New Year, Same Run

I heard you can only say happy new year for a week, but I think it's allowed whenever you haven't spoken to someone since last year. So,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Thanks to all who have sent me stories and said they missed me. I missed you, too. Without further ado, let's jump into the first run of the new year:



1. Donovan McNabb can really be a beast sometimes. And sometimes he can really be a fool. I've said before that winning covers up a multitude of sins. For those who didn't see it, near the end of the Philadelphia Eagles win over the New York Giants, a game in which Eli Manning completed his return to earth after last year's Super Bowl win, McNabb ran out of bounds on to the Giants sidelines, picked up the phone customarily used to communicate with the coordinators looking down on the game, and acted like he was making a phone call. That little antic cost his team a 15 yard penalty. And earned him a nice rebuke from former fellow QB Troy Aikman: "Sometimes I just don't know what's going through that guy's head." McNabb acknowledged it wasn't the smartest move after the game, and luckily for him the game was pretty much out of reach. But that's the kind of stuff that makes Iggles fans dislike him. McNabb's a veteran and he knows officials don't put up with any shenanigans. Completely ridiculous, that's all I have to say.

2. So Tim Tebow decided that it's better to play college football than to make millions playing for the Detroit Lions. Even in this economy, he wasn't willing to possibly ruin his career. Smart man.

3. My how the might have fallen. The Boston Celtics went from amazing to awful in the course of a month. Now, they're just happy to get a win over the Toronto Raptors, which is really no win at all. Although the Celts finally snapped their losing streak, Kevin Garnett managed to go an ice cold 3-16. This is a prime example of how the mental side of the game is often more important than being physically talented. This is not a different team from earlier in the season, this is the same team who is now not disturbed by the idea of losing. I'm still not a Celts fan but I'll do just about anything to not have to see the Cleveland Cavaliers coming out of the East. And it's not that I don't like the Cavs (Ok, it's not just that I don't like the Cavs), but I just don't believe they're talented enough to go all the way in the playoffs, despite this recent ride. I just don't see all the tools there that typically comprise championship teams. LeBron James is talented enough for sure, but every superstar needs support to get over the hump. While his guys are playing well now, I have a feeling they'll be playing nearer to their historic averages (read: not quite as hot) come playoff time. We'll just have to wait and see . . .

4. University of North Carolina men's basketball team is 0-2 in ACC play. Maybe now this will end all of that Tyler Hansbrough/Naismith player of the year talk . . . at least for a few weeks. I'll take what I can get.

5. I thought about discussing the other NFL games, but you've probably seen SportsCenter twelve times since then like I have. This is a little video montage passed along by a faithful reader. He likes #3, I'm still blown by #4. Although #3 is kind of hilarious, it doesn't quite count as a MYSM so it's rounding out the top five.




Happy Monday!

Two Days For Tuesday

This post took me two days to finish writing, but like I always say, better late than never. It makes me feel better about being late.

1. O-town! I guess it's kind of a big deal about the Detroit Lions going 0-16. I like the post-game quotes about how much this sucks. I don't know what changed between 0-15 and 0-16, and hey, at least they were consistent. I don't really see why you go down in history for losing all of the games vs. going 1-15. They're equally as awful, just the one loss doesn't get as much press (or puns). Look at the Miami Dolphins, they were 1-15 and now they're going to the playoffs. Miracles do happen. Maybe not on the Lions, but they happen to other people . . . (On a sidenote, I know my blog has infiltrated my mind because I hear the words "playoffs" and "practice" and automatically think of Jim Mora and Allen Iverson, respectively. Am I alone in this?)

**UPDATE** - Lions' coach Rod Marinelli got the boot on Monday. But Marinelli still managed to sound as positive and upbeat as the day he took the job. He truly seems like a good guy, and I wish him all the best down the road. As for the Lions, I'll deal with them again right before the next season.

