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2.28.2007
"S-U-M-M-I-T-T Summitt!" As promised, Tennessee women's head basketball coach Pat Summitt, the winningest Div. 1 head coach in history, made a special appearance at the men's home game against Florida Tuesday night. Donning a Tennessee cheerleading outfit, she led the crowd in "Rocky Top" and was hoisted to the top of a whopping three-person "pyramid." The Vols went on to hand Florida their third loss in the last four games.
The stunt by Summitt was in part a "payback" to men's head coach Bruce Pearl, who showed up shirtless with his shirtless team at a women's game earlier in the season. It's pretty cool to see coaches getting into school spirit and supporting other teams. It really helps build community, and I'm sure the Tennessee fans just loved it.
Unfortunately for the men's and women's Tennessee basketball teams, which are both headed for good seeds in the NCAA tournament, Tennessee alum Peyton Manning was on hand to grab some of the spotlight away from Summitt. They have to hope that Manning's poor playoff performances over the last 10 years didn't rub off on anyone in the gym last night. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.27.2007
Summitt letting her hair down: Tennessee Volunteers women's basketball head coach Pat Summitt isn't exactly known for letting her hair down. But at a Tuesday-night men's basketball game against Florida, we're all going to see a different side of Summitt, one of the most-recognized names in women's college basketball. The coach will be joining some of her team in cheering on the men's team; and she might, quite literally, be cheering. Speculation by the Associated Press on Monday has Summitt donning a cheerleading outfit and hitting the court. Tennessee men's basketball head coach Bruce Pearl donned blue and orange body paint earlier this season at a women's game; whether Summitt will go with bodypaint below the neck, however, is doubtful.
"I think people see me as being really serious," Summitt told the Associated Press, "and I've just always been a kind of person that likes to have fun and do things like I'm going to do tomorrow night. But I usually don't do it on camera in front of the whole country. & I figured, why not?"
She picked a pretty good game to attend. The men's team is 20-9 with an RPI ranking of 11; Florida is in the top 5 of both major polls.
Summitt is the NCAA's winningest basketball coach of all time, and she has led Tennessee to six National Championships, the last one coming in 1998. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.26.2007
Thank heavens sports champions are decided by the players: In the last few years I've grown more and more tired of the Oscars. The comedy that has come to dominate almost every nook and cranny of the event has gotten more and more crass. The movies have, collectively, gotten worse. And as the winners are announced every year, I simply get the growing sense that these awards have little to do with skill or excellence and reflect much more the friendships and politics of Hollywood.
Compare all of this to this year's Super Bowl, which was the worst Super Bowl I can remember. In the Super Bowl, two teams of four dozen players square off, and the championship is left in the hands of those on the field (whether they're wearing stripes or helmets). At the kickoff, no one in the world knows for sure what the outcome will be. The outcome of the Oscars, on the other hand, is determined by people voting weeks before the event. And one competitor's fate in the competition doesn't rest on how well he or she did but who likes them, what their body of work is, and what, if any, politics they put into their craft. If pro sports were run like the Academy Awards, Dan Marino would have three Super Bowl rings, Tom Brady would have none, and the Houston Rockets would have been a lock to win the NBA Championship when Charles Barkeley and Clyde Drexler teamed up there in the 1996-97 season. Thankfully, sports events are still great surprises.
The fact that it is a vote by a few hundred (or thousand, depending on the category) that determines the winner does tarnish the luster of the Oscars for me. It always has. And, I suppose, it's why I have lost interest in college football in the last five years. Who wants some "expert" in his living room deciding who was the year's best in anything?
To be sure, part of my growing disinterest in the Oscars is the lack of great movies to cheer for. This year, only one of my top five movies (they included United 93, Apocalypto, The Devil Wears Prada, Children of Men and The Queen) were actually nominated for Best Picture; and The Departed, which won the award, wasn't in my top 10. Interest rises when there is a front-runner like Titanic or Lord of the Rings. Or The Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately, Hollywood is devoid of great movies (or refuses to nominate them for Oscars).
And with Clint Eastwood apparently suffering from dementia (what was he doing up there), we're sure to get fewer and fewer great movies in the years to come. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
Oscar, part 2: Cyd's points are all valid but I wanted to simply mention that the show was nearly four hours of unfunny, boring crap. Ellen DeGeneres was trying so hard to be nice that she was deadly dull and lame. A local cable access show in Topeka has better production values, and you can funnier bits by Taiwanese college students on YouTube. I seldom watch the Oscars and after Sunday night I was reminded why. --Jim Buzinski
2.24.2007
Equal pay at Wimbledon: To say that the All England Club, which runs the Wimbledon tennis tournament, are sticklers for tradition is to state the obvious. One of those traditions is undergoing change, however, and the women players will stand to benefit.
Last year, the men's champion, Roger Federer, took home a cool $1.27 million for winning the men's singles title. Out lesbian Amelie Mauresmo took home a still not shabby $1.21 million. Not bad for a fortnight's work! The discrepancy rankled the women players, who rightly see that their part of the sport as a major profit generator; while Roger Federer basically romps through the men's side, the old cliche "on any given day, anyone can win" truly applies to the women's matches.
