MYSM #2: Jingle Bells - Pistons Style

This Christmas carol is made humorous solely through the efforts of Rasheed Wallace, although he doesn't appear to be actually singing.

The other Detroit Pistons present: Will Blalock, Amir Johnson, and Jason Maxiell

Rasheed might just have a second career when his NBA days are over.

Enjoy, and, once again, Merry Christmas!

MYSM #1: True Meaning of Christmas

On this Christmas Eve, check out these videos of injured L.A. Clipper point guard Shaun Livingston giving back to the community and sharing the true spirit of the Christmas holiday.

Merry Christmas!

Shaun Livingston Christmas - Episode 1 of 4

Shaun Livingston Christmas - Episode 2 of 4



Shaun Livingston Christmas - Episode 3 of 4



Shaun Livingston Christmas - Episode 4 of 4

Shut It DOWN!

Yes!! Finally!!

One post only tonight since I'm heading out of town tomorrow (again). I may post during the day tomorrow, though, so stay tuned. Or peruse my archives for any posts you've missed (I'm most proud of my Vick, tennis, and Knicks trial coverage, if I do say so myself).

But tonight's post is a happy occasion. Perhaps the happiest I have ever felt while posting. I'm happy because the Boston Celtics lost Wednesday night, and lost at home.

Not because they lost for just the third time this season but because they lost to an Eastern Conference powerhouse - the Detroit Pistons - that exposes how overrated they really are. Sure the Celtics made some errors here and there (including Tony Allen falling for the pump fake by Chauncey Billups), and Doc Rivers made a few coaching blunders (i.e., putting Allen in the game at all), but this is what the game is all about. No one really cares about what happened. It's all about who comes away with the W.

It was a tight game, but the Pistons prevailed in the end by 2 after Billups scored the game-winning free throws. Pistons coach Flip Saunders said that no one will remember this game next week, but this one game says a lot about the Celtics. This one game has the potential to dampen the noise from the Celtics bandwagon. It shows that they may be good but if they want to get out of the East, much less win a 'ship, then they have some work to do. The rest of December we'll get to see them play some pretty good competition so we should get a decent picture of what they are going to do.

Better luck next time, Big 3.

More Assault On Athletes

Scary story out of Moscow today. 20 year old, #6 tennis player in the world Anna Chakvetadze was bound, along with her dad and a housekeeper, in her own home by 6 men who took off with over $300,000 worth of cash and jewelry.

Of course this brings to mind the Sean Taylor murder, but something doesn't sound quite right here. For starters, why do they have that much cash on hand, and who would know that? It makes me wonder if this wasn't some kind of revenge or set up to avoid another incident from occurring. I won't be surprised if that turns out to be the case. .

In the past, we might have told her that she needs to leave Moscow to avoid situations like this, but as we have seen recently, things like this can happen here, too. But once again, if this truly was a burglary, then just a few extra precautions go a very long way.

I hope this doesn't affect her too much, and at least she wasn't physically hurt like when Monica Seles was stabbed. She has studied psychology, which she credits with helping her break into the top 10, so maybe that study will benefit her here, too. Although it would be understandable if she takes time off, I do hope that the returns soon because she's a very talented player and tennis would be less well off if in her absence.

The Real 'Criminoles' Are Actually Paid To Be There

I don't usually say this, but this one makes me want to say, "Oy vey." What in the world were these people thinking?

Somebody thought it was a good idea to have the Florida State University football team take internet classes, even though they attend a perfectly good university where they can attend classes in person. It was interesting when Boston College started having its football team take night classes, but on-line class? That sounds fishy already. You've heard me wax philosophic on the farce that is NCAA's alleged emphasis on student-athletes, but this fiasco is near the top of the list of reasons why I don't buy what they're selling.

Instead of actually taking the exam themselves, some bright teacher's assistants and tutors decided that it would be a good idea to give multiple football players (as many as 25) and other student-athletes the answers to the internet exam. In addition:

The school's investigation found that a tutor gave students answers while
they were taking tests and filled in answers on quizzes and typed papers for
students.

According to one tutor, this had been going on since the fall of 2006.

Now these up to 25 football players may be suspended from playing in the upcoming bowl game - the upcoming terribly monikered bowl game, the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, and from playing in the first three games of the 2008 season. On another note, I really believe that they ought to re-think this whole name the bowl after the company sponsoring it idea.

I don't want to say that this is not surprising, but this is not surprising. It's also terrible, not least of all because it involved cheating. No, the most disappointing part of this story is that there are people in positions of authority and they think they are helping these kids when in actuality they are just doing them an extreme disservice. Then they "graduate" and can't function so well in the real world.

The kids (some, not all, since at least one blew the whistle) think it's cool because the teacher is cheating for them, but there's nothing cool about never being mentally challenged. Football of all sports is a short-lived experience, even if they do make it to the pro ranks. The least they could do is develop some skills, or just practice learning, so they can make a living after football. Someone else had to know this was going on and let it go on, and whomever they are, they should all be fired. FSU's athletic director, Dave Hart, Jr., pictured above, will be stepping down at the end of the year.

It should be interesting to see how this affects the Gaylord Hotels game. Ick.

Who's Going to Hawaii?

Where to start? What a difference a day makes in terms of news. Some days finding something interesting is a reach, and other days there are 10 items that are all worthy of a shout out . . . but not everyone can make the Pleats 'n Cleats cut.

