To the victors..

Congrats to the New York Yankees!!!! 27 world series wins in 40 attempts is damn near 70% success rate. When I was a kid the Oakland raiders used to brag about how they were the winningiest franchise in sports. They did not have the most championships by a long shot but their actual win loss record was the best in sports until about five years ago. Wild huh considering how horrible they have been recently. Actually right now, I believe that the Yankees and the Lakers are the top two. In my lifetime the Yankees have played in 11 world series and won seven. The Pittsburgh Steelers have played in seven Super Bowls and have won 6. The San Fransico49ers have played in 5 and won all five which is pretty impressive. The Celtics have won 8 titles out 10 in my lifetime. The Lakers have been in 20 NBA finals in my 41 years of living. They have won 10 of them. In the NHL, The Montreal Canadiens were is 16 finals and won 10 of them. They have not won a title since 1993. I was shocked to see that. I thought Detroit or The New Jersey Devils would have the most since it seems every year lately they are playing for the cup.
All of these teams have one common thread. Great players and Great coaches. Joe Girardi has won the manager of the year award and was promptly fired at the end of that season with the Marlins. Doc Rivers was a good player and has grown into a pretty damn good coach. Phil Jackson is Phil Jackson. Mike Tomlin got it done in his second year like Girardi. Both men have a long future ahead of them. The other teams had legendary coaches that roamed their sidelines for years. Bill Walsh, Chuck Noll, Red Auerbach, Scotty Bowman, Bill Cowher,Joe Torre, are just the tip of the coaching icon iceberg. The players they had were second to none!! I could list them all but you know they are. Jordan, Russell, Bradshaw, Montana, Rice, Patrick Roy etc... Now the names added to the list are Jeter, Rivera, Posada and Petitte. Winning 5 rings in a career is extraordinary. Kobe and Shaq are close with 4 each and I got a feeling one of them is going to get a 5th in the next few years.
I wont forget my individual sport star too. Tiger has 70 wins and 14 majors. Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova, Dale Earnhardt, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras have enormous accomplishments and multiple majors and championships. Pretty boy Floyd deserves some props as does the Golden Boy. In short as this blog is today, I have lived through a lot of good sports in my time. The Lakers and the Canadiens have the most rings. So here's to all of you.. thank you for giving me the distraction that keeps me going. We will see how much has changed at age 50. I cant wait!!!

what about the fans?

As the sports world continues to evolve into more and more a business than a game, where do we fit in as fans. We have a right to scream, yell, boo, curse, moon, drink, eat and sleep sports as most of us do. We have an expectation that the product displayed out in front of us represents what we represent in our daily life. Meaning that we have a job to do so do it and go home and next time you are out there on the field do it again. Play hard and have fun they tell the players. Usually when I go to a sporting event I play hard and I have fun too. love the people who make the experience a true full all out experience. Tailgating, face painting, are cool and when done in "moderation" can be very cool. I am sure that we all have stories of traveling with friends to a game and getting festive before the game and all of the drama that ensues is stuff of legend and in some cases stuff that gets you fired.
Now I root for three teams that are tough to figure out but great to support when they are good. The New York Mets, New York Giants and the New York Knicks are my favorite sports teams. The Mets just had the worst season they have had in about 10 years. The Knicks havent been good since Patrick Ewing retired, the Giants however won the super bowl two years ago and if Plaxico doesn't shoot himself last year, they probably would have won another one. When I watch the Giants play lately I wonder do they believe in what they are doing. I scream at Tom Coughlin and Kevin Gilbride because of their predictable play calling. I scream at Eli because I am sick of him trying to emulate his brother. I don't care who the "mike" is or why before they snap the ball he screams out" Omaha", just execute the play and get on to the next one. when the Giants were winning I guess I thought that they were geniuses. Now that they are struggling I hate watching them. As a fan I feel compelled to let them know that i am not pleased and someone better do something about it. I heard today that Chief fans are begging the organization to get rid of Larry Johnson so that he cant break a team record. I find that taking the fan stuff too far. When Larry Johnson was atop three running back in the league I am sure that the fans supported him like crazy. So I guess you got to take the good with the bad and hope to get good again. The Owners of the Browns and Redskins today came out to speak to the fans and ask them to be patient and support us no matter what. I find that funny since the owner of the Redskins banned signs that spoke negatively of the team. You cant tell a fan how to be a fan. I feel for him only because, he has spent boat loads of money and the players he brings in just simply stinks or are too old that they cant play as well anymore. Do I think that the Mara family is going to apologize to me for the way that the Giants have played lately? No. They should though.
The funniest is Omar Minaya of the Mets. I joined a Mets site to keep up to date with the team and he writes letters all of the time. Maybe he should write less and put a product of players out there that represent what a New York sports fan expects. The Yankees see a need and fill it. No questions asked, No guilt involved!! The Mets are a Mess. The Knicks and the Mets have the same problems. Messy organizations trying to catch lightning in a bottle. The Knicks think that next year they are going to attract a major free agent and put the team back on the map again. Getting Lebron James, or Dwayne wade or even Amare Stoudamire may not guarantee us anything. But guess what? The great thing for both the Mets and Knicks is that the fans support the hell out of them.. Met fans still showed up in droves despite having a horrible season. The Knicks still draw at MSG like it was back in the Ewing days. We voice our opinions heartily and hope they hear us and do what we ask.
I remember one time I was at a Penn. State and Michigan football game and the fans were throwing snowballs onto the field. They hit a few of the players and i remember thinking what if the players actually saw the person throwing the snowball, what would he do? Just as I was about to let one go I got this feeling that someone was watching me so I ate the thing. I have a right to cheer, but not to throw anything onto the field. When I was a bouncer out here in Hollywood, I would constantly run into players at the clubs and talk their ears of about the games and the team. It is cool for a awhile, unless you can introduce them to a special lady the they are your guy for the night. I have been very lucky to talk to a lot of my favorites. Most athletes do care about the fans. They need us as much as we need them. When I hear that fans are criticizing young Matthew Stafford I laugh, but the fans have that right. He just needs to play better faster and they will be on his side again. Same with the Mets and Knicks.. Jut get it together and we will be there for you..

