Freeways and Cow Pastures: A Sports Conversation

A classic day at Belmont

2006-06-13T02:01:00.000-05:00

My favorite sports book of all-time is Bill Nack's Secretariat: The Making of a Champion. It's a landmark treatise on horse racing, often called the "Sport of Kings". On Saturday, I attended one of its classic days, the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of horse racing's Triple Crown and a race where Secretariat, and many other champions, ran into history.

Horse racing has been in my family since I was born -- my father was a trainer, and he met my mother at the racetrack. It was natural that I follow his lead; I did so as a reporter, covering the sport for the Asbury Park Press and Daily Racing Form. Attending the Belmont Stakes then, the vaunted and most challenging leg of the Triple Crown, was for me what visiting St. Paul's Cathedral must be like for Catholics. Or so I imagined.

The Kentucky Derby has its pageantry, history, and exclusivity. Sure, "My Old Kentucky Home" is a moving song. But that's never been for me. It's for the blue-blooded. Give me Belmont Park. Give me Sinatra singing New York, New York. Taking the crowded Long Island Railroad from Penn Station to the racetrack in Elmont, right outside of Queens. On Saturday, I was in the center of that.

I left for Belmont at noon, and walking to the subway, I thought, this is a perfect day for horse racing. It was probably 75 degrees, a cool breeze came in from the west, and there were sporadic clouds populating the sky. This was great for the people at the track, but even better for the horses. This year's Belmont was shaping up to be anticlimactic. There was no Barbaro or Bernardini, meaning it was only the second time in over three decades that a Belmont field was missing the Kentucky Derby or Preakness Stakes winners. Track management was calling it a "good betting race." Horsemen know that's a euphemism for lackluster.

Regardless, I was excited to cover my first Belmont, to say hello to old friends, to sit in the paddock and watch the horses saddled before the race. Belmont Park is a gorgeous racetrack, and it's sad that so few people attend the races there. The park was built to hold 50,000 or 60,000 people comfortably, but since the advent of off-track betting in New York in 1970, a normal weekend card at Belmont rarely draws more than 10,000. And yet it offers the best racing in the country.

My trip to Belmont exceeded two hours, much longer than I expected. It still amazes me that a distance of a few miles can take hours to travel by public transportation in New York. I arrived during the fifth race, about four hours before the scheduled post of 6:33 pm for the Belmont. I had to tactfully weave my way through a large crowd on the passageway into the grandstand. I was awfully anxious to get inside.

I stopped along the passageway to admire Belmont Park. The wind was strong from there and it was cool; it seemed more like fall than the last days of spring. The course reminded me of a European one - lush green turf courses (there are two), several lakes, and a boundless quality. I had to wince to see the far end of the course. I've watched European races on TV and I have been to Longchamp in Paris, and the two racetracks are similar. Both have that boundless quality. When I entered the track and strolled to the paddock - where the horses are saddled and the jockeys are given the leg up on their mounts - that comparison was even more lasting.

There are concrete stands circling the paddock, the same as Longchamp. That makes the walking ring, where horses take a lap around before heading to the track, an event itself. On the rear of the clubhouse façade, ivy snakes up the red brick walls. Tall trees, in full bloom, hover above the ring. And in the center of the immense paddock is a statue of Secretariat, who shattered the track record and all conventions of the limits of a thoroughbred when he won the Belmont by 31 lengths and captured the Triple Crown in 1973. There won't be any like him in today's race, I thought, and well there haven't been any since.

Like a quality prizefight, a classic day in horse racing comes with an exceptional undercard. Saturday was no exception. In fact, the undercard races had the potential to outshine the main event. The seventh race of the day, which I watched from the winner's circle, saw a beautiful ride from French jockey Julien Leparoux aboard the French-bred Gorella for trainer Patrick Biancone, a renowned French trainer. Biancone is as cosmopolitan as any trainer in this country; he has won Grade 1 races on three continents, in Asia and Europe and now North America.

Biancone's training excellence is only matched by his bravado. He predicts greatness for 2-year-olds before they have ever raced. He is often found chain smoking between races. He runs fillies against colts, aggressively enters his horses on short rest or where they may seem overmatched. He is an unorthodox trainer but his success has validated his style. Following Gorella's win, Biancone, wearing a finely tailored dark suit, walked briskly to the winner's circle, pumping his fist. Biancone is short, but he walks erectly as I imagine all short Frenchmen do (see: Napoleon). After the race he exclaimed that Gorella was "the best grass filly in the country." It was hard to disagree.

A little over three weeks ago, Edgar Prado, widely considered the country's top jockey, probably thought he would be at Belmont on the verge of winning the Triple Crown with Barbaro. Nobody could have predicted, lest Prado, what befell Barbaro in the Preakness. On Saturday, the 38-year-old Peruvian rider seemed determined to compensate for that loss.

He won the eighth race, the $250,000 Woody Stephens Breeders' Cup, with a masterful ride aboard Songster. He kept his horse to the outside to pin down Garrett Gomez and his horse, the heavily favored Too Much Bling, along the rail with little room to run. Two races later, he guided Cacique to a front-running win in the Grade 1, $400,000 Manhattan Handicap, conserving just enough of his horse's energy to win a thrilling head bob at the wire. Prado's sense of timing, his ability to weave through traffic or save ground, and his internal clock (gauging the fractions of the race) is unparalleled in the sport.

I watched the Manhattan Handicap in the grandstand with several friends, and there was a palatable sense of anticipation growing in the crowd. There were no stars in the Belmont but the event still had meaning. It was still a classic race. Earlier in the day I was surprised with how few people were in attendance. There were rows of empty seats along the track apron and I guessed there couldn't have been more than 50,000. That's rather small for the Belmont Stakes. In the end, the announced attendance was a shade over 61,000.

But following the Manhattan Handicap, with the Belmont Stakes next, the track was more crowded and people were already placing bets on the race. As I walked through the tunnel that connects the track and paddock, I passed Christophe Clement, who trains Relaxed Gesture, beaten a nose in the Manhattan. The difference was $160,000 between first and second. Clement was watching the replay several times, as if he was hoping the order of finish might change. He just shook his head and laughed. "That's horse racing," he said, to nobody in particular.

There were several hundred people in the paddock when I arrived about 25 minutes before the expected post time. Trainers were stationed in the stalls and saddling their horses. Owners were pacing. I saw Bob McNair, owner of Bob and John, and the Houston Texans, standing by himself, probably too nervous to talk to anyone. At 6:17 pm, the twelve jockeys in the race walked into the paddock. The colors of their silks seemed brighter than usual, almost shining against the green backdrop of the trees. I wished Eibar Coa luck, the rider aboard High Finance, an old acquaintance when he rode at Monmouth Park in New Jersey and I was a reporter there. I liked Steppenwolfer and Jazil, but I reserved final judgment until I saw how the horses looked.

At 6:20 pm, the trainers gave the jockeys a leg up onto their horses. Then Frank Sinatra belted out his tune. The Derby and Preakness have older, more traditional songs, but the Belmont has the timeless "New York, New York." As the horses took one lap around the circle, Sinatra began, "Start spreading the news..." I think it was the sweetest version I had ever heard, especially when he sang, "If I can make there, I'd make it anywhere."

I pushed my way to the edge of the walking ring, packed five-deep, so I could see the horses en route to the track. After closely watching each horse, I jotted in my notepad how awesome Jazil looked. He was powerful, well-built, and his muscles were taut against his glistening black coat. He was bouncing around on his toes. Bluegrass Cat, one of the favorites, was on edge and he scattered the crowd in front of me when he reared up. His rider, John Velazquez, was trying to calm him down. Both horses were eager to run.

After the horses left the paddock, I staked out a spot in the tunnel to watch the race on TV. I didn't have binoculars so this would have to do. The lukewarm favorite was Bob and John at 9-2. I had never seen such an even betting race. I liked Jazil, who was 6-1, Steppenwolfer, and Bluegrass Cat. At 6:36 pm, the bell rang and the gates were opened in the 138th running of the mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes.

I watched Jazil throughout the race, following the blue silks with white stripes of Shadwell Stable, because he was galloping along so nicely. Halfway through the race, after some fast fractions set by Bob and John, 18-year-old Fernando Jara let him loose, and he started passing horses as if they were standing still. He unleashed a powerful, sweeping move after six furlongs, and by the top of the stretch, with over two furlongs to run, he was already in front. I looked back and saw no other horses gaining ground. Bluegrass Cat ran very well to hold second, but he was no match for Jazil, and Sunriver and Steppenwolfer ran late to pick up third and fourth.

But Jazil was much the best this day, handling the champion's distance of 1 ½ miles better than any other, and stamping himself into Belmont Park history. The final time wasn't particularly fast - 2:27.86 - and much shy of Secretariat's record 2:24. The story of the race was Jara, who had never won a graded stakes race before, let alone a classic race, and has only been in this country for two years since leaving Panama.

Furthermore, the win cemented the powerful influence Arab owners now have in American racing. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai won the Preakness with Bernardini in the silks of his Darley Stable. His brother, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, who races under the moniker Shadwell Stable, owns Jazil. Rick Nichols, Shadwell's racing manager, said after the race that Sheikh Hamdan watched it in Dubai live at 2:30 am.

In the post-race press conference, Jazil's trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said that he dreamed about winning this race, growing up in Lexington, Kentucky. "That's why you wake up at 4:30 every morning to do this," he said. Jara, who had a great big smile on his mud-baked face, was quiet and probably not too confident about his English with reporters asking questions and cameras flashing. But he did say, "You have no idea how I feel right now. When I was a kid I watched this and said I would be there one day."

Sitting in that room, jotting down notes, I couldn't help but smile myself. I felt a great joy for Jara to accomplish such a feat in his young career. But I thought that I saw some of myself in Jara. Not that I would be ever be in his position on such a stage. But that, as a kid growing up, I too watched these same races with my father, while Jara watched them with his father, also a trainer, in Panama. And when I began working at a newspaper, I dreamed that I would be at the Belmont Stakes one day, as a reporter.

So as I left the press room, and walked to the exit, with the sun calling it a day over beautiful Belmont Park, I found myself singing aloud, "If I can make it there, I'd make it anywhere."

WC Journal: Serbia-Holland

2006-06-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

The great thing about the World Cup is the camaraderie. Every four years, the whole world comes together to watch (arguably) the greatest game on earth. Everyone has their sympathies; everyone has their own individual love of the “beautiful game.” Just the other day, I ran into some Mexican guys on the bus, arguing the strength of their Group D.

The bad thing about the World Cup is the time difference. It’s 8 AM on a Sunday morning. I’m pretty hung-over and it’s cold in our apartment.

Yet, my roommate, Pete and I have agreed to wake up for the Serbia-Holland match-up this morning. Last night in a drunken euphoria, we agreed to celebrate soccer by arising at this god-awful time to match this glorious contest.

Unfortunately, that was before the sake-bombs.

But I digress.

Pete and I are big soccer fans. We grew up playing together, from local YMCA soccer and the way into high school. As I said before, everyone has their loyalties, however small they might be. Pete’s family has some Serbian roots on his maternal side. He was there actually there in Serbia last summer.

As for myself, I’ve always been a fan of the Dutch. I love their history of strong players, names like Cryuff, Van Basten, Davids and Bergkamp. These names might not mean anything to the typical soccer-naïve American, but to any fan they recall masterful technical skill. Plus, I love Amsterdam.

Before I get going, I should probably throw in a quick notice. While soccer is game of inherent beauty and style, it is, unlike most American games, not a game that is conducive to easily identifiable highlights. I might seem pretty uppity about the grace of soccer, but it’s difficult to describe anything but the goals in cold-hard prose. With that in mind, allow me to climb back up on my high soccer horse.

It’s 8:05 AM. The game just started. Pete just got up. My coffee is done. Let’s get this running journal under way.

8:09 – It’s a good game so far. The Dutch look great in their bright orange jerseys. The Serbs have had a lot of chances. Pete looks tired.

8:13 – The flow of the game is beginning to pick up. That’s one thing I love about soccer. Many Americans find soccer boring. I think it’s just impatience. The emotional pace of soccer might be a little slower and gentler than football, but it’s more natural flow. There are small gains and subtle tactical changes that most Americans are too inattentive to notice.

8:17 – The games first goal. Striker Arjen Robben breaks away at midfield for the Dutch, makes a 30 yard run and gently slots the ball away, past the Serb goalie. As former American midfielder John Harkes describes it, the goal is “clinical.” Well said, John.

8:23 – I guess it might worry some people that the Serbs have a forward named Milosevic. Pete however assures me that Milosevic is fairly common surname in Serbia. The Dutch names are fun and must all be said with the tongue in the very front of one's mouth. Van Persie, Van Nistelroy, Sneijder. Super.

8:28 – Pete and I discuss the hilarious Dutch fans. These people are the very picture of unintentional comedy. Those freaky, deeky Dutch.

8:32 – Pete’s girlfriend, Melissa joins us. We have a little post-drinking night break-down. As we are going into analytics, the first yellow-card of the day is awarded to Dejan Stankovic of Serbia for diving. For those of you not familiar with soccer, it’s the only sport I know where you get punished for faking an injury. You can’t make that stuff up (there's a double-meaning there).

8:39 – Rather than pace and energy in last night’s Argentina-Ivory Coast game, this match-up has been defined by ball control and technical skill. The Serbs look good, but the Dutch have had more chances. They have been able to exploit the Serb defense on a number of occasions.

8:45 – As the Serbs make the first substitution of the match (each team gets three per game), Pete comments on the classic mispronunciation of Serbian names by American announcers, i.e. Vidic = “Vee-ditch” rather than “Vi-dek.”

8:48 – Half-time. I should start thinking about those promised pancakes.

9:06 – The Serbians have a great chance right after the start of the second-half. They win a corner-kick right in front of their fans on the south-end. As the camera pans into the small section of Serbian fans, they continue to press into the Dutch third. Pete mentions how little face time the Serb fans get in comparison to the telegenic Dutch.

9:08 – Dutch goalie Edwin Van der Sar is forced to make a tough play on the ball while not using his hands. It’s funny to watch goal-keepers play the ball in this manner, like trying to watch place-kickers make throws on botched snaps in football.

9:14 – Dutch midfielder Giovanni Van Bronckhorst receives a yellow-card for a hard challenge on a Serbian player. Is this not the best sports names you’ve ever heard?

9:18 – Holland makes their first sub, bringing in Denny Landzaat for Mark Van Bommel. More great Dutch names.

9:20 – Pete and I remark at how quiet Manchester United forward Ruud Van Nistelrooy has been to this point. Pete is proud that the Serbs have limited the strongly-favored Dutch to one goal. If this were a Playstation 2 game, he would not be so quiet.

9:23 – Things get a little touchy as the Serbs are awarded a free-kick right outside the Dutch penalty area. Still feeling the effects of those sake-bombs, I make myself another pot of coffee and wish that I hadn’t started last night out with so much Jagermeister. In a little slice of irony however, I realize that much like the World Cup is a celebration of international culture, last night was a celebration of international liquor.

9:28 – Van Nistelroy comes out, as the Dutch bring on Dirk Kuyt. Try saying that name successfully in normal conversation.

9:31 – As we move into the seventieth minute, fatigue begins to set in and the Serbs begin to get desperate. Long, hard-fought contests like these usually result in late-game fouls and injuries. Some of these injuries are the result of little scuffles, others of simple exhaustion.

9:37 – The ball rolls out of play and the camera pans over the Dutch crowd. Check out those Dutch girls. Boo-yah.

9:40 – The Dutch grab a free-kick outside the Serb penalty area as Serb defender Ivica Dragutinovic cuts down Robin Van Persie. Van Persie narrowly misses a goal on the resulting shot. Dragutinovic is rewarded with a yellow. Good stuff.

9:46 – Pete and I share a quick discussion over the types of World Cup games. We clearly identify this game as a possession game, highlighted by very few, but well-designed scoring opportunities. Rather than a wide-open game where the chances are many and varied, this game is mostly limited to short, quick counter-attacks.

9:52 – The final whistle. The Dutch have defeated Serbia-Montenegro 1-0. It was a good match, typical Dutch soccer. It’s time now however to start thinking about breakfast and the noon game, Mexico-Iran. The US plays tomorrow. Hope to see you there.

Peitz and Steppenwolfer Ride Under the Radar

2006-06-07T17:21:00.000-05:00

You had to fight through reporters to talk to Nick Zito at the post position draw for the 138th Belmont Stakes today. Same for Todd Pletcher, the reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer who has two favorites – Bluegrass Cat and Sunriver – in the race. And even Tom Albertrani was in demand, more so to talk about Bernardini, the Preakness winner that’s skipping the Belmont, than his actual Belmont runner, Deputy Glitters.

Away from the scrum around Zito, where reporters and cameramen were jockeying for position, was trainer Dan Peitz, hosting a much smaller audience, describing why he believes Steppenwolfer, the star of his barn, is most capable of passing the “Test of the Champion” that is the mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown.

But Peitz prefers it that way. Always has. Unlike several trainers in the Belmont – Todd Pletcher, Nick Zito, Bob Baffert – Peitz is not a household name. Steppenwolfer has raced under the radar throughout the Triple Crown trail, despite running third in the Kentucky Derby.

Peitz has never been in the national limelight. Unlike many of his peers, Peitz has earned his position the hard way. He started as a hotwalker, the first job you take in a barn, for trainer Paul Adwell in spring 1977 at Oaklawn Park, about an hour drive from his home in Little Rock. After that, he progressed from groom to foreman to assistant trainer over eight years for trainer Joseph Cantey Jr. In 1980, that barn won the Belmont Stakes with Temperence Hill.

Peitz has been training at Belmont Park on his own since 1987, and has maintained a small barn in this area for the last two decades, but the native Arkansan has never fit the New York mold. He is reserved and modest, and always accessible at his barn in the morning.

Peitz resides in Elmont, New York, around the corner from Belmont Park, and in the summer he stables at Saratoga. He’s a veteran of the New York circuit, but he said he still calls Oaklawn Park home, where he returns in the winter and can spend time with his parents. It’s the place where he first started going to the races at age 14.

Other than dedicated horseplayers, Peitz’s barn has raced in relative obscurity. In 2005, for example, Peitz had 81 starts and won six races. Steppenwolfer can change all that. In fact, in his career, Peitz has only saddled one Grade 1 winner – Capote Belle, who won the Prioress and Test Stakes in 1996 – for the same people who own Steppenwolfer, Robert and Lawana Low of Springfield, Missouri.

The Belmont drew a 12-horse field, and Steppenwolfer will start from the 11th post. He was installed as the 9-2 third choice, and his regular rider, Robby Albarado, who is based in the Midwest, will travel to New York to ride.

There is no Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner who tragically broke down in the Preakness Stakes before a national audience. And there is no Bernardini, talented enough to win the Preakness in only his fourth career start. But there’s a wide-open field, which will make for an excellent betting race, and the Kentucky Derby runner-up, Bluegrass Cat, was made the lukewarm 3-1 morning line favorite.

Prior to the Belmont, trainers are always asked: Can your horse handle the distance? I think this question has become a moot point. Most 3-year-olds no longer have pedigrees that suggest they are suited for 1 ½ miles, especially if they have been on the grueling Triple Crown trail. In the last five years, no Belmont has been faster 2:27 2/5, over three seconds slower than the 2:24 track record set by Secretariat in 1973.

As the years go on, the times will slow, but there will always be a winner. Whether a horse can handle the distance is a relative, not absolute, question. Instead, the question is not can your horse handle the distance, but which horse best handles the distance relative to his competitors?

And the answer this year appears to be Steppenwolfer, something Peitz has been telling anyone who would listen for months.

“People told me when he ran in the Southwest [February 25 at Oaklawn Park] that he would win the Belmont,” Peitz said. “And here he is now.”

Steppenwolfer was purchased as a 2-year-old for $375,000 with the intention of running him at the classic distances of the Triple Crown. He’s by the young sire Aptitude, who won the 2001 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont and only improved as the distances increased. The Lows allotted a rough budget of $250,000 for the Ocala Breeders’ Sale auction in April 2005, but their longtime agent, Tom McCrocklin, exceeded that budget to buy a gray son of Aptitude, whose pedigree suggested the stamina and endurance of a classic-distance horse. The Lows named the colt Steppenwolfer and sent him to Peitz, who has trained their horses since 1992.

Steppenwolfer has only improved as the distances have increased, much like his father. He ran into Lawyer Ron at Oaklawn Park, finishing behind that horse in three consecutive stakes race. And in the Derby he ran into Barbaro. Now, the competition isn’t as tough, and his main rival is Bluegrass Cat, a colt who has taken the same path following the Derby.

Still, on the eve of the Belmont Stakes, Peitz is happy that he skipped the Preakness after finishing third in the Derby, and he is very confident that his colt will handle a mile-and-a-half, one long lap around spacious Belmont Park.

“So few horses want to go that far,” Peitz said after the post draw. “This distance really is further than most of these horses want to go, especially after the grind of the Triple Crown. But that’s why they call it the ‘Test of the Champion.’ And I think my horse fits very well. I have always thought he’d run better in the Belmont.”

Since Barbaro’s injury has focused attention on horse racing for all the worst reasons, there’s been a growing refrain that the Triple Crown should be reformed. Peitz disagrees.

“That’s what makes it the Triple Crown,” he said. “I like the way it is now. It’s not supposed to be easy. That’s what makes it great. If you don’t want to run, don’t enter.”

And Steppenwolfer really wants to run. Last Friday, he sizzled in a six-furlong workout, one that had people on the backstretch buzzing about one of the fastest workouts they had seen prior to a classic race such as the Belmont. He breezed six furlongs in an eye-opening 1:10.36, catching Peitz by surprise, but something that the trainer said was completely Steppenwolfer’s own doing.

“The track was fast, but it was still a pretty great work,” he said. “Hopefully he runs back to that work in the Belmont. But he put the speed into himself. He did it in hand, and had a nice gallop out afterward.”

Following the workout, Peitz said he “put the Woody Stephens work” into Steppenwolfer. Stephens, the Hall of Fame trainer, won an unprecedented five consecutive Belmonts in the mid-1980s. Stephens was the epitome of old school; as Peitz recalled, “he worked them fast and they ran fast.”

This Saturday, Peitz will try his best Woody Stephens impression. Maybe then New Yorkers will finally hear about Dan Peitz.

Backyard World Cup

2006-06-06T23:01:00.000-05:00

By its title, you might imagine that this is an article about the upcoming soccer tournament being held in Germany.

You’d be wrong.

To the young soccer players around the globe, the term “World Cup” has a double-meaning. It is not only associated with the larger, afore-mentioned contest, but also with a competition of a lesser sort. To the youth of the world, these two hold similar value, though second is the kind of competition you play in a backyard, rather than a European stadium.

As an adult, I would hardly consider myself an athlete. But I digress.

As a child, particular a soccer-obsessed child, there were few moments of my day not spent in search of games and challenges of material competition. Looking back now, I can’t believe what energy I had, but those were simply the demands of youth.

On a typical summer morning, I would have hopped on my bike right after breakfast in search of a basketball, soccer or baseball game somewhere in the neighborhood. Usually, the games would last until someone got physically hurt or emotionally abused, which usually translated into about an hour and a half (possibly less depending on the competitors). At that point, we would all usually retire to our respective homes for a quick lunch, be back out at the playground by 1 PM. The games would then re-commence.

These games however were not your average games. Baseball was not baseball, basketball was not really basketball, and soccer was almost never really soccer. These games played in their regular fashion take a large amount of competitors and usually we have never had enough to field one side, much less two. So there was always a variation of a normal game. Basketball was usually played in the style of a game of Horse or 21. Baseball was actually home-run derby. And soccer…well, soccer was something special.

The main variation of soccer that we played was called World Cup. Now, like any variation on a non-regulatory game such as this, there will be many different names and rules depending on the participants and their geographical location. Such is the case with beer-pong. I’ve sometimes heard this game called “Wembley” after the famous British soccer stadium outside of London. Young American soccer players that we were, growing up in the time of explosive growth for the sport, we fancied ourselves quite fashionable by calling it such.

It is a very simple game. All you needed were some aggressive contestants, a patch of grass and a goal. The field and the goal could easily be accommodated if one did not an available soccer field or regulation-sized net. Only one goal is needed. Often times, we used someone’s backyard and a fence, marking off the goal with either a shirt, another ball, or a large, noticeable rock (kids never worry about the danger of such decisions). The playing field being set, the rules are equally straightforward. One could easily consider it the “21 of soccer.” The object is to score more points than your competitors, who are, everyone else that is playing.

The game, much like its name-sake tournament, is played in rounds. Each round, you try to get to five goals as quick as you can. The last person left without five goals is eliminated. Necessity calls that someone needs to begin in goal. That person therefore has a free-pass to the second-round. Like the rest of the field-players, the goal-tender has no allegiances. After each goal, he starts the play anew with a fresh punt or throw to a neutral location. Strategy ranges from skillful shooting and ball control, to those cherry-pickers who lurk near the net to scramble upon loose-balls.

What about those who are eliminated, you ask? Forget about them. They usually end up playing goal-keeper in the later rounds or sitting on the side-line watching. It’s a ruthless game.

Let me re-iterate this point from the last paragraph in case you missed it: this is a ruthless game. Everyone is out for themselves, and like in those driveway games of 21 you used to play, fouls are only called in ambulance situations. After the keeper puts the ball in play, anything is possible. Elbows fly wildly, legs kick unnecessarily high, and taunting is decidedly encouraged. Anything to get to that next round.

When it's all said and done, the final round is usually incredibly entertaining. Both remaining players are winded, and with luck, bloodied. The keeper in this situation is crucial; if they can keep the players running by tossing long throws or making wild challenges on breakaways, they can ensure a hard-fought battle. It is a physically demanding, yet exceedingly satisfying game to win. It is the type of game that inspires champions; the type of game that makes one feel on the top of the world.

After Memorial Day, It's All Baseball

2006-05-29T12:47:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day Weekend is always special. It’s a time when most of us officially recognize the beginning of summer, though according to the seasonal calendar, we should actually celebrate on the summer solstice, June 21st. In Scandinavia, June 21st is the popular holiday of Midsummer, a wild day of revelry devoted to the enjoyment of spirits and loosening of morals. For Americans, however Memorial Day is probably the more apt commemoration of the coming of better weather; it harkens American attention to all things summer, including trips to the beach, girls in bikinis and of course, baseball.

Sure, most passionate baseball fans have already been to the ballpark a few times before Memorial Day; we’ve probably watched many more on television; and it’s certain that most of us have caught Baseball Tonight more times than we really ought to have. But a lot of other distractions are behind us. This is the point where we wonder when the NBA Playoffs are finally going to end (honestly, why don’t they just make the season a little longer and make basketball continuous throughout the year?). College sports are entirely out of the way (unless you happen to follow the College World Series closely). Horse racing is an exciting weekend diversion, but by its short, intense nature, compliments the long baseball season nicely. Ditto golf. And finally, though it is always on the mind, we are all a little hung-over from the NFL Draft to heed football much attention.

Baseball then is the brightest star in the summer sports concentration of the average American fan. We are finally getting into the long days of summer baseball, when the real issues emerge. The flash-in-the-pans of May (see: Chris Shelton) are beginning to fade; injuries are starting to make significant impacts on certain clubs (see: the Cubs); and the trade deadline looms. June marks the coming of the REAL baseball season. If you aren’t completely enamored with baseball by June, you are either uninterested in baseball or a Kansas City Royals fan.

Now that the Bonds story is done for the year (thank goodness), here are a few storylines I expect to continue to develop as the summer progresses:

1. Can Pujols break the single-season home-run record? You know he can do it, he’s the most dominate player since the ‘roids wore Barry done to a bat-swinging, balloon-headed tin-man. The little known story with Pujols is his exceptional defense. From everything I hear out of St. Louis, the man works harder on his defense than he does his offense. Clearly, though he has very little need for plate-work.

2. Will the surprise division-leaders (Tigers, Diamondbacks) fade? The White Sox might be too much for the Tigers, but with Detroit’s pitching, anything’s possible. As for the Diamondbacks, I think they have the better shot at winning their division, though the NL West is a story in itself. Remember last year, when the Padres made the post-season with a losing record? Well, at this point in the season, not one of the NL West teams has a losing record. Even the once-hopeless Rockies are in it.

3. What stars will go in the trade-deadline? Much like the NFL Draft, the MLB trade-deadline is one of my favorite events of the sporting calendar. I love the surprise and uncertainty. Some of the big names this year are Dontrelle Willis and Barry Zito. How much more can the Marlins sell off? There is also a question of who else will become sellers this year. Do the Cubs scrap the plan this year and sell off Maddux, Prior or Wood? If not, who else has good pitching to offer? The normal bottom-feeders (Royals, Pirates, Devil Rays, etc) are very light on desirable talent, and the top-level teams (Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, etc) all have more holes to fill than usual. It could be an interesting deadline.

4. Who wins the AL East? Ahh, the age-old question. For all of us non-Boston-or-New York fans, we can’t help but find ourselves drawn to this rivalry. It is, without question, the best rivalry in sports. I find that is hard to find a sports fan who does not find themselves slightly pulled from one side or the other in this opposition, regardless of whether you have any interest in either team at all. In the end, I guess I might as well just throw this out there: I’m rooting for Toronto.

Published Letter To The Editor

2006-05-27T15:19:00.000-05:00

I sent my column about Barbaro and the state of horse racing to the Daily Racing Form, my old newspaper, and they published it in the Letters to the Editor section in Sunday's edition. It's a revised and shortened version of what I posted here. Take a look:

Incident indicates basic faults

I would argue that there are two main reasons why Barbaro's injury is indicative of a general malaise in horse racing: (1) the weakening of the Thoroughbred breed and the propensity to breed for speed and not stamina and endurance, and (2) the proliferation of performance-enhancing drugs.

Both these causes are linked. The weakening of the breed is in part because various drugs are being passed through generations of horses. Lasix, a diuretic popularized some two decades ago and now permitted in every state, has never been sufficiently proven to be effective in preventing bleeding in horses. Furthermore, the proliferation of "supertrainers" in the last 10 years has revealed many trainers who win at staggering percentages, especially after claiming a horse.

In Europe, the modern Thoroughbred is much more stable for several reasons: (1) a total ban on drugs, (2) races are run almost strictly on turf, (3) a general patience with horses, and, less notably, (4) the training of horses at expansive farms in the countryside in an element more suited to positive health and safety. In the United States, horses remain in small stalls for most of their days, train at short distances that stress speed and add to training injuries, and remain packed in barn areas that are often nasty environments.

The breeding industry has also added to the rise in breakdowns on the racetrack. The fashion of breeding to Storm Cat and his offspring has caused many horses to be more proficient at six furlongs than 1 1/4 miles. Horses now are bred to win at a young age when they are physically immature. But who can blame horsemen who rush their horses to the races at 2 with the great purse money in this division?

Horse racing is in denial, but it must come to terms with its mountain of problems. It may be very painful and take decades to overcome. To undergo that pain, however, is the only way horse racing can survive.

Ryan Goldberg
Astoria, N.Y.

Follow Up On My Horse Racing Column

2006-05-23T17:06:00.000-05:00

This follows my point on the insurmountable problems in horse racing. Tom Albertrani, trainer of Preakness winner Bernardini, began serving a 15-day suspension today for a drug positive.

"Tom Albertrani, the trainer of Preakness winner Bernardini, began serving a 15-day suspension on Monday after one of his horses tested positive for the banned tranquilizer acepromazine. The suspension was reduced from 30 days because Albertrani waived his right of appeal."

Most of the successful trainers in horse racing have laundry lists of drug suspensions. Richard Dutrow, who trained 2005 champion Saint Liam, served a month suspension last year, and his assistants won at such a high clip that they nearly won the training title in New York.

If a trainer is suspended, he can still be active in training, giving instructions to his assistants, etc. My proposal is this: the horses who test positive should be prohibited from running for a certain period of time. To suspend the trainers has no real effect. To suspend the horse hurts the owners, who will have the incentive to take away their horses from "juice" trainers. That is the only way this awful and dangerous trend will stop.

Why I Hate (Slash Love) the Twins

2006-05-22T20:38:00.000-05:00

First off, I’d like to say congratulations to the Minnesota Twins on the successful passage of their stadium bill through the Minnesota Legislature. This is huge for Twins fans. They’ve been waiting a long time for a new baseball stadium and it’s about time they got one. As you’ll see later in my article, I am NOT a fan of the Metrodome. It’s a horrible place to watch a baseball game and poorly designed stadium in general. There’s a good reason that the Twins, Vikings and University of Minnesota football team were all looking for new stadium deals this year: the Metrodome is a pit. The Twins and the Gophers both got their wish; the Vikings however will have to show that they deserve a new stadium. But hold on, I digress.

Here’s an indisputable statement: I am a Wisconsinite. Though I might live in this Land of 10,000 Lakes, I bleed Wisconsin blood. All my loyalties lie with Wisconsin teams; I first a Brewers fan; second a Packers fan; and third a Badger fan. To say that my loyalty springs from geographical proximity would be complete false. In actuality, I grew up closer to all three Minnesota teams. In fact, while the Metrodome was only an easy hour and half drive away, County Stadium and my beloved Brewers were actually a five-hour odyssey away, Lambeau Field was four hours away, and UW’s Camp Randall Stadium was three. But in the face of constant family influence – in this case, my father’s careful grooming – distance means nothing.

Logically, as I advanced as a Wisconsin sports fan, I grew to develop an intense distaste for all things Minnesota. This distaste would be thickened as I chose to attend college in Minnesota and came face-to-face with the dreaded enemy. The Vikings-Packers rivalry has always been especially passionate for me. Unlike the Bears-Packers rivalry, always seems as if the Vikings and Packers are evenly matched. I can still remember the taunting I received as one of only two Packers fans on my floor freshman year. It came as quite a shock to me that there were actually people in the world who disliked Brett Favre; I previously had thought that quite impossible.

College was pretty bad, but things got worse when I began living and working full time in Minneapolis. Not only was I subjected to constant office references to the local sports teams as “our” and “us,” I was also labeled as an outsider for not attending an office-sponsored Twins game late last summer. I tried to keep a low-profile as a sports fan. I am what you would call “loud-mouthed,” so took it everything I had to pretend as though I simply wasn’t interested in sports. The cat was out of the proverbial bag when I had to ask my boss for time off to go a Packer game last fall. I did manage however to avoid the Brewers issue until this spring.

The Twins-Brewers rivalry is a problematic one for a single reason: with the Brewers in the National League, there really isn’t a rivalry any longer. Sure, Inter-league play brings them together for two series every year, but it’s not as if that really means anything. And these two clubs are surely not anticipating meeting each other in the World Series any time soon.

Despite this, I’ve met many ignorant Twins fans who despise the Brewers. The reason they often cite is the Brewers connection with Bud Selig, the man who tried to fold the Twins organization years ago during the contraction talks. It’s fairly easy to refute this argument however, as it clearly was not the Brewers organization itself who tried to fold the Twins. Say what you will about Bud Selig, the owner (as well his daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb), for it was Bud Selig the commissioner who came up with ill-fated plan. Add to that the fact that the Brewers are under new ownership and one can obviously see that this argument is only made in poor attempt to mask Minnesota jealousy for Miller Park.

With this new stadium, I would expect for Twins’ fans jealousy to disappear completely. Every year when the Brewers play the Twins in the interleague match-up it’s the same story: Twins fans flock to Miller Park in huge droves when the series is in Milwaukee. Coinciding with this is the inevitable commentary from Twins announcers declaring how loyal their fans are and how exciting it is to see so many Twins fans in the stadium. Conversely, there are hardly ever Brewers fans in Minnesota. Why? Because who the fuck would ever want to see a game at the Metrodome?

Honestly, that stadium is horrible for baseball. No team should ever have to play a game there. No fan should ever have to watch a game there. If you ever get tickets down the third-base line at the Metrodome, do yourself a favor: book a neck re-alignment with your chiropractor for the next day. The seats on the third-base line face straight into left field rather than angling back toward home-plate. The Twins not only desperately need this stadium for their players’ health, they desperately need it for their fans’ too.

However, this new stadium also gives me less room to wriggle in confusing relationship with the Twins organization. Formerly, this Metrodome thing had been a deal breaker with me. I could never be a Twins fan as long as they were in the Metrodome. I guess they still play there, but the simple fact that they are actually doing something about it now makes me uneasy about my dislike of this team.

I say “dislike” because really, who hates the Twins? Nobody. They’re a spunky, go-get-‘em type team. They have a small pay-roll, a good manager and a well-balanced roster. They have outstanding pitching (I’m a closet Francisco Liriano fan), clutch-hitting (may not this year) and fielding that makes you stand up a clap. All of these are things I look for in a ball-club.

I guess, in reality, I have nothing against the Twins. But I’ve just never really been able to shake the feeling that I’m betraying someone by going to Twins games. I just don’t feel comfortable around Twins fans like I do Brewers fans. Like I said before, this stadium thing was really my main issue and once that has resolved itself, I guess I have nothing to fight. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be a Twins fan after all.

Why Barbaro Should Force Horse Racing To Face Reality

2006-05-22T15:44:00.000-05:00

Barbaro's gruesome injury in the Preakness may frighten mainstream fans, but for people who work in the sport, the sight is unfortunately far too common. And this is why horse racing now occupies a sad spot on the bottom rung of sports, far from its former glory as the Sport of Kings.

As a former reporter for the Daily Racing Form, and current official handicapper at Monmouth Park, I can say definitively that there are two main reasons why Barbaro's injury is indicative of a general malaise in horse racing: the weakening of Thoroughbred breeding and the propensity to breed for speed and not stamina/endurance; and, the proliferation of performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing.

Both these causes are linked. The weakening of the breed is in part because illicit drugs are being passed through generations of horses. Lasix, a diuretic popularized some two decades ago and now permitted in every state, has never been proven to be effective in preventing bleeding in horses. Furthermore, the proliferation of "super trainers" in the last 10 years has revealed many trainers who win at staggering percentages, especially after claiming a horse. This only causes skepticism and negativity among fans and other horsemen, who rightfully question these trainers' methods, many whom have served drug suspensions.

Drug positives are at their highest in history, and yet, few people in the industry understand how blatantly this is leading to more fragile and weaker horses. Most of the country's leading trainers have served drug suspensions, and yet still continue to win at an accelerated pace. Without severe or a graduated ladder of penalties (commonly 15 or 30 days for a violation), who can fault these trainers for exploiting the system? Whereas baseball had similar problems with steroids, MLB has now instituted strict penalties that lead to an eventual ban. Horse racing has nothing like this.

In Europe, the modern Thoroughbred is much more stable for several reasons: a total ban on drugs, strictly turf racing, a general patience with horses, and less notably, that horses train at expansive farms in the countryside in an element more suited to positive health and safety. In the United States, horses remain in small stalls for most of their days, train at short distances that stress speed and add to training injuries, and remain packed in barn areas where poor sanitation and disease (from horses and humans) mix together to form a nasty environment.

The breeding industry has also added to the rise in breakdowns on the racetrack. The fashion of breeding to Storm Cat (who carries a $500,000 stud fee) and his offspring has caused many horses to be more proficient at six furlongs than 1 1/4 miles. Horses now are bred for speed and to win at a young age; in turn, more horses are running as 2-year-olds when they are physically immature. But who can blame horsemen who rush their horses to the races at 2? Purse money is very high for juveniles, and if you get black type then, the monetary future of that horse in the breeding industry is secure.

And so the romanticism of the Triple Crown becomes more and more distanced from the current reality in horse racing. The Triple Crown was designed over a century ago when horses ran twice a week. Even 30 years ago horses ran once every few weeks. Now horses run once every two months -- Grade 1 horses, the ones that mainstream fans might latch onto, might run four or five times a year, and only for one or two years in their career. To ask a young horse to navigate the Triple Crown now is dangerous and unrealistic. They are facing the longest distances they have raced, and will ever race, and in a five-week time span nonetheless. Because so few horses are bred for classic distances any more, this will only add to more and more injuries up to, and during, the Triple Crown.