As befits Wimbledon, it's the last of the four majors to equalize pay for men and women singles champions. Despite debates in Parliament about the issue and a vague threat of a boycott by major women's players, All England Club chairman Tim Phillips waved off such things as the sole reason for the change. "Now is the time to make this move. We listen to people, we listen to arguments, we make a judgment. We have a reputation, both with the Championships and the All England Club, and we are intent on looking after that reputation".
I don't know whether this is just PR smoke blowing or not but Phillips gave another reason for the increase in prize money: a girl with some athletic ability might be more inclined to take up tennis with the financial incentive there. "We hope it will also encourage girls who want a career in sport to choose tennis as their best option. In short, good for tennis, good for women players and good for Wimbledon" said Mr. Phillips. Is this the definition of a win-win situation? In any case, the women's singles at Wimbledon this year figures to be very competitive. The tournament, weather permitting of course, begins June 25th. --Jim Allen
2.23.2007
Just shut up, Hardaway. Please?: One of the rules of the PR game would seem to be that when a client does or says something stupid, have the client issue a non-apology apology and then shut up. Whoever Tim Hardaway's publicist is, if he even has one, that person isn't getting through to their client.
In an interview with ESPN's Page 2 dated Thursday, the homophobe Hardaway just keeps babbling and saying stupid stuff and just making his situation worse.
I don't know what insults my intelligence more: Hardaway saying that he doesn't have a "hate bone in my body" or his insistence that he has no problem with The Gays, it's just everything about us repulses him. Jeebus.
If any good comes out of this sorry story, for me it'll show how illogical and hypocritical so much of homophobia is. In the interview, Hardaway says that he'd have a problem with a teammate who was closeted and then revealed it later, like John Amaechi, because "it's a trust issue". Somehow the idea that his homophobia and "I hate gay people" attitude are the freaking reason that the hypothetical teammate stays closeted never occurs to him. As Bugs Bunny memorably says "What a maroon".
One thing made me really happy in this depressing slog of an interview: when asked what the last week has been like, Hardaway says "Hell. Pure hell". That's fantastic, I'm really glad to hear that, because though it would never enter your head, that's what being gay is often like in this absurd society we live in thanks to asshats like you, Tim Hardaway. --Jim Allen
2.22.2007
More athletes to don leotards for ABC: The next season of Dancing with the Stars will again have a strong sports showing, with Olympic skater Apolo Anton Ohno, female boxer Laila Ali, and former NBA star Clyde Drexler set to compete. Last season, former NFL running back Emmitt Smith won the competition. Other former sports personalities to compete on the show have included boxer Evander Holyfield, ESPN funnyman Kenny Mayne, and NFL wide receiver Jerry Rice who lost in the finals of season 2.
Personally, I couldn't care less about this series. But, if it gets more gay men to know a little more about Clyde "The Glide" Drexler, then I'm all for it. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
Did boxer kick HIV? Heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison, who was diagnosed with HIV 11 years ago, has been cleared by doctors to fight this Thursday, saying that he no longer carries the virus.
"It's been a long time coming," Morrison told ESPN.com. "I know I didn't have [HIV] in the first place. I never had it. I believe it, but they kicked me out of the sport. ... Over the last two or three months, I have taken five, six different [HIV] tests and continued to pass them. It was just a matter of time before they had to let me fight again."
It certainly is sad if this guy was kicked out of boxing and he didn't even have the disease. I'd be curious also to see studies that show what kind of chance someone has of contracting HIV from a felow boxer in the ring. I know that doctors claim that the chance of contracting HIV in most any other sports is virtually zero. With guaranteed blood flowing in every match, I'm not surprised if it is a legitimate concern in boxing. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.21.2007
When God's away, the Colts will play: It is with great glee that I am watching the Indianapolis Colts go from "media darlings" to "bad boys" following their Super Bowl victory over two weeks ago. While head coach Tony Dungy is still slated to raise money for an anti-gay organization in Indiana, two of his players have gotten themselves into hot water elsewhere.
Running back Dominic Rhodes, maybe still angry that he got cheated out of the Super Bowl MVP award, was arrested for drunk driving early Tuesday morning as he was going 81 mph in a 55-mph zone. But God must have seen this coming, as the Colts did not renew a contract and Rhodes is now a free agent. Serves him right for leaving God's team!
Someone who likely isn't leaving God's team anytime soon is tight end Dallas Clark, who got himself kicked out of a girls high school basketball game last Saturday for making inappropriate comments to a referee, according to the Associated Press. No word on what he said to the referee, but I imagine it wasn't something like, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor."
This news just in: The Lord God our Savior was seen vacationing in the Bahamas on Saturday, which gave Satan the chance to get to Clark. According to a team spokesman, however, God is still on the Colts payroll, and we should expect a 19-0 season out of them next year. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.20.2007
Brady's baby: It's been a tough couple of weeks for religious conservatives in sports. First a former NBA player came out of the closet, and now news that one of the NFL's most-adored players impregnated his now-former girlfriend. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the reported father of the child being carried by actress Bridget Moynahan, whom Brady dated for three years until late last year.
