Observations on the Hub of the (Sports) Universe

I guess Kermit was wrong...it's easy being Green.

During this decade Massachusetts has seen three Lombardi Trophies, two World Series titles, and just earned a seventeenth banner for the rafters of the Bahstin Gahden. Historically, there's still something missing...Bruins, I'm looking at you. You have two season left to get over the hump before the new decade begins.

Reebok has already commemorated the Celtics' achievement with a great ad that can be seen over at A Red Sox State of Maine.

Here's another from them -



From David Letterman -

"The hookers in Times Square are offering the Willie Randolph special. They'll screw you in the middle of the night when no one is looking."

An observation on Tiger's win...

It was impressive that he did this on one leg, but let's not confuse what Mark Twain called "a good walk spoiled," with things like Tyler Hamilton winning a stage of the Tour de France (and subsequently completing the race) while supporting his weight on a collar bone broken in two places (in one of the earliest stages of the Tour), or Reggie White playing with a torn hamstring (according to the doctors, the connection at the bottom had torn cleanly, causing the muscle to roll up like a window shade), or Drew Bledsoe playing with hardware holding the finger bones in his throwing hand together, or Jack Youngblood playing through the NFL playoffs on a broken leg.

It's golf.

It's not like Tiger is sprinting down to first and rounding the bag, or chasing down a fly-ball. He doesn't drive the lane with the big bodies laying some weight on him.

Let's keep this in perspective.

Woods was impressive winning the US Open on one leg. But let's be realistic - having been a caddy and seen the people who golf (and I saw a lot of Joh Daly-esque physiques out there) and I can honestly say - the hardest part of golf, from a conditioning and strain on the body stand-point over the course of 18 holes is borne by the caddies.

Young Guns...

I've mentioned this before, but I think it bears mentioning again.

Sox fans as a whole are getting spoiled.

Each time a pitcher goes down, he gets replaced with a more than adequate replacement as a starter. And it seems like the rotation just keeps getting younger.

The current rotation -

Masterson (23)- 4-1, 3.00
Lester (24) - 6-3, 3.18
Matsuzaka (27) - 8-0, 2.53
Beckett (28) - 7-4, 3.87
Wakefield (41) - 4-4, 4.19

Should the youngsters falter, Bartolo Colon is waiting in the wings, as is (likely) Schilling, who has not had to rush back due to the success of the youngsters. None of that includes young guys like David Pauley, Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, or Michael Bowden.

Let's face it - from a starting pitching standpoint, the Sox are loaded. If the team's bullpen hasn't had so many meltdowns, none of the current starters (other than Masterson) would have fewer than six wins, and I would venture to say that Lester would have at least nine, as would Matsuzaka whose first start was a no decision.

First Amendment

Whenever a reporter or any other sort of pundit says something stupid, a-la Don Imus or Jemele Hill, and gets suspended or fired, all the idiots come out of the wood work defending the right of the idiot to say what they said, and claiming suppression of the reporters' rights to freedom of expression.

I want to remind all the idiots out there that, yes, people like Jemele Hill certainly have the right to make stupid, ill-thought out, and offensive statements. ESPN as her employer has the right to make a statement as well. They have a right to state their disapproval at being used as a forum to propagate any sort of writing they find offensive, and possibly damaging to their bottom line.

What the critics of ESPN don't get is that ESPN has not suppressed Hill's ability to express herself freely in our society. They have just removed themselves from being her forum, her vehicle for dissemination.

They have done nothing to violate her civil rights. It would be no different than ESPN refusing to give space on their site, or in their magazine to a neo-Nazi spokesman who wanted the company to print his editorial comments regarding the superiority of the Aryan Race.

Sure, Hill's statements were meant to be hyperbole, but it's unconscionable that she even typed the line, "Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim," let alone submitted it for publication.

It's one thing to make the comparison to The Evil Empire - a Star Wars reference, a reference to a piece of fiction - and another to link a sports franchise and its fan base to the world's most notorious genocidal mass-murderer of the last century.

As much as Hill deserves the suspension and a subsequent firing, I want to know what ESPN is doing about the editors who let this travesty make it into print.

Our illustrious time in sports

My cynical view...

In light of recent events in professional sports, I wanted to make a few observations on this age in the pros. Over the last 25 years athletics have undergone a series of changes due to a number of things - chemistry, media, money, new workout techniques, a greater awareness of the international market have all contributed a golden age in revenue but in all other respects, what has been created is the asterisk age.

In baseball, the writers and San Francisco Giants fans are anxiously waiting for the biggest fraud since the 1919 White Sox to break one of the games most hallowed records. Sure, the man with a reputation amongst teammates for not even eating in restaurants because he wanted to know what everything was that was going into his body, claimed to not know what he was ingesting - but still admitted to juicing. But the baseball writers expect us to celebrate this feat of aided home runs? The man should be banned from the game.

Basketball for years has faced allegations that its referees control playoff games in order to create the best "ratings" match-ups in order to increase television and advertising revenue. Now it comes out that one of their veteran officials has been implicated in a gambling ring, and may have been involved in fixing games.

That's only part of the problem with basketball which continues to have problems with high-profile players like Ron Artest and Allen Iverson who have had recent run-ins with the law.

Speaking of legal, this might have been the worst off-season in the history of the NFL, and certainly the worst since the 2000 which included Ray Lewis' murder trial and the implication of now convict, then Panthers wide out Rae Carruth in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend. In spite of the fact that the arrest rate for NFL players is lower than that of the general public, the NFL has taken some major hits.

