And finally...

Baseball.. No longer America's past time, Baseball has been ruined by innuendo and rhetoric this decade. Steroids have been a bigger story than the play on the field. Great, Great players have been be destroyed by allegations of illicit use of performance enhancement drug. Barry Bonds, in my opinion the best player over the last 25 years is the poster man of this era. If he won a championship, the pundants would not know what to do with themselves. He won four M.V.P. awards and would have put records out of reach had teams pitched to him over the decade. He set records for walks, runs scored, home runs, that are hard to believe. I still contend that steroids can't help you hit a baseball and the amazing ability he showed this decade will not be forgotten by me. Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Andy Petitte had their names dragged in this steroid argument. Rafael Palmeiro and Jason Giambi too. Jose Canseco wrote a book the blew the lid off of the steroid epidemic in Baseball. f you stopped for a second and look at the names I have mentioned, that is baseball's royalty. Former M.V.P.'s, 500 club home run members, world champions in almost all cases. The game is looked through a skeptical eye by the public. It is a shame because baseball is still a beautiful game to watch. So on the field lets honor those for their work over the decade.
The team of the Decade is the New York Yankees. They played in 4 world series and won 2. They have the most wins. They deserve the award. The Red Sox are a close second with two wins. St. Louis was probably the best team in the National League. This decade had the curse of the Bambino end and the White Sox win a ring. The Marlins won again and then blew up the team. Arizona Diamondbacks won in an epic seven game series with the Yankees. St. Louis and Philadelphia won one each. The Anaheim Angels won one giving the American league a 6-4 advantage in championships. The trades and free agent signings of this decade left a mark on the game. The rich got richer and the poor got weaker. The Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Phillies spent and the Royals, Brewers, Padres, Twins grew from within. Almost every team got brand new stadiums. Only the Mets did not take full advantage of their new digs. Houston, Detroit, St.Louis, Anaheim, Philly, Chicago White Sox got new stadiums and attendance grew in all of those cities. The Tampa Rays made it to the World Series despite having one of the lowest payrolls in sports history.
The player of the decade is going to be debated for years to come. Albert Pujols is the man most would say is the winner although Barry Bonds fans would beg to differ. Alex Rodriguez fans would chime in too. So would David Ortiz fans. Pujols does not have any steroid links to him but I am sure someone is going through his trash can as we speak. Curt Schilling is the Pitcher of the decade. He was apart of 3 world championship teams and the main reason that his teams won Championships. Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens got their win totals up to over 350. Rickey Henderson finally retired. Joe Torre quit working for the evil empire and joined the Dodgers. Mannywood is opened in L.A. and he leads the Dodgers to the Post Season. Pujols won 3 M.V.P.'s in the decade. He was runner up in two other years. Derek Jeter is still man in New York. He is on pace to get his 3000 hits in the next 2 years and continue to be a model citizen. Todd Helton is another great player who is on pace to get 3000 hits in the near future. The best hitter in this decade has to be Ichiro Suzuki. He came to America and has taken baseball by storm. He already has 2000 hits in less than a decade. He uses speed and an awkward hitting style that gets him on base better than we have ever seen. The Yankees had Godzilla who culminated his Yankees career with an incredible world Series. Randy Johnson pitched for several teams this decade. He won a couple of Cy Youngs and got his 300th win. Tom Glavine did as well. Rot Halliday and Brandon Webb are the future of baseball. C.C. Sabathia got paid in New York and Cliff Lee got jobbed in Philly. The Phillies had a run of M.V.P.'s with Howard and Rollins. Injuries caused Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez their chances but they have a formidable team going into the next decade. The Mets have been like the stock market this decade. Either really up or really down. Jose Reyes and David Wright and Johan Santana need to grow up and achieve their destiny. 2010 we will win the series.. I guarantee it!!! The Braves dominance came to an end in the decade and Bobby Cox and Chipper Jones are still going strong. The Cubs still have not won a world series. They had a chance in 2003 but Bartman caused them a chance with his interference in the 8th inning of a playoff game.
The All Star game determines who gets home field advantage.. How stupid is that? They want the players to care so much about a an exhibition game, it makes no sense. The Home run derby is still cool. Chicks do love the long ball. They love it so much that Instant replay was added to baseball only on Home Runs. The Umps went on strike and half of them got fired. One ump died at a game in Cincinnati on opening day. They still screw up calls but still are the best of all refs in all sports. They keep talking about speeding up the game and raising the mound. I say leave the game alone. Every thing averages out in baseball. The "Boss" finally stepped down. Espn and their scandals. Harold Reynolds and Steve Phillips are naughty. Fernando Vina took HGH allegedly. How about the F.B.I. going after Bonds and trying to get Jason Grimsley to give info about Bonds. Bud Selig becoming Commissioner has not been a bad thing. He really cares about the game and really loves Hank Aaron. Hell we all do. We lost Jack Buck and said goodbye to Harry Kalas and Ernie Harwell. Kalas died at the stadium in Philly. I loved his voice. He used to do NFL highlights after John Facenda died. Will baseball get its place back in America in the next decade? We shall see. I love baseball and hopefully they are doing all of the right things to clean up the sport. I still think that football will remain king but they have a labor situation approaching soon so we shall see if we will still love it after the strike. The 21st century started with the Yankees and Mets in the series. Maybe 2010 will too. I root for the Royals and Brewers to get back to being what they once were. The Orioles have so much history that needs to be rekindled. Pittsburgh Pirates too. You got two great teams in the Penguins and Steelers you got to find a way to match them. We look forward to more spending by the haves and more complaining by the have nots. The Minnesota Twins don't have a lot but with Mauer and Morneau they have a future. The Brewers could be the team of the next decade if the spend and don't break them up. Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton have started a renaissance in Tampa and the Marlins win because they play the game the right way. Then there is the Nationals.. Cleveland has to stop letting Cy Young talent go and stay healthy and win. We love OZZIE.. Keep it real OZ.

and now basketball

What happened to the NBA and College Basketball? I remember as a youngster being a Bernard King fan and caring about everything that was going on on the court. Every game was in the 100's and NBA action was fantastic. College Basketball had Jordan, Ewing, Bias, Sampson, Olajawon, Kenny Anderson, Chris Mullin, Mark Price, Wayman Tisdale. Dick Vitale hooting and hollering about the "diaper dandies" and "windex " man. This decade basketball has been killed. No one goes to college to play anymore. Players are going to Europe for a year to avoid going to college. Players skipped college all together and went pro. Every team has a high school or European player on it. The coaches in college are more famous than the players. Schools are still getting caught in scandals but they are surviving. College coaches are millionaires and the NCAA tournament is thinking about expanding. The NBA has had two main dynasties in this decade. The Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs led by Tim Duncan and The Lakers led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille Oneal. The Lakers won 4 rings this decade. The Spurs won three. Shaquille won another ring with the Miami Heat. The Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons won a ring each. The Lakers are the team of the decade because they played in 6 NBA finals. In fact the balance of power shifted back to the western conference in this decade. The east probably had better stars but the west had better teams. We were introduced to a young phenom named Lebron. Who played in a Final series only a few years into his career. Dwayne Wade won a title and has made a great name for himself this decade. Steve Nash won two M.V.P.'s which has shocked the league but he deserved them. Kevin Garnett in Celtic Green is still wild to see. The Knicks have not been the same since Patrick Ewing was sent out to pasture. The NBA created a rule at first that a high school senior could enter the league. Now I believe you have to be 19 or older. Remember Darko? Yao Ming becomes first chinese player in theleague and he is 7'6 inches tall. Kobe and Shaq feud and then break-up and then become friends and then Shaq disses Kobe after winning a title and after the Lakers lose to Celtics, Phil Retires and then comes back. Micheal Jordan plays for the Wizards and becomes part owner of team and then is unceremoniously fired, has bitter Hall of Fame speech. Rasheed Wallace gets a technical almost everyday. Ron Artest and the Malice at the Palace. Tim Donaghy gets busted for betting on NBA games and other nonsense. Mark Cuban becomes Maverick owner. Robert Horry is big shot Bob. Kobe and Shaq are the co-players of the decade in my opinion. Detroit takes Darko over Bosh, Carmelo, Stoudamire and Wade. Nate Robinson ruins the slam dunk contest. Vince Carter's unbelievable performance in the slam dunk contest. White chocolate and C-Webb make Sacramento relevant.Jason Kidd makes New Jersey relevant. Nelly own a piece of the Cavaliers. Jay-z owns a piece of the Nets. NBA TV debuts. Stephen A. Smith. We say good bye to The Mailman and Stockton, Isaiah and the Mess in the big Apple. David Stern is still in control.. Games in the 70's.. 60's.... 50? What a decade...