It's hard to imagine these tragedies ending because the breeding industry's influence is so entrenched over what horses do on the racetrack. Furthermore, the Triple Crown should be changed; the distances should not be as long and the three legs - Derby, Preakness, Belmont - should be spaced out. But that's also unlikely as long as the important minds in horse racing refuse to put aside history and come to terms with the current situation. Horse racing is in denial, but it's because to come to terms with the mountain of problems - proliferation of drug use, weakening of the breed, unsanitary barn areas at racetracks, dangerous conditions for jockeys - would be very painful and take decades to overcome. However, to undergo that pain is the only way horse racing can survive, rather than suffer a slow and painful death.

Preakness picks

2006-05-20T11:54:00.000-05:00

Beautiful day in Baltimore today for the 131st running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse. I liked Barbaro in the Kentucky Derby, and I'd still love to see him win the Triple Crown. But in the last two weeks, with more thought, my selection for the Preakness has changed.

I'm going with Brother Derek over Barbaro and Bernardini (my live longshot). As a betting man, this race doesn't offer much promise, but I think I'll bet Brother Derek to win and play him in an exacta with Bernardini. Brother Derek was fourth in the Derby, yet overcame as much traffic trouble as any horse in the race: he started from the 18 post, was steadied repeatedly throughout the race, and raced nine-wide in the final turn. He even lost a shoe during the race. That is enough support to show his race was basically over after it started.

Prior to the Derby, Brother Derek won four in a row, capped off by the Santa Anita Derby. I am usually biased against California shippers, as the small fields out west often disguise the actual quality of the field. But going into the Derby, Brother Derek was the expected favorite until post positions were drawn. After he drew the 18th post, he ultimately became the third choice. So it's obvious that his post was a determining factor. Today, it's a non-issue. And the fact that he will start directly to Barbaro's inside gives his rider, Alex Solis, the ability to navigate his own trip based on that rival.

Today, I think Brother Derek will race closer to the lead and maybe even set the pace. He'll stay out of trouble that way. The fact that this is a small field will benefit Brother Derek, and in many ways, I think it will compromise Barbaro's chances. His rider, Edgar Prado, will have a target on his back the entire race, and other riders will plan their race based on what Barbaro does out of the gate. Because it's a small field, that will be possible. In the Derby, since it was a 20-horse field, that type of "race riding" is impossible.

If there is any time to overtake Barbaro, the Preakness is it. That is against traditional thought among horsemen this year. Many trainers have sat out the Preakness to aim their horses for the mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes on June 10, the final leg of the Triple Crown. However, Barbaro will be a bear at 1 1/2 miles. His stamina and pedigree for that distance is superior to any other 3-year-old on the Triple Crown trail.

The Preakness is the time to defeat the undefeated Barbaro; the tight turns of Pimlico Racecourse, the slightly shorter distance than the Derby, and the fact that it's a small field. And my money is on Brother Derek to accomplish that.

Why I Can't Live Without My iPod...And Why You Should Go Home and Get Your Shine Box

2006-05-16T01:42:00.000-05:00

The other day I was riding the subway and started to hum a song. I couldn’t recall its origin, or why this particular beat was in my head, and yet it stayed in my mind, playing itself over and over like a broken record. And it was just the encore; really just one note. I was a little frustrated, but really I was intrigued. I needed to find out what this tune was…I had to find it out. For hours throughout that day, it pushed me. Somehow I felt this particular song was asking me, “How good is your memory buddy? Do you still have that sharp mind?”

I couldn’t live it down because that would be conceding. I have always prided myself on my memory; my friends rely on me to remember their past. The fact that I can barely remember my own is confusing. Without my sharp memory, there goes my storytelling, and without that, I’d be a pretty hollow person. People think I’m an admirable storyteller, but that’s only because I have a near photographic memory.

Finally – a break through. It always happens this way, out of nowhere, descending from that misty fog in your head. You may laugh at the song I was humming; in fact, I realized where it was from but I didn’t actually know the artist. The song was from the scene in “Goodfellas” where Tommy (Pesci) and Jimmy Conway (DeNiro) nearly beat to death Billy Batts, played masterfully in a short scene by Frank Vincent. Vincent has trademarked these mafia roles. Henry (Liotta) stood by as they just stomped Billy Batts into the bar floor. The song playing on the jukebox when Tommy returns to the bar – after Batts told him to “now go home and get your fucking shine box” – was the one I was singing. It is so memorable because it is synchronized with that classic scene.

(By the way, the most overused, and yet greatest insult in history, is of course, “Go home and get your fucking shine box.” Used by guidos and non-guidos alike for 15 years. Alternatively, it’s always an effective response when someone is ragging on you to say, “I know you’ve been away awhile, they probably didn’t come up there and tell you, I don’t [shine shoes] no more.” The shine shoes can be replaced with whatever you are being abused for.)

I immediately searched Goodfellas soundtrack on Google, some top-flight investigation, and found out the song was “Atlantis” by Donovan. I’ve never heard of this band; supposedly it was a moderately successful 70s folk band. That fact alone, if you know Atlantis, makes the violence of that scene such an outstanding contrast against this peaceful song. Scorsese really is a genius, eh? I frantically looked for the song on a downloading service that night (I refuse to ever pay for music) and found it. I probably have listened to the song every day since.

And it’s not a particularly good song. It’s basically a tale about the lost island of Atlantis. Bizarre really. The encore is all that matters – “Way down, below the ocean, where I wanna be, she may be.” That’s the only line in the whole encore, which plays during that scene. But I always get pumped when I hear that song because I equate it with that scene.

And so as an extended segue into the point of this column, signing Donovan forced me to remember not only the song, but its setting – when I first heard it and what I was doing then.

If you were to ask me the most important things in my life, or the things that make me most happy, music would be first. No question. I don’t play any instrument. Probably couldn’t differentiate a chord, or a piano note, or hear the difference in stringed instruments. But I listen to music for hours a day. It’s been that way since I went to college – get up in the morning throw on iTunes, go to class (or now work) and throw on the iPod, leave work and listen to some tunes, and arrive home and throw on some. I listen in the car. But I can honestly say I only really started listening to good music when I started college, and only really good music when I was a junior in college. My brother turned me onto a lot of newer music (I was stuck in the 60s and 70s), and he was turned on by our friend Darshan, and he was ultimately influenced by our other friend Danish, a musical sage if I have ever known one.

That digression aside, trying to find out the origin and name of that song was emblematic of how important this is to me. And how powerful music is in my life. I have always said the greatest thing in life would be to have your own soundtrack, playing when you enter different situations. Like a wrestler, but with more options. My entire life could probably be boiled down to my memories of songs and what I was doing then. Usually it’s a combination of a meaningful moment in tune with a song.

And so, here are some of my most memorable songs/albums, because I still remember exactly what I was doing when I first heard them, where I was, who I was with, and most importantly, how I felt. Some are great songs or albums, some are not. Some are classics but the instances I remembered first hearing them are pretty run-of-the-mill. But all have never left me.

“Like A Rolling Stone”, Bob Dylan: I was in my senior AP History class, last period, in April, the last month or so of high school. We were watching the NBC TV movie, “The 60’s.” It was unquestionably a bad movie. But at the end of the first part, as all the characters’ trajectories came to a crossroads, “Like a Rolling Stone” played. I was pulled in, swept up, and totally immersed in the song. This may seem like a natural song for those emotions. But I was utterly frozen in my desk by how moving and powerful this song was. How do you describe a song that overwhelms you like that – inspiring, empowering, upsetting, and moving all at once? After class, I drove home, singing the song aloud, hopped on Napster at home, and downloaded it. Listening to the song is still a wondrous experience.

“All Along the Watchtower”, Jimi Hendrix: This was probably my first classic rock moment. I was watching Blue Chips in the movie theater, which I thoroughly enjoyed at the time. Future viewings weren’t as favorable. Nick Nolte’s volatile character is a reflection of Bobby Knight; also in the mix as prominent characters are Shaq, Penny Hardaway, and some white guy who rode the bench at Indiana (and played white hick Ricky Roe from French Lick, Indiana, in the movie). Anyway, the movie has since lost its appeal, but there was a pretty cool scene where Nolte’s character, Coach Bell, storms into the dorm room of a player on his team who he suspects, based on watching old game tapes, shaved points in a gambling scheme. He storms into Tony’s room and throws him against the wall and furiously asks him repeatedly: “Did you do it? Did you shave points? Did you do it?” And Tony just sort of shrinks against the wall, first yelling at the coach to let go, and then finally giving in, and saying “Just once, Coach. It was just once. We won the game. We won the game.” Like I said, cool scene. Playing in the background for this scene was Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower.” It made the scene probably more powerful than it really was. But the power and force of this song, the sick guitar riffs, the lyrics, were awesome. I hadn’t heard anything like it before. This song directly led to my classic rock phase for about 5 years, which ultimately ended when I got incredibly sick of Led Zeppelin.

Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd: My junior year of high school my mom and I were rummaging through her old records some time after I started listening to classic rock. We found some good ones in there: Dark Side, several Beatles albums (Sgt. Pepper’s was also very memorable at a young age, somewhere around 8^th grade), CSNY, Moody Blues, Steely Dan, Springsteen, The Stones, The Who, Joni Mitchell, and many more. We pulled out Pink Floyd, and even found a few posters in there that still reside on my wall (one of the Great Pyramids on a green backdrop and another a trippy band photo). I sprawled out on the rug as my mom played the record on her old record player. She and I had found something we could bond about. The record player surprisingly still worked. I just sat there, closed my eyes, and listened to the whole album; at one point my mom had left and it was just me. I can still remember the cha-ching sound in “Money.” Little did I know that many years later, in a typical college rite of passage, I’d be listening to the same album, watching surrealistic images on TV in a very hazy state.

“Jungleland” (off Born to Run), Bruce Springsteen: Probably my favorite Springsteen song, and there are many. Listening to the Boss is part of my heritage, since I’m from Monmouth County -- where he was born, made his name alongside the E Street Band, and still resides. I know the scenes and places he sings about – Madame Marie, Asbury Park, the boardwalk, Route 9, Tunnel of Love, Atlantic City, etc. And I most certainly know, among people I grew up with, the characters he describes and the suburban feelings he so desperately and urgently sings about.

My most memorable song, though, is the final track on Born to Run -- Jungleland. I listened to some Springsteen growing up, but I never realized how iconic he was as a musician, around the world. When I listened to Born to Run, I started to understand. But I never listened to the whole album until college in freshman year. I was sitting at my desk, gazing outside into the quad, and threw on the album after downloading it in its entirety. Jungleland came on and that was it…the opening piano solo. The whole album was composed on piano. That song has taken me back from the abyss more often than I can remember. Clarence’s sax solo is probably the most inspiring minute or so in musical history. I read a few lines from the song frequently for inspiration. It’s Bruce at his poetic, songwriting, and storytelling zenith. “Outside the street’s on fire in a real death waltz. Between what’s flesh and what’s fantasy. And the poets down here don’t write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be.”

“High and Dry” (from The Bends), Radiohead: Dan will enjoy this memory. Near the end of studying abroad in Edinburgh, he returned from a trip in Dublin visiting a friend, where he attended a Radiohead concert. My only Radiohead exposure was when I bought Pablo Honey after it came out in the mid-90s solely to listen to "Creep." When Dan got back, he wanted to show us some of his pictures, as well as some that he took from our earlier trip to Paris and others from the rest of our trip. I’d say the mood was pretty melancholy given how near our semester was to ending. Dan played his slide show on our friend Maria’s laptop and “High and Dry” played over it. There probably wasn’t a dry eye in the room at the end. This may be my most poignant and difficult song to listen to. I think all these songs incite mixed feelings of happiness and longing for that moment.

OK Computer, Radiohead: When I returned from Edinburgh home to New Jersey, the transition was rather bumpy. I didn’t want to be back in Suburbia, U.S.A., where friends and acquaintances seemed incapable of grasping how earth-shattering your experience had been. Or maybe it was just too difficult to explain to them. Regardless, I spent many nights driving along Ocean Avenue by myself, listening to music, letting the cool air send a chill over the whole situation. That’s the only thing I miss about getting my own place – not having a car. I’m not particularly fond of driving; I just enjoy it as a way to clear my head and escape from others. I’m someone who drives alone in cars, as ideas, stories, memories, faces, some familiar and some not, swim around like flotsam in my mind. This was the case then, and when I lived at home for many months after college, I spent hours upon hours of my free time (and there was a lot of that) driving around aimlessly, exploring, trying to find a bar or coffee shop where I would be a stranger.

Very often I went for a drive to listen to new music. The first time I listened to OK Computer was one of those times. Home in New Jersey in January, still having vivid reflections on Edinburgh, my brother Scott gave me OK Computer to listen to. I think I requested it because I loved “High and Dry.” Took the car out for a spin, threw in the CD, and I nearly drove off the road. I’d say OK Computer is probably the most influential album I have listened to, as the entrance on a path to great music. “Airbag” and “Paranoid Android” were awesome. “Let Down” was gut-wrenching; this song held the award for “Listened to the Most When I Was Upset.” “Karma Police” was perfect. The next day I listened to Kid A – that too was simply mind-blowing. It made me claustrophobic. I’d run out of adjectives to describe those experiences. I couldn’t get enough. I honestly felt like I was discovering music for the first time, like I was a kid again buying cassettes and taping songs I liked off the radio.

(By the way, probably my favorite Radiohead song right now, and this changes often, is “Black Star” on Unplugged – The Complete Acoustic Sessions. The song is very good on The Bends but in a whole different universe when played acoustic. For a long time “Fake Plastic Trees” was my favorite.)

You Forgot It In People, Broken Social Scene: End of junior year. End of the summer. My internship in New York City had ended, I had lived a great few months, and for the month of August I traveled the East Coast as a freelance writer for the Daily Racing Form, a horse racing newspaper I wrote for in the past few summers. On my way to the Finger Lakes in upstate New York to cover the dinky racetrack there, over a five-hour drive, I put on Broken Social Scene’s second album, “You Forgot it in People.” This had been recommended by a few friends and I figured I’d listen to a few new albums on the trip. I cruised alone, surging along the open road, reminisicing on a great summer, with fields and pastures, silos and farms, and mountains as an appropriate backdrop. The album was so exhilarating, so motivating; it was urging me forward metaphorically (“KC Accidental” and “Pacific Theme” in particular). I felt emboldened. The album is very special and a certain indie classic. For me it was liberating.

Illinois, Sufjan Stevens: This is my most recent classic. And another that I came upon when driving alone, needing some direction. Last fall, months removed from college and a turbulent summer – quit a job, lost my grandfather, had trouble finding a job, and had to live at home. I was particularly distraught during this time. But this album really guided me. I had it on my iTunes, but had yet to listen to it. Some time in late September, I decided to listen to some new music, burned this CD, and took it in my car.

I traveled down Ocean Avenue; it was a warm autumn, but the area was deserted after the summer exodus. I rode out to a local beach where my friends and I used to hang out. There’s a short pier there that stretches 50 feet out over the jetty and into the ocean. I have spent countless nights there, smoking a cigar, strolling the beach, listening to music, sitting on a bench or the sand and allowing my fears, worries, anxiety to wash away with the tide. Stevens is an incredible modern songwriter, poet, and storyteller. Listening to this album for the first time was a very emotional experience. It made me cry (especially “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us”). The album is both incredibly heartbreaking and uplifting. And very much blue-collar, which I love. The whole experience was overwhelming. And that’s what makes it so memorable. Like all these songs and albums, they bring out how you really feel before you even realize it. Music is a pure and effective catalyst.

Honorable mentions: “Cortez the Killer,” Neil Young; “Born to Run” and “Thunder Road,” Springsteen; “This Must be the Place,” Talking Heads; Astral Weeks, Van Morrison; “Age of Consent,” New Order; “Nightswimming,” R.E.M.; What’s Going On, Marvin Gaye; Joy Division as a band.

Kentucky Derby recap

2006-05-08T20:16:00.000-05:00

I apologize for not posting here before the 132rd running of the Kentucky Derby, the most exciting 2 minutes in sports. A friend from D.C. was visiting and I never got a free minute to post my take on the race. That's pretty awful since this is one of my most exciting days of the year. Even more so because I'm one of five remaining horse racing fans my age.

Still, the common racetrack phrase, "If you weren't there for the wedding, don't go to the funeral," doesn't apply here. The least I can do is give you a recap and early preview of the Preakness.

I have been an impassioned fan of Barbaro for months. He was my early Derby choice prior to his win in the Florida Derby on April; I loved his stamina, having won on turf and dirt, and have always respected (and made money) playing his trainer, Mike Matz. And on Friday, I told my co-workers Barbaro was the winner. I won't divulge my wagers, though.

Matz is one of the best trainers you've never heard of. He quietly and contently remains under the radar nationally while winning stakes races in the mid-Atlantic region for years. I always bet on him when he shipped horses to Monmouth Park (N.J.), where I was a reporter, from his Fair Hill base in Maryland. And his personal story exceeds his training ability; he was an equestrian rider and won two medals in two different Olympics. In 1989, he pulled several people out of fiery plane that crashed in an Iowan field. It seems trite to describe him as courageous. It's more than that; I don't think there's a word to describe that heroism.

Based on my knowledge of Matz (he is also a very nice guy and always open to interviews, although the Derby trail may deter that openness), I never had any doubt that he had an effective plan mapped out for Barbaro. That plan was a lighter campaign than most Derby horses historically; in fact, his Derby victory was the first time a horse won off a 5-week layoff since Needles in 1954. Teamed up with jockey Edgar Prado, in my opinion the best rider in the nation following the retirement of Jerry Bailey, I was sold on Barbaro over two months ago.

And here's the craziest thing about Barbaro - I think he's a better horse on turf. That he won the Kentucky Derby given that is awesome. The comparison is unfair and not close yet...but, his versatility on both surfaces is reminiscent of Secretariat. The big red horse won Grade 1 races on dirt and turf. That type of horse arrives once a generation.

Barbaro has such incredible stamina, in one sense a product of his affinity for turf, that the 1 1/2 miles of the Belmont Stakes five weeks from now is not a problem. And for those hoping to end his undefeated streak in the Preakness, here's some food (or oats) for thought: Barbaro wasn't even breathing hard after the race. He still had his ears pricked and was ready to run another lap. I said that to a guy at the bar after the race when I noticed how the colt was on his toes, ears pricked, bouncing around after the race. He said I was crazy, but I said, 'This horse can run another mile or two.'

It seems I was right. After the race, Matz called an assistant trainer at the barn, and asked about how the strapping colt was doing, the assistant replied, "You could enter him again tomorrow." The light schedule Barbaro had preceding the Derby was designed by Matz to have him fresh, fit, and dangerous for the demands of racing three times in five weeks during the Triple Crown. And I think that he is certainly up for the challenge.

Few horses who trailed Barbaro in the Run for the Roses will challenge him again in the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, on May 20. Among them are Brother Derek, who finished in a dead heat for fourth, Sweetnorthernsaint (seventh), Lawyer Ron (12th), and possibly Bob and John (17th). The way in which Barbaro won, the 6 1/2-length margin of victory, and the apparent ease in which he powered away from the field turning for home, is the reason he won't face many rivals in the Preakness. It was a visually impressive performance, and the final time, a shade over 2:01, supported the real power of his run.

"If ever you're going to beat him perhaps now is the time, because he's going to be a bear when he goes a mile and a half," said Kiaran McLaughlin, who trains Like Now, a horse that passed on the Derby to aim instead for the Preakness.

Barbaro is undefeated in six starts. I don't see that streak ending for at least two more races. And you know what that means? Exorcise the ghost of Seattle Slew, the last Triple Crown winner, 28 years ago.

A New-Look US Roster Is Germany-Bound

2006-05-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, head coach Bruce Arena announced the American roster for the 2006 World Cup, and then promptly changed it a day later. Well, sort of. The LA Galaxy’s 27-year old Chris Albright was added to the roster after it was discovered that defender Frankie Hejduk had a torn ligament in his right knee. Albright joins a roster already filled players entering their first World Cup; he is one of 11 new-comers to the world’s great tournament. Will Arena’s youth movement pay off? For that answer, let’s take a look at who was added and who wasn’t.

One of the most significant snubs was New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman, who surely thought he had cemented his spot by turning in solid performances in recent friendlies against Japan and Norway. Though his teammate Clint Dempsey will be making the trip to Germany, Twellman joins the list of disappointed souls who, barring any injuries, can expect to spend the summer on his MLS roster. Never has that tag – “alternate” – seemed so depressing.

Taking Twellman’s probable place on the roster was Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching, a first time World Cup participant who did very little to impress in qualification. His one crowning achievement actually came in 2004, when coming on as a sub, he scored the equalizer in the 88th minute to secure a tie with Jamaica 1-1, helping the US to gain a valuable road point in qualification. Another surprise roster addition was his Dynamo teammate, Jimmy Conrad, who came out of nowhere in the last few months to find a spot on the final roster. Conrad joins a young American defense which features three World Cup new-comers, including Carlos Bocanegra and Oguchi Onyewu.

Another surprise MLS-based player to make the roster was Ben Olsen, the only person on the 23-man roster who didn’t see a single minute of playing time in World Cup qualification. Why did he make it you might ask? Is this possibly a Bruce Arena move to play the favorites he developed when he served as coach of DC United? I won’t speculate on that type of theory, but to Olsen’s credit, he appears in good form after years of health problems. Bobby Convey and Clint Dempsey both join Olsen as tenderfoots in the midfield (no pun intended). Both of these guys deserved their spots and have a bright future with the US National team.

One notable snub in the midfield was New England Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston. Ralston is a pure hustle player who performed well in qualification. His chances may have been hurt by his age (32) and some nagging injuries that have plagued him the last few years. DC United’s Santino Quaranta is another player who will be disappointed to have been left off both the roster and the list of alternates, but at 22, he’ll have more chances to prove himself.

The US seems set a goalkeeper, as they have for the last three World Cups. Once again, Kasey Keller will be the starter, while former Metrostars keeper and current Manchester United back-up Tim Howard will vie for time with Marcus Hahnemann, the starting net-minder for English Premiership-bound club Reading.

The US has a lot to look forward to; captained by Claudio Reyna, they finally have international caliber stars at a multitude of positions. And though they are deficient at a few spots (see: left defender) they should be able to hold their own against the world’s best. I’ll be turning out a World Cup preview in a couple weeks so in the meantime, get pumped for some great soccer!

Draft School

2006-05-02T21:39:00.000-05:00

When the draft weekend is over, the trendy thing to do is to give out “grades” to each team for their drafting performance. I’m sure that as soon as the draft ends on Sunday, most big sports networks are pumping out an analysis and subsequent letter grade on each team. You’ll see plenty of websites do it; Mel Kiper Jr. for instance, gave his grades yesterday, but you can only see them if you are an ESPN Insider.

First of all, I have a big problem with this exclusive “Insider” crap…but I digress. Thankfully Ryan and I do not subscribe to this type of secret-handshaking behavior (“when the money’s gone, it’s to leave”), nor do we favor the judgmental tradition of handing out letter grades. If Ryan and I ran a school, we would probably opt for the more experimental philosophy, allowing each child to identify a feeling associated with their performance (if you are familiar with Maebe on Arrested Development you know what I’m talking about). Handing out ridge, traditionalist assessments doesn’t quite seem fair in our opinion and, let’s face it, we are in no particular position to judge.

Therefore, instead of grades this year, I’ll be handing out feelings for each team to describe their draft. If anyone has any questions, they can refer them to Ryan.

Arizona Cardinals: Warm. As in that warm feeling of finally coming out of NFL obscurity with a great draft. Everytime I think of the Cardinals I can’t help but think of that one year where they had two first-round picks and they used them on Bryant Johnson and Calvin Pace. Expect a big turn-around this year with Leinart, Duece Lutui and Leonard Pope, all of whom were great picks in the right spots.

Atlanta Falcons: Satisfied. Okay, I know this is a stretch, but the Falcons do seem to know what they’re doing. They got Abraham in that deal with the Jets for their first rounder and then proceeded to draft specifically for speed in the later rounds. I really wanted the Packers to pick up Jimmy Williams, I thought he slipped way too far. Crafty moves in getting Jerious Norwood and D.J. Shockley, two sick athletes.

Baltimore Ravens: Tenative. As in why did they trade up one spot for Haloti Ngata? And what have they really done to improve their team? I like the pick of Chris Chester in the second round and PJ Daniels in the fourth, but I don’t think this team is any better because of those two players.

Buffalo Bills: Bewildered. Do the Bills look at the same draft board as everyone else? Do they get a complete list of players? If so, what the hell are they doing drafting Donte Whitner 10-15 picks before anyone expected him to go. I heard a rumor that the Broncos tried to offer the Bills their #15 pick with a second rounder for this pick, but the Bills wouldn’t even listen. Ridiculous. McCargo was a huge reach at #26 as well.

Carolina Panthers: Eager. I’m definitely eager to see D’Angelo Williams play. The Panthers must have been shocked to see him fall into their lap. They also get the replacement corner for Ricky Manning Jr. in Richard Marshall. The Panthers also seem to like Virginia Tech players, as they took three of them this year.

Chicago Bears: Withdrawn. I don’t mind if a team trades down to get more picks, but you should at least address your needs with those new-found picks. The Bears came into the draft needing another weapon on offensive, but instead they took two safeties with their first two picks. Were they too timid to take a TE? I don’t know.

Cincinnati Bengals: Apprehensive. Here’s another team that needed a TE and didn’t get one. I get apprehensive when I look at a draft like this and see nothing of substance. A lot of people had questions about the players that the Bengals took. I really don’t see any winners. Sorry Marvin.

Cleveland Browns: Elated. You gotta like what the Browns have been doing. They signed a bunch of good players in the off-season and then drafted some real talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They got two good linebackers in D’Qwell Jackson and Leon Williams, who are both great value picks. The Browns did a great job with their four overall picks in the fourth and fifth rounds.

Dallas Cowboys: Relaxed. Things are looking up in Big D as the Cowboys have put together most of the pieces for their 3-4 defense. Bobby Carpenter fits Parcell’s system perfectly, a smooth flowing linebacker who can pressure the QB. I don’t like many of their late round picks, but they did well enough in the first day to get by.

Denver Broncos: Intrigued. I don’t know if I would’ve traded up for Cutler, but the fact that Mike Shanahan thought so much of him makes me curious. Jake Plummer is only 31, so it’s not as if he’s ancient, but can you name the Broncos back-up quarterback last year? Didn’t think so.

Detroit Lions: Sad. Everyone must feel sad for Matt Millen. He just can’t do anything right. He had the perfect opportunity to take Matt Leinart at number nine, but he’s under so much pressure from taking offensive players in the past that he just couldn’t justify it. Ernie Sims might turn out to be a good LB, but he has to get past the concussion problems. The Ford family needs to let Millen go.

Green Bay Packers: Thankful. We needed this draft. In fact, we needed this off-season. A lot of people feel that the Packers have done things horribly wrong recently, but I feel like it’s a lot of things that they couldn’t really control. Injuries killed them last year, while Javon Walker turned out to be a head-case. Neither of these things helped much and alongside those problems, the Packers are going about the process of making the transformation to a younger squad. They made a great step by focusing on defense this year. They could struggle on offensive without Walker this season, but I’m lot less worried knowing we have Hawk and Hodges patrolling the LB spot.

Houston Texans: Insecure. Let’s hope Mario Williams knows that he has the power to clean out GM Charlie Casserly’s desk in Houston. That’s what happens when you pick the second best player first.

Indianapolis Colts: Jealous. You have to think that the Colts were dying when they saw both D’Angelo Williams and Laurence Maroney go before them in the #30 spot. Don’t get me wrong, I think Joseph Addai will be serviceable, but he seems more like a second-round back. The Colts did a nice job of picking no-namers throughout this draft.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Obsessed. USC grad Jack Del Rio takes two UCLA players in the first two rounds. No seriously, I like both Marcedes Lewis and Maurice Drew (even though he’s like 5’4), but couldn’t you have branched out a little?

Kansas City Chiefs: Ardent. The Chiefs continue their string of picking defensive players, and why not? Tamba Hali definitely has Pro Bowl talent, though he might be a little under-sized. I do not think Brodie Croyle will pan-out as a prospect. They may have gotten a steal with Marcus Maxey in the third round.

Miami Dolphins: Hopeless. I don’t like any of the Dolphins’ picks. Jason Allen wasn’t worth the #16 pick, Derek Hagen is overrated in the third round and they even drafted a player, Rodrique Wright who probably won’t play in 2006 because of a rotator cuff injury.

Minnesota Vikings: Distracted. There are no guarantees for the Vikings in their draft class. They took some risks, including taking a no-name center, Ryan Cook in the middle of the second round and trading up later in the same round to draft a quarterback from Alabama State, Tarvaris Jackson. Word on the street is that they wanted Kellen Clemens who was stolen from them by the New York Jets. Oh, those craft Jets! The Vikings were probably thinking about their new jerseys (no pun intended).

New England Patriots: Empowered. Damn! Doesn’t it seem like they draft well every year? I love almost all of their picks including some of the later round guys like Dan Stevenson and Ryan O’Callaghan (why doesn’t he just call himself Ryan McIrishman?). They made some great trades and really improved their offense. They’ll have a totally new look next year.

New Orleans Saints: Appreciative. Here’s an excerpt from a letter I intercepted on draft day: Dear Texans GM Charlie Casserly, Thanks! Love, The City of New Orleans

New York Giants: Impatient. Someone explain why the Giants needed Mathias Kiwanuka? They already have Strahan and Umenyiora. The one thing that saved them was taking Sinorce Moss in the second pick. Great value pick following a horrible one.

New York Jets: Serene. For once Jets fans can breathe easily. They had a solid draft. I think Jets fans will actually enjoy this for a few months until they realize how terrible their defense is.

Oakland Raiders: Tickled. You have to think that Al Davis was plenty pleased to see Michael Huff still available at #7. He’s a perfect black-and-silver guy: great speed and can hit. They did a great job getting more help in Thomas Howard and Darnell Bing, both of whom bring that same Raiders mentality.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Spellbound. Just when you think these guys can’t do anything to improve themselves, they go and get an impact player like Santonio Holmes. They had a bunch of solid later round picks as well and you know with their history that two or three of these guys will turn into Pro Bowl-caliber players. Disgusting.

Philadelphia Eagles: Surpised. I did not expect the Eagles to have a good draft, but they seemed to have noticed my naivety. They filled holes with all four of their first picks, getting big names and big bodies to cover spots on the O- and D-lines. I love the gamble on Jeremy Bloom as well, the kid can flat-out fly (no mogul pun intended).

Saint Louis Rams: Revived. The Rams had a solid draft, but I think the most important part of next year will be what head coach Scott Linehan brings to the table. He’s a great football mind and has been able to help turn around several franchises like Minnesota and Miami. I like that they were able to get the two big tight ends, Byrd and Klopfenstein to help out in the offense. They are on the right track for rebuilding.

San Diego Chargers: Numb. Numb is what you would have to be to draft Antonio Cromartie in the first round. Here’s a guy who didn’t even play in 2005 and only got pushed up the draft because of some eleventh hour hype his agent probably created. I don’t like this pick and I don’t like the rest of the Chargers draft either.

San Francisco 49ers: Enlivened. All the 49ers did was go out and get a bunch of sick athletes. Vernon Davis is not so much a football player as he is a physical carnival. The same can be said for Manny Lawson. They then go out and get themselves two speeders, in Michael Robinson and Brandon Williams. To be honest, I don’t know if these guys can play football in the NFL, but I sure as hell know they can run. It’s a toss up whether this was a good draft or not.

Seattle Seahawks: Foreboding. This is the kind of draft that the Seahawks used to have, a couple years before they went to the Super Bowl. They’d draft some fourth corner and a back-up defensive end. I think the best value pick they got was Rob Sims in the fourth round. Outside of him, I don’t think anyone else will contribute next year.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Expectant. The Bucs knew they didn’t have a whole lot of holes to fill so they drafted for the long-term. Translation: this was not a sexy draft for Tampa Bay. They got some help on both lines, they picked up some back-ups and potentially grabbed some sleepers in the late rounds (see: T.J. Williams).

Tennessee Titans: Anxious. I would use the word bi-polar, but I fear our friends in the medical community might be upset. This was a huge risk-reward draft for the Titans. If Young pans out, they should be fine. If White pans out, they’ll probably be okay as well. If both pan out, they’ll be the best team in the division. If they neither one pans out…well…then I’ll be right. That’s right, I don’t like either pick and I don’t think either guy will live up to his potential. It needed to be said.

Washington Redskins: Bored. I’m pretty sure that the Redskins show up at the draft only because they have to. Daniel Synder would be much more comfortable letting other teams draft and then simply buying their selections. Trading up to get Rocky McIntosh? That’s pretty bad.

Bloggin' the Draft

2006-04-30T15:15:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my favorite holiday of the year. This is my Christmas, my Super Bowl, my Fourth of July and every single birthday I’ve ever had rolled into one beautiful day of constant intrigue and Mel Kiper Jr. I can’t even really explain how much this means to me. It makes it all more worth the while that my Green Bay Packers have a pick in the top five. Throwing in the trades, Kiper’s hair, the constant shout-outs on the cell from Ryan and I think you understand what gets me going about the draft.

The day so far has started inauspiciously. I left my apartment in Minneapolis this morning, on my way to Winona, MN where I was to join my brother to watch the draft, slightly hung over and with a long, rainy drive ahead of me. Fortunately, I was joined by two very capable allies, a tall cup of gas station coffee and the soothing voices of ESPN Radio.

A lot happened on drive down. I nearly swerved off the road into the Mississippi River when I first learned of the Mario Williams signing. My first thought was, “My God, what if the Packers could trade up to get Reggie Bush?” Unfortunately, John Clayton assured me that the Saints would not be trading Bush. We’ll see about that.

Here’s my charge: weather two hours of the draft by myself at a dive bar called Wellington’s in Winona while I wait for my brother and his friends to finishing their alumni soccer game at his old college. What better way to pass the time then to write a blog?

11:13 AM – Paul Tagliabue opens the draft by putting the Houston Texans on the board, followed by the requisite booing from the New York Jets fans. The ESPN announcers talk about Reggie Bush. I am just sitting down at the Wellington and ordering my first beer. The mood is perfect: a projection TV, some cold beer and some warm popcorn to munch on while I pound out my blog. I’ve set up my own little draft war-room in a booth in the back, with the newspaper spread out next to an open notebook and my laptop. As I plug in my laptop, I also notice that even though I am at a bar in the heart of the blue-collar Midwest, I still get a wireless signal. I love America.

11:20 AM – The Texans do what by now, everyone knows they will do, by taking Mario Williams. I can’t say I understand this. Why Williams and not Bush? Nothing against Williams, but I really hope he becomes a Sam Bowie.
1# Houston Texans – DE Mario Williams (NC State)

11:28 AM – The New Orleans Saints take Reggie Bush making everyone else in the league incredibly jealous. I never thought I’d be saying this but the Saints look good. With Drew Brees, the Duece, Joe Horn and now Reggie Bush, their offense will be straight-up legit. This is the steal of the draft, I don’t care what happens down the road. The Texans screwed up.
#2 New Orleans Saints – RB Reggie Bush (USC)

11:35 AM – The Tennessee Titans select Vince Young. Horrible pick. Ryan and I talked about it before the draft and it is totally inconceivable that the Titans would take Young over Leinart. You can hear Jets fans drooling over the thought of getting Leinert. I tell Ryan that the Jets would be so much smarter by taking D’Brickashaw Ferguson. Ryan ignores me.
#3 Tennessee Titans – QB Vince Young (Texas)

11:45 AM – Ryan calls me from New York, wandering the streets of Manhattan looking for a bar. Ryan lectures me on how terrible Pennington is and why the Jets will take Leinart. While we’re talking the pick comes up. Jets fans are on their feet at Radio City Music Hall. Tags strolls up and announces that the Jets select D’Brickashaw Ferguson. I can feel Ryan’s heart break. Two minutes after the pick, I notice that my cell phone hasn’t gone off yet. Clearly someone is in denial. I can’t worry too much about that though, because the Packers are now on the clock. I hope it’s Hawk.
#4 New York Jets – OT D’Brickashaw Ferguson (Virginia)

11:59 AM – The Packers take Hawk. I’m ecstatic. I call my brother, who’s by now, probably just beginning his alumni soccer game. ESPN pans to a shot of Packers fans watching the draft at Lambeau Field. One guy has a Javon Walker jersey with the name “Trader” taped on the back. Brilliant. It’s about time that we get players who like Hawk who will shut-up and play the game rather than whine about money. I love this pick. Green Bay has kinda gotten away from the old hard-nose players of the past and now that Favre is a year or so away from retirement, we need a leader on the field.
#5 Green Bay Packers – LB A.J. Hawk (Ohio State)

12:06 PM – Ryan calls me. He’s clearly depressed about the Ferguson pick. I can’t help but feeling sorry for him. It must be rough being a Jets fan. ESPN shows Vernon Davis in the draft room, crying. He’s clearly going next to the 49ers. Sure enough, the pick comes up next and he’s taken. Meanwhile on the phone, Ryan and I resume our discussion of the Texans’ Sam Bowie move. They show Leinart again. He’s got his head down, looking pretty pathetic. I can’t help feeling that he’d be in a much better mood if Nick Lachey was around.
#6 San Francisco 49ers – TE Vernon Davis (Maryland)

12:14 PM – Bigger shocker. The Raiders select Michael Huff. I have no comment on this pick besides to say that the Raiders are horrible. I fully anticipated hearing Leinart’s name. Where will he go? Buffalo doesn’t need a QB. The Lions could take him, but they have a lot of other needs to fulfill first. I could see him going at #10 to the Cardinals, but I could also see someone trying to trade up to get him at #8 or #9.
#7 Oakland Raiders – S Michael Huff (Texas)

12:21 PM – Sal Palantonio reports that the Broncos are interested in moving up to the #8 spot to select Matt Leinart. Wow. Leinart in Denver? He could be real good for a real long time. I don’t necessarily like the guy, but I think he’s a good football player, better than Vince Young will end up being. Ryan and I talked about this earlier this morning. I just don’t see Young ever being that dominant QB that every thinks he’ll be. Sure he might have won that Rose Bowl game, but as Ryan pointed out to me, the story in that game was the inepititude of the USC defense more than the dominance of Vince Young.

12:26 PM – The Buffalo Bills select Donte Whitner from Ohio State. Wow, I didn’t see this one coming. Another safety? This is a guy who many people didn’t even have going in the first round a few weeks ago. If I was the Bills I would have taken Jimmy Williams from Virginia Tech or Haloti Ngata from Oregon. As I heard this morning on ESPN Radio, it used to be that no one took safeties or tight ends in the first round, but now both positions have become trendy first round picks. Will the Lions take Leinart? I don’t think they will, but we should find out soon.
#8 Buffalo Bills – S Donte Whitner (Ohio State)

12:32 PM – The Detroit Lions select Ernie Sims. Matt Millen finally drafts for need rather than for value. Sims will be good. He’s a sick athlete, though a little undersized. I like this selection. The Lions could have easily taken Leinart and gotten away with it, but they just have to fill so many other holes. I think this is a draft where you might be able to get a good “project” QB, like Kellen Clemens or Brodie Croyle later on in the draft.
#9 Detroit Lions – LB Ernie Sims (Florida State)

12:35 PM – The Cardinals take Leinart. Good pick, he had to go there. I think he’ll be a good quarterback. The claims that he doesn’t have the drive to play the came are unfounded. He’s plain and simply a winner, and with the Edge behind him, the Cardinals finally have a chance. A few minutes ago, I watched Ron Jaworzski rant and rave about how Jay Cutler is the better quarterback. I don’t buy it. Leinart simply has the mentality of a good NFL QB. Cutler lost a ton of games at Vanderbilt. How is that preparation for an NFL career? Sorry if I start to get lippy, I’m just starting my second beer and we’re not even half way through the first round.
#10 Arizona Cardinals – QB Matt Leinart (USC)

12:38 PM – My brother calls from the game, looking for an update. He says that he’s heard sporadic updates from people at the game. He’s clearly surprised that Leinart has fallen that far.

