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10.31.2005
Comeback Time: This weekend?s college football action was most notable for three great comebacks that preserved unbeaten seasons.
The biggest came from #7 UCLA, which found itself down to Stanford, 24-3, it the fourth quarter. The Bruins scored two touchdowns to get to within 24-17, then converted a do-or-die fourth down play with under a minute left on the drive that tied the game. Then in overtime Brandon Breazell caught a 23-yard TD pass from Drew Olson to give UCLA a 30-27 win and an 8-0 record. "My heart hurts right now. I'm emotionally drained,? Bruins tight end Marcedes Lewis said after.
In Stillwater, Okla., No. 2 Texas fell behind 28-9 to the awful Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-5) before QB Vince Young and friends turned it on for a 47-28 win. Young refused to admit what everyone else saw -- the Longhorns took the Cowboys lightly. ''We did not even start off flat,'' Young said. ''If you watch film, we were playing our game. It was because they were pumped and they were excited, especially being at home in front of their fans.''
The final comeback came from Miami, which scored 27 unanswered points to beat North Carolina, 34-16. It was understandable why Miami started slowly; the team was still dealing with the effects from Hurricane Wilma earlier in the week.--Jim Buzinski
NFL Week 8: Check out our news and notes and hotties from Week 8 in the NFL, including Phil Simms? latest homoerotic comment.
10.29.2005
Golf gender wars: Until this week, Jean van de Velde known mainly for one thing: one of the biggest choke jobs in one of the four major men?s golf tournaments. Leading the 1999 British Open by three strokes as he teed off at the 18th hole of the final round, he somehow managed to shoot a 7 on the par 4 hole, ended up in a playoff and lost. While the British were ecstatic to see the Frenchman implode like that, some are not happy with a stance he took this week. Earlier this month, the Royal and Ancient Club, which runs the British Open, announced that any women that finished in the top five of the major women?s tournaments will be allowed to enter a qualifying tournament for next years Open. Just as Vijay Singh spoke out against Annika Sorenstam entering a men?s tournament last season, van de Velde spoke out against the rule change.
"It don't hear any woman saying they can win the [men?s British] Open, so why would you want to enter a tournament you don't feel you can win"? Mr. van de Velde said that he would send for an application to play at the women?s British Open next year and if he?s rejected, he might seek legal representation. That seems a rather drastic step to make a point, but not as drastic as promising to shave his legs and wear a kilt if he?s accepted, handsome though he is.
One problem for his potential solicitors (attorneys) to contemplate: the Ladies Golf Union, which runs the women?s British Open, has a gender policy that states "It shall be a condition of any competition organised by the Ladies' Golf Union that players must be of the female gender". While I?m a firm believer in equality for women, I don?t think that putting women athletes in situations where men?s overall size and strength superiority mean that the women are at a disadvantage from the get-go is good for either side of the debate. A more reasoned solution would be that the women?s game is promoted better, with better prize money for the participants. I understand why women would want to test their game against men, but if by some miracle Jean van de Velde plays in the women?s British Open next year, he will be playing on a course that is about 30 yards shorter than the men?s setup, giving him even more of an advantage. Can?t we all get along? --Jim Allen
10.28.2005
*Sigh*: Major league baseball is over until next year. For me, this means that the sports calendar is now pretty damn dull until April, the only exceptions being English football and college basketball. However, if the World Series TV ratings are to be believed, mine is definitely a minority view. As expected, the Chicago White Sox sweep of the Houston Astros was the lowest rated World Series ever, displacing the previous holder of that dubious title, the Angels of Wherever vs. San Francisco Giants 7 game series in 2002. What?s somewhat odd is that all four games this year were still the highest rated programs that night, but I guess that?s not good enough for Fox.
Considering how freaking awful their coverage was, they should consider themselves lucky. This was baseball coverage for the ADD generation. Between every pitch was about 15 different shots; to be fair, some of them were of really cute guys in the stands, but by about the 5th inning of Game 1, I was sick to death of closeups of fans looking tense, no matter how cute they were. Plus, the Fox habit of cutting back from commercials about .1 second before the pitcher wound up to throw the first pitch of the inning drove me nuts ? it allowed no time to make the transition from crappy commericals back in to the feel of the game. Luckily, I mute the sound when I?m at home watching sports on TV anymore (I play CD?s instead) so I was able to avoid the appallingly bad Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. Thank Goddess for small favors.
Not buying it: I?m afraid I?m going to have to be a dissenting voice about the Cheryl Swoopes coming out story. I think the impact of her action is going to be small outside of the cult following for women?s basketball (where it *will* have a major impact). While it was a gutsy thing to do in today?s climate, the impact of it will be neutralized by two things:
1. She?s a female athlete admitting a same-sex attraction. Translated, that means it?s about as shocking to the average sports fan as the sun rising every morning is for human beings in general. Since a good percentage of fans (and non-fans) suspect that all female athletes are dykes, I think for most this will be a big "Duh!" moment. Of course, for straight guys that get off on chick-on-chick action, it?s a bonanza.
2. It?s the WNBA. I freely admit my bias because I think women?s basketball (and women?s soccer too) are about as exciting as watching paint dry in comparison to their male counterparts. Most male sports fans couldn?t care less about the WNBA and that simply dilutes the impact of Swoopes action.
To be blunt, until a major league baseball, NFL or NBA player who is currently playing comes out on his own ? not from being arrested in a cruising area or a fight in a gay bar or something ? 50 active female athletes could come out and it would barely create a ripple in the wider sports world. --Jim Allen
10.27.2005
A Sox Sweep: The Chicago White Sox ended 88 years of futility when they beat the Houston Astros, 1-0, in Game 4 to sweep the World Series. It ended a run that saw the Sox go 11-1 in the postseason.
A run-scoring single by Jermaine Dye gave Chicago the only run they needed in the 8th inning and in the 9th, two amazing defensive plays by Juan Uribe led to the final two outs. The Astros went the final 15 innings of the last two games without scoring a run.
In 2004, the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918, and this year Chicago got it?s first since 1917. The champions of futility remain the Chicago Cubs, who have not won since 1908. For this year, at least, the South Side of Chicago gets the last laugh. --Jim Buzinski
10.26.2005
White Sox Win a Marathon: The 14-inning 7-5 win by the Chicago White Sox over the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the World Series demonstrated a lot that was wrong about baseball these days. Far from being dramatic, the contest was the game that would not end. ?This is like swimming through syrup,? Tim McCarver said in the 12th inning. In the 14th, he said: ?From the time it took to play this game, you could fly from Baltimore to Iceland.? McCarver is the Fox analyst, and if he?s bored, you can imagine how the rest of us felt.
It tied for the longest game in World Series history by innings and was the longest by time at 5 hours and 40 minutes. There were more than 400 pitches and it seemed as if every batter went to a 3-2 count. The last bit of drama before Chicago took the lead on a solo Geoff Blum home run in the top of the 14th came in the bottom of the eighth when the Astros tied the game at 5-5. The game ended at 1:20 a.m. Houston time, 2:20 a.m. on the East Coast and 11:20 p.m. out West; an entire generation of young fans was long asleep.