Let's start with the 2008 Pro Bowl selections. Most of the selections (in the sexy positions anyway, i.e., QB, RB, and WR) are names that you know - Peyton, Brady, Moss, Favre, and yes, Brian "unselfish" Westbrook.

Of note, Sean Taylor received a posthumous selection as starting free safety, which was the first time that a deceased player had been selected to an "all-star" game in any sport since hockey player Pelle Lindbergh died in a car accident in the mid-80's. Taylor definitely deserved the selection with the numbers he had posted before his death, as evidenced by the fact that he was one of the leaders in votes received before he was killed. Seeing articles refer to him as "the late Sean Taylor" really brings back the sadness of his loss all over again.

But of course, as with anything involving selections by some means other than wins and losses, there is some controversy. Nothing to write to Roger Goodell about, in my opinion, but that's just . . . my opinion. Except for maybe Fred Taylor. But Taylor took some catches from my player, Maurice Jones-Drew, so I'm not crying too hard.

Plus, there's plenty of time between now and the Pro Bowl in February for some guys to get hurt so don't fret.

NFL = 'No Fun League'

The NFL sure knows how to put a damper on things. While most of the Atlanta Falcons organization has been trying to wash its hands of Michael Vick, a few of his fellow teammates decided to show their support:

Roddy White and four other Atlanta Falcons were fined by the NFL for
violating uniform regulations with tributes to Michael Vick during last week's
Monday night game.
. . .

After scoring a touchdown, White displayed a "Free Mike Vick" T-shirt
under his jersey.

He, along with tight end Alge Crumpler and cornerbacks
DeAngelo Hall and Chris Houston, were fined US$10,000 each. Crumpler, Hall and
Houston all wore black eye strips with written tributes to Vick, which the
league called "displaying an unauthorized personal message."

Wide receiver Joe Horn was fined $7,500 for pullig up White's jersey to show the black T-shirt with handwritten white lettering. . . .

Hall (pictured above), was also fined for the poster he's holding in the picture.

Roger Goodell will do anything to suck the fun out of football. A regular 'ol Debbie (or should that be Dougie) Downer. What's the point other than to keep people from expressing themselves in an already over-regulated business? If they can't express themselves on the field, when can they express themselves? These guys aren't seen much off of the field. You didn't see Goodell fining any Washington Redskins or Baltimore Ravens players when they wore a similar display following the death of Sean Taylor.

Of course not. That would have been horrible for PR. Well, just because it's popular to hate on Michael Vick doesn't mean that the rules should be applied differently on a case by case basis. That's what makes the rule of law legitimate - applying it the same way to everyone. When you start picking and choosing who gets punished and how, you lose credibility.

BUT we know the bottom line in the NFL is dollars and (not common) cents so the league will only care about losing credibility when it results in a similar decrease in the wallet. . . which, judging by how terrible teams can still sell out every home game, will not be anytime soon.

Hawks' Williams Carjacked Before Game

Atlanta Hawks forward Shelden Williams was carjacked this weekend in Atlanta in broad daylight. The teenagers who stole his car, both 18, banged it up in their later efforts to rob holiday shoppers.

I'm not trying to blame the victim, but this is another one of those things in which people with money (athletes or not) have to realize that you can't do everything that regular people do. I would be willing to bet the kids didn't know who he was and just decided to take his car because it was probably really nice. I just read today that Atlanta has the most bank robberies of any city in the country, and banks are only open during the day, so brazen crimes like this are occurring with some disturbing frequency.

Tty be aware of your surroundings and take the appropriate precautions, no matter who you are. Hopefully stories like these will remind people everywhere that it's a tough world these days, and anyone can be a target - unfortunately, especially at Christmastime - so take extra care as you go about your day.

The Ultimate Team Player

In today's sports atmosphere, most players are in it for themselves. From the fame to the fortune to the women, while some great athletes are team players, many - particularly those who play the glamorous" football positions (QB, WR, RB, etc.) are not true team players.

But there are some, and Brian Westbrook is one of those players.

If you didn't catch it, at the end of the Philadelphia Eagles game against the Dallas Cowboys, with just over two minutes remaining and the Eagles clinging to a 10-6 lead, Eagles' RB Westbrook had an opportunity to score a touchdown. He was wide open, he could have run it in. But he had his offensive tackle running behind him yelling for him to fall down and not score. And he didn't.

This play allowed the Eagles to run the clock out and ensured that the Cowboys didn't make any last second heroics to win the game.

Now, I'm sure most fantasy owners were upset, but fortunately, Westbrook doesn't really care about his fantasy numbers - or his actual numbers, for that matter. Instead, he deprived himself of a touchdown and helped his team seal a huge win (for morale at least, if nothing else). He didn't have to listen to his offensive lineman, but for the sake of the team, he did.

Now that's what I call a role model. I hope the kiddies picked up on that one.

MYSM: The United Way

Enjoy this United Way "commercial" featuring Peyton Manning, just in time for the holidays. Proving once again that he might be one of the funniest people in the NFL, but not funnier than T.O.

Regular posts will resume tomorrow. But I must say congratulations to the Miami Dolphins for avoiding having a record that nobody wants (going 0-16) by winning their first game in over a year against the slumping Baltimore Ravens. I attribute the win to me being in their city this weekend.