12:47 PM – The Denver Broncos have apparently traded into the 11th spot and use that selection to take Jay Culter. Hold the phone? Why do they need a QB? Isn’t Jake the Snake pretty young? What’s happening here? What do they know that I don’t? I honestly, just looked up and saw that the Broncos had taken over possession of the #11 pick and suddenly Tags was up at the podium announcing the Cutler pick. What are the parameters of this deal? What is it with the Broncos and quarterbacks with scraggly hair? I’m so confused. Draft Tracker is not loading quickly enough to answer my questions.
#11 Denver Broncos – QB Jay Culter (Vanderbilt)

12:55 PM – So here’s the Denver-St. Louis trade: the Broncos get the 11th pick in-exchange for their first round pick, number 15 and a third round pick this year. You know, with Miami obtaining Culpepper and Harrington, I have to believe that Cutler would have still been available at #15. It is possible that the Ravens could have taken him at #13. I doubt it, though.

1:01 PM – The Ravens trade up one spot to the #12 pick to take Haloti Ngata from Oregon. The Ravens drafting defense, huh? Weird. They run his highlight reel which shows him consistently blowing through offensive-linemen, including one play against UCLA where he swallows up Maurice Drew. Good selection.
#12 Baltimore Ravens – DT Haloti Ngata (Oregon)

1:11 PM – Joes calls me again from the game while I’m in the bathroom. Not much to report besides the Culter news. My cell phone battery is running dangerously low.

1:14 PM – The Browns take Kamerion Wimbley from Florida State. This guy was another big mover in the first round, but I think he justifies the hype. He’s got sick athletic ability and seems very mobile. Brilliant gamesmanship on the part of the Browns, trading switching their pick with a division rival to get a player they wanted all along in addition to a sixth round pick. Surprisingly, Wimbley’s teammate, Brodrick Bunkley is still on the board. The Eagles are on the board. Always a big Philly contingent at the draft.
#13 Cleveland Browns – DE Kamerion Wimbley (Florida State)

1:26 PM – ESPN interviews Dennis Green, while we wait for the Philly pick. Doesn’t every interview with Denny feel like it’s two hours long? The Eagles send up their pick, it’s Brodrick Bunkley. I knew it. Everyone said the Eagles were going WR, but the talent level doesn’t meet the need. You got to think that the Rams will try to grab a corner with the #15 pick especially with Jimmy Williams and Tye Hill sitting there.
#14 Philadelphia Eagles – DT Brodrick Bunkley (Florida State)

1:32 PM – The Rams take Tye Hill. I swear I’m not doing this retrospectively. I am a little surprised that Williams is still there. I had him going before Hill in all my mock drafts. At 5’9, Hill is obviously a speed corner, whereas Williams has a little more size. People are saying that Williams is probably more suited to the safety spot. The Dolphins are up next, things could get interesting from here on out.
#15 Saint Louis Rams – CB Tye Hill (Clemson)

1:37 PM - After finishing my second beer, I noticed that there are still some big names left on the draft board. Where will LenDale White go? I heard early today that he tested positive in a pre-draft drug test. I’m a bigger fan of D’Angelo Williams. I saw him play in the Motor City Bowl last year where he dominated. There are also a lot of offensive linemen still available, particularly Winston Justice and Marcus McNeil. Look for linebackers Chad Greenway and Bobby Carpenter to go soon, possibly to the Vikings at #17.

1:44 PM – The Dolphins take Jason Allen from Tennessee. Allen seems to be just another young player who is being drafted to be a safety. Everybody is looking for the next Troy Polumalu.
#16 Miami Dolphins – DB Jason Allen (Tennessee)

1:46 PM – The call comes in from my brother; the game is over and they’re just getting back to his friends’ house. He advises me that I should make the move over there before we prep for the bar a few hours later. I begin the slow process of tracking down the waitress and getting my bill. The blog will resume as soon as I get to the house.

*Interlude*

2:14 PM – I’m back. The move to the house has been made and I’m trying to track down the picks I missed. Here’s a brief recap:

#17 Minnesota Vikings – LB Chad Greenway (Iowa)
#18 Dallas Cowboys – LB Bobby Carpenter (Ohio State)
#19 San Diego Chargers – DB Antonio Cromartie (Florida State)

I like the Carpenter pick. I wish the Packers could have gotten both Hawk and Carpenter. How sick would that have been? Cromartie creates a lot of controversy simply for the fact that he hasn’t played for a year. Greenway is safe selection. I think he’ll be solid.

2:27 PM – The Chiefs select Tamba Hali. One of my brothers friends’ makes the comment that Hali looks like he’s 45 in his picture. The Chiefs straight-up needed defense. I thought they’d be taking a corner, like Jimmy Williams or Johnathon Joseph, but Hali is a good pick.
#20 Kansas City Chiefs – DE Tamba Hali (Penn State)

2:39 PM – The Patroits select Laurence Maroney. Why would you take Maroney over D’Angelo Williams? Horrible pick. Williams will be the better NFL running back, I guarantee. Nothing against Maroney, I think he’ll be a good player, but he’s played most of his career in the Dome and I think he’ll struggle at Foxboro.

2:44 PM – The 49ers select Manny Lawson. Lawson is one of my favorite players in this draft. He’ll either make a great speed-rushing defensive end or a play-making linebacker. At this point, I’m a little unclear as to how the 49ers acquired this pick from the Broncos. It’s a good selection though. The 49ers are building a team full of athletes. They could have made worse selection.
#21 San Francisco 49ers – DE Manny Lawson (NC State)

2:58 PM – After a disturbingly serious conversation with my brother’s friends about immigration, I notice that I’ve been ignoring the draft. Alcohol could have something to do with it as well. I’m working on my third drink of the afternoon when the Bucaneers select Davin Joseph. I gotta think that this is a reach. Most mock drafters didn’t even having Joseph going by the middle of the second round. I did have some interest in seeing Joseph go to the Packers, but I would never advocate having him go so early.
#22 Tampa Bay Buccaneers – OG Davin Joseph (Oklahoma)

3:09 PM – Johnathan Joseph goes to Cincinnati. I make a comment that his name could either be pronounced “JON-athon” or “jo-NATHAN,” which is not well-received. The bad joke is yet another early indication of possible intoxication.
#23 Cincinnati Bengals – CB Johnathan Joseph (South Carolina)

3:26 PM – In two quickly developing moves, Pittsburgh trade up to get Santonio Holmes and Buffalo moves up to get John McCargo from NC State. Normally, I’m not a big fan of trading up to get anyone unless their really special. Holmes though, was clearly worth trading up for to get, McCargo was not. The Bills make another bone-headed move.
#24 Pittsburgh Steelers – WR Santonio Holmes (Ohio State)
#25 Buffalo Bills – DT John McCargo (NC State)

3:49 PM – There are stirrings amongst the draft crowd here, that we should move back to the bar. I’m working on fourth drink (Killian’s Irish Red) as we discuss our plans. Some are getting restless while some of my friends struggle to keep their eyes open watching the draft. My brother and I take a quick coffee break, walking down to the nearest gas station for a $1.50 espresso. We just got back. I notice that while we were gone Carolina has taken D’Angelo Williams and Jacksonville has taken Marcedes Lewis. Good moves. I like both players.
#26 Carolina Panthers – RB D’Angelo Williams (Memphis)
#27 Jacksonville Jaguars – TE Marcedes Lewis (UCLA)

4:04 PM – The Jets trade up to get Nick Mangold. Damn! I really wanted Mangold to fall down to the Packers early in the second round. I can practically see the smug satisfaction on Ryan’s face. I’ve finished my espresso and am now working on another Killian’s. Group moral is up.
#28 New York Jets – C Nick Mangold

4:18 PM – The group has decided to make the journey to the bar…in my case, a return journey. I am writing this as the Colts are still on the board. I’m not sure who they will take, but if I were to guess, I would say possibly Joseph Addai. Since are leaving, I will guess at the next two picks as well. I’m guess that Seattle will select Mathias Kiwanuka and the Giants, who now have the last pick, will take Chad Jackson. I’m signing off for now, ready to tie one on. Hope you had a great draft day. I’ll try to follow up with a response article tomorrow!

A sports bonanza

2006-04-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

Today I felt like I died and heaven was ESPNZone. I spent a beautiful day at my friend Kirk's, in which I watched the NFL Draft, split screen with the Yankees game, while another TV had the Devils-Rangers Game 4 and later on we checked in with the Nets-Pacers Game 4. As I sit home typing this, the Mets are one out away from a second straight win against the Braves and extending their lead to 7 games over the Braves and Phillies on April 29. A month into the season. Pedro pitched a gem yesterday and Glavine pitched an absolute gem tonight versus his old team.

This is on the brink of becoming my most memorable sports season ever. I can feel it. Can smell it and breathe it. I have watched every single Mets game so far and I don't plan on missing any. My schedule is based around Mets games; that is often convenient because I work at Sportsnet NY, the Mets network, but even when I'm off, I stop in at a bar to watch the game or take it in at home. And....YES! Wagner strikes out Jeff Franceour with a high fastball to end the game! 1-0 win, as Glavine, then Heilman and Wagner combine for a five-hitter. Exorcise those demons. Since a slight slump versus the Padres, the Mets have now won 4 of 5 from the Giants and the Braves. This one-run game has always been the type the Mets lose. Not this year. At least not yet.

This was supposed to be an NFL Draft post. But I am totally swept up by this baseball season so far. I have put so much into the season, I feel so committed...I just think I care too much. Shit, it may lead me to write a silly baseball movie like Fever Pitch. The Mets aren't cursed, though. They have just been inept. Wagner is really the difference for this team. He was certainly the most important transaction this offseason. Not only did the Mets acquire their first bonafide closer in a decade or more, they obtained him from a division rival. Wagner hasn't been lights out, but even when he encounters trouble, you never really doubt that he can finish the game. The confidence that creates is formidable - and not seen in these parts in two decades.

To some, watching 5 consecutive hours of sports would seem a waste on a beautiful spring day. As someone put it today, watching a day baseball game is like spending it outdoors anyway. At least it feels that way. I could not have imagined a more enjoyable NFL Draft. Yes, the first round was much longer than I remembered. But the on-air personalities, such as the illiterate Mike Irvin, "Disney" Chris Berman, and the always insightful and inspiring Mel Kiper Jr., provide ample opportunities for jokes and tirades. So do the players in the draft. There's nothing like watching young, newly rich players give awkward interviews to Suzy Kolber. Especially when it's through a remote satellite. We drank some beers, ate hamburgers and Doritos, and strategized Jets scenarios for hours.

My buddy Kirk had a Kiper-like sense for predicting draft picks. Whenever he spoke on his cell phone we joked that he was speaking to his sources. He called D'Brickashaw Ferguson for the Jets at number four, and then surprisingly called Nick Mangold later in the first round. Even though there were other highly-rated players on the board, the Jets went with Mangold. They ended up trading away their early second round pick in exchange for an additional pick, and eventually moved up a few spots in that same round to take Oregon QB Kellen Clemmens with the 49th overall pick.

As a Jets fan, I was satisfied with the selections. Our offensive line was ravaged with injuries last year and then defections this offseason. There isn't a better place to start in rebuilding this team than the offensive line. Especially when Pennington and Ramsey aren't the most solid quarterbacks. From another standpoint, though, it was a pretty unglamorous draft.

I was hoping the Jets would have selected Matt Leinart. Watching Leinart fall to 10 was pretty shocking. I love this guy. I have always thought he will be an All-Pro QB and I stand by that opinion. He played in a pro offense, as a senior he called half the plays at the line, and handled the pressure of playing in the Los Angeles spotlight. I think the Titans will be saddened to look back and realize they chose Vince Young over Leinart. It was also pretty sad to see Leinart wait until he was drafted by the Cardinals. And I was downright shocked that the Texans didn't take Reggie Bush. I don't care if there's baggage there. The Texans should be disbanded after that move. I won't budge on that point. This team will have the No. 1 pick again next year.

I don't think Young will be a good pro quarterback. I have thought this for some time now. His mechanics aren't good, his football IQ is pretty low, and his ability to read defenses is subpar. At Texas, his passing plays only had one option. If that wasn't open, Young didn't check to another receiver, he tucked the ball and ran. This won't fly in the NFL.

I must admit, though, that ESPN introduction was pretty cool. Young looked like R. Kelly in the white suit and top hat. Jay Cutler was pretty weird in his cowboy hat and suit in that montage. The people I watched the draft with quickly jumped off the Jay Cutler bandwagon after that.

Maybe the most surprising thing for me was that Jets fans didn't boo D'Brickashaw. It seems Jets fans are more rational than I thought. You would have expected vociferous calls for Leinart, given how Pennington has soured on us, but that wasn't the case. Many Jets fans pointed to their heads after the pick, signalling GM Mike Tannenbaum may be thinking more rationally than emotionally.

The Jets also selected an inside linebacker - Anthony Schlegel from Ohio St. - and strong safety Eric Smith from Michigan State. They met several needs.

I thought the Giants' swap with the Steelers was a bad deal. They selected Mathias Kiwanuka at DE, and later selected Sinorice Moss. Why not remain at the pick and take Santonio Holmes? They did get several later picks from the Steelers, who really wanted Holmes.

The Packers, as Dan will tell you, had a successful draft. A.J. Hawk will be an outstanding pro linebacker and they exchanged disgruntled receiver Javon Walker for a second round pick, and then turned right around and traded that pick for more of 'em. That's a bold, and yet crafty move, for a team with so many holes to fill. Dan is probably celebrating to the point that it's even-money he is passed out right now in Winona. Or he may be wandering the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. I have been getting his voicemail so the Silver Wolf may be back.

This is what makes sports great

2006-04-25T19:35:00.000-05:00

I nearly wet myself reading these quotes from headcase Portland Trail Blazers forward Darius Miles. If David Stern wants to illustrate the perils of entering the draft at a young age, and why the 18-year-old age limit makes sense, just show a montage of Darius Miles clips.

Miles, in an interview with Jason Quick of the Portland Oregonian:
"Yeah, you probably smelled liquor on me before. But it's not like I'm at practice drunk. I'm totally focused. I don't care if you come to practice and take a shower, once you go to practice and start sweating, it's going to come out. That doesn't mean you aren't focused or ready to practice. Like you might go out, you might get drunk, and come to the gym higher than a mother, and you sweating, you smell like liquor, and you interviewing everybody. What does that mean? You still 100 percent focused. That's just ridiculous. Ask any other team, little petty stuff like that, if you ask any other coach in the NBA if they smell liquor on a player, any coach would say, `Every year."'

In the same interview, Miles, who wants out of Portland, detailed some of his concerns with Trail Blazers management.

"It's like you are telling me I'm this franchise player, but hey ... once I noticed it, and I was like dang, 'I don't have no bobble head?' They tried to get me one at the last minute, and I was like, 'No, I'm fine.'

"But I don't want to sound like I'm whining. But this is what you all are telling me. You mean to tell me, if they have a Steve Nash, a Raja Bell, Amare Stoudemire, and a Boris Diaw bobblehead, they wouldn't have a Shawn Marion? But I don't want this whole interview to sound like I'm whining."

Mock Draft Buffet

2006-04-20T19:03:00.000-05:00

Hungry for another mock draft?

With the NFL Draft coming up in two weeks, who wouldn’t be? Luckily for you, I just happened to have the oven all warmed up for another heapin’ helping of creamy mock draft goodness.

I might as well let you dig in because you look awful hungry. Don’t burn yourself on the Jets selection at number four, it’s hot. Try not to drop any Tamba Hali-crumbs on my new floor either, because I just swept him down the first round. But I won’t disturb you any more, you go ahead and enjoy. I talk with you when you’re done.

First Round:

1. Houston Texans – RB Reggie Bush (USC)
2. New Orleans Saints – DE Mario Williams (NC State)
3. Tennessee Titans – QB Matt Leinart (USC)
4. New York Jets – OT D’Brickshaw Ferguson (Virginia)
5. Green Bay Packers – LB A.J. Hawk (Ohio State)
6. San Francisco 49ers – Vernon Davis (Maryland)
7. Oakland Raiders – QB Vince Young (Texas)
8. Buffalo Bills – DT Haloti Ngata (Oregon)
9. Detroit Lions – S Michael Huff (Texas)
10. Arizona Cardinals – QB Jay Cutler (Vanderbilt)
11. St. Louis Rams – CB Jimmy Williams (Virginia Tech)
12. Cleveland Browns – DT Broderick Bunkley (Florida State)
13. Baltimore Ravens – CB Tye Hill (Clemson)
14. Philadelphia Eagles – WR Chad Jackson (Florida)
15. Denver Broncos – RB DeAngelo Williams (Memphis)
16. Miami Dolphins – CB Antonio Cromartie (Florida State)
17. Minnesota Vikings – LB Ernie Sims (Florida State)
18. Dallas Cowboys – DB Ashton Youbuty (Ohio State)
19. San Diego Chargers – WR Santonio Holmes (Ohio State)
20. Kansas City Chiefs – CB Johnathon Joseph (South Carolina)
21. New England Patriots – LB Chad Greenway (Iowa)
22. San Francisco 49ers – DE Manny Lawson (NC State)
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – OT Winston Justice (USC)
24. Cincinnati Bengals – TE Marcedes Lewis (UCLA)
25. New York Giants – LB Bobby Carpenter (Ohio State)
26. Chicago Bears – TE Leonard Pope (Georgia)
27. Carolina Panthers – LB DeMeco Ryans (Alabama)
28. Jacksonville Jaguars – LB Kamerion Wimbley (Florida State)
29. New York Jets – RB LenDale White (USC)
30. Indianapolis Colts – RB Laurence Maroney (Minnesota)
31. Seattle Seahawks – DE Tamba Hali (Penn State)
32. Pittsburgh Steelers – C Nick Mangold (Ohio State)

So how was it? Here’s some quick hits for dessert:

-There are a ton of rumors going around at this point in the year and most of them are only that. I was checking my Gmail account today when I noticed a quote posted by the Gmail staff from Friedrich Nietzsche, “There are no facts, only interpretations.” Well, nowhere is that more true that with the NFL Draft. So many GM’s and owners send out smoke-screens by misrepresenting information and leading on players that no one really knows what’s going on. I do however know this: some GM’s are real bad liars.

-Don’t believe anything out of Houston that says the Texans aren’t going to take Reggie Bush. Not only are the false, but their also ridiculous. Why would anyone pass up on the best player on the draft, especially when you’re the worst team in the NFL? They’re not going to trade away their first pick for more picks. Sure, it might help them in a practical sense, but that would be like giving up Michael Jordan for a team full of Sam Bowie’s. They need Reggie Bush as an icon more than they need him as a football player.

-Jets fans want Matt Leinart real bad. Ask Ryan. I’ve got bad news though. Despite all their bluffs and posturing, the Titans will take Leinart at number three. They’ve all but already pushed out their starting quarterback, Steve McNair. And if he’s gone, I can see the Jets passing on Vince Young. Why roll the dice on a first-round quarterback when you can have a sure-thing in D’Brickshaw Ferguson. He’ll be a star for a long time.

-The hottest name in draft rumors this week is Vernon Davis. I’ve heard people saying he’ll go at number four to the Jets. I’m not sure if he deserves Top 5 status, but the 49ers will definitely give him a look at number six. He put on a clinic at the NFL Combine running a 4.38 in the 40, a ridiculous number for a TE. Think a stronger, faster Antonio Gates. Scary, huh?

-The coldest name in draft rumor this week is LenDale White. It came out early last week that the reason White didn’t run the 40 at his workout was because he has a sprain hamstring. White also admitted that he put on a lot of weight this winter, spending too much of the holidays eating his mom’s cooking. He’s lost a lot of creditability because of these reports; some writers even have him falling into the second round. And while, I’m not sure that that’s completely accurate, he’s definitely given himself the rap of a lazy player. I see him going in the late first round, possibly to the Steelers or Jets.

-Surprise players that might sneak into the first round: LB Thomas Howard (UTEP), who’s fast, physical and exciting; RB Joseph Addai (LSU), if the LenDale White slide continues and enough people are desperate for a running back; OG Davin Joseph (Oklahoma), the most athletic guard in the draft; DT John McCargo (NC State), another part of that well-respected Wolfpack defensive line, who put up big numbers alongside Mario Williams and Manny Lawson.

The Amazins'

2006-04-16T17:57:00.000-05:00

Dedicated readers of Freeways and Cow Pastures may have been asking themselves this week: Where's Ryan to write about the Mets? Shouldn't he be gloating?

Well, as a Mets fan, I know better than to gloat. The season is young and this game is so much about feel and momentum that early predictions are foolhardy. As the season reaches summer, injuries happen, pitchers go on the DL, hitters slump, and many road bumps arise. But it feels great to be a Mets fan right now, to be a baseball fan in general, as spring blooms here in New York City. Still, my friends, some Yankees and Braves fans, are already tiring of my declarations that it's fairly obvious the Mets will win the NL East.

It's only appropriate I give you my take on the Mets as the Amazins' start the season 9-2, after taking 2 of 3 from Dan's beloved Brewers. We made a friendly wager on the series, and so Dan will have to buy me a 6-pack of some fine imported beer (maybe McEwan's, a Scottish staple).

It's easy to say that I predicted a hot start for the Mets. But I really had no idea what would happen. I was confident in our bats, and almost imagined we would have to score 7 or 8 runs a game to support the rotation. That hasn't been the case yet, as our pitchers have posted a solid 3.26 team ERA. Heck, even the pitchers have been hitting well, like rookie Brian Bannister who went 2-for-2 the other day, and Pedro and Steve Trachsel who each have a handful of RBI.

Bannister, 25, has been a great surprise. The son of former pitcher Floyd Bannister spent last year in Double-A and Triple-A and was a total unknown in spring ball this year. With the loss of Jae Seo and Kris Benson, it seemed certain that Aaron Heilman would gain the fifth spot, but instead Bannister fairly beat him out for the job. He is 2-0 in three starts, and could easily be 3-0 given that Billy Wagner and then Jorge Julio botched Bannister's performance in the second game of the season versus the Nationals. In his start against the Brewers today, Bannister pitched out of a jam in each of his five innings, stranding ten runners. That is uncanny for a young pitcher, to escape from trouble again and again.

Tom Glavine, at age 40, is having a resurgence in the twilight of his career. Here's a pitcher who has had little success in three seasons with the Mets. Glavine even admitted that he nearly considered returning to Atlanta and regretted his move to New York. But under the tutelage of pitching coach Rick Peterson, Glavine changed his style in the second half of last season and made throwing inside a staple of his repertoire. The younger version of Glavine, hitting outside corners with fastballs in the upper 80s and lower 90s, was untenable given his advanced age. Glavine reformed his style and that led to a great 2005 second half and an excellent start to this season: he is 2-0 in three starts with a 1.50 ERA.

On Friday night, the opening game against the Brewers, Glavine fanned 11 batters, a career high. I was at the game and it was satisfying to watch. His work against Geoff Jenkins, who isn't the toughest guy to strike out, was great - he struck him out three times on off-speed pitches. Glavine had batters out in front all night. That game was the first time I've seen the Mets win in person, ending a streak of probably four games. The whole night had an electric feel despite the delayed start until 8:45 pm due to rain. The Mets were in front early, held on late, and Billy Wagner closed the door in the ninth.

That inning, with only the die-hard fans left as it was getting late, was very exciting; it's easy to see that this team has more confidence than any Mets team I can remember. Mets fans expect doom and gloom; we expect bad things to happen. That traces back to a line of shitty relievers - John Franco, Armando Benitez, and Braden Looper. That's why Billy Wagner was the biggest acquisition in the NL East this offseason. It finally gave the Mets a bonafide, non-head case, gas throwing reliever, and from a division rival nonetheless. On Friday night, I had no doubt Wagner would hold the one-run lead, even while battling with Carlos Lee for the last out. I haven't felt that way in a long, long time.

As for the lineup, David Wright is proving that he may well be an NL MVP candidate a few years down the road. Jose Reyes is a smarter, more patient hitter, something I noticed in spring training. Paul Lo Duca fits great in the two hole; he's an excellent contact hitter and has one of the lowest strikeout ratios in the league. If Beltran only played at home like he has on the road, he'll be fine.

And Carlos Delgado has exceeded even my great expectations. He is one of the smartest cleanup hitters in baseball. He slugged a 3-run homer in the bottom of the eighth today to open up the game. It was a sick homer; he essentially double-pumped his swing on the curveball by Jorge De La Rosa, and took it out of the park with only his arms. Awesome strength. Another off-season acquisition, Xavier Nady, has been a pleasant surprise, although I was a firm proponent of trading Mike Cameron for him. Cameron was never happy in New York, playing RF, and I consistently saw him strike out again and again in big spots.

Overall, this lineup is stacked. From top to bottom, I have little doubt the Mets can come from behind or pad leads. It feels good to be a Mets fan right now, to have witnessed some miserable years, although I never questioned my affiliation, never wavered and inched toward that other, more successful NY franchise. It feels good that baseball is back, that I'm young and in the Big Apple, and that the sounds coming from Shea have been cheers, not sighs.

Early Edition: Fantasy Notes So Far

2006-04-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

The fantasy baseball season is off and running and those of us with Chris Shelton (14 for 24 with 5 HR and 9 RBIs) couldn’t be happier. As always, it’s been an entertaining spring in Major League Baseball full of surprises and expectations. I know the season is only a week old, but it feels as though it’s mid-July already. There’s been plenty of impetus to completely give-up on some people and to proclaim others as having finally turned a corner. With that hyperbole in mind, let’s take a look at some early season lessons that we’ve all learned so far:

-You probably have been having heart issues if you have lot of Braves players on your roster. Strangely enough they’ve built up the most offense in MLB (53 runs scored, first in the majors), but without Leo Mazzone, their once-dominant pitching staff has given it right back (53 runs allowed, most in the majors). I was totally wrong about Jeff Francouer. He’s been horrible (.069 BA, 2 RBIs), but fellow outfielder Ryan Lagerhans has been superb (.444 BA, 7 RBIs). Chipper Jones is on the 15-day DL; you knew it would happen soon. I wouldn’t gamble on any of the Braves young starters yet, and don’t even think about picking up closer Chris Reitsma, who features a 9.42 ERA.

-If you’re like me, you drafted Keith Foulke way too early and now hold a huge grudge against all Jon Papelbon-owners. Papelbon came out of nowhere. Wasn’t he supposed to be a starter at one point? Some lucky schmo in your fantasy league probably stumbled upon the highlight of Papelbon saving that first game against Texas last Wednesday and realized he struck gold without even trying. So what do the rest of us do with Foulke? One of two things: 1.) hold on to him while stabbing your Jon Papelbon voodoo doll nightly, or 2.) let him go and try to scrap the bottom of the closer barrel with someone like the Royals’ Mike MacDougal. Sadly, I’d almost rather choose the former.

-Anyone owning Rockies field-players is having a surprise start to the season. I laughed at some of the people in my draft who were taking Rockies’ players. “It’s that Rocky Mountain high.” Unfortunately, they may have been on to something, not “on” something (ouch…bad joke, I’m sorry). The outfielders are all having great seasons; Cory Sullivan is hitting .400, Brad Hawpe .304 and the promising Matt Holliday is hitting .250. These same Rockies knocked in 32 runs over the Padres at Petco Park. By the way, Jason Smith might still be available in your league. Check it out before someone else does.

-I hope you weren’t banking on the Twins offense to come through for their pitching. So far the big sluggers for Minnesota, Rondell White and Justin Morneau are hitting .091 and .208 respectively, with just 7 RBIs between them. Joe Mauer has played well enough, but with Torii Hunter struggling (.208 BA) and the Tony Batista experiment looking more and more like a mistake (.125 BA), you can see why the Twins are 1-5. A lack of run support is really not going to help out if you have Johan Santana or Brad Radke. Stick with Santana for the strikeouts, but ditch Radke if you can, because he’s not going to get the same number of wins he usually gets this year.

-Being the consummate Brewers insider, I have to chuckle at those people who drafted Prince Fielder over Lyle Overbay. Let’s look at the stats, shall we? Overbay is hitting .375 with 1 HR, 1 3B, 4 RBIs and 4 Fs. Fielder is hitting .227 with 1 HR, 2 RBIs and 7 Ks. As I told Ryan’s brother at our draft, “Overbay will have the better season, Fielder will have the better career.”

-Watching Carlos Beltran hit .176 to start the season could make anyone want to boo him; as if Mets’ fans even needed a reason. Is the time to buy low on him? If he’s owned by a skittish owner in your league and you’re looking for a gamble, you might want to low-ball for him. He’s already had a homer and two steals in five games so far.

-Don’t be discouraged by Felix Hernandez’ 5-0 loss to the A’s last week, nor should you be concerned that the Mariners have placed a 200-pitch cap on Hernandez. He looked good in his first performance this year despite the loss, throwing five innings of two-hit ball with four strikeouts. He just happened to be pitching against a very hot Joe Blanton, who held the Mariners to two hits over eight innings. Hernandez will get plenty of wins once the Mariners bats’ pick-up and eventually he won’t even need 200 pitches to get to seventh or eight innings.

This Summer's World Cup and Beyond

2006-04-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

The 2006 World Cup in Germany is right around the corner and the US Men’s National Team will need a big effort to continue the success that they enjoyed in Japan-Korea ’02. In that tournament, the US and Korea both surprised their European counterparts Portugal and Poland to move on to the knock-out round. There the US defeated bitter CONCACAF rival Mexico 2-0 but lost to the uninspiring Germans 1-0 in the quarterfinals. For the US to even have made it to the Round of 8 was a surprise however, spurned on by the play of young superstars DeMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan.

Since that time the US roster has not seen much change to the starting line-up, but there are still many questions about who will fill out the rest of the roster. This time around, the US will need to have a much deeper roster to get out of their initial group which is much more difficult. The US again faces two very tough European teams, and unlike Poland and Portugal, that are proven winners. Italy and the Czech Republic will not lie down for the US and the fourth team, Ghana features Chelsea’s Michael Essien (aka “the Bison”).

True, the US is no longer considered a second-tier talent in the world. They easily blew by the rest of the North American competition in the usually stiff CONCACAF qualifying rounds. This gave head coach Bruce Arena a chance to rest his European based players and try out the young MLS-based players who competed for the bench spots on the US roster. Some of these players, such as the New England Revolutions’ Taylor Twellman and Clint Dempsey took the opportunity to shine, both all-but assuring themselves of spots on the final roster. Unfortunately, when these same young players took on Germany in a World Cup warm-up on March 22nd, they learned a much different lesson, losing 4-1 in an embarrassing defeat. Though the Germans were able to field many of their starters, this MLS-based players looked more out-classed than anyone, including Arena, had expected.

With the US needing to trim the roster down to 25 players before the tournament begins on June 9th when Germany faces Costa Rica, there are still a few spots in doubt. The US has a couple more warm-up games coming including April 11th against Jamaica. The roster for that friendly will feature many of the players still on the bubble including forwards Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson. Let’s take a look at some of the some of the question marks and key players for the US roster in Germany ’06:

F Taylor Twellman (N.E. Revolution) – Coming into the World Cup qualifying last summer, there were a lot of questions surrounding Twellman. He has not had any problems impressing people in MLS, winning the MVP and the Golden Boot in 2005. Twellman however, had struggled on the international season prior to last summer. His initial few games in qualifying were equally pedestrian. In his first World Cup qualifying start, Twellman looked helpless to score in the September 7th draw with Guatamala, despite his domestic reputation for clinical finishing. He struggled again in the 3-0 loss to Costa Rica on October 8th. His breakout game finally came against Panama on his home turf in Foxboro, MA against Panama on October 12th. Twellman and Kyle Martino both scored their international goals as the US won their final qualifying game 2-0. Since that time, Twellman has looked more and more at ease, scoring a hat-trick against Norway on January 9th and a goal and two assists against a strong Japanese team on February 10th, 2006. It remains to be seen whether Twellman has the pace to keep up with strong defensive teams like Italy and Spain, but he’ll probably be one of the first forwards off the bench for the US this summer.

F Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards) – Johnson is almost the karmatic opposite of Twellman. He burst onto the international scene in October 2004 with a hat trick in just 17 minutes against Panama; however he’s struggled in qualifying since that time. Johnson scored key goals against Honduras and Trindad and Tobago early in 2005, but was held scoreless for the rest of the year. He has the physical attributes that Twellman does not, including the speed that the US could be lacking up front. Recently traded to the Kansas City Wizard from FC Dallas, Johnson might be on the wrong side of the bubble to make the final men’s roster, but he’s still very young.

D Jonathon Spector (Charlton) – On a year-long loan from Manchester United, young Jonathon Spector has been solid contributor to a surprising Charlton squad. In the early Premiership season last fall, he spent most of the time coming off the bench in the late minutes, but he has since moved into a starting spot. Starting in the Premier League is certainly nothing to scoff at. In fact, he and Claudio Reyna are currently the only field-players to have starting spots in the spots in England’s top division. That will soon change when Bobby Convey’s Reading makes the jump from the English League Champsionship (England’s AAA, so-to-speak) next year, but for now Spector looks prime to secure a bench role for the men’s national team. He hasn’t seen a lot of international action due to his role in England, but he’ll be a fixture in the otherwise weak American defense for years to come.

M Bobby Convey (Reading) – The best player you’ve probably never heard of, at age 22, Convey is a star in the making. Moving to English League Championship club Reading last summer from DC United, he joined American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann on the club that has surprised everyone to lock up a promotion next season to the Premier League. Convery has all the tools to be a big surprise at this year’s World Cup: he’s quick on the dribble, a great distributor and a wonder on the set-pieces. He should fill a starting spot on the roster alongside Manchester City midfielder Claudio Reyna.

M Steve Ralston (N.E. Revolution) – Personally, I’m a huge fan of Ralston’s play. There nothing too special about his game except the fact that he works harder than any other player in the midfield. There were a number of qualifying games last fall when Ralston looked like he was playing twice as hard as the other MLS-based guys on the field. He’s a speedy winger who toiled on MLS rosters since 1996 when he was named Rookie of the Year for the now-defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny. Ralston missed out on the Japan-Korea World Cup but I think he’s done enough in qualifying to earn himself a spot in Germany.

F Freddy Adu (D.C. United) – He won’t make the World Cup squad, but for God sake’s, he’s only 16 years old. Even Pele was 17 at his first World Cup in Sweden; Maradona was 22. Give the kid some time.

M Santino Quaranta (D.C. United) – People who say that Bruce Arena has a bias towards his old United players are probably somewhat accurate. But you can’t this against the players themselves. I admit had my doubts about Quaranta when I first saw him in action last fall against Guatamala. My initial reaction on seeing him in the starting line-up was something like “Who?” Yet Quaranta, like Ralston, played like one of the few players who deserved to be there. He didn’t really look nervous, controlling the ball well and playing relatively mistake-free soccer. After the game, I had to look him up (“on the Internets,” as our President calls it) just to find out who he was. In subsequent qualifying games he’s made a believer out of me by doing what few other MLS-based players can do on the international level: look comfortable on the field. I don’t think he has much of a chance for a World Cup spot this year, but if he continues to play well at DC, I can see him being an integral part of the 2010 squad.

M Clint Dempsey (N.E. Revolution) – Dempsey was a player who gain more and more confidence as qualifying dragged on. He’s play isn’t flashy. In fact, if I was hard-pressed for a word that describes him it would have to be scrappy. But I feel like Dempsey would be one of the best candidates to benefit from a World Cup spot. He’s a talented youngster whose best soccer is head of him. He’ll probably make the squad as a back-up fielder before Quaranta or Ralston. If he can play well in Germany, I would expect him to find a European contract for next fall. He’s too good for MLS competition.

D Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege) – After successful play in both the U-17 and U-20 National Teams, Onyewu caught the eye of the senior national team brass, as well as the eye of many European scouts. In 2002 he signed a four-year contract of FC Metz of the French First Division. At 6’4, 210 lbs he’s a big defender, but surprisingly quick. In qualifying this fall he pretty much cemented his spot on the final roster by playing well enough to outshine MLS-based players like Jimmy Conrad and Greg Vanney. He’ll probably play in a reserve role behind Greg Berhalter and Eddie Pope, but he’s got a good chance to play a big part of future men’s national teams.

Everybody's Underdog

2006-04-04T22:17:00.000-05:00

Loyal readers of this blog will have to excuse my obsession with the Milwaukee Brewers. It may be annoying to some and completely irrelevant to others, but a great teacher and writer once told me to write about what you know best…and thus I type on about the Brewers.

Many of you who may frequent outside sources of baseball information (we don’t condone necessarily condone this), particularly ESPN, CBS Sportsline and CNN Sports Illustrated, may have noticed a continuing trend of sportswriter predicting the Brewers to be the surprise team this year. Just yesterday, I was listening to the Big Show on ESPN Radio with Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann while they were giving their predictions. It might surprise some to learn that despite my best hopes, Olbermann picking the Brewers to possibly win the NL Central made me feel a bit uneasy.

If you’ll refer back to my NL Central preview, you’ll see that despite my bias, I was level-headed enough to select the Cardinals finishing ahead of the Brewers. I’m not so ignorant to overlook the facts. I know that Prince Fielder is no Albert Pujols, Doug Davis no Mark Mulder (despite the similar alliteration of their names) and Ned Yost is definitely not Tony LaRussa (in that he doesn’t pass out syringes in the dugout, just kidding). And despite my occasional fantasy preference for young talent over experienced veterans, I know that a team that has reached the playoffs is much more likely to play with stability come fall.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being pessimistic here, I just have to see the situation as it is: all the added press and attention decreases the chances of the Brewers performing at a level ahead of the Cardinals. And there are also a lot of things that could go wrong. Ben Sheets’ health has been shaky the last couple of seasons and there is no question that beginning the year on the DL makes me nervous. Without Sheets, the starting rotation really has no leader. Davis and Capuano are both strong, but neither could carry this entire team on their back; Sheets has the ability to do just that.

The youth on this team is a blessing and a curse. I used J.J. Hardy as an example in my last article and I’ll do it again with your permission. He’s a strong player and a good leader, but when the 2005 started last April and he struggled so badly (beginning the season around .180 BA), I started to smell AAA. There was obviously a lot going on in his head, as he had just returned from missing the entire 2004 season with a shoulder injury. Fortunately, he did turn it around, but my point is this: things like this go to a young player’s head quickly.

Who knows what will happen if Prince Fielder struggles early this season? Most rookies struggle to adjust in their first season, but regain their form after seeing pitchers repeatedly, but for some the mental damage has been done; these are the ones that return to AAA never to be seen again. Now, I happen to think Fielder is way too talented to lose his head like that, but there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on this young man. Not only has he been billed as the future of this organization, there has also been a lot of talk about him as being the early season Rookie of the Year pick. Fielder also shoulders the emotional burden of his father’s long shadow, which includes questions about his weight. Doug Melvin may have been pushing his confidence onto Fielder when he traded Overbay, but he was also pushing a lot of demands on the 21-year old. Just look at his numbers so far this season: 0 for 8 with 7 strikeouts (as of the 7th inning last in tonight’s MIL-PIT game).

I hate to focus on the negatives though. One of the things that does give me hope is the presence of veteran leadership on this ball club. It used to be that Brewers would sign veteran free agents as starters in the off-season and then fill the holes with young players on the bench. Those were the days of John Vander Wal and Jeffery Hammonds (oh, Jeffery Hammonds!). These days the Brewers have groomed the young players to start and filled the rest of the holes with the qualified veterans. It is good to see players like Jeff Cirillo and Corey Koskie as pinch-hitters and defensive replacements. I do believe that if the young players struggle, there will be a significant amount of experience on the bench to take over without too much difficulty.

Unfortunately, in the end, I just can’t see them surmounting the Cardinals. There is too much of a talent gap between the Cardinals and the Brewers. I still hold onto my prediction that the Cardinals will win the Central. LaRussa and his boys will again have their NL Central crown (with Tony’s facial expression not changing once) as they bring home a pennant to the new Busch Stadium. I haven’t given hope completely though, there’s always the Wild Card.

And yes, by the way it’s true…I played hooky yesterday from work to drive over the border into Wisconsin to watch the Milwaukee Brewers win their opener 5-2 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Opening Day, Playing Hooky, and Much More

2006-04-03T09:56:00.000-05:00

For years, I have believed Opening Day in Major League Baseball should be a national holiday -- no school, no work, banks closed, long weekend. My cohort Dan is making a social statement today and doing just that...playing hooky and calling out sick so he can watch the Brewers open at 2:05 EST. That's how dedicated he is to this site and the Brewers. He called out of work just so he could watch 12 hours of baseball and listen to Johnny Miller and Joe Morgan for hours upon hours.

