Back at it - this time regarding the Patriots

Written by Patriotsy2k

Halfway through the 3rd quarter, I couldn't
help but wonder if last night's matchup
against New York was more of the Jets just
being bad. Probably the Godfather can answer
this more than anyone, and explain how their
injuries have affected them. Through two and
a half quarters, John Madden described the last
Monday Night game on ABC as a "methodical
domination", or something similar to this.

The Patriots had just run off 29 consecutive
plays, capped by Corey Dillon's touchdown plunge.
The Jets had no first downs, compared to almost
20 by the Pats. The Jets did save face and gave
their fans something to cheer about by giving Vinny
his proper sendoff, then watched him throw a
perfect TD to Coles. He set a record by throwing
touchdowns in 19 consecutive seasons.

The 31-21 Patriots win was nothing to get too
excited about in New England,as this franchise
is accustomed to playing in bigger games. Plus,
despite their brilliance on both sides of the ball,
Pats fans know they beat a 3-11 team.

The inury bug that Pat fans complain about is the
same problem the Jets currently face. Now if the
Godfather could elaborate on this, it would give
more insight on how this team can go from a missed
field goal in the divisional playoffs to this debacle.
Herm Edwards seems like a good coach to have in the
NFL, as his work ethic and player relations are
impressive. Yet will he come back next year, after
2 miserable seasons in 3 years?

As a Patriots fan, I get a little giddy seeing their
division rivals struggle. That being said...Squish
the Fish this weekend, and don't be shy about it.
Let's go 11-5 and see what happens in the "tournament,"
something the big Tuna used to say - the former
Patriot and Jets head coach.

So Captain Caveman's a Yankee now

Written by Patriotsy2k

When I think of Johnny Damon leaving the Sox, I
immediately think of 2 moments. That game in Tampa
this past season when he made an amazing catch to
save the Sox in the 9th, then let off the 10th with
a homer to win it. Then I think of a home game in
late August against Detroit when he fielded a base
hit and barely got the ball back to the infield,
with the runner easily scoring from 2nd.

Is his shoulder still damaged? Is he going to get
clutch hits in NY like he did for the Sox (remember
game 7 of the ALCS?)? Will he fit in with the
straight-laced Yankees? Biggest question yet - how
will the Sox make up for this loss? Gammons on
SportsCenter today mentioned that this is a bigger
loss for the Sox than a bigger gain for the Yankees.
I agree with this. Take away the Beckett trade, and
this has been a lousy offseason. Starting on Halloween
night, up until today, there is cause for concern.
I like Loretta, yet there are now too many holes.

Think back to the 2003 offseason. Theo was able to
sign Walker, Millar, Mueller, and Ortiz. They all
contributed greatly, and 3 of them lasted through the
'05 season. Now the Sox new GM tandem need to have the
same success with free agents, or the whining you heard
today is going to continue all of 2006.

Happy Holidays

I'll be taking a break, so unless something extraordinary in sports happens don't expect to see many posts before New Years. You're still welcome to post comments, and I'll still check my e-mail if you feel anything merits a separate post.

Now I need to concentrate on Christmas shopping, family, eating, and drinking (not necessarily in that order).

Two quick thoughts before I go: 1. The Chargers beat the Colts and humiliated the Patriots, yet there's a good chance they'll miss the playoffs. Great coaching. 2. Kudos to Dallas Mavericks guard, Darrell Armstrong, for grabbing a microphone and yelling, "How 'bout them Redskins!" to a Dallas crowd reeling over a loss by the Cowboys.

Happy holidays and thanks for visiting my site.

Boxing controversy?

7 footer Nikolay Valuev beat John Ruiz by decision, but the fun started after the fight with your usual boxing shenanigans.

1972 Dolphins

Bryan asked for an article about if it was easier to go undefeated in 1972 than it is now. Here's something from Cold, Hard, Football Facts:

This possibility, of course, has led to comparisons with the 1972 Dolphins. The ’72 Dolphins, as every mental gridiron midget certain knows, are the only team in NFL history to go through an entire season without a loss (14-0 in the regular season, 3-0 in the playoffs).

If Indy does pull off an undefeated season – and continues to win at their present clip – they will have become a far more impressive team than the 1972 Dolphins.

• Miami faced just two quality opponents (i.e., teams with winning records) all season.
• Indy has already faced five quality opponents and has two more on its schedule (Seattle and San Diego).
• Miami faced one of the easiest schedules in NFL history (opponents were a combined 70-122-4, .357).
• Indy has faced a slightly tougher schedule (opponents so far are a combined 69-100, .408).
• Miami outscored its opponents by 15.3 PPG.
• Indy outscores its opponents by 16.3 PPG.

In other words, if Indy does pull off an undefeated season, they’ll be the more dominant team and they'll have done it against better competition.

Answer to Guess the Athlete!

It's Elton Brand, who's having an MVP-caliber season. The Bulls traded him away thinking they'd be better off with Tyson Chandler.

I choose me

On 90210, poor Kelly Taylor couldn't choose between Dillon and Brandon, so she rejected both of them, saying her famous line, "I choose me." Following a ditzy blonde's lead, A-Rod has decided not to play for the country of his birth or the country of his heritage. A-Rod's taking some criticism for this, but I can see how it must have been a difficult decision.

Now I'm reminded of a much more important issue: the abundance of beautiful girls named Kelly in 90's television. There was Kelly Bundy, Kelly Kapowski, and Kelly Taylor. Not to mention, there was their 80's predecessor Kelly Gaines Boyd who inspired Woody Boyd's great song, "Kelly, Kelly, Kelly..."

What does this all mean? Have a generation of men gotten in trouble for accidentally yelling "Kelly," instead of the name of their girlfriends? Have plain looking girls named Kelly needed therapy? And what was Hollywood's inspiration to name beautiful women, "Kelly?" Kelly Tripucka?

State of the NBA

Bob Ryan has a nice article on the state of the NBA. He does a good job describing what went wrong in the nineties, putting the blame on the coaches. He claims the NBA is improving, but I'm not as optimistic as he is. The NBA still has a lot of fixing to do. Some excerpts followed by my comments.

What happened, anyway? Well, the NBA just simply lost its way. It copycatted two coaches, one very successful and one partially successful, until what we had were lemmings plunging off the cliff. It was almost as if someone had found a way to outlaw independent thought. Simply put, defense -- or non-offense -- was in. Offense was out. Better to have no turnovers than three successful fast breaks and one turnover. Oy....

...And then came the most curious transformation in NBA history. Right before our eyes, Pat Riley, ringmaster of Showtime, had become Pat Riley, slicked-back Prince of Darkness. Say hello to the rock-'em, sock-'em New York Knicks, the world's best ugly team. What got into Riley? To this day, we don't know. Absent Magic Johnson, did he think fast breaks could, or should, never be conducted again? Absent Magic, did he swear to reinvent himself, Just Because? We'll never know....

First there's Pat Riley; told you he was evil. I'll always wonder if the Knicks style would have worked if it wasn't a New York team and it was the legendary Pat Riley coaching this thuggish basketball. Whatever the reasons, the NBA and its refs allowed teams to get away with holding, grabbing, and downright dirty play. The league still hasn't recovered.

I highlighted "found a way to outlaw independent thought" because this may be the NBA's biggest problem. Instead of well placed games with smart players, the NBA is stuck with micromanaging coaches and constant timeouts.

The highlighted phrase reminded me of the college hockey game I saw a few weeks ago. A bunch of college athletes were so well coordinated, yet the coaches weren't screaming constant orders. The players seemed to know where to be and what to do.

Is basketball really that much more complicated than hockey? Shouldn't adults who have played basketball all their lives know what to do without a coach constantly yelling orders. Is basketball so complicated that players still don't know what to do on the court after months of practice?

Coaches like Rick Pitino, Jeff Van Gundy, and Rick Carlise treat basketball like it's rocket science, so fans get treated to a slow paced game with players looking over their shoulders at their coaches to see if they should pass to the open man.

If coaches are educators like Saint Coach K preaches in those American Express commercials, players should be able to teach their players how to play smart basketball without constant reminders from the bench.

So what's the solution? A quick one would be to drastically decrease the amount of timeouts each team has. Maybe the coaches should be forced to stand behind the bench. Maybe coaches who lead teams that average under 90 points a game should be executed. Maybe all the refs should be executed (oh wait, wrong rant).

Eighties basketball game was an exciting artistic game; now too often the NBA is a sluggish tic tac toe match coached by people who treat the game like a professional chess match.