Of course, both parties are asking for discretion and privacy and blah blah blah. What a bunch of bull. The two didn't exactly hide their relationship, showing up for events well-covered by paparazzi. And the two celebrities' bank accounts certainly haven't suffered from all of the attention they've received over the years. To hear this "please leave us alone as we release statements about this juicy news" crap is ridiculous.
I've been thinking this coming season will be a "down" year for the Pats, and this little tidbit gives me an even stronger feeling about it. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
'Man in the Middle' selling well. John Amaechi's autobiography, which he wrote with Chris Bull, has been doing well with all of the publicity surrounding the book's release last week. For the last few days it has hovered at Amazon.com around the top 100 in overall book sales. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.19.2007
Sealed with a kiss: In what might have been a slam at the homophobic comments by Tim Hardaway a week ago, former NBA superstar Charles Barkley kissed referee Dick Bavetta on the lips after their match race Saturday night.
The race came out of a friendly challenge Barkley, 44, had issued to Bavetta, 67, saying Bavetta was so old and slow that even the rotund Barkley could beat him in a race. The two ran a 50-yard dash at the All-Star game in Las Vegas for charity, with Barkley winning (and running the final yards backwards). After the race, Barkley reached over, embraced Bavetta and kissed him full on the lips (See video.)
Barkley, who says that he has played with gay NBAers before, was critical of Hardaway, the former Miami Heat player who said he hated gay people. Barkley has taken a who-cares? Approach to the issue of gays in sports, which was criticized by one gay blogger as being out of touch. However, I think Barkley is taking a view that we all ultimately hope ends up being the norm. No one should care about anyone's sexual orientation, but we're still a long way from that happening. Which is why John Amaechi's coming out, Hardaway's homophobia and Barkley's kiss are still news. --Jim Buzinski
2.17.2007
Non-Amaechi/Hardaway edition: I'm totally burnt out on the John Amaechi > Tim Hardaway coverage that's all over the online sports media, so I'm going to turn my attention to something that really matters: the start of baseball spring training.
Ah, my beloved baseball, one of the things that makes life worth living for me in this sad, lonely, alienating world of pain and suffering. Forget the cliches about spring and renewal and all that, here's some quick items that have caught my eye in the first few days of spring training.
The appeal of the Chicago Cubs as "loveable losers" eludes me. I follow teams that have for most of their history been abysmal (Angels, Canucks) so the whole "loveable loser" thing mystifies me. The management of the club seems to flounder around, looking for a major formula to end their legendary ineptness. I don't think their latest plan will help: they'll be selling advertising on the doors nestled among the ivy on the outfield walls at Wrigley Field. Under Armour is, amazingly, *not* a deodorant, but a sports apparel company and they'll be ponying up the dough that the Cubs will promptly throw away on pitchers who get hurt all the time. Speaking of which....
Kerry Wood could be the poster child for not anointing someone a "franchise savior" after one season. Woods had a great rookie year in 1998 but has been decimated by injuries since (see also: the Cubs' Mark Prior). The tag "injury prone" reached a new low this week when it was announced that Wood had slipped and fallen getting out of his hot tub at home and would be delayed in getting his 2007 seson started. The Cubs are converting him to a reliever this year, but he has to get out of spring training intact first.
Speaking of the world of pain and suffering as I was, the New York Yankees announced that they will wear black armbands on their uniforms to honor the memory of Cory Lidle, a Yanks pitcher who died when the small plane he was in crashed and burned in to a Manhattan apartment building on October 11, 2006. *sigh*
On a somewhat lighter note, we turn to the ever-reliable Deadspin, who gently mock new Red Sox pitcher Daisuke "Franchise Savior" Matsuzaka for showing up to spring training with a beer league pitcher's body. In these days of year-round workouts, spring training is no longer a way for fat tubs of goo to shed some pounds. Oh, and the who "J-Lo"-ization of names, in this case the abomination "Dice-K", must stop. No, really, it must. --Jim Allen
2.16.2007
Hardaway on a list: One of the interesting things for me about the whole Tim "I hate gay people" Hardaway thing is the fact that an old Outsports item that was meant as a joke is getting picked up by other websites.
An old Randy Boyd columncalled Ten Most Likely Gay Ballers in the NBA from February, 2001 was today on at least two websites I frequent, Queerty and Fark. This kind of makes me uncomfortable.
Two bloggers were recently hired by the John Edwards for President campaign to provide support for the Edwards campaign blog. They were immediately criticized by conservatives for their profanity and allegedly anti-Catholic posts on their home blogs; they ultimately resigned rather than cause Edwards more grief. It's such a weird place the Internet is in now; people at large seem to have finally grasped that archives and Google caches can be places to get dirt on people. Cyd and Jim B. have done amazing work on the John Amaechi > Tim Hardaway story --both here and in other media-- and I fear this article could blow up in their faces.
It's obvious from Mr. Boyd's article and the various disclaimers in it that it's a piece of fiction, but that wouldn't matter. I could easily see Randy's article being used to undercut Jim B. and Cyd's journalistic integrity --which, of course, they don't have anyway because there's pictures of guys in Speedos in photo galleries (see yesterday's entry)-- by people out to smear John Amaechi or defend Tim Hardaway.