I can only imagine the exchange when Dan called into work this morning: "Uh, yeah, I'm not feeling so well. I don't think I'm going to come in today."

Human resources person: "What's that in the background? Is that Skip Bayless and Woody Paige yelling at each other on Cold Pizza? Are you lying in bed watching TV?"

The Mets start opening day at 1:10 pm versus the Nationals. 40-year-old Tom Glavine, 13-13 last year, starts against the always durable Livan Hernandez. I'll be watching the game intently here at work. The Brewers face the Pirates soon after at 2:05 pm. With Ben Sheets on the DL, Doug Davis starts for the Brewers, opposite Oliver Perez.

I was at Shea Stadium yesterday for the first Mets preseason public workout. It was a beautiful day, and a perfect way for me to spend my first full day in New York after moving here on Saturday. I've lived in New York for two summers during college, but this is quite different. My first full-time job, post-college, living on my own. It creates a few jitters, but it is also incredibly exciting. Moving in Saturday reminded me of moving into college; calling up friends on the drive up, making sure the whole crew would be assembled for that night. Since so many college buddies are in New York, it makes this move quite easy.

Anyway, I got two tickets to this public workout, which is limited to season-ticket holders but I got in through work. As usual, the subway lines to the outer boroughs were riddled with obstacles. That always happens on weekends. It took me longer than expected to get to Shea, with a quick diversion to Queensboro Plaza before catching the 7 train. Once on the 7, I passed through the heart of Queens on my way to Willets Point/Shea Stadium, the penultimate spot. Walking down the elevated platform, the sun was shining down on a large group making their way to Shea, many taking this opportunity to wear their jerseys...Wright, Martinez, Reyes, Beltran. It made me want to buy a jersey at the park, but I decided not to right now. I was trying to decide which one to buy though: either Delgado or Reyes.

When I came to the Shea entrance, you could see the field and loge sections were packed. It was a great sight. It was about 12:40 pm when I entered the park, and gates had opened about an hour earlier. Players were stretching on the field, and I jumped a rail to get into the field section. I kicked my feet up, soaked in the sun, ate a greasy Nathan's hot dog and fries (10 bucks a pop), and watched my favorite players warm up, throw, and then take batting practice. If that BP is any indication, Carlos Delgado will hit 40 HR this year. He looked great at the plate; comfortable, smooth, and simply crushing the ball to right field.

You have read our NL and AL previews, my pick is the A's from the American League and the Mets in the National League. In six games, the Mets will win the 2006 World Series. Twenty years since the last World Series win. The pieces are in place and the stars aligned.

Also on my mind...

It has been a great NCAA Tournament but that may be tainted somewhat by the Final Four. The semifinals were unexciting and tonight's final does not strike my fancy. And I don't hear many people discussing it. The opening rounds were classic, especially the George Mason win over UConn. That was one of the cleanest, exciting, and jump-out-of-your seat, heart-racing games I have watched in years. Connecticut committed one turnover the whole second half. George Mason just triumphed in a back-and-forth battle.

I'll watch the game tonight. But to be honest, I'll probably be flipping between that and some baseball.

And lastly, this probably only applies to New Yorkers, but you know how a few kids will come on the subway train and sell candy. In the past, they used to say they were selling candy to raise money for their basketball team. And a few years ago, it became fashionable to say you weren't going to bullshit the passengers, you were trying to raise money to stay off the street. A few kids used this tact on my train returning from Shea yesterday. I wanted to tell them that was so 2004...but here's what bugged me the most. And I only realized it yesterday.

Why do these kids always sell Peanut M&M's? Seriously, every time these kids sell candy on the subway it's Peanut M&M's. It's not like this is a wildly popular candy. There are many more you'd think they choose - Snickers, Kit Kats, Reeses. Or even regular M&M's. Do these kids have a deal with Hershey (I believe they make M&M's)? Are Peanut M&M boxes falling off the backs of trucks? This revelation struck me as very odd.

And with that, have a great opening day, where each team's hopes are still alive and spring is here and we forget about steroids, George Mitchell, human growth hormone, and even Anna Benson for a day.

NL West Preview and NL Playoff Picture

2006-04-02T22:17:00.000-05:00

The Padres won this division last year with a record of 82-80, two games above .500 – the worst first-place record behind the 1973 Mets (82-79). What an anemic division. I think this division will be better this season, but not by much. I predict that the NL West champ – the Dodgers – will advance past the first round in the playoffs. The one player that can sway this division one way or another is Baroid Bonds. If he plays and is in top form (whatever that means now, or how he gets into that form), the Giants win the division. If he is not in top physical shape, or distracted with Selig’s investigation, then the Giants will be under .500. I have to give props to WFAN’s Steve Somers, who I heard use “Baroid” a few nights ago.

In predicted order of finish:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are certainly a fragile team. Many of their key players have been on the DL frequently in the last few seasons. And there’s not much power in the lineup. But given those weaknesses, I think LA’s pitching – and especially its bullpen – will lead them to a division crown, and probably a lot of close wins in the process. The rotation is led by Brad Penny and Derek Lowe – two veteran pitchers with playoff experience. Odalis Perez and Brett Tomko are up and down, but Jae Seo will have a good season as a late rotation starter. But a lot depends on Eric Gagne; he essentially missed the entire 2005 season. If he is healthy, added to the acquisitions of Danys Baez and Yhency Bronzoban (both can close), this bullpen will be the best in the division.

This team is bolstered by its experience. Most key guys – Nomar, Rafael Furcal, Jeff Kent, and Kenny Lofton – were integral parts of playoff teams before coming to the Dodgers; this seasoning will most certainly aid this team in tight games. I expect this to put the Dodgers over the top in a tight race with the Giants and Padres.

2. San Francisco Giants

This team arguably has the best rotation in the division. Matt Morris, who I think is mediocre, joins Jason Schmidt. Morris should benefit from not having to be the ace and also from facing a weaker division than the NL Central. The Giants have two outstanding young hurlers – Noah Lowry and Matt Cain. Cain is only 21, and in his first major league stint, but don’t expect him to return to the minors. He can easily push his way to the top of this rotation.

The Giants’ lineup is old and that’s its greatest weakness. Like I said earlier, this season hinges on Baroid and if he is in good shape. I doubt he will be. He has put on a lot of weight since steroid testing began last season and he suffered from the longest healing knee in the history of baseball. That was mysterious. In addition to Bonds, the ageless Moises Alou and Ray Durham add to an old lineup. This team probably won’t score many runs but its pitching staff will have to carry a heavy burden.

3. San Diego Padres

Jake Peavy is an emerging star and Trevor Hoffman heads a top-notch bullpen. But the staff and lineup have many holes. After Peavy, due to the loss of Adam Eaton and Brian Lawrence, will be Shawn Estes and Woody Williams. Yikes. Estes is awful and Williams is going to be 40. But Padres fans should take solace that Chan Ho Park is the fourth starter.

The Padres kept Brian Giles and former Mets Mike Cameron and Mike Piazza join the team. Piazza wanted to play in the AL so he could DH, but instead ended up with the Padres. He’s way past his prime, but will have to suit up to enter the lineup. Cameron has playing well this spring, but I know from excruciating experience that he strikes out way too much and never, ever gets a hit in a big spot. Ever.

4. Arizona Diamondbacks

Shawn Green is the D-Backs go-to slugger. Since Green really doesn’t have much pop left, that’s a dicey proposition. Honestly, there’s little to like with this team. They lost Troy Glaus and traded Javier Vasquez, who I think will fulfill high expectations given the right situation. Brandon Webb will be the No. 1 starter. He’s a good pitcher, but not a No. 1. This team won 77 games last year and that was actually good enough for second place in the division. I doubt it will win more than 75, and, even in this weak division, that will not be enough.

5. Colorado Rockies

Other than Todd Helton, the Rockies lineup is devoid of any familiar names. Management made few offensive additions from last year’s 67-95 club. And that team put up the fewest runs in Mile High history. With no added juice to the lineup, I can’t expect much improvement from last season’s mark.

Ryan’s NL playoff scenario:

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets

Atlanta Braves (WC) vs. St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Mets

NL champion: New York Mets

Dan’s NL playoff scenario:

San Diego vs. Atlanta

New York Mets (WC) vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Atlanta vs. St. Louis

NL champion: Atlanta

Fantasy Inexperience

2006-04-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of new names in Major League Baseball this year and some of those names will become house-hold by the end of the season. Every year rookies and young players make big impacts on their teams and contribute significant fantasy stats to owners who gamble on their talent. I personally enjoy spending the later rounds of my fantasy draft and countless mid-season hours searching for that rookie or young player who has the opportunity to start everyday.

Unfortunately, many of these players are risky pick-ups, easily loosing their starting spots when they struggle. Fantasy owners looking for that youthful revelation have to be patient while their blue-chipper goes through rough spots. Consider the plight of J.J. Hardy last year (another crass Brewers reference, I’m sorry). I drafted him in the very late rounds of my college buddies’ league last year, to back up a more dependent veteran. When Hardy began the year with a sub .200 BA, I realized I had wasted a rather valuable draft selection and decided to cut my losses. If I would have stuck with him past July, however I would’ve had a steal and a player who batted in the later months.

The following a selection of choice rookies and players in the early stages of their career who could be poised for a breakout season. You may recognize several of these names from the division previews that Ryan and I posted earlier. A lot of these guys could end up being dependable every day starters…or mid-season AAA flunkies. Be warned.

1B Prince Fielder (MIL) – For Fielder owners, it has to give you a warm feeling inside to know that the Brewers had enough faith in Fielder to trade the dependable Lyle Overbay. Fielder has that much talent. For a Brewers fan like me, this year is the year that we’ve persevered for for a long time. I’ll spare you the speech, suffice to say this: there is a lot of hype behind Fielder and I think he’ll warrant every word of it. Ryan knows how much stock I’ve put in him; when we were in Scotland I used to talk about him non-stop…and that was two years ago now. Fielder can not only rake, he’s a lot faster than you think. On Baseball Tonight a couple days ago, they showed a clip of Fielder legging out a triple and compared it to a clip of Tampa speedster Carl Crawford turning the bases on a similar hit. He’s an anomaly; one of those rare, big bodied athletes who are much faster than they appear. It’s a good thing that fantasy sports don’t concern themselves with defensive stats though; he could be a liability. Any interested fantasy owner should also know that Corey Hart and Corey Koskie could spell Fielder at times for a right-handed option at first. During inter-league play however, he makes the perfect DH.

SP Fransisco Liriano (MIN) – This Twins pitcher was part of that ridiculous Twins-Giants trade a few years ago where A.J. Pierzynski went to the Bay Area for Joe Nathan and two minor leaguers. Well, Liriano was one of those supposedly nameless minor leaguers who then did nothing short of dominate the AA and AAA levels for the Twins. Last year at AA New Britain he had an 11 strikeout game in the month of April and then back-to-back 10 strikeout games in May. He was also the USA Today’s 2005 Minor League Player of the Year. Word to the wise, however; Liriano seems to have lost out on the early competiton for the fifth spot in the Twins rotation to fellow prospect Scott Baker. A recent DUI in Florida certainly didn’t help things. He’ll start the season in the pen, but expect him to move the rotation by June if Baker or Carlos Silva lose favor.

3B Ryan Zimmerman (WAS) – The Nationals’ first round pick of the 2005 draft, Zimmerman is already penciled in as Washington’s Opening Day third baseman. He also led the team with seven home runs and 15 RBIs in Spring Training this year. He’ll bat sixth in the line-up behind 2B Alfonso Soriano, which means he’ll get some pitches he might not otherwise get. Wait, did I say 2B? I meant OF Alfonso Soriano. My bad. The only worry now for Zimmerman is the performance of the rest of his team. The Nationals certainly won’t sneak up on anyone like they did last year. And he’ll probably struggle early, while he adjusts to the spacious RFK Stadium. But this young man is a superstar and will rival David Wright as the top 3B prospect in the NL East.

SP Joe Blanton (OAK) – You can’t help but like the A’s young pitching. Blanton is kind of the unknown amongst a field of big names like Zito, Haren and Loiaza. And though he’s not a rookie, this could be a big breakout season for the 24 year-old Blanton. Last year, he went 12-12 but was ranked 10th among all AL pitchers in ERA, better than any other pitcher on the A’s staff. Unfortunately, he was one of those players you might have given up on. At the end of May, he was 0-5 over 10 starts with a 6.66 ERA. Not the kind of numbers which inspire early confidence. Later on the year, he was named Rookie of the Month for August after going 3-1 with a 1.17 ERA. Expect him to be more consistent this season entering his second full year in the majors.

OF Joey Gathright (TB) – Fantasy owners looking to bulk up in the stolen base category should look no further. Gathright is probably the fastest player in the baseball. He has 134 stolen bases in just 262 career minor league games. This former 32-round selection has sick physical attributes including being rumored to possess the ability to jump over a car with a running start. Gathright spent most of 2005 in AAA, but hit a respectable .276 in 203 AB for the Rays last year. He also fits into what I like to call Wolf’s Corollary: some of the best bargains are naturally found on some of the worst teams. Also helping his cause is the fact that OF Rocco Baldelli begins the season on the DL. Fantasy owners looking for power however, showed look elsewhere: Gathright has no professional home runs in either the major or minor leagues.

1B Conor Jackson (ARI) – Along with Fielder, Jackson is the likeliest candidate to become the 2006 version of Ryan Howard. Fielder and Jackson actually share many of the same qualities and experiences including late 2005 call-ups. And also like Fielder, he brings a wealth of deep-ball power to the lineup. He actually started over Fielder for the Pacific Coast League in the 2005 AAA All-Star Game last year. Now in the present, he hit .452 in Spring Training, where manager Bob Melvin decided to move him up in the batting order to the fifth spot. He’ll hit in between lefties Luis Gonzalez and Shawn Green, making him a good bet to build some big numbers.

SP Paul Maholm (PIT) – Before you even thinking about picking up this young Pirates lefty you should know that it’s pronounced “mah-HALL-uhm.” I made the same mistake. One of the new starters in Pittsburgh’s youth movement, Maholm takes over the number two spot in the rotation behind fellow rookie Zach Duke. Like Duke, he spent most of last season in both AA and AAA, but was called upon late in the year to eat up innings for the Pirates. A participant in last year’s MLB Futures game in Detroit, this 23-yeard old threw an eight-inning shut out in first Major League game on August 30th last year against Milwaukee. He didn’t log many innings last year in the Majors, but when he did he was wildly effective, especially against lefties. Against the 23 left-handed hitters he faced last season, he allowed only two hits, producing an impressive .087 opposing batting average. Maholm is possibly not the super-star that Duke might be, but by being out of the spotlight and having another lefty like Oliver Perez to learn from, he may shock some teams into submission. For those with less faith in the Pirates organization, it should be known that Maholm did struggle in Spring Training, posting an 8.50 ERA in his first five outings. He did rebound a bit in his Grapefruit League game, throwing five innings of no-hit ball against the Devil Rays…but then again, it’s the Devil Rays.

In the end, it's all about the NL

2006-04-01T02:12:00.000-05:00

It’s 70 degrees in the Big Apple, fans on the street are talking baseball, and life couldn’t be much sweeter than this time of year. It’s a beautiful thing that baseball is here. The anticipation is so high in the city with the Mets and Yankees on the cusp of promising seasons. For the first time in a long while, the Mets occupy the back page.

And Dan is downright giddy right now with a young Brewers team; they lost Lyle Overbay and have to deal with the Cardinals and Astros, but I probably join Dan in thinking the Brew Crew will surprise some people this year. At least I have to think that way, because in one of my fantasy leagues, I had to pre-rank my players since I was working the night of the draft. I ended up with Ricky Weeks, Bill Hall, and Ben Sheets. I accused Dan of rigging my draft order to favor Brewers.

Anyway, without further ado, here’s the NL preview, because in the end, we’re NL guys. First is the NL East, on my behalf, and then Dan brings you the NL Central. My preview of the anemic NL West will be posted Saturday evening (forgive me, I’m in the process of moving right now). See the bottom of the NL West preview for our playoff predictions.

NL EAST

The Atlanta Braves are gunning for their 15^th consecutive division title. I am always surprised that more people don’t talk about the Braves’ dominance. It’s probably because they choke so mightily every year. Or because even their own games don’t sell out until the playoffs. And they play in an ugly park and their fans have that revolting tomahawk chant. But still, Atlanta is the team to beat. But I expect their incredible run to end this year.

In order of finish:

1. New York Mets: Did you think I would select another team? But this isn’t foolhardy or an emotional pick. Omar Minaya assembled a team built for winning the NL East – not next year, or the year after, but immediately. That’s especially clear given the age of the starting pitching staff. Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca will add immensely to the lineup. The offense is obviously the Mets’ strongest asset. I fully expect Carlos Beltran to rebound from his dismal debut season at Shea; Jose Reyes and David Wright are two young players that any club would be happy to build their team around for the future. Cliff Floyd has been the best player on this team the last three years and I really expected that when the Mets acquired him. He has remained healthy and showed considerable fielding prowess last season. If Floyd were to go down though, prized prospect Lastings Milledge is simply biding his time at Triple-A Norfolk. I watched Milledge play a lot this spring and he’s a complete player. It is likely Floyd will leave after this season when his contract ends and Milledge will occupy LF. Also watch for good things from young 2B Anderson Hernandez, who I only hope plays well enough so that Kaz Matsui never returns to this lineup.

Omar Minaya did an excellent job putting together this lineup, but his moves for the rotation seem to be dubious as we enter the season. He traded Kris Benson for an awful reliever in Jorge Julio from the Orioles. He traded Jae Seo to the Dodgers. And thus, the rotation really only has six pitchers: Pedro, Glavine, Trachsel, Zambrano, and Brian Bannister, with Aaron Heilman starting the season in the pen. Pedro and Glavine have to pitch 30-35 games each and win about 15. Trachsel is old and Zambrano is terrible. He has been a disappointment since his first start for the Mets, which is sad given that the club traded away former No. 1 draft pick and promising pitcher Scott Kazmir for Zambrano. The bullpen, at last, won’t give me nightmares: gone are John Franco, Armando Benitez, and Braden Looper, and Billy Wagner will now anchor a bullpen that will be effective with Heilman in the setup role. I think Pedro will be as good as last year, Glavine will be even better as he has altered his style, and Bannister, who is 25 and only a year removed from the minors, rightfully earned his spot with a stellar spring. The bats will be alive at Shea, I only hope the pitching follows.

2. Atlanta Braves

As much as I dislike the Braves, it’s hard not to admire the organization. It raises young talent and relies on the management style of Bobby Cox to mold the team. The core remains the same and the team builds around that with young players. It’s a great strategy. I do believe that losing pitching coach Leo Mazzone to the Orioles will be a serious negative for Atlanta. Most baseball insiders believed that Mazzone was the anchor of that clubhouse. He oversaw some of the greatest rotations of all-time.

In 2005, Andruw Jones had the breakout year (51 HR, 128 RBI) fans had been waiting ten years for. And he’s still only 28. Chipper Jones played well in the WBC and he will return to third base, like last year, after transitioning to the outfield for several years. The Braves were quiet in the offseason, only acquiring Edgar Renteria, which I have to give a poor mark. I don’t like Renteria at all. There’s a reason this is his third team in three years. He has been on a downward slide the last two years and many people have labeled him a cancer in the clubhouse.

Otherwise, Atlanta’s young talent – RF Jeff Francoeur, LF Ryan Langerhans, C Brian McCann, and 1B Adam LaRoche – are dynamite. But the rotation, its strength always taken as a certainty, is questionable this year. Tim Hudson’s arm is going to break down eventually and John Smoltz is 38. John Thomson and Mike Hampton are bad. The bullpen lost Kyle Farnsworth and so Chris Reitsma will likely fill that void.

3. Philadelphia Phillies

On offense alone, this team looks scary. This lineup is easily capable of putting up 7 or 8 runs a game. Ryan Howard, who overtook 1B from Jim Thome (who got shipped to the White Sox) last year, has been an absolute monster in spring training (10 HR in 26 games). He was named NL Rookie of the Year last season and he quite possibly could contend for NL MVP this year. That may seem like a bold statement, but he has the power and patience at the plate to bat above .300 and slug 45 HR. I was very happy to select him in the early rounds of my fantasy draft last week.

I am a huge fan of 2B Chase Utley. He terrorized the Mets last year. It’s a treat to watch his at bats; a perfect blend of patience, opposite field hitting, power, and clutch hits. He is an excellent fielding second baseman, too. SS Jimmy Rollins resumes his chase at history – and Joey D. – on opening day with his 36-game hitting streak. The Phillies added Aaron Rowand from the White Sox to play CF; he joins a stacked outfield of Pat Burrell and Bobby Abreu. That’s some lineup.

Like always, though, the Phillies will suffer from their pitching. Young pitchers Ryan Madson, 25, and Gavin Floyd, 23, will be called upon to start. I watched Floyd play at Phillies single-A affiliate Lakewood Blue Claws a few years ago. He has the stuff to make it in the show. Brett Myers is okay, but Randy Wolf and Ryan Franklin (acquired from Seattle) always look good on paper but always end up having ERAs approaching 5 and both give up too many home runs. And I’m bitter because I always get suckered into picking up Wolf off the waiver wire in my fantasy leagues, year after year. The Phillies’ bullpen, with the loss of Billy Wagner to rival Mets, will be deeply felt.

4. Washington Nationals

I don’t put much stock in the preseason, but the Nationals have not looked pretty. The Alfonso Soriano debacle was somewhat revealing; how could a team trade for a player without knowing for certain he would play a new position they had in mind for him? I love Soriano’s game at the plate, but if he is unhappy playing outfield, that will most certainly affect his batting. I only wish I could have seen what manager Frank Robinson said to Soriano after he refused to play outfield. Robinson is the epitome of old school; I can only imagine the profanity.

The Nationals really fell apart in the second half of last season. I think that will spill over into this season. They were playing the house’s money with a nice streak of 1-run wins in the first half. But the dice went cold – very quickly – and nothing about their rotation or lineup stands out. This division got stronger, in my opinion, as the Braves’ young roster will have valuable experience and the Mets made bold offseason moves. Other than Soriano, the Nationals were quiet. Other than Livan Hernandez, few starters can be relied upon game after game for quality outings. And Hernandez is always dicey.

5. Florida Marlins

The Marlins roster on ESPN.com is smaller than every other team. That’s because an active roster is hard to come by with so many players making the team at spring training. The Marlins fire sale was so thorough last year that my high arc, softball league received an offer to trade two 40-year-old, overweight utility players for Luis Castillo. We turned it down though.

The only players left are Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis – for a team less than three years removed from its 2003 championship. Cabrera is a gem; he’ll be in Cooperstown one day. Willis, on the other hand, was shaky in the WBC. If you needed another reason to pick the Marlins in the cellar, that’s simply one more.

NL Central Preview

2006-04-01T02:10:00.000-05:00

Here's the Wolf:

Has the talent gap begun to close in the NL Central? Perennial front-runners St. Louis, Chicago and Houston all had ho-hum off-seasons, while divisional underdogs Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were all busy re-tooling their rosters. In overall talent, it would be hard to say the division itself got better or worse; just newer. The Cubs become the only team in the division without a shinny new venue, as the Cardinals move into the roomier new Busch Stadium --though it would be hard to feel much pity for regular Wrigley-goers. In addition to the ballparks, there is a youth movement going on with several of the teams as hot prospects take over in several notable areas. Over the last couple of seasons, this has also been one of the best divisions for starting pitching. Though stars Matt Morris and Roger Clemens (presumably) have moved on, there is still a premium for world-class pitching. Let’s take a look at each team to see the changes that have taken place:

1. St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals know that they are the team to beat in the NL and have proved that over the last few seasons. This year however they are as vulnerable as they have ever been. Gone is key starter Matt Morris, who helped the Cardinals reach the NLCS last year. Replacing him is Orioles retread Sidney Ponson, who has failed to live up to his potential so far. Another spot is that needed to be filled in the off-season was second-base. Mark Grudzielanek, moving over to Kansas City, was replaced with Junior Spivey, who missed most of the second half of 2005 in Washington with injuries. Gone also is right-fielder Reggie Sanders, who also moved to the Royals. The Cardinals filled his spot with another perennially under-achiever, Marlins cast-off Juan Encarnacion.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, they do get an All-Star back. Scott Rolen, who also missed most of 2005 with injuries, now returns to his spot at 3B. They also have names like Pujols, Edmonds, Carpenter and Mulder returning, which couldn’t exactly hurt. Will this team win the division again? Probably. Will they return to the World Series as they did in 2004? Probably not.

2. Milwaukee Brewers

Call me biased or call me crazy, but I can’t help feeling like the pieces are pretty much in place for a big year in Milwaukee. The Brewers only lose one significant name from their 2005 roster, Lyle Overbay, but replace him with the pre-season NL Rookie of the Year candidate, Prince Fielder. Fielder, who tore up AAA last year before getting a late season call-up, looked good in his pinching hitting appearances last fall. In one particular game last July which could signal the type of talent in Milwaukee for years to come, the Brewers came from behind to beat the Minnesota Twins on big home-runs from both Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder in the late innings. The Brewers are young, but they are also remarkably talented. After struggling early on in 2005, J.J. Hardy made up ground in the second half of the season, justifying Ned Yost’s decision to make him the starting short-stop. They also return super-sub Bill Hall who can play nearly every field position besides first base and catcher.

G.M. Doug Melvin has a history of making good trades. Remember the Richie Sexson deal with Arizona? From that deal the Brewers received the services of current #3 starter Chris Capuano, catcher Chad Moeller, former starting second-baseman Junior Spivey, bullpen lefty Jorge De La Rosa…and Overbay. This year, when Melvin traded Overbay he again was the recipient of a king’s ransom: right-handed starter David Bush, who will immediately fill the last spot in the rotation, left-handed outfielder Gabe Gross who becomes the first lefty off the bench and young prospect Zack Jackson who will head up the rotation at AAA Nashville. With Melvin at the helm, the Brewers may not win the division this year, but they’ll certain have a shot at it for years to come.

3. Houston Astros

This preview could hinge wildly on the return Roger Clemens. Most people believe that the Rocket will return to Houston but probably not till either June or July. There is some speculation that he could jump to either the Rangers or one of the AL East big-spenders, but for now, there are only rumors. The Astros really are not the same 2005 World Series team without him. Needless to say, they have a good staff sans Clemens – Oswalt, Pettitte and Backe are all expected to have big years – they just don’t have that same intimidating strength they did with him. Without him they are probably equal to the Brewers’ or Cardinals’ staff.

As for the rest of the team, they haven’t really done much to solve their power issues. They did acquire Preston Wilson in the off-season, but I don’t think that anyone believes he is the answer to all their questions. Wilson, who was strong in Washington last year for the surging Nationals, is a good power hitter, but doesn’t have the consistency that Houston really needs. They do have good young hitters in Willy Taveras and Jason Lane. Will it be enough to get back to the post-season? That remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the ‘Stros won’t be sneaking up on anyone this year.

4. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs focused on their outfield woes this off-season and will begin the season with three new faces. Gone is troubled center-fielder Corey Patterson, shuttled off to that resting place of broken down Cubs outfielders, Baltimore, Maryland. Taking his place is former Marlins star Juan Pierre. Joining him is Twins cast-off Jacque Jones and the left-field prospect Matt Murton. Murton showed flashes of quality last season, but Jones is a notoriously streaky hitter. Translation: the Chicago outfield is not any better than it ever was. The real meat of this line-up is in Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramierez.

And there’s the starting rotation. Who knows which Kerry Woods and Mark Prior will show up? Will they ever be healthy? Neither has played an injury-free season for a number of years and few fans are expecting an aged Greg Maddux or up-and-down Glendon Rusch to carry this staff. Carlos Zambrano has stepped up his play in the last few years, but he is the lone bright spot on an otherwise shaky rotation. They seemed to have at least taken care of their bullpen issues with Ryan Dempster, but Dusty Baker will again have his hands full of north-side expectations. I’ve seen too many injuries and failures to bet on this years’ Cubs team. Expect them to compete until the All-Star Break when they try to make a flurry of trades which can only marginally improve this porous team.

5. Cincinnati Reds

Believe it or not the Reds could surprise this year and finish ahead of both the Cubs and Astros. New ownership wised up and pulled off some deals which could improve this team. Most notably, they traded fan favorite Sean Casey (the Mayor) to Pittsburgh for lefty Dave Williams. They also traded Wily Mo Pena to Boston for Bronson Arroyo. I like both of these moves because they were finally able to capitalize on their surplus of power-hitters in exchange for solid pitching. Neither Arroyo nor Williams are top-of-the-staff type guys, but they could eat up innings in the dreaded homer-friendly Great American Ballpark.

New manager Jerry Narron will also have a dynamic group of field-players to work with. I like the addition of Scott Hatteberg at first base. He’s just as good at the plate as Casey and he’s got a decent glove. He’ll add consistency to a line-up that was once too dependent on power. Edwin Encarnacion could be a future stud at third base and Felipe Lopez seems to have finally turned the corner at second base. They also have a Ken Griffey, Jr. seemlingly revived by his performance in the WBC and the always-intimidating Adam Dunn in the outfield. The Reds have a good shot at legitimacy in this years Central, but until they can bring in some real pitching they’ll be resigned to playing second fiddle to teams like St. Louis. If things don’t pan out this year, they could be in for a mid-year fire sale.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh made some very intelligent moves this winter, but they are still a few years away from any hopes of playoffs. Consider them the Brewers Light (no pun intended). They bring a lot of optimism in this year’s season with young talent. Young starters Zack Duke, Ian Snell and Paul Maholm will all be thrown into a division with too many power hitters. All three are very highly-rated, but there will a steep learning curve. Expect at least one of them to crack under the pressure. Oliver Perez is one of the best left-hand starters in baseball, but he can’t carry the staff alone.

Getting Jeromy Burnitz from the Cubs was a bit of a coup for the Pirates. He brings experience to an otherwise young outfield. Center-fielder Chris Duffy will start Opening Day despite limited Major League at-bats. The Pirates also added Casey – who will at least provide hits in the middle of the order – as well as third baseman Joe Randa to their line-up. Waiting in the wings are youngsters Brad Eldred and Nate McLouth. Eldred will fit with Casey for at-bats and McLouth ought to offer insurance should Burnitz break down late season. Jason Bay is another player who showed off his talents in the WBC for Canda. He’s a rising slugger, as well as Pittsburgh’s only All-Star last season. Good things could be on the way in Pittsburgh, but they are still two or three years behind Milwaukee and Cincinnati. They could be one of those teams who shocks everyone into June and then slowly fades towards August.

AL West Preview

2006-03-26T22:42:00.000-05:00

Wrapping up our illustration of the American League is my analysis of the AL West. Ryan and I also threw in our predictions for the AL post-season race which can be found at the end of this article. Without further ado, the wild west:

AL WEST PREVIEW

The smallest division is the majors can now be considered the tightest in baseball. All four teams stack up well against each other with the possible exception of the recently luckless Mariners. Even Seattle though has re-tooled and enters this season with two red-hot WBC veterans in Adrian Beltre and Ichiro. We’ll all soon find out what kind of indication this pre-season tournament gives for the MLB regular season. In the meantime, let’s take a look at each time individually:

1. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels were the team in the division that lost the most this off-season, but fortunately for them they were also the team that could afford to lose the most. Moving elsewhere, the Angels lost two of their top starters, Paul Byrd and the afore-mentioned Jarrod Washburn. Also moving on was catcher Bengie Molina who will ply his trade north of the border for the Blue Jays. The Angels filled Washburn’s spot in the rotation with the signing of Jeff Weaver and will try to cover Byrd’s spot with one of either Hector Carrasco or Jeff’s younger brother, Jerad Weaver. They still have one of the games most capable bullpens with Scott Shields and K-Rod.

One of the biggest obstacles in the way of the 2006 Angels will be getting past the memory of their 2005 playoff defeat at the hands of the Chicago White Sox. We all remember that fluke AJ Pierzynski play and it’s a sure bet this year’s Angel team will be out to have their playoff revenge. In the field, LA is still young and still talented. With names like Chone Figgins, Casey Kotchman, and Kendry Morales, the Angels have proven young stars, not just predicted talent. There could be some speed bumps in the maturation process, but overall the Angels have the skill and leadership to remain on top of the AL West.

2. Texas Rangers

The Rangers seemed to spend every second of the off-season overhauling their roster in some regard and many feel it will pay off this summer. The starting rotation is the most dramatic change on this new-look roster, fresh with additions from trades and new signees. Kevin Millwood is the ace, crowned after a great season in Cleveland last year. Joining him are Vicente Padilla and Adam Eaton, both acquired in trades. It remains to be seen how these three will hold-up, as all of them have been labeled under-achievers at some point in their career. Behind them are Kameron Loe and Juan Dominguez, both young starters looking to make an impression. The Rangers also added to their bullpen this season, acquiring WBC hero Akinori Otsuka from the Padres and Jon Leicester from the Cubs.

The biggest change in the field is the absence of Alfonso Soriano, traded to the Nationals for Brad Wilkerson. Wilkerson adds much needed speed and production to the Rangers starting lineup. Replacing Soriano is hot prospect Ian Kinsler. He’ll join Michael Young, Hank Blalock and Mark Teixeira in what surely will be an All-Star infield. The changes in the line-up are mostly for the better, but it what be hard to say the same for the pitching staff without seeing early results. The Rangers will definitely compete in this division, but with a new staff that will need time to gel, expect a lot more of the same old Rangers: namely home-run derby affairs.

Oakland Athletics

The Athletics enter this year as they always do: with a bit of mystery. The so-called “Prince of Darkness,” GM Billy Beane, experienced a quieter off-season than last year when he lost Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson to free agency. To everyone’s surprise, Barry Zito is still in an A’s uniform though it’s anyone’s guess for how long. With Zito one thing is undeniable: Oakland has a great rotation, possibly one of the best in baseball. Returning this year to the staff are young studs Danny Haren, Rich Harden and Joe Blanton. Throw in new signee Esteban Loiaza and you can see why they expect great things in the Bay Area. From a fantasy perspective, any one of these starters is a good pickup if they become available. Loaiza and Zito will most certainly be gone in the early rounds of your fantasy draft, along with Haren, but Harden and Blanton are sleepers that could improve anyone’s team. Another strength for the A’s lies in their bullpen. A lot of people are predicting young closer Huston Street to have an All-Star year. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year is as good a fantasy pick as you can find for 2006.

In the field, the A’s only improved marginally. Beane did pull off two big moves that will progress their line-up, adding two renowned trouble makers former Dodger outfielder Milton Bradley and the scorned ex-White Sox slugger Frank Thomas. From a strictly fantasy point of view I would stay away from both. There are plenty of other good fantasy options on this team including SS Bobby Crosby and OF Nick Swisher. Expect the A’s young talent to mature this season but probably not fast enough to make a run at the post-season. They’ve always been the dark-horse in this division though and don’t expect that to change this year.

4. Seattle Mariners

You have to give the Mariners credit; they seem to gladly over-spend every year for some big name free agent who doesn’t pan out the way they thought he would. Richie Sexson, Eddie Guardado and Adrian Beltre are all notable past examples (did I mention Pokey Reese and Rich Auriella?). Here’s this year’s crop: lefthander Jarrod Washburn, and outfielders Carl Everett and Matt Lawton. Does anyone believe these guys are the answer to what ails Seattle? You have to feel bad for Ichiro when you look around at what’s going on.

Fortunately, things are not all bad for the Mariners. They do have Felix Hernandez. Hernandez is one of the most exciting young pitchers to emerge in the last ten years. He’ll team up with Washburn – who was sadly one of the best of a bad crop of free agent pitchers this winter – and the ageless Jamie Moyer to form a serviceable top of the rotation. The Mariners also have a decent bullpen. On paper, the Mariners should have a good line-up, but one could’ve said the same thing last spring, before they struggled mightily through the summer. Ichiro and Beltre were clearly two of the best players in the WBC. Sexson should be expected to have a good year. They have young, up-and-coming middle-infielders Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt. Lawton and Everett, who will thankfully only be asked to fill roll positions, will help supplement their offense. The Mariners also added Japanese sensation Kenji Johjima to start behind the plate. So things aren’t all bad in Seattle. The difficulty will be in explaining their enormous payroll if they don’t play up to par.

Ryan's 2006 Playoff Scenario:
Yankees vs. Indians
Oakland vs. White Sox

ALCS: Yankees vs. Oakland
Winner (going to World Series): Oakland

Dan's 2006 Playoff Scenario:
White Sox vs. Blue Jays
Yankees vs. Los Angeles

ALCS: White Sox vs. Yankees
Winner (going to World Series): White Sox

AL Central Preview

2006-03-26T22:38:00.000-05:00

Hope you enjoyed Ryan’s take on the AL East. Here’s my take on the AL Central:

AL CENTRAL PREVIEW

Before last season the AL Central had always been a quietly competitive division, full of smaller market teams with big dreams. Now, after the World Champion White Sox made their stunning run through the regular season and playoffs last year, the division that once lived in the shadows of the rest of the league seems be the most talented in baseball. The Indians, who appear on the verge of returning to AL prominence again, will challenge those same White Sox for the crown, as will the two teams who could surprise everyone, the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers. And then there’s the Kansas City Royals, the perennially bottom-feeders. Make no mistake, the Royals will be a better team this season and while that might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, this will be a more competitive division than it was last season. Here’s a quick team-by-team analysis of the entire division:

1. Chicago White Sox

The best team in baseball got better in the off-season. Seriously. Did GM Ken Williams sell his soul to the devil for this team? Not only do they retain Paul Konerko and sign Jim Thome; they also fiddle with the best rotation in baseball only to see it virtually improve. What the hell? Pun intended. Buerhrle, Contreras, Garcia and Garland are all still in place and each of them could be an ace on some other teams in this division. They also add Javier Vasquez (who was dying to get out of Arizona) and promote youngster Brandon McCarthy to the Show. The bullpen is somewhat of a question, but who needs a bullpen when you have six starters that can each pitch eight innings a game? One starts to wonder what’s going on in the South Side of Chicago.

Jim Thome desperately needed to come over to the AL, there’s no doubt about it. He’s the consummate DH-type hitter. If he stays healthy, the White Sox’ lineup rivals their rotation in supremacy. It remain to be seen whether certain players who stepped up last season in October can continue their prowess this season (notably Joe Crede and A.J. Pierzynski), but regardless they have an undeniably successful hit-and-run dynamic that will be hard to match. Longtime prospect Brian Anderson steps into the centerfield position for Aaron Rowand. Expect him to struggle early, but with Jermaine Dye and Scott Podsednik there to buoy the youngerster, don’t fret too much for Chicago. It’s hard to see any noticeable reasons why they can’t repeat as World Champions.

2. Cleveland Indians

No team showed more tenacity last season than the Cleveland Indians. After a brief three or four year hiatus, the Indians are back in the AL Central as a competitive team. They did lose a big part of their success on the pitching side, allowing Kevin Millwood to run off to Texas and Scott Elarton to sign with Kansas City, but in the meantime, they grabbed free agents Paul Byrd and Jason Johnson who join C.C. Sabathia, Jake Westbrook and Cliff Lee as the only rotation to somewhat rival Chicago’s. They also have a strong bullpen with the least-heralded closer in baseball, Bob Wickman. If Wickman is available after the first few rounds in your fantasy draft, scoop him up quickly. All he does is save games quietly. Joining him in the pen are new comers Arthur Rhodes and Guillermo Mota who should securely eat up innings.

In the field, the Tribe has a great core of young infielders. Ronnie Belliard and Jhonny Peralta make a great double play combo. The names Aaron Boone and Ben Broussard might not inspire a ton of confidence, but both are solid. If Boone struggles again this year, you may see Andy Marte called-up sooner rather than later. Casey Blake is also an insurance policy for Boone. In the outfield the Indians lose Coco Crisp, but they still have Grady Sizemore and recent acquisition Jason Michels. Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez are both fantasy sleepers and round-out the reasons why the Indians will again be Wild Card contenders.