And I couldn't bypass the appearance of Jessica Simpson in Tony Romo's corner during the Dallas Cowboys loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Well, at least he has her there to lick his wounds. I guess he's swapping blondes after having American Idol winner Carrie Underwood in his corner this time last year when the Cowboys played the Eagles. At least he's consistent.

Happy Monday!

Keyshawn Gets T(K)O'd

Last post of the week. Although, the Mitchell report comes out tomorrow, and if it's eventful, I may have something to say from the road. But otherwise, this will be the last post.

The most interesting item from today definitely has to be Terrell Owens rant on Keyshawn Johnson.

The video speaks for itself, but in the way of backdrop, Johnson has been riding T.O. for a long time as an analyst on ESPN, and T.O. has been silent most of the year (recall his posting of a note prior to the Cowboys/Patriots game).

You gotta love a guy who is honest to a fault. I'm sorry but you lost this one, Keyshawn. As a wise man once said, don't let your mouth write checks that your bottom can't cash.

They're Not Really Free If It Costs To Miss Them

One of my pet peeves is missing free throws. It's one thing to miss one here or there, but missing all the time is just atrocious, and I don't think there is any excuse for it. If you play in a professional basketball league and you can't shoot free throws, then you are either a) not practicing or b) in need of a coach to teach you how to shoot properly. There is no reason why the average man or woman, much less an NBA (or WNBA) player should miss free throws if they practice them.

I understand that sometimes nerves come into play, but seriously, if your free throw motion is automatic, you should only miss every once in a while. And if you are a paid professional, I'm going to need you to suck up the nerves.

What brought this on, you ask? Wednesday night's game between the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons. In this game, the Rockets nearly set an NBA record for missed free throw shots. In fact, let's play a game. How many free throw shots did the Rockets miss? Was it:

a) 8 out of their first 9
b) 10 out of their first 11
c) 14 out of their first 15

If you guessed "c," you are correct! The Rockets ended up making 6 of 22 free throws and winning the game by 3. The only thing that saved them was even more atrocious shooting from the Pistons.

The Rockets worse offenders? No, not Yao Ming, who made half of his free throws. The worst free throw shooter of the night is a tie between Tracy McGrady, who went 0-5, and Bonzi Wells, who was 2-9. I can't tell if Bonzi should get points just for making 2 of his, or if the fact that McGrady shot less should spare him from the title.

Seriously, that kind of performance may get you the occasional win during the regular season but it will not get you very far in anyone's playoffs. Do they need to start incentivizing free throws in player contracts? They ought to be ashamed.

Three For The Hump: Pettrino, Perkins, and Pooh Bear Shot

Time is a hot commodity these days. The truth is I could have time if I wasn't so bad at time management. I can't work all the time!

I digress. A few interesting stories today. I'm only posting once because I need sleep before I trek to the beach Thursday night. I know. Rough life. That means Pleats 'n Cleats last post will be tomorrow night.

First item of interest, the poor Atlanta Falcons just cannot catch a break. No sooner did they learn that they lost their meal ticket superstar Michael Vick than they also lost their coach. Bobby Petrino jumped ship, effective immediately, to take the vacant coaching job with the Arkansas Razorbacks football team. His move was a shock to many it seems, as he'd only been there for a whole 13 games, and he's returning from whence he came - the college ranks. A whole lot of others are just feeling let down. I guess he figured that the team wasn't going to get any better in the next two years without Vick.

Making matters worse, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said that Pettrino had reassured him as late as Monday afternoon that he was going to stick with the team through 2008. Yes, Blank, Tuesday could be worse than Monday. But maybe this was a blessing in disguise, as one source called him "one of the worst communicators in pro sports." Well, he didn't tell anyone about this move, so I'd have to agree with that assessment. Plus, the players didn't really like him, either. It seems he was more of a dictator, which can work on the college level, but he didn't really know how to relate to guys to whom he couldn't talk down. Apparently no one told him that that strategy doesn't work in the NFL, so it's easy to see why he wasn't popular with the players.


Second item: Bostons Celtics center Kendrick Perkins hurt his big toe when his bed allegedly fell on it, which will likely cause him to miss a game, and cause Boston to add a new person to the starting line up for the first time all season. As much hype as the Big 3 have received (I did see a sort-of funny ESPN commercial with them today, though), I don't think anyone cares who they rotate into the top 5 unless this person is, say, Larry Bird. Perkins explanation for the accident:

"Man, that's a weird story," Perkins said after practice Tuesday. "I was asleep. I guess whoever put my bed together didn't put it together right when I moved, so one side of my bed fell. My bed was tilted, so I got out of my bed to go push down on the other side.

"And when I was about getting ready to push down on the other side, the headboard started coming in. So I tried to push the headboard back so it wouldn't fall over. My foot was under the bed and the other side of the bed fell on my foot.''

Yeah. I don't know, this sound pretty fishy. I tried to follow along with his explanation and had some trouble. If his bed was poorly put together, someone please get the man some better help. Playing with the Big 3 ought to give him top of the line assemblers, if nothing else. This has to be one of the sorriest reasons I've ever heard for missing a game, somewhere ahead of not feeling like showing up.



Finally, as reported on ESPN (so I'll tentatively give it a "sports" label pro hac vice ) Davy Crockett's great - great - great - great - great - great - great - great - great - great - grandson (did someone check this?), five-year old Tre Merritt, killed a 400+ lb. bear, just like Davy did when he was allegedly three years old. When I saw this, I thought this meant Tre killed him with his bare hands - no pun intended. Well, it turns out that Tre shot him.