The first two games of the Series produced the lowest TV ratings in history despite two terrific contests. With Chicago now leading 3-0, expect Game 4 to be even lower. These ratings signify that baseball is a regional sport and that its premier event is nothing all that special (save for an anomaly like the Red Sox winning a year ago). Only a diehard Houston or Chicago fan, a masochist or Outsports? Jock Talk writer bothered to stay with Game 3 until the bitter end. --Jim Buzinski
10.25.2005
MLB hates milk: Major League Baseball is upset because of a "Got Milk?" ad that the California Milk Processor Board is now running. The ad features a pro baseball player getting busted for a performance-enhancing substance. That substance: milk.
According to CNNSI.com, Tim Brosnan, EVP for business for Major League Baseball, had this pearl of wisdom: "There is nothing humorous about steroid abuse. I would think that the California Milk Processor Board and their advertising agency would know better regarding an issue that threatens America's youth."
What is offensive to my intelligence is how baseball has handled their own banned-substance problem. It has taken years of media coverage, the BALCO scandal, hearings before Congress and a former future Hall of Famer to get busted for MLB to take the issue of banned substances seriously. Even now, baseball's approach to the problem is to slap the perpetrator's wrists twice, then give them detention.
What baseball should do is realize what a joke their sport could become if these drugs continue to make headlines and actually start testing every athlete and enforcing heavy penalties. Maybe then they'll get a sense of humor. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
10.24.2005
Sox Do It Again: Go figure. Scott Podsednik went 507 at-bats during the regular season for the Chicago White Sox without hitting a home run. On Sunday, in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 2 of the World Series he was facing Houston Astros ace reliever Brad Lidge with the score tied 6-6 and one out. The Sox would have been happy with a single or walk. But the World Series is known for producing heroes out of nowhere and fate tapped Podsednik on the shoulder.
The 29-year-old outfielder slammed a 2-1 Lidge pitch to right-center field and it kept going until landing over the fence for a dramatic home run that gave Chicago the 7-6 win and a 2-0 Series lead.
''I don't think anyone in the ballpark was thinking about me hitting the ball out of the ballpark,'' Podsednik said. Certainly not his teammates. Fox had a great reaction shot of the White Sox dugout as the ball left Podsednik?s bat. One teammate said ?Oh, my God!? ?No, no way!? another replied as they watched in disbelief as the home run was called and Comiskey Park erupted. It was the second post-season home run for Podsednik this year and the second straight game-winner Lidge has served up (he allowed Albert Pujols? ninth-inning home run in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series in the pitcher?s last appearance before Sunday).
Podsednik?s dramatics capped a wild Game 2, that saw the White Sox grab a 6-4 lead on Paul Konerko?s grand slam in the seventh and the Astros tie it on a two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth. The Series resumes in Houston on Sunday. --Jim Buzinski
NFL Week 7: Check out our news and notes and hotties from Week 7 in the NFL, including our favorite celebration dance of the week.
10.22.2005
Chiefs roll on short notice: How bizarre to have an NFL game on a Friday. OK, the season started on a Thursday this year, but still, for me, Friday + football = high school games. The Miami Dolphins certainly played like a high school team as they were rolled by the Kansas City Chiefs 30-20 in Miami. The game wasn?t even that close really ? the Dolphins scored on a 77-yard pass and catch from Sage Rosenfels to Chris Chambers with 2:35 left ? as the Chiefs shook off the effects of landing in Miami only six hours before kickoff. The game was moved up from Sunday due to Hurrican Wilma.
The Ricky Williams Comeback is in its second week and again the Dolphins running back who retired ? then unretired ? was a stiff, gaining -1 yard on six carries. Slow quarterbacks gain more than that, but the Dolphins have so many problems that Williams? stats are just a blip. I loved this quote from the Chiefs Willie Roaf as it?s something a lot of sports fans can relate to: "Now we can go home, relax and watch a bunch of college games and NFL games this weekend". Let?s hope Mr. Roaf has access to DirectTV?s NFL Sunday Ticket package, one of the best values in sports. Except?..the NFL, citing "tradition" did not telecast the game outside of the two participating teams markets so that it didn?t conflict with high school football. It?s hard to imagine that fans in Texas would have stayed home from their kids high school game to watch this -- uh hello, TiVo/DVR?s exist now -- but the NFL is the NFL, so it?s their way or else.
Qui: Paris Saint Germain is one of the pillars of French football (aka soccer), the other being Marseille, and with four straight titles, maybe Lyon. Via Queerday, it seems that PSG is doing something that no other major professional sports team anywhere that I can think of has done, which is play a team comprised of gay men. The only story I could find that went in to detail was in French and Google?s language function is more a comedy tool than an actual literal translator, but it seems that at a PSG v. Marseille match last season at PSG?s Parc des Princes stadium, several homophobic banners were spotted.
To PSG?s credit, they didn?t try to explain the banners away or issue a non-apology apology and sweep the issue aside, but instead started a gay & lesbian anti-discrimination initiative. As part of the initiative, PSG is forming a squad of former players to play the gay team Paris Foot Gay at the Parc des Princes. A baby step, but combined with the various Gay Days at major league baseball stadiums that are ongoing, a nice step in the right direction to making gay & lesbian sports fans not feel in danger or unwanted when they go to support their favorite team. --Jim Allen
10.21.2005
McGill shame: McGill University in Montreal is one of the most respected institutions of higher learning in North America. Sadly, the university is now in the midst of a shameful scandal that is repeated in other places far too often. On Tuesday, the school cancelled the football team?s season after a hazing incident that involves one of the favorite tricks in that pathetic ritual: sodomy or at least the threat of it. An 18-year old freshman lodged a complaint about scumbags who were supposed to be his teammates sexually assaulting him, using threats and intimidation via use of a broomstick and "the use of demeaning, stereotyped epithets" on Rookie Night in August. Hmmmm?.let?s take a wild guess what those might be.
This case reminds me of one from 2003 that involved Mepham High School on Long Island where three players were raped ? there?s no other word for it ? during a hazing at training camp in Pennsylvania. The story from McGill indicates that no sodomy took place, only the threat of it; the Mepham incident, however, was utterly vile, as there was sodomy involving broomsticks, pinecones and golf balls coated in Ben Gay. I hate rituals or situations that involve humilation of indivuals in a mob setting and as long as I draw a breath I?ll never, ever understand how shoving a broomstick up someone?s butt while the rest of the team stands around and cheers is supposed to make the victim feel like more a part of the team. Scum, the lot of them, that do those things.
Stupid, stupid man: Speaking of stupidity and sports, while not even remotely close in scope to the above incidents, this story just reinforces my feeling that I love the things that take place in games ? Albert Pujols? stunning home run on Monday, the amazing free kick that David Beckham of Real Madrid curled around the Rosenborg wall on Wednesday, a perfectly executed play in basketball -- but I?m often appalled at a lot of the stuff that happens apart from them.
Eric James Torpy is a waste of DNA in Oklahoma who was being sentenced to prison for attempted murder and weapons charges. The judge was going to give him 30 years but Torpy?s lawyers requested that he be sentenced to 33. The reason? Torpy wanted his sentence to match the uniform number of his favorite basketball player, Larry Bird. I?m sure Mr. Bird was so overjoyed when he heard this. Torpy will be eligible for parole in 2033, of all things. I sincerely hope that he and the McGill/Mepham scum never procreate. --Jim Allen
10.20.2005
Astros Make World Series: Two days prior, the Houston Astros felt as low as a team can after blowing a ninth-inning lead against the St. Louis Cardinals and failing to clinch the National League pennant. On Wednesday, the Astros had stud pitcher Roy Oswalt going for them in Game 6 and he made sure Houston got to celebrate.