Bring back Nomar

I know I'm being sentimental, but wouldn't it be great to see Nomar redeem himself with the Red Sox? I'm reading Bill Simmons's book, and it's reminding me of how special a player Nomar was. He once batted over .370, hit for power, had an amazing work ethic, and performed in the clutch (especially against the Indians in the playoffs).

And then everything fell apart. Injuries and clashes with management ruined his reputation and now he struggles to find a job. Well, if the theory is to buy low and sell high, now's the time to buy Nomar. The Red Sox need a shortstop, a first baseman, and possibly a centerfielder. For a reasonable price, Nomar is capable of playing each of these positions.

Maybe he is done, but what if he turns out to be like Paul Molitor who struggled with injuries before becoming a Hall of Famer by ending his career strongly? I'd rather see Nomar do it with a Red Sox hat than a Yankees hat.

The Bills are really, really bad, but...

I'm excited about the Patriots again. They have a run defense, they have a pass rush, they have a healthy Corey Dillon, they have a healthy Kevin Faulk, and they have a healthy David Givens. It's amazing how much those three add to the offense. Bring on the Colts!

Some other thoughts

• Ideal scenario: the Colts go 16-0, destroy their first round opponent, and then get shut out by the Patriots in the AFC Championship game.
• Last week I thought the Jets were really bad, and then I saw how much worse the Bills were, and then I found out the Raiders lost to the really bad Jets. Bad teams are everywhere.
• Speaking of bad teams, did the Texans kicker miss on purpose?
• Maybe the refs of the Detroit, Green Bay game were Lion fans who wanted the Lions to get Reggie Bush. That's the only way I can explain the bizarre calls that went against the Lions.
• The Steelers beating the Bears shows how the NFC is the junior varsity league.
• Good news! Michael Irvin is back on ESPN. This touching moment reminds me of when Letterman return after his bypass surgery.
  

The wrong Van Gundy quits

Stan Van Gundy left the Heat for "family reasons." It's a well known fact that Pat Riley is evil, so here's what happened. Riley sent some thugs to Van Gundy who told him, "if you care about your family, you'll quit." So a good guy coach is out and an egotistical, glory-hound, opportunist, who has never won without Magic Johnson is back.

As for why I say the wrong Van Gundy quit: just watch a Rockets game and you'll understand.

Guess the Athlete!

An attempt to write about the NBA without mentioning refs

• In Sports Illustrated's NBA preview, the cover article was about how happy and grateful Ron Artest was playing for the Pacers. He even talked about how he'd like to spend the rest of his life in Indianapolis. Now he wants to be traded. There's some funny quotes in the article about Rick Carlisle and how he'd like to play for the Knicks.
  
• Of course my first thought is would Artest go to the Celtics. I don't see it happening. My guess is Minnesota.
• Speaking of Sports Illustrated, in an article about TJ Ford they said how he was as quick as Iverson and as smart as Nash. A nice compliment except from one thing: Iverson's the smartest player in the NBA. A lot of players are quick, but Iverson is ALWAYS at the right place at the right time. He sees the game better than any player playing the game.
• The Sixers are struggling, but I wouldn't want to face them in the playoffs. Besides Iverson, there's Chris Webber who's passing makes him the perfect compliment to Iverson and Dalembert and Iguodala are great on defense.
• Not sure if it's smart to play Iverson for 48 minutes a game though. Then again Iverson never gets tired.
• Right now three players are averaging over 30 points a game. So much for well balanced offenses.
• The Clippers are good. That was strange to write.
  
• Marcus Camby is also leading the league in rebounds. I'm not kidding. It will be a shame when he gets hurt.
• Good news: Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis are having the best seasons of their career. Also, Delonte West and Al Jefferson are starting to look like very good players. Bad news: Doc Rivers is coaching the team.
  
• Scottie Pippen was the perfect compliment to Michael Jordan, but I always laughed about his post-Bulls career when he was supposedly going to add a "veteran presence" to his new team. He really fixed things up in Portland. A recent quote from the ultimate team player, Scottie Pippen:
  

In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Pippen said he still had no regrets over his decision not to go in during the final seconds of a 1994 playoff game against the Knicks because Toni Kukoc was designated by Phil Jackson to take the last shot. Kukoc made the shot, the Bulls won the game, but the Knicks won the series. Pippen took some well-deserved heat for that move, but he said in the interview, ''I'd do it the same way. If I'm supposed to be a [bad word] star, and the main, go-to guy, I'm not taking the [bad word] ball out. If you want to think that's being ungrateful, I disagree. But that was my feeling and thought for that moment. What most folks don't understand is that Toni and I were always good friends before and after that incident. He understood why I did it. It was never a Toni and me thing. I guarantee you that if you put me in one room and Michael [Jordan] in another and Toni had a choice, he'd come to me first."

You guessed it, more baseball

• And the Clemens to Boston rumors begin. "''Here I am, still pitching," Clemens said in October. ''Debbie and I were looking forward to the day where we could just go up to my old neighborhood [Framingham] and just hang out with some of our friends up there..." Framingham was the home to Patriotsy2k before he ran away from the snow and to the Godfather before he moved into Boston to be closer to his Yards. Roger, Framingham isn't the same since your neighbors left.

• Tejada's trade request made Peter Angelos feisty: ''He has only been here two years, so I don't know what he's talking about," Angelos said. ''We're not spending $50 million on a closer who's been a closer for only one year and $55 million for a guy who hasn't won more than 12 games in a year. If that's what his criticism is based on, it just shows he wouldn't be a great general manager."
• Mike Myers looks like a good addition to the Yankees bullpen. The real test will be when he's facing David Ortiz in the eighth inning with the score tied and a runner base.
• Grady Little is a terrible manager, but he gets good press because he's good with the media. I liked his response about the Dodger's team chemistry: ''My chemistry with my wife would be bad if we lost 91 games."
• From Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald: "The Texas Rangers? They are still paying an annual average of $10.1 million to Rodriguez, this yearÂ’s American League Most Valuable Player - for the New York Yankees. The Phillies? Sending Thome to Chicago was possible only because they also will pay $22 million in the deal. And while the Mets assumed all of the Delgado contract in yet another salary dump by the Florida Marlins, let the record show that Florida still is paying $23.5 million to Hampton who never pitched a game for them."
• I can't get over the above paragraph. The Rangers paying $10 million a year to watch him play for the Yankees? And what did they get in return? And join the rest of Florida by forgetting about the inept Marlins; the Braves basically have Mike Hampton for free and now they have Renteria at a big discount. Smart team.
  
• From Ken Davidoff of Newsday: "...the Yankees don't have good enough prospects to acquire centerfielder Joey Gathright, closer Danys Baez or anyone else."
• The Yankees don't have good enough prospects to trade for Devil Rays? Let's keep saying Brian Cashman's a good GM.
• The Pirates and Dodgers are fighting over Billy Mueller. Nice to see a player like him get a good contract.
• The Mets signed 47-year-old Julio Franco to a two year contract. If the Braves did this, I'd trust the move, but it's the Mets. Franco wants to play into his 50's. I'll be rooting for him.
• In addition to Clemens, there's rumors that Theo may come back to the Red Sox too. Let's bring back Nomar too! Maybe Kris from Key West will return too!
  

Answer to Guess the Athlete!

Scott Pollard looking dapper.

Who else?

Too much going on

Lots of baseball stuff, and I'm too tired to put much thought into everything. Here goes nothing:

• Theo undone. Seems the Red Sox are undoing all of Theo's work. Renteria's gone and Clement is being offered to everyone. Also Theo was big on Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedrioa. Ramirez is gone and the Sox traded for Loretta who will prevent Pedrioa from starting. It's starting to look like Theo and Lucchino disagreed on the direction of the team.
• Renteria was terrible for the Red Sox, but the Braves got a good deal. Renteria won't be as bad as last year and the Sox are paying a lot of his contract. In a market where everyone costs too much, the Braves got a potential All Star at a reasonable rate.
• I think the last time the Red Sox traded a veteran for a prospect, they got Darren Bragg for Jamie Moyer. Hope the Braves deal works out a little better.
  
