glowing reviews of their work from play-by-play guy Brad Johansen and former Bengal and color guy Dave Lapham.
Two separate emails from two friends arrived almost simultaneously last Friday. "Dude," one of them began, "I came across this video clip of your friend Merry Miller today. And it's painful. I feel so bad for her." The other was similar.
So, in case you are not one of the nearly 600,000 viewers who've downloaded the clip of Merry Miller interviewing Holly Hunter for an ABC News program ("What's The Buzz?") I'd never heard of, here it is:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FbpUwx_YLGc
It's not exaclty "Boom! Goes The Dynamite!" but it is close.
But here's the thing. After I viewed the video--labeled "TV DISASTER" by YouTube--, I didn't think that this was the worst thing that could have happened to my unique friend, Merry Miller. In fact, I thought to myself, This could be the best thing that ever happened to her.
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