College Basketball suffered more than any sport. North Carolina won two titles. Kansas won one finally for Bill Self, Not Roy Williams. He just went to North Carolina and won. We learned about Pat Summit and Geno Auriema in the women's game. Duke, Syracuse, Connecticut, Michigan St., and Maryland won titles. University of Florida won back to back championships. It is tough to say who is the team of the decade. What Florida did was very special. North Carolina and Connecticut seemed to always be in the final 8 or four. U.C.L.A. played in.a few final fours as well. we learned words like Mid-Major. We were introduced to a school from the state of Washington called Gonzaga. George Mason made the Final Four. Calipari takes Memphis to final game. Pitino coached the Celtics and then came back to College. Calipari coached the Nets and came back to college. Coaches are more recognizable than players. Kevin Durant lights up Big twelve conference. so does Micheal Beasley. One and done hurts the game. We love Dick Vitale. Coach K. continues his legacy at Duke. Coach Knight gets the boot from Indiana because he allegedly strikes a student for lack of respect. Then a video surfaces of him striking Neil Reid and all hell breaks loose. Jim Harrick is confronted by ESPN about scandal and he loses job at Georgia. Pitno in his sex scandal. Coach Calhoun gets paid more money than anyone in the state and angers people of Connecticut. Uconn and Tennessee women's teams dominate the women's game. Holdsclaw and Taurasi lead teams to historic seasons. Sue Bird and Candace Parker also dominate the college scene. Parker dunks in a game and in the NCAA tournament. We lose Kay Yow. John Wooden turns 99. Isn't it sad? The decade had great games but too few to recollect. The six overtime game between Connecticut and Syracuse is legendary. The shot made by Chalmers forcing overtime in the title game against Memphis. Illinois and North Carolina title game was good. The Illini was undefeated for most of the season. Decades prior, we could name the stars of the decade. The stars this decade were coaches. Billy Donovan at Florida was a genius 4 years ago. I haven't heard his name since. Ben Howland recruits these guys who just win. They cant shoot to save their lives but somehow they win at the schools he has been at. Bobby Knight coached at Texas Tech and did a good job. Mike Montgomery coached both Cal and Stanford. Lute Olson saga at Arizona. The one and done players go pro and do well thus guaranteeing that it is not going to stop. Brandon Jennings goes overseas to learn to play. John Wall is the new star of the game but he will be gone next year. Carmelo Anthony leads Syracuse to a title as a freshman. Greg Oden breaks his hand. Tyler Hansbrough stays 4 years and wins a title. I used to love college basketball, now I only wait for the tournament games..

The indiviual sports and

The individual sports and basketball are next on my list. The decade in individual sports were dominated by famous one named celebrities. Tiger, Annika, Serena, Venus, Lance, Petty boy Floyd, Roger, Rafa, Usain, Phelps, J.J. just to name a few. I will add Oscar, Manny, Lennox to this list as well. We have seen the greatest performances by these individuals in all types of competitions. Lance overcame cancer and steroid allegations to win the Tour de France several Times. Usain Bolt ran a 9.69 in the 100 meters. He could have run faster if he did not turn around to see how far ahead he was. Micheal Phelps won a record eight gold medals at the most recent Olympic games. Roger Federer broke Pete Sampras' record for grand slams in a career. Annika Sorenstam shot a 59 in a final round in a tournament and retired with 10 major championships won. She absolutely dominated her sport at a level that no one has in years in women's golf. Lennox Lewis reigned over the heavyweight division in Boxing, retired as a champion and defeated every fighter that he fought. Manny P. and Pretty Boy Floyd end the decade as pound for pound the two best fighters in the world. They are slated to fight next year and hopefully it will be memorable. I will take this stand though that the boxer of the decade is Oscar De la Hoya!!!! He is the most significant fighter in the world even though now he is retired. He has carried the sport on his back for the entire decade. As Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones did before him, De La Hoya fought everyone. He may have lost some fights but he did not back down from anyone. He is in my pantheon of the greatest athletes of all time. I admire him as much as I admire Micheal Jordan. His promotional corporation is what is keeping boxing alive today. As Mixed Martial Arts is growing in popularity, De La Hoya has put his name, money, reputation up to try and save a sport that needs a true star. It is a shame that the Klitscho brother are heavy weight champs now because they will never fight each other. Thank You Oscar for what you have done and been to a sport that needs a super hero.
Jimmie Johnson has had an incredible decade. Winning four straight cup titles to finish the decade is a feat that may never be matched. He is setting his sights on doing it again next year. Venus and Serena Williams ruled the tennis court in women's tennis over the decade. Martina Hingis, Kim Clisters, Lindsey davenport, and Justine Henin, gave the Williams sisters a fun decade of great competition. Maria Sharapova deserves mention too. Steffi Graf came back and won another major then married Andre Agassi. So much history was lost when Agassi and Sampras retired this decade. It opened the doors for Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to take the mantle to the next generation. Federer was a machine. Vanquishing opponents like they were puppets. Nadal was a god on the clay courts. A knee injury lately has hampered his play but we look forward to another five years of dominance by both of the men. The athlete of the decade is Tiger Woods. He won 12 majors this decade. He is the only golfer to be defending champion in all four majors. He is the record holder in lowest score to par in all of the major tournaments or has the record for the largest victory margin in all of the major tournaments. He played the British open one year that 131 bunkers and did not put a ball in a bunker once in all four days. He is a dog off the course and recent events are portraying him in that light. He became the first billionaire athlete. Nuff said...
I am sure that I am missing a lot of people. Dara Torres, Appollo Anton Ono, Tony Hawk, Shaun White, Jeff Gordon, Sarah Hughes, Micheal Schumacher, all had great decades. We lost Dale Earnhardt which is still being felt in NASCAR. The Rise of MMA fighting. Pro Wrestling is still going strong. Bode Miller and the rise of African Americans in winter Olympic sports. Joel Calzeghe was undefeated as a boxer and defeated living legends, Hopkins and Jones Jr. The next decade will be interesting to see who replaces these stars as they age...

so here is how we summarize..