• The Sox got an All Star second baseman for a backup catcher, but will losing Mirabelli ruin Wakefield?
• One rumor is the Phillies would give up Bobby Abreu for Trot Nixon and Matt Clement. If the rumor's true, the Sox should do it.
• Juan Pierre just went to the Cubs, so the Yankees and the Red Sox still don't have a centerfielder. Johnny Damon and his agent must be very happy.
• Now that the Cubs have Pierre, taking a chance on Corey Patterson may be a cheap alternative.
• Tejada wants to be traded. Boston could use a shortstop.
• Wait, there's other teams besides the Red Sox.
• The Nationals got Soriano??? They're not one of the teams that are allowed to trade for big name players.
• The Rangers had A-Rod and traded him for Soriano and Joaquin Arias. I guess they still have Arias, and for Soriano the Rangers got Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge, and a player to be named later. So in return for maybe the best player in baseball, the Rangers got Wilkerson, Arias, Sledge, and a player to be named later. On the bright side, the Rangers have not had any problems with their players slapping pitchers' gloves.
• Jose Mesa signed with the Rockies. A mediocre, inconsistent pitcher goes to play in Coors Field. This should work out well.
• The Braves sent Dan Kolb back to the Brewers for Wes Obermueller. I'm no Obermueller expert, but it's safe to say the Kolb as closer experience in Atlanta was not a joyous one.
• Back to the Red Sox: The Astros didn't offer Roger Clemens arbitration, so the rumors of Roger going back to the Yankees or Red Sox will soon begin. I've heard people criticizing the Astros for this move, but I remember hearing how they regretted waiting and waiting for Beltran's decision and then being left with no alternatives when he finally decided to leave. Maybe the Astros didn't want to go through that again.
• Finally, something I meant to link last weekend. In Sunday NY Daily News, Mike Lupica commented on how people are labeling the Mets spending as "Yankeesque." Lupica correctly points out that the Mets still would need to spend another $100 million to match the Yankees payroll.

Coincidence?

Before I checked my e-mail, this is what I wrote about the Grady Little hire: "I can't stop laughing."

Later I checked my e-mail and Patriotsy2k informed me of the Little hiring, writing that the story "gave me a chuckle."

So Little's hiring is a laughing matter for Red Sox fans. What would our reactions be if the Red Sox hadn't won the World Series in 2004? There may have been some more bitterness. The rest of Patriotsy2k's e-mail:

Seeing this "breaking story" on SportsCenter today
gave me a chuckle.  Even though his career managing
record is pretty good - thanks to the Sox talent
thick rosters in '02 and '03 - he really is not
management material.  Maybe I will be proven wrong
and he will thrive in LA. Maybe Derek Lowe will be
inspired to be Cy Young material next year with him
back as his skipper. Maybe I will stop typing and
check out what Eva Longoria is doing with herself
lately...

NFL Notes

The Patriots game wasn't very memorable last weekend, so it was a good time to think about their Super Bowl run.

• Ted Johnson was honored at halftime -- there was an article about how he punished blockers and once split another guy's helmet. This could help explain why the Patriots' run defense hasn't been as good and why Johnson retired because of concussions.
  
• Against the Chiefs, Troy Brown had his 500th reception. After the game he was asked about this accomplishment. He replied it was "irrelevant" because they lost. I'm sure T.O. would have said the same thing.
• Adam Vinatieri became the Patriots all time scoring leader passing Gino Cappelletti, who is the grandfatherly color commentator for Patriots' radio. From Dan Shaughnessy:

Gino applauded madly when Vinatieri's second field goal of the day bounced Cappelletti from the top of the Patriots' scoring leaderboard. And he found Vinatieri in the locker room immediately after the game and kiddingly said, ''What took you so long?" That's just the kind of guy Gino is. Records are made to be broken and Vinatieri is a worthy successor. Gino wouldn't make for a very good 1972 Miami Dolphin.

I didn't write about the rest of the NFL, so here's a link to some very good notes about the rest of the league from DJ Gallo. An example:

• Jamal Lewis' horrible season continued yesterday when he registered his fifth lost fumble of the season. I seriously hope, for his sake, that he didn't drop things this often in prison.

Some baseball notes

• The Marlins gave away Paul Lo Duca to the Mets. Maybe five years from now the Marlins will be stacked with talent because of this fire sale. They knew the Mets would be better because of their planned spending and the Braves are the Braves, so maybe they figured they should just give up. Guess you can get away with that when you have no fans.
• I don't know much about Lo Duca. Good thing you don' t pay for this site.
• The Blue Jays have signed B.J. Ryan, A.J. Burnett, and they gave an extension to J.P. Ricciardi. Is B.J. Surhoff next? How about U.L. Washington?
• John Olerud may be retiring. In his honor I will be creating the All John Olerud Team. It has nothing to do with his wearing a helmet in the field. More on this later.
• Grady Little is the new manager of the Dodgers. I can't stop laughing.
  

Angry Eagle Fans?

Nope, actually Saddam's just angry that my website was mysteriously shut down yesterday. There's a rumor that Penny Marshall, who was upset about my exposure of her affair with the Godfather, had something to do with the "technical difficulties."

Good news Albuquerque Isotopes fans

The Marlins traded for more minor leagers. That's all I'm saying now because I'm having some struggles with this web page.

Guess the Athlete!

College football notes

• I guess USC and Texas proved they're the two best teams in college football. Can't wait for the Rose Bowl.
• The Army Navy tradition is nice, but when I think of the military and football, I think of the movie, M.A.S.H. No movie has a better depiction of a football game.
• Florida State with its four losses is going to the Orange Bowl.
• I could care less who goes to the Orange Bowl. I just wanted to post something about Florida State, so I could post this picture. I went to the wrong school.
  
• 

Zancanaro Mania!

Here I am, the hockey expert to bring you more skating wisdom. Thanks to a well connected family friend, I was able to sit a few rows behind the BC bench for last night's BU, BC game.

First a little background. The BU/BC hockey rivalry compares to UNC vs Duke in basketball and Michigan vs. Ohio State in football. Both teams are always good, and both teams hate each other. Also, hockey is the most popular sport at both of these schools.

Some highlights of the night:

• The night started with a free BU towel. I like free stuff.
• As fans were waiting to be let in, BU students looked for anyone wearing BC garb. When one was sited, a loud "BC Sucks" chant would start.
• Got myself into the Club Room where I had some freshly carved roast beef, pasta primavera, and some fancy cheeses. I like free stuff.
• Beautiful arena that was built last year -- the Arena is named after BU legend, Harry Agannis, and the rink is named after Jack Parker, the active legendary head coach of BU. Seeing this, my father predictably said, "You should never name something after somebody still living. What if he does something really embarrassing?" I reply, "I know, kinda like OJ Simpson Stadium." This is about the 17th time we've had this discussion.
• An electric crowd. I was sitting with the alumni sipping our Chardonnay at mid-ice while rabid BU students, including a pep band sat behind both nets.
  
• The energy of the BU students remind me of Duke's Cameron Crazies. Must be nice to be able to sleep till noon everyday and get drunk every night. Yes, I am a bitter old man.
• Apparently, BC goalie, Cory Schneider sucks. That's what the BU students keep chanting.
• BC has the better team this year and they beat BU the previous night, so it's surprising BU scored the first two goals.
• Zamboni!!!
• BC ties it up, but I point out to my father how the BC goalie isn't securing the puck very well.
• My section is filled with season ticket holders. The lady at the end of the alley keeps count of how many beers you get. After three she refuses to let you go past her. Needless to say, I didn't have to stand up to let people by much.
• BU's captain Brad Zancanaro is 5'5". Pretty funny watching him face off against a 6'7" BC player.
  
• BU scores four unanswered goals, one by Zancanaro, in less than ten minutes. A couple of goals came off of rebounds from the BC goalie. Told you I was a hockey expert.
• Guess the BU fans were right too.
  
• BU wins. Here's a link to a story about the game.
• After the game I get into another alumni room where they have free coffee and cookies. I like free stuff.
• The players exit the locker room through this alumni room. I watch kids get the players autographs and then quickly ignore that as I notice how beautiful hockey players' girlfriends are. Wow.
• All the players come out in suits and several carry a box of pizza. Coach Parker has a strict dress code for his players, and each player gets a full pizza after the game.
• I wish I wore my suit. Maybe I could have gotten a free pizza and a hockey girlfriend.
• Coach Parker comes out to mingle with the alumni. He's wearing a tie and jacket, but it's not a suit! The hypocrisy!
• I see Zancanaro. An alumni tells me they must have measured him with his skates on because he might not even be 5'2".
• Now I need to see if I can get some Beanpot tickets.
  

NBA Groupies

Here's my first photo essay. I got the pictures from Foxsports.com, but I improved the captions.



Nicky Hilton contemplates how she can "leak" that sex tape she has with her, Bryan, and the Ladies Man so she can be as famous as her sister.



Anna Kournikiva with Enrique Iglesias at a Heat game right before Patrioty2k kicked Julio's son out of his seat with the line, "Drop the zero and get with a yard-drinking-hero."



Eva Longoria at a Spurs game just learns that I'm still available. The woman in the background wonders what Eva has that she doesn't.