2. Speaking of being in need of a miracle, WHAT was that crap the Dallas Cowboys laid on the field today against the Philadelphia Eagles (aka, the Iggles)? So you have a golden opportunity to get into the playoffs (via the wild card game, and after several other improbable wins by other teams) and what do you do? Get blown out, and help some guy (or gal) clean up in the final week of fantasy football. It appears the Lions loss made enough headlines to knock the Cowboys off of the front page, despite the colossal failure that was this game. But if I had to choose to be a Cowboy or a Lion . . . well, I'd still be a Cowboy because who the heck wants to be in the Hall of ShFame for losing every game in a seaon, but the Cowboys is a close -- nope, it's still a distant second, but it's fairly embarrassing and it also sucks. To add insult to injury, Tony Romo collapsed in the shower after the game following a rib injury sustained during the game that affected his breathing. Hmm . . . well, I guess if your team is going to have as many turnovers and mistakes as the Cowboys had, then it softens the blow to get your own butt individually kicked, too. Way to take one with the team.

3. One team might be slightly more pissed than the Cowboys: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who fell in fantastic form to the Oakland Raiders. A game which even very-involved Raiders owner Al Davis skipped because he thought it was a lost cause. Maybe it doesn't matter if you lose every game or if you win most of them if you both end up sitting at home in January . . .

4. Mike Singletary now has a permanent home (well, through the first few games of next season) with the San Francisco 49ers. Congrats to him. It's nice to know that mooning your employees is not fatal to one's career advancement.

5. Moving away from football for the moment, my "friend" - I use that term loosely because he is a fan of both LeBron and the man I am about to mention - put me on to this video of Kevin Garnett being interviewed by John Thompson. It's no secret that I have never been a big KG fan, mainly because he seemed to be a whiner, which is the quickest way to get yourself on Pleats 'n Cleats' Least Fave 5. But after watching this, I'd have to say he is either a really good actor or has the heart of a lion. I certainly can't hate on that.



Maybe he's not so bad after all . . .

Running Back

So I've had quite a last few months, hence the lack of posts. I responded to a comment on my Plax post so check it out and jump in the conversation if you feel so inclined.

I have a few moments so I thought I'd do a little running on some random ruminations:



1) Joey Porter came to the defense of Plaxico Burress. During an interview that's set to appear on ESPN tomorrow (but I found it for you), Porter says that carrying a gun is essential as an NFL player, and when asked whether he carried a gun, he stumbled a bit over the answer but he admitted that he did, and that his interviewer should, too, if he cares about his family. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's take on it? He says (I'm paraphrasing) that if you're in a place where a gun is necessary, then you should leave that place. Hmm . . . so does that count for what happened to Sean Taylor? I might need to do a separate post on this, but I think his statement's a tad ignorant, in the truest sense of the word. I guarantee the same people coming after Goodell aren't coming after Porter and Burress.

2) This Stephen Curry kid (how the heck do you pronounce his name, really? Found it: STEFF-in) is just about the sweetest looking basketball player I've ever seen. By sweet, I mean like nice and sweet - not "sweet," but he is that, too. (And not that kind of sweet). He doesn't even look like he's trying and then he just launches these shots from out of nowhere. I always wonder about guys who are wildly popular in college (i.e., J.J. Redick) and whether translate into NBA success (no). It's a possibility but for some reason, I can't picture him in an NBA uniform. I think it's the face.

3) Going back to the NFL for a moment - I'd heard that sports probably wouldn't be safe during this recession. Now, the NFL is laying off 150 folks. What, not enough fines this year to keep your people employed? The "funny" part is that the layoffs are due to an anticipated downturn in ticket sales for next season. I'm all for forecasting and all that jazz but I think this might be a little premature. Of course, I'll concede the NFL has tracked ticket sales in recessions and might know more than I do . . . but a lot can happen in a year. It's almost Christmas! And we thought NFL = "not for long" referred to just the players.