What the heck is a five year old doing with a gun? In the story it's called a "youth rifle." Tre has been shooting since the age of 2, and according to dear old "paw-paw," who shed a tear upon the realization that Tre had killed a bear, Tre killed three deer last year.

Well, this just warms the heart. Of course, this happened in a rural area as you all imagined, but who is selling youth rifles, and why is it OK for people to buy these for toddlers? It seems like dad should be arrested. If the bullet could kill a 400 lb. bear, then it could definitely kill a human being - unless, the bullet had some kind of bear kryptonite that doesn't affect humans. . . . And Michael Vick gets 23 months for killing dogs, but a kid kills a bear and poses with it, and that's A-OK. Got it.

Maybe it is illegal for kids his age to use guns, and Tre just got "grandfathered" in. HA. Where's my drum beat when I need it?

P.S. Toronto Raptors' guard T.J. Ford was hurt following a hard foul by Al Horford in the Raptors win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. Ford's head hit the ground very hard when Horford hooked him in the face (he says it was an accident, but was ejected from the game anyway). Ford looked to be in immense pain when they him off the court in a stretcher. There are reports that he has movement in his limbs, so that's a good sign. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Rundown from the Run-Down . . . Again

The Vick piece took a lot more time than I anticipated, which means other stuff gets short shrift. So here's my rundown of events I would have covered had I had 28 hours in a day (aka RFTR):

• Floyd Mayweather did not disappoint on December 8, on pay-per-view (I learned this from his Dancing with the Stars stint). Just when it looked like this was going 12 rounds, Mayweather came through with a vengeance, knocking out Great Britain's Ricky Hatton in the 10th. Now Pretty Boy, uh, I mean Money Mayweather is bored with boxing. That can only mean one thing: rapping! Say it ain't so, Money.
  

• The Eastern conference said the heck with all those who said they're weak. Monday night, two teams who have basically been written off took it to their Western conference opponents as the Miami Heat beat the Phoenix Suns, and even more shockingly, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Houston Rockets. Even the New York Knicks took it to the Dallas Mavericks but came up a little short. Keeping it interesting. I'm all for it.

• Speaking of the Knicks, they settled their case brought by Anucha Browne Sanders for $11.5 million, which is what the jury had ordered up in the way of punitive damages. This means the Knicks and coach Isiah Thomas aren't going to fight the verdict anymore, particularly since they faced the possibility of paying even more in compensatory damages and paying Browne Sanders costs and fees. Said ESPN.com:

By settling, the Knicks avoided paying her legal fees, while Brown[e] Sanders gets her money faster and avoids the possibility of having her award reduced on appeal.

. . . And everybody's happy. Or at least less pissed off.

• Again, speaking of the Knicks, Knicks owner James Dolan has said Thomas' job is safe. In between maintaining his own innocence, Thomas said:

"It's a city and a place unlike anyplace else in the NBA," he told reporters. "It's the most difficult place to win and the most challenging. Every game is the season, and that's the unique passion New York brings. The people here are thirsty, they want it, and it really brings out the best in you. You have to bring it every day, whether you're a coach, a player or a guy trying to get on the subway.["]

Oh really, Zeke? You're bringing it to guys on the subway, too? Well, after they read your comments, you might want to start riding in a car before those guys start bringing it back to you.

Not The Game It Was Billed To Be

Tonight's Monday Night Football game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints was supposed to feature two of the biggest stars in the game: Michael Vick and Reggie Bush.

Only it didn't quite turn out as planned.

Bush is injured and is out for the rest of the regular season and perhaps the playoffs, too, if the Saints make it that far. With a win over the Falcons Monday night, they put themselves in a better position to do just that.

Vick, as you all know by now, did not play this year and will not play for at least the next two seasons after being sentenced to 23 months in prison and 3 years probation for pleading guilty to federal charges related to dogfighting.

Several of the players and fans made tributes to Vick, wearing his number. One Falcons player, Rodney White, donned a hand-written "Free Mike Vick" shirt under his jersey. Interestingly, most of the fans, and all of the players supporting Vick appeared to be African-American.

Vick received his sentence of almost 2 years in prison because the federal court judge said that he had lied. Lying to the government - and then getting caught - is an offense worse than death when it comes to the feds. Guaranteed to get you on the higher end of the sentencing guidelines.

Here, the prosecutors asked for a 12-18 months sentence, and the federal guidelines said the judge should sentence Vick to 18 months to two years. The judge pretty much threw the book at him, with 23 months. The feds don't really do that whole "early release" thing but he could about a month reduction, added to the month he has already served, and the earliest he could expect to get out would be the summer of 2009.

He's also looking at state court charges, but hopefully he can serve that concurrently with his federal sentence so that he would still get the same summer 2009 release date.