Back when the Godfather was a Lakers fan, he and Laverne were known to practice "boxing each other out."



Jack applauds our efforts, but he's already done all of them.

Colts cheaters or Steelers whiners?

A Steelers official and Ben Roethlisberger claim the Colts broke NFL rules by artificially enhancing crowd noise during Monday Night Football. Are the Steelers whining or do they have a legitimate complaint?

Before the game, a Steelers official, who asked not to be identified, pointed out many microphones attached atop poles and stationed around the lower perimeter of the stadium. He said he believed they were used to capture the crowd noise and then filter it through the public address system to blast it louder when the Steelers were at the line of scrimmage on offense.

After the Steelers' 26-7 loss to the Colts, coach Bill Cowher and many of his players cited the din inside the dome as a disruption to their offense and a possible cause for the five false start penalties against their offensive line.

"It was louder than any rock concert I've ever been to," Roethlisberger said yesterday.

Later in the article, the NFL said that they feel the Colts did nothing wrong and there will be no further investigation. If this had happened to the Colts, classless Bill Polian would whine to the world and demand rule changes.

Money, Baseball, Money

• I've been reading about how middle market teams have a lot of cash this year because of income from the luxury tax, satellite radio, and Internet radio. So how do the Marlins explain this year's fire sale? Luis Castillo is the latest to be traded, and Juan Pierre's probably next. Patriotsy2k and those other two Marlins fans must be really upset.
• My memories of Flash Gordon: some great seasons closing for the Red Sox and then choking in the playoffs, some good seasons for the Yankees but physically falling apart at the end of the season, and my favorite - psychologically falling apart as the Red Sox beat him up in the playoffs. Now he's the new 38-year-old closer for the Phillies at the low cost of $18 million over three years. Enjoy, Phillies fans.
• My first thought when I saw that the Yankees picked up Kyle Farnsworth was it's a good signing; he's a bit inconsistent, but he has a great arm. Then, I saw he's getting $17 million over three years.
• Wish I grew up to be a middle reliever.
• Bet Rich Garces wishes he was a little younger. He made less in his entire career than Farnsworth will make in one season.
• Congrats to the Brewers for bringing back their classic logo for Sunday home games. Let's hope the Astros copy their idea.

Wonder why people don't like him

Two articles about everyone's favorite player:
Scouting report
Redick's little secret

I thought he was supposed to be really good

The Bruins traded away Joe Thornton.

As you can tell from my numerous NHL posts, I'm quite the hockey expert. When Thornton was drafted number one he came in with great fanfare -- people were even comparing him to Gretzky and Lemieux. The Bruins have been terrible this year, but I don't know if it was Thornton's fault.

The way the Bruins have been lately with their terrible front office moves, I figure this will be another stupid move. When you trade a star for three players I never heard of (to be fair, I can probably name a total of five players in the NHL), the team trading away the star usually loses.

In the seventies the Bruins were the most popular team in Boston; now they're a joke.

Hockey experts feel free to chip in.

Terrible

Eddie F Rush ruins any game he refs. Any guess what the F stands for?

That should fix everything

George Karl was thrown out of a game for arguing with the refs and had this to say: "There's a rumor out of the league office that we're trying to take flopping out of the game, but I don't think that was orchestrated very much in those two calls."

A problem in the NBA with flopping!?!? I never thought of that. The NBA's solution: suspend Karl for two games.

A worthy cause

Go to KeepManny.com to sign the petition.

We here at KEEPMANNY.com do NOT want to see Manny play for anyone else besides the Boston Red Sox. After watching him play in Boston since he arrived via free agency in 2001, we have grown very fond of the quirky and aloof left fielder. We feel it would be an absolute travesty to see him dealt to another team. Manny is an absolute force at the plate and is simply irreplaceable offensively. Teamed with Big Papi and the rest of the Sox current roster, we feel that without Manny, Red Sox Nation would be deprived of future World Championships. Trading a player of Manny's caliber, considered by many to be one of the best pure hitters to ever play the game, would be rivaled ONLY by the trade of Babe Ruth. Haven't we learned from our mistakes?

At least he's better than Stuart Scott

Borderking, King of all Musicals, sent me this video.

"On March 22, freshman Brian Collins anchored a sportscast on NewsLink@9, a student-run broadcast service on campus. Only a few moments into his segment, Collins began to stumble. The rest is Internet lore."

Looking for a new home?

Manny's condo is on the market for the bargain price of $6.9 million. If you're interested, I know someone in Boca who can help with the financing.

TO has a friend

Again, U.S. Senators have nothing else better to do.

This one's real

My fake e-mail must have been inspiring because I just got this from Sano in Sunny California. She got my name wrong (Bart does politics and tequila; Alan does sports and Zima), but it's a good spirited letter.

Dearest Bart:

I've gotta get this off my chest, so bear with me:

Well, today was the deadline for Pete Rose to have been nominated for the Hall of Fame and it looks like it isn't going to happen. (No surprise since that handjob, Fay Vincent, is the chairman of the HOF Screening Committee).

The question still remains: SHOULD Pete Rose be in? I say yes!!! As a lifelong baseball fan I can say without hesitation that Pete Rose never cheated ME on the field. His record on the field as a player is undisputed--and if you can find anyone who wants to argue that point with me, well, you'd better be prepared for a good redass on this one.

Should he have bet on baseball while still a member of MLB in a managerial position? Absolutely not; I think we can all agree that was a pretty dumb thing to do.

But should such a record-holder and MLB legend never receive acknowledgment for his historic and mesmerizing play in the greatest game on earth? If you are one who believes Pete Rose deserves to be excluded from the HOF, these questions of equal proportion should be pursued and answered honestly: Should Mark McGwire's legendary successful pursuit of breaking Roger Maris's record be stricken because McGwire's a juicer? (Particularly since the McGwire/Sosa race to break the 61 record gave a huge shot of adrenaline into the arm of what was a sinking MLB)

What about Sammy Sosa? Should he be allowed into the HOF after getting caught with a corked bat, all the while lying about it on ESPN? How was Darryl Strawberry allowed to stay in the game after being arrested myriad times for illegal narcotics? What about Steve Garvey, arrested for beating his wife Cindy into near-Nicole Brown-Simpson proportions? What exactly do Handjob Vincent and BiggerHandjob Selig consider cheating? To what degree is cheating ok?

This is ALL made more complicated by the well-publicized convo where Selig tells Rose, "if you admit to what you did, I'll lift the lifetime ban," ONLY for Rose to find out after his literary mea culpa, that Major League Asshole Selig would demonstrate that he never had any intention of doing so during the 5 to 20 year timespan following retirement, during which Rose would've been eligible. MLBAsshole's new decision is "I'll revisit that after 2006." What a crock of horseshit.

Trust me, I've heard every argument on this issue and I happen to be married to a man who doesn't think Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. As usual, he's wrong, and I'm right :)

Just some food for thought

Sano in Sunny CA

NFL thoughts

Haven't done this in a while.

• The Lions fired Mariucci. Does it really matter? They'll still be the Lions.
• Byron Leftwich is out for at least a month. The Jaguars were a team that could spoil Indy's undefeated season. Don't see that happening without Leftwich.
• I'm not counting on the Steelers to spoil Indy's season. Tonight's an important game. The Steelers win their important games in September and October.
• If Indy does go undefeated, at least it would shut up the Bitter Has-Beens, I mean the 1972 Dolphins.
• Dat Nugyen is out for the season and may retire. Dat's too bad. Sorry.
• Aaron Brooks can look so good on some of his touchdown passes, yet he's so bad. Wonder if a good coach could turn him around.
• My Patriots rant: Rodney Harrison's a great player, but the Patriots' lousy defense can't be completely blamed on his injury. The front seven's been inconsistent against the run, and their pass rush has been terrible. Maybe the value of Romeo Crennel was underestimated.
• Sure we can blame the Giants' kicker, but when the Giants got into field goal position they stopped being aggressive and even lost yards. I don't understand coaches who have their teams stop right when the get in range for a long field goal. You have to trust your players to not turn the ball over, and as Tom Coughlin knows very well, field goals over forty yards aren't a guarantee.
• Jeremy Shockey celebrating and pointing to the camera before seeing that Feely missed the kick was the highlight of the year. Scroll down at SportsFrog.com to see it in a constant loop.
  
• Better than Ezra performed at halftime during the Jets game. I know someone named Ezra; Better than Ezra isn't better than him.
  

An old e-mail

I enjoy sharing e-mails, but I haven't received any lately. So I guess I'll just have to make one up.