memories, like the ....

I have many joys in my life these days. Watching sports these days with my awesome daughter may be tedious for her mom but my daughter loves when they go to commercial and the music starts playing. Her mom may not admit it but she watches too and asks some smart questions. Reading some of the responses to my blogs and talking shop with some of my friends, got me thinking about things I remember as a child or even as an adult. My father was a cop in White Plains, N.Y. and he used to know so many professional athletes. He would take me to the N.Y. Giants training camp every year as a youth and I absolutely loved it. I went to see the Giants and Jets play in the Yale Bowl back in 1973 and I remember walking off the field with John Mendenhall. He looked so grizzled and scary but it was cool nonetheless. The Giants had Ron Johnson and Bob Tucker, Brad Van Pelt and Spider Lockhart. It was soo cool. The Jets still had Namath but he was a shell of himself. His knees were so bad then that he could barely walk. I couldnt imagine walking on the field and off today. Security would pounce pretty quickly.
I went to a baseball game once with Dan Weitz my junior year at Riverdale. We went to see the Cubs and the Mets and Dwight Gooden was on the mound and he was electric. We went with Paul Gleason who was the detention monitor in the movie the Breakfast Club. He was great friend I guess with Keith Hernandez who was a star with the Mets. Doc that night should have been given credit for a no-hitter but was not because Ray Knight could not field a ball hit by Ryne Sandberg. Gooden that night set the Rookie strikeout record. Straw hit a Home run, so did George Foster. We changed seats so many time that night until we finally ended up behind home plate and that is where we saw Straw's home run. It was awesome. After the game Mr. Gleason took us to the dugout and we got to meet Keith and the boys. Everyone knew that I had a football game the next day. I was sooo stunned that everyone wanted to talk to me about football. Mookie Wilson, Doc, Keith looked like Giants. Gary carter too. Rusty Staub then took out to the bullpen and we talked with Gary Matthews. Then the ladies that were supposed to meet up with Keith and Mr. Gleason showed up and that is when we knew it was time to go. What a night!!! The best part about that story is that 25 years later, i saw Mr. Gleason at a nightclub I was working at in Hollywood. I told him the story and he remembered. Mr. Gleason passed away last year. I was glad that i was able to relay the story to him.
To top all of that, within my first month working at Billboard Live Night club, Micheal Jordan showed up at the club. I couldn't believe my eyes. He walked past me and my boss knew that I wanted to body guard him more than anyone working there. So when he told me to go to the V.I.P room and stay with him, I nearly crapped my pants. In the same V.I.P room that night was Leonardo DiCaprio and he wanted to say hello to Micheal. I told his handler that if he thought that Micheal Jordan was going to get up and go over to him, he must crazy. Micheal started asking me questions about Leo. I told him that he was in a few movies and Titanic was a movie that he was about to star in. Then I started babbling about how I used to go to the Knicks-Bulls games when I was a teen. We sat right behind the Bulls and how I rooted for him. I was such a dork and was surprised that Jordan's security did not ask me to leave. Then the pipe broke behind the bar so they left and I was left with his vodka and cranberry drink. I did not drink it and when he and Leo shook hands they did know each other from a movie shoot DiCaprio did during "Basketball Diaries".
I have had the pleasure as a bouncer out here to meet several athletes and celebs. Remember when Jeter got credit for hitting a home run against the Orioles in the playoffs that gave the Yankees a victory? Jeffrey Mayer caught the ball. Tont Tarasco was the Oriole's outfielder who was below the play and we had a nice chat about the play. I worked the Magic Johnson foundation dinner in 1996. The Lakers had just signed Shaquille Oneal and i was given strict instructions not to let anyone in who's name wasn't on the list. Shaq showed up in a silver Bentley and he and his security wore matching silver three piece suits. I gave Shaq a hug and told he him that wasn't on the list and he couldn't come in. We all laughed and Magic came outside and escorted him in to a loud ovation. Denzell was there and Luther Vandross was the headline act. I remember working a LimpBiskit video shoot for the son "Faith". Peter Berg was the Director and he asked the boys to go on stage and play the song just to get the feel of the place. I had never heard the version of the song so when they jumped into the chorus I was wide-eyed and taken aback, but then that wasn't the story. The bass guitarist was jumping up and down on the stage and jumped right off the stage and fell and hit his head. All of us ran to the stage to help get the cord from around his neck. It was pretty scary but he was okay and the day was pretty cool. I could tell stories all day and night about my sport memories and others but i will save that for book one day.. I guess the moral of the story is having memories good or bad better than never experiencing them at all.. just live people..