Well, I won't repeat everything I said before about the Vick situation (click here for my previous posts on the matter), but it is sad to see him become another statistic. Sports pundits on ESPN are saying he'll never play another game for the Falcons, but that's not what Falcons owner Arthur Blank said during Monday night's telecast. He, like NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, said that he would weigh the situation when it came time to do so. Prior to the game, he said that Vick was out of the picture. For now, Vick's contract will likely be tolled until he is able to return to the team. Blank's in this business to make money as much as he is anything else. I'm sure having Michael Vick, hopefully a new Michael Vick who's trying to keep his head above water, will be a money-making venture for which most teams that need a boost would pay a lot of money. Basically, if the Falcons are still struggling, I

Leave it to a federal judge to mess up my prediction that he would be back next year. Tolling that time for his prison sentence, Vick will be back as soon as he is free to do so. He will be sent to a "Club Fed" somewhere presumably not too far away from home, where he'll be able to stay in pretty good shape, but more importantly, he'll be able to put some distance between himself and this situation. Club Fed is nothing like being free, but it's the best he could get while still being held behind bars.

The one thing that the judge who sentenced him (not coincidentally, a George W. Bush appointee) said that I agree with is that he let a lot of kids down who looked up to him. But beyond that, he also has a chance to be a role model for those who have hit their lowest points to turn it all around. Now that he has almost two years to think about things, I sincerely hope that his story ends as one of redemption and not one of lost potential.

I'm pulling for you, Mike Vick, and in time, so will your previous fans.

BREAKING NEWS: Vick Gets 23 Month-Sentence for Dogfighting

I just saw this on CNN. I knew when I saw the time his co-defendants got that it wasn't looking good. This seems a bit much given the sentencing guidelines.

More details to follow . . .

MYSM: Dancing With The NBA Stars

Why can't they have celebrity dancing shows where they do this?

Shaq has to do this at home in front of the mirror.

The Pistons Need Help Scoring

At least off the court.



I don't normally post on weekends, but this one was worth it.

The Detroit Pistons have begun a promotion to get female fans (i.e., me), or just women in general, to show up to games. Click on the picture to enlarge the ad.

The kicker? Two passes to a post-game autograph session. I've seen promotions for NBA teams, including the Pistons, and this autograph session is definitely not the norm.

Just one question: Which player came up with this one? I guess it's the guys who show up to the session.

Classic.

Rundown From the Run-down (aka RFTR)

I need sleep. So that means one thing . . . RFTR Time!

• How come I'm just hearing the name "Portland Jailblazers" for the first time when Doug Collins said it during the Miami/Portland game Thursday night? Must have been when i tuned out the NBA while I was in law school. The name is just wrong, but gets points for creativity. The Blazers infamously passed on Michael Jordan and instead drafted Sam Bowie. That's got to be as jail-worthy as anything the players did. Seeing Greg Oden watch the game from a floor seat makes me think they might need to be sentenced again in the near future.
  

• Speaking of sentencing, Barry Bonds makes his first court appearance on Friday. Monday is Michael Vick's sentencing. Barry should be sending Vick a thank you note right about now for the distraction.
  

• "Sources" are reporting that Jason Kidd sat out the New Jersey Nets' game against the New York Knicks to express his displeasure over contract negotiations, not a migraine as he said. Kidd says hogwash. "I would never abuse the game of basketball." Avoiding very obvious (and inappropriate, if you're in the Kidd family) jokes here, all I will say is that I'm glad to hear that.
  

• The Knicks are the most valuable NBA franchise, according to Forbes. This is the 3rd straight year that they have topped the list. And you wonder why James Dolan would rather build a team of good names instead of a team that's really good. They also have the most 1st round draft picks on their roster with 12. No comment. It's too easy.

• The Washington Redskins beat the Chicago Bears last night, in a game they needed if they want any chance of going to the playoffs. After attending their teammate Sean Taylor's funeral on Monday, I can't think of a better way to honor his memory than to come up with a win when it really counts.

• The Dallas Mavericks lost pretty badly to the Denver Nuggets last night. Allen Iverson didn't have 51 like in their loss the night before to the L.A. Lakers, but he did drop in 35. Way to be a team player, AI. And way to provide further proof that the Mavs are going to make the playoffs and that's about it.
  

Happy Friday!!

American Men's Tennis Woes, Part II: Top 10 Ways to Make It Better

Yesterday, I expounded at length on the topic of what ails American men's tennis. Today, I'm giving my top 10 suggestions on righting this shi...p. Some doubt that we'll ever see greatness like we saw before, but I think it's a different day, and a different game (real athletes rule, no smoking in the locker room, etc.) and anything is possible. Without further ado:

1. Take it to the streets. If the USTA wants to fulfill its mission statement, it need look no further than its own backyard. Kids playing basketball, football, basketball (hockey?) exhibiting signs of being gifted tennis players. Sponsor them. Give them shoes, racquets, and some instruction, hook them up with opportunities to get college scholarships to play tennis. Boom.

2. Advertise the game. As I said yesterday, tennis has to advertise playing the game. It has to look cool to play again. Celebrities need to be "caught" playing it. They ought to hire people to play on the courts in populous neighborhoods and invite their friends to play. People want to be a part of something that looks cool. Make tennis cool again.

In advertising the game, I think it's important to emphasize the health benefits over a sport like golf. The move to golf as the social game of choice seems to be resulting in less physically fit people these days. When the importance of still doing cardio comes back into focus, tennis should be leading the way. "Cardio tennis" programs have picked up, but this is more for adults who just want a good workout. However, tennis-playing parents will likely produce tennis-playing children.

3. Support the ones they already have. I think the USTA should put more effort into building up the ones they do have, and expanding the assistance they provide to include the players who want it, not just the ones they think deserve it. People blossom at different points in their playing careers. People should be trained to recognize pure talent that needs molding. Maybe a formal mentor system with former players would do the trick so that they don't have to use their own resources.