To: bartcopsportseast@yahoo.com
From: coy@yahoo.com
Date: August 31, 2005

Hey Alan:

Check out the fantasy team I just drafted: Culpepper and McNabb at QB, Dillon and McAllister at RB, T.O. and Javon Walker at WR, and the Patriots' defense. Pretty sweet, huh?

Coy

p.s. Can't wait for that new Fox show, Head Cases. Looks like a winner.

Little trivia

Since the Godfather answered Guess the Athlete! so quickly, here's a little trivia question: Who are the seven different players the Patriots have started at strong safety this year?

Guess the Athlete!

Some baseball

As I watch Brady and the Pats look foolish against the Chiefs, it may be best to think about some baseball:

• Great move by the Mets getting Delgado, especially with the Marlins still paying for some of his salary. If the Mets get Manny too, I'd go out of my way to watch them.
• Don't understand how teams like the Marlins and Phillies give other teams money to pay players they're trading away. I'd rather spend too much on a player than pay a lot of money for nothing.
• Analyzing the Jim Thome trade, the key word is "if." If Thome regains his form, this is a great trade for the White Sox. It helps the Sox that the Phillies are still paying a lot of Thome's contract, but the White Sox are still putting a lot of trust in their doctors who say Thome can stay healthy. As for the Phillies, if Ryan Howard turns out to be as good as he looked in his rookie year, the trade's acceptable. If he isn't and Thome thrives in Chicago, the trade is terrible.
• According to the NY Daily News, the Braves are entering the Billy Wagner sweepstakes. BJ Ryan's lucrative contract and three division rivals fighting over the best reliever on the free agent market will make Wagner a very wealthy man. The Red Sox are reportedly interested in Wagner, but I don't see that happening.
• Brian Giles is looking for about $30 million over 3 years, and the Yankees might give it to him. He put up some nice numbers with the Pirates during the steroid era, but do you really want to give $30 million to a player who batted .301 with 15 homeruns and 83 RBI last year? Maybe Giambi can give him some good masking agents.
• Need some Christmas shopping ideas: How about an old Busch Stadium urinal for $2,174?
  

I'm only posting this because my predictions are usually wrong

I have a really bad feeling about the Patriots against the Chiefs. The Pats have been bad against teams with great tight ends, good running backs, and competent quarterbacks. They have been stronger against the run lately, but then you had in KC's home field advantage and the fact that KC has more to play for and it looks like a Patriots loss.

Let's see if my jinx worked.

Hey big spender, dig this blender

So BJ Ryan is worth $47 million? The Blue Jays decided to spend some money this year and are giving Ryan a ridiculous 5 year contract. Of all the years the Blue Jays decide to spend money, they choose the offseason with maybe the worst crop of free agents in the history of free agency. BJ Ryan had 36 saves for a bad team last year, so now he'll make more than Mariano Rivera. Before last year's good season, Ryan had a career total of 6 saves. If I'm a general manager, I'd avoid this free agent market with high prices and mediocre talent.

Answer to Guess the Athlete!

It's Tim "Pops" Frisby, a 40-year-old Gulf War veteran who last year became a walk-on receiver for South Carolina. He decided this season would be his last, but unlike most "student" athletes who quit early, he'll still be going to classes and graduate. Here's the heartwarming story.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Jets' next starting quarterback practicing the fumbleruskie at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Just got sick to my stomach

No, I didn't eat a bad piece of turkey.

I was thinking about how the Red Sox made a big deal and how it looks like the Mets got Carlos Delgado. Also the Mets are grabbing headlines by aggressively going after Billy Wagner and every other free agent in the market (still no confirmation about Terrell Owens becoming the Mets next right fielder though).

Meanwhile the Yankees have been quiet. Dangerously quiet. I was thinking about how they've been quiet as I kept reading rumors about how Ichiro wants to be traded. That's when I tasted some vomit. Ichiro might become a Yankee!

Maybe he is Jesus

To promote his client, Scott Boras created a big binder to show teams how valuable Johnny Damon is. An excerpt from the New York Times:

Boras made a copy of his binder available to The New York Times. In it are sections titled "Best Leadoff Man in Baseball"; "Most Durable Active Player in the Major Leagues/Deserving of a 7-Plus-Year Contract"; and "Better Than Future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson." Statistics follow each heading.

The not-so-subtle request for at least a seven-year deal and the not-so-subtle backhanding of Henderson is intriguing enough, but the information in the binder also projects that Damon will record his 3,000th hit by 2012; play more games in center field than anyone in baseball history by 2015; and have the second-highest fielding percentage ever by a center fielder a decade from now, too.

I need to get Scott Boras to promote this site. We should just put Damon in the Hall of Fame right now! Here's some impressive statistics from the same article:

He is the only leadoff hitter since 1972 to have more than 165 hits and score at least 100 runs for eight straight seasons. Over the past six years, he has been in scoring position 25 percent more than any other leadoff man.

He has scored more runs, driven in more runs, walked more and had a higher slugging percentage than any leadoff hitter for the past four seasons. Only seven players saw more pitches than Damon in 2004 and 2005.

Damon has been very valuable for the Red Sox. When he struggled with his shoulder injury at the end of the season, it was no coincidence that the Red Sox offense started to struggle too. I'd like to see Damon stay on the Red Sox, but not for the salary Boras is proposing.

Somebody might get hurt

I've complained about basketball players flopping before. My estimate is that when players are "knocked over," 95% of the time they could have kept their balance and stay up. Basketball players should be pretty athletic after all. However, are basketball officials capable of calling a charge without a player dramatically falling? Unfortunately, I don't think so; refs aren't even capable of calling traveling or three seconds.

I don't know what the solution is. The best thing would be for refs to decrease charging calls when people flop and increase their calls when the defender stays up after taking a charge. Again, I don't think refs are capable of this.

As for someone getting hurt: the Suns Leandro Barbosa will miss up to three weeks due to a knee injury caused by a flop of, you guessed it, Manu Ginobli.

Sox get Beckett

It looks like the Red Sox are getting Josh Beckett for two highly touted prospect, Hanley Ramirez and Anibel Sanchez, plus a prospect to be named later. I'm always apprehensive when the Red Sox give up prospects, but at least they're getting a young pitcher in return.

Before this trade, Boston viewed Hanley Ramirez as the next great superstar. Already talk show callers and hosts are claiming that they thought he was overrated. I have a tough time believing that because many national publications also claim Ramirez is a top prospect. Then again, maybe the Sox always planned to trade him, which would explain the Renteria signing.

To go along with Beckett, the Red Sox are also getting Mike Lowell who makes way too much money and was terrible last year, but I'll be optimistic. Last year was a fluke, Fenway and batting near Ortiz (and hopefully Manny Ramirez) will make him a better hitter, and he's a gold glove fielder.

Maybe the Sox gave up prospects who will become Hall of Famers, but I like the trade because Beckett has the right talent, he's a strikeout and groundball pitcher, he's young, and he beat the Yankees in the World Series.

Guess the Red Sox don't need a GM.

As for the Marlins, it looks like they're trying to free up money to sign Willis and Cabrera, and the Marlins have hit gold when trading for prospects before. However, Marlin fans can't be happy about the team losing Beckett, Burnett, and possibly Delgado. Nevermind, there are no Marlin fans.

Guess the Athlete!

(The guy in the red sweater, and Patriotsy2k, the guy in the tie is David Letterman, not Arsenio Hall)

Bush or Leinart?

Reggie Bush had 513 all purpose yards Saturday night, 294 rushing. I'm thinking about this as I watch the Texans who look like they're working hard to get the number one pick in the draft. With that pick, do the Texans take Reggie Bush or Matt Leinart?

Leinart looks like he'll be a good NFL quarterback. Many NFL quarterbacks don't even look like below average quarterbacks (reminder: I'm watching the Texans). Bush looks like a dynamic offensive weapon similar to Marshall Faulk in his prime.

So, if you're the Texans do you use another overall number one pick on a good quarterback, which you need, or on a potential superstar, which is something few teams have?

Steve Belichick

Patriot fans have recently learned a little bit about Bill Belichick's father. At last year's Super Bowl he was dosed with Gatorade as he stood next to his son at the end of the game. Also, in David Halberstam's new book, The Education of a Coach, readers learn about how Steve Belichick taught Bill Belichick to be a great coach. Last night, Bill Belichick learned that his father passed away. Belichick waited until after today's game to tell his team and the public. From Reiss's Pieces:

"Personally, I coached this game with a heavy heart. My dad passed away. I found out about it in the middle of last night. Obviously, he had a tremendous influence on my life personally and, particularly in the football aspect, it was great to be able to share the tremendous memories with him and some of our recent successes, as I did when I was a kid when he was successful as a coach of the Naval Academy and that program. Yesterday he did what he enjoyed doing. He went and watched Navy play, watched them win. Some of his former players were there. He had dinner and I spoke with him after the game. And like he normally does Saturday night, sitting around watching college football, and his heart just stopped beating. So I'm sure that's the way he would have wanted it to end. He went peacefully, which is unusual for him."