Oswalt was brilliant in handcuffing the Cardinals on three hits over seven innings in a 5-1 win that gave the Astros a 4-2 series win and the team?s first spot in the World Series since entering the league in 1960. Houston will play the Chicago White Sox in the World Series starting on Saturday.
Fox, which shows the baseball playoffs, can?t be happy about the World Series matchup and don?t expect America to tune in in large numbers outside of the two participating cities. This doesn?t mean the Series won?t be exciting, but the teams have no household names save for the Astros? Roger Clemens.
The Cardinals won 100 games in the regular season, more than any team and 11 games better than the Astros. But because of the wild card, for the fourth straight season, a division runnerup will play for it all. --Jim Buzinski
10.19.2005
Cheerleader Quits Over Gay Taunts: A male cheerleader at a high school in Colorado quit the squad after being constantly teased about his sexuality, the Greeley Tribune Reported (tip to Towelroad).
Cole Graves, 17, who is also on the wrestling team, said the last straw was a team picture on the website of Platte Valley High School with ?I?M GAY? under two male cheerleaders. "It's been going on for three or four months now," Graves told the Tribune."Now it's posted on the picture on the Internet." The school said it took down the picture after being made aware of it and will investigate Graves? charges.
Graves said he faced constant taunts and that last week "after I got out of wrestling practice, four guys were waiting on the corner to beat me up because they said I was gay. I'm not gay."
Graves said the experience has given him sympathy for others who are taunted. "I know I'm not gay," he said. "It's probably harder for a person who is gay and has to be called names. I feel so sorry for them."
I certainly have sympathy for what Graves went through and hope school officials get to the bottom of it. But it was troubling (though not surprising for a teen) for him to tell the Denver Post: ?Everybody called me a fag, but I'm not gay. I'm just a regular guy.? We can hope he learns that gay and regular aren?t mutually exclusive.--Jim Buzinski
10.18.2005
Cards Stay Alive: It was one those moments that had to be seen to be believed. Down to their last out, the St. Louis Cardinals rallied from two runs behind to stun the Houston Astros, 5-4, on a three-run home run by Albert Pujols in the top of the ninth inning at Houston. The win prevented the Astros from clinching the National League Championship Series and the two teams head back to St. Louis with Houston up, 3-2.
With two outs, David Eckstein (all 5-6 of him) came to the plate and promptly fell behind in the count, 1-2, to Astros stud reliever Brad Lidge. The Houston crowd, which included George H.W. Bush and wife, Barbara, was going crazy. Their Astros were about to go to their first World Series after 45 years of frustration. Eckstein, though, slapped a single past the left side of the infield and the Cards were still breathing. Still, it was only a matter of time before the Astros celebrated.
Up came Jim Edmonds, who was incredibly patient in coaxing a walk from Lidge. Two were on and you could sense the crowd getting nervous. I flashed back to 1986, when the Angels blew Game 5 and a chance at the Series in a similar situation against Boston. Next was Pujols, the Cardinals? best player and on the second pitch he hit a towering home run to deep left to give the Cards a shocking 5-4 lead, which held up in the ninth. The crowd went silently numb.
The beauty of sports is its unpredictability and moments like this. Houston is now 0-5 in their history when they have a chance to clinch a pennant. Their collars will be tight and it will be interesting to see how the Astros respond. History has not been kind to teams with these kinds of epic collapses and if St. Louis goes on to win, the folks in Houston will wish they could freeze-frame the moment they were one strike away from glory.
Colts Stay Unbeaten: The sign of a good football team? Coming back strong despite stumbling at the start. The Indianapolis Colts showed this, falling behind 17-0 to the St. Louis Rams, before going on a roll and winning, 45-28, to go 6-0. The Colts were aided by four Ram turnovers and an injury to Ram quarterback Marc Bulger.
In the game, Peyton Manning threw a touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison; it was the 86th time they have teamed up for a score and it set an NFL record they had held with 49er greats Steve Young and Jerry Rice.--Jim Buzinski
10.17.2005
White Sox in the Series: The idea of the Chicago White Sox in the World Series is about as improbable as rain in Southern California in mid-October. We saw both Sunday night as the White Sox beat the Anaheim Angels, 6-3, in a drizzle to win the American League pennant and their first trip to the World Series since 1959.
Jose Contreras pitched a complete game for the win, the fourth complete game by Sox pitchers in the series. The last time this happened was in 1956 by the New York Yankees. Our friend Jim Allen, a huge Angels fan, said it?s obvious that the Angels can?t beat teams of destiny. Last year, the Angels lost to the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs, who went on to win their first Series since 1918. This year, it?s the White Sox, who last won it all in 1917.
It?s looking like the Sox will play the Houston Astros, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1, to win Game 4 of their National League series and take a 3-1 lead. The Cardinals are not playing smart baseball and a base-running blunder by Albert Pujols (tagged out at home) in the ninth prevented the Cards from having runners at second and third with no outs. In addition, Cards Manager Tony LaRussa and key player Jim Edmonds got tossed for arguing a call. Not a good time for a meltdown. --Jim Buzinski
NFL Week 6: Check out our news and notes and hotties from Week 6 in the NFL, including Phil Simms? latest gem.
10.16.2005
USC Pulls One Out: USC's electrifying 34-31 college football win at Notre Dame will go down as one of the greatest games ever played. There were lead changes, big plays, controversy and premature celebrations. When it was over, the Trojans had won their 28th straight game and the Irish a ton of respect.
Matt Leinhart bulled over from 1-yard-out with three seconds left to give the Trojans the win. But on the play before the Irish thought they had won when they stopped Leinhart short of the goal and the clock ran down to 0:00. Irish Coach Charlie Weis thrust his fists in celebration and fans stormed the field. Improbably, though, an Irish defender had knocked the ball out of Leinhart's arm with his helmet, sending the ball out of bounds and stopping the clock. Otherwise, the clock would have run out since USC had no more time outs.
It was gutsy of USC to run a play instead of kicking the game-tying field goal, but Leinhart wanted nothing to do with overtime. "You?re on the 1-yard line, it?s man on man, you either get the touchdown or you go home," Leinart said. "Either you go for the win and be the hero or you don?t. I trust my offensive line. We got a little surge in there."
Just as improbable was Leinhart's 61-yard pass to Dwayne Jarrett on 4th-and-9 that kept the drive alive. It was a gambling call and Leinhart's pass was just out of reach of the defender.
For Notre Dame, quarterback Brady Quinn was as good as he is hot, running for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:02 to play. I guarantee that any gay guy tuning into the Irish for the first time and seeing Quinn sans helmet on the sideline became an instant Notre Dame fan.