So over the next three days I will summarize the first decade in all of the major sports that I follow. Today's group is the easiest to discuss. So here we go:
The decade in pro football and college football can be summarized with one word: parity. Though both entities had several champions, the diversity in the champions makes you feel good that the sport is going in the right direction. In college football, the decade started outwith Miami being the team to beat. Everyone started calling the school the "U" and it did not need any explanation. The next few years belonged to USC. They were in three consecutive championship games winning two of them. Then the SEC took over the decade. LSU won two titles(shared one with USC) and Florida won two. Ohio St. won one title and Texas won the game of the decade over USC. The decade will be known for two sophomores winning the Heisman. Tim Tebow and Mark Ingram. Tebow was a finalist three times. Two Oklahoma quarterbacks winning the award. Sam Bradford and Jason White. Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Reggie Bush won it for USC. Troy Smith from Ohio St. Chris Weinke and Eric Crouch round out the list. In other words eight quarterbacks and two running backs. I think that Leinart is the player of the decade because he played in 3 straight championship games and ended the Heisman jinx. USC and Florida were the two best teams in the decade. USC won 7 straight conference championships. I give Pete Carroll the slight nod over Urban Meyer although Mack Brown and Jim Tressel deserve credit for putting their teams in championship contention every year.Same with Bob Stoops. Boise St. is the most under appreciated team of the decade. Michigan only defeated Ohio State once this decade which cost Coach Carr his job. We say goodbye to Coach Bowden. Coach Paterno is still going strong. Coach Fullmer at Tennessee is out of coaching too. So is Charlie Weis. This decade will be known for the creation of the spread offense and the wildcat. Every team ran some form of single back set. Coach Meyer and Coach Rodriguez deserves credit for making the offense so unstoppable. Great games of the decade. Michigan and Ohio State 3 years ago, Mississippi and Auburn going 8 overtimes. USC vs Texas. Kentucky and Florida. Oklahoma and Boise St. Miam and Florida St this year. Kentucky and LSU when LSU hit a 70 yard hail mary pass while Kentucky's crowd was running on the field in the back round. A crazy decade and hopefully in the new decade we will have a playoff to settle the championship. Having 5 teams undefeated at the end of a season is a joke. What the hell is the B.C.S.?
The NFL has had the same growth as College football. There were several champions but the decade was dominated by a few teams. The New England Patriots are the team of the decade with three championships and an unblemished regular season that was almost matched this past season. The decade started off with the St. Louis Rams as the dominant team. The rams were the second worse team in the decade of the 90's and started the 21st century like they were going to be around for entire decade. The Tampa Buccaneers won title which is crazy too. Seattle, Arizona and Chicago also played for rings. The Eagles played in 5 NFC championship games. winning only 1. The New York Giants played in two super Bowls, stunning New England in one and being trounced by Baltimore Ravens in the other. The Tennessee Titans played in a Super Bowl and so did the Oakland Raiders. Hard to believe that the Cowboy and Redskins did not play in the big game since they have played in a Super Bowl in every decade since the 70's. The 49ers were absent from the big game too. The Steelers won two rings in the decade. Indianapolis won one as well. We had great players in this decade. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were the top two. Donovan Mcnabb and Ladanian Tomlinson are up there as well. Ray Lewis was the man on defense. Micheal Strahan was legendary. Brett Favre retired and came back and then retired and now is trying to lead another team to a title. Instant Replay became a part of all games in both college and pro football. We play a game in London every year now and the Cowboy opened up a super stadium that has a scoreboard that is enormous. Bill Bellicheck is the coach of the decade. Playing in four super bowls is a really great accomplishment. We lost Steve Mcnair which is horrible because he was the face of the south. Sean Taylor is another tragedy. Gene Upshaw and the NFL's Player's Union battles over the decade is what is creating a possible lockout in 2 years. A new Commissioner who does not take any crap. Chris Henry tragedy lately. Upshaw also dying days after finding out he had Cancer. The "tuck" rule that helped the Patriots win a playoff game. Bad officiating and players getting clocked when not looking on punts and turnovers. what a decade...more to come tomorrow

You play to win the game....

Herm Edwards is known to New York Giants fans as the guy that stuck a meat cleaver in our chests in the play that I hate to refer as a miracle. When he coached the Jets He boldly and angrily stood up in front of the media and said" YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME, HELLO!!!" Most of us laughed at what he said and the clip is used in several different capacities all over the sports world. For some reason, NFL players and announcers don't like to play football or talk about football. In the summer, the pre-season is too long. Even though some teams don't decide on who their starting players are until the last moment, some teams need more practice than other, and some teams just plain suck. Every year we hear the same rants about pre-season football as a waste of time. The other time of year when football players don't want to play football is in December when they feel that everything is wrapped up and they can magically turn on this magic switch and begin to play again and win a championship. Resting players is a relative new phenomenon and I can't understand. What the Colts did yesterday disgraced football and all sports.
The Indianapolis Colts are 14-1 because they disgraced all sports yesterday. They had a 5 point lead in a game that "meant nothing to them"but meant the world to 7 other teams. The Jets offense had not done a thing and their defense was hanging in but they were losing. The Colts last week became the third team in NFL history to become 14-0 and were a shoe in to finish the regular season undefeated. So instead of playing the game for 60 minutes, the Coach of the Colts decided to pull his starters and the Jets got hot and won the game by 2 touchdowns. I am disgusted. I am appalled and cannot believe that in this day and age of gambling and fantasy football leagues, no one has gone to the coaches house and slapped him around. I can't believe that people are defending what they did. Ron Artest got injured in his home "allegedly" he slipped and fell. People get injured all of the time doing simple tasks. I wish I remembered the name of that baseball player ( I think it was Torii Hunter) who got injured playing play station. I remember the Niners would rest Montana for games, but they had Steve Young and most of the regulars played. I know that football is not life and death but what they did yesterday makes no sense especially since fans paid money to watch them play. Plus they were going for history. Can you imagine Tiger Woods playing in the Players Championship and saying well I am up by three with nine holes to play, Stevie you finish for me, I only want to win the U.S. open next week. I don't want to win any tournament that is not going to allow me pass Jack Nicklaus. You play the other tournaments to make sure that you have the fortitude to stand in there and make a putt with all of the pressure on the line. You play a 16 game season knowing that you are going to have peaks and valleys.How many teams get the opportunity to go undefeated. Remember when the Bulls broke the record for 70 wins in a season. They played all of the games out that year and won 72 total. When Bonds passed McGwire he wanted to put the record so no one could touch it. Tony Dungy said for weeks that this would happen. We thought that Peyton Manning would want to be known for something that his father wasn't known for. His father quarterbacked the Saints back in the day when they would lose in the most ridiculous ways. Look at the Saints. They have lost two games in a row and for some reason, their defense can not stop anyone after killing everyone. They have beaten the Giants, Eagles, Patriots in big blowout games and now they cannot beat the Buccaneers? I hope they lose in the second round of the playoffs. I hope that Patriots get the 4 seed and play the Colts in the second round and beat the hell out of the Colts. GO Chargers!!!!!

hold on here...

We are in the time of the year where every sports network and sports geek like me is giving out awards for the year and for the decade. There are three really interesting races. College football player of the decade and NBA team and player of the decade. I will deal with the college football player of the decade because it is bowl season. There are only two people in this category. Matt Leinart and Tim Tebow. Every one will pick Tebow because he is the poster boy for college football. He has two titles, a Heisman Trophy, a sparkling g.p.a , he has no drinking pictures of him on line anywhere, he has broken records at Florida of people like Emmitt Smith and Herschel Walker, and he has done more for college athletes off the field than anyone to my knowledge. Sounds like an open and shut case. His pledge is written on a wall at the school and I am certain a statue is going to erected of him some day. If the Jags draft him, the entire state of Florida might collapse into the Atlantic Ocean. He is a living legend. I wish him well in the N.F.L.
Matt Leinart had a better career than Tim Tebow. He played 3 years at USC and all three years as a starter, he played for the National Championship. He also won the Heisman Trophy and set conference records and University records. He won two "national championships" and lost in his third attempt in arguably the greatest college game ever played. In that game he threw for 386 yards and three touchdowns. It took the greatest individual performance by a college football player to beat his team that night. Vince Young got it done. USC that night did things out of character including blowing a 19 point lead in the fourth quarter. Tebow as a freshman played in the Florida and Ohio State game and had some impact plays. Leinart torched Oklahoma, Michigan, and Texas in all of his title games. USC lost in Leinart's first year at Cal in triple overtime. When USC opened the season that year against Auburn, no one even heard of Matt Leinart. All he did was go to Jordan Hare stadium and beat the Tigers that day and never look back. believe his record at USC as a starter was 37-2. Tebow's record as a starter is 34-6 but he has an unbelievable amount of touchdowns. 84 passing touchdowns and 56 rushing touchdowns. Leinart had 99 passing touchdowns and only 9 rushing touchdowns. Obviously they had two different styles of play. But think about it, Leinart's only losses were in a championship game by 3 points and in triple overtime on the road against a quality opponent. Yes he had Reggie Bush and a hellacious defense. Florida has a ton of pro prospects as well. Percy Harvin may not have won the Heisman like Bush but he was just as spectacular for the Gators.
In my analysis I take 37-2 over 34-6 any day of the week. Matt Leinart wasn't even expected to be anything as a player. He was holding the job for John David Booty one year, the year he won the Heisman. His first year he was supposed to be behind two quarterbacks. Tebow was a High School all American and was supposed to be as great as he was. Leinart wins in a close one!!

so who's better?