4. Look here. In truth, most of the tennis academies in this country are filled with players from other countries. Nothing wrong with that, but I think sometimes the locals suffer at the expense of the foreign players. From my experience, I think part of this is because these guys who are here are considered to have "raw talent" and are pretty much like their children since their parents don't live in the States. It will take a coach or academy that wants to build their reputation on developing champions rather than making money. Good luck with this one.

5. Show tennis on TV more often. This one may be hard, because no network is going to want to take a chance on a sport that doesn't have a proven audience, and this is not something that the people who play and run the sport can necessarily control. But I think if people saw tennis more often than just during the four major tournaments, they might actually start watching it, and eventually start playing it.

6. Stage American Idol-type auditions. Seriously, American Idol has found some pretty good talent over the years. The USTA could do the same thing by holding "tournaments" of sorts -- maybe just showcasing skills -- in order to win sponsorships or "support packages" from the USTA. Then you could see who really wants it.

7. Look for opportunities in unexpected places. Here's one: At every charity auction, there is usually some kind of lesson offered, whether it be golf or horseback riding. The USTA should make sure that tennis lessons make it in these packages. Every little bit helps at this stage.

8. Make it less expensive. This is related to the first one, but involves some simple economics. Lower the cost of something, more people will buy more of it. Racquets nowadays cost $300 or more. Only the well-to-do can afford one, but every tennis player needs at least one back up racquet in case the strings break. The shoes cost over $100. Lessons are about equal to buying a new tennis racquet every week. And if you live in a cold climate, you have to pay for a membership to a tennis club. This adds up. There should be a "starter" line for tennis. Stop being elitist and make it affordable for the people who just might be the next Pete Sampras.

9. Ease up on the NCAA regulations. Not every tennis player goes to college first. Some do, some don't. Blake and Roddick are examples of two divergent ways of getting close to the top, the former having attended Harvard for a few years, and the latter foregoing college altogether. To the extent that a player might want to go to college, at least for a little while, current NCAA regulations make it a violation to do just about anything that could help the men compete. Whereas a lot of foreign players have been playing international competition since they were 13 or 14 years old, here, it's hard for most American players to play in those events because it costs a lot of money to travel everywhere and get good playing experience. (Note: The Williams sisters played exactly zero junior tournaments, but the key is not junior tournaments, but getting good international competition, which they did.) Not helping matters much, the NCAA rules prohibit players from accepting a dime for playing any sport. If they do, then they are ineligible, period. I see the point of the rule for most sports, but we're not talking about getting perks when it comes to tennis. Unlike the most popular sports in this country, the majority of the tennis events (major and minor) do not take place in the United States. Unless you're one of the top 50 players in the world and have endorsements , accepting money for winning matches is only just enough to help you get to pay your coach and get to the next tournament. Without it, it's hard to access the competition. If we want Americans to be able to compete on an international playing field, then I think the rules have to be relaxed to allow American players to afford to play the best in the world.

10. We need a hero. Although this list is not necessarily in order, I would still place this last, after everything above has been done. Not that the current crop doesn't have pizzazz, because I think the American men are quite likable, but I don't think every kid wants to be like them. Kids go on the basketball court because they want to be like Michael Jordan. They want to be Michael Jordan. Guitars have a hero. Where is tennis' hero?

American Men's Tennis Woes, Part I: The 'Whys'

Continuing from yesterday's post on the U.S. men's Davis Cup team winning the title, I said that I was going to do two things: 1) explain why the game is in the valley, and 2) what can be done to get back to the mountaintop. Today, I'll give you my opinions on its valley-status. Tomorrow, we'll cover climbing Mt. Everest.

Before I begin, I have excluded the American women from this discussion based solely on the fact that Venus and Serena are holding it down pretty well. They have fans, they win tournaments, and they are single-handedly keeping the American women relevant in tennis. There's an issue, though, of the women coming behind them, but the issues are slightly different for different reasons, so I'll save that discussion for another time.

Just in the way of background, American men's tennis had its heyday in the '70's and '80's, when John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, and Arthur Ashe were at the top of the game and winning their fair share of Grand Slam titles. Since then, there was a sizable blip around Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, but since those two retired, the Americans have not reached the heights they once did.

As I said yesterday, Roger Federer's dominance has done nothing good for U.S. men's tennis. But there's a problem when one of the richest countries in the world, in resources, technology, facilities -- where almost every foreign player comes to train at some point -- can't produce a serious champion of its own.


So what's the problem? Before I answer that, I want to be clear that this is not an indictment against any of the current top men's players, but is rather about the general state of men's tennis in the United States as a whole. With that out of the way, here are a few of my explanations for this issue:

1. Other sports are taking tennis players. With the dollars being made both on and off the court/field in other sports like football, basketball, and baseball, everyone wants to be LT (1 or 2), Michael Jordan, or A-Rod, the latter standing to make close to $300 million for 10 years of work. By comparison, Roger Federer made $10 million on the court this past year, which was a record-setting amount. Yeah, if I'm an elite male athlete with a choice in the matter, I'm not going with tennis. One American player on the tour is 6'6", and I apologize to him in advance, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that he is probably far, far better in tennis than he is in basketball. Because I don't believe that there is any way that anyone in their right mind would choose to play tennis, which often requires spending at least 45 of the 52 weeks in a year on the road, without a good reason.