The Internet has been an astonishing thing for me ever since I hopped on in the mid-90's. Whereas I used to have to wait to get football scores from England from the back of the Los Angeles Times sports section and that was the extent of my fandom, now I can watch the matches on the 'net (for a fee, of course). I now know as much about Everton as the average English football fan and that simply wouldn't be possible without the internet.
On old mariners maps from Europe before the discovery of the Americas, the maps would sort of trail off at the edges and have notations like "There be monsters" where the unexplored areas were. I hope Outsports doesn't have their version of sea monsters to deal with in the ongoing media coverage of these issues. --Jim Allen
2.15.2007
SI's annual jerk-off material ... ahem ... released: Every year Sports Illustrated publishes an annual jerk-off edition they like to call their Swimsuit Issue. It's their thickest and most-read issue of the year.
I got mine in the mail today. You could only imagine how excited I was to see cover-girl Beyonce's wind-blown hair and barely covered midriff staring back at me from my mailbox when I got home from work. The issue features model Marisa Miller covered only by an ipod, Ana Paula Araujo and Daniella Sarahyba in a "playful" embrace that's sure to excite the lesbians, and a 15-page 3-D spread complete with the funky glasses.
Of very marginal interest to gay men (probably more for straight women over 50), there's a fold-out ad for DirectTV featuring a completely naked (with well-placed forearm) Burt Reynolds on a bear-skin rug.
This annual issue is of great interest to Jim and me. We routinely get emails from gay men telling us how our photo galleries undermine our journalistic integrity and prove that gay men are sex-obsessed because we dare photograph athletes in speedos and tight running shorts (SI doesn't feature athletes at all, they feature models and singers). Of course, SI's annual jerk-off issue gets rave reviews and makes headlines because you don't have any self-hating straight guys worrying about some hot pictures of people in skimpy outfits.
So thank you, SI, for continuing a long-standing tradition of providing the best jerk-off material out there for straight men. And thanks especially for offering the best rebut possible for all of those people who say Outsports' photographs somehow cross the line. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
Lesbian former basketball player highlighted for V'Day: For the second straight day, a national news outlet featured a gay athlete most of American hadn't heard about. USA Today ran a story on ex-Baylor basketball standout Emily Nkosi and her partner, Ashley, for Valentine's Day. Nkosi, then Emily Niemann, helped Baylor win a national championship in 2005, leaving the team and the school soon after because of the demands of high-level sports.
Nkosi spoke with USA Today at length about the travails and pressure that being a gay athlete hold.
"There is a lot of fear being driven into a lot of people," she told USA Today. "Not only is it sad (because of) the people who are saying, 'You can't do this because if you do this, this booster is going to pull out on me.' It's really sad because it's something you can hold over someone. If you come out or if people know about your relationship, you're going to suffer these repercussions."
For the rest of the article, click here.-Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.14.2007
An openly gay collegiate d'lineman speaks. One of the pieces of John Amaechi's legacy will be the discussion that ensued, and the closet doors that opened, after he came out. We at Outsports pride ourselves in being ahead of the curve and on top of who's who in gay sports. But I read a column today that introduced me to a gay athlete I hadn't heard of. And hes the prototype for the future of gay athletes.
ESPN's LZ Granderson, who is openly gay and a good friend of Outsports, wrote a fantastic column centering on Adam Goslin, a senior defensive lineman at Washington University (the one in St. Louis, not the Huskies of the Northwest). Goslin is openly gay, has been openly gay with his team since his sophomore year, and played a year of baseball as an openly gay athlete as well.
Granderson's column picks up specifically on this crazy idea that gay men will somehow disrupt a locker room, that they will cause havoc in a shower and make teammates feel uncomfortable.
"I mean seriously, what kind of bull---- excuse it that?" Arden Farhi, who played with Goslin on the school's baseball team, told Granderson. "Do the pros really feel threatened in that situation? I can't imagine that they do. What, do they honestly think someone's going to stare at them, or try to attack them or something like that? I know for sure Goose is the one who feels weird and changes quickly and tries to get out of there as soon as possible."
So many athletes talk about how gay men would suddenly find themselves unable to control their sexual urges around their straight teammates' nudity, as though gay men walk around with permanent erections looking for unsuspecting straight men who might try to pick up a dropped bar of soap.
Yet, over and over again, we hear from straight athletes who have actually played with gay men that they had no negative experiences, that the gay athlete was just "one of the guys," and that his sexuality didn't disrupt the locker room one bit.
Kudos to Goslin for his strength and not believing all of the crap that the media and some athletes try to make people believe. Even greater kudos to Goslin's straight teammates for being open to someone like Goslin and rebuking said "role models" and the fearmongering they perpetrate. And thanks to guys like Granderson for telling stories like this. The more stories are out there, the easier it is for each kid to come out, and for his teammates to accept him. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.13.2007
Chargers shaft Schottenheimer: The only person I knew to pick the San Diego Chargers to win the AFC West this past season was our very own Jim Buzinski. I was the only other person I knew to put them in the playoffs. So, when coach Marty Schottenheimer led them to an AFC-best 14-2 record, it was quite an accomplishment. And it was with great shock that the Chargers today fired Schottenheimer for losing a playoff game.