The shame of college football is that without a playoff system, Notre Dame has no chance of making the national title game with two losses (in overtime vs. Michigan State and vs. USC). They are clearly superior to some unbeatens who have played a powder-puff schedule. I think all of America would love to see SC and Notre Dame in a best 2-of-3. --Jim Buzinski
10.15.2005
Party like it?s?.1986: Yesterday, I wondered if the Angels of Wherever would rebound from the controservial end to Game 2 of their American League Championship Series against the Chicago White Sox or would they fall apart like they did in the 1986 playoffs against the Boston Red Sox. On the basis of the game Friday the answer is: fall apart. The White Sox took no time in making a statement: a single, a sacrifice bunt, a double and a 2-run homer by ex-Dodgers first baseman Paul Konerko off of John Lackey basically ended the game in the first inning. Add in feeble Angels hitting and a nice pitching performance for the ChiSox by a guy I watched pitch in high school, Jon Garland, and the Angels are in big trouble.
As much as I loathe the Thunder Stix and Rally Monkey part of being an Angels fan, the fans do make noise at big moments, I?ll give ?em that. However, after that White Sox first inning, it was like the air going out of a balloon; the crowd was taken out of the game early. It was nice, though, to see that the Angels fans didn?t do more than boo Game 2 umpire goat Doug Eddings.
Midnight Madness madness: I love college basketball but man oh man, what a chore this whole Midnight Madness thing has become. At midnight on Friday, college hoops teams could officially start practice. Ten years ago, that?s what they did?they came out at their practice gym and practiced. Now, thanks to ESPN, the killer of all things cool, it?s become a big, bloated multi-media crapfest. Pyrotechnics, dancers, ear-splitting music, slam dunk contests, it?s just silly. I wonder if anyone at ESPN got the irony of running a short 90th birthday piece about UCLA coaching legend John Wooden before their report on this year?s Madness? Wooden wouldn?t in a thousand years have allowed such shennanigans at UCLA while he was there, but hey, he retired in 1975, so what does he know, right?
Lose-lose proposition: The USC vs. Notre Dame game today presents a dilemma for me. I hate both teams with the fire of all the suns in the universe, so it?s hard to pick who I want to lose. Notre Dame bugs me for their "we?re a great program even though we haven?t won jack in ages" attitude?they make living in the past an art form that even the Boston Celtics don?t dare try to emulate--and USC rankles because, well, I?m a UCLA fan. On the whole, I want USC to crush Notre Dame like insignificant insects, only so that UCLA can derail USC?s title hopes in the final game of the season for both teams in December. Go Trojans! --Jim Allen
10.14.2005
Robbed!: It?s been fun reading the various Angels of Wherever blogs that I visit after last night?s controversial ending to the game with the Chicago White Sox. Most are hysterical?not funny hysterical, but off the rails loony hysterical?about the call/non-call by umpire Doug Eddings on A.J. Pierzynski, with some posters braying for his immediate firing from the ranks of umpires. As a die hard Angels fan, I should be joining the chorus of the aggrieved but?.I can?t. I happen to think the ball bounced before it hit Josh Paul?s glove and while Eddings has admitted that he needs to "change my mechanic a little" when making a similar call in the future so that there?s no ambiguity about what he?s indicating, two things that I pointed out didn?t make me very popular on those blogs.
First off, Josh Paul is a stiff who should have been on his couch at home eating Cheetos and watching the game on TV, not on the playoff roster?his slot should have gone to another pitcher. Secondly, the Angels didn?t lose the game because of that call. After the play, the pinch runner for Pierzynski, Pablo Ozuna, stole second base without a throw because Total Effing Stiff Josh Paul couldn?t get the ball out of his glove to even make a throw (oh the irony). There were two outs and the Angels bullpen didn?t get the job done as Joe Crede crushed a Kelvim Escobar pitch to drive in the winning run. Now we?ll see what the Angels are made of: will they collapse and get swept at home (the Gene Mauch-era teams would have) or will Mike Scoiscia?s "play ?em one game at a time" mentality hold sway?
In the other baseball playoff game, the Houston Astros used a great pitching performance by hottie Roy Oswalt to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1, tying the best of seven series at a game apiece. It could possibly be the last game ever at old Busch Stadium, built in 1966 (the Astros would have to sweep the next three games in Houston for it to be). I went there in 1993 and didn?t like the baseball experience at all. Like the only other remaining multi-purpose stadium left in baseball, Shea Stadium, the stands being round (so that it could accommodate football by sliding the box seats in to a gridiron configuration) meant that if you were in the upper deck like I was, the players seemed about three miles away. The new ballpark being built right next door to the current one looks amazing on paper, though, and is scheduled to open in time for the 2006 season.
NHL rule changes: I watched my first NHL game of the new season tonight in between the baseball and it took me a few minutes to adjust. The Los Angeles Kings were hosting the Detroit Red Wings and from what I saw, the rule changes that the league implemented during the strike get a thumbs up from me. I love the elimination of the center red line for passing; it seems to have opened up the passing game a lot. Each rink now has the boards behind the goalie two feet closer to the goal line and goalies have a proscribed area in which they can roam behind the net to handle the puck. This seems to have cut down a bit on the awful old "dump the puck in and send goons to dig out" style of play. A cursory glance at the scores over the last few days seems to indicate that scoring is up around the league, but this is not a rigorous statistical analysis. --Jim Allen
10.13.2005
Vikings Sex Cruise: About 17 Minnesota Vikings were on two charter yachts on a Minnesota lake last week where sex parties allegedly took place. ?Employees of the boat company and a resident of the lake community of Mound described players having public sex, drinking heavily, urinating on a lawn and aggressively propositioning female crew members,? the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. The players are being investigated by the team.
"Sex? What are you talking about?" running back Mewelde Moore said. "That's crazy. Look, I'm engaged. So none of that. That will put me in trouble." But Moore?s denial was contradicted by crew members, some of whom said they feared for their safety.
We?ll let the authorities sort things out, though the idea of rich pro jocks having wild sex isn?t exactly shocking. We love what Deadspin, a great sports blog, had to say: The ?acts? included ?oral sex, masturbation and playing with sex toys.? We desperately, desperately hope one of the sex toys was the Randy Moss mask."
Star-Tribune columnist Nick Coleman also had some choice lines:: --When it comes to peeing things away, these guys are champs. --The Vikings spent an abbreviated evening enjoying a cruise on Lake Minnetonka. For dessert, a number of tricks and treats allegedly were served while most players stood around watching, which is what they do in a game.
ALCS Controversy: The Chicago White Sox beat the Anaheim Angels, 2-1, on a run-scoring double in the bottom of the ninth to even their series at 1-1. The ending was really wild and came about when a third strike for the third out wasn?t what it seemed.
A.J. Pierzynski struck out swinging against Angels reliever Kelvim Escobar and that seemed to end the inning. Catch Josh Paul rolled the ball into the infield and the Angels left the field. But Pierzynski ran to first, since Paul never tagged him and he said he never heard plate umpire Doug Eddings call him out. The Angels protested to no avail, the Sox had a baserunner and two batters later had the win on Joe Crede?s double.
The dispute centered on whether Paul caught the third strike cleanly or it hit the dirt (if the latter, he has to either tag the runner or throw to first). I saw the Fox replay a dozen times and still can?t tell if the ball hit the ground. But Eddings appeared to call Pierzynski out, which made it all more bizarre. The umpire stood by his call: ''We saw it on a couple different angles, the ball changes directions. I had questions. I didn't have him catching the ball.'' This play instantly goes down in baseball lore and you can bet that Josh Paul never again rolls the ball into the infield unless he is 100% certain he made a clean catch.