take that.....

When I was a child, my favorite baseball player was Reggie Jackson. He walked the walk and more than often talked the talk. When the Yankees traded him the the California Angels in 1981, I was crushed. I couldn't believe that Mr. Steinbrenner had the stones to get rid of his only draw. They had Winfield and he just stunk it up in the world series, Guidry was coming back to earth. They had made so many runs with is team that it finally got old. They still had Nettles, Randolph, Pinella, Cerone, Tommy John. The team just did not have what it took i guess to make another run at a championship. At least that is what Steinbrenner thought. Then it happened. The Angels came to town for a three game series. I remember Guidry was pitching extremely well that night. Reggie hadn't really done anything in the game. Then in the eight inning, the score of the game I believe was 1-0 Yankees when Reggie came up to bat with a runner on first. It started to rain a little bit and Bob Lemon left Guidry in to face Reggie. I don't remember the count but, Gator made a mistake pitch and Reggie hit the ball so deep into the upper deck that i did not think the ball was going to land. The crowd all leaped to their feet and cheered loudly and started chanting George Must Go, George Must GO, GEORGE MUST GO!!!. The Angels won that 3-1. I never rooted for the Yankees again after that season. A week later the Yankees came out to the West Coast and Reggie hit homers in his first two at bats off of Guidry in game one of the series. I remember Warner Wolf poking fun at the Yankees for letting Reggie go. He actually that year hit 39 homers and drove in 101 runs. So i guess he wasn't done.
As i watched Brett Favre yesterday carve up the Packers for the second straight time i could only think of Reggie. I wonder Ted Thompson feels like today.. I am sure that there are other players that have gone up against their former teams and did well against them and defeated them, but none like what Reggie and Favre did. Favre was the Packers. He made them significant again after 25 years of obscurity. The Packers stunk in 70's, 80,s and finally came back to life in the early 90's. The way they treated him wasn't right although understandable. Sometimes you have to make decisions that are best for your organization and they felt that Aaron Rodgers was the answer. Aaron Rodgers is a great fantasy quarterback because he fills up a stat sheet like no other. His dilemma is that he needs to start winning games. If I was Favre I would have been more smug than he was in his interviews after the game. I just wish he would have said what every one else is thinking. If I was a packer fan today, I would be in mourning and hiding.. There is a tradition at Lambeau field where when the opposing teams bus arrives there is usually a line of fans that moon the bus. Today i would keep my pants up and would never pull them down again.
One of my favorite take that stories is that of "agent 0" Gilbert Arenas. When Gilbert was left off of the "Dream Team" he vowed that he would make the teams of the coaches that did not pick him pay for cutting him. He did. He scored like 64 points against Phoenix and Portland got torched for like 60. After the game the coach of the Blazers I think was Nate McMillan and he said that Duke better watch out because he 's coming for them next. I may not the details right but the point was that Gilbert wanted revenge and felt he got some against these teams. Revenge is sweet, but victory is better!!! I got to see Wayne Gretzky play the Kings as a Ranger and he scored a goal early in the game. (My First live Hockey game). The crowd went nuts for him and they treated him like he was still a Kings player.

internationalization of my sports?