I don't care if general manager A.J. Smith didn't get along with Marty. And I don't care if Marty as part of the reason the Chargers blew a 21-13 fourth-quarter lead. The guy did a phenomenal job and should have been more strongly considered for coach of the year. Marty would have been a very hot commodity for teams looking for a head coach this offseason; but the Chargers waited until all of the head coaching positions were filled before firing Marty. Such a classless move by an organization that I just lost what little respect for them I had.-Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.12.2007
Gay player would clean up: Now that the news has broken that former NBA player John Amaechi is gay, it has been interesting to see the reaction in the media. No longer does anyone question the existence of gays in all sports; this is a major change from as recently as 10 years ago. Now the question is when the first active player will come out. I always tell interviewers that I'm not holding my breath, and look more to the next generation of jocks to pave the way.
Amaechi told ESPN, in his first TV interview, that he knows a number of gay NBA players, but that none are ready to come out. "It's terrifying," he said when asked their reservations. "These are people whose entire world is based around this idea that people will look at them and when they look at them they are NBA superstar, NBA player, and any change to that will be psychologically devastating, emotionally devastating and financially devastating."
It's this fear of the worst-case that has a powerful pull on jocks in the closet. Many of the dozens of articles on Amaechi dealt with this. But Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban disputes the notion that coming out while playing will be career or financial suicide. He thinks the opposite.
"From a marketing perspective, if you're a player who happens to be gay and you want to be incredibly rich, then you should come out, because it would be the best thing that ever happened to you from a marketing and an endorsement perspective," Cuban told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"You would be an absolute hero to more Americans than you can ever possibly be as an athlete, and that'll put money in your pocket. On the flip side, if you're the idiot who condemns somebody because they're gay, then you're going to be ostracized, you're going to be picketed and you're going to ruin whatever marketing endorsements you have."
"When you do something that the whole world thinks is difficult and you stand up and just be who you are and take on that difficulty factor, you're an American hero no matter what," Cuban said. "That's what the American spirit's all about, going against the grain and standing up for who you are, even if it's not a popular position."
Cuban does think the first gay player will need to be strong-willed. "He'll put up with some grief. But at the same time, I don't want to compare him to Jackie Robinson, but it's the analogy in a lot of ways. He becomes a role model." Bravo to Cuban for not buying into the idea that coming out would automatically be a disaster; this kind of thinking from the leaders of sports will hasten the day when it becomes possible. --Jim Buzinski
2.10.2007
Kick out homophobia (Outsports rules edition): Ever since Cyd and Jim B. started this website, I've been amazed at how the hard news side of the site has grown in quantity, quality, influence and access. Jim B. still has the page from The Paper of Record, the New York Times, that had an article with his byline framed and hanging in his house. But that's small beans compared to the dizzying heights Outsports has now reached: the BBC.
It's been bubbling under for a while, but this week, English football (i.e. the real football, soccer) has made their anti-homophobia campaign a publicity priorty. As part of that, Jim B. will be appearing via phone on BBC Radio Five today (Friday) to discuss the issue. Truly, it's only downhill for Outsports from there, but all joking aside, it's nice that the issue is being debated.
At the heart of it is a pledge by English football's governing body, the Football Association (FA), to include anti-homophobia measures in their guidelines for conduct that they send to each club before the start of each season. The FA's anti-racism effort has been pretty successful, and has been a model program for other football associations. Of course, it's absurd to think that things like banning racist fans from stadiums is going to make racism go away, but that's not the point, really. The point is that people can still think whatever they want, they just can't spew hatred in public, creating a hostile atmosphere. Considering some of the absolutely mind bending stuff I've heard at the handful of English football games I've attended, that alone is enough.
So, congratulations to Jim B. and Cyd and most importantly: GO EVERTON. --Jim Allen
2.9.2007
Hahahahahaha: Back in the early days of Outsports, when Jim B. would write his NFL Notes on Sunday, there was a feature called "Bonehead Coach of the Week". In it, Jim B. would mock and scorn a particularly inept NFL head coach for dumb moves during the games that day. The picture that accompanied it was a shot of then Buffalo Bills coach Wade Phillips, aka the patron saint of Bonehead Coaches. Well, OK, Rich Kotite is the patron saint of Bonehead Coaches. In the picture, Phillips looks utterly befuddled by something or other; it was the perfect choice of photo for that feature.
All those nostalgic thoughts came back to me today when I read that the Dallas Cowboys, searching for a coach after Bill Parcells retired, hired ....buwahahahahahaha..... Wade Phillips. One of my least favorite sports franchises + a recycled coach hasn't lasted more than three years at any of his four head coaching jobs = buwahahahahaha. Now, to be fair, two of those were interim jobs and Phillips had success in his first two years in Buffalo, but still. Three questions arise from this hire.
First, is this the best that *cough* America's Team *cough* can do? Second, if Bill Parcells can't fully control Terrell Owens, what does Cowboys owner Jerry Jones think that lockeroom toxin is going to do to Wade Phillips? Third, is Boyz owner Jerry Jones just waiting for Bill Cowher to get back in to coaching or is he grooming total hottie Jason Garrett (recently hired for the offensive coordinator job) for the head coaching slot? As much as I can't stand 'em, the Cowboys ongoing soap opera is a Jock Talk writers dream, so well done, Jerry Jones, well done. --Jim Allen
2.7.2007
Oh how far they've come: I grew up a big Boston Celtics fan with lots to celebrate through elementary school and junior high school; From the age of 8 to 13, they won three NBA Championships and were runners-up a couple times. Now, 21 years later, they are vying for a the top again - the top of the draft board, that is.