In the National League series, the St. Louis Cardinals won Game 1 with a 5-3 workmanlike effort against the Houston Astros. --Jim Buzinski
10.12.2005
Penn State Coach Is a Lesbian Hater: Penn State women?s basketball coach Rene Portland has always been one of the nastiest homophobes in sports, vowing to never have lesbians on her team. She is now being called on it by a former player.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights sent a letter on behalf of former Penn State basketball star Jennifer Harris to University President Graham Spanier, demanding that action be taken against Portland for her ?decades-long policy of harassing players whom Coach Harris believed to be lesbians.? The complaint says that ?despite Harris? outstanding performance as a player during her two-year career at Penn State from 2003 to 2005, Coach Portland repeatedly questioned Harris about her sexual orientation, repeatedly threatened to kick Harris off the team if she found out Harris was a lesbian, and eventually told other players not to associate with Harris because she believed that Harris was gay. In 2005, Coach Portland abruptly told Harris to find somewhere else to play.?
?My departure from Penn State was very painful,? said Harris. ?I struggled with whether I should just walk away and try to forget what happened. I finally realized that I could never put this incident behind me as long as other students were being subjected to the same sort of humiliation and discrimination I experienced from Coach Portland. In the end, I knew I had to speak out. Coach Portland very nearly destroyed not only my athletic career, but also my dream of completing my education and becoming a doctor. I do not want to see a single other student damaged in this way.? She is now enrolled James Madison University.
Harris' mother, Pearl Harris, told the Daily Collegian campus paper that in spite of the alleged harassment, her daughter is not a lesbian. ?Because Coach Portland thought that I was gay, I was treated in a very demeaning manner,? said Jennifer Harris, even banning her from the 2004-2005 team awards banquet.
Portland is notorious for publicly stating in 1986 she would not have lesbians on her team ("I will not have it in my program," Portland told the Chicago Sun Times. "I bring it up and the kids are so relieved and the parents are so relieved."), yet Penn State has never disciplined her. A coach who said she did not want any Jews or blacks on her team would be fired in a day. ?It is particularly troubling that such flagrant homophobia is permitted to thrive at a school like Penn State, which has such a strong public commitment to diversity, tolerance, and eliminating hatred, violence, prejudice, and discrimination from the University community,? said Helen Carroll, NCLR?s Sports Coordinator.
Angels Take Game 1: The Anaheim Angels played baseball games in New York on Sunday and Southern California on Monday. On Tuesday they headed to Chicago for Game 1 of their American League Championship Series and were supposed to be at a big disadvantage. We should all be so disadvantaged. The Angels jumped to an early 3-0 lead and held on for a 3-2 lead.
"These last 48 hours have been a blur," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "This was a breath of fresh air to play this many games and play baseball because that's where the fun is." --Jim Buzinski
10.11.2005
Angels Advance: For only the second time since 1997, the New York Yankees will not make the American League Championship Series. This came about after the Anaheim Angels rallied for a 5-3 win the deciding Game 5. Rookie Ervin Santana was the Angels? hero, coming on to pitch in the second inning after Bartolo Colon got hurt. Santana gave the Angels 5 1/3 innings of solid work.
The Yankees got three hits in the ninth, but were doomed when Alex Rodriguez hit into a double play with Derek Jeter on first and none out. A-Rod, who was supposed to power the Yankees to continued greatness, went 2 for 11 in the series (two measly singles).
It?s nice to see some new blood this late in the playoffs. The Yankees contend each year because they can simply outspend everyone, and it?s nice to know that $200 million won?t always buy success. However, Manager Joe Torre is a class guy and a great manager, so it will be sad to see him likely become George Steinbrenner?s fall guy.
In addition, it is also great to see the Boston Red Sox eliminated. Now, maybe the Northeast-obsessed media (especially ESPN) will realize there are more than two baseball teams. The Angels now play the Chicago White Sox, in a matchup of teams that have historically been also-rans in their metro areas to the more storied Cubs and Dodgers. Angels in 6.
Steelers Pull One Out: The Pittsburgh Steelers won a wild Monday nighter, beating the San Diego Chargers, 24-22, on a last-second field goal. The Chargers are 2-3 with all their losses coming after leading in the fourth period. The Steelers are 3-1, but may have lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with a leg injury. Big Ben went down on the final drive and no update was available after the game. ''It looked bad from what I saw up on the screen,'' Steeler Coach Bill Cowher said. --Jim Buzinski
10.10.2005
Choking dog Braves, Angels: The Atlanta Braves have had success winning division titles?14 in a row, to be exact. They?ve also gained a reputation as being a team that can?t make that final push to greatness, as they?ve only won one World Series title in that time. On Sunday in Houston, the Braves once again choked away a chance to do something with one of those division titles. The Braves, trailing 2 games to 1 in their series against the Houston Astros, threw away a 6-1 Game 4 lead and ultimately ended up losing the longest game in postseason baseball history 7-6, thus getting bounced from the playoffs in the first round, again.
The game staggered through 18 innings in a mindnumbing 5 hours and 50 minutes until Chris Burke hit a one-out home run in the bottom of the 18th for the Astros to send them in to the next round against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was a monumental collapse by the Braves, who were eyeing the deciding Game 5 in Atlanta: they lead 6-1 going in to the bottom of the 8th inning but Lance Berkman hit a grand slam to close the gap, and when hottie Astros Brad Ausmus hit a two-out home run off of Braves closer Kyle Farnsworth in the bottom of the 9th, the game went in to extra innings. Wait until next year, Braves fans?.and your team will probably win their division and choke again in the playoffs.
The Angels of Wherever certainly have a history of choking in the playoffs, too, and they did so against the New York Yankees on Sunday. The Angels could have wrapped up their series by winning and were leading 2-0 going in to the bottom of the 6th inning at Yankee Stadium but the bullpen couldn?t hold the lead and the Yankees sent the series back to warm California for the deciding Game 5 with a 3-2 win.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia has flirted with over-reliance on his bullpen this year and it was puzzling to see him pull John Lackey, who had pitched well in to the 6th inning, for the over-worked Scot Shields. Lackey was pulled after giving up a hit to Gary Sheffield that made the score 2-1 and when Shields and Kelvim Escobar teamed up to give up two runs in the bottom of the seventh, the game was effectively over. Game 5 Monday in Anaheim pairs Game 1 starters Mike Mussina for the Yankees and Bartolo Colon for the Angels.
Dull day of NFL: Jim B. and Cyd will have their NFL review up on Tuesday. I switched back and forth between the baseball and some of the NFL games and wasn?t too impressed with what I saw. The best game of the day was the New England Patriots gutting out a 31-28 win over the Michael Vick-less Atlanta Falcons when the ultra-reliable Adam Vinatieri kicked a 29-yard field goal with 17 seconds left to give the banged up Pats the win.