I have to admit I do not follow hockey until the playoffs. I watch the highlights of the sick hits and impressive goals and saves. This season I have seen some crazy stuff in hockey and some gross stuff too. The player who hit his own teammate in the helmet after allowing a goal tops the list. Speaking of goal play today I have a rhetorical question to ask. Who is better Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek or Martin Brodeur? Conventional wisdom says it is Roy. He took two teams to the Stanley Cup and was great as a young layer and great as an elder statesman. My lasting memory of Roy in Montreal is the game when he allowed 9 goals and the coach did not take him out because he was allegedly showing up Roy. He was a great player and 4 Stanley Cups to his credit and countless records gives him the credibility to be called the greatest goalie of all times. He was known for his butterfly style in the net and definitely influenced the goalies that came after him. I think his days in Colorado were overshadowed because he was on an all-star team and he was not the savior that he was in Montreal. Also I think that he tried to be involved in the game more than any goalie I have ever seen. I will explain that in comparing him to the others. I could list his records but they seem to daily get broken by Brodeur.
Martin Brodeur in my opinion is the best long tenured player in the history of all sports. He is the New Jersey Devils. No player in any sport represents his team any better than he. Peyton Manning comes close but I don't think he will have 16 years with the Colts that Brodeur has had with the Devils. Every year it seems that the Devils are playing in the eastern conference title game or in the Stanley Cup. He has faced better competition the Roy has. The Avalanche and Red Wings were the only real teams in the west during Roy's career out west. Dallas, San Jose, Calgary, Chicago did not have the consistency that the teams in the East had. Philadelphia, Boston, Buffalo, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, every year put out clubs that have what it takes to win a cup. For Brodeur to do what he has done going up against, Lindross, Lemiuex, Messier and Gretzky, and now Ovechkin, and Crosby is pretty sick. He will own every record in goal tending before he is done. He is the most unknown superstar in all of sports. Unlike Roy, Brodeur just did his job. He had no need to get in fights or take risks that were not necessary. Yes Team Canada played Roy over him in the Olympics, but I have read where a lot of players wanted Brodeur to play over Roy. He is a living legend and will never be appreciated for what he has meant to hockey. If he wins one more cup, I think that he will get the nod over Roy.
Then there is Hasek. If he does not get injured or played in a better market, he would be the guy. He only has one ring I think but he has done things that no other goalie has. He has been a league M.V.P. back to back seasons I believe and he is the European goal tender to win the Stanley cup. He is the European goalie to do a lot of things in hockey. His feat in the Olympics is legendary. He simply just does not allow goals. If he had the support cast that the Devils had or what he had in Detroit later in his career, this discussion would be closed. The Dallas and Buffalo series was epic because of Hasek's brilliance. His career does not compare to Brodeur because the Devils system was really tough to beat. Buffalo had decent defenders usually left it up to Hask to clean up their messes. He is treated with such high regard in his Czech Nation. His nickname says all you need to know about how great a player he was. If he had more cups he would win hands down but only one title hurts him in the argument.
In the end, I am taking Brodeur because he is the best player no one outside of hockey has ever heard. Now that he is an American citizen, I wonder if he will player for us in the Olympics or will he finally lead Canada to reach the glory that they feel they should have every time they lace 'em up.

After another weekend of..

After another weekend of intense football and college basketball, I have come to realize that I am a sports addict. I wonder if they prescribe anything for my disease. I watch everything. My wife thinks I am crazy and I haven't done anything to prove her wrong. I get up at 9am and the television stayed on until the final play in the Rutgers and Central Florida game. I have two days a week to watch all I can and I don't miss a thing. My daughter and I play in her play yard during the games and she has an idea of who i like and what. The best(worse) part of living on the west coast is that I can watch every game and still be able to go out afterward. My wife takes Miracle to a mommy and me workshop on Saturdays and on Sunday Miracle is all mine as I explain to her the nuances of the spread offense. I eat grits and cheese and she has cereal and fruit. I cant imagine life being any better.
Yesterday in the NFL there was 7 games that were decided in the final 2 minutes. If you count the shocking Cowboy victory on Saturday and the unbelievable Colts victory on Thursday 9 games were actually decided in the final minutes. To me that is why the NFL is king. The NBA has Kobe and Lebron who do spectacular things to make me want to watch. Kobe's game winning shot on Friday night against Milwaukee is why I watch the Lakers. I am waiting for Lebron to take over the east but maybe that will happen in a Knick uniform next year. Tiger keeps me riveted on the golf course. Federer and Nadal , Serena and Venus, keep me watching tennis. Jimmie Johnson on the track, Manny and Floyd in the ring, and the Mets!!! Nothing to say about them other than they better sign a power hitting outfielder and get healthy this off season. The NFL is king because even the bad teams are capable of having one shining moment. Did you watch the Cleveland and Kansas City game. 75 points, over 600 yards of offense, record breaking performances by Harrison and Cribbs. Kansas City which usually boasts about having the best fans in football did not sell out yesterday and the game was blacked out in the city. So they missed the game too. Cleveland and Detroit played a similar game earlier this year. I am sure the betting public made a killing taking the over. After this weekend's slate of games, there are several teams in the AFC that are still alive for the playoffs. The great thing is that all of the teams have a tough opponent this weekend. The Jets play the Colts. The Steelers play the Ravens. The Broncos play the Eagles. The Jags play the Patriots. I can't wait.

Coach Knight got me thinking..

Usually these days when Coach Bobby Knight speaks, most of us half-heartedly listen. I feel that he is a great encyclopedia for college basketball and could coach the hell out of the motion offense, but he needs to keep his opinion to himself on topics especially when talking about other people. He is the last person who should be criticizing anyone with his track record. Now that he is a media person I guess he feel it is his turn to rebuke college basketball for all it has done to him. A couple of days ago he made a comment about Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari that has stunned the nation. He wondered aloud how a coach that has had two programs get probation after he leaves because of what has happened during his tenure gets jobs in major college basketball. That is about as low a blow as one can give another without actually doing it. True Memphis and my Alma mater UMASS received sanctions for things that happened during Cal's tenure. If the NCAA knew what the basketball players were doing during his tenure there he probably would be arrested and banned from the state of Massachusetts. He can coach, recruit and win. Period. But his statement upset me because Coach Cal isn't the only coach that gets jobs. Jerry Tarkanian did the same things at Long Beach st. and UNLV didn't he? I am not trying to slam these coaches but my point is in all sports the hiring of coaches is a joke. It is incestuous and some may say racist. The NFL has decided to put in the Rooney rule that makes every team that is looking for a coach, interview a black one first then go ahead and hire whoever you want after. At least they are trying to include us in the process but come on haven't we seen the same re-tread coaches around the league? Any coach that has coached under Bill Walsh or Mike Holmgren or Andy Reid seem to get all of the NFL jobs. Major League baseball has a similar system as the NFL and the same managers get jobs all over the league. I love Joe Torre don't get me wrong but how many teams has he managed? Jim Rigelman has managed I believe three teams and does not have a winning record anywhere.Only a handful of managers have job that were their first and only jobs. Mike Scosia has been the Angels manager for a boat load years. Terry Francona has been the Red Sox for a few years too. Ozzie Guillen and Tony La Russa have been with their teams for a awhile too. My point in mentioning all of this is that there are a lot of bad coaches and managers getting hired on all levels of sports and there does not seem like new faces get a chance to show what they can do. Next year already Mike Shananhan and Mike Holmgren will be back coaching in the NFL. Tony Dungy and Bill Cowher refuse to be interviewed for jobs but every year their name comes up for every job. So I am calling on all new coaches around the globe to succeed and build a name for yourself quickly. I am tired of seeing the same people getting the same jobs and keeping you down.. Brian Kelly did it the right way. Turner Gill did it the right way too. Tom Crean is swimming upstream at Indiana but at least he is swimming.... Over the next few months lets see how many new faces get a shot at the big time. Coach Knight you have opened Pandora's Box. Let's see if the world is listening.. If not you could always throw a chair......