3. Detroit Tigers

Two big moves this off-season have the Tigers more optimistic than they’ve been in the past five years: signing Kenny Rogers to a two-year deal and bringing in Jim Leyland to manage. In Leyland they have a proven winner, apt at turning teams around and fulfilling potential. In Rogers, they have a solid All-Star who will relish the chances to throw in pitcher-friendly Ameriquest Field. Rogers immediately becomes the elder statesman on this rotation and a voice of experience for solid young starters Jeremy Bonderman, Mike Maroth and Nate Robertson. Don’t be surprised if you start hearing the name Justin Verlander a lot more often either. The one spot that everyone in Detroit looks to with anxiety is the bullpen. This winter, they went out and signed journeyman Todd Jones as their closer and everyone immediately crossed their fingers.

They’ll need a healthy line-up in 2006 to stay on par with teams like Cleveland and Chicago. The disappointment that is Magglio Ordonez returns this year, not having played a full season since 2003. Yes, that’s right, 2003. They do have some good young hitters in Chris Shelton and Curtis Granderson. They’ll need big performances from the young guys as well as solid infield play from Placido Polanco and a healthy Carlos Guillen. When you consider that they also have Pudge behind this plate, you start to wonder what’s stopping them, until you remember their significant history of injuries and simple disappointments. This is a team that has not had a winning season in 12 years. Leyland hopes to turn that around. I’ll believe it when I see it.

4. Minnesota Twins

Was 2005 an aberration or the inevitable shattering of the small-market dreams? Whatever it was the Twins clearly struggled last season, and more than a team with Johan Santana, Brad Radke and Joe Nathan really ought to. But to be fair, their pitching was not the problem. Indeed, in the off-season this year, the Twins actually improved their pitching staff through subtraction. They’re the one team in the division who did not acquire any new starters in the off-season. Instead, they’ve groomed them. Listen for the names Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano this season. Liriano is an immediate Rookie of the Year candidate if he starts, while Baker could be hot trade bait around mid-season if the Twins need another bat.

And they undoubtedly will another bat. Last season the Twins tried to rely on their youngsters, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau for power, but were left scratching their heads when neither performed up-to-par. Mauer played well, but battled injuries, while Moreau handled himself well in the field, but looked lost in the batters box. To address the problem, Twins G.M. Terry Ryan made some questionable moves, obtaining players with consistency written all over them like Tony Batista and Rondell White. White moves into the DH spot, where he could indeed shine, while Batista takes over at third, one year removed from playing in Japan. If you asked me, the Twins should have taken Hank Blalock while the Rangers were still offering and obtained a more consistent shortstop Gone is fan-favorite Jacque Jones, having signed with the Cubs. Replacing him will either be last year’s sometimes DH Lew Ford or youngster Jason Kubel, who missed all of 2005 with injuries. Luis Castillo is a great fantasy option at second in the Dome. He was the lone intelligent addition to this team, who I expect to struggle just as much as last season.

5. Kansas City Royals

The loveable losers of the division return this season looking like they’re actually trying this year. During the off-season they went out and increased the payroll by $22 million. But wait, who did they bring in? Honestly, most of the free agents they signed were either cast-offs from other franchises or B-list free agents looking for a place to shine. Listen to these names and see if any of them jumps out at you: Reggie Sanders, Scott Elarton, Doug Mientkiewicz, Joe Mays, Elmer Dessens, Mark Redman… list goes on, but it doesn’t get any better. Sanders is clearly the biggest name on that list and he’ll be expected to carry a lot of the burden on the line-up. As for the other names, Elarton, Redman and Mays were calculated gambles to improve the awful pitching staff, but that’s kind of like bringing in bamboo to hold up a bridge. These three join youngsters Zack Greinke and Runelvys Hernandez to create a rotation which certainly doesn’t inspire much confidence, but could be functional if they get the run support they need.

Another signee who sounds like a re-tread, but who could provide some much needed help in the infield is Mark Grudzielanek, who like Sanders moves across the state from the perennial powerhouse in St. Louis. It could be nice just to have that winning attitude in the dugout as well as someone to tutor young shortstop Angel Berroa. In the outfield, Sanders joins David DeJesus and Emil Brown who have flashed signs of promise, but need a season of stability before they can be considered legitimate prospects. The one returning source of confidence on this team is All Star Mike Sweeney who was really, the only treat in the line-up last year. With Mientkiewicz taking over at first, he’ll move to DH, allowing him the chance to avoid any further injury. They’ll need him to stay healthy if they want to have any shot of competing by the All-Star Break. Chances are that won’t be possible; they’re still a few years away from surprising anyone

AL East Preview

2006-03-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

With Opening Day just around the corner, Ryan and I took some time to look over each team starting with the American League. Look for out post-season predictions at the end of the AL West Preview. Here’s Ryan’s preview of the AL East. Enjoy:

AL EAST PREVIEW

Will the Evil Empire regain its former glory (the one it purchased for $200 million)? Will the Red Sox, with few players remaining from its 2004 championship, play so well during the regular season but falter in the playoffs like last year? Is Toronto a viable contender with so many bold off-season signings? Will the Orioles fizzle out by July as usual? How many times will the Yankees defeat Tampa to pad their win column?

Those are the questions and here are the answers in my breakdown of the AL East (in predicted order of finish).

1. New York Yankees

I hate to do it. Oh, how I hate to do this. But I think the Yankees will win the AL East for the ninth consecutive year. In a way, I think they will win by default. I’m not sold on the Blue Jays, as there are significant complications with putting together a team built on big-time free agent signings. Team chemistry is essential in baseball; you need players to buy into a given system, to be willing to lay down bunts and sacrifices, and to be in a positive state of mind. These all come from team unity. That’s not to say the Yankees have that chemistry: last year, the players looked like a corporation in the methodical and passionless way they went about their business. But the Yankees can always rely on a winning tradition; Toronto can’t (unless Joe Carter’s in the clubhouse). Furthermore, I’m very skeptical of the Red Sox, who folded so quickly versus the White Sox last season. And the Orioles and Devil Rays should offer little resistance.

So in the end, I arrive at New York nearly by default. We know the Yankees bats will be thundering as always. A-Rod will have another great season. We’re watching one of the best players in history in his prime. But the real mystery is their pitching staff, which was pretty bad last year. I expect solid seasons from Wang and Chacon, two young hurlers, and I think the Big Unit will rebound nicely from last year’s mediocre season. He has been very sharp in his recent spring outings. Mussina has been very shaky and I think Jaret Wright, the likely fifth starter until Carl Pavano returns from the DL, is awful. Pavano is the key. He’ll start the season on the DL; he contributed nothing last year in his first season in pinstripes.

I like the acquisition of Johnny Damon. He’ll be more effective than Melky Cabrera in CF. Here’s the thing, though: the Yankees were an older team last year. They haven’t added any younger players for this season. Last year I predicted their slide because of the age factor. And it nearly happened. So the Yankees are walking a tight rope this year; all older players and ubiquitous injuries at the season’s onset. When you get up in the mid-30s, as so many Yankee players are, each new year is like five years in its wear and tear.

They won’t be a fun team to watch. They are too corporate, too professional. Still, I think this will be the Yankees’ last hurrah before the team underperforms the next few years and its aging core will need to be overhauled.

Personally, I don’t know how you could wholeheartedly root for a team that has become so remarkably different than the one it was when it won four championships at the end of the decade. The nature of the Yankees has been converted to that corporatist essence in the last five years; there are no real winners, selfless players remaining on the team other than Jeter and Bernie. Steinbrenner has upped the spending year after year in a near desperate attempt to win another World Series since 2000. But that’s brought to New York big-money players who, frankly, did not play well in big spots before they were signed by the Yanks, and have not played well in big spots for the Yankees: Sheffield, A-Rod, Giambi, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown.

2. Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox just seem to be very shaky this year. The Theo back-and-forth over the offseason, his squabble with Larry Lucchino, Manny asking for a trade and then rescinding it, losing Damon, and the lingering doubts about Schilling after his injury-plagued 2005. It’s amazing that the only players of the 2004 core remaining, the team that ended the Curse, are Schilling, Foulke, Wakefield, Varitek, Ortiz, Manny, and Nixon. That’s essentially 7 among 25 players. The entire infield from 2004 is gone: Millar, Bellhorn, Cabrera, Mueller.

If I were a Red Sox fan, it would trouble me how methodically this team has been overhauled after bringing to Boston its greatest hour in sports history, less than two years ago. I think the usual refrain – “that’s sports, it’s a business” – doesn’t hold particularly well in this case. That’s because many players wanted to stay, such as Millar, Mueller, Bellhorn, and even Damon, but management casually decided to dismantle a great team. That has to be saddening for die-hard Sox fans.

I like the Sox off-season acquisitions, though, and with Big Papi and Manny in the money spot in the lineup, it’s unwise to throw this team out. Josh Beckett was 15-8 last season and seems to have shaken off a sub-par 2004, one year after he led the Marlins to a World Series championship. Beckett is only 25 years old. He set the bar quite high for himself early on his career, but he will be a nice investment for many more years, especially if he stays healthy. His fastball, when it tops off at 97, can be nearly unhittable when mixed with his low-90s sinker. The Sox appear to be Marlins-lite this year; they also acquired Mike Lowell to play third and Hee-Seop Choi to play first.

Like the Yankees, the Sox have old pitching arms – Wakefield, Wells, and Schilling. That’s the greatest weakness for this team.

3. Toronto Blue Jays

Let’s see: the Jays overpaid for overrated A.J. Burnett and B.J. Ryan, but they did also acquire Lyle Overbay for cheap and the consistent Bengie Molina and Troy Glaus. It’s nice to see the Jays making several off-season moves in the hopes of contending in the high-powered AL East. Burnett has recurring elbow problems and is a career 49-50 pitcher, including 12-12 last year. He is only two years removed from Tommy John surgery; yet, he received a 5-year, $55 million deal. This deal will backfire.

But I’m a big Overbay fan, and I’m sure Dan is sad to see him go. He’s a doubles machine. Glaus has been absolutely plagued by injuries, but he had a very strong year (37 HR) under the radar for the Diamondbacks last season. Molina is one of the best catchers in the AL. The Jays have the offensive firepower, but other than ace Roy Halladay (who I will be aiming to select in my fantasy draft), their pitching staff is unstellar. Burnett is the key to the staff. B.J. Ryan, who received a 4-year, $47 million deal, will be the anchor in the bullpen, and I am very high on him, although the Jays did drive up the market on closers by giving Ryan this hefty contract.

4. Baltimore Orioles

I have happened to watch the Orioles a fair amount this preseason. They are basically the same team that went 74-88 last year; they started hot, but finished much colder, and coach Lee Mazzili was fired soon after their rapid decline in July. That’s how the Orioles are every year – they fade by July. Baltimore has not made the playoffs since 1997. It’s hard to see that changing this year, in this division.

Like I said, they are the same team as last year, which means a good offense but horrendous pitching. Baltimore’s lone off-season transaction of note was acquiring Kris Benson from the Mets. I also like young hurler Daniel Cabrera, but he and Benson are their top pitchers. That’s not much to write home about. Melvin Mora and Miguel Tejada will have very good seasons, as always. Both players are fun to watch and seem to really savor this game. But the O’s have few young players that could put this team over the top.

5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

One of the more enjoyable plotlines last season was how Tampa Bay had the Yankees number. They easily carried the season series, and it was great watching Yankees fans moan and cry over how inept their $200-million team was versus the $38-million D-Rays. That was fun. The Devil Rays, with the second lowest payroll in the league, need to hire a Billy Beane-clone. And they need to leave Tampa, like the Expos exodus to D.C. The games draw so few fans; you have an ugly dome even though you play in Florida. The only time Tampa sells some tickets is when the Yankees are in town.

The D-Rays have some talent: Scott Kazmir, who the Mets stupidly traded away for Victor Zambrano two years ago, Jorge Cantu, and Carl Crawford. But this is Major League Baseball. Cinderellas don’t dance here

Joey Meyer and Sports Memories

2006-03-23T22:39:00.000-05:00

A while ago Ryan and I came up with some ideas to share our thoughts on our favorite teams and sports memories. At the time, we had planned on putting together an interview of one another, posing questions that would perk our intellectual minds in an entertaining and journalistic sense. It took me a long time however to simply come up with answer to some of the most simple questions. I mulled about long and hard on one in particular, that being my favorite sports memory. After thinking about it for a while, I finally put pen to paper (so to speak) and came up with an answer:

My favorite sports memory may seem tame for some. It doesn’t involve any championships or overly-heroic feats. It actually occurred so long ago that I really don’t even remember it that well. Let me start from the beginning.

I think I was eight. We had gone down to my grandma’s house in Milwaukee for the weekend, sometime in the middle of July. Now, our house in Northern Wisconsin is about 5 or 6 hours away from Milwaukee so we would usually leave on Friday morning. My dad would take the day the off and we would all pile into his grey Datsun.

My grandma actually lived in a suburb of Milwaukee which is only about 30 minutes away from the site of the old County Stadium (now the parking lot of Miller Park). So Friday night, after a long day of driving, we would usually spend the night playing Parcheesi with my grandma (a little old English woman, who I swear, looked and spoke exactly like the Queen). Then on Saturday night our whole family, minus my grandma, would catch a Brewers game. The Brewers were playing a home series that weekend possibly against the Detroit Tigers. Those were the old days of the American League Central Milwaukee Brewers.

County Stadium was a magical place to catch a ball game. In the mid-Eighties it was one of the best parks to watch a major league ballgame outside of places like Fenway, Wrigley or Yankee Stadium. It had all the charm of a real old time ball park without the problems of space or leg room. It was and will always be my favorite ballpark.

But this story doesn’t take place at County Stadium.

It takes place on the way home. We always went home on Sunday morning after church. My grandfather was a bishop so we always went to church early Sunday morning, had a brief lunch with my grandparents and then got on the road to get home. So we’d always be getting in the car to leave right around noon when the Sunday afternoon game would be starting. As soon as we got in the car, my dad would be fiddling with the radio to find the Brewers game.

I must re-iterate that this wasn’t necessarily a special event. My dad would usually plan his weekends around Brewers’ games, especially when he happened to be so close to Milwaukee. Being closer to Milwaukee also meant that we were able to pick up a constant radio signal almost from Milwaukee to Tomah.

Calling that particular game and just about every other game for the last 20 years was Bob Uecker. Bob Uecker makes listening to the Brewers on the radio almost as enjoyable as being there in person. The Ueck is a very special broadcaster; he’s like a good friend who just happens to be announcing the game.

On that day, as I said before, I believe the Brewers were playing the Detroit Tigers. I can’t much about the game besides one single play, but isn’t really the play that matters.

See as I remember it (and as my older brother tells me) the Brewers were behind by two runs going into the bottom of the ninth. Apparently, the first batter walked, but the two batters behind him struck out. The fourth batter singled up the middle, pushing the first runner to second and bringing up Joey Meyer.

Joey Meyer spent one year in the majors. He was a 6’3, 260 lbs right fielder who was heralded as the next great Brewers prospect after the early 80’s combo of Moliter and Yount. He was a giant Hawaiian power-hitter who never quite panned out and ended up going to Japan to play after his one year in the majors.

But that day he stood in and pounded a walk-off home-run to win it.

We were somewhere on I-94 in between Wisconsin Dells and Tomah when it happened. My brother and I, who were sitting in the back-seat, went nuts. We always put our Brewers caps in the back window of the Datsun just to prove our loyalty. My dad in the front seat, went nuts. High fives were exchanged all over the car as Uecker praised the Meyer’s effort.

The thing that made this my greatest sports memory however was what happened next. We were passing another car and as my brother and I looked over we could see the guy driving celebrating wildly. He was pumping his fists and screaming.

He saw us look over and instantly recognized the shared joy on our faces. He twirled his finger around in the air – the international symbol of a home run – as we gave him the thumbs up. As he went by, he must have seen our caps in the back window as well because he started honking wildly.

Joey Meyer, a player who would be long forgotten in the small annals of Brewers lore, had united two passing cars in the middle of the nowhere in Wisconsin.

That was my greatest sports memory.

In a New York Minute

2006-03-23T12:21:00.000-05:00

"In a New York minute, everything can change..." Nothing like a little Don Henley to start things off. Dan would corroborate that sentiment; the CD he played the most when we studied in Scotland was a compilation of Don Henley, Bruce Hornsby, Chris de Burgh, Bryan Adams, and many other mellowed out, depressing musicians. Although Chris de Burgh really hit the heartstrings on "Lady in Red." But I digress.

Things have been certainly changing in New York sports this week. The Mets pitching staff is crumbling before my eyes, and we are still over one week away from opening day. Seriously, I've never had more invested in one season in sports than the Mets in 2006. Shit, I tirelessly sought a job with their new network mainly because I'm a diehard fan and want to be there when they win the World Series this year. On the 20th anniversary of the greatest year in New York Mets history.

Needless to say, I take this way too seriously. But, many things have been shaken up for the Mets. The most infamous big toe in franchise history has sidelined Pedro and forced him to miss Opening Day; it's still unclear how many starts he will actually miss. Now, our opening day starter is 40-year-old (as of tomorrow) Tom Glavine, who was 13-13 last year. I actually expect Glavine to have a solid season, considering that he turned the corner after a poor 2005 start. Still, it's scary that's he our opening day starter. In hindsight, for all of GM Omar Minaya's great moves, trading away Kris Benson for Jorge Julio, who has been absolutely dreadful this spring, was an awful deal and trading away Jae Seo also seems foolhardy. Now, the average of our first four starters is in the mid-30s: Pedro, Glavine, Trachsel, and Zambrano.

Scary, just scary. Especially since I have never liked Zambrano. He's more rocky than the Maine coast. One of the few bright spots among the rotation this spring has been the pitching of Brian Bannister, who will likely earn the No. 5 spot, thus forcing Aaron Heilman to the bullpen yet again. I am not as high on Heilman as many others, but I would prefer Bannister and Heilman to Zambrano. But since Zambrano has trouble throwing strikes, a place in the bullpen isn't ideal either. And now, Billy Wagner, who should be our first non-headcase closer with actual stuff in a decade, has arthritis in his middle finger. A middle finger...a big toe. Are these professional athletes? Could a team be more bogged down by appendages?

The Mets, it now seems, will have to score 6 runs a game to win. And I actually think that's quite plausible. Since the WBC, Delgado, Reyes, and Beltran have been hot. David Wright is ready to build on last season's breakout success. Cliff Floyd is healthy. I wish Willie would bat Beltran in the two-hole, but I think the skipper belives Beltran would view that as a demotion. But, if Beltran were to bat third, as he did last year, that will mean Wright will end up batting sixth, and that won't utilize his tremendous abilities. I expect the lineup to be: Reyes, Lo Duca, Beltran, Delgado, Floyd, Wright, Nady/Diaz, 2B (not Matsui right now because he's hurt...yea!), and the pitcher. If Lo Duca sits for Ramon Castro, Beltran will probably bat second and move everything up, while Castro fills the penultimate spot.

The Jets have been very active this week. Finally Jon Abraham was traded, as expected, although I think they could have gotten more for him. A first round pick in football is crucial, but for the 29th pick, I thought the Jets should have received more from the Falcons. Still, they have the 4th, 29th, and 35th picks. Tannenbaum and Mangini will be able to do a lot of damage. The Jets also signed Tim Dwight from the Pats for a small contract and Kimo von Oelhoffen from the Steelers. I think, in the end, Pennington will be the starter and Gang Green won't draft a QB. I wish they went after Leinart, but I doubt they will, especially since they traded for Patrick Ramsey. People are calling Ramsey a veteran QB...but how does four seasons, most of which spent riding the bench, classify you as a veteran? Maybe for holding a clipboard. The Jets courted Jon Runyan, Eagles OT, this week and that would be an excellent signing. He's as durable as an ox. If they were to sign Runyan, drafting D'Brickshaw Ferguson would seem unnecessary, and the likelihood of drafting a QB would increase.

I'd tell you about the Yankees, but I don't write about juiceheads. Giambi, Sheffield, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, Canseco, and Juan Gonzalez (who just signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox) should field an All-Steroid team and replace the Kansas City Royals. They'd turn that small market into the richest market in the country. I'd move to Kansas City to attend their games. Although Mexican beans, Andro, the Cream and the Clear, Human Growth Hormone, and god knows what else, has been banned now, I would only hope these guys can take out their lab sets and create some new drugs that circumvent testing. Oh, and Greg Anderson can be the manager and Victor Conte the team doctor.

I find the Giambi issue most comedic. Why is it news that he used steroids now? We already know this, in fact he confirmed it without actually saying what he was admitting to. But now "Game of Shadows" reveals that Giambi took steroids to please his father. What a great son.

I'd write about the Knicks, but Larry Brown already admitted that his players stopped trying, so why should I? Brown should include himself, though. He has been awful this season and difficult to listen to. He knew what he was getting into, but was probably seduced by the challenge and the Benjamins to take the job. He has shown indifference, arrogance, abrasiveness, and duplicitousness, to name a few, in coaching the Knicks this year. He's been wildly unprofessional by constantly calling out players in the media. That's how you create animosity, not energize players to start performing better.

The Nets look great on this seven-game winning streak. Tonight's game versus the T-Wolves was more a dunk session than an actual game. But a lot of fun to watch.

Just an insane Sweet 16 lineup tonight. I gave you a nice group of upsets last week, including Wichita St. and Georgetown this far (and to the Elite 8). A few other nice first-round upsets, although Kansas reminded me once again why they underachieve every year. I went for a tattoo after that loss to Bradley; I had carved into my skin Never pick Kansas to go to the Final Four...ever again. Every year the Jayhawks burn me. And every year I pick them. I'm like a young kid that continually touches that hot stove.

But tonight, Gonzaga, Duke, and West Virginia went down for me. I can't believe Gonzaga loss. They have been underachievers since they transformed from underdogs to favorites. But still, they absolutely blew tonight's game. J.P. Batista looked like a biddy baller, not an all-conference player, at the end of the game. Where are you going by holding the ball over your head? Tuck it away and take the fold, or get rid of it. And the West Virginia loss was equally devastating. Both great, heart-pounding games. I also think Redick's performance tonight was a serious blow to his draft status. In six games in the Sweet 16 or later, he has never scored more than 20 points. Speaks volumes.

It Looks Fun in the Japanese Dugout

2006-03-20T23:02:00.000-05:00

Oh man. I hate to rub it in your face, Ryan, but how ‘bout that World Baseball Classic?

As I’m watching the final game between the incredibly resilient Cubans and the masterfully tactical Japanese, I can firmly say that the World Baseball Classic is already to be considered a success. Bug Selig and his cronies have to be patting themselves on the back after creating what sure looks like a winner.

Looking back, the Classic was simply full of attention-grabbing headlines driven mainly by controversy. From the early pre-tournament fight over Cuba’s involvement to the blown call in eighth inning of the US-Japan, this tournament has had no shortage of potential international disgraces. Fortunately for Selig, this drama has caught baseball fans’ attention like a juicy soap opera for a fat middle-age single woman.

There have also been many great performances to gush over, such as Giants’ prospect Shairon Martis throwing seven innings of no hit ball for the Netherlands and the unheralded Koreans’ early dominance (I told you they’d surprise). These storylines were successful enough to leave most American fans entirely unfettered by their nation’s disappointing performance.

Watching this game live reminds me why I believe this will be a great event for years to come. First of all, I love both Japan and Cuba. They are the epitome of honest, hardworking baseball teams. Secondly, I love the fact that Ichiro and Akinori Otsuka are the only real Major League Baseball players in this game. This is exactly what I’d like to see for all those people who thought the MLB-heavy teams would dominate culminating in a Dominican Republic-United States championship game. Have you seen the Japanese dugout? They look they’re having a great time, hanging out together. It just goes to show that baseball is not entirely an individualist sport. Team chemistry matters.

Here’s another great sign: ESPN has a live feed into a square in Havana where they’re broadcasting the game live. Bud Selig must be a communist. Without sounding like a high-school history teacher, twenty years ago, who would’ve thought ESPN would be showing the reactions of Cuban fans…or that Major League Baseball would have even allowed the Cubans to participate. And isn’t funny how the media handles the Cubans with kid gloves? They don’t want to insult them, they don’t want to praise them, so they just kinda gloss around them. “Wait, the Cubans are the final? Some check our official diplomatic stance on them so that we don’t piss off current administration.” I also find it a little funny that you can buy the authentic Cuban game jerseys on the WBC website for $109.99. Are they allocated in Cuba? Do people wait in lines to receive their certified national team jersey?

As for the Americans, I wasn’t even upset with their early dismal. They didn’t deserve to go any further. There was no team chemistry. There was barely talent. I was actually pleased with what happened; it gave me a good idea of who to take in my fantasy baseball draft (Ken Griffey Jr., who played great) and who to avoid (what happened to Dontrelle Willis? He looked terrible). In the end, it is my belief that this was destined to happen. Selig wanted this to happen. He wanted the US to go into the WBC and under-perform. In that way, American players who skipped the WBC this year, would be given an excuse to join up next year – “I wanted to make we win it all this year” – and the rest of the team would be motivated to work harder. Make no mistake, the US will field a very different team next time around and they will certainly have the impetus to win.

By the way, I was also very pleased to see Johnny Damon leave the tournament early with an injury. I mean, I have nothing against Damon…and it’s not like I want to see him injured. I just happen to think this is beautiful justice for George Steinbrenner and the Yankees. After Steinbrenner complained so bitterly about the WBC, not only was the tournament a rousing success, but one of his star players and new signings was injured. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Before I go, I thought I’d post some brief ruminations that came to mind while watching the championship game:

-Even though the Japanese do look they’re having a mighty good time together, you have to feel sorry for them. Most of these guys are locked into eight and nine year contracts that make them seem more like indentured servants. You know that guys like Koji Uehara, the guy who blanked the Koreans for seven innings with 8 K’s and only 3 hits, could be entertaining huge contracts with teams like the Dodgers if it weren’t for the way Japanese players are restricted. Can’t they form a union or something?

-Speaking of unions, you could probably say that the Cuban players don’t have it much better, though all they have to do to play in MLB is to sneak out of their hotel tonight and then put up with 2 or 3 weeks of bureaucratic red tape while an MLB team gets them a work permit. Maybe we could smuggle the whole team out or the fans could rush the field and cover them with their coats like in the final scene of the movie “Victory.” I guess that would technically make us the Nazis though. You gotta love Sly Stallone as the American goalkeeper.

-Petco Park is the modern day Polo Grounds. As someone who primarily watches games taking place at Miller Park, I tend to take for granted how easy it can be to hit home runs. Cuba’s shortstop, Eduardo Paret hit a home run in the first inning. When he hit it, it looked like he got all of it, but the ball just barely got over the left-field wall. Dear Mike Cameron: have fun hitting a lot of doubles this season.

-This Yulieski Gourriel kid for Cuba is the real deal. He’s only 21 but he’s already played in the Cuban majors for two years. As a second baseman he leads his team in runs batted-in and total bases. I heard Peter Gammons talking the other day about how he could be making $20-$30 million in MLB if he only defected. Unfortunately, Gammons reported that he has said he will not defect so that he can be with his brother and his father. Yeah, right. You think this kid is going to tell Gammons about his intention to defect? Imagine the speeches that the Cuban players must get before they travel anywhere outside Cuba. This kid is just playing it safe and spewing the party-line. He’s not dumb; he knows that Castro will not be defied.

-While we’re on it, Fidel Castro is a lot like Keith Richards: neither one can be killed by conventional weapons.

-Want to re-live the World Baseball Classic inside your own living room? Go find a Nintendo and play Little League World Series. It’s a terrific representation of international baseball including the painful stereotypes associated with each individual nation (the Japanese are small but fast, Italy sucks badly). In true Cold War sentiment, the Cubans were also mysteriously omitted, though Spain gets a surprise nod (and to my ever-lasting enjoyment, they’re better than the Italians, e.g.). My favorite team in Little League? Mexico. Shoddy fielding and horrible pitching, but they sure can hit home-runs.

Hope you enjoyed the World Baseball Classic. See you in 2009.

Stellar Kick Off

2006-03-17T01:48:00.000-05:00

Just an awesome start to the Big Dance. I was at work, but fortunately I work at a sports network, so I was glued to the TV all day and night because it was my job to watch those particular games. That was especially nice.

By the time I got into work, I saw my bracket nearly disintegrating before my eyes. Boston College, my dark-horse pick to win the national championship (I must have been on peyote and no sleep when I picked that), was unraveling against Pacific, looked tired and finished. Needless to say, it was an incredible comeback, but one that nearly caused me blurred vision and chest pain. I'm not sure I can handle all this excitement in my older years.

But, that game and many others today, only reminded how much I love these few weeks and how long ago the last March Madness seems to have taken place.

With the Eagles escaping, I did well early on, with my only blemish being the Montana upset of Nevada. As always, I selected UW-Milwaukee, and they pulled off yet another upset as an 11-seed. Every year this team plays well in the tournament.

The wiseguy pick was Winthrop over Tennessee, and I wrote that the Vols were incredibly vulnerable. Not only did I pick Wichita St. over Tenn. in the secound round, but I thought the #2 seed given to Tennessee was way off. This team backed into the tournament and was wildly overrated. This was only corroborated by the spread on the game: -7.5. That's the lowest 2 vs. 15 spread I have ever seen in the NCAA Tournament. The line spoke volumes.

It was a great finish, with the Vols triumphing, but I feel very confident about them going down to Wichita St. in the next round.

Seton Hall didn't belong in the tourney and I said so. The Pirates didn't even show up versus Wichita St. (who I have going to the Elite 8). What a pathetic performance. The Big East is 0-3 right now. For a conference that had 8 teams selected, not a pretty way to start. I thought Syracuse would have a letdown after its Big East run and, in true Jim Boeheim fashion (he won one title, sure), his team fell in the first round. Last year Bucknell, this year Texas A&M. I thought the Orangemen would lose in the second round, but I didn't give much credence to their perceived momentum; psychologically, they were far more susceptible to a mental lapse after such an exhausting run at MSG.

Otherwise, Iona played well but LSU was too much in the second half, especially in the paint. Gonzaga escaped versus Xavier; why is it that the 'Zags only play well as underdogs? They have been lackluster down the stretch this season and it's hard to see them advancing as far as many have hoped. Excellent GW and UNC-Wilmington game. Overall, a lot of close affairs and few blowouts.

A perfect recipe for the best Thursday out of the year. Today comes the best Friday in the year.

NCAA Tournament predictions

2006-03-16T11:59:00.000-05:00

I've had a nice run in March Madness over the years, dating back to when Eric Montross led the Tar Heels to the national championship in 1993. So, here are my picks for this year, especially geared to a pool where upsets are valued more (the points you get is the seed x value of the round). I'll just give you the upsets in the first two rounds - because if it's not an upset, you can assume the lower seed won - and then Sweet 16 on I'll show each game.

First Round upsets:

Atlanta:
(9) UNC-Wilmington over (8) GW
(10) NC State over Cal (7)

Oakland:
(9) Bucknell over (8) Arkansas
(12) Kent St. over (5) Pitt
(11) San Diego St. over (6) Indiana
(10) Alabama over (7) Marquette

D.C.:
(9) UAB over (8) Kentucky
(12) Utah St. over (5) Washington
(11) George Mason over (6) Michigan St.

Minneapolis:
(11) UW-Milwaukee over (6) Oklahoma

Second Round upsets:

Atlanta:
(6) West Virginia over (3) Iowa

Oakland:
(9) Bucknell over (1) Memphis

D.C.:
(7) Wichita St. over (2) Tennessee

Minneapolis:
(7) Georgetown over (2) Ohio St.

Sweet 16 and Elite 8 matchups:

Atlanta:
(1) Duke over (4) LSU
(6) West Virginia over (2) Texas

(1) Duke over (6) West Virginia

Oakland:
(4) Kansas over (9) Bucknell
(3) Gonzaga over (2) UCLA

(4) Kansas over (3) Gonzaga

D.C.:
(1) UConn over (4) Illinois
(7) Wichita St. over (3) UNC

(1) UConn over (7) Wichita St.

Minneapolis:
(4) BC over (1) 'Nova
(7) Georgetown over (3) Florida

(4) BC over (7) Georgetown

And...

Final Four:
(1) Duke over (4) Kansas
(4) BC over (1) UConn

Final: Boston College 69, Duke 65

Have a great March Madness.

Updated 2006 NFL Mock Draft

2006-03-15T23:13:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot of free agent activity going on in the NFL so far and it's wreaking havoc on my draft board. I was finally able to sit down and work it all out on paper. Before I reveal my draft board, here's some general NFL notes:

-It's now going to be a difficult year for college running backs in the draft not named Reggie Bush. With Minnesota signing Chester Taylor, Arizona taking the Edge and the Ravens signing Mike Anderson in addition to resigning Jamal Lewis, there isn't a huge market for college running backs. Those three were thought to be the biggest players looking for a running back in the draft. Now, the most visible team in need of a back is all the all the way down at #30 Indianapolis. This will most likely push Laurence Maroney out of the first round and may see LenDale White and DeAngelo Williams shuffled into the 15-25 spots. There's no question that the Colts will need a new starting back. They might consider trading up to get Williams because he'd be a great fit for their offense.

-The biggest loser in the most recent quarterback shuffle? The Miami Dolphins. The Miami Dolphins basically now have the same quarterback depth chart as the 2004 Minnesota Vikings. That's not a good thing. Daunte has a very poor attitude and does not make good decisions on (or off) the football field. I also feel like they overpaid for him. The Vikings clearly tried to create a better market for themselves by mis-stating their offers to the media. The Dolphins gave up a second-round pick for a quarterback who might not be the same after he comes back from his injury. I can't applaud that decision by Saban and Co. Look for the Vikings to possibly go after Brodie Croyle or Omar Jacobs with their newly acquired second-round pick. If Cutler falls to the Vikings at #17, like he does in this mock draft, they could take him. Otherwise look for Detroit to go after him at #9.

-The recent QB shuffle also landed Ryan's New York Jets in a better spot to land golden-boy Matt Leinart. There's been a lot of talk that the Jets will trade up to the second spot by dangling John Abraham to the New Orleans Saints. Personally, I don't see the Jets giving that much up to move up two spots and I also don't see the Titans taking Leinart. For all their bluffs and denials, it's pretty clear that the Titans would love to Vince Young. I see the Saints taking Mario Williams at #2, Young going to Tennessee at #3 and the Jets praising all that is holy and landing Leinart at #4.

-That brings us to my team, the Green Bay Packers taking LB A.J. Hawk at #5. I like this pick, because not only were we able to hold on to Kampman, but it looks like we're close to signing DT Ryan Pickett from St. Louis. Look out for the Pack, they're putting a lot of money into the defense this year and as we've seen in the past few years, defense most definitely wins Super Bowls.

-In case you're wondering, WR Santonio Holmes did sneak his way onto my draft board this time at #14 to the Philadelphia Eagles (thanks Mel!). Doesn't it seem like the Eagles take a wideout with one of their first picks every year? Remember Freddie Mitchell? I'm pretty sure he was a first-rounder out of UCLA. I think he's playing in Arena2 now. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Alright, enough chit-chat. Here's the new draft board. I expect to see some comments.

1. Houston Texans – RB Reggie Bush (USC)
2. New Orleans Saints – DE Mario Williams (N.C. State)
3. Tennessee Titans – QB Vince Young (Texas)
4. New Jersey Jets – QB Matt Leinert (USC)
5. Green Bay Packers – LB A.J. Hawk (Ohio St.)
6. San Francisco 49ers – S Michael Huff (Texas)
7. Oakland Raiders – OT D’Brickshaw Ferguson
8. Buffalo Bills – DT Haloti Ngata (Oregon)
9. Detroit Lions – DE Tamba Hali (Penn State)
10. Arizona Cardinals – TE Vernon Davis (N.C. State)
11. Saint Louis Rams – CB Jimmy Williams (Virginia Tech)
12. Cleveland Browns – OT Winston Justice (USC)
13. Baltimore Ravens – OT Marcus McNeil (Auburn)
14. Philadelphia Eagles – WR Santonio Holmes (Ohio St.)
15. Atlanta Falcons – DT Brodrick Bunkley (Florida St.)
16. Miami Dolphins – OT Jonathon Scott (Texas)
17. Minnesota Vikings – QB Jay Cutler (Vanderbilt)
18. Dallas Cowboys – LB Chad Greenway (Iowa)
19. San Diego Chargers – WR Derek Hagan (Arizona St.)
20. Kansas City Chiefs – S Darnell Bing (USC)
21. New England Patriots – LB DeMeco Ryans (Alabama)
22. Denver Broncos – RB LenDale White (USC)
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – DE Mathias Kiwanuka (BC)
24. Cincinnati Bengals – DT Jesse Malehona (Tennessee)
25. New York Giants – DT Rodrique Wright (Texas)
26. Chicago Bears – TE Leonard Pope (Georgia)
27. Carolina Panthers – TE Marcedes Lewis (UCLA)
28. Jacksonville Jaguars – CB Tye Hill (Clemson)
29. Denver Broncos – WR Martin Nance (Miami U.)
30. Indianapolis Colts – RB DeAngelo Williams (Memphis)
31. Seattle Seahawks – CB Ashton Youboty (Ohio St.)
32. Pittsburgh Steelers – LB Manny Lawson (North Carolina St.)

In Over Its Head

2006-03-14T01:09:00.000-05:00

The NCAA Tournament seeding committee was in its over its head this year. Plain and simple. This is probably the most poorly seeded tournament that I can recall. After the top four teams (Duke, UCONN, 'Nova, Memphis), which a 5-year-old child could have chosen correctly, the seeding became problematic and darn confusing.

Some years selecting the top four overall seeds is difficult. Not this year, though. That left the often tough 2-4 seeds, and that's where the seeding committee came up awfully short. Supposedly this committee was comprised of many novices to this process. If that's true, it surely shows. Craig Littlepage needs to improve that bunch for next year.

Will March Madness still be exciting? Of course. And these snubs will likely fade away in a few days. But the fact remains: the seeding committee can't take a mulligan. The NIT is no consolation, sorry to say.

Here are my problems with the seeding this year:

The snubs...

Hofstra should have been in. I am firm in this belief. The committee values recent performance and considers if a team's top player may miss the tournament (such as with Allen Ray). Then, how can it select George Mason over Hofstra when the latter defeated George Mason twice in the last two weeks and George Mason will be missing its leading scorer due to a suspension? Hofstra is an outside in the Colonial Athletic Conference and George Mason's coach once served as an assistant to committee head Craig Littlepage. This was a travesty for a local NY team that was 24-6 on the year, a better record than over half of the 65 teams in.

If you want to argue that George Mason had a tougher nonconference schedule, I can concede that point. However, most major conference teams won't play a team like Hofstra unless it's at home, even at all. Regardless, Air Force over Hofstra is absolutely incorrect. There's no question about that. Air Force lost in the first round of its conference tournament.

I'm okay with Missouri State missing out, as well as Michigan and Maryland. Cincinnati probably should have been in. I'm glad to see Seton Hall in, although I think Cincy was more deserving.

Now onto the actual seeding:

In the Atlanta bracket...

I'm a Duke fan. Have been for 16 years and would have attended the university if they let me in. And yet, I can admit that the Blue Devils got a very easy road in the Hot-lanta bracket (we call them by cities, not regions now, right?) If you think Texas is a legitimate No. 2 seed, then you may disagree, but I don't believe they are legit, nor do I think Iowa, LSU, or Syracuse are strong 3, 4, and 5 seeds in this bracket. I know Duke is the No. 1 seed overall...but come on, make it a little tough on the Blue Devils. I don't see how Duke can't coast through to the Final Four.

George Washington as a No. 8 seed. Is the committee serious? I know the A-10 was a weak conference, but are you to tell me that GW, with their record and solid schedule, is essentially of the same caliber as CAA postseason champ UNC-Wilmington, who it plays in the first round. This seed makes absolutely no sense. Give the team a little credit. This is probably worse than when Gonzaga was an 8th seed either last year or the year before when they were ranked fifth in the nation.

How is Texas a No. 2 and Kansas a 4 seed? It makes no sense. The Jayhawks whipped Texas in the Big 12 title game and had defeated them earlier in the season. Kansas should be a 2 or 3 seed based on their recent stellar performance.

In Oakland...