Gillette Stadium, Patriotsy2k, and drunk truckers

Thanks to Patriotsy2k and his famous connections, I was able to see the Pats in Gillette Stadium. Getting to my seat reminded me of climbing Mount Washington, but despite the height of the seats the view was still pretty good.

I'll probably have some analysis later after I see some highlights and read some articles. For now, I can say three things -- the Saints are undisciplined, the Pats are missing too many players, and truck drivers are absolutely crazy (but fortunately generous with their food and beer).

Is AJ Burnett worth $50 million

No.

In the name of Matt Clement, no! His career record is 49-50 and last year he was 12-12. For years we've been hearing about his raw talent and potential, and that he might turn into a great pitcher. If I'm spending $50 million though, I want someone who is a great pitcher, not one that might become one.

It looks like the Blue Jays and about ten other teams disagree with me.

Kansas City??

The NFL will have Kansas City host a Super Bowl if Arrowhead stadium is improved. This Super Bowl experience is sure to be as festive as this season's game in Detroit. In a related story, the team is trying to convince Kansas City residence to implement a sales tax, so the owner of the Chiefs doesn't have to spend his own money on his own stadium. It's nice to know the NFL works so hard to help its owners take advantage of tax payers.

Antoine's new teammate?

Wish the rumor was true.

Al Nipper & The Ladies Man

Some quick Red Sox news: Al Nipper was named the Red Sox new bullpen coach today. He was an average pitcher with an above average mustache.

Also got this tidbit from the Ladies Man:

I heard this on the radio:

Buster Olney of ESPN has reported that Theo regrets
his decision and has made overtures to the Red Sox
to come back. He has been "rebuffed" so far, which
if true, shows the continuing stupidity of
the Red Sox.

Olney's a good reporter, but I have a feeling he's being used by the Red Sox front office. This story implies that Theo made a mistake and the Sox aren't taking him back because of the way he left. If I could read Peter Gammons, I'm sure he's writing something that makes Theo look better and Lucchino worse.

Worth staying awake for

Monday Night Football started off as a pretty boring game. The only reason I was staying awake was the Eagles were blitzing a lot, and it's always fun to see what wacky things Bledsoe will do when blitzed (the no-look interception was nice). I was even about to comment how McNabb looked to be scrambling better and maybe his injury situation was improving.

Then the Eagles finally got burned by their blitz. Bledsoe quickly saw Terry Glenn had one-on-one coverage and completed a nice touchdown pass. All the Eagles had to do was run out the clock an play a little defense, but McNabb threw one of the worst interceptions I had ever seen. It was the type of throw that makes me wonder if McNabb owed a favor to a bookie. There was just no logical explanation for the pass.

On the run back for the touchdown, McNabb was pushed down. He wasn't hit hard; it seemed like a relatively gentle block. McNabb, then struggles to stand up looking like he got hit by a truck. Maybe it doesn't take much to reaggravate a sports hernia, but I always get suspicious when an athlete starts limping right after making a terrible play.

When McNabb went back in he played like an injured quarterback because he threw three terrible throws. The Eagles punt, the Cowboys almost fumble the game away but luckily recover, and the Cowboys punt giving the Eagles less than a minute to get into field goal range.

Then, Mike McMahon replaces McNabb and he almost pulled off the comeback. In fact he should have, but Reggie Brown dropped an easy catch in field goal range. I would have loved to see Ackers hit a 60 yard field goal, but it didn't happen and Eagle fans must be having a grumpy morning.

Brought to you by the Detroit tourism bureau

The NBA fined the Sacramento Kings because when the Kings played the Pistons in Sacramento, "the Arco Arena scoreboard flashed pictures of abandoned buildings, burned-out cars, piles of rubble and other negative images of Detroit."

Opression, unjust war, racism, & poverty has ended!!!

How else do you explain Jesse Jackson and Ralph Nader trying to help out a millionaire athlete? Way to concentrate on the important issues guys.

See what happens when the White Sox win...

Strange things happening in Chicago. The Bears' starting center breaks the jaw of their starting right tackle in a fight, the Bears decide to wear some ugly uniforms, the wind's so strong the football dances like a wiffle ball, and an attempted field goal is returned 108 yards for a touchdown.

Strong winds, blizzards, fog storms, and monsoons bring memorable football games. If I were commissioner, I'd eliminate every dome in football.

The Wisdom of Chris Chambers

I already wrote about his whining on the field, and now I get to read this, where he blames the sun, the quarterback, the refs, and the quaterback again. This is coming from a guy who took issue because his coach said the Dolphins' receivers were "decent." If you want to be better than decent, try making some crunch time catches.

Receiver Chris Chambers on the sun in his eyes on a fade route late in the game:
“Yeah, we both had it in our eyes a little bit. We couldn’t pick up the ball. I don’t even know if the ball was catchable anyway, but it’s important to make a good effort on it.”

Chambers on running the fade two plays in a row:
“We thought we had a good matchup going after the same corner[back]. There was contact on both plays but we didn’t get those calls all day.”

Chambers on the last Dolphins’ offensive play:
“It was real tough. There was a blitz on so I didn’t have enough opportunity to get my head around quick enough to pick up the ball and scoop it before it hit the ground.”

Guess the Athlete!

Hot Stove

Here's a good site with a list of free agents and where they may go. Among the highlights of the site is predicting Kevin Millar to sign with the Best Damn Sports Show, Period, Ramon Hernandez going to the Mets because he's overrated, and this little cringe-inducing tidbit:
"Jamie Moyer, Mariners. Retirement. And somewhere, Darren Bragg grounds weakly to second."

Some more thoughts about an unpredictable offseason:

• There's a rumor that the Yankees are thinking about signing Rafael Furcal to play center. That would give the Yankees three of the best shortstops in baseball to go along with their four managers. Maybe they should go after Nomar too.
• If the Sox could get Nomar for a good price, I wouldn't mind seeing them take a chance on him.
• By next year, the Yankees will regret giving Matsui such a big contract.
• Love to see Delgado in a Sox uniform, but, again, what do you do during interleague play when your two best hitters can only play the same position?
• Today's Red Sox prediction which changes daily: Youkalis at first with Olerud or a similar defensive specialist backing him up, Glaus at third, and Torii Hunter in center. I'm against trading Manny away, but it looks like it will happen. Hunter may be wishful thinking, but I'm allowed to do that.
• Speaking of wishful thinking, Ichiro may want to be traded. Leading off for the Red Sox: Ichiro, batting second, Torii Hunter, batting third Ortiz, batting cleanup, Manny, batting fifth, Troy Glaus, dating Alan, Jennifer Love Hewitt...
  

Pats squeak by Miami

It's always a big deal when the Patriots beat Miami in Miami. Brady seems to always struggle against the Dolphins D and the Dolphins have great homefield advantage with the weather. Now some thoughts:

• Am I imagining things or did the Pats secondary seem to get better when Troy Brown joined the defensive backfield?
• I've whined enough about defensive injuries, now it's time to whine about injuries on the offensive side. Here's what was missing: starting running back, third down running back, third string running back/fullback, starting tight end, second receiver, starting left tackle, starting right tackle, starting center. Did I forget anyone?
• Some new players for the Patriots finally contributed. Heath Evans, who they picked up off the street had some strong runs, Ellis Hobbs made some plays at cornerback, and Tim Dwight looks like the type of guy who makes big plays.
• Is Chris Chambers Reggie Miller in disguise? He whines to the ref after every incomplete pass. Reggie Miller, though, makes big plays at the end of the game.
• This year's Patriots aren't at the same level of Indy, Pitt, and Denver, but luckily their competition is the AFC East.
  

I watched some college football!

Will there actually be a national championship game without any controversy? The LSU, Alabama game was a defensive battle about field position and missed field goals. Then they hit overtime and good field position is granted to each team. I just don't like college overtime. It's exciting, but it's wrong to eliminate special teams and field position strategy at the end of the game.

Quick NFL Draft preview:

We'll be seeing a lot of highlights of NC State offensive linemen when Mathias Kiwanuka of BC gets drafted in the top 10. Kiwanuka looked like a Pro Bowler playing against Pop Warner kids.