Especially when the Americans in these more popular sports are among the best in the world, if not the best. In tennis, that is hardly the case. Roger Federer is an awesome athlete, likely the best athlete from Switzerland, and some might say the best athlete ever, in any sport. And while he has been more fallible lately, he is still virtually untouchable by the American players ranked below him. I bet the American who could be ringing his bell is out playing golf somewhere. I know more than a few people who never picked up a tennis racquet again when Tiger came on the scene. The cream of the crop is not coming out for the tennis team.

For boys in particular, there are so many options in sports, and now tennis has to compete with new professional lacrosse and soccer leagues in addition to the other Big 3 (or 4 - if you count hockey . . . ). Tennis just hasn't kept up with the newer options.

Not to mention that tennis is fairly technical. It's not something you can just go out and start playing if you want to do well without having someone show you what to do (even if it's from a book or magazine . . . but who does that these days?).

American tennis hit a skid in the mid-90's, when Sports Illustrated infamously asked if the sport itself was dying, and the babies born then are now the "next generation of tennis" who never grew up playing tennis or being exposed to it. So, consequently, they don't play it.


2. The USTA isn't really doing "development." For some reason, in many areas in American life, training has fallen by the wayside. No, now we expect people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, know everything when they come in the door, and if they don't, it's their fault, not the people who didn't train them in the first place. Development does not occur. You either come in the door ready, or you're done.

If you're not familiar with the United States Tennis Association (USTA), it is the governing body that controls everything having to do with American tennis, from the amateur to the professional ranks. They run the U.S. Open as well as sanction 12 year old & under tournaments. They also provide training facilities, coaches, and staff for "top" junior (18 and under) players, and provide similar support for top American players on the professional tour. Their mission, they say, is to promote and develop the growth of tennis.

Perhaps the USTA just stopped developing talent. But whether or not the USTA ever did train players, I am going to explain my theory on what happened: Back then, when Connors, McEnroe, and Ashe were coming up, men's tennis was in a different era. The pool of talent was bigger, and the top players that made it through were easy to train because they really were the best of the best. Very little extra work was required to put these players at an elite level, and the U.S. had the top facilities in the world, where players from other countries came to train (more on this later).

Now, the pool is smaller, but the USTA appears to be preferring the ready-made, low-hanging fruit option. Rather than adjusting by, say, going out and recruiting players to play tennis who might be playing other sports, they're taking what comes to them (i.e., who's winning the tournaments). And what comes to them may not always be the cream of the tennis crop.

3. No marketing. At all.

Be honest. You didn't really know that the USTA was before a few moments ago. But it's not your fault. They aren't visible. Tennis is not visible.

Andy Roddick may talk to you about his American Express around U.S. Open time, but he's not telling you to pick up a racquet or making tennis look like something you want to do. Similarly, while it is great that Blake, Roddick, and the Bryan twins (Bob and Mike - tops in men's doubles) participated in the festivities at a Portland Trailblazers game during Davis Cup, I doubt too many folks went out and played tennis the next day. While marketing of the sport itself may not be important in a sport like football or basketball, tennis is not those sports. Because playing tennis is not that popular anymore, promotion of actually playing the sport needs to occur. It's hard when tennis is not seen on TV often enough to register with its target audience (in my experience, tennis courts are in short supply every year when Wimbledon is on TV). When poker seemingly gets more airtime than tennis on ESPN, something is wrong with that picture.

4. Americans don't want it as much. This may be one of the most important - and controversial - factors in why the American men's game is at its nadir. My father has always made a big deal out of being hungry. He has mentioned in a few discussions about American sports in general that parents should take the "creature comforts" from their children if they really want them to be good.

Now, I think that might be a little extreme, but I do believe he has a great point. Kids need to be hungry.
There are a lot of foreign players in college these days. Not just at the big, Division I programs, but everywhere. A lot of people complain about this phenomenon, which has been on-going for many years now, but I think they just want to be there more than Americans do.

Americans, on average, are a fairly comfortable bunch compared to the rest of the world. When it comes to tennis in this country, one of the most expensive sports (perhaps only surpassed by golf), then the vast majority of the participants are people who aren't wanting for much. Here, we are playing tennis because it's fun and we like it, or we're just good at it, and we're competitive.

Now, take your average top player from another country. They are growing up in an entirely different system than we have here. They probably started playing tennis earlier. Tennis pays a lot more than their other sporting and "normal" options, and so they may be playing tennis to make a way for their family. Not only that, but they have a large talent pool of players trying to do the exact same thing, so they represent the best athletes in their country, not just the best tennis players. For many, tennis represents a way out for them and may be the only way that seems within their grasp. When you come from less and have more on the line, your performance is going to take on a different level of significance, I don't care who you are.

Now, we bring these two types of players into the same competitive environment. The American player, who will just drive his nice car to his nice condo if he loses vs. the non-American player who may not be able to afford a plane ticket home. True story.

The bottom line is that American men -- and women -- just aren't as hungry as their non-American counterparts. They simply have too many options available to them in terms of other activities, and including living a life as or more comfortable than they would if they never picked up a tennis racquet. I don't exclude myself from this category, either. Had my options been more limited or I really wanted to make a run on the tour, I think I would be in a totally different place than I am right now. So I am not suggesting that it's necessarily a bad thing that we're not as hungry, but I do believe that it is affecting the quality of the game.