When i heard that the NFL is really getting serious about putting a team in a different country, I laughed. Why do we need to globalize a sport that few countries play and really don't need? It is one thing(and it really bothers me) when U2, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones play at halftime at our super bowl. I never understood that either but at least a large portion of the country are huge fans of the groups. I ask a lot of Brits about our game and most of them ask the question of why are they in pads, or what do certain penalties mean. They also say that people would support a team if one was there. I think at first it would be hated by everyone involved because jet lag is very real and preparations for the game would bother the coaches. Coach Bellichick seemed very upset when asked about the experience. When major league baseball went to Japan, a lot of players complained that it took them a while for their bodies to get back to a routine... If the NFL went to Mexico, i think it would be better than London. The travel would not so bad and there is a large percentage of fans in Mexico that loves pro football. The Dallas Cowboys have a huge following in Mexico. So do the Chargers and Cardinals. The Bills are going to play a few games in Toronto this year. I think that is a great idea because of travel is not too bad. (Seattle is pretty far for all teams too). Plus with the Canadian Football league helps give the NFL credibility. Maybe if there was players from other countries playing in the NFL I would probably not have such a problem with going to London. I think that there are 2 players from Australia in the league.
Now if the NBA wanted to go global, I would be in favor. There are several countries that have professional leagues and they have American players playing in them and the international teams are starting to kick our butt. The Toronto Raptors have an enormous following and I have been told that the night life up there rivals Miami, NYC, and Hollywood. I think that Spain, Germany, Russia, Greece have very competitive leagues. Basketball is a global sport. NFL football is not. Baseball is as global as basketball but again if MLB went global i would understand. I think that the All Star game should be USA versus the world...

No Clue At All

What can I say about the NCAA that has not been said before. When I was growing in my teen years, the NCAA slapped programs down like they were an annoying friend. They did it without malice and discrimination. If you got caught cheating, stealing, lying, embarrassing the NCAA you got sanctioned so hard that it would take years for you to get back up again. Ask the University of Kentucky basketball program, Southern Methodist University football program, Auburn University football program just to name a few. Right now Florida St. University is being made to forfeit games because of a campus wide cheating scandal that has rocked the school. Athletes from different disciplines were caught and everyone is affected. University of Memphis is under investigation because an unnamed player apparently didn't take his own ACT test or SAT test. The NCAA doesn't play and you better not take them lightly.
When Oklahoma ST. wide receiver Dez Bryant had lunch and spent some time with Deion Sanders, I bet he thought he was the man, the myth and the legend. The great "prime time" showing an interest in him must have made him feel beyond special. Deion had mentored Devin Hester while he was at Miami and Hester is now an elite player. When the NCAA asked him what he and Deion were doing together, Bryant lied because he feared that he did something wrong. Deion has no affiliation with Oklahoma St. at all. They split the food bill and he did not receive any benefits other than knowledge from one of the greatest college and pro football players ever to live. So they NCAA gave him a chance to defend himself and explain why he lied. They were not satisfied and now Bryants' career is over even though the school is appealing on his behalf. What kind of message is this sending around college athletics is an obvious one: Don't Lie!! But to suspend the young man for a year and basically tell him to go pro is the wrong message. Now Bryant is an unbelievable talent so he will be okay in the end, but what if he wasn't going to be a first round pick? Earlier this year a running back on the University of Oregon's football team slugged a player on Boise St. after an embarrassing loss and he was later suspended for the remainder of the season by his University. The coach has recently started to have a change of heart and the running back may be reinstated back to the team next month. The NCAA stayed out of the situation and allowed the University of Oregon to handle the mess. I thought a full season suspension was unwarranted because he was taunted by the Boise St. player and thought that the Boise ST. player should have been suspended too. Nothing happened to him and the NCAA stayed away from that too. I do not condone lying under any circumstance but the guy did nothing wrong. If he did do something wrong, he has already missed 4 games. Enough is enough. The NCAA usually gives athletes the benefit of the doubt in most circumstances. There are several athletes that apply for the medical redshirts or sixth year eligibility and most of the athletes get that chance. The NCAA is supposed to be there for the athletes. So a guy who nearly started a riot by throw a punch as a sore loser is going to get a chance to play and a guy who had lunch (which is legal) is done for the year.
Also this cheating scandal at Florida ST. has nothing to do with Bobby Bowden or any other coach at the school. Why is he punished because the indiscretion of several immature students? I know in the past that Florida St. had a scandal where a couple of players grabbed a few hundred dollars worth of stuff and paid very little for them. The players were suspended then reinstated after they payed back the money. FREE SHOES UNIVERSITY was what they were called after that by then Florida Coach Steve Spurrier. Bowden didn't forfeit any games then did he? They won the national championship later that year too.
I guess that NCAA would rather avoid creating a playoff system that crowns a true champion.. another topic on another day..