Do we like our sports...

Do we like our sports with controversy or without? I am really torn on this topic because a very large part of me really does not care about an athlete does off the field unless it is a new training method or whether or not he or she has donated time, money or resources to help others. Today's news about Bengal Receiver Chris Henry is horrible to hear because three years ago so many people would have said that he was heading down this road. Whether he is a bad person or has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong things, I wonder what the public perception of him would be if we did not know the things we know about him. From all accounts of him this year, he was turning his life around. If you watched the HBO show "Hard Knocks" you got to see his kids and see him off the field in a different light. Controversy or not his kids are without a daddy a week before Christmas. Controversy or not this man had a broken arm and was out for the season and now a team mourns. A city mourns.. A family mourns. This is why I am torn on controversy.
We all have issues in our home. Whether small or large, no one is perfect so why do we care so much? Is it money? Do we all think that rich people live that much better than the rest of us? Dont they eat, shit, walk, run, laugh, cry the same we do? They may do it in a nicer home or nicer bedroom, but we all do the same things. This year we seem to be known as the infidelity nation. Jon and Kate, Steve Mcnair, Tiger, Rick Pitino, just to name a few. I cannot remember the name of this L.a. City Council guy who was overheard on camera bragging about his exploits a couple of months ago. I don't care about any of this crap. I watch my sports because I love sports. If a couple of players get into a fight after a game, I want to know about it. If a referee blows a call during a game and it costs a team a victory, I want to see it and debate the merits of it. I don't care that A-rod is dating Kate Hudson and all of sudden he is a great player in the post season because of her. She is not hitting, pitching, or fielding so i don't need to know this stuff. If they are taking drugs to make them better athletes, I want to know this information. I have read a lot of articles of steroids and I am interested in trying to understand how and why athletes would do these things. If Matt Leinart is out partying and getting drunk I don't care about that crap. He is of age to drink so more power to him. If a college or university is taken underage boys to strip clubs or setting them up with female companionship I dont care because every school does it. So it is not news. ASK ANY BOUNCER IN THIS COUNTRY AND HE CAN TELL YOU STORIES.. Floyd Mayweather said the other day on the Joe Buck show that he has won 1.3 million dollars betting Colt games this year. Not one report was written about him. Charles Barkely loses 400 large and the world is ready to kill him. WHO CARES!!! If I had 400 large to gamble and lost it I would be pissed but I am sure that if I had it I would have another 400 large to replace it!!!Why are we so damn nosy. 24hr new cycles have destroyed this country. CNN, FoxNews, Espn, have absolutely destroyed this country. The President is in Copenhagen trying to get a deal signed to get other countries to give more money in helping to slow down global warming. That is news.. If a player beats his wife that is news too. The tabloid stuff is just pure garbage. What tears me up is that despite saying all of what I said, I wont turn the tabloid crap off. I will not let it define what I think of certain people but if I hate an athlete then I am just like everyone else clamoring for more. When Micheal Irvin was going through his travails in the 90's I was like give me more... I am Pathetic...

Say What????

Many years ago I got into a debate with great mentor Jeff Howe about the comparative value of athletics at a university and the normal student. He pointed out to me that even though athletics generate millions of dollars to a school, do not dismiss the value of what non athletes bring to colleges and universities. I told him that College athletes should be paid because even though their education is paid the money that they bring in allows for the average college student to have microscopes and things that on may need over a college career. He did not fully disagree but he again spoke of the value of the scientist who is doing research that brings money to a university or other majors that do research to help society. I agreed with his position but I concluded by saying that a Biology student is not getting his name in the paper because he failed his classes or if he dropped a beaker in class as opposed to an athlete who is slammed because he dropped a first down pass or failed human studies because he cannot read. Now 18 years later I feel the same on the topic but even stronger.
College coaches make a sick amount of money in most sports. Football and Basketball generate so much money for universities and colleges. In some schools like Miami, LSU, Syracuse, USC, North Carolina, they have incredible sport programs in more than two fields. North Carolina may have the best programs in the country. They have great men and women sports and even though the football team has not competed for a championship in years, the soccer, baseball, lacrosse program make serious money for the schools as well. Texas has the big three. When Coach Mack Brown was awarded a contract extension and a raise, some of the teachers complained that the timing is not right and that the raise was excessive. All he has done is played or competed for a championship every yer that he has been in Texas. In fact just for getting his team to the championship game alone this year the school will receive in excess of 25 million dollars. what people don't know is that every team that goes to a bowl game gets a boat load of money. The students get to wear cool apparel and get a small stipend to feed themselves for a week since they cannot find a job. In fact at most Universities around the country, college coaches in the school biggest bread winning sports make more money than the governors and other important people in the state. Coach Jim Calhoun was in the news last year when Connecticut gave him a raise in the millions. Pete Carroll at USC makes 4.4 million a year here in L.A. Bob Stoops and Nick Saban 4 million and Charlie Weis just got paid a ridiculous amount of money in a settlement with Notre Dame. The reason I still support the student athlete is most represented in the Brian Kelly situation. His players over the last two years have won over 20 games and played in 2 B.C.S. games. Cincinnati does not have a rich football history and because of the success of the football team, Brian Kelly "earned" the Notre Dame job, got paid a king's ransom and his players got nothing left but memories. So if the coaches are getting "broken off" why can't the players?
So this what college age athletes are doing now. Most of them are going to school for one year in basketball or over seas to play in Europe and getting hands on training. A couple of them have unsuccessfully petitioned leagues to play pro early in football. Maurice Clarett is the saddest athlete in the world. He has gone from a national champion and super freshman to fresh meat in a prison cell. All due to the fact that he wanted to go pro before they put out an age requirement in football. He did get drafted but was so unprepared and disillusioned that his fall is tragic. Mike Williams has not had any career to speak of. He was drafted by the Lions and then he was picked up by Oakland and he seems to not be able to stay healthy enough to play in the league. In baseball, the athletes are going to the minor leagues and honing their skills there, although college baseball still gets great prospects. Most schools have two baseball seasons so those athletes don't have a chance to get jobs either. In the other sports that don't have professional careers, prepare for careers in other fields or hope for Olympic glory and hope to get sponsorships to further their pursuits. I say pay them all and let the chips fall wall they may. Coaches are making way to much money. They get too much credit and too much blame. These two athletes probably would have stayed in college if they got paid. Please don't feed me that nonsense about perks and hush money from boosters that some of the families get. When they get busted and have to pay it back or ruin programs for schools is not a prevalent today as it was in the 80's. If an athlete is good enough these days they usually figure out a way to go pro. "Blue Chips" was a great movie though....