I totally disagree with Kent St. as 12 seed. This is the Mid-American Conference winner and the Golden Flashes are seeded 12? And they are forced to take on a tough Pitt team nonetheless? Ouch. The MAC always has solid success in the tournament, and although this season the conference wasn't as tough, you have to take that past success into account. The MAC is on a better level than the WAC or CAA, in my opinion.

Again, Kansas shouldn't be a 4 seed. I'm not high on the Big Ten at all this year, and yet the committee definitely seemed to be (Iowa and Ohio State were rewarded nicely). Giving Indiana a 6 seed? Are you kidding me? This team was considered a bubble team until Sunday and had a pretty unstellar record. The same goes for Michigan State, which got a 6 seed in D.C. I also don't think Marquette deserves a 7 seed. More like a 9 or 10.

In Washington DC...

Well, George Mason (11) shouldn't have been selected. And Tennessee as a No. 2 seed? That is so confusing. This team has been overachieving all year and it backed into the tournament losing something like six out of their last ten games. And the Vols played poorly in the SEC tournament...so they get a No. 2 seed? That's insane. I see Tennessee going down early, the second round most likely or Sweet 16 without a doubt.

In Minneapolis...

Boston College defeated UNC twice this year, including in the ACC tournament semifinal. The Eagles took Duke to the limit in the title game. All this while playing in Raleigh, North Carolina, for the ACC Tournament, for a Northeast team, and every game is an away game. BC is playing its best basketball when it matters most. And they get a 4 seed? While UNC gets a 3 seed? Boston College is better than UNC, Tennessee, Ohio St., Iowa, LSU, all teams seeded higher.

And you can't tell me Ohio St. is a No. 2 seed. Who did the Buckeyes defeat outside the Big Ten? They didn't even take on the best teams. And Boston College did throughout the entire season.

So darn confusing.

It's just crushing to see deserving teams get left out, like Hofstra, when ESPN pans to those team shots of the players crowded around a TV. It's not about winning, for many schools, it's about being a part of the event and the excitement that is March Madness. To say you were involved. For many players this year, more than I can remember, they have legitimate gripes.

It’s Hard Out There For a Pimp II: Through the Fire

2006-03-12T23:03:00.000-05:00

I took a little me-time on Sunday night to sit down and watch the ESPN original documentary on Sebastian Telfair, Through the Fire. Did anyone else see it? I enjoyed it a lot. It tells a very similar story to the ground-breaking documentary Hoop Dreams, following a young basketball player in his search for glory. Through the Fire though, tracks Telfair in his final year of prep basketball at New York’s Lincoln High School, as he makes decisions about his future. Telfair, now a guard for the Portland Trailblazers, originally committed to Louisville and Rick Pittino. But college versus the draft is only one of the many choices Telfair has to make during the course of this year; there are many other distractions, temptations and obstacles that get in the way.

I saw this film as a representation of lost innocence and abandonment of the purity of the game. Though the filmmakers didn’t always try to hammer this point down, they didn’t always have to. So many things are happening to Telfair as his senior season begins that it eventually plays out the only way it really could have played out. I’m sure the people who made this documentary intended to show all the crucial choices that a young athlete has to make, but there is something even more tragic the consequences of Telfair.

Now, I’m not saying that this movie sad. By no means. In the end, this kid gets paid. You don’t even have to have seen the movie to know that this happened. But when I watched it, I felt something deep inside for how far and how alone he must have felt by the end. Even though he was moving on and making it big, there was something missing. I felt as though basketball was no longer basketball, and Telfair was no longer Telfair.

Maybe it was because of his moves. The kid is sick. Like And One Mix Tape sick. In one part, when Lincoln is running the table against their league opponents, they put on a quick montage showing a typical Telfair high-light reel. He schools a few kids into tripping on their own feet, makes some ridiculous no-look passes and generally puts on a clinic in how to make people look foolish. There’s a grace in his school-yard moves, something pure.

But the pressure starts building. His team plays on ESPN one night. Telfair sprains his ankle in the first half and toughs it out in the second as they go into another brief montage of highlights set against rap. At the end of the game, they show Derek Jeter leaving the stands. Telfair at this point has already committed to Louisville and has a good relationship with Pittino. Soon, NBA scouts start showing up at his games. Telfair turns up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Jay-Z hangs out with him in the locker room before a game. They don’t make a big deal out of the coverage he’s getting in the film, but the minute his smile fads you get see that some of this stuff is really out of Telfair’s league. He never looks grotesquely out of place, but everyone once in a while you can sense his mortality.

Pretty soon, Telfair is a completely different person. In the many interviews he’s giving, his answers about the pros start to change. His passion for the game starts to waver. You don’t see him shooting hoops on the playground any more. And his circumstances start to change around him too. There’s a scene from the film where Rick Pittino is talking to the media and he answers a question about Telfair going to the NBA. He basically says that Louisville should start recruiting harder. At that point, you can see that Telfair has pretty much forgotten about Louisville and Rick Pittino has set his sights on forgetting about Telfair. You never see Rick Pittino again after that.

The most poignant part of movie in my mind is when Telfair goes visit brother in Greece before the NBA Draft. His brother, who had left New York earlier in the movie to play for a Greek club, represents the purity of the game. He had played for Providence in his college days and at one point led the Big East in scoring, but he was never drafted, forcing him to ply his trade elsewhere. His brother had invited him to Greece to train with him before the draft his mind away from NBA. In one scene, he and his brother are taking jump shots and Sebastian continually throws up bricks. His brother turns around however and hits every shot. You can see the intensity in the eyes of his brother. He looks like he’s working twice as hard as Sebastian even though they’re working at the same pace. In another scene, while Sebastian watches, his brother talks to an opposing coach on-court about signing him next year. He must be resourceful, while his brother is lavished in riches. In the very next scene, they go shopping for Rolex’s; spending the $6 million that Adidas threw at Telfair when he turned pro.

All Telfair is really doing in this movie is living the American dream. But somewhere in this dream, the silver-lining was lost. I’ll be first to admit that the draft scene was very emotional. Christ, I haven’t cried like that since K-Pax. After much speculation about his falling stock, the Portland Trailblazers take him with the 13th pick. Everyone goes wild, Telfair cries in his brother and his mama’s arms, and he has finally reached his goal. I couldn’t help thinking that like so many other young, naïve superstars, Telfair had forgotten to enjoy his success. I’m not saying I blame him for what happened. This is the perfect Kafka-esque ending. The pieces were in place from the beginning. Somewhere along the line, we had knowingly ceased to know Telfair. And he had lost what had brought him so far. He had the world at his fingers-tips and he had no idea what to do with it

Two Thumbs Up For World Baseball Classic

2006-03-12T22:26:00.000-05:00

As you may remember, I was somewhat skeptical of the prospects for success of the World Baseball Classic. Dan wrote an inspiring column in support of the WBC. Although I wrote that, as an internationalist, I really hoped it would succeed, I saw too many flaws. Well, with my foot firmly planted in my mouth, I have to say that I love this event so far.

I wanted it to be this exciting, I just didn't think it would be. But it most certainly has. Right now, I'm watching the Puerto Rico-Dominican Republic game, and although PR is pulling away, the game has been electric. That's the only way to describe the event so far: electric. From the Latin rivalries, to Canada's upset of the U.S., to the back-and-forth game (and controversial) U.S. win over Japan on its last bat. And it's only kickin' into gear now.

The crowd at today's Puerto Rico-DR matchup has been wild. I never thought I'd see such crowd energy for any sporting event in any sport. The U.S.-Japan game was so tense and a well-executed, nearly artistic game. I really admire the way the Japanese play the game and their respect and love for its mastery. I still think the call in the top of the ninth, where the umpires ruled the Japanese runner tagged up too soon, was a totally wrong call. One umpire, without a good view, overruled an umpire with a closer view. Still, the ending in the ninth, after A-Rod had whiffed in two earlier important spots, was great. I can only hope these teams meet again (not sure if that's possible, I'm still confused about the group play).

Watching the lineups for the Puerto Rico-Dominican game is the reason why this is so enjoyable to watch. It's like watching your fantasy baseball team actually in person, with the cream of the crop. I took for granted how great a draw this is for the WBC, to see such Murderer's Row lineups. The players are into it, the fans are most definitely into it, and I think regular baseball fans will follow as the sports media becomes aware of how exciting the WBC has been.

And we're just getting started. Based on their playing tonight, I think Puerto Rico is the team to beat. Don't count out a resilient Japanese team and maybe even the United States can muster a strong run after today's come-from-behind performance. The American bullpen has been excellent but it will need better work from its starters.

Check back later tonight or early tomorrow for my early NCAA tournament thoughts. Dan will be posting his bracketology soon, too.

The Business of Free Agency

2006-03-11T12:12:00.000-05:00

Deals, deals, deals! NFL free agency is at last upon us. It’s time to find out who wants to overpay to get marginally better and who wants to tight-fist their money to lag behind. Officially beginning this morning at 12:01 AM EST, we no longer have to listen to that boring NFL labor negotiation crap. We can finally watch our teams improve themselves…or make very expensive mistakes.

Before I get into my analysis of this year’s market, there is clearly an issue I need to address. Ryan has called me out on the Javon Walker situation and I need to respond. Let me first say that there is nothing wrong with the Green Bay organization. I didn’t appreciate the insinuation that because Walker wants out and Favre might retire that there is something intrinsically wrong with my team. If anyone is to blame it is Javon Walker. By name-calling and citing grievances with other players, Walker is trying to use his displeasure as leverage to increase his salary. Remember that he last summer when he threatened to holdout, he was two years away from a new deal. Any financially responsible ball club would have done exactly what the Packers did: they said “play your heart out this year, and we can talk about it next year.”

It’s not the Packers fault that he was injured. It’s actually no one’s fault. But by whispering speeches into his ear, his agent is attempting to turn Javon Walker’s ignorance into a better situation for his own wallet. He knows that any team that the Packers would deal Walker to would eventually have to offer him a long-term deal as he’ll be a free agent in 2007.

Culpepper is essentially doing the same thing in Minnesota, except that the Vikings are smart enough to trade Daunte. Daunte is clearly a burden on that organization and we all saw how efficiently Brad Johnson ran that offense while he was gone. Here’s the thing with the Packers: I know Walker is their best wide receiver and last year shows they don’t have a real good replacement for him. I just think that like Minnesota, there are a lot of changes going on in Green Bay (primarily new coaches), and in order for those regimes not to be undermined, everyone is going to have to be on-board. We don’t need any saboteurs.

If they did trade him, I would expect a similar deal to what Minnesota got for Randy Moss: a serviceable defensive player and a #1 pick. The problem though, is that this years draft will not be a good one for wide receivers and big, athletic wide-outs like Walker are hard to find. There will also not be very many enticing free agent wide receivers available this year. Reggie Wayne and Antonio Bryant head the list. Good players, but neither are a #1 guy. The Packers can’t afford to let Walker go, so in the end, I expect him to either retire (I would love to see him call Ted Thompson’s bluff), or bit his lip for one more season.

By the way, in case you’re wondering about the Packers reaction, I put a link to GM Ted Thompson’s response to the Javon Walker comments:

http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2006/03/10/3/

It's a hard-line to take, but this is a business and Mr. Walker and his agent are trying to interject emotions that simply don't belong in the game. As for the supposed "rift" between Walker and Favre, that's their issue, they can work it out as need be. Last summer Favre wanted his number one receiver in camp and said so. Walker took offense. Unspoken rule or not, Favre was simply asking another player to put his personal problems aside for the good of the team. We saw the same situation in Philadelphia with McNabb and Owens. No one wins in those situations. Should Favre have shut his mouth? Perhaps. That's between those two now. As I said before however, Walker had two years left on his contract when that happened. I'm sure the Packers would have been more than willing to restructure his deal during the season had he performed well. Unfortuantely for him, he was injured and missed the rest of the season. As I said before, this is business. If the Packers would have caved in before the season last year, they might have paid him big money to sit on the sidelines in a cast. As it is now, the Packers have as much cap space as anyone and Walker has another year on a contract he signed and is beholden to. Go ahead and retire, Javon.

Moving on to the free agent market, let’s look at some big names moving places:

Daunte Culpepper: Speak of the devil! I know he’s not a free agent, but he’s definitely moving places. I honestly expected him to be gone by this morning. When I woke up this morning, I expected to see him on TV, holding up an Oakland Raiders jersey and putting it on over a hideous shirt-and-tie combo. Make no mistake; the Raiders are crazy enough to take him (they just cut Kerry Collins this morning, who should be in Raven purple by Sunday). People say that he could be headed to Miami, but I don’t think Nick Saban is interested in damaged-goods. Daunte could actually work very well under Art Shell. You could tell that Randy Moss and lot of other players did not like Norv Turner. Tactically, he’s very skilled, but he’s definitely not a “players-coach.” Shell is a great players coach and despite looking like an Al Davis-retread, he’s well admired around the league (as well as being the only guy who has balls enough to take that job). The Vikings might not get much for him (can they get a first-rounder?), but they’ll be happy to be rid of him.

Drew Brees: You should hear my brother beat the drum for the Packers to sign Brees. How could the Chargers honestly let him go? He obviously has some enemies in that franchise, because all he did when he was there was prove people wrong. True, he’s coming off that shoulder injury, but it’s my guess that he’ll bounce back to spite people once again. In terms of free agent quarterbacks, he is in a class all his own. He has possible suitors clear across the NFL. Two of the biggest are the Saints and Jets. The Saints are cutting ties Aaron Brooks and starting anew. They do have the option of passing on Brees and drafting Matt Leinart (in the NFL Draft, it’s good to be bad). To be honest, I would rather do this than sign Brees. It takes the heat off new coach Sean Payton. Draft Leinart and let him be the poster-boy for the new Louisiana. He’s already diplomatically come out and said he’d be happy to play in New Orleans. As for Brees, I expect he’ll end up in New York. The Jets have to do something with Pennington. He’s a mistake. And though they have a high draft pick, there are clearly a lot of areas that could use upgrading, particularly offensive tackle. They’ll draft D’Brickshaw Ferguson, just you wait. Brees would also work well with Saban in Miami, but the Dolphins are also clearly interested in Jay Cutler.

Linebackers: Great year for linebackers. You’ve got Will Witherspoon, who’s been a big part of that crushing Panther defense for so many years; and then you’ve got guys like LaVarr Arrington and Julian Peterson who has tons of potential, but are just coming out of difficult circumstances. Linebackers will be payed well this offseason. Witherspoon is expecting to see $10 million a year. This year’s draft also features a wealth of good linebackers. A.J. Hawk, Chad Greenway and DeMeco Ryans all figure to go in the first round and it is commonly believed that N.C. State defensive end Manny Lawson will also go at the end of the first round and make the switch to linebacker. He’s physically a freak; expect him to be a Terrell Suggs type player. The Giants and the Titans will both be big players (no pun intended) in the linebacker market. Expect the Giants to go after Arrington and the Titans to pursue Witherspoon. The Jags could also be a possible destination for Witherspoon.

Steve Hutchinson: The best free agent no one is talking about. He’ll automatically any team that signs him. The Seahawks made their decision about Hutchinson when they signed Alexander to that extension. If I were their GM I wouldn’t have done the same thing. I would have signed Hutchinson and let Alexander test the market. The Packers made such a mistake last year when they let Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle go. Having a good OG like Hutchinson is invaluable. Possible destinations include the Jets, the Vikings and the Redskins. Expect him to sign with Washington.

Edgerrin James: After Shaun Alexander signed with Seattle, I felt sorry for the rest of the 2006 class of running backs. Following behind Alexander were Ahman Green and DeShaun Foster, quickly re-signing with their old teams to avoid the uncertainty of this year’s market. That’s the way it is. Running backs are simply not in demand. Alexander obviously would have commanded attention, but I just don’t see their being a huge market for the Edge. My bet is that he’ll settle for a decent contract with a team that’s not going anywhere like Arizona. Sad but true. There are just too many good running backs available in the draft (like Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Lawerence Maroney, and DeAngelo Williams). Teams like Baltimore and Minnesota who might have been possible suitors for James, will only need to look to the draft to find good young rushers.

That’s it for the movers and shakers, but there are already a number of players who have re-signed with their teams (such as the afore-mentioned Alexander and Green). Here are some players who re-signed with their teams in safe moves that I really liked:

Aaron Kampman: Just this morning, the Packers resigned Kampman to a three-year deal. Kampman is the anti-thesis to Javon Walker. He’s a hardworking laborer who never complains. Did Kampman complain when the rumors began to swirl about the Packers taking Mario Williams? Nope. Did he complain when the Packers went 4-12 last season? Nope. He’s not a superstar, but he’s a solid player and the type of defensive end who will help win games next year.

Koren Robinson: The Vikings were very smart to resign Robinson rather than let him test the free agent market. He showed some much needed maturity last year by working his way into the starting line-up through special teams play. With the free agent market so thin at wide receiver, he would have definitely commanded top dollar from some major competitors.

Isaac Bruce: Could you honestly seem him in any other type uniform than St. Louis? He’s the consummate hands-guy, someone you can always trust to run a safe curl route. The Rams were another team who were smart enough not to let a quality wide receiver slip away into this deluge of B-receivers who are about to become overpaid.

Mike Alstott: You have to keep a bruiser like Alstott on your team. He’ll never be the rambling rusher like he used to be, but he’s great in goal-line situations. If you’re the Buccaneers, this move allows you to safely let Michael Pittman go. That way you can switch up between Cadillac and occasional handoffs to Alstott. At this point, it will be interesting to see where Pittman ends up. Is he still a number one running back? His market will probably be as a back-up somewhere around the NFL behind a younger back. He’s a solid roll-player, but not a starter.

Mac The Knife

2006-03-11T01:58:00.000-05:00

There are few things more exciting than the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden in March. College students mix with pinstriped bankers. Celebrities mix with the average college hoops fan. And the stars on the court always shine.

On a beautiful day in Manhattan, the first unofficial day of spring where you didn’t need a coat for the first time since fall, Gerry McNamara staged yet another beautiful performance for a third consecutive day. Syracuse led only once versus Georgetown in tonight’s first semifinal, but oh, the only time that the Orangemen needed to, and that was at the end, on a fast-break, no-look pass from G-Mac to Eric Devendorf with six seconds left. This came only 45 seconds after McNamara knocked down a shot from behind the arc to cut the Hoya lead to one.

On this, a night when the senior played with a strained groin, and had to sit out considerable stretches in the first half. On this night, another 40 grueling minutes in less than 72 hours. Three wins by four points. Talk about legendary.

The Garden, the Big East Tournament, they really know how to put on a show. The lights shine marvelously outside the Garden on a night like tonight; as I walked around 33rd Street outside the entrance to MSG a few hours ago, pushing through a still awestruck crowd near midnight, the streets still packed despite the hour, I couldn’t help but think that it doesn’t get much better than this stage and this setting for sports.

I wasn’t positive that the new expanded Big East would create as exciting a postseason tournament, in that many hungry teams, at the bottom of the standings, won’t have the opportunity any more to pull off a miraculous run with their only chance for a NCAA bid coming by way of a four-day, four-win run. Still, the tournament had 12 out of 16 teams, and to be fair, that’s probably enough. And in so many ways, this week of postseason tournaments has become nearly as enjoyable as the actual tournament these teams are striving for. For small conferences around the country, this week is where the real madness happens.

But Syracuse, a team I believed to be season-long underachievers, have certainly lit up this town. And that’s what is so magical about this four-day tournament. There are always heroics. I still remember watching the Big East Tournament and the stellar performances from Chris Mullin, Ray Allen, Allen Iverson, John Wallace, Rip Hamilton, Erick Barkley, Andre Barrett, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Carmelo Anthony, Brandon Knight, and many, many more.

On this night, the Syracuse legends were in attendance…Pearl Washington, Derrick Coleman, Lawrence Moten. They had to be. After McNamara’s heroics the last two nights, everyone wondered, could he top it? And he did…two days after hitting a running three-pointer off one leg to defeat Cincinnati by one, and one day after hitting another clutch three to take #1 UConn into overtime. Tonight’s performance may have been the best, though, as he helped his team record Big East Tournament history in many ways.

He willed Syracuse to overcome the largest deficit in tournament history, to become the first team to win one day after winning an OT game, and to become to the lowest seed to make the final. He hit five three-pointers, four in the second half, and scored 17 points. He was even more instrumental as a passer, especially finding Devendorf for the game winner.

After the win versus Cincinnati, Jim Boeheim rather unprofessionally blew up at the post-game conference addressing comments that G-Mac was overrated. Despite what the coach had to say, I can tell you that Syracuse fans have never wavered. Earlier this season, I watched ‘Cuse play Texas Tech at MSG in the Preseason NIT, and prior to the game, my friend and I went to the de facto Syracuse tavern, the Blarney Rock, about a block east of the Garden. The place was rocking that night, with the anticipation for a new season and new talent. Even then, I was overwhelmed by the number of people wearing G-Mac shirts.

McNamara is a standout in Syracuse history, and players like that always overcome adversity some time along the way. G-Mac isn’t overrated, he’s just asked to do so much for his team as a leader for nearly all four years. He’s had more misses than most in big spots, but he’s also made more big shots than most. It’s the law of large numbers, especially given that he stayed in school for four years. He’s been asked to rise to the occasion more than any other college player, and he most certainly doesn’t have the supporting cast of Redick or Morrison or Gay.

Tonight, I left work and made my way to midtown, to catch the last train out to my temporary home in north Jersey until I find an apartment in NYC. Usually at that time, around 11:30, the streets around the Garden are quiet, save for a few fellow late-night commuters or a few patrolling cops. Tonight, when I exited the subway, the streets were jammed and the pungent smell of pretzels and hot dogs filled the air. That’s what spring time is like in Manhattan – the Big East Tournament, the Knicks, the Rangers.

The streets were jammed with fans, all talking and spinning lore, already figuring out how they would tell their friends and their family years from now about the few nights they witnessed basketball at its finest. Out of curiosity, I walked to the Blarney Rock, just to see what the atmosphere was like. I didn’t intend on going in, heck, I had a train to catch. But I wanted to see the sea of orange in the streets, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Two hours after the game ended, it was still pandemonium outside and inside the bar. The G-Mac shirts were being worn with pride and excitement. You had to look hard to find someone not wearing orange. And it seemed as if the air was chanting McNamara’s name, much like the Garden crowd and their chants of “Gerry! Gerry!” at the end of the game.

In the last three nights, McNamara has shown his true colors. He is ending his college career nearly as gloriously as it started, and that brought a national championship. The older, more seasoned McNamara doesn’t have as much exuberance as the younger version. He plays with more burdens, more weight on his shoulders of that 6-foot frame. You can see that after each of Syracuse’s wins here: McNamara is visibly exhausted and depleted after each game.

The older G-Mac realizes what pressure means, realizes the weight of expectations set so high, and realizes what a stage like Madison Square Garden can do for a player’s career. It can crush you or it can exalt you. And that is what makes it so damn beautiful.

For Gerry McNamara, it has most certainly been one of exaltation.

Javon Walker Looking To Leave Green Bay - Where You at Dan?

2006-03-10T01:40:00.000-05:00

Dan, I'm looking for your take on Javon Walker's recent statement. What is happening to the Packer franchise? Players are leaving en masse. What is going on there and what needs to be done? For a team that underwent such a dismal season in 2005, I would think they would be focusing more on satisfying their core players. Your thoughts?

The major issue with Walker is that he still feels betrayed by Favre when the QB called him out for not coming to training camp immediately in 2005 while trying to renegotiate his contract (he did heed Favre's advice). I don't blame him; he ended up making $500,000 the year after he made the Pro Bowl. I have to go with Walker on that one; it's an unspoken rule among players that you don't speak out about your teammate's contract negotiations. Favre betrayed that unspoken rule. Players are supposed to stick together.

This is what Walker had to say (from ESPN.com):

"I just don't feel like this is the best place for me to be right now," said Walker, 27, preparing to enter his sixth pro season. "I really have no interest in being in a Green Bay Packers uniform or playing for Green Bay again."

Citing recent contract squabbles with running back Ahman Green, tight end Bubba
Franks, defensive lineman Grady Jackson and cornerback Mike McKenzie, as well as his own, Walker added, "I just don't like the way the organization runs itself. They want players to come up there and play hard and work hard, but when it comes time to be compensated, it's like, 'We forgot what you've done.'"

The source of Walker's bitterness is the team's refusal even to discuss his contract, which at the time had two years remaining, the penultimate year of which paid him $515,000 the season after he made the Pro Bowl by catching 89 passes for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns. But Walker says that at this point, money is not the issue.
"If I had to go back there, I'd retire," he said. "I don't have to play."
The rift is so deep and his animosity toward Favre so great that, Walker said, he is even willing if necessary to repay the Packers the prorated portion of his signing bonus, which amounts to around $850,000.
"Why should I risk another year of getting beat up playing for a team that I don't want to play for? That's stupid," Walker said.

Cheap Plug

2006-03-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

Loyal readers:

I apologize for my lack of posting this week, I will talk more about championship week tomorrow and how great it is for March to be here. Also, great last-second win from my hometown Monmouth Hawks over FDU on ESPN2 earlier tonight. I saw them defeat FDU at Boylan Gym a few weeks ago in double overtime; it was one of the best college hoops game I've watched in awhile. It rekindled my passion for the game.

Anyway, I put up some Bonds thoughts earlier and my cohort in crime Dan (you can call him Wolf) previewed the science of bracketology for you.

So, here's a cheap plug for tonight, and the reason why I've been delinquent in posting. I recently started work at SportsNet NY, a new TV network affiliated with the NY Mets and NY Jets here in the Big Apple. Things have been crazy here with exactly one week to our on-air debut. If you are interested, check out our website, www.sny.tv, and if you live in the Tri-State area, tune in March 16 (you'll get it if you have Comcast or Time Warner).

Also, check out the firepower of that Dominican team in the WBC. Even without Manny they are damn scary. Second, Dan and I both predicted how weak the United States is. Can't even beat Canada. That hurts. The stars & stripes were silenced by the bats of Justin Morneau, Adam Stern, and Adam Loewen. The latter two spent last year in the minor leagues. I think in every major sport we have finally been surpassed: basketball (see: 2004 Olympics debacle), baseball (see: WBC), and hockey (although we were never tops here other than The Miracle). At least no other major country has football yet. Or maybe we'll make up ground in soccer.

A Bracketological Breakdown

2006-03-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

Bracketology. If you are a sports fan, you automatically know what this word means. Systematically implanted in our brains by Nike and ESPN, “bracketology” is the study of men’s NCAA tournament hoops. The bracketologists usually come out in mid-to-late February (though some are secretly practicing their art in mid-December), which would make currently us in high season.

We are all veteran bracketologists in our mind. To seek the bracketological euphoria is to look to the future; to know something no else knows. We predict, we wager, we gamble, but we also study. Being a bracketologist, you need you to know many factors about many different teams.

As everyone knows, the secret to bracketology is looking at the team’s record in the last ten games. “Hmmm…never mind the fact that they haven’t been to NCAA tournament in the past 22 years, Oral Roberts went 8-2 in their last 10 games including two wins over rival Chicago State!” We look for patterns or mismatches and we tear them apart.

Sometimes we make stretches in our judgment. “Let’s see here, the moon is the house of Leo and Mars is tilting toward Aquarius, thus Vanderbilt will run the table in the SEC tournament and probably reach the Elite Eight.” Often times we pay the ultimate price for these over-estimations; we watch as all our teams lose in the first-round, only to have Betsy, the 54-year old mother of five win the office pool.

Bracketology though doesn’t just take in to consideration individual teams; it also looks at the players. Think Gonzaga will make another early exit? In my opinion, it’s all about whether or not Adam Morrison shaves his mustache. Adam: word to the wise, get rid of it. The ‘stache is a karma killer. Shave it and they’re in the Final Four; keep it and they’ll lose to Pacific.

Let’s not forget the coaches. UW-Milwaukee is a perfect example. Last year they were the Cinderella story, taking down Alabama and Boston College. That was with head coach Bruce Pearl pulling the strings. Now, Pearl is coaching Tennessee and first-year head coach Rob Jeter has lead the Panthers to their third bid in seven years. Despite this the inexperience of Jeter could keep them from having the same success as last year. Over-analyzing a minor factor of an otherwise simple game? Perhaps, but something to keep in mind none the less.

In the end, bracketologizing is knowing what separates similar teams. In the back of every good bracketologist's mind is the fact that sometimes there isn’t much difference between a #7 seed and #10. The disconnection is factors of completely incalculable value. They range from the rudely-absurd to the highly-researched. See, when it comes to bracketology, everyone has a theory.

Was There Ever Any Doubt? Check Out Bond's Head Size

2006-03-08T17:02:00.000-05:00

Seriously, was there ever really any doubt? Maybe I'm too much of a skeptic, but to see Barry Bonds shatter records the way he has the last five years has been too extreme, too good to be true for baseball fans. "Game of Shadows," written by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, seems to make the ultimate case for a black eye, or asterisk, next to what forever will be known as the steroid generation: Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, McGwire, Canseco, and arguably Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, Jim Thome, or any other player that seemed to disappear after MLB's new steroid policy.

While the recent book documenting (or alleging, depending on your viewpoint) Bond's scary amount of steroid abuse, always ahead of the curve with the new wonder-drug, isn't too surprising. For three years now, since BALCO, the Congressional hearings, and especially after he missed nearly all of the 2005 season due to what was originally an innocuous knee surgery, analysts and fans alike have almost taken it as a given that Bonds is part of his generation's steroid club.

Just look at the man's head. It has enlarged by over a hat size, at least, in five years. It's unfathomable that a middle-aged ballplayer could have his head blow up that much.

And after the BALCO case, it was determined that Bonds had used a steroidal cream, but he feigned ignorance before a grand jury. Sure, Barry. Your at the top of your sport, an MVP, and you just take substances or drugs that some trainer gives you. Sure.

This new book says that Bonds began injecting Winstrol in his ass, the same steroid used in the 1988 Olympics by Ben Johnson and last year by Raffy Palmeiro. Bonds' massive doping regimen grew more sophisticated as the years went on. The book, written in narrative style, is said to be based on more than a thousand pages of documents and interviews with more than 200 people.

Are we to accept the fact that Bonds can get away this because performance-enhancing drugs weren't banned until 2002 in MLB? No, I certainly won't. While it wasn't officially "illegal," it sure as hell was cheating. It's performance-enhancing. And that's why after the MLB instituted a real steroid policy before the 2005 season, Bonds magically took six months to recuperate from a simple knee procedure. Go figure for a player who didn't miss many games for over ten years.

Again, check out the head on Bonds!

The account alleges that Bonds was motivated to take performance-enhancing drugs by the McGwire-Sosa chase of the single-season home run record in 1998 and he had never taken any before 1998. He began with Winstrol after the 1998 season, and he worked out sometimes 12 hours a day at the gym where he met Greg Anderson, the infamous BALCO trainer.

He moved onto a laundry list of steroids, many which cause you to chuckle with their acronyms. By 2001, he wasn't screwing around. Bonds sounds like a chemist with his desire to be on the cutting edge of drug use.

He started using the Cream and the Clear, as well as insulin, human growth hormone, testosterone decanoate (a.k.a. Mexican beans) and trenbolone, a steroid created to improve the muscle quality of cattle. That's the same year Bonds broke McGwire's single-season home run record by belting 73. He got this junk from Anderson, who became a Giants employee, and he got them from BALCO labs, headed by Victor Conte. Team officials clearly saw Bonds getting huge, but they didn't say anyting for fear of upsetting him (like the media, too). Besides, baseball hadn't banned steroids.

Anderson kept meticulous records on Bonds' program, many of them on a computer. At times, Bonds gulped as many as 20 pills at a time. He also learned how to inject himself. Clearly, here's a player who was willing to go to any length to excel. I imagine it came out of fear of slowed performance in his older age, and maybe even a desire to create a lasting impression on the record books and a favorable impression on fans' minds because of his well-known temper and callousness with the press.

According to an excerpt from the book, Anderson told an acquaintenace wearing a wire in 2003 that: "The whole thing is, everything I've been doing, it's all undetectable. The stuff I have, we created it. You can't buy it anywhere else; you can't get it anywhere else. You can take [it] the day of [a drug test], pee, and it comes up clear.

"See, like Marion Jones and them - it's the same stuff they went to the Olympics with and they test them every fucking week. So that's why I know it works, so that's why I know we're not in trouble. So that's cool."

So what's left to do? Not much. Steroids weren't illegal and many good players, even some great ones (Bonds pre-steroids, for instance), succumbed to measures that enhanced their performance. In the process, they tarnished their own game, and eliminated any chance of achieving the very thing they wanted by taking steroids - that is, greatness.

It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp

2006-03-05T23:54:00.000-05:00

Cue up the elastic tandem of Joan and Melissa Rivers…it’s the Academy Awards! I’m looking forward to the Oscars because Jon Stewart is hosting, and that’s why I’m keeping a running diary of the event. Unfortunately, you won’t get a running diary of the red carpet, because it may be the most unnerving and obnoxious hour in TV. You see more softballs lobbed by so-called entertainment “journalists” on the red carpet than an over-40 slow pitch softball league.

Before this diary begins, here are a few unrelated thoughts…

I was very shocked when I saw Chinese Taipei in the WBC. Seriously, I only thought this country existed in the Little League World Series video game on old school Nintendo. Dan told me today it is in fact Taiwan, which might be the most enlightening thing I’ve heard in years. I still don’t understand why Chinese Taipei won’t play for China, if they are Chinese. Maybe it’s so it can retain its aura as a Little League World Series juggernaut. If Chinese Taipei plays as well in the WBC as they did in that Nintendo game, watch out!

As a Duke fan, I wish big Shelden spent more time working on his low post game than finely manicuring his goatee. Perfectly-trimmed goatee, but poor game. And Redick is just tired at this point in the season: the pressure, the minutes, the scoring race with Morrison are wearing him down.

ESPN went overboard with that Full Circle coverage last night. Just give me a lunatic Dick Vitale and a few popped blood vessels and I’m happy. I don’t need an above-the-rim camera and a split screen of nerdy kids painted blue. Did you know that before home games Coach K has the crowd in early and tells them the gameplan for that night and what players to focus on? Is Coach K the modern Knute Rockne?

Is there a better and worse feeling than having a big night out in the city (in my case, NYC last night) and going home the next morning with only one dollar in your wallet? It’s great because you know you had a stellar night, and awful because you know all the cover charges and expensive drinks and cab rides and late-night diner ate through your entire paycheck for that week. Ahh, to be young.

And now, let the Oscars begin:

8:01 pm – I am at my laptop and eating pizza and pigs in the blanket. Hearty meal. I’m more interested in the Academy Awards for its unintentional comedy and wacky stars than seeing what movies are proclaimed the “best of the year” by stuffy old men in LA. Regardless, this should be fun. At least I averted the Rivers duo on the red carpet.

8:05 – Solid opening montage. Stewart is going to be loose for this event; he said he doesn’t care if he bombs. I like that attitude – it reminds me of Dan’s attitude at Siglo in Edinburgh (known for its Wednesday pole dancing) when he would hit on girls with 10 drinks under his belt as if he were invincible. Good times.

8:09 – Stewart is picking up incredible steam right now. He cracks on Clooney, and nice Jewish and liberal references with Capote and Munich. Also he’s not afraid to bash Hollywood and that’s great.

8:12 – Best line of the night so far, as Stewart says people have called Hollywood an “atheistic pleasure dome and beachfront Sodom and Gomorrah…” He says more but I couldn’t keep up I was laughing so hard. He ends by saying, “I’m sorry, I have no joke. That’s just what people are saying. Thought I’d let you know.”

8:15 – Stewart hands it over to Nicole Kidman. She gets more creepy looking and more gaunt over the years. Excellent introduction from Stewart; he started hitting his stride after a few minutes and only accelerated from there.

8:19 – Best supporting actor is…George Clooney for Syriana. I’m 1 for 1 tonight in the major categories. Clooney had one of the best years of any artist (I think writers/directors/actors are artists) in recent memory – he orchestrated two excellent, hard-hitting, liberal treatises.

8:26 – “This is blowing Spielberg’s mind right now.” An excellent sketch from Ben Stiller in a green leotard. I still think Stiller’s best performance came as a cameo in the Ricky Gervais-created “Extras” on HBO.

8:34 – Has Dolly Parton aged in the last twenty years? Seriously, she hasn’t changed in decades. I think my buddy Giberson has a poster of Dolly in his room – he loves the hoots. If only all 60-year-old women took care of themselves like Dolly (read: an insane amount of plastic surgery). Still, a god awful song, “Travelin’ Thru.”

8:54 – I’m starting to nod off at the wheel here. Fasten your seatbelts. This show is slowing down a lot and I’m having trouble staying involved. I need more Stewart and less stern actors taking themselves very seriously. That’s why George Clooney garners so much attention; he comes across as genuine and honest and doesn’t take himself too seriously.

9:01 – Stewart asks if the audience gathered around and pulled down the big Oscar statue behind the stage, would democracy come to Hollywood? And Jimmy Caan could take off his sandal and pummel the statue. That makes the list of top lines of the night. We need more Stewart!

9:04 – And best supporting actress goes to…Rachel Weisz. That’s 2 for 2 in my picks. I am rising to the occasion like Mike McD on an all-night poker rush. Rachel is gorgeous, a woman I would marry in a second; she’s like the thinking man’s beauty. My head says Rachel Weisz, but my heart says Keira Knightley.

9:20 – Very funny Daily Show-style clip, voiceover by Stephen Colbert, of how the best actress category has succumbed to mudslinging.

Now, best documentary. My sentimental choice is Murderball; it’s one of the most inspiring and emotional movies I have ever seen. I figure March of the Penguins will win…and it does. It’s hard to take this category seriously. How does Grizzly Man not get a nomination? Even going back further, The Thin Blue Line wasn’t even nominated when many consider it one of the top documentaries ever. The Academy has some very arcane and restrictive classifications for what is and is not a documentary.

9:24 – Is Crash just Traffic II? Lives intersect in urban jungles. Profound.

9:36 – Here is the most pressing question on my mind tonight. Is Steve Guttenberg in attendance tonight? Did you hear that they are making Police Academy 5? You can cut the anticipation in this room with a knife.

9:44 – Hands down, Salma Hayek looks better than any other woman tonight. I can barely type right now because I’m so overwhelmed as she stands at the podium. I always thought Penelope Cruz was the more beautiful Latin actress, but I changed my mind. Ed Norton must be out of his mind for letting go of that.

9:57 – The Academy is coming down hard on DVDs tonight. Yes, we know, the experience is so awesome of sitting with total strangers and not being able to hear well because some young kids who sneaked in to a rated R movie are talking behind you. Yes, it’s great to pay $20 to see a movie and get popcorn and a soda. Screw you guys. It’s almost sad to see the Academy president and then the script for Jake Gyllenhaal proclaiming how great the movie experience is (though Jake laughed after saying it's impossible to replicate the movie experience on a portable DVD player). The Academy is trying to defend the Maginot Line right now but the type of warfare has changed. Now they’re showing a montage of big, famous movies as if that’s going to convince everyone to start paying over $10 for a movie when you can rent it for so little only months after the movie comes out. This montage has nothing to do with tonight’s lineup. Stewart just said, “I can’t wait to see the Oscars' salute to montages. We’re all out of clips!”

10:21 – It is hard out here for a pimp. Trying to get his money for the rent. A whole lotta bitches jumpin’ ship. Wow, this song’s performance is really disorienting, especially seeing that white guy trying to proposition a hooker. Your Academy Awards, ladies and gentlemen. And yes, that’s best original song. A pretty weak category…but it is a better song than Dolly Parton’s garbage and that weak song from Crash.

10:30 – It’s getting emotional in here. Sleep well, Pat Morita. Mr. Miyagi was one of the best characters of all-time, without question. And this new show, Miracle Workers on ABC, all I can say is, you caught my eye. And it’s filled with tears.

10:45 – If Philip Seymour Hoffman doesn’t win Best Actor, I’m signing off. Hoffman has done more with a sparse amount of screen time than any actor I can think of. Lester Bangs in Almost Famous, Scotty J. in Boogie Nights, Allen in Happiness. Hoffman was given the role of a lifetime and he hit a home run. And the winner is…Hoffman. Awesome. That was an easy pick. Not much else to say. When I left the theatre after Capote, my mind was spinning. Hoffman was in every scene and put the film on his back like Larry Bird in the ’84 Finals.