who cares about a legacy?

The dictionary defines the word legacy as something handed down from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. In this sports world today the most important phrase seems to be "what about his legacy?".. Does Mark McGwire care about his legacy. Does Barry Bonds care about his? What about Brett Favre? Tiger Woods? Serena Williams? Kobe Bryant? The rant today focuses on the legacy of two of our huge stars that have serious situations that need to be discussed. They are Alex Roduguez and Andre Agassi.
I was, am a huge Andre Agassi fan. I remember going to see him play in a tournament back in 1987 in Vermont. He was there, Pete Sampras was there and John McEnroe was their too. I believe Micheal Chang was their and so was Ivan Lendl. Agassi had on this bright yellow outfit and all of the women there were going nuts over his long hair and matinee idol looks. I have watched thousands of his matches throughout his near 20 year career. I rooted for him when they called him "gagassi," when he did his image is everything commercials and all the media kept saying "no Andre, winning is everything". I got up bright and early and watched him survive 8 million aces from Goran Ivanesivic and win his first Wimbeldon. I watched when he and Babs and Brooke Shields fawned all over him when he won the US open. I was an Agassi guy. I love Pete Sampras but I would always support Agassi over him. When Andre opened that school in Las Vegas I was overwhelmed. He was the first athlete that i thought finally got it. Oprah opening schools in Africa made little sense to me when the schools in this country need help and there needs to be more schools in this country than malls or restaurants. The news I heard today about Andre and crystal meth is disturbing. I have no other way to describe how i feel about the news. Is his legacy destroyed? In my opinion, his legacy is tarnished some because he lied to the ATP. My only question is why tell everyone now? You are a leader in your community and the past is the past. I have never done drugs so I don't understand the mindset in taking them,but Andre is a leader of young children now. If you wanted forgiveness or help, you should have admitted this back in 1997. The world would have never turned their back on you despite all of the phases of what you were going through. He was every one's brother, big or small. He is still one of my faves but this day will be apart of the Agassi story forever..
Today also marks the beginning of the world series. The new york Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies'. Two very evenly matched teams who have stars up and down each lineup. The focus of this series will be on two players: Brad Lidge and Alex Rodriguez. The Phillies are the defending champs so basically none of their players have to anything to prove. Raul Ibanez is probably the only Phillie starter that has something to prove but he is not the player that A-rod is. This world series will either destroy Alex or finally make him a New York icon. What kills Alex is that most of the Phillie players are so young and most their stars have performed on the big stage a year ago so no matter what happens they are going to be okay. Ryan Howard is a post season star and if he continues to play the way he has through his first 5 years, he is going to the Hall of fame on the first ballot. With the steroid scandal hanging over Alex's head, he has to have a memorable world series to make everyone forget what has transpired this year. Even if the Yankees win, Alex needs to be a vital reason why. Whether it is a walk-off home run in multiple games or clutch hits when the Yankees need them. Sounds impossible right? That is the kind of scrutiny he is under. He may finish his career as baseball first 800 homer guy. (Saduhara Oh has 812 but they don't count here).. He needs a defining series that will make his legacy worth leaving behind.
The irony for Alex is Barry Bonds had a defining world Series and his legacy is still tarnished. It wasn't Bonds fault that the pitchers gave up a 5-0 lead in game 6 nor it wasn't Bonds' fault that in Game 7 the didn't pitch to him. He was awesome in the series. He hit a ball off of Troy Percival that is still traveling..
Do athletes care about their legacies, in private hell yes!!! In public they pretend they don't but we know the truth. Why do you think Roger Clemens is fighting so hard to clear his name.?