The Dallas Cowboys had no trouble beating the Philadelphia Eagles 33-10 but the win was marred by ?boys quarterback Drew Bledsoe and receiver Keyshawn Johnson getting in to a shouting match on the sidelines after a turnover. The Indianapolis Colts sort of played down to the level of the woeful San Francisco 49ers but their superior talent still allowed them to cruise to a 28-3 win. Poor rookie quarterback Alex Smith of the 49ers: he looked lost out there, but I guess the 49ers figure they?re not going to win many games anyway so why not throw the #1 pick in there and see what he can do. Getting sacked (five times) and intercepted (four times) would seem to be the answer on Sunday.
I pity anyone whose only TV option was the Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns game. "It was ugly out there," Browns quarterback Trent Dilfer said. "I'll be the first to admit it. Two plays is all we made the whole day". Those two plays were enough for a 20-10 victory in Cleveland. The best game of the week could potentially be the Monday night matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers in sunny, balmy San Diego. --Jim Allen
10.8.2005
Champs to chumps: Fox TV execs are probably drinking heavily tonight after the results of Friday?s major league playoff games. Since the season started, they hype about a New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox matchup in the playoffs has been constant. However, there are other teams in the American League and two of them could give Fox nightmares after tomorrow. In the first game on Friday, the Chicago White Sox bounced the World Champion Red Sox from the playoffs, winning 5-3 at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox simply didn?t have the pitching that they had last year; expect a tough winter for cutie GM Theo Epstein as he attempts to rebuild a pitching staff that lost Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe to free agency and had no closer to replace the injured Keith Foulke. The White Sox won their first postseason series since 1917 (!!) by playing solid, all-around ball; after a poor stretch run, they're playing well again. All the omens point to the White Sox winning the World Series a year after the Red Sox won their first title since 1918 but there?s still a long way to go.
The other component of the Fox TV wish list, the Yankees, are on the verge of elimination after a wild game at Yankee Stadium against the Angels of Wherever. The Angels got a measure of revenge on Randy Johnson for his winning the one-game playoff for Seattle in 1995 by knocking him out after 3 innings and 5 runs. However, the Angels promptly blew that lead and the Yankees stormed back for a 6-5 lead.
Pitching was not great on this night however and the Angels battered the weak Yankees middle relievers for 6 more runs, the Angels finally outlasting the Yankees 11-7. The game had some great plays but it was raining in the Bronx from the start and there was much slipping and sliding by players. The forecast is for 100% chance of rain in the Bronx today (Saturday) so it?s likely that Game 4 will take place Sunday. Another Angels win and they head to the American League Championship Series to face the White Sox. If that pairing happens, I predict record low TV ratings but after a whole season of endless Yankees v. Red Sox hype, I?ll be more than happy with that. --Jim Allen
10.7.2005
Two duds: I watched both of the baseball playoff games on tap today and there was very little excitement in either one. The St. Louis Cardinals, with the best regular season record in the majors (100-62), are rolling over the San Diego Padres, who finished a pathetic two games over .500 (82-80) in winning the woeful Western division. The Cards comprehensive 6-2 win means that they?ll probably put the Padres?and us TV viewers?out of their misery on Saturday in San Diego. The Cardinals starting pitching has been good, the hitting timely and the defense solid. After a late-season slump that had the people who write Cardinals-related blogs panicking, they seem to have returned to form at the right time. At least these are only best-of-five series.
The other game was a dud, too. The hype before the game centered on the starting pitchers, John Smolz for the Atlanta Braves and Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros. Clemens simply didn?t have his best stuff and was tagged for five runs in five innings. Smolz, on the other hand, was superb and the Braves left the field 7-1 winners, tying the series at 1-1. What is it with Braves fans though? Again, a post-season game didn?t sell out Turner Field; the attendance Thursday was listed as 3,000 below capacity. Are they as bored with the Braves perpetual winning of division titles and then choking in the playoffs as Jim B. and I are? The series resumes in Houston on Saturday.
Florida, home of the Super Bowl: The NFL announced Thursday that Miami has been awarded the 2010 Super Bowl, aka Super Bowl XLIV, to be played at Dolphins Stadium (or whatever it?s called by then). Atlanta and Houston were also considered, but the league should just rotate the game around Florida venues: Miami was awarded the 2007 game two years ago and Tampa will host the 2009 edition.
I liked this bit of understatement from William Talbert of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau as he discussed the value of those overhead blimp and local color shots that TV loves: "The coverage is absolutely priceless. Here in South Florida, when it's warm and it's cold in a lot of other places, that has a lot of value to us". No doubt?I wonder how many people moved to California based on sitting at home in freezing weather in Michigan or Ohio as they watched the Rose Bowl being played in balmy 72 degree weather on New Years Day. --Jim Allen
10.6.2005
Bill Buckner, Part II: It may be a tad harsh to equate Boston Red Sox second baseman Tony Graffanino with Bill Buckner, whose ninth-inning error in 1986 cost the Sox a chance to clinch the World Series. But Graffanino?s error in the fifth inning of Game 2 Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox was definitely costly. The second baseman muffed a chance to turn an inning-ending double play and the Red Sox up 4-2. Instead, the inning was kept alive and Tadahito Iguchi hit a go-ahead, three-run home run to give Chicago a 5-4 lead and what turned out to be the final score. Chicago leads the best-of-5 series 2-0.
In other games, the Anaheim Angels rallied to beat the New York Yankees, 5-3, and tie their series at 1-1. Yankee fans back East saw the game end at 1:16 a.m. EDT. In the National League, Houston beat Atlanta, 8-5, in the first game of their series.
On another baseball note, ESPN should not allow Chris Berman near a microphone to call a game. He treats every pitch as if it was the final out of the seventh game of the World Series that was in extra innings. On one at-bat, what was obviously a routine fly ball caused Berman to scream, ?Long drive!!!!? before the ball was caught way before the warning track. In the ninth inning, Berman had John Olerud fielding a ball and throwing out the runner. Only problem is that Olerud was the batter. Berman does a great job as an NFL studio host, but his style doesn?t wear well as a play-by-play man.
NHL Starts: Baseball has barely started its postseason, the NFL is only four weeks old and summer has just ended. Yet that didn?t stop the NHL from starting its regular season, in the first hockey since June 2004. I never understood why the league started so early; it is a cold-weather sport and only the diehards can get excited by October hockey.
It was also the TV debut of the Outdoor Life Network as the carrier of NHL games. What I saw the first night was not a good sign. The production values and sets were more worthy of a cable access channel and the picture quality was nowhere near as sharp as I get on ESPN or Fox Sports (and I have satellite, which has terrific quality). I?ll be curious as to what hockey fans think of the coverage. One Outsports poster said this: "Were the studio announcers' voices out of synch? Sort of like watching a Japanese horror film that's been badly dubbed."--Jim Buzinski
10.5.2005
Baseball?s Round 1: The first games of baseball playoffs were less than scintillating as all three winners never trailed. The New York Yankees beat the Anaheim Angels, 4-2, in one American League game, while the Chicago White Sox drilled the Boston Red Sox, 14-2, in the other. In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals beat San Diego, 8-5, in a game that saw the Padres leave the bases loaded in the ninth.
The White Sox won a home playoff game for the first time since 1959, and unloaded on Boston with five home runs. All these series are best-of-5, so a Game 1 win is big though not decisive.
He?s # 1: What do they teach young Red Sox fans in Boston? Click on this image from Deadspin to see what we mean. --Jim Buzinski
10.4.2005
Wishing Brady Was Unattached: It seems that everyone wants a piece of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, even his teammates.