Since New Years alone, three players have died - Denver corner Darrent Williams was shot, Bronco running back Damien Nash's heart gave out on him, and Patriots defensive lineman Marquise Hill drowned - three have been suspended for repeated run-ins with the law - Titan Pacman Jones, Bengal Chris Henry, and former Bear Tank Johnson. Add on top of that two Raiders suspended for violating the steroid policy, three Dolphins with legal run-ins of their own, and the coup-de-gras - Michael Vick's federal indictment on dogfighting charges - the NFL might be weathering more trouble than any of the other leagues this year.

That's the big three. But it doesn't stop there...

Golf, on top of the fact that the golfing press and the men's and women's tours continue to promote a young female golf prodigy who has accomplished exactly jack-squat and appears to be digressing, the sport is now facing steroid allegations.

Bicycling's most prestigious event has been marred in recent years by mass doping allegations and what has appeared to be an almost vindictive, witch-hunt like approach to rooting out the cheaters. In its earnestness to catch those who cheat, the governing body of the cycling federation has made horrible mistakes and mismanaged everything from the handling of the samples, to the announcement of the results - often casting their own findings in doubt.

Hockey has mismanaged a sport that was once one of the "big four" along with basketball, baseball, and football, into something that competes in the television ratings with things like the National Spelling Bee Championship, the Nathan' s Hot Dog Eating Contest, and, on a bad day for the following, golf.

And in a way, the smallest problem in professional sports in America lies with soccer. Ideally a sport in a given country would have a homegrown hero. Soccer has had to resort to importing the biggest name in the world - the British born David Beckham. Not quite the scandal that the other sports seem to face, but still a problem.

That's my rant...I'm sure I could have spent more time and talked about things like the disparity between the small and large market teams in baseball, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, the marketing of Kobe Bryant and his illustrious past, any one of a number of other football players, the proliferation of doping issues in track and field, and the decline of tennis in America and god knows what else if I weren't just doing this off the top of my head. But this, I think, is enough to know - We're in no golden age.

Michelle Wie...Nuke Laloosh's long lost love child?

Let me preface my next rant by pointing out that I don't think of golf as a sport. Does it require athletic ability? Yes. Is it a sport? No. Who really believes that John Daly runs to get in shape in order to walk the links?

I have a hard time thinking of anything as a sport in which the caddies do all the heavy lifting.

Now...onto the rant proper...

What has Michelle Wie done to merit the amount of coverage or the sheer dollar value of her endorsements? How long before the six foot 17-year old goes from "phenom" to bust?

Evidently Wie, who has been going backwards in her development because of her and her handler's insistence that she qualify for the men's tour, was in danger of being disqualified from the LPGA Tour for the remainder of this season due to her poor play.

Let's compare Wie to Anna Kournikova, a favorite for being referred to as a bust.

Kournikova only played until 21 when injuries had finally taken their toll and she made the business decision to make money on her face. At the time she had accomplished the followng; 209-129 overall in singles play, achieved a ranking as high as 8th, won two Australian Open Doubles titles, was bounced in the semi's at Wimbledon, had 16 WTA (doubles) titles, and was ranked number one in doubles in 1999. Not bad for a bust.

Wie - was briefly ranked second amongst women golfers in 2006, has finished third in major championships three times and second once, and has no professional wins. Wie has been wildly erratic, losing amateur championships as recently as 2004 to less highly touted golfers.

Let's face it, right now this is Happy Gilmore before Chubbs' tutelage...only in tall, female form.

She might have an immense amount of talent, but until she and her handlers worry more about developing the talent than they do about the next sponsor's exemption (anyone else notice that this is how she always seems to get into an event...not because she has qualified for it?), then all she will ever be is an attractive young lady with a freakish swing from the tee.

At least Kournikova won in doubles. Nobody ever seems to mention that.

"It is a privilege to represent the NFL, not a right," and other thoughts

The above quote was ganked from the AP report on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to suspend Titans corner Adam "Pacman" Jones for the 2007 season and Bengals receiver Chris Henry for the first half of the season. Goodell went on to explain, "These players and all members of our league have to make the right choices and decisions in their conduct on a consistent basis."

According to the report, both the Bengals and Titans are publicly supporting the commissioner's ruling and Jones can even make it back before the end of the season if he plays ball with his employers...

He could be reinstated before season's end if he adheres to a strict set of conditions set by the NFL that include no further involvement with law enforcement; counseling, education and treatment under league and court-ordered programs; follows restrictions on his activities agreed to with the Titans; and a community-service program submitted to the league for review and approval.

Ranting on contracts...

Check out Bitterfans for an elaboration on my rant about Asante Samuel and his contract SNAFU.

T'ain't a sport...it's an activity...

Could somebody explain to me why golf gets so much play on ESPN? When golf ratings are high, they're in the realm of baseball, but that's the exception, not the rule. According to golf-blogger Geoff Shackelford, this year's season opening event, the Mercedes, had a ratings drop of 44 percent from last year. If I dropped 44 percent of my body weight, I'd be hospitalized - if not dead.

And on the golf note - is it just me, or is getting a green blazer possibly the lames award in sports? Super Bowl/ World Series rings, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Lombardi Trophy...green jacket. And...I know she hasn't been in the news in a couple of months now, but it's only a matter of time before she's back, but could we lay off reporting anything about Michelle Wie until she actually wins something? Is that too much to ask?

Tumblin' Dice...

Last week Daisuke Matsuzaka made his Major League debut against a weak Kansas City line-up and looked like he came as advertised. Tomorrow he faces a somewhat better Seattle Mariners line-up. Should be interesting to see what happens...for now he's looking pretty damn good. The offense on the other hand...