4) I missed the Oscar De La Hoya fight (he fought alleged marquee boxer Manny Pacquiao . . . I concede the boy is good. Happy?) on Saturday night but from all accounts, that should really have been the Golden Boy's swan song. I caught a little bit of the bout and he looked pretty slow and tired out there. Although he rallied against Floyd Mayweather last year, he clearly has lost the goods that warranted him even a decision in the Felix Trinidad fight (wow, that was nine years ago - I remember where I was when I watched it). Now, he's just messing with his legacy. I know he'll miss the money, but he's still a young man, and I think still pretty enough to sell more than just grills and get paid handsomely (no pun intended) for doing so.

5) I'm cheating, I know, this isn't a story, but I missed MYSM, so I'm sharing. The move or the commentating - I'm not sure what's better. Please, Derrick, don't hurt 'em!

Sunday Rundown

I've been MIA for a while, but not without good reason. My dad told me I should get to the point on here and no one wants to hear about how tired I am. Ha. Well, I don't tell you because you care, I tell you because I want you to know why I've slacked off! Work, work, and more work . . . but I'm not complaining at all because I'm thankful that I even have a job, much less one that I enjoy doing. But I digress.

Nice, full day of good football games. The Dallas Cowboys just barely held on for the win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but a win's a win, I guess. Just ask the Detroit Lions, who got close (again) but couldn't seal the deal against the Washington Redskins. Nice to see that they're still putting in an effort. Nicer to see Roy Williams doing what he should be doing and wasn't doing in Detroit - scoring. He couldn't do that for the Lions but he got that chance on Sunday in the Cowboys game. Hopefully, as long as the Cowboys keep winning, he won't fuss too much, but let's see how many more TD's Williams can catch before T.O. raises a ruckus.

The Philadelphia Eagles, and more specifically, Brian Westbrook, looked pretty good against the surprising Atlanta Falcons. Coming off an injury and rushing for nearly 175 yards is deserving of the top performer of the week award, I'd say.

The NFL crossed the pond again for the New Orleans Saints vs. San Diego Chargers game in London on Sunday. Last year, I noted that it was a mucky mess, so this year had nowhere to go but up. This year, the fans actually got to see some offense. Even LaDainian Tomlinson broke out of his season and almost-a-half long funk to step up his game. Perhaps I'm just a cynic, but I can't help but think that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell put in a call to the Saints and Chargers and asked them to go easy on the defense? If you're a fantasy football player (which, thankfully, this year I am not), you might want to take that into account for the Europe game every year. I also thought it was kind of cute (yes, I am a female) how one team (the Saints) was designated the "home team," and the fans waved Saints pennants and cheered loudly. A small touch but maybe just enough to make these guys not sulk so much about "having to" be the ones to make the ocean-jump mid-season.

More and more, it's looking like the "Terrible Three" (aka, the Lions, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Rams) might just be the Terrible Two. For the past few weeks, the Rams have looked like they really are interested in winning some games. Even the Lions are still making an effort. The Bengals, however, appear to have just given up. They don't get as much press for their terrible performance (they're now a perfect 0-8), perhaps because they don't have the legacy of losing of the Lions nor have they fallen from the ranks like the Rams, or maybe just because it's Cincinnati. And now that it looks like Carson Palmer is done for the rest of the season, the Bengals (who have been done for a long time aready) just never be mentioned again . . . unless, maybe, Ocho Cinco gets an 85 tattooed across his forehead.

Speaking of not-achieving (a step worse than underachieving, which implies that you are actually capable of achieving in the first place), the San Francisco 49ers, on the heels of firing their coach Mike Nolan last week, still looked a mess. Only everyone's not just going to roll over and die. New coach Mike Singletary has only been on the sidelines one game but already he's fed up and is not going to take it anymore. He sent underachieving (yes, he's capable) tight end Vernon Davis to the showers early, and benched his other major (in more than one way) underachiever, quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan. You have to watch the video of Singletary getting in Davis' face. Singletary's post-game interview definitely teetered on the edge of "rant" status - which makes him worthy of MYSM-status. Thanks, Mike.