10:57 – Reese Witherspoon wins Best Actress. I didn’t see Walk the Line so I can’t really say. I figured it was going to be her or Felicity Huffman. She made a very good speech. I’m running on fumes right now. We have Best Director, Best Picture, Best Screenplays remaining. I didn’t realize how long this would be and how committed you have to be to keep a running recap. I probably should have considered this when I slept only three hours on an air mattress last night. Ouch.

11:13 – Best original screenplay goes to…Crash. Poor choice. I really think every other movie in that category was more deserving.

11:19 – I’m popping this diary into cruise control like driving back from Atlantic City at 3 am after an all-night session at the Borgata playing poker. I called Ang Lee to win Best Director and he takes it. Ang Lee seems like the most fun, laid-back, deep guy you’d ever meet. I really want to sit down and have a beer with this guy. I think he’d make you feel great about your life and the world we live in. He just radiates feeling.

11:22 – And here’s Jack to present Best Picture. Easily the coolest guy in the building. If there’s one actor I wish I could live the life of, it would be Jack. And the winner is…Crash. Yikes. I almost expected this would win, especially as the night went on (and Roger Ebert called it). You need an underdog movie and this was it. I just really thought this movie was contrived and pretty superficial. The worst movie in the category other than Munich. It’s just so unsubtle – race, class, fate and the characters describe these in melodramatic speeches. My English teacher always used to say “Show, Don’t Tell” as a writing mantra. Paul Haggis directed Crash and he wrote Million Dollar Baby, which I hated and was as subtle as a neon flashing sign. Crash tells, it doesn’t really show.

As A.O. Scott writes, “Americans from radically different backgrounds are brought together by a grim serendipity that forces them, or at least the audience, to acknowledge their essential connectedness.”

This makes sense in the movies but it's not realistic. This doesn’t happen in our lives. It’s like a call for superstition over reality.

And that’s the night. I think all I heard all night was Memoirs of a Geisha and Crash. Ugh. People are talking about maverick films and in the end few were selected. I thought the show was solid – nothing special, some good moments from Stewart, but he was phased out after hour two. I didn’t realize how many worthless categories there are from a viewing standpoint. The only categories I wanted to see were announced in the last hour. I guess that’s the trick. I tuned in the whole time and I’m here writing now.

That’s it for me. Good night, and good luck. Well, sort of.

Tyler Hansbrough and Other Shades of Blue

2006-03-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

As the last five minutes of the Duke-UNC games plays right now, I thought I’d take some time to record some random thoughts on this epic match-up. Ryan is definitely the college basketball expert of this site, especially when it comes to Duke, but I like to think I’d provide more of a balanced approach to this game.

If you haven’t guessed by now, the reason I’m able to record this is because I’m at home on Saturday night by myself. So is my obsession with sports, particularly when it comes to great rivalry games such as this. There’s a special feeling in knowing you’re watching what is sure to be an Instant Classic on ESPN Classic.

Like I said before, I really don’t have any ties to either team in this situation, which makes it much easier for me to appreciate the passion that lives on both sides. Such tradition is hard to argue with. That doesn’t mean I can’t make fun of it though.

Here are some quick thoughts I jotted down during the commercials:

-Does it strike anyone else as strange that, like the popular trend in today’s college basketball, Duke named the court as well as the arena? I don’t really go around saying to people, “did you see that game on the Coach K Court at the Cameron Indoor Stadium today?” That’s ridiculous. And if you’re going to name something after a legendary coach, at least wait till he’s dead.

-Sheldon Williams has the most oddly shaped head I have ever seen. I mean, I hope he doesn’t have some disease that I don’t know about it. I’d to think I’m somewhat of a kindred soul with Ol’ Shel, though. This is getting a little personal, but as really young kid I had a really big head. Physically, I mean. I had two CAT Scans by the time I was one. My parents thought I had a tumor. Turns out I had just a huge freakin’ head. Hold your large, misshaped head high, Sheldon.

-J.J. Redick would look real good in a Milwaukee Bucks jersey.

-Did you see the outfit that Roy Williams had on? He looks like a plantation owner. The Tarheel blue jacket? That’s a stretch. Plus, he appears to have not aged very well since coaching Kansas. It’s like they had Dean Smith’s white hair permanently transplanted to his head in order to take on the lovable southern Colonel Sanders look. Coach K on the other hand simply looks stoic. He will look the same, wear the same dark suit and blue tie forever. The funny thing about Coach K is that I can’t picture him not on the sideline. Go ahead; try imagining running into Coach K at the liquor store. Not happening, right? I’ll bet you he’s an Old Style man.

-I did not like the Crazies Cam thing on ESPN2. It made me feel dizzy, like when you go to the IMAX Theater. You know, you’re climbing up those Himalayan steps to some seat where you’re still looking up to see the picture? I get vertigo just thinking about it. Incidentally, I was just at the IMAX last week. I also vomited twice today in a completely unrelated hangover incident.

-The Cameron Crazies…crazy or just misunderstood? For $35K a year you better be misunderstood.

-Can the Atlanta Hawks send Marvin Williams back to North Carolina for a year? He’d technically be a junior next year, right? Wouldn’t that be good for everyone? Williams could learn how to be patient (and good ballplayer) while the Hawks could forget their enormous mistake.

The game just ended. UNC 83 – Duke 76. Tough loss for Duke, I was pulling for them in the end, just because I don’t like Tyler Hansburgh. Remember when earlier when I said I was completely unbiased? Well, through out the course of the game, those feelings were washed away as my dislike of Mr. Hansburgh grew. He reminds me too much of Eric Montross, who I also did not like. No specific reason. Maybe it’s because the announcers were in love with him or because he celebrated like a prick after the game. Or maybe it’s because he’s the freakishly tall college center that I never was, but regardless, I just don’t like him.

Why the WBC Can't Catch On

2006-03-04T02:32:00.000-05:00

I’m an internationalist at heart. I think Woodrow Wilson was a visionary, that the United Nations can work if it isn’t jeopardized by one or two war-mongering superpowers, that the Summer Olympics is a moving and powerful event that can unite countries separated by strained national divisions, and that there’s nothing better to tug on my heartstrings than camera footage of fans in a far off, poor country seizing on every turn of a World Cup game and realizing how important that game means to them in spite of their hardships.

And so you can imagine that I want to see the World Baseball Classic succeed. I think Dan shares with me an (idealistic) view of the unifying and positive effect of sports in the world. I really want to see the WBC succeed…but I just don’t think it can in its current formulation.
A few things stand out that lead me to believe that the WBC is going to be very, very difficult to catch on, like the World Cup has for over a half-century.

1) The WBC is every year and so the added allure of a rare classic, every four years, doesn’t exist. There's no qualifying round for the WBC that might allow for a fair seeding.

2) There's only one world baseball league, rather than in soccer where many countries have quality, top-notch leagues. The players have no leverage to bargain with their teams when they are forbidden from participating. With the World Cup, there are many different leagues where players can go.

Leagues that do exist in Latin America or Asia don’t draw good talent, or else the players would be there instead of the U.S. (just follow the money trail). I think it's safe to say that Dominicans or Mexicans or Venezuelans wear the jerseys of Pedro, Beltran, Santana, Pujols, over some local talent in a local league.

I don't see those leagues ever drawing more talent due to the implementation of the WBC, because those countries can't draw the kinds of revenue that MLB can. Teams in those areas won't draw a lot of money from TV deals, merchandise sales, or high ticket prices. The overall fan base in Mexico, DR, Venezuela, or anywhere in Latin America is essentially very poor. Leagues in those areas could never compete if people can't contribute to a revenue base that would draw players from MLB or create a viable league. And for now, Latin America is the hotspot for baseball talent and that hasn't happened.

On the other hand, England, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Holland and other countries have comparable soccer leagues in their ability to draw top players and considerable revenue in generally well-to-do countries and greater loyalty to those leagues.

3) Right now, there isn’t any good timing for the WBC. Before the season is probably the worst time. I would prefer at the end of the season in late October or November, although it would have to be on weekdays since it couldn’t go head-to-head with college and NFL football. The end of the season has its problems too. However, I think the beginning of the season is the worst time to have this. Imagine if A-Rod or Jeter would go down with a season-ending injury?

MLB players are professionals and they should be in shape at this time anyway. But here's the biggest difference from soccer (or any other sport for that matter)...pitchers don't get in shape this early in the season. That's why there's spring training. And that's why if the WBC remains in March then it will only be an exhibition at heart, not a competitive event. Pitchers aren't in pitching shape at the beginning of the season; they take over a month to get their arms ready for the long season. And we so many so fizzle out before October. Add an extra month of conditioning and that takes one month off the end.

This argument is the reason why the WBC has a pitch count limit for each pitcher and a cap on innings (games can end in draws in the early rounds). Those are foolish rules that only concede to the WBC's limitations.

Position players don't have an excuse for withdrawing from the WBC. They can get in shape easily. The same goes for soccer, or basketball or hockey if there was ever such a concept. But pitchers undergo totally different conditioning from position players.

In the end, I can't fault any pitcher for not wanting to play in the WBC. And thus, a baseball game without pitchers is, well, not a game at all.

The New Spring Classic?

2006-03-01T23:28:00.000-05:00

The World Baseball Classic starts tomorrow and I have recently heard a wave of criticism from sportswriters and columnists around the country aimed this event. Many of them point to fact that players are losing valuable Spring Training practice and facing the unnecessary prospect of injury. I heard one this morning Mike Greenberg, offer up his defense for the pitchers of the WBC, saying that pitchers were “creatures of habit,” and would not be blamed for skipping the upcoming event. Unfortunately these are valid claims, and I say unfortunately, because I am a full supporter of the World Baseball Classic. They are however, arguments made in an understandable period of growth that the WBC will need to weather; eventually, I believe that the ‘Classic will reach beyond these comments, as the World Cup has moved beyond individual national soccer leagues to invoke an uncommon degree of patroitisicm and devotion for the individual fan. The World Baseball Classic will ultimately become the most important sporting event in the baseball universe, even bigger than the World Series.

In “Moneyball,” Michael Lewis set out to show us that baseball is constantly evolving. Indeed, the theory behind baseball is intensely structured and centralized as is the effervescent passion for the game, but the game itself is shifting. More and more good players are coming from areas outside the United States, such as Latin America and the Caribbean. The Mickey Mantles and Joe DiMaggios of yesterday are the Albert Pujols’ and the Miguel Tejadas of today. Another place making headlines for quality players is Japan. Few people in the United States realize that in Japan, Ichiro is pretty much God. He is beyond popular. Like soccer, baseball is spreading to those areas where it had once been sparse. Baseball cannot be purely American any longer. It already owes too much to countries like Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Japan.

Ultimately, much of the groping and griming about the World Baseball Classic originates in the individual clubhouses of MLB. The general managers and owners hate the idea of exposing their stars to the risk of injury, as well as the fact that they aren’t making money off of their players. Led mostly by Steinbrenner’s recent comments to the media, these backroom hand-shakers despise the concept that baseball is being played for the love rather then for the cash.

This has been the same case in European soccer for years. In Britain, the question of “for club or country” haunts most players, who love playing soccer on a world stage, but fear their manager’s scorn. The London-based club Chelsea, draws similar (eerily, sometimes) parallels to the New York Yankees by encouraging their best players to forgo international competition. In soccer, the World Cup has made the sport popular throughout the globe, something individual leagues could never have done. Individual leagues could never bring world-class competition to a resource-deprived country like Ghana, but while they allow their players to play in the wealthy leagues of Britain and Italy, they call them back from these talent-harvesters to participate in World Cup qualifiers and international tournaments.

I predict that the World Baseball Classic will be huge, and not just from a fan’s perspective. I believe the players, like the media, will come around to the idea of talent widely dispersed amongst nations. So many of these nations are already baseball-crazed and have the stars to prove it. As baseball continues to expand internationally like soccer, the equilibrium of talent will eventually begin to even out. The players themselves will always look forward to playing together with their fellow countrymen. In the Dominican Republic, how could Pujols not love playing with Tejada, and Alfonso Soriano? In Venezeula, how could Carlos Zambrano not love pitching behind Johan Santana and Felix Hernandez? As the players gain not only local but international exposure, the interest in baseball aboard will rise dramatically.

And what does this mean for the future of baseball in the United States? Take soccer again, for example. With the sport growing in new places around the globe, many World Cup qualifying spots have been taken from Europe, the birthplace of the sport. But do you see the Europeans complaining? No. Like Americans should do with the arrival of the World Baseball Classic, the European nations have embraced a wider field of competition and used it as an impetus to improve their facilities and their programs. Baseball will continue to be America’s sport after the World Baseball Classic ends. It will simply be redefined and re-appreciated.

Would you like a quick preview?

Well, then…in Pool A, you won’t find too many full-time major leaguers, but you will find a lot of heart. Korea is good bet to move on in the tournament. You won’t have heard of many of their hitters (except Hee-Soop Choi of the LA Dodgers), but they sport a fine pitching staff with hurlers like Byung-Hyun Kim of the Rockies and Chan Ho Park formerly of the Rangers. Japan is clearly the favorite even without Hideki Matsui and Tadahito Iguchi not playing. They still have Ichiro and slew of other fast and powerful hitters. China and Chinese Taipei probably won’t shock the world, but they’ll be competitive.

…In Pool B, the United States will be the team to beat. As Ryan told you in an earlier post, the American infield is sick. Teixiera at first, Jeter at second, A-Rod at shortstop and Chipper Jones at third? Forget about it. The bullpen is lights-out with Brad Lidge, Chad Cordero and Joe Nathan. The Canadians are also a threat with young-guns like Justin Morneau and Jeff Francis, but I see Mexico advancing before Canada, armed with experience and talent in the starting rotation from the likes of Esteban Loaiza and Oliver Perez. With no major leaguers on their roster, South Africa will struggle.

…In Pool C, just about anything could happen. Cuba is arguably the favorite, though I can’t really explain why. All they’ve done in the past is play against teams that didn’t have their superstars in the lineups, so there’s really no basis of comparison. Puerto Rico (wait, isn’t that part of the US?) features an outfield that matches up with anyone in the tournament (Ricky Ledee, Carlos Beltran, Alex Rios, Bernie Williams) as well as having Carlos Delgado. They are likely to move on, unless Panama or the Netherlands can stop them. Panama features Brewers’ slugger Carlos Lee, Oriole’s starter Bruce Chen and little more. They probably have it better off than the Netherlands though, who basically have Andruw Jones (though they did try to prove Danny Haren’s lineage; too bad he’s not interested).

…In Pool D, two big powerhouses square off, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. The DR should be considered armed and dangerous. They have an incredible lineup and a great pitching staff. Pujols and the gang will push things along nicely for starters like Bartolo Colon and Pedro Martinez. Venezuela has some of the best young arms of the tournament, but Bobby Abreu and Miguel Cabrera in the lineup (I almost mentioned Magglio Ordonez too, but he’ll probably only be healthy for five minutes this year). Italy and Australia have some nice storylines as well, with stars like Mike Piazza and Frank Catalanotto holding spots for Italy, while features some home grown talent like Justin Huber and Glenn Williams. Unfortunately this group is much too top heavy; the DR and Venezuela move on and will compete for the championship.

Why Isiah Thomas Has Led Me to Drinking...and Much More

2006-02-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

I’m sorry for the delay in posting, but I have been consumed in a prolonged drinking binge since Isiah Thomas traded for Steve Francis last week. One of my first articles on this site was a renunciation of my Knicks loyalty. That trade was the final blow. My new favorite NBA team will be the one that selects Jonathan Clay Redick in the 2006 NBA Draft (even if it’s the Atlanta Hawks).

The only thing that cheered me up was Sports Guy’s mock interview at an Atrocious GMs conference last week at All-Star game weekend. I think Simmons’ quality has declined in the last few years, mainly since he returned from the Kimmel show, after what I think was his peak in 2002 or 2003. However, this article was one of the best he has written in awhile.

In the meantime, here are things that have been on my mind for the last week…

This is a must-read article in the Washington Post today about New York Hack blog author Melissa Plaut and that site's chronicle of her adventures as a taxi driver. I just started reading her blog and it's very funny and genuine. Check it out.In three weeks I probably spent a total of two hours watching the Olympics. And most of that was curling, which I became incredibly fascinated with because I always seemed to catch it on CNBC. I am programmed to turn to CNBC at 6 pm for Jim Cramer’s Mad Money and instead I kept coming up with curling. I didn’t watch any skiing, snowboarding, bobsleigh or luge, and only a little hockey and speed skating. The Olympics had few storylines and even fewer standouts. Oh yeah, but I did watch some ice dancing to ogle Tanith Belbin.

Maybe now that the Olympics are over the nightly news can spend more time discussing important issues (I doubt it) than some drunk who choked in his sport’s biggest stage. I have heard enough about Bode Miller for years to come; his partying had nothing to do with it, he simply choked when it mattered most, again and again and again. Since I’m sure Bode will get removed from his high-profile ads, I hope we’ll see him promote that “Chasers” product, the pill you take that erases your hangover after a big night out. That’s the commercial where the woman calls her husband a lightweight for not being able to handle his booze.

Monday nights have become my new Friday. First I watch High Stakes Poker on the Game Show Network at 9 pm. This show gets better and better every week. Then I quickly switch over to the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet on MTV at 10 pm. Name me a more exciting show than the Gauntlet. Go ahead. Watching the Rookies’ male captain, Alton, perform at his sport’s highest level (that sport being the cottage industry that is reality TV) is one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen. I haven’t seen as complete an athlete as Alton since Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson.

Three weeks ago the final four episodes of Arrested Development were aired on Fox. I will never be dissuaded that Season 1 was the best of any comedy in history. Season 2 was great, too, although not as good as the first season. It was upsetting to see the show canceled by Fox, but Season 3 wasn’t that good. I’m left to ponder whether the show and concept ran out of steam or if the tension between the show’s creators and Fox became too much to handle. To get it off the air, Fox ran the final four episodes in the primetime slot of 8-10 pm versus the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. Talk about burying it. The episodes were disappointing and turned into a sort of self-parody at the end. I’m not sure if I want the show to be picked up by Showtime or HBO, because the possibility that it may be a great show again is far outweighed (in my mind) by the preservation of what was a classic show for a few years. I do hope that Will Arnett gets his own show.

But alas, The TV world is getting pretty rough. I can’t recall there ever being this much carnage in the TV world – first the cancellation of Emily’s Reasons Why Not after one episode and then the boot to Jake in Progress and Love Monkey. Ouch. ABC spent millions promoting Emily’s Reasons Why Not as a primetime show, especially during the Super Bowl, and it got kicked off the air after one episode. That may be a milestone in primetime TV. A quick Wikipedia search said that ABC committed to the show and its promotion before seeing a script. As one televison critic said: there are “over a million ‘reasons why not’ for this sorry show.” And then that carnage swept up Jake in Progress and Uncle Jesse Katsopolis and that guy who played Ed with Love Monkey. The funniest part about Jake in Progress was that its Super Bowl ads were promoting this as the season premiere. So this meant that it wasn’t a new show…did anyone watch this last year?

I can’t wait for Jon Stewart to host the Oscars. I am a religious Daily Show and now Colbert Report viewer and I’m very excited to see Stewart on that big stage. He has become our generation’s Walter Cronkite. And that says a lot about the “real news” out there and the greatness of Stewart. I’d rather light myself on fire than watch Tucker Carlson on MSNBC.

I’m disappointed that the Academy Awards didn’t give more props to A History of Violence and David Cronenberg. That movie was the most tense, sharp, and powerful movie I have seen in a long time. Everything about the movie – its violence, its acting, its dialogue – are so taut and real. Cronenberg is a genius; he definitely should have been nominated for Best Director.

But I don’t expect much out of the Academy. And as a big follower of independent cinema, I can’t say I use it as a barometer of quality. Remember that Titanic and Gladiator and Chicago won a lot of awards. But this was a banner year for IndieWood and smaller budget films. Hollywood basically got their ass kicked this year.

Here’s my list for top five movies of the year of the ones I saw: 5) 2046 (Hong Kong), 4) Grizzly Man, 3) Capote, 2) A History of Violence, 1) Cache (France). Honorable mention: Good Night, and Good Luck, Brokeback Mountain, Murderball, Paradise Now, The Aristocrats, and The New World. I haven’t seen The Squid and the Whale yet but I hear it’s a classic.

Munich and Match Point were awful. Munich is the most overblown, overhyped, and disappointing film of the year. It reminded me, once again, how inept Spielberg is when trying to make a “political” statement.

Philip Seymour Hoffman should definitely win Best Actor. His role as Truman Capote was one of the most captivating and powerful performances I have ever seen. I left the theatre after seeing Capote in such a daze that I nearly drove off the road. It was that haunting and powerful. In the other major categories, here is what I’m betting on: Best Supporting Actor (George Clooney), Best Actress (Felicity Huffman), Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Documentary (Murderball), Best Foreign Language Film (Paradise Now), Best Picture (Brokeback Mountain).

Spring is here. Pitchers and catchers are in camp and Dan is already predicting that the Brewers will win 95 games this year and Ben Sheets will win the NL Cy Young. Talk about easy money taking that bet. That’s what makes Spring Training great – the optimism. Even Kansas City Royal fans can have hope at this point. Expect a hard-hitting analysis of the World Baseball Classic from my colleague this week.

An amazing sports story

2006-02-24T17:59:00.000-05:00

This news story is courtesy of my college buddy DA (check out his great music blog, No Frontin' Just Music, the link is on the sidebar).

This story is truly amazing. This autistic student, nicknamed J-Mac, is the team manager on his varsity basketball team in upstate NY, and on senior night, he suited up and ended up draining six 3-pointers in four minutes at the end of the game. And it wasn't like the defense let up either.

The crowd was in a frenzy for the whole game, as they had cut out cardboard faces of J-Mac. When he went in the game, and started heating up, the place was going absolutely wild. Seriously, watching the video put tears in my eyes. At the end of the game, the crowd stormed the court and carried J-Mac out. Moving stuff. J-Mac has already been on a lot of morning shows, ESPN, and Hollywood is considering a movie. No kidding.

This is the article.

Click on the icon on the right side at the beginning of the article for the video. The video is the best part. It works in Internet Explorer, not Firefox.

Book recommendation - Secretariat: The Making of a Champion

2006-02-23T19:18:00.000-05:00

I hope to share with our loyal readers (you great few, right now) some of the best sports books that I have read over the years. I hate to typecast them as "sports" books, because they tell stories of our country's icons and the very fabric of our society.

I will review many in the coming months and years, today being Secretariat: The Making of a Champion, but here are a few others that I loved and are definitely worth reading:

The Sweet Science (1956) by A.J. Liebling is heralded as the best sports book ever, and I can't disagree; it is a sharp, witty, gritty portrayal of the Golden Age of boxing in the 1950s and also boxing history. I just finished this book and Liebling writes beautifully and provides such a vivid look into how important boxing was in American culture and society around the middle of the century.

Moneyball (2003) by Michael Lewis, who also wrote the excellent Liar's Poker about the gold rush in the Wall St. bond market in the mid-1980s, is an incredibly insightful look at Billy Beane's Oakland A's and the revolution in baseball scouting and management with sabermetrics.

Positively Fifth Street (2003) and The Big Deal (1990) are the two best poker books ever written, as each author tries to make it as a pro and enters the main event of the World Series of Poker as the barometer of their success.

A Season on the Brink (1986) by John Feinstein follows Bobby Knight and his Hoosiers through a volatile season.

King of the World (1998), by current New Yorker editor David Remnick, is the best book ever written on Muhammad Ali. Remnick is an incredibly detailed and effective writer; I also read his account of the fall of the Soviet Union, Lenin's Tomb; if that is up your alley, it's probably the best account on that period in Russian and world history.

I have yet to read any of David Halberstam's sports books - I have read The Making of a Quagmire about Vietnam and War in a Time of Peace about Bush/Clinton in the 90s - but I know Summer of '49, October 1964, The Teammates, and most recently, The Education of a Coach about Bill Belichick are great. Basically any book Halberstam writes about baseball is bound to be exceptional.

I recently read The Miracle of St. Anthony (2005), about Bob Hurley Sr. and his St. Anthony Friars in Jersey City, NJ, which is a perennial powerhouse in NJ high school basketball. While Hurley may only be known as the father of Duke great Bobby Hurley Jr., people in basketball, from biddy ball to the NBA, know Bob Hurley as probably one of the best and most influential coaches in the country, at any level. Hurley could have easily become a college or even pro coach, but instead he stayed at St. Anthony, a rundown school in a very poor area, and has consistently kept the school afloat and out of bankruptcy at every turn. This book, by Adrian Wojnarowski of the Newark Star-Ledger, chronicles a season which Hurley initially thought would be his worst; in the end, the team went undefeated and won the state title, finished ranked second in the nation, and may be Hurley's greatest and most "miraculous" (see the title) coaching job in his storied career.

Wow, that's longer than I expected, but I will periodically throw more books on here to check out.

If you're not a horse racing fan, you may be tempted to stop reading at this point. I urge you not to; Secretariat: The Making of a Champion is definitely one of the top sports books ever written, and certainly the best book on horse racing. William Nack, who was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated for over two decades and retired about five years ago, is one of my favorite writers. In this book, as well as his SI articles, he is a master at weaving a story in the way you or me would tell it or hear it. I also highly recommend Nack's collection of essays called My Turf: Horses, Boxers, Blood Money, and the Sporting Life. It is a masterful and brilliant collection; Nack tells all his stories with a blue-collar grit blended with a reflective, thoughtful nature.

This book is an inside look at how Secretariat captured the nation when he made his successful Triple Crown run in 1973. The story starts decades before his birth, to set up how he was bred, and carefully chronicles his development from a weanling at birth, to a yearling, to his first races as a 2-year-old, and then his legendary 3-year-old season.

Many people in horse racing argue about this point, as have I, but I can tell you that Secretariat is the greatest racehorse of all time. He broke a track record in each leg of the Triple Crown - the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes - records that still stand today. He won Grade 1 races on dirt and turf and defeated older horses after he won the Triple Crown. He graced the cover of Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated in the same week (before he made history in the Belmont). He was, as we like to say in racing, a freak. He was a once in a lifetime freak though.

While many biographies of Secretariat might be tempted to profile only the key players in his career, such as owner Penny Chenery, trainer Lucien Laurin, and jockey Ron Turcotte, Nack also takes you through the lives of the overshadowed, behind-the-scenes people that guided Secretariat into lore: the colt's exercise riders, his groom and stablehand Eddie Sweat, the intricate breeding at the Hancock family's Claiborne Farm and the Chenery farm that led to this great horse, and even the rivalry between Secretariat and trainer Frank Martin's Sham and its background.

Nack beautifully tells the stories of the major players around Secretariat, in the case of the Chenery lineage and Hancock lineage dating back to the Civil War, as those paths came together to breed Secretariat. Nack, a writer at New York's Newsday at the time, followed Secretariat for his entire 3-year-old season to write this book, and thus, he was in the unique position to tell the story from start to finish and have foremost access to the owner, trainer, jockey, and horse.

If you're not a racing fan or know little about the sport, this book is still very accessible. Nack does a great job of describing Secretariat's workouts and races in a way that surprisingly caters to novices and committed fans at the same time. Nack is poetic in his vivid descriptions of Secretariat's races. He really makes you feel as if you are there watching the race, binoculars in hand, as the crowd is roaring around you and sweeping you up in that excitement.

Appropriately, Nack is his finest when Secretariat was at his, in the Belmont Stakes. Secretariat won the race by 31 lengths in a track record time for 1 1/2 miles, and the image of the big red horse and jockey Ron Turcotte all alone in the stretch is one that is burned in my mind forever. I watched the race on the ESPN SportsCentury series on the horse (the only non-athlete chosen in the Top 50 greatest athletes of the century) and I cried, as people in the crowd did that day, when Secretariat powered to the finish line, running faster at the end than he did at the beginning. That characteristic, gaining strength and speed later in a race, is unparalled in horse racing. Any time I watch that race I get chills up my spine.

Nack spends a careful and detailed chapter on that one day of the Belmont Stakes, from sunrise to sunset. He slept at the barn that night and had a restless sleep before waking up 4 am. Nack became so absorbed in the story that Secretariat became his life, another child as he said. Watching the Belmont Stakes, Nack and others around him were yelling that the colt was going too fast. It wasn't until Secretariat was turning for home, 20 lengths in front, that they realized the magic of the moment, how they were witnessing history and that he was really going to win the Triple Crown for the first time in a quarter-century, and in awe-inspiring record time nonetheless.

Here is an excerpt describing that moment:

"He comes to the eighth pole in midstretch, and the whole of Belmont Park is roaring full-throatedly...No one can remember anything quite like it, not even the oldest veteran...They've come to see a coronation, America's ninth Triple Crown winner, but many are beginning to realize that they are witnessing the greatest single performance in the history of the sport. Veteran horsemen are incredulous. Eyes have turned to and from the teletimer and the horse in disbelief, looking for some signs of stress and seeing nothing but the methodical rock of the form and the reach and snap of the forelegs."

Passing the eighth pole, with one furlong remaining in the 12 furlong race, Turcotte looked to the left at the infield tote and the teletimer, and saw the numbers but they didn't register. Then they registered and he looked back again, in a delayed double take. That is one of the most memorable images in the sport's history. Secretariat hit the teletimer in 2:24, thirty-one lengths in front.

Secretariat went on to win several more Grade 1 races as a 3-year-old, including one on the turf, and he was named Horse of the Year, Champion Turf Horse, and Champion 3-year-old. Nack's story ends after the Belmont Stakes, but he does write briefly about the rest of his 3-year-old career in the Epilogue.

What's so great about this edition is that an article Nack wrote in SI in June 1990 is included at the end. Titled "Pure Heart," Nack wrote it after Secretariat died. What is shocking in this article is the revelation that Secretariat's autopsy showed he had a heart twice the average size and was a third larger than any heart the veterinarian had ever seen. "I think it told us why he was able to do what he did," said the vet. Nack was on hand when the great horse died, although it came unexpectedly and was devastating for him. In between the beginning and end, which take place in the present, Nack recounts that classic Triple Crown run.

The best part of that article, and the most memorable lines Nack has written (in my mind), take place after he has found out Secretariat will probably die in a day or two. He stood by the paddock at the farm and gazed in the distance at Secretariat. "The gift of reverie is a blessing divine, and it is conferred most abundantly on those who lie in hammocks or drive alone in cars. Or lean on hillside fences in Kentucky. The mind swims, binding itself to whatever flotsam comes along, to old driftwood faces and voices of the past, to places and scenes once visited, to things not seen or done but only dreamed."

Nack then proceeds to tell the story of Secretariat as it happened. It is a beautiful preface to that legendary story, one that you would have to dream to actually believe it happened.

Kiper and Me: My 2006 NFL Mock Draft

2006-02-20T19:36:00.000-05:00

In order to best introduce my first 2006 NFL Mock Draft, I threw in the transcript from a recent interview I had with ESPN Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. My 2006 NFL Mock Draft can be found at the end of this interview.

(Disclaimer: this may or may not have actually taken place. You’ll have to confirm these events with Mel Kiper and ESPN. Regardless, the man is my hero and has a job I can only dream about.)

DR: So Mel, thanks for joining me today to talk a little bit about the 2006 Draft.

MK: My pleasure Dan. By the way, you look great today.

DR: [awkward pause] Thanks.

MK: [huge smile] No problem.

DR: Formalities aside, have you had a chance to look over my mock draft?

MK: I sure have, and allow me to congratulate such a handsome man on also being quite deft with the predictions.

DR: Well…thank you.

MK: Again, the pleasure is all mine [blushes].

DR: So back to mock draft…Mel, as you know, I’m a huge Packers fan, do you think Green Bay will go with Mario Williams as I predicted?

MK: Now the Packers have will most certainly have a tough choice at the number five spot. There will most certainly be two great defensive players at the number five spot, Williams and Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk. Now this is all assuming the enormous offensive tackle from Virginia, D’Brickshaw Ferguson doesn’t slip through the first 4 picks, but I’m confident he’s solidified his position in this draft.

DR: Kinda like your hair?

MK: Pardon me?

DR: I said “That assessment seems fair.” [quickly] Moving on, Mel, what player do most consider to be a wild card in this draft?

MK: No question it has to be Jay Cutler, quarterback from Vanderbilt. He performed well in the Senior Bowl, but we did seem him struggle a few times during the practices. There’s no doubt he has a ton of upside, but scouts worry about his arm strength and accuracy. Now, Dan you have him at #16 going to the Miami Dolphins. I think it’s fair to say he could end up anywhere from the #3 spot with the Titans all the way down to the second round.

DR: That’s quite a fall.

MK: It’s on par with actor Tony Danza’s career.

DR: You’re not kidding. Now, a lot can happen before the draft especially with free agency coming up. What are the teams you can see trading up or down with their picks?

MK: The 49ers and the Browns are two teams that have a lot of needs and could be looking to obtain more draft picks from people looking to move up in the draft. I could also see the Minnesota Vikings moving up to obtain the services of a premier running back like USC’s LenDale White or Memphis’ D’Angelo Williams.

DR: I have a lot of tight ends being drafted in the bottom part of the first round. Who do you think is the best of the bunch?

MK: This is definitely a great draft for tight ends and the need for a young stud tight end like Pittsburgh’s first round pick last year, Heath Miller is greater than ever. I see Vernon Davis of Maryland and Leonard Pope of Georgia being very much equal in this draft. Both are big, agile targets and can provide the blocking support necessary in today’s NFL.

DR: What revisions would you make in my draft?

MK: First of all, I noticed you don’t have Ohio State’s Santonio Holmes in your first round and I think that’s a mistake. There will be a lot of teams like Philadelphia, Denver and Pittsburgh looking to add a speedy receiver such as this. I would also take issue with your choice of Eric Winston at the #12 spot to Cleveland. I have him dropping all the way to the second round and after all, I am the draft expert.

DR: Touché. But what does that actually mean? What do you do with your time outside of the draft?

MK: That’s none of your business.

DR: Fair enough. One last question for you Mel, do you have any big plans for draft day?

MK: Before the live telecast I usually spend 4 to 5 hours working on my hair. Afterwards I begin rigorous preparation for next years’ draft.

DR: Stoic. Thanks for joining me Mel.

MK: Again, my pleasure.

First Round:
1. Houston Texans – RB Reggie Bush (USC)
2. New Orleans Saints – QB Matt Leinert (USC)
3. Tennessee Titans – QB Vince Young (Texas)
4. New Jersey Jets – OT D’Brickshaw Ferguson (Virginia)
5. Green Bay Packers – DE Mario Williams (N.C. State)
6. Oakland Raiders – LB A.J. Hawk (Ohio St.)
7. San Francisco 49ers – S Michael Huff (Texas)
8. Buffalo Bills – DT Haloti Ngata (Oregon)
9. Detroit Lions – DE Tamba Hali (Penn State)
10. Arizona Cardinals – RB LenDale White (USC)
11. Saint Louis Rams – TE Vernon Davis (N.C. State)
12. Cleveland Browns – OT Eric Winston (Miami)
13. Baltimore Ravens – RB DeAngelo Williams (Memphis)
14. Philadelphia Eagles – OT Marcus McNeil (Auburn)
15. Atlanta Falcons – CB Jimmy Williams (Virginia Tech)
16. Miami Dolphins – QB Jay Cutler (Vanderbilt)
17. Minnesota Vikings – LB Chad Greenway (Iowa)
18. Dallas Cowboys – OT Jonathon Scott (Texas)
19. San Diego Chargers – WR Derek Hagan (Arizona St.)
20. Kansas City Chiefs – DT Brodrick Bunkley (Florida St.)
21. New England Patriots – LB DeMeco Ryans (Alabama)
22. Denver Broncos – S Darnell Bing (USC)
23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – OT Winston Justice (USC)
24. Cincinnati Bengals – DT Jesse Malehona (Tennessee)
25. New York Giants – DT Rodrique Wright (Texas)
26. Chicago Bears – TE Leonard Pope (Georgia)
27. Carolina Panthers – TE Marcedes Lewis (UCLA)
28. Jacksonville Jaguars – CB Tye Hill (Clemson)
29. Denver Broncos – WR Martin Nance (Miami U.)
30. Indianapolis Colts – RB Lawrence Maroney (Minnesota)
31. Seattle Seahawks – CB Ashton Youboty (Ohio St.)
32. Pittsburgh Steelers – LB Manny Lawson (North Carolina St.)

The Bryant Gumbel controversy

2006-02-18T15:36:00.000-05:00

At the end of the February 7 episode of Real Sports on HBO, Bryant Gumbel used his concluding monologue to express an opinion that, over one week later, has incited considerable controversy and outrage in the sports world. It’s interesting that it took ten days for his remarks to become widely criticized, especially on Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN yesterday.

Here is what Gumbel had to say (emphasized is the most controversial statement):

"Finally, tonight, the Winter Games. Count me among those who don’t like them and won’t watch them ... Because they’re so trying, maybe over the next three weeks we should all try too. Like, try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention. Try not to point out that something’s not really a sport if a pseudo-athlete waits in what’s called a kiss-and-cry area, while some panel of subjective judges decides who won ... So if only to hasten the arrival of the day they’re done, when we can move on to March Madness — for God’s sake, let the games begin."

Mike and the Mad Dog were particularly virulent yesterday in their attack on Gumbel and most callers seconded their statements. The party line against Gumbel was an attack on what they perceived as a “double standard” for black journalists. Throughout the day, Francesca and Russo were arguing from an inherently racist perspective, as were most callers. Let me explain.

As an accurate example of what those two shock jocks were saying, Chris Russell on SportingNews a few days ago wrote:

“What you can't do is ignore the absolute damning criticism by Gumbel that would never be accepted if Gumbel were white and said he would not watch the NBA because of the lack of non-black players. Imagine if I went on Sporting News Radio and said the NBA is impossible to watch because there are too many blacks, or if I said the reason why I have an incredible passion for hockey is because the player pool is overwhelmingly white. You would want my head on a platter, with knife in hand.”

That’s what Russo has been saying for the last two days. Here’s why that statement is wrong.

First, I wholeheartedly agree with Gumbel’s statements. More than anything, however, I respect his right to say what he did. The Winter Olympics are boring and have few exciting storylines this time around. The dismal ratings (they have been beaten by American Idol) corroborate this. So many of the events are obscure and outside the mainstream athletic world. Most people have no opportunities, ability or inclination to downhill ski or ice skate or speed skate; everyone can run around a track, play basketball, baseball or swim. The Summer Olympics are simply more accessible. And it’s obvious the Winter Games are a white, European-created alternative to the Summer Games.

Gumbel is often pompous and his closing monologues are usually pretty arrogant. What he, in essence, said last week is that the Winter Olympics don’t display the world’s greatest athletes because there’s a paucity of black athletes. I don’t believe the games are exclusive and inherently racist. However, I would argue that the sports themselves, because they are a white European creation, have fundamental obstacles to African-American participation. It’s the same reason many blacks don’t play hockey in the United States; the gear is expensive and the playing surface costs a lot of money, much more than picking up a basketball or a baseball bat. Many African-Americans, because they are disproportionately represented of those in poverty in this country, can’t afford a ski lift ticket or to rent or buy a snowboard or skis.

So no, the Winter Olympics aren’t exclusionary. Similarly, many avenues in American society have been opened to blacks since the Civil Rights movement. But there are two kinds of racism: overt and institutional. Overt racism is somewhat less prevalent in this country now, but institutional racism has been built into the fabric of society as a result of the marginalization, discrimination and persecution of blacks over the course of American history. This institutional racism, which will take a long time to solve, is still very much part of our society. That’s because it has really only been four decades since any concerted attempt was made for equality in this country.

This institutional racism is the reason why the majority of failing public schools exist in urban centers, why many employers still prefer a white name over a black name when looking at identical resumes, and why the Ninth Ward in New Orleans received no assistance for four days after Hurricane Katrina when a similar fate would have never befallen the residents of Greenwich, Connecticut, after a natural disaster.

And this is what bothered me the most about Russo’s and Francesca’s comments. They said that a white commentator could never get away with what Gumbel said. And that’s probably true. But they argued that there was no reason for Gumbel to bring up race.