"I love that guy," tight end Christian Fauria (pictured) said last week. "I wish he didn't have a girlfriend. Did I say that out loud? I did, didn't I?" Fauria is married and has two kids and Brady is dating Bridgett Moynihan, but that shouldn?t impede true love.
Packers Fall to 0-4: The Green Bay Packers have been reduced to moral victories, not ones that matter. Down 32-13 in the fourth quarter at Carolina Monday night and missing two offensive linemen, their best running back and a receiver (all hurt during the game), Brett Favre led the Pack on a furious rally that wound up short, 32-29. The Packers had the ball inside the Panthers? 50 with less than two minutes left, but Donald Driver couldn?t hang on to a Favre fourth-and-2 pass. The loss drops Green Bay to 0-4 for the first time since 1988. Carolina is 2-2.
Favre threw for 303 yards and four touchdowns with a makeshift offensive line and no running game. ''I was just praying for our defense to get a stop,'' Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme said. ''[Favre] was awesome tonight. I'm just honored to be on the same field with him.'' The Packers only saving grace is to be playing in the awful NFC North, where 1-2 gets you a share of first place. Green Bay has lost its last three games by a combined six points. --Jim Buzinski
10.3.2005
Let the Playoffs Begin: Baseball finished its regular season and starts the playoffs on Tuesday with way too many familiar faces. They played 162 games and wound up with six of the same eight playoff teams from a year ago. The only newcomers are the Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres.
The American League has the White Sox against the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees against the Los Angeles San Bernardino Riverside Santa Barbara Mt. Washington Angels of Anaheim. The Angels seem to have the Yankees number, while Boston is playoff tested, so put the Red Sox and Angels in the ALCS, with the Angels heading to the World Series.
In the National League we have the always-boring Atlanta Braves against the equally dull Houston Astros, the fourth time these two have met in the playoffs since 1999. Atlanta is favored, but the Braves are great at winning divisions and equally adept at losing in the playoffs, so Houston advances. In the other matchup, the St. Louis Cardinals should easily dispatch the San Diego Padres, whose 82 wins were the lowest for a playoff team since 1973. Go with the Cardinals over the Astros again in the NLCS. World Series? St. Louis over SoCal in six.
I was really rooting for Cleveland and Philadelphia to snag wild cards, but the Indians fell apart in the last week, losing five of six. The Phillies came on the final weekend, but a gruesome come-from-ahead loss to the Mets a few days earlier is one the folks in Philadelphia won?t soon forget.
I had figured the Phillies were charmed after Outsports Discussion Board poster extraordinaire Joe in Philly came west to watch them on a West Coast swing in August. The Phils won all three games he saw in LA and San Diego and the team seemed inspired. But then again, they wouldn?t be a Philadelphia team if there weren?t some sort of collapse just when things looked bright. --Jim Buzinski
NFL Week 4: Check out our news and notes and hotties from Week 4 in the NFL.
10.1.2005
One down, two to go: If the Houston Astros and/or Cleveland Indians don?t make the playoffs this year, they?ll spend the winter ruing the chance they had to solidify their playoff claim on Friday. Houston used an eigth inning home run from Lance Berkman to take a 3-2 lead over the Chicago Cubs in Houston. They had to feel confident: closer Brad Lidge had 40 saves on the season and hadn?t blown one in three months. Instead, the Cubs scored twice in the top of the ninth and held on to win 4-3. Coupled with the Philadelphia Phillies gutty 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals, the Astros lead for the National League Wild Card spot is down to one game.
The Indians loss was really devastating for them. Trailing the Chicago White Sox 1-0, they scored in the bottom of the 9th to send the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th their chance arrived: bases loaded with one out; a simple fly ball would win the game. However, White Sox reliever Neil Cotts got Ben Broussard to strike out and Aaron Boone to pop out to end the threat. The White Sox score twice in the 13th and Ronnie Belliard?s solo home run in the bottom of the inning wasn?t enough for the Indians.
In the way overhyped New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park, the Sox won a slightly dull game 5-3 to tie everything up atop the American League East, and to give either team a one game lead over Cleveland in the Wild Card race. With the Red Sox leading 5-1, Derek Jeter hit a two run homer in the seventh to close the gap but it wasn?t enough. The Red Sox got a great pitching job out tub of goo David Wells, who pitched seven strong innings and amazingly, the Sox bullpen didn?t implode, setting up an interesting final two games. Yankee third base man Alex Rodriguez said "It was inevitible. You knew in spring training when you saw these three games it was going to come down to this". Indeed it has.
Speaking of imploding, my head nearly did that when I tried to figure the various playoff scenarios using a pencil and a piece of paper. Duh, Google. Here?s a concise summary with the location of where teams will play if one-game playoffs are needed. --Jim Allen
9.30.2005
Baseball in focus: The last week has seen the baseball playoff picture simplify considerably. The Angels of Wherever won the first two games of their must-win series against the Oakland A?s and clinched the American League West. The Chicago White Sox, depsite playing poorly for most of the second half, clinched the AL Central because the Cleveland Indians can only tie them, but the Tribe lose out on head-to-head record. The Boston Red Sox trail the New York Yankees by one game in the East and it?s simple: the Red Sox have to sweep the Yankees in their three games at Fenway Park this weekend or the Yankees will win the division; oh the horror for Sox players and fans should the hated Yankees clinch at Fenway. The AL Wild Card will probably come down to the Indians and Red Sox, who are tied with 93-66 records. The Indians play three at home with the White Sox, who will probably rest some players in anticipation of next week?s playoffs. The Indians = huge Yankees fans this weekend.
The National League is even simpler: the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and the hapless San Diego Padres have won their divisions already. Amazingly, the Padres can finish below .500 and still win the division if they don?t win two of three against the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend in San Diego. The only NL excitement left?barely?is the Wild Card but it will take a massive choke job by the Houston Astros to toss away a playoff berth: the ?stros have a two game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies?sorry, Joe in Philly?and if they beat the Chicago Cubs today (Friday) and the Phillies lose to the Washington Nationals, that?ll be that. It would cap a great comeback for the Astros, who were left for dead at the All-Star break. The playoffs start this coming Tuesday, but first things first. --Jim Allen
9.29.2005
Shirtless NHL, part two: Maybe everything isn't so normal, afterall. American pro sports have lagged behind the rest of the world in showing us some skin. While rugby players across Europe are taking off their clothes in calendars, American pro athletes seem reticent to even show us a pec or two. Maybe the NHL, in its desperation and with its Canadian and European influences, is loosening the drawstrings.
Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins' latest draftee right out of high school, certainly caught my eye with his half-shirtless photo in October's Vanity Fair. Let's hope we'll be seeing more of Crosby in the coming months. Apparently, according to Crosby's agent, Pat Brisson, the NHL has been contacting magazines about using Crosby in photo spreads. I for one am glad Vanity Fair took them up on their offer. Even if more don't, here's hoping Crosby's Web site starts filling up that "photos" section soon.
The Ottawa Citizen had an interesting take on the photo and the NHL's initiative around Crosby: "Crosby's beefcake shot is one more sign that the NHL is trying to expand its appeal in the U.S., and among Generation Y fans -- those between the ages of about 16 and 25, said Frank Pons, an assistant professor of sports marketing and consumer behaviour at the University of San Diego who studied hockey marketing as an MBA and PhD student in Quebec City and Montreal."