we have two teams with a dilemma

We have two teams with a serious dilemma. Do I play or do I rest the players for the championship run. The Colts and Saints have been the most impressive teams this year in the NFL. Their 13-0 records are the stuff of legend so far and now they have to decide if making history is more important than winning a championship. We have been here before with the 2007 Patriots. They did not suffer any injuries and were a late Plaxico Burress touchdown away from joining the 1972 Dolphins as the leagues unbeaten teams in the Super Bowl era. The 72 Dolphins did suffer a major injury to Bob Greise and were lucky to have a veteran backup in Earl Morrall. Most people of this generation don't know that. Another crazy thing to do with the Dolphins of 1972 is that they were an underdog in the Super Bowl to the Redskins. How crazy is that? You win all of your games and you are an underdog in the biggest game of the year. The Saints do have Mark Brunnell as a backup but he has thrown one pass since 2006. (last Sunday against the Redskins).. The Colts had Jim Sorgi but he is hurt and the third guy hasn't played in an NFL game in his career. What a dilemma indeed.
So what do I do? I play my guys to the very end. Athletes only know one way to be and to play. "Hard"!!! In professional football any relaxed movements can end a career or season. The Colts and Saints play on turf and strange injuries seem to occur on turf. Whether it is a guy standing by a pile and getting rolled under by mistake or a cleat getting stuck in the carpet turf injuries used to be a serious epidemic in the league. The advantage that the Saints have over the Colts is that they so many players contributing to their success. They use 4 running backs and 5 receivers and tight ends. Most of the scoring from the Colts comes from the same six players. They use 2 running backs and 4 main receivers. The Saints have lost players during this win streak and they continue to win. The Colts have had limited injuries on offense but their defense is missing a key cog. The Saints have to keep playing because Minnesota is only 2 games behind them. The home field advantage that the Saints have is unlike no one's in the N.F.L. They are also trying to win for a city that has been decimated with destruction from Hurricane Katrina. If the Saints make it to the Super Bowl the city of New Orleans will get such a boost from their success. Financially and emotionally it would uplift those people and bring the necessary attention to a city that still needs help. If they play the Colts that would outstanding because of the history that Peyton Manning has with city and of course Peyton's dad's legacy. I usually don't support other teams than the Giants during the season but if this match up could happen I will be more convinced that the world is going in the right direction. The Colts are known for resting players. Having this great record is nothing new to them. They seem to be 10-0 every year. I hope they will give the fans what they want. Which is an unbeaten season and a championship. We shall see....

will donovan Mcnabb do it this this year?

I "hate" few things in the world. I actually don't hate anything but I dislike a ton of things. I dislike the Cowboys and Cowboy fans. I despise the Atlanta Braves and Brave fans. I abhor the Boston Celtics and Celtic fans. I do not eat carrots although I like carrot cake without the chunks of carrots in them. I detest raisins, okra, and string beans. As much as I prefer watching the New York Giants and Eli Manning over the Philadelphia Eagles, I am embarrassed to say that I am Donovan Mcnabb fan even though I literally hate the Eagles. When the Eagles drafted him and the crowd booed lustfully I felt in my heart that these people were idiots. I knew this guy was going to be a Giant killer and he has not let me down in that respect. In the last four games against the Giants he has a perfect record and has absolutely torched the secondary up. I wish sometimes that the eagles had drafted Ricky Williams but I know in my heart that he would have killed us like Emmitt Smith did or Ricky Waters did back in the day. The strange thing about McNabb's career is that he is soooo under appreciated. He has been to 5 championship games and only one Super Bowl. Not everyone can be like Terry Bradshaw or Joe Montana but playing in 5 championship games is pretty damn special. He has been the biggest influence on black quarterback in the past decade of football. Mike Vick, Vince Young, Tavares Jackson, Daunte Culpepper, and Steve Mcnair all credit Donovan for being the guy that they look to as the leader. Doug Williams is still the only black quarterback to win a super bowl but Mcnabb's day could be coming sooner than one may think.. This is the best talent that the eagles have had on offense in years. They are fast, physical and explosive. They score from anywhere on the field. Whether by punt returns, deep throws or running the ball, the Eagles can compete with anyone. They did lose to the Saints badly this year just like everyone has, but the playoff are a different animal. Last season, the Eagles came from out of nowhere and made it to the Championship game only to lose in a shootout with the Cards. If you look at the 6 potential playoff teams in the NFC this year you will notice the one thing they have in common. They all have explosive offenses and opportunistic defenses. When someone says that your defense is opportunistic they are saying that your defense is good but not great and that you create a lot of turnovers that helps your offense. Only the Vikings defense is good against the run and pass. The great thing for the NFC this year too is that the two teams with the best records play in a dome so that means fast paced games and shootouts. The first team to play defense will win the NFC. The Eagles lost the great Jim Johnson before the season started and their new coordinator hasnt figured out who he is yet. McNabb is ready to take on Brees, Warner, Favre, Rodgers, Romo in any environment. He has lost to Warner and Favre in championship games before but i think he is ready to finally get his ring this time. When he does I will be happy for him and then i will start to hate him...

I love listening to people debate..

I love listening to people debate about Tim Tebow and whether or not he is going to be a player in the N.F.L.. This guy knows how to play the game one way. He is the epitome of a winner in every sense of the word. I feel badly for him. He has the one of the best college football players we have ever seen. He has played in the National championship game twice. Won both times. Won a Heisman Trophy. Broke every scoring record in the S.E.C. Graduated with a 3.6 g.p.a. He has traveled to other countries as a missionary and ambassador. He is the prototypical perfect face for any franchise. The rumors that Jacksonville Jaguars want him is great for the N.F.L. He is the kind of guy that you want running your corporation. Does he have suspect skills? Who are we to say. His arm is not as strong as Ryan Mallets or Case Keenum but he has been playing with pro prospects for 4 years. He runs the 40 in 4.5 but he likes to run people over instead of around them. Alex Smith is a bad representation of what the Urban Meyer system can do to a quarterback. Smith came into the N.F.L. the leader of an undefeated Utah team and was this flawless prodigy. He got chosen way before Aaron Rodgers and I bet you a ton of teams including the Niners are regretting that decision. Rodgers waited his turn and now he is a top 10 quarterback. Meyer is a great coach, don't confuse what I am saying. I just think that he is great for college and has not prepared any quarterbacks for the N.F. L. I don't think that he feels that is his job. If he felt that way then he would run plays that showed off his quarterbacks talents. I think Tebow is going to be a great pro. He will adapt to the N.F.L. game and show everyone that doubts him that he can really play this game. He will sit for a couple of years and learn the game and mark my words on this, he will be a star. He is not going to win the Heisman this year because he really did not have a good year. He may scored a bunch of touchdowns against a watered down schedule. They really played no one all year except Alabama. Over half the teams they faced this year had new quarterbacks and they did not face Ole Miss or Auburn. I wish him well...
Not much to say today... Notre Dame got its coach and Tiger is going on a sabbatical. Both are well needed and hopefully both will get out it what it wants. Kelly did leave his players hanging and I feel bad for them. You have this huge opportunity to play Florida to legitimize your season and you bail on your players. Money talks!!!! Bullshit walks!!! I am rooting for Cincinnati because if the impressively beat Florida, we may get a split champion. Kelly says he is a hands on coach and will address the defense. The Notre Dame schedule next year is quite favorable if some of the teams lose undergraduate key players. 9 home games is a huge plus. However, Notre Dame is basically starting over themselves. A brand new quarterback is the first challenge and creating an identity is the second. I wish him well. Charlie Weis I wish you well too. Dont be so cocky in your next hire and people will allow you to fail. Tiger get your wife back and raise your children with pride and integrity. If you cant be together, then be like Jeter and keep your affairs in order and out of the papers. I wish you well too..