Answer to Guess the Athlete!

George Allen Summerall got it right, it's Terrell Owens. His antics are no longer worthy of comment. Therefore, if I ever provide a link to a T.O. story, I'll simply post the link with the appropriate picture.

Some baseball

• Javier Vazquez wants to be traded to an East Coast team. Arizona GM Josh Byrnes, formally of the Red Sox front office, may want to give the Sox a call. Before his New York experience, Vazquez was considered one of the best pitchers in baseball. I'd take a chance on him.
• In Boston, many are saying the Sox should go after Paul Konerko. I'd love to see Konerko in the Red Sox lineup, but what would happen during interleague play without a DH. Francona would be forced to take either Konerko or Ortiz out of the lineup. I know there's bigger problems out there, but it would still be an issue.
• Carlos Delgado is rumored to be on the trade market. It's pathetic the Marlins sign a quality high profile free agent and then look to trade him the following year.
• The Mets are rumored to be interested in Delgado. Then again, they're rumored to sign every free agent. Maybe they'll go after Terrell Owens.
• Kim Ng, now the Assistant GM of the Dodgers, may become the first female GM. There's plenty of GM's who never played the game, so it shouldn't be a problem to have a female GM. One question though: if she's hired, will Steve Phillips need to wear a dress in those stupid fake press conferences for ESPN where he pretends to be the GM of different teams?
• Some good links for people who want to keep up with the latest rumors. ProSportsDaily.com. I'm really upset that no one told me about this site before. Has ton of rumors and links from local papers across the country with little previews for each article it links. Extra Bases: The Boston Globe set up a blog for Red Sox fans to keep up with the offseason rumor mill. One more link for those of you looking for some porn.
  

Haven't complained about NBA refs in a while

In last night's Memphis/Boston game, twice a player was fouled before he caught a pass. After catching the ball, he took a shot and both times the refs rewarded him with the basket because of the stupid "continuation" rule.

Did you hear that?

That was me jumping off the "Trade Paul Pierce" bandwagon. He' still putting up the points, but now he's passing, rebounding, getting every loose ball, and, most importantly, fitting into the offensive system -- not fighting it.

Quote of the Year

"Someone compared the AFC East with the NL West this year. At least the Padres had a defense."

-Patriotsy2k, in "Few more thoughts on Pats & Colts" comment section

Bartolo Colon wins Cy Young award, proceeds to eat it

Quick challenge: list all the teams Bartolo has pitched for.

Sheffield, sex video, R.Kelly

If I see a story with those three words, you know I'm posting the link. There might be a sex tape out there involving R. Kelly and Sheffield's wife. Maybe Fenway fans can come up with something better than "Who's your dealer?"

Happy NFL thoughts

I've been a bit negative lately, so here are some good things to report:

• I recently wrote about Tiki Barber being underrated, and then Peter King comes along to back me up with a comparison between Tiki and LT since 2004. Rushing yards: Tiki, 2278l LT, 2170. Receiving yards: Tiki, 730; LT 705. They've both played 24 games and LT has many more touchdowns, but Barber has a higher average in yards per rush and reception.
• Troy Brown passed Irving Fryar to become the receiver with the second most receiving yards in Patriots history. Not bad for a 7th round draft pick.
• Got the previous information from Reiss's Pieces -- the most informative Patriots website on the net.
• The Colts' hurry up offense was impressive. Twice it forced the Pats to call timeout and their quick snap caused an offsides penalty on the Pats.

Few more thoughts on the Pats & Colts

• I've thrown around the injury excuse for the Patriots, but it goes beyond injuries. Scott Pioli and the Pats did not have a good offseason. They've had injuries and departures before and survived because of good replacements (Eugene Wilson for Lawyer Milloy, Dan Koppen for Damien Woody, Randall Gay for Ty Law, Vince Wilfork for Ted Washington. This year none of the replacements are doing much (besides the two offensive linemen they drafted). The Pats have drafted several players for their secondary the last two years and none are contributing. What's worse is they traded for Duane Starks (I don't believe they gave up a third rounder for him) and signed Monty Biesel and Chad Brown. This type of offseason makes the injuries hurt even more.
• Peyton Manning is a class act -- he always says the right things win or lose and keeps things in proper perspective. On the other hand, there's the Colt GM, Bill Polian who has blamed every Colts loss on the officiating, and had this to say last night:

With four seconds remaining and the Patriots hurrying to the line to
squeeze off one final play in a 40-21 blowout by Indy, Colts president Bill Polian said with annoyance, "They're trying to run another play. He's going to throw another pass."

And as backup quarterback Doug Flutie rolled out with pressure on his
heels, Polian muttered, "Break his leg."

Indy's agitation with the Patriots and Belichick -- well veiled in public
comments -- was evident in the words of the hot-tempered Polian during the game.

When the Colts scored a late touchdown to go up 40-21 and lined up for a two-point conversion, the Patriots were in the midst of changing personnel. In an effort to buy time, Belichick threw his challenge flag onto the field.

"There's one set of rules for him and one for everybody else," raged
Polian.

"Just kick [the extra point]," someone in the press box suggested.

"Kick it [my behind]," answered Polian.

This demonstration of class was found in an article written by Tom Curran of the Providence Journal. You need to register (which I'm not) to read the entire article. Thanks to the Boston Sports Media Message Board for the story.

Colts greatest team ever

The Colts beat a Pats team who were missing their two best defensive players, have a pathetic secondary (I think I'm next on the depth chart at strong safety), and two rookies on their offensive line. So according to John Madden, the Colts have "made the leap."

Others will be making a big deal about this too, but the Colts still haven't really been tested. It will be nice to see them go undefeated in the regular season and then choke in the playoffs. But if that happens, at least they'll have their historic November 7th triumph to hang their hats on .

Guess the Athlete!

Now we just need one more undefeated team to lose

With Virginia Tech's loss to Miami, we now have Alabama, USC, and Texas left as undefeated teams. College fans have to hope one of these teams loses, so there can be an actual controversy-free national championship game.

From another blogger

Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith were critical of the way Dallas defends the pick and roll. It turns out I'm not the only one who complains about announcers, except I don't own an NBA team. From the mind of Mark Cuban:

Only downer of the night was listening to the idiots on TNT after the game. Its not unusual if we win a TNT game for us to turn it on in the locker room and hear what Charles, Kenny and co have to say. They havent gotten any better.

Let me just say this. There is a reason why Kenny and Charles havent gotten head coaching jobs. THere is more to running a team these days then thinking you know what you are talking about. Kenny, if you want to bust on us for switching on the pick and roll, get some stats to back it up. We track conversion rates on everything we do. High pick and roll, elbow pick and roll, whatever, we track it. If its not working Kenny, we adjust. I know that is probably a new concept to you and Charlie B, but thats the NBA of 2006. With all that money you guys make (hey if you are going to talk salaries, lets see how you like it), go out and hire some kids to track what actually happens in a game rather than having TNT bring in kids to go out and get donuts.

Here is a little test. How many deflections did we have last night versus our season average last year. Do you remember what a deflection is guys ? Its a nice indicator of defensive effort.

And rook..I mean Reggie Miller. Remember this rook. Every year TNT brings in the guy who was good, but retired last year, and puts them in that same seat you were sitting in. You may have noticed that they arent there any more. Do something more than just try to be another guy who tries to fit in and trade nonsensical barbs with the boys. Charles has earned the right to be the comedian who has some insights. Kenny wants to be the coach, but wont do the work, so never will be more than a sidekick. Rook, you need to add some value, or in a few weeks we will see someone else sitting in that seat. Maybe Derrick Coleman can come in and give us a Whoop De Damn Do…

But I digress. After listening to some of the idiocy, we just turned it off.

This week's game of the century

From what I'm hearing, on Monday the Patriots and the Colts will determine who wins this year's Super Bowl. If the Colts win, Peyton Manning would have finally "solved" the Pats and would be ready for world dominance. If the Pats win, Peyton Manning may as well just try a new sport.

Last year the Steelers beat up the Pats on Halloween and supposedly the AFC torch was passed, and then the Pats went on to win the Super Bowl. Monday's game will be fascinating, but by playoff time it won't mean much. There's still a long season to go, and if the Pats and Colts meet again in the playoffs a game in early November won't impact it much.

As for the game, the Colts defense gets to prove if it's any good against a legitimate offense, and if the Colts offense doesn't put up points against this Patriots defense, I'd be very surprised.

As for the Patriots, last week was disappointing. After a bye week, I expected to see some injured players return and see some improvement in the secondary and in stopping the run. Against the Bills the Patriots defense didn't stop the run and gave up big passing plays. That's not a good combination with Manning, James, and Harrison coming into town.