But there was every reason for Gumbel to bring up race in the Winter Olympics. And here’s why: minorities in a given society view that society through their own disadvantaged prism. A minority group, based on race, religion or ethnicity, is always reminded of its status because it is the exception in that society. Thus, it’s natural for a black man in America to view societal issues of politics, sports, and culture through the disadvantaged and racial prism that he is accustomed to.

This is why Gumbel focuses on race in sports, and why this attitude is important for reversing bigoted opinions in American society and paving the way for other black journalists. He is a fine example for other black journalists and that’s why race serves as a predominant issue in his monologues.

White people don’t do this because they are in the majority. It’s that simple. And so for Russo and Francesca to take offense to Gumbel analyzing the Winter Olympics from his own perspective as an African-American is simply wrong and only a symptom of their standing in the majority.

That’s why Bob Costas, for example, would never say something like Gumbel did, but from a white perspective. For one, as a white man, he’s in the majority in this country and thus has no reason to view issues through a racial lens. And secondly, basketball is a sport in which there are no fundamental barriers to entrance for whites or blacks. The same can’t be said for the Winter Olympics; while it is unintentional, they still prohibit the participation of many African-Americans. That’s not to say the games are racist, but the observation must be made, as Gumbel did.

Many callers and the two hosts yesterday implied that because Gumbel is a successful black commentator, he shouldn’t be allowed to point out racial discrimination. As if, because he is successful in a white society, he somehow owes something to the majority. In that way, people are implying that Gumbel should be an “Uncle Tom.” It’s as if a black journalist such as Gumbel can’t be successful without being like a white journalist; and then when the successful black journalist derides the fundamental racism in this country, whites burn an effigy like they did yesterday for Gumbel. That is based on the logic that blacks can’t point out racism if they are successful. That is wrong.

And lastly, my patience was worn thin yesterday with Mike and the Mad Dog. I don’t imagine I will listen to them much for now on. Russo was incredibly abrasive and unwilling to listen to any differing opinions. This was obvious when they had Ross Greenburg, President of HBO Sports (and Brown alum), on the air later in the afternoon. Russo never let Greenburg speak and peppered him with diatribes rather than questions. The show has only become more confrontational and more exclusive of certain opinions over the years.

Why put on guests if they have no intention to ask them questions, and solely to use it as an opportunity to give a monologue? I really dislike that people respect or look up to Mike and the Mad Dog. They’re not journalists – they don’t do their own reporting or investigations. They simply comment on what other people say and write. And that’s fine, but don’t portray the “holier than thou” attitude that they do so often (especially Mike). These guys are in bed with the figures they cover, such as Mike’s personal relationships with Torre, Parcells, etc. They are shock jocks and no better or worse than Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. They can be funny, sure, and sometimes astute and enjoyable to listen to, but they are a symptom of American sensationalism and its companion – reactionary, hair-trigger, commentary.

The New Monday Night

2006-02-15T18:47:00.000-05:00

If you’ll pardon the journalistic cliché, this is not your parents’ Monday Night Football.

Lots of changes are in store for the age-old prime-time classic heading into the 2006 season, and many of them are leaving the average scratching their head and wondering what went wrong. And this fan in particular does not like much of what he sees. But in the spirit of good news first let’s look at the bright spots, two in particular:

Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser.

I feel as though Mike Tirico has earned this spot on Monday Night Football. I grew up watching guys like Tirico, Steve Levy, and Dan Patrick every morning on SportsCenter so it’s great to see Tirico finally earning the dividends for that time. Even though simply being on SportsCenter everyday may seem glamorous enough, too many anchors have slipped off into mediocre rolls on outlaying cable networks or relegated to covering lesser sports on ESPN2 at 10 PM on Friday night.

Tirico gives you nothing but good coverage when’s on. He’s a very good play-by-play guy and about as unpretentious as they come. I couldn’t justifiably put him in an elite class of announcers, but he has an officious sounding voice that accompanies a straight-forward fact-giving manner which definitely suits Monday Night Football.

Kornheiser is as enjoyable to watch as any sports media personality today. He’s a journalist, who may not be a lot to the players and coaches, but he’s very identifiable to the fans. His success with PTI has catapulted him into the spotlight. My generation of sports fans could easily be called the “PTI Generation.” We crave the face-passed insight that Wilbon and Kornheiser provide. Theirs is a lively debate which fixes our ever-slipping attention span just long enough with each topic to pull together a half an hour long show without us changing the channel wildly during the commercials.

I actually heard Kornheiser given an interview on my local sports radio station the other day and was typically pleased with his demeanor. He gives off an aura of sounding brash and connected without seeming narrow-minded or aloof.

Speaking of narrow-minded and aloof, I can’t say I’m really very happy that ESPN decided to keep Thesimann on the announcing staff. I just really don’t like the guy. I mean I know you have to have that token ex-football for the “insider” prospective, but couldn’t you find anyone better? I think I’d actually prefer they have someone Terry Bradshaw, who even though he’s an idiot, is somewhat aware in the back of his mind of that fact.

Theismann has a way of making every sentence seem like it’s an ill-timed statement of his own beliefs. Maybe it’s the fact that I never agree with any of his opinions, but if you’re going to have a guy do color-commentating, shouldn’t you have someone who makes good judgment calls once in a while?

I just hope Tirico and Kornheiser can keep Theisman in line for the most part. I’m sure for the first couple of games before Kornheiser really gets his feet wet, he’ll be forced to defer to Theismann. I give him about 4 or 5 games of sitting and waiting patiently for Theismann his thoughts before he starts cutting him off wildly in mid-sentence. Even though Kornheiser has that debate-style mastered on PTI, he’s really never done commentating before, so he’ll have some type of learning curve.

By picking Kornhesier, Tirico and Theismann, ESPN is actually choosing to go after a very interesting dynamic: a journalist, an announcer and an ex-player. But that ESPN is doing the choosing at all is a fact that concerns me.

That’s right, brandishing my particular form of Midwestern socialism, I would voicing my displeasure at MNF’s move to cable to anyone who will listen. Not everyone has ESPN. Due to a fluke in the cable company’s service program, I am one of the lucky ones that do get ESPN, but millions of Americans do not. And for many of those who don’t will be losing out on a valuable part of their lives.

Monday Night Football is no longer classless. The portion of Americans who cannot afford cable television will now be forced to either go to a smoky bar to watch MNF or to give up the luxury all together and gather the score from the Tuesday morning box score. This just doesn’t sit right with me.

I can’t stand the thought of my Grandpa not being able to watch the Packers play on Monday night because he doesn’t get cable. Monday Night Football on ABC was an institution and though I believe that ESPN may generally do a good job with it, I can’t approve of the move to cable. It’s a move of exclusion. A decision based around money and made by television executives who did not concern themselves with the ramifications it would have on the average fan.

Shame on you Disney Corporation. Shame on you.

Ignore the snow, spring is in the air

2006-02-14T17:23:00.000-05:00

Looking out my window to see nearly one foot of snow, I can't help but think that spring is here. Why?

Because in two days pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Yes, with the Super Bowl behind us now, and the NBA season reaching its midseason lull, baseball is almost back. And with the World Baseball Classic's debut next month, baseball activity will arrive earlier than ever before. Peter Gammons is already writing about the season on ESPN.com. That's a clear sign that baseball is here.

As a Mets fan, my anticipation is reaching a fever pitch. I expect Willie Randolph to have his opening day lineup as this: Reyes, Beltran, Wright, Delgado, Floyd, Paul Lo Duca, Vlad Diaz (or Xavier Nady), Kaz Matsui, Pedro as the opening-day starter. Give me a better NL lineup, other than the Cardinals.

The USA roster for the WBC was released today. I have to say that the team appears pretty weak. The infield is very strong, while the pitching staff is decent and the outfield is subpar. I'm really not sure about the sustainability of the WBC. The timing poses many problems, and that's led many top players, especially pitchers, to withdraw from consideration. I think that it would do better at the end of the MLB season, but then again, how many players will not participate due to injury or the simple wear and tear of a six-month season?

Here is the USA lineup:

Starters: Jake Peavy, Dontrelle Willis, Roger Clemens, C.C. Sabathia

Relievers: Chad Cordero, Brian Fuentes, Todd Jones, Brad Lidge, Joe Nathan, Scot Shields, Huston Street, Mike Timlin, Billy Wagner, Dan Wheeler

Catchers: Mike Barrett, Brian Schneider, Jason Varitek

Infielders: Derek Jeter, Chipper Jones, Derrek Lee, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Chase Utley, Michael Young

Outfielders: Johnny Damon, Jeff Francouer, Ken Griffey Jr., Matt Holliday, Vernon Wells, Randy Winn

On a scale of 1 (poor) -5 (excellent), I'd give the starting lineup a 4. Willis is solid, durable and will be able to get his arm ready much sooner than most pitchers. The same goes for Peavy. Clemens is always in great shape, though at 43, he has to slow down eventually. C.C. Sabathia doesn't belong in that rotation.

I'd give the relievers a 3. Cordero, Lidge and Wagner stand out, but I don't think Timlin, Jones, and Wheeler belong.

The catchers are weak (let's say 2). Varitek is going to have to start every game. He is significantly better than Barrett and Schneider.

The infield is outstanding, easily the strongest part of the team (I give it a 5). The expected lineup is Lee at 1b, Young at 2b, Jeter at SS, A-Rod at 3b, and Chipper as DH out of seniority. Word is that A-Rod may play some games at SS and Chipper will move to 3B so Teixeira can DH. However, coach Buck Martinez (whose only coaching stint was Toronto for 1 1/2 years) is expected to seek approval for that infield switch from Joe Torre, who doesn't want A-Rod to get that bug to play SS again. I was incredibly impressed with Chase Utley last year; he is a solid 2b backup. Teixeira will both DH and play 1b.

The outfield is poor (2 out of 5). There's no power and only old legs and weak arms out there. Missing Bonds and Berkman hurt. Griffey will be in CF, so Damon will likely play LF, and Vernon Wells in RF. Griffey and Damon have weak arms now. I think it's certainly a lackluster outfield. Holliday and Francouer do not belong on this team. Definitely not. Randy Winn is a toss-up, though I don't think he belongs.

The Dominican team is the one to beat. The official roster isn't out yet, but expect: Big Papi, Manny, Pujols, Pedro, Soriano, Bartolo Colon, Miguel Tejada, Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, and Vlad Guerrero. It's a murderer's row of world baseball. You'll have clean-up hitters down to the six hole.

Puerto Rico, with Beltran, Delgado, the Molina brothers, and Javier Vazquez also looks good.

In other sports notes...

Villanova's 69-64 win over UConn last night was great to watch. Many critics of college hoops question the significance of games before March, but this season, from Maui to now, shows that there are great games and subplots to follow. 'Nova ran the pick and roll to perfection last night, but I still can't understand how Calhoun didn't adjust to defend the trey better in the second half. I don't think it was one of his better coaching performances. Josh Boone disappeared in the second half and Rudy Gay was quiet too, despite putting up 19 points.

When 'Nova brought in Jay Wright to replace Steve Lappas in 2001, I was a vocal supporter of that move. Wright, who left Hofstra, had strong roots in the Tri-State area, and although the Wildcats were mediocre early in Wright's tenure (three straight NIT trips to start), his excellent recruiting has paid off. Nardi, Ray, and Foye are all from esteemed high-school programs in NJ and NY.

I actually selected 'Nova to knock off UNC in the tournament last year, and it came awfully close to doing so. This year a Final Four run is certain, in my opinion.

I think another takeaway from the game is the necessity of moving back the 3-point line. The league experimented with this earlier in the season, but last night's game only reinforced it. It doesn't need to be NBA range, but I'd say halfway between the college and pro line.

In other news...

Here's a must-watch program for poker fans and gambling junkies alike. High Stakes Poker, on the Game Show network Monday at 9 pm, is the first programming of its kind in the poker world. Rather than show tournaments, as ESPN and Travel Channel do, they are televising a cash game, where players buy in for as much as they want (over $100k) and the chips represent real money. In tournaments you buy in for a certain amount and the chips don't have monetary value.

All televised poker until now features tournaments, which hold much more luck and bring together less money, other than to the final table finishers, than cash games. The best poker pros in the world play in the highest cash games at the Bellagio in Vegas, and only play the $10,000 buy-in or higher tournaments. The top pros only recently started playing tournaments again with so many amateurs entering them.

Some of the names so far on High Stakes poker are Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Barry Greenstein, Sam Farha, Lakers owner Jerry Buss, and many more. It's been awesome to watch. Negreanu, who bought in for $1 million, has particularly impressed me with his excellent laydowns and correct reads.

ESPN, with the World Series of Poker and US Poker Championships, and the Travel Channel, with the World Poker Tour, glorify certain tournament players that barely make a living in poker and are usually bankrolled with other people's money. Many of these tournament-centric players - such as Phil Hellmuth and Chris Ferguson - have capitalized on the focus on tournament poker and turned their celebrity into marketing and advertising deals.

However, the top pros actually make their living playing poker, not on marketing themselves. That living comes from cash games where $1 million swings are common. The top cash game in the world is the $4,000-$8,000 blinds, forced rotation of eight different games, at the Bellagio.

The Game Show network has created a $100k minimum buy-in no-limit hold 'em game and televised it and its drawn many of the players who sit in that $4k-8k game. Viewers have been able to see the best players in the world compete for good sums of money, and I've been especially entertained by the table talk of these players.

JJ Redick and The State of College Hoops

2006-02-12T22:21:00.000-05:00

I've been a college basketball fan since 1990. And a Duke fan since that year, too. I still remember running around the house in 1992 after Christian Laettner's famous foul-line buzzer beater versus Kentucky in the East Regional. I even reenacted this moment at Cameron Indoor when I visited the school as a high school junior (yes, I know, the game was played at the Spectrum, but I still had to do it).

Had I not been rejected from Duke, I'm sure I would have attended, and right now I'd be living down South with some sweet, all-American blonde from North Carolina that I met as a freshman there. But alas, I ended up in Providence, Rhode Island. I'm happy with the way that turned out, however.

But I digress. In my 15 or so years avidly following college basketball, I have never seen a shooter like JJ Redick. And I believe in many ways Redick is creating a resurgence in college basketball. Because it's easy to see that the college game has been in a steep decline over the last five years or so. It's hard to remember memorable Final Fours from the last five years, although last year was special. With many players leaving early or turning pro, I think that's allowed many mid-major teams to challenge the majors.

When it comes to shooters, I had the pleasure to watch many of the greats in the last decade and a half - Ray Allen, Randolph Childress, Trajan Langdon, Casey Jacobsen, Salim Stoudamire, and many more.

Among those players, however, Redick may be the most complete scorer. He is leading the nation with over 28 points per game, and he is on pace to break the 3-point record in college basketball and quite possibly the career scoring title (he will certainly break it for Duke). In his first two years at Duke, Redick was more like the Alaskan assassin, Trajan Langdon, a pure shooter, much more capable of hitting the open shot than creating his own. Last year, and in a huge way this year, he's evolved into a slasher and someone who can take almost any defender off the dribble. Redick drives hard to the basket, has shown he's able to convert on hard fouls, and can see the floor (and Shelden Williams) very well to dish off when double-teamed.

Redick clearly saw how much fear his long-range shot caused in opponents, understood the need to create his own shot and take guys off the dribble, and he has succeeded in adding that dimension to his game.

Not only can he score relentlessly, but he is a strong defender - he defends well on and off the ball - and he is probably the best on-court (and from what I hear, off-court) leader I have ever seen. Before the season started, he took freshman point guard Greg Paulus around, showed him the ropes, and taught him the ways of Duke basketball. That type of mentorship is how the Duke program has thrived over the last two decades.

In the last few years, my support for Duke basketball has waned. Yes, Brown hoops wasn't the greatest program to cheer for, but once I attended a different university, it didn't make as much sense to maintain my youthful loyalty to the Blue Devils. But Redick has reinvigorated my Duke following, but more so, my college basketball loyalty.

And here's why. And why Redick, I believe, may just create a resurgence in college basketball. Because he has stayed in college for four years, we have been able to see the progression and drive of a college basketball player intent on greatness. With Redick analysts don't use the words "upside" or "potential," because over the course of four years, he has fulfilled that potential. We have been able to see Redick's game evolve to something that is truly amazing to watch.

That's what is great about college basketball, and may be so again (possibly aided by the 19-year-old age limit in the NBA). You can watch a player evolve in his formative playing years and develop an all-around game as Redick has. Once players reach the NBA, it's more difficult to watch that. Many players improve, but have reached a certain level in their game.

I make a point to watch every Duke game again. Redick's last two games were mind-blowing. His ultra-clutch, 35-point performance versus UNC last week, scoring eight points on two huge 3-pointers after Duke's lead was reversed late in the game, and then yesterday, when he dropped another 35 on Maryland (including a triple from 30 feet out). On fast breaks, he pulls up for a 3-pointer rather than drive to the basket for a layup or dish. The trey is a higher percentage shot for him, based on its risk and reward. I've never seen any player do that before.

This has been a very exciting college season to follow so far. Starting with the Maui Invitational and the thrilling 3-OT game between Gonzaga and Michigan State, and then Gonzaga versus UConn. Throw in the Duke-Georgetown game, Duke-UNC, and also the outstanding seasons so far of Villanova, Memphis, and UConn. I watched Gonzaga versus Stanford last night and witnessed, yet again, the heroics of Adam Morrison. Like Redick, I make a concerted effort to watch Morrison's games, though it's more difficult on the East Coast.

It's players like Redick and Morrison, not to mention Rudy Gay, that are adding to a resurgence in college basketball. Why? Not only because they are once-in-a-decade players, which always returns the spotlight to college basketball. But prinicipally because we have watched them evolve as players over the course of three or four years, and fulfill the high expectations we had for them as freshmen - and thereby make the "leap" in college, instead of doing so first in the NBA.

Cuban and the Zen Master

2006-02-09T22:50:00.000-05:00

Nothing Mark Cuban does any more should come as a surprise. He’s been kicked-out of games, given hefty fines, and even worked a shift at Dairy Queen, serving up Blizzards. It is my belief that he is the new Dennis Rodman (without the tattoos and piercings),as the league’s necessary extravagant distraction. But I also believe that unlike Rodman, Cuban is changing the league for the better.

Take for instance, his most recent run-in with Phil Jackson. If you didn’t see it, after Wednesday nights’ Lakers-Mavericks game, Jackson openly criticized the officiating and blamed on Mark Cuban saying that through his actions – running around, pumping his fists and screaming – he intimidate the refs.

Cuban’s reaction was classic. In the blog that he regularly posts on his own website (www.blogmaverick.com), he titled his most recent article “I Own Phil Jackson.” Here’s a brief clip from that article:

“For whatever reason, I have gotten to Phil so completely and thoroughly that every time he comes to Dallas he has to offer unsolicited comments about me to the media. I wonder if he dreams about me the nights he spends here in Dallas. Ok, I don’t wonder. I’m curious about it.”

Now to be honest, I have an inherent bias because I really don’t like Phil Jackson. But this isn’t about Phil Jackson. His recent comments were petty and ridiculous, and as Mike and the Mad Dog pointed out this morning, he’s planting these comments in the press only to try to stir up some pity calls for himself when heads to American Airlines Arena in the future. But none of that concerns me.

You can think about this whole situation from any perspective and come up with the same conclusion: Mark Cuban is good for basketball. His fans love him, his team sure as hell better love him (have you seen those towels he gives them?), and though the league might look at him as an annoyance, he is great for business.

Some people, especially in the media, look down upon his actions as base and childish. But wouldn’t you do the same thing if you were rich and owned a sports franchise? I sure would.

In fact Cuban is doing exactly what I would be doing.

Jackson can complain that Cuban, by consistently sending the league tapes of games where he found evidence of bad officiating, is creating an unfair atmosphere in Dallas, but in the end, he’s just jealous that Jerry Buss didn’t think of it first. As coach, wouldn’t you love to have an owner who not only comes to every game, but is knowledgeable and interested enough to critique officiating?

I doubt 90% of the league owners in the NBA attend more than 10 games a year. I know for a fact that Sen. Herb Kohl doesn’t exactly make attending Bucks games a priority.

Furthermore, I think that the NBA already has an image problem. You get this idea that too many of the players are bigger than the league. It started with Michael and it’s extended to guys like Kobe and T-Mac, whose passion quite frankly I question. Cuban flies in the face of that NBA.

It as easy to mistake genius for madness as it is to mistake passion for irritation. Mark Cuban can certainly be labeled irritating, if only by coaches who have lost a certain amount of thunder in recent years by his arrival.

And let’s not forget that Mark Cuban does all this mainly for his fans. When I watch Dallas games on TV, they always show Cuban in the stands signing autographs and talking with fans. Even he might yell and scream, it just goes to show how intensely passionate he is about winning. Sure, he’s got a lot of money, but I don’t think that’s even a big deal to him.

After all, I’m sure he’d trade all that money for an NBA Championship.

I officially renounce my Knicks loyalty

2006-02-08T23:03:00.000-05:00

Sorry Bernard King, sorry Patrick Ewing, sorry Charles Oakley, sorry Alan Houston (the '98 version), but I've had it with the New York Knickerbockers. I loved watching the team in the 90s, loved Riles and Van Gundy at the helm, defended Ewing to the bitter end. Still can't believe Charles Smith could start for any team.

Who says you have to support a team for life? I suffer enough angst and frustration with the Jets and Mets. But at least those teams have made attempts in the last five years or so to develop young talent and occasionally make a good trade.

I have never celebrated a sports championship in my lifetime. I'm tired of it. None of my friends can say that. They're Yankees fans or Giants fans or Braves fans or Packers fans or Patriots or Sox fans. I'd like to count the Amazin' Mets in 1986, but I was only 3. And I half-count the 1994 NY Rangers' Stanley Cup championship, because although I'm not a devoted hockey fan, I do enjoy watching the sport and I was easily swept up by the magic of that run, ending the 54-year drought. Those were loyal and gritty players: Messier, Graves, Leetch, Richter, Kovalev, etc.

Not only have the Knicks been anemic since their 1998 NBA Finals run (in the strike-shortened season), but the front-office decisions have been so mind-blowing, confusing, and terrible that I've had enough. I didn't think it could get worse than GM Scott Layden. Few people could. Then Zeke came in. Here's a guy who coached the Pacers to one of the most underachieving seasons in recent Eastern Conference history; the year after he left in 2003-2004, the Pacers were one game from the NBA Finals. Here's a man who quickly ran the CBA into bankruptcy. Yes, ran it into the ground.

With 14 wins and a pitiful effort versus the Nets tonight, the team seems to have packed it in before the All-Star break.

And now, at the helm of the Knicks for about two years, Isiah has revamped the lineup so many times it's hard to keep up. Further, he has built a team with no salary cap flexibility until 2009. For the next four years, I'm stuck watching overpaid, out-of-position, old and mediocre players like the artist formerly known as Penny Hardaway, Jerome James, Quentin Richardson, Stephon Marbury, Malik Rose, and Jamal Crawford. Jerome James can't even set a proper pick! He played well for one week in the playoffs last year on Seattle, as if his agent told him, "Jerome, if you just play well for this one week, I can get you $35 million from Isiah." And that's what happened. Here's a GM who traded for Eddy Curry and his irregular heartbeat. Not one player who was on the team when Isiah came in remains - only two years later.

As Sports Guy writes today in his column, the statistics speak for themselves. What they tell me as a Knicks fan for nearly two decades, when I started playing basketball, is that it's time to become a full-time Nets supporter. I have enjoyed watching the Nets because they are exciting and play well together and are unselfish. GM Rod Thorn made sound decisions over the years, building this team up from the basement of the league, to draft players like Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins, Nenad Kristic, and trade Marbury for Jason Kidd. Not to mention the superb Vince Carter trade. Thorn is one of the best GMs in the league. He seeks player that will gel together. The team has synergy. That's something the Knicks are far from achieving.

Here's the Sports Guy:

"The Bobcats have 13 wins and the Knicks have 14 wins. According to hoopshype.com, Charlotte's 2005-06 payroll is $33.4 million, while New York's payroll is $125.9 million. Not including team options on younger players, Charlotte has $21.8 million in guaranteed salaries committed for 2007; $14.2 million committed in 2008; and $0.0 million in 2009. New York's guaranteed money looks like this: $110.3 million (2007); $49 million (2008); and $45 million (2009). Also, the Bobcats kept all their first-round picks through the decade, while New York gives Chicago its 2006 lottery pick and switches first-rounders with the Bulls in 2007 (with the Knicks getting the lower pick).

To recap: For that one extra win, the Knicks spent four times as much money, killed their cap flexibility through 2009 and gave away any chance of having a top-five pick in the next two years."

Now, there's talk that Isiah is considering trading rookie Channing Frye for Kenyon Martin of the Nuggets. Martin's knee troubles are known. Do the Knicks need another PF? Certainly not. Frye is one of the few bright spots on this team and can be a fixture on this team for many years. Will Zeke trade him? I imagine he will. The man has managerial ADD.

Who says you can't switch team loyalty?

Post-Super Bowl thoughts

2006-02-06T19:29:00.000-05:00

Forgive me for a somewhat belated Super Bowl column. It's 7:40 pm as I write this and I think I sobered up only two hours ago. I partied during and after the game like I was a Steelers fan, or if I cashed big on the game, when in fact, neither happened. It's nights like last night that remind me I can't drink like a college student any more, and I'm only 23. Anyway, here's a recap of my night and my Super Bowl thoughts.

The night started innocuosly, several glasses of wine at dinner, where I made rainbow trout almondine with mashed potatoes (I'd like to say I'm a budding chef) for my brother, my friend Darshan, and me. After my buddy Gizzard joined us for the game, I had a few more glasses of wine and then proceeded to the gin & tonics (served in pint glasses). Gizzard brought the Beefeater and we heroically finished that bottle.

It was a very quiet Super Bowl, which was a change of pace from my college days. The prior three Super Bowls I watched at my brother's fraternity, Sigma Chi, at Brown, where the biggest draw was not the game but the skanky strippers at halftime. Piling about 100 guys into the lounge, most being freshman pledges, add in cheap beer, and then the sleazy strippers, always made for a surreal and crazy environment. Let's just say you see the depths of humanity, well, the man in humanity.

In the meantime, here are some Super Bowl thoughts...

I thought the game was pretty unstellar, especially the first half. It went by very quickly and at halftime I didn't really remember any particularly exciting moments. Seattle dominated the first half and yet was down 7-3. Pittsburgh played poorly in the first half, but that halftime line did not bode well for the Seahawks, considering Pittsburgh was bound to turn it around.

My principle takeaway from the game was the absolutely horrendous officiating, which when you consider it, was a fitting end to a season marred by bad calls (Polamalu's INT versus Indy, the bogus pass interference call on NE versus Denver). While the Seahawks didn't play well enough to win (converting only one of three Red Zone trips) and certainly had their goats - Josh Brown and Jerramy Stevens, to name a few - the officials certainly handed Pittsburgh the game. It's that simple, Seattle got robbed. They could have played better, but referee Bill Leavy's crew was too visible and didn't allow the players to play in the biggest game of the year.

"You know, that's what happens when the world is against you," one Seahawk said after the loss. "No one wanted us to win. They wanted Jerome Bettis to win and go out a hero, and they got it."

It's not as if Seattle played poorly like New England did versus Denver. They gained 400 yards and turned the ball over only once. As Michael Smith points out on ESPN.com, the Seahawks lost 161 yards to penalties when you combine the penalty yards (70) and the plays the flags wiped out (91). By halftime alone, when it trailed 7-3, Seattle had had 73 hard-earned yards and a touchdown eliminated.

Darrell Jackson's apparent TD reception in the first quarter, wiped out by a offensive pass interference play, was just a terrible call. Jackson and the cornerback were tangled up, jockeying for position, and he didn't even push off enough to get space. It was a touch foul. Instead, Seattle settled for a field goal.

Even more important was the holding call against Sean Locklear early in the fourth quarter when Seattle trailed 14-10 and was driving down the field after Big Ben's poor interception at the other end. I watched the replay several times and saw no holding against Clark Haggins. Haggins, in fact, got by Locklear, so it's hard to argue there was a hold. The catch by Jerramy Stevens down at the 1-yard line was called back; instead of going in for the TD after that, to go up 17-14, capping off a 98-yard drive and a remarkable turnaround, they faced 1st-and-20 on the 29-yard line. Hasselbeck threw a pick three plays later. That holding call was the game, plain and simple. Center Robbie Tobeck said he thought the Steelers were offside and they had a free play.

The low hit called on Hasselbeck after he threw that interception to Ike Taylor was absurd. You can tackle low against the player with the ball, which he did, you just can't block low. Hasselbeck wasn't blocking, he was tackling. That was an awful call. Tack on the 15 yards and the Steelers started in the middle of the field, and then, Randle-El and Hines Ward pulled off that trick play. Also, there was the holding call that negated Peter Warrick's 34-yard punt return in the second quarter. And I still don't think Roethlisberger got in for that goal-line score on third down in the second quarter.

We saw too much of the officials yesterday and it really was unfortunate.

In other notes, both Jerramy Stevens and Joey Porter played poorly. Porter was nonexistent, totally owned by Walter Jones, and Stevens was terrible, as he admitted, with so many dropped balls. Holmgren actually benched him in the second half. Ouch. Holmgren showed why he is overrated, had poor clock management and overall a pretty dubious gameplan. Big Ben was bailed out by a few big plays. The Steelers never really moved the ball. Parker's run, the trick play, and that's it.

Overall, a pretty underwhelming game and one I'll probably have trouble remembering years from now (like the Tampa Bay-Raiders game and the Ravens-Giants). It was nice to see how meaningful the win was for Cowher, Bettis, Dan Rooney, and others. I am perfectly fine with Pittsburgh and I was pleased to see them win (not from a gambling, but human perspective). In the end, I found the conversation among my friends to be more interesting.

And I have to give this one to Dan as he liked Pitt. I was praying for that late TD for a cover. However, I did tout the under in the game, and that was a clear winner.

By the way, the Rolling Stones at halftime were awful. It was like Jagger forgot the lyrics to the songs, and instead just spat out short phrases as he danced around. It was very uncomfortable to watch. Also, I predicted what songs they would sing, "Start Me Up," "Satisfaction," and some brutal single off their new album. I think the Stones have been in auto pilot for two decades. Hang it up, please! I want to keep great memories of Exile on Main Street and other classics from the 60s and 70s.

After the game, we went to F.G. Fields, the local bar in town. We still call it the Larchwood, because that was the old name. It wasn't enough that I stick to g&t's. The fateful words "I'll take a Glenlivet on the rocks" still rings in my head. Three scotchs later, and a few Jaeger shots bought by our dart opponents, left me severely messed up. Overall it was a fun night until the end (which, frankly, I don't remember). I partied like I waited decades for a Steelers victory. I can't imagine what would happen if the Jets were to win a Super Bowl. Too bad that probably won't happen in my lifetime.

Hot Wings in Motown: A Super Bowl Diary

2006-02-05T22:09:00.000-05:00

In order to capture the true meaning of the average American’s Super Bowl celebration, I am keeping a running diary of the small gathering at my apartment. This is the first time I’ve really hosted a Super Bowl party, but even hesitate to call it that much. More like a quaint Midwestern Super Bowl get-together. Okay, it’s not even really that.

It’s actually just my roommate, Pete and I hanging out in our apartment watching the game. We invited people over, yesterday, but it turns out that that wasn’t really very good notice for the rest of the world. They all had other plans. No big deal, we must push on.

Here’s the set-up. Pete and I have most of the essentials covered: a bunch of frozen pizzas, some store-brand chicken wings, pizza rolls, and veggies with dip. Since this is a technically a weeknight and some of us have to get up and work an eight-hour day tomorrow, the party will be approached mostly through sobriety, though we do have some leftover beers from the weekend (“wounded soldiers” as my friend Dan likes to call them) and a burgeoning collection of hard alcohol (including recently acquired bottles of Jagermeister and an expensive foreign vodka that shall remain nameless for reasons of my prior allegiance to a specific brand), that could be opened for the willing.

On a weekend night I would’ve shamelessly played that age-old game of being the drunkest person at your own party. I mean, that’s the best way to go, especially if you have a roommate who is willing to allow you to achieve such levels. In that way, if stuff gets broke you can let your roommate deal with it while you nonchalantly whisper “it wasn’t mine anyway.” Plus you don’t have to worry about finding a ride home or searching for a bathroom to puke in. Worse comes to worse, you can just throw up in your own closet and worry about it in the morning.

But I digress…this year’s celebration might a bit more muted, but it won’t be for lack of good company. Pete and I are two well-educated college graduates who can appreciate the social and economic aspects of surrounding this event. Neither of us really have much stake in the game (besides a few casual bets), so with any luck it’ll be good football, and good commercials.

With that out of the way, let’s get going on the diary.

5:31 PM – The game has just begun with Seattle marching down the field, but Pete is not actually here yet. He teaches on an MCAT class on Sundays in a town about an hour away, so I can just imagine him flying down the freeway to get here. Pre-empting his arrival, I’ve turned on the oven to get the chicken wings ready. He’ll probably be hungry after a long day of educatin’.

5:34 PM – Commercial Watch: There’s a long commercial for Burger King which frankly, disappointed me. I’ve been a real big fan of BK’s new “king” ads with the king showing up in strange situations to offer people sandwiches. Pete and I would often discuss the newest King Commercial and proceed to debate its merits. But this commercial was lacking in King presence and I felt the musical-type format was lacking in orginality.

5:37 PM – Pete just got back, and he’s hungry as predicted. The oven probably isn’t ready yet, so I’ll wait a little while. Pete says that his girlfriend Melissa and her roommate, Lisa while be coming over later too.

5:46 PM – On cue, Melissa and Lisa show up for the game. They’ll be joining us for some female insight for the duration. I pop in the chicken wings. Plenty of preparation is still to be done though the game continues rather uneventfully.

5:55 PM – Darrell Jackson is called for pass interference in the end zone. I really don’t like many people on the Seahawks. I hate Holmgren, Jackson irks me, and Hasselbeck down right pisses me off. I shake my head in disgust as Hasselbeck argues with the official; oh Matty, you’ve come a long way since you played clipboard-holder for Favre. Josh Brown kicks a field goal to start the scoring.
[Seattle 3 – Pittsburgh 0]

6:13 PM – Commercial Watch: the Budwesier “streaker” lamb appears. Good stuff, I like how Budwesier has stuck strong with those horses playing out on the range. That series of commercials has been just about as reliable as Budweiser itself is consistently bad (clearly I’m a Miller fan).

6:17 PM – Commercial Watch: the CareerBuilding.com “chimpanzee” ad comes on. Another old reliable. What is it with animals and comedy? They’re easily capitalized on, I guess.

6:20 PM – Roethlisberger is picked off by Michael Boulware. ABC immediately goes to commercial. I guess they’ve got a schedule to keep; so is life. Thankfully the first commercial is the MI:3 commercial. I’m a huge Phillip Seymour Hoffman fan. So hot right now.

6:34 PM – Big Ben is sacked by Grant Wistrom and Madden delivers one of his classic “110%” diatribes praising Wistrom. Roethlisberger responds by throwing a big pass to Hines Ward on the very next play. Take that antiquated sports clichés!

6:39 PM – Commercial Watch: the Gillette Fusion. We’ve finally done it. Humanity has advanced to the point where we are practically untouchable. Five blades! Five blades, people! What a wondrous, futuristic society we live in!

6:41 PM – The pizza rolls are done and Roethlisberger scores. Seattle challenges. I’m still a little overwhelmed from the Gillette Fusion. Five blades!

6:43 PM – Its official, Ben scores. Pittsburgh goes up. I wonder how much the odds go up for the person who first scores a touchdown for winning the MVP. Ryan?
[Pittsburgh 7 – Seattle 3]
6:56 PM – The first half ends. It’s safe to say I was a little distracted with the pizza rolls during the last part of the first half. Holmgren’s halftime interview was classic Mike, all huffy and aloof. Prick.

Halftime Analysis – Since I’m probably not going to watch the Rolling Stones, let me give you a quick impression of the Super Bowl so far: this is clearly the defensive struggle that we all thought it was going to be. It shows that defensive really wins games in the NFL of today (perhaps that’s why my Green Bay Packers suck so much these days). I’m very impressed with Seattle’s defensive so far. I hadn’t watched them much this year, but they are very cohesive unit. Boulware’s interception was very timely. Pittsburgh was out-played for the most part, but they have such a grinding, methodical offense.

7:35 PM – Willie Parker scores a 75-yard touchdown on the opening drive in the second half, just as Lisa is leaving. She says she has to do some grocery shopping (can’t see lines being a problem), leaving Pete, Melissa and I to discuss how contrived and generic the nickname “Fast” Willie Parker is. Thanks Madden. I was just beginning to think to myself how poor the rushing game had been for both teams so far. Where’s the league’s MVP, Shaun Alexander? Has anyone seen him?
[Pittsburgh 14 – Seattle 3]

7:51 PM – Commercial Watch: the Hummer H3 “monster” ad comes on. I was a fan. The whole thing was much unexpected. I love how comically poor the robot and the monster were. Best commercial so far? Maybe.

7:53 PM – Kelly Herndon picks off Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger, like Favre, is not afraid to throw picks. It’s a high risk, high reward business.

7:55 PM – Jerramy Stevens catches a 17-yard TD from Hasselbeck. How quickly the tide has turned. This could turn out to be a decent ending.
[Pittsburgh 14 – Seattle 10]

7:56 PM – Commercial Watch: CareerBuilder.com out does itself with the “jackass” ad. As Melissa points out, the best part about that spot is that the donkeys are wearing pants. Oh, animals pretending to be people, the thought of it!

8:04 PM – Joe Jurevicius gets beat on deep route leading to an incompletion. I make a comment about his speed and Pete suggests the nickname “Slow” Joe Jurevicius. At least ours rhymes, suck on those eggs, Madden! On different note, Melissa takes off, eliminating the female perspective from the room. Pete and I push on.

8:18 PM – Hasselbeck hits Bobby Engram for a crucial third-down conversion. As much as I hate him Hasselbeck, he makes good decisions with the football. He is able to check-down quickly. Like Favre used to do before his second and third options were Antonio Chapman and Andrae Thurman.

8:22 PM – Opps! Hasselbeck again displays why I hate him so much by making an ass out of me for saying he makes good decisions and throwing a pick to Ike Taylor.

8:25 PM – ABC, consistently plugging their own programs, shows an ad for Tom Selleck on Boston Legal. Selleck, after abandoning the facial hair while he was making occasional appearances on Friends, is now back with a goatee. I was always a huge fan of the Magnum, P.I. mustache, which I hear goes quite well with a faded Detroit Tigers hat. By the way, Tom, loved you in Mr. Baseball…loved you!

8:28 PM – Antwaan Randle-El throws a TD to Hines Ward. I knew it was going to happen. People had been speculating about a Randle-El trick play all week, but I just don’t think you can stop it. Does this mean a Steeler victory? Am I going to win the bet over Ryan? Could be.
[Pittsburgh 21 – Seattle 10]

8:31 PM – Commercial Watch: a trailer for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie comes on. Not enough Kiera Knightley for my taste. Just make the whole movie about her, with occasional Johnny Depp quips, I’m begging you.

8:33 PM – Hasselbeck fumbles. Bad karma for being a dick to me earlier. Seattle challenges the call.

8:36 PM – They overturn the fumble. Clearly Hasselbeck and I are locked in some epic struggle of metaphysical warfare. I hope I win.

8:41 PM – Commercial Watch: an ad for the World Baseball Classic. It’s interesting that they are advertising for this, too bad they asked Roger Clemens to be in it. I’m actually pretty excited for the WBC; at least it shows that MLB is serious about this. It’ll definitely be a subject for a future article.

9:01 PM – Jerramy Stevens can’t get out of bounds on a third and 10, leaving the clock to run. Cowher gets the Gatorade and the cameras come out to catch the celebration. The Pittsburgh Steelers are the 2006 Super Bowl champions. Looks like I won the bet with Ryan. Pete dutifully reminds me that the Steelers were the first wild card team ever to have won the Lombardi Trophy. Are those tears I see in Cowher’s eyes? No, I’m sorry, that’s the Gatorade.

A successful Super Bowl celebration comes to an end. Time to clean up. Hope you enjoyed your Super Bowl Sunday.