What's interesting about it to me is that it doesn't say they're trying to attract women with the beefcake shot, but "Generation Y" - that age group that is less and less heterocentric and more and more sexually aware. It's that generation of young men who will look at a picture of a hot guy and actually say, "wow, that guy's hot." That the NHL is obviously acknowledging this is promising. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
9.28.2005
Martha Burk is back: It's surprising that NBC would consider airing an NHL promo that shows a shirtless player being dressed by a scantily clad woman. Then again, with the ratings the NHL is expected to draw when the regular season starts next Wednesday.
It also shouldn't be such a surprise that Martha Burk, the chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations who protested the Masters because Augusta National would not allow female members, is protesting the ad. Gosh, that coupled with the NHL season starting, it's nice to know that all is back to normal in the world. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
Bad news around NFL clubhouses: The injury bug has hit the NFL hard this week, with the futures of severla teams in serious jeopardy.
By far the hardest-hit are the New York Jets. Not only did they lose a home game to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, and not only did they lose backup quarterback Jay Fiedler for probably the season, but they also lost starting quarterback Chad Pennington for up to the rest of the season with a rotator-cuff injury. The club has signed former Jets QB Vinny Testaverde to backup Brooks Bollinger, the third-year quarterback out of Wisconsin who has attempted a whopping nine passes in his pro career.
The Buffalo Bills also got some bad news, having lost super-stud linebacker Takeo Spikes for the season. The Bills' defense has been playing well this season, but this injury is probably going to spell trouble for them. If only quarterback J.P. Losman could get injured, that might actually help the offense.
All of this should be good news for the New England Patriots, who are aiming for their third-straight division title. But, the Patsies got some bad news of their own: safety Rodney Harrison is done for at least the season (if not longer) with, essentially, his knee completely destroyed. He tore three ligaments in his knee: the anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament. With the loss of Tedy Bruschi in the offseason, Harrison's injury now completes a dismantling of the emotional heart of the middle of the Patriots' defense.
Arizona's QB Kurt Warner is out this week; Lions' starting cornerback Fernando Bryant is out for the season; Tennessee running back Travis Henry has been suspended for substance abuse; and Denver Broncos' starting cornerback Champ Bailey is day-to-day with a hamstring injury.
It sucks to have some of the games' top players out; but, I can only imagine a few front-office personnel are quietly celebrating. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
9.27.2005
Not-so-pretty in pink: "The pink locker room" sounds like a book about gay athletes. That's exactly what the University of Iowa athletic department was probably thinking when they painted the visitors' locker room at Kinnick Stadium pink. Now, a professor is giving the pink locker room the red light.
Erin Buzuvis has said that the pink color scheme in the visitors' locker room promotes sexism and homophobia, and she is planning to challenge whether the color scheme violates NCAA policy. The pink locker room goes back to the days of former Iowa coach Hayden Fry and has been expanded in the current renovation of the stadium. Everything is now pink, including the carpeting, metal lockers, brick walls, sinks, shower floor and the urinals.
Now Buzuvis is claiming that she is getting death and rape threats because she dares question the legitimacy of painting a visitor's locker room pink. I'm not remotely surprised.
Instead of painting the visitor's locker room the same color as the Iowa team's locker room, I say paint the Iowa locker room pink. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
The 60:52 football game: NFL games are supposed to be 60 minutes long. The Patriots-Steelers game Sunday afternoon, though, was an extra 52 minutes long. That's because the the clock operator majorly screwed up.
With 14:51 left in the game, Steelers receiver Cedric Wilson ran a reverse for no gain. The clock then ran down to 13:59. At that point, there was a false start. The clock operator then reset the clock back to 14:51.
Given that the Patriots scored the game-winning field goal in the last 52 minutes, I have to imagine this timekeeper may have Erin Buzuvis' problem this week. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
9.26.2005
Baseball's Final Days: Wow--the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox enter the last week of the baseball season tied in the American League East, and they wind up playing each other the last three games. Cleveland trails Chicago by 2.5 games in the Central and the two teams play each other the final weekend. And in the National League, the Houston Astros lead the Philadelphia Phillies by one game in the wild card race.
It's hard to remember a baseball season that has had this much uncertainty this late. The Red Sox could win the division or miss the playoffs entirely; ditto for the Yankees and their $200 million payroll. Making a prediction is foolish, so just enjoy the ride.--Jim Buzinski
The Trojan march continues: The USC Trojans this week have broken their own record of consecutive weeks atop the AP Poll, marking the 23rd straight week they were voted No. 1 by the Associated Press. They got a little scare, though, in Oregon; trailing 13-0 to the Ducks in the second quarter of their game on Saturday, the Trojans put up 45 straight points to secure the team's 25th consecutive win.
It's funny to me to keep hearing people bag on the Pac-10 as a football conference. In USC, you have the class of Division I-A football. Three other teams - UCLA, Washington State and California are undefeated. Oregon's only loss was to USC. Forty percent of the conference's teams are in the AP Top 25. Yet, the Big Eleven, Big XII, SEC and ACC alums still love to talk about how bad the Pac-10 is. Sure, Stanford lost to UC-Davis. But hell, the ACC has Duke! -Cyd Zeigler jr.
NFL Week 3: Check out our news and notes and hotties from Week 3 in the NFL.
9.24.2005
Mmmmm?.beer?nectar of the Gods: I love beer, especially German beer. Thanks to strict purity laws, German beer has an all-around quality that flavored water like Coors and Budweiser and Miller can only dream of. I?m going to have to search out some Bitburger this weekend after seeing a story from Reuters. Bayern Munich is already running away with the German football league, the Bundesliega. They?ve won six straight games to start the season and 15 overall when the nine straight games they won to end the 2004-05 season are factored in. Bitburger brewery is offering 10,000 litres (roughly 2,200 gallons) of beer to the fans of the first team that can beat Bayern. I?m not quite sure what the incentive for the players of opposing teams is other than professional pride, but hey, if I was a supporter of Hamburg SV living in Germany, I?d be rooting like hell for Bayern to get routed on Saturday in Hamburg. Go Hamburg SV!
More Moreno idiocy: Arte Moreno has done some good things in his time as owner of the Angels of Wherever. He got Disney out of the picture, for a start. However, his decision to change the team name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim unleashed a storm of mocking coverage and lawsuits from the city of Anaheim. Moreno?s at it again. David Robinson, the ex-San Antonio Spurs great, lends his name and prestige to a non-profit elementary school called the Carver Academy in San Antonio. What?s Carver got to do with the Angels?
Nothing, but somebody in the Angels front office decided that it was a great idea to sue Robinson and Carver for copyright infringement because the Carver Academy logo looks similar to a a logo the Angels stopped using in 1996 when they became the Anaheim Angels. Great move Arte Moreno (the buck stops with him, not the legal department)?sue a beloved sports figure who?s running a school for low-income kids in San Antonio over a logo that even Angels fans have mostly forgotten about, there?s been so many in the team?s history. I love the players and the team, but I?m getting a "Gene Autry ruining everything" vibe from Arte Moreno now. --Jim Allen