So will their be improvement on Monday? The Pats cut last week's starting strong safety, so now they just have a rookie back there. Maybe Seymour comes back this week, maybe Randall Gay comes back, and maybe Colvin, Vrabel, Bruschi, and McGinest will be a strong enough linebacker core to compensate for the rest of the defense.

In other words the Patriots offense needs a big game. Their rookie offensive linemen need to protect Brady and contain Freeney and Dillon needs to run a lot.

I'm not confident about this game, but no matter what happens the Colts will still need to prove they can beat other physical defenses like the Steelers and the Broncos, and the Patriots will still have time to get healthy and tweak their team against the weak AFC East. Again, it's just November.

Answer to Guess the Athlete!

listerplus's winning streak is over! Patriotsy2k was unable to post, but rumor has it his guess was Tiny Archibald.

The correct answer is Fabrico Oberto, a new power forward on the Spurs who got some pretty good preseason hype. It's about time the Spurs were able to find some talent for their team.

Is it too early to say...

The Celtics looked really good last night? Paul Pierce looked like a new man -- passing, rebounding, being in the middle of every play. Mark Blount was contributing. Delonte West looked like a good, smart point guard. Ricky Davis played with a lot of energy -- scoring without being a ball hog. Even the young guys chipped in with some good hustle plays.

Then again, they were playing against the Knicks.

Little more baseball

• The Yankees just hired Tony Pena to be their first base coach, making Pena a member of my All-Begrudgingly Like Team (players and coaches I like despite being on teams I hate). Torre now has three former MLB managers on their coaching staff (Pena, Bowa, and Mazzilli), and I don't think they've hired a pitching coach yet (Joe Kerrigan would make four).
• Something stupid I always hear in the Manny trade talks: "the players they'd be getting are equal to the value of Manny." In other words, Erstad has about 10 home runs and Glaus has 37 home runs so that's equal to Manny's 47 home runs! That comparison only works if the Sox are forced to leave one position vacant as Manny plays left field. Manny puts up the same production numbers of Erstad and Glaus and there will be another player putting up about 20 home runs and 80 RBI. In other words, the Sox are better by not making the trade.
  
• Let's try the equal value logic in other scenarios. In the 90's the Bulls should have traded Michel Jordan to the Celtics for Todd Day, Rick Fox, and Greg Minor because combined those three averaged about the same amount of points as Jordan.
• One more for Bryan, the college student: If you go home with a 50 in one class and a 45 in another class, just tell your parents that you traded away an A in one class for those two grades because combined the values were equal.
  

I figured it out!

John Henry is an undercover agent working for the Yankees.

He used to be a part owner of the Yankees and when the Sox went on sale a few years ago he and Steinbrenner devised a plan at Henry's house in Boca Raton (right next door to Patriotsy2k, by the way). Steinbrenner was worried a competent owner would help the Sox finally surpass the Yanks, so he told Henry to buy the team to make sure the Sox don't improve too much.

At first things were looking good for George. Henry hired an inexperienced kid to be the general manager and a hick to manage the team. George must have been giddy as he watched Epstein trade for BK Kim and sign Jeremy "the wrong" Giambi and Ramiro "the embedded Yankee" Mendoza. George and Henry must have drank Champaign as they watched the hick leave Pedro in too long.

Nonetheless, like much of Steinbrenner's recent actions, his plan didn't work out. Theo surprisingly turned out to be a good general manager and the Red Sox team doctor miraculously helped Schilling pitch through the playoffs (maybe Henry caused the injury). The plan backfired and the Sox won the World Series.

So what does John Henry do? First he fires the doctor who helped Schilling. Then he bribes Dale Svuem into sending all slow base runners home from second even if it's just a ground ball to the pitcher. Next, he bribes Mark Bellhorn, offering $100,000 per strike out. Finally, he gives Kevin Millar compromising pictures of Terry Francona, so Millar can get into the lineup everyday.

Now there's his two recent moves: letting Theo go(rumor has it they'll replace him with Ashton Kutcher) and trying to trade their best hitter Manny for two overpaid players who don't equal Manny's production combined.

Next up, the Sox will trade David Ortiz for Jason Giambi's and Gary Sheffield's used syringes.

Thanks A-Rod

I needed a distraction from all the Theo Epstein talk, and fortunately a story came out about the Yankees and Bud Selig being concerned about A-Rod gambling at underground Poker clubs. I don't think it's a big deal, but because it's A-Rod and the Yankees it becomes one.

First, if anyone on ESPN criticizes A-Rod for playing poker, they may want to look at ESPN's programming schedule. Poker's on ESPN constantly, yet it's not even a sport. Finding out that A-Rod gambles will not make children want to do the same. Seeing ESPN worshipping and obsessing over the game will get more children interested in playing poker.

The more important issue with A-Rod's poker habits are the people he may be in contact with. When you're in a New York basement playing thousand dollar hands at 3 AM, your opponents probably aren't Boy Scout Leaders. If I were as rich as A-Rod and in the public eye like he is, I would avoid that scene. He should be hitting the town with Jeter picking up models and the Paris Hiltons of the world.

Costume ideas

My last post ripped ESPN, so here's a funny article from ESPN.COM by DJ Gallo (wonder if he hangs out with DJ Stu Scott. An excerpt about Halloween costumes:

....I think my favorite, though, was this one little girl who dressed up as a ballerina, added some fake gold teeth and said she was Chad Johnson.

Another kid dressed up as Peyton Manning. He had the white cleats, white uniform pants, blue No. 18 Colts jersey, dorky $6 haircut from SuperCuts -- the whole 9 yards. The annoying thing was that he kept changing his mind about what candy he wanted -- audibling, basically. "I want Snickers … no, a Kit Kat … no, make that a Twizzlers … never mind, I'm going with Starburst." And then, when he finally made up his mind and I gave him what he wanted, he choked on it.

Then, at around 11 p.m. or so, I got one last knock on my door, and the guy standing outside was dressed up as Ryan Leaf of all people, but he was holding a pizza. Only it turned out to be the actual Ryan Leaf and he was merely delivering the pizza I had ordered. Totally surreal....

I hate ESPN

This isn't news, and I'm certainly not being original by complaining about ESPN. I just want to vent.

First the Theo story -- I want to hear what Peter Gammons has to say about all of this. He's close to baseball and he knows everyone; I'm sure he's written some good stuff on this story, but I'm not an insider so I'm not privileged to read him anymore. ESPN took away the preeminent Hall of Fame baseball writer away from the public. How much money do they make with "insider" subscriptions? They act like a news source and make plenty of money through their restaurants, television revenue, web advertising, and even their bad magazine. Is it really a good idea to piss off millions of sports fans just to make a little more web revenue? I suppose I could have watched Sportcenter to hear Peter Gammons, but I wasn't in the mood to listen to Stuart Scott "keepin' it real."

Then there's ESPN's terrible coverage of football. We already know their announcers are clowns, but a lot of announcers aren't good. The source of ESPN's terrible football coverage is their production. Other networks understand that the main theme of a football game should be the game itself. ESPN doesn't get this -- they think people watch games so they can learn more about a story they chose to stuff down our throats. Usually it's about how wonderful a coach, owner, or player is.

This time it was the return of Bruschi. I was excited about Bruschi returning, but I was also excited about seeing a football game. By the end of the first quarter even the biggest Bruschi fans were sick of the deification of Tedy.

The most blatant cases of ESPN concentrating on a story rather than the game was Suzy Kolber doing her ridiculous sideline reports as she ignored a big Brady fumble and then an even bigger Bills fumble. She talked through the two biggest plays of the game.

Two more issues before I end my rant. Does ESPN get charged for every replay they show? Why won't they show replays of penalties? The Pats were being called for holding over and over at the beginning of the game. Were their linemen being dominated by the Bills' defense or were the refs blowing the call? Then their was a personal foul call that ESPN never showed. Forget all the steroid laws. Congress should enact a law that requires networks to replay all personal fouls.
My last issue, if you're still reading, is their terrible sideline reporter Suzy Kolber. When a network is concentrating on the game itself, a sideline reporter will find out about what coaches are saying and injury information. All Kolber does is read pre-scripted information. ESPN is so proud that they got "the chance" to speak with coaches and players days before the game. Guess what? Everyone in the media gets to talk to coaches and players, and football fans read all of this information throughout the week. Fans need new information related to the game. How about an explanation of that bizarre "unnatural act" call? How about an explanation of the Patrick Pass injury?

I need to stop now. ESPN=bad.