The Celts are on a franchise-record 15-game losing streak that has them aiming directly at the number-one pick in the draft. They still have to pass the Memphis Grizzlies, who hold a one-game lead for the worst record, and they have to survive the NBA Draft lottery, which they could (and have) easily lose. But I'm confident: That kind of dedication to excellence should have them spiraling past 20 straight losses. And with Greg Oden next year, they have a .400 record in their sight! -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.6.2007
Sports hibernation: It is offically the deadest sports time of the year. Until March Madness starts, there is nothing but midseason games and a couple of ho-hum All-star games. It's the time of the year when finding the "highlights" of the day in sports is reduced to some college basketball scores or reporting who is the latest to suddenly get a stomachache and opt out of the Pro Bowl. So today I bring you middle-aged naked bowling.
From the Bangor (Me.) Daily News, via Badjocks.com, comes the story of the Bare Nekkid Mainers and their apparently completely legal naked bowling parties. It seems the organization regularly rents out the Old Towne Bowling Center in Bangor for some, well, naked bowling.
"I have absolutely no problem with it, and I hope nobody else does," Charles "Chip" Carson, the centers owner, told the Daily News. "They just happen to like having a good time without their clothes on."
Of course, some guy ignored the "closed for private party" sign on the door, and didn't think much of the covered windows, and brought his 8-year-old son charging into the establishment during one of the nekkid parties. The father protested to the police, but the group wasn't in violation of any city ordinances. Going forward, the group will have someone at the door to intercept anyone intending on keeping their clothes on.
Nothing wrong with some good, clean fun. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.5.2007
Elsewhere: Believe it or not, there were some other sports stories to come out of Super Bowl weekend:
Florida State's men's basketball team got its first win at Duke ever. That's E. V. E. R. It was a 68-67 shocker over the eighth-ranked Blue Devils that dramatically helped the Seminoles' chances of making it to the tournament. Though they were 16-6 before the win, they were languishing in the middle of the ACC. But now with wins over both Florida and Duke, it will be very tough for the selection committee to keep FSU out of the tournament. With seven games before the ACC tournament, all against unranked teams, Florida State has its eyes on a Sweet 16 bid at worst.
No, Tiger Woods did not pull off another unlikely victory on Sunday. Yes, his streak is in tact. Defending champ Woods finished third at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday, two shots behind Henrik Stenson, who is a member of the host Emirates Golf Club. But because it's not a PGA Tour event, Woods' streak of seven straight tour victories, four short of the record, is still alive. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
2.3.2007
Coaching, and parenting, is hard: Among NFL coaches, it's a badge of honor to note the long hours. "I work 18 hour days during the season!" some coach will brag. Having worked in jobs where the corporate culture expected people to work 12-14 hours a day, I know that it's very much the law of diminishing returns in terms of actual productivity. I used to roll my eyes when coaches would say they quit to "spend more time with the family", which I always took to mean "I'm quitting before I get fired".
I was musing on this after reading about the travails of Philadelphia Eagle's coach Andy Reid's sons on Tuesday. What a nightmare for Andy Reid and his family: Garrett, 23, was in an auto accident in Pennsylvania that left 55-year old Louis Hartman pretty badly hurt after he ploughed in to her car. Bad enough, but when the cops came to the scene, they found guns and drug paraphernalia; Garrett Reid told the cops he'd been high on heroin when the crash occurred. Yikes.
The day didn't start out well for the Reid family: Britt Reid, 21, pointed a gun at a driver in a road-rage incident early in the day; the driver wrote the license plate number down and called the police. Britt was nabbed after he showed up at the scene of Garrett's accident. A search of the SUV he was in turned up more drug paraphernalia and "eight plastic bags stained with white residue and a bottle containing a green, leafy substance", plus weapons that weren't registered. Um, that's not good, not good at all. Britt has a history of bad accidents: in 2002 he totaled a car while driving, something he was never charged with.
The irony in all this is that Andy Reid has taken very public stands as coach of the Iggles against the team acquiring players who aren't model citizens. I can imagine the next time he tries to discipline a player for not being that model citizen: I fully expect the player will throw his kid's troubles in his face. We, the public, don't know why Garrett and Britt Reid were in to such scenes as heroin and guns, and for pete's sake, they shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel of a car any time soon, but I really hope that their troubles weren't caused by a dad who spends far more time at his job than at home. --Jim Allen
2.2.2007
Colts win the Super Bowl!: Well, OK, the actual game won't be played until Sunday, but according to a story e-mailed to us by avid reader Peyton's Lips, the wildly popular video game Madden 2007 was put through its paces and declared the Indianapolis Colts 38-27 winners over the Chicago Bears.