Having different levels of motivation simply cannot be underestimated. (I avoided making a "no match for . . . " pun here. You can thank me later).

So what can be done to reverse the course in light of the above? Stay tuned for tomorrow's post where I will give my Top 10 suggestions on fixing this quagmire.

Pats Perspire . . . Just A Little Bit

The Baltimore Ravens came the closest that any team has come this season to beating the New England Patriots. You can read all about the game here. Forget Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, with this great escape, this team's leader must be Houdini.

In the end, although the Ravens led much of the game, the small things did them in. An errant time out called here, a penalty there, another penalty there. And another penalty there.

You get the point. They actually had one more try for the win on a serious hail mary by Ravens QB Kyle Boller. It was actually caught

I wanted them to win, the Ravens that is. I wanted Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Willis McGahee, all University of Miami football alums along with Sean Taylor (and Reed and McGahee, Taylor's former teammates) to win it for Taylor, as Lewis said during their pre-game prayer/pep talk. And Lewis and company definitely came to play Monday night.

But I must admit that I also wanted to see the Patriots win the game and maintain their perfect record. (Did I say that out loud?) I like seeing history be made. Sue me.

Alas, the Patriots pulled it off by making a few key plays, including scoring a touchdown with less than a minute to go . . . and by the Ravens making a series of errors resulting in 4th downs magically turning into 1st downs and a mistimed (from the Ravens' defense's perspective) timeout.

But as Tony Kornheiser said, all these gaffes resulted in the best team winning - again, like they always do. True statement. Teams have had enough of that running the score up, 50+ point games. They are coming to play now. The Eagles gunned for them, the Ravens gunned for them even harder. But they withheld the pressure and came up with the win. This team is GOOD.

Since my team is tanking, I have to have someone to watch come January. So without further ado . . . Go Pats.

American Men's Tennis Did Something Cool . . .

Newsflash: The United States men won the Davis Cup for the first time in 12 years.

What? You didn't hear about that?

Well, take heart because I am ashamed to admit I didn't either until someone told me. I didn't even watch a single point of the entire Davis Cup. They beat Russia, by the way. And the Davis Cup, is an international team tennis event akin to the World Cup in soccer, an event that the American men have won 32 times since 1900.

And no one even knows it took place. Why? Because, as much as I hate to admit this, American men's tennis is just not relevant.

Unfortunately, I think American men's tennis would be more popular if there wasn't this guy named Roger Federer around. I've had enough of seeing Andy Roddick and James Blank make it to the semis and finals of a tournament just to see them ultimately lose to Federer or someone else - but mainly Fed.

If they didn't get dealt with so handily, then perhaps it might be sort of interesting to watch them play. It's not really fun when you know someone is not going to win. I've seen Roddick play (and lose very badly) to Federer enough times to know that this guy just has his number, maybe for life. Once he or Blake, or some other American breaks through against Fed for the first time, or Fed retires then maybe people will start watching again. Even then, I see another hungry Fed-like player right behind him.

Add that to tennis just not being anywhere close to football (or even basketball, for that matter) in the realm of interesting sporting events going on in December. It really hasn't seen a serious base in this country since Agassi first came on the scene.

And, I have seen the new crop of players coming up and the sad part is that there are just not as many kids playing anymore. It's just not as popular.

People will watch a Federer match at least once just to see what the hype is about. I'd put money on the fact that less Americans have seen Roddick and Blake combined play than have watched a Federer match.

Because the American men are not winning, they haven't really drawn people in or received the endorsements. Because Blake may be a nice-looking guy, but you have to have some on-court results to get Anna Kournikova publicity if you're a man.

Will this Davis Cup win do more for their popularity here? Maybe. But if you didn't know that they'd even won the Davis Cup before you read this post, then I think we have our answer right here.

Stay tuned tomorrow when I will give my theories on why the American men's tennis is not as good as it could be, and my 10 suggestions for making it better . . .

Marbury's Father Passes

More sad news. The father of Stephon Marbury, Don Marbury, passed away, shortly after leaving his son's game against the Phoenix Suns at half time due to chest pain. Marbury's father passed away before the game had completed, a game in which the Knicks lost but actually played fairly well, but Marbury was not told of the death until after the game. It's not clear when he is going to return to the Knicks.

For all the flak that Marbury has taken from me and others, including Knicks fans, I wouldn't wish this kind of pain on anyone. Apparently he lost an aunt last month. Poor guy.

As I was writing this, I just found out that Ron Artest's 4 year-old daughter has kidney cancer. Man. And she was born with one kidney, so she can't have the cancerous one removed. The doctors have given her a 90% chance of curing her cancer.

Just another reminder to cherish the time that you have here, and the people in your life.

MYSM: Sean Taylor

I know MYSM is supposed to be a video to make you smile, but I thought today's video is a little bit more important than just smiling.

Because even if you don't care about football or Sean Taylor's death, I hope that his death serves as a reminder that Mondays may be bad, but we should be thankful that we're still here to complain about it.

What I've taken from Taylor's death is that we really have to cherish the precious present, and try not to sweat the small stuff . . . hard, I know, but not impossible.

I'm not going to have a chance to post again until tonight, so until I come up for air again . . . Happy Monday!

P.S. Check out this tribute that includes his footage.