today december 10th, 2009

Today, December 10, 2009 Barry Lamar Bonds retired from baseball. Most of you probably thought he already did. He is the poster boy for the "steroid era" in baseball and also the first athlete that I can honestly say has been "blackballed" by his sport. Do I think Bonds took steroids, honestly yes. Do I think he knowingly knew that he was taking steroids, maybe. Maybe he was doing something that at the time was not considered a steroid. Mark Mcgwire took a substance that was sold over the counter and at the time was not a banned substance from his sport. Maybe Bonds was doing Creatine or Thermadrene. I took those and got my weight up to 315 but I looked 250. I am sad that he retired today for a bunch of reasons. We will get to those in a minute. So no parade, no motorcade, no ceremony by his final team, no plaque with his name on it or tip of the cap to and adoring crowd. Bonds last days as a Giant they did that for him. Two years ago!!! He still in his last season hit more home runs than any Giant did last season. It is a disgrace that he has been kicked to the curb by major league baseball.
Lets talk steroids briefly. I like everyone else don't have a clue what the effect of taking steroids has on a baseball player. People keep saying that it makes you hit the ball farther and obviously it makes you stronger. Then why did other players not have the success that Bonds and A-rod had with the drug. Hitting a baseball is not as easy as the media and sporting press has made it out to be. Plus the crazy thing about Bonds is that his batting average improved during the alleged times that he was doing steroids. I don't want to argue semantics but that should not have happened. He walked like a thousand plus times and did not hit a ton of doubles or triples. In most games he got one at bat and if he got a hit that was it. It is a shame that we will only remember him for the last 10 years of his career instead of the great player that he was. 23 years encompasses a long time in sports. So many highlights are all wasted because no one trusts his accomplishments of the last 10 years.
Greg Anderson must have done something terrible in a previous life or he must have done something to Barry Bonds. This man has been in jail for over 3 years in total protecting information that he has about Bonds and steroids. People say that this is the ultimate loyalty. I wonder if Bonds is paying his bills at home or his lawyers fees. My theory is that Anderson gave Bonds steroids and Bonds did not have a clue what he was taking. I think Bonds found out and it was too late to stop and he just kept doing them until the cycle finished. The rationale behind my crazy theory is why the hell would anyone go to jail to protect a multi-million dollar athlete? The most time Bonds would get in jail would not even a year and he would pay a fine and be done with this. Lets say Bonds would get 5 years for taking steroids he probably would get out in 2 and he would still be rich. Greg Anderson has lost 3 years of his life protecting his name!!! Protecting Bonds has destroyed Greg Anderson. Greg Anderson may have destroyed Barry Bonds. Spending Christmas in jail for a crime that you have not committed really sucks. Bond to my knowledge is not mobbed up so I don't understand the sacrifice being made by Anderson.
So a great ball player career ended today!!! He should have been put on a pedestal and appreciated. Barry was his own worst enemy. He would not let the press control him and now it seems like the new mission is to keep him out of the Hall of Fame. McGwire is about to become a hitting instructor for the Cardinals next season.. Sosa has bleached his skin. A great era of baseball has been tossed aside because of these men. None of these men won championships so why do we care. Don't they say that" if you ain't cheating' you ain't trying'?" The final stat line for Bonds:2935 hits 1996 runs batted in 514 stolen bases
762 home runs 2558 walks 2227 runs scored
What a career that will be forgotten!!!!

What is Image?

Remember over 20 years ago, Charles Barkley did a commercial telling the world that he is not a role model.. He doesn't want to raise your kids and basically the fact that he can bounce a basketball and dunk it doesn't make him a role model. His "image" at first was ridiculed because most people thought that he was just running his mouth. Then more came out that he was saying that parents should be a role model more than athletes. A few years later Andre Agassi came out with the image is everything commercial commercials. The commercials were cool, but the media and other players came out saying that "winning is everything" mocking Agassi's inability to win the big tournaments. Most rap music of the 80's and early 90's talked about looking "fly"or stylish with hair cuts and hair styles. How one dressed determined if they were cool or "down". Black men would go out and by the African neck chains to show people that they were representing the mother land. What is Image? Do your clothing, language, attitude, wealth, success or failure make up an image? Is image created by the person? Is image created by the society one lives in? Lets dissect this a bit.
Andre Agassi is the perfect example of this question, especially now knowing what we know about him. He was always criticized for being more concerned about looking good than winning matches. He wore cutoff shorts and had long hair. The public loved him for his looks, flair and his"hair". He was a renegade because he refused to go to Wimbledon and wear the white shirt and shorts. Then of course the greatest irony is that winning Wimbledon is what legitimized his career shot holes through that image crap. He played to win. He just did not do it much as a young player when the American Tennis Federation wanted an American player to be like Connors or McEnroe. Now we learn that he had fake hair, hated tennis and a meth head. Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if his hair piece had fallen off his head? When he won the U.S. Open and Barbara Streisand was mentoring him and he cried and carried on like he did America cried too. Can you imagine if at that time we would have found out he was kicking his meth habit at the time? What would we have done? No one knew that the drug was prevalent then as it is today. He would have been destroyed you think. Listening to the excerpts from his book though he would have been relieved so he would not have to play tennis again. The image of Agassi was that he was tapping as much ass as he could get and did not care if he won matches or not. He was flashy and excitable and we loved it all. The reality was he was as miserable as a teething baby. We created his image so that now that he has confessed so much to us, that we look stupid for rooting for a guy who could careless about what we feel. When you win, it is not enough. Pete Sampras would win matches answer questions with as many one word answers he could think of and go running or just go home. Barry Sanders would just give the ball to the referee and he was deemed as "aloof" or indifferent because he did not celebrate like Emmit Smith or others. Agassi was our puppet. I wonder if he acted bratty or at the time when he was reeling if he said that he hated tennis would the public love him as they do now. I wonder if he never won a major if people would revere him like I do.
I keep hearing that Tiger's image is destroyed and he needs to go on Oprah or 60 minutes and explain his sins to save his image. Again what is Tigers image? I think that most people thought he was a "square" and that he was a robot. All he cared about was winning golf. "Second Sucks" is a quote that is attributed to him. I remember when he first came on the scene other golfers hated him because they did not want to answer questions about him. They did not at the time understand what kind of force he was about to be. When he won the Masters in record fashion, everyone stopped talking and started climbing on the Tiger express. When he "stuffed" that tee shot in a playoff to get his first win, everyone went crazy. Unlike Agassi Tiger won early and often and all of the players at the time got angry and not motivated to beat him. Hell David Duval fell apart. Justin and Phil took a bunch of years before they got their majors. How do we explain Tigers image? He did not have one in my opinion. I have seen every major athlete of the past 25 years at night club or bar and I have never seen Tiger. (any Golfer for that matter). I have been a bouncer for 14 years of my life and I find that hard to believe that I have not seen Tiger. I seen Jordan, Carl Lewis, Lance Armstrong, Tyson, Micheal Irvin, Magic, Kobe, De La Hoya, Danica, Serena, Roy Jones, Elway, McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Jeter, no Tiger. I even worked on a Tom Cruise movie. Danced with Sandra Bullock. Body guarded Hef's table for a bunch of nights.. No Tiger. His situation is so unique and amazing at the same time. He is 33 years old and basically still the best player in the world. He is chasing history. This coming season, he needs 4 wins to pass Nicklaus for second o the all time wins list. He still needs 4 majors to pass Jack for all time for that. He is only 13 or 14 behind Sam Snead for all time wins. In other words, how many companies are going to abandon him and how many companies are still going to try and sign him? This will die down and if he wins the Masters and Elin is standing there holding their children and he gets hug, the world press will make it the world's moment and everything will be okay.. So once again I ask what is Tigers Image? Time will tell if he has one. Right now his image is that he is a horny bastard. If Elin leaves him she would get half his worth right? 500 million dollars... He would make that back in what 2 years? 3 years after he breaks all of the records. The difference between Agassi and Tiger to me is that I never knew Tiger. We only what he allows to see and hear about him. Agassi has been in my face for 25 years and I can chronicle his life and understand his rise and fall now. I was duped by him before and I did not care because he made me watch tennis. Tiger makes me watch golf because I he teaches me not to give up. I still don't know what image is.. O.J. Simpson had a great "image" too...

isn't it about time?