In this pretend game, Peyton Manning was the MVP with a 28 for 36, 383 yards/3 TD's/1 pick performance. That doesn't sound too far off the mark of what could happen, actually. There's no mention of how many fumbles and bad passes Bears quarterback Rex Grossman had, so I don't know if the stats sheet paints a fair picture of the game. I've never gotten in to video games at all, but gamers in to the NFL swear by Madden 2007. As a Colts fan since they drafted Manning (I don't follow one particular NFL team like I do with baseball or soccer), I hope this run-through was just a foreshadowing of what's going to happen on Sunday.
Jim's rule: Jim B. and I think that Colts backup quarterback Jim Sorgi is totally adorable. He's a total geek boy, but he's a smart geek boy. I love this quote from him, as he comments on possibly having to go in to play in the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots two weekends ago:
"Yeah, this is the greatest job in the world until Peyton comes off the field and thinks his thumb might be broken and you're down by three to New England and you haven't taken a snap all year. That's when you think, 'This could either go really good or really bad.' I sat at my locker after the game and ran through all the scenarios in my head. I could have won the game and that would have been great. Or I could have lost the game and that would have been horrible".
Although he would surely prefer to be a starting quarterback somewhere, Sorgi *does* have a great job as a Colts clipboard jockey. He knows it: "Just give me a Super Bowl ring, and I'll do it as many times as I can. Twenty years from now when my son is 21, I can give him my ring and tell him I was there. That's a big deal to me". Considering some of the stiffs that walk around with Super Bowl rings *cough* Trent Dilfer *cough* good for Jim Sorgi if he gets one on Sunday. --Jim Allen
2.1.2007
Lovie has no gay issue: Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith was asked at Tuesday's media day about his views on openly gay players in the league. "We don't try to judge people's lifestyles and things like that," said Smith. "We don't get into people's personal lives in that way. We judge players based on one thing: Can they play football? If you can play football, you can get into the locker room."
Smith's comments are refreshing and suggest the conventional wisdom that gays will never be accepted in the lockerroom might be overblown. I've always felt that for a player to be accepted, he needed the support of team management, starting with the coaches. There is a top-down mentality in football and a coach who cared only about talent and not someone's sexual orientation would go a long way to making that player accepted.
His boy Tom: From the Boston Hearld: Moronic media day exchange of the day goes to WTVJ (Miami) reporter Adam Kaperstein, who suggested Bears defensive lineman Dusty Dvoracek ask him a question.
"How about, do you have a man crush?" Dvoracek responded sensibly.
"I have to admit there's one," Kaperstein replied, "but he's really good -- Tom Brady. Is that wrong?"
"That's wrong," Dvoracek replied.
"But he's got a way with the ladies," Kaperstein pointed out.
"OK," Dvoracek said. "I'll let you off the hook on that one."
Nation likes Colts: If consensus means anything, the Indianapolis Colts look like winners in the Super Bowl. In an online ESPN poll of 341,550 voters, 68% picked the Colts versus 32% who picked the Chicago Bears. Illinois, not surprisingly, was the only state where the Bears were the choice to win.--Jim Buzinski
1.31.2007
Super Bowl media day: Since there is very little to write about the Super Bowl for an entire two weeks, the Tuesday media session each year is as much about the sideshow as the game. Most players are too savvy to give bulletin board material, so they tend to be on the bland side. The only sizzle comes from credentialed "reporters" who couldn't write a story if their lives depended on it. They provide enough comic relief to make the day interesting. One such incident was captured by Sports Illustrated:
A scantily clad beauty from TV Azteca is interviewing the Bears' Dante Wesley and Tyler Everett and asks each one to kiss her on the cheek. But when they come in for the kill, she kneels down, hoping they will kiss each other. They stop in time. "Oh, I see how it is," says Wesley. "I see." The petite beauty then hugs Wesley and tackles him to the ground. "You're strong," says Wesley. --Jim Buzinski
1.30.2007
Barbaro's race is finally over. This morning Barbaro lost his gallant charge to get to one more finish line -- surviving the ongoing complications of the broken leg that he suffered in the Preakness last year. His owners said they would know when and if it was time to put him down, and animals always let you know when it's time -- when they can't go on.
There's a saying that certain horses have "a heart as big as a battleship." Barbaro is one of those. Likely the flags will be at half mast at many tracks across the country.
Outsports readers who want more information can find many stories, including this Newsday story. -Patricia Nell Warren
The Tiger-Federer debate: Tiger Woods pulled off another stellar fourth round on Sunday, coming back from two shots down to win the Buick Invitational, his seventh consecutive PGA Tour victory (the second longest streak in tour history).
His victory came coincidentally on the same day that Roger Federer won his 10th grand slam tournament, opening the door to the growing debate of who is the more dominant athlete in his sport: Federer or Woods?
It's impossible to say for sure. Both men are headed to career benchmarks that would label them in almost any circle as the greatest athlete their sport has ever seen. Both men have incredible streaks (I personally think that Woods' streak of 142 consecutive cuts made is one of the two or three greatest records in all of sports), both are dominating their sport as though they were playing against high schoolers, and both have several prime years ahead of them.
For my money, what Woods is doing is more impressive; But Federer is the more dominant "athlete." In a footrace or a game of one-on-one, I'd take Federer over Woods in a heartbeat. -Cyd Zeigler jr.
