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