Isn't about time that the Heisman Trophy be called the Most Outstanding Offensive Player Award? Charles Woodson is the only Heisman Trophy winner that primarily played defense. He was spectacular on special teams and came into games and made catches and scored touchdowns. If defense wins championships, why can't the win the Heisman too? Did you see the Texas and Nebraska tilt on Saturday? Ndamukong Suh put a performance that would make Mean Joe Greene proud. He is the best college lineman I have seen since Steve Emtmann from the University of Washington. 4 and 1/2 sacks in a championship game with the world watching is L.T. like. The Rams and Bucs are currently in the sweepstakes for his services next year. He is the best player in the country by far. This is the first time that I can remember that the actual number 1 pick in the draft is the best player in college. He plays the run, the pass, defends screen passes. He can run sideline to sideline to make plays. He basically beat the crap out of the guy who is going to win the award on Saturday. Jimmy Clausen had a better season than Colt MCcoy. Case Keenum did too. Ndamukong is getting a lot of national support though. The reason that defenders won't win the award is touchdowns. I am certain that any college football fan can remember a defensive player that is as good as the winner of the award without hesitation. Emtmann was that guy for me. He never played many games in the NFL but he is the highest rated prospect in the history of the draft. Derrick Brooks was awesome also. Hugh Greene back in the day came in second and he was worthy of the award. Brian Bosworth was as well. Levar Arrington and Roy Williams made plays every week. I know i take this stuff too seriously but these men put their uniform on the same way as a quarterback does. a receiver and a running back. Can you believe that there are only two receivers that has won the Heisman Trophy. Desmond Howard and Tim Brown. How crazy is that? If Peter Warrick had not gotten in trouble stealing he would have won the award. Crazy award that means so much in college but not a damn thing in the pros.
Isn't it about time that the NBA admit that the league is superstar driven and they do give the stars calls and that their is some legitimacy to the claims of Tim Donaghy!!! I remember wondering why everyone kept saying that Dr. J. used to walk with the ball and never get called for it. Or why the Celtics always seemed to get calls in the fourth quarter of games when they were losing. Or why the Lakers never played back to back games when they won titles in 2000-2003 in the playoffs like everyone else.!!!Why Jordan, Magic, Isaiah, Bird, Kareem, Akeem, never fouled out but Ewing did? I will watch the games no matter what but at least tell me that if Lebron or Duncan take an extra step we are not going to call it okay... or that if Wade and Kobe are about to shoot the game winning shot, if my defender sneezes on them that a foul will be called. (except in the finals against Duncan's team).
Isn't about time that BCS disband and stop this insanity. For the TCU and Boise State's of the world, this system sucks and to show them how bad it sucks they put them against each other to create more controversy. They could have matched either of these teams against Florida or Georgia Tech or Cincinnati. Making them play each other did nothing to change what people think about the little guy in college football. What a slap in the face. They played last year in an epic 17-16 classic. If Texas had lost, Iowa would have been watching the BCS games instead of playing one. Isn't it funny that everyone criticized the Big Ten and they have two teams playing in the big money games!!!
Isn't it about time that we recognize that College Basketball is more about the coaches than the schools and the players!!! Rick Pitino, Coach K., Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, Jim Calhoun and Boeheim, Geno and Pat are all institutions. They make more money than God. They get the schools the sneaker contracts and the television contracts. I know that kids are only there for a short period of time but I have never seen Coach Calipari make a three point shot to beat Kansas. Television is only interested in what the coaches do. Who cares about who wins. When Wisconsin beat Duke last week ESPN showed the coaches shaking hands amidst all of the chaos on the court. When Geno and Pat get together they spend more time showing the coaches then the action on the floor. C. Vivian, Tara, Gail, only get recognized if the are playing Pat and Geno. I think it is funny!! I usually could name the best players in the games in both men and women games.
Don't get me going about Pete Rose!!! another day for that isn't it about time!!!

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good...

I don't care what anyone says about skill, talent, or ability. I would rather be lucky than good. I am sure that we have all had one of those day when everything you do or touch just seems to go your way and I am sure that you have the opposite as well. After watching what I saw this weekend, I am convinced that being lucky is better than being good because you never know when luck is going to strike. For example, the Miami Heat played their best game on the road Friday night, only to have Kobe Bryant bank a three-point shot in and defeat them. After the game Kobe said that he knew the shot was long and when it went in all he could do is lift his arms above his head in triumph.
How about college football on Saturday. The University of Pittsburgh played their hearts out only to have a kicker miss an extra point that proved to be the margin of victory for Cincinnati. He must be the sickest man on earth. That kick is practiced a thousand times a season and for some reason it is missed more frequently than one might imagine. Then the University of Texas gets the luckiest break of the weekend. Their Heisman winning Quarterback Colt MCcoy throws a ball that was in the air forever out of bounds and the clock expired. The referees ruled that there was 1 second on the clock and allowed Texas an opportunity to kick a 46 yard field goal to win the game. The messed up thing about that play is that I was always taught that when the clock hits double zero, the game is over. Notre Dame and Michigan earlier this season had a similar play where the game clock should have given the Irish 1 second and allowed them to have one more play. The referee did not review the clock and ran off the field and Michigan won. Did Texas receive some"home cooking" with the call? Probably because I feel that when the clock goes "00" the game is over. I remember the Superbowl between the Patriots and the Rams and after Vinitieri made the kick, there was still 2 seconds on the clock. The Patriots ran on the field and celebrated, the confetti came down and the refs did not even try to stop the celebration.
Then of course the NFL game of the day. The New Orleans Saints got three unbelievable breaks yesterday. The kicker of the Redskins missed a 23 yard field goal that would have "iced" the game for the 'Skins. The receiver Meachem stole the ball from a defender who had intercepted a pass from Brees and returned it for a touchdown. In overtime, the Saints recovered a fumble even though the ruling on the field was down by contact. The replay booth over ruled the call and the Saints marched on to keep their unblemished record. Some may say that the Giants got lucky yesterday too. Tony Romo throws for 392 yards and basically carved the Giants up like the turkeys they are and lost the game because of a punt return and allowing a 265lb. running back to scamper down the sideline for a 70 plus yard touchdown on a short pass. As a Giant fan, I will take it as luck and look forward to he Eagles this weekend. Now the Cowboys have to answer the questions about always losing in December. Ya gotta love it!!!
The sad story of "bad" luck this weekend goes to Greg Oden of the Portland Trailblazers. This guy has been injured in all of his seasons in the NBA and now he is out for the season. He just jumped up in the air and landed and his knee is gone.. Portland must feel cursed. This the third high profile center that have drafted and their careers plagued by injuries. Bill Walton, Sam Bowie, Arvydis Sabonis could not stay healthy enough to sustain legendary careers while in Blazer uniforms. Walton, won three rings despite foot problems. He is in the Hall of fame. Sabonis is arguably the greatest international player that we never got to see. In his prime he was compared to Bird for his crafty ability with ball and shooting touch. When he came to the NBA he was still very good but injured too often with back and other issues. Bowie is a sad story because he was drafted ahead of Micheal Jordan and never did anything for the Blazers. A cup of coffee with the Nets is his only positive claim to fame in the NBA. Greg Oden from all accounts is a really good kid. I am sad for him and his family. He is only 22 so he has time but "unlucky" accidents happen all the time..