1.29.2007
Federer, Williams win: Roger Federer continued to show that he's on one level in men's tennis and everyone else is playing for second place. In winning the Australian Open, Federer became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win every set of a Grand Slam event. He also won his 10th Grand Slam and has won 36 straight matches. Only Rafael Nadal, who beat Federer in the French Open last year, has come close to denting his aura of invincibility.
On the women's side, Serena Williams showed she is back with a crushing straight-sets win in the Final over Maria Sharpova that took slightly more than an hour. Like them or not, the Williams sisters bring interest to their sport so it was good to see Serena back on top.
Weir finishes third: Johnny Weir's bid to win his fourth straight U.S. men's figure skating title was dashed by a great performance by Evan Lysacek in the long program this weekend. Weir, who slipped during his long performance, finished third behind Ryan Bradley.
"He beat me by 30 points," Weir said about Lysacek. "He didn't just beat me, he kicked my ass. But I'm proud our U.S. champion did so well. I know how well I skated the last three years, and I wouldn't have wanted to be beaten by something that was subpar." --Jim Buzinski
1.27.2007
Tennis, anyone? Anyone?: As Jim B.'s post yesterday emphasized for the nine billionth time, team sports can be bastions of homophobia. And while college tennis is played by "teams", it's really an individual sport (yes, yes, I know, doubles). Anywho, this story combines two elements that we Jock Talk writers love to search for: homophobic idiots and hazing.
Both elements were present last year in New Haven, Connecticut, home of Yale University. Men's tennis team members donned women's underwear and fishnet stockings, posed as members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, went to various dining halls and made asses of themselves. Fine, that's what college students do. However, the people being initiated in to the team had to wear signs on their backs that said "I'm a faggot, insert here". Charming.
While I understand the reasons that drag and anti-gay slurs are part of the initiation process, what I'll never get is why people submit to the ludicrous rituals that are supposed to be a team building exercise. Sure, the people on the receiving end, as it were, don't really have many options, but sexist, homophobic humiliation certainly wouldn't make me feel like part of a team, let alone want to contribute to it. --Jim Allen
1.26.2007
Players shave 'gay' mustaches: Two members of the Florida Panthers NHL team have shaved their mustaches after players from the Vancouver Canucks said they looked gay during a Jan. 7 game. "Their guys were calling me gay," Panthers captain Olli Jokinen (photo) told The Palm Beach Post. Teammate and fellow Finn Ville Peltonen also shaved his 'stache.
"There were a couple of idiots over there," Jokinen said. "Obviously you don't hear Markus Naslund calling anybody gay. He wouldn't do that. But that's what this game has come to now ... there's not as much respect as there used to be."
The two Finns were the last of their team to shave their mustaches after a mid-December pact among the Panthers. The team had 10 wins at the time and were not going to shave until they had 20. It's probably good that they got out their razors since Florida has only 18 wins and the players' mustaches would have gotten tangled in their skates by now.
As Elvis Costello sang, I used to be disgusted but now I try to be amused. That's how I feel about this story. If the Canucks did call the Finns "gay" and not "faggot," it shows that at least NHL players have slightly more class than Joey Porter of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. And, as a clean-shaven fan myself, I applaud the smooth look and wonder if the taunting Canucks were secret metrosexuals concerned with good grooming; or maybe some of the Canucks had a crush on the two Finns and wanted them to look their best. And I also wonder why Jokinen, 6-3 and 215 pounds, and Peltonen, 5-11 and 185 pounds, would even care what opposing players said; why not settle it the traditional NHL way -- with their fists. As Panthers coach Jacques Martin said, "You can't worry about what other people say. ... That kind of talk shows a lack of class."
Jokinen, being from Finland, which offers same-sex civil unions, added that, "If somebody is gay, there's nothing wrong with that." That's a nice sentiment, so why get so rattled about being called it? Why not laugh it off and retort, "You wish."? I suspect the person egging on the Canucks was Panthers trainer Jim Pizzutelli. According to the Post, Pizzutelli, "who was also in on the agreement, won $500 for being the last man still wearing" a mustache. --Jim Buzinski
1.25.2007
Jock Talk is taking the day off.
1.24.2007
A Sunny streak: The Phoenix Suns won their 14th straight NBA game on Tuesday, a 127-105 drubbing of the Washington Wizards. With the win, the Suns are now 33-8, a great record, but amazingly they are still not the top team in the West. That distinction belongs to the 35-8 Dallas Mavericks. The Suns are nine games better than any team in the mediocre East. The real joke is the Atlantic Division, where the New Jersey Nets lead with a 20-21 record.
Is he a 'Cocks fan?: Some things you just can't make up: A tattoo artist from Argentina is facing a lawsuit after drawing a penis on the back of an Argentinean football fan instead of his favorite team's official logo.
The teenager was a fan of Boca Junior and went to get a tattoo with their logo. But the artist was a fan of Boca's rival River Plate and he decided a penis was a more appropriate symbol. The teen only became aware when he went home and proudly displayed his new look for his parents. Too bad he doesn't root for the University of South Carolina, then it would have fit right in. --Jim Buzinski