You gotta love a man who's not afraid to go in and shake things up right from the start. I'm a firm believer that good things happen when you make a clean break from the status quo rather than gradually trying to turn things around. I'm definitely interested in seeing how this one shakes out . . . loving even more that we're not counting up black NFL coaches.

Monday Night Football should also be a good one, with Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts meeting the undefeated Tennessee Titans. Although, the Colts even record of wins and losses accurately reflects the likelihood that this game will be as good as it should be.

Yee-Ha!

Two of today's top stories came from the world of football - specifically, the Dallas Cowboys. Although there are a lot of topics worth running to (i.e., boxer Vitali Klitschko using his son's wet diapers to keep down hand-swelling, John Madden taking a seat, Eddy Curry taking a seat and busting an exercise ball, etc.), I decided to be a one-story-woman.

The first story is a toss up between Adam "Pacman" Jones getting suspended indefinitely by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after not being disciplined by the Dallas Cowboys AND Roy Williams getting traded to the Dallas Cowboys, joining another Roy Williams. Either way it involves the Cowboys so I'll just pick one.



So it looks like Pacman may have used up his 9 lives with the NFL. How many guys keep getting this many chances to act right, though? This is a guy who, when the Dallas Cowboys got him in a trade from the Tennessee Titans, they included a clause to move up draft pick received by the Cowboys if he got suspended during this season. I completely disagree with the suggestion from the sports commentators that he somehow would deserve more of a chance, or would be worth the risk, if he were contributing more on the field this season. That's the thinking that got Pacman and his last two teams in trouble in the first place. If he's not learning right from wrong despite the number of chances he has been given then he just doesn't deserve anymore chances. Period.

The funny thing is that, normally, I'm not a fan of teams or leagues hanging a guy out to dry when they've tolerated his behavior all along the way, but that's not the situation that Pacman is in. He has been given chances - repeatedly - and he isn't making any progress. Maybe they're not getting him the right help (it sounds like he may have a drinking problem), but he has to do work on his part, too. The hardest thing for people who "care" (I use that term loosely) about people to realize is that some people just cannot be helped. All you can do is make the effort, but if you've done all you can and they don't respond, then you have to let them go. I don't want to say it's too late for him, nor can I say for sure that everyone has done all they can, but at the very, very least, he needs some time outside of the game to get his mind right before anyone gives him anymore chances. I know the Cowboys tried to keep him insulated and surrounded by good people, but it doesn't look like he changed on the inside. This reminds me of a fable my dad used to tell me:

A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on his back across a river. "Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle. "You'll sting me while I'm swimming and I'll drown." "My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "if I were to sting you, you would drown and I would go down with you. Now where is the logic in that?" "You're right!" cried the turtle. "Hop on!" The scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both sank to the bottom, the turtle resignedly said: "Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there'd be no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?" "It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion sadly replied. "It's just my character."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Pacman Jones, in a nutshell. Yes, a person is certainly capable of changing, but if he doesn't go through a serious character metamorphosis, this is a lost cause. The next team who dares take a chance on him may last a little while without incident, but they're only playing with fire. There are too many other talented players out there who would be able to appreciate the shot Pacman's been given.

So to any team who insists on even considering bringing Pacman Jones to town (assuming Goodell allows him to come back), please do yourself (and your fans) and him a favor and make him go through counseling for at least a year without playing (and without any incidents of any kind) . . . or just let him go.


Enough of that. On to the Roy L. Williams trade (not to be confused with Roy E. Williams, who was already a member of the Cowboys). People said this was a bad move by the Lions and the Cowboys. (Even worse than that move by QB Dan Orlovsky when he got a safety for attempting to extend the end zone past it's legal limits, and then the Lions lost the game by exactly two points? Doubtful.) Again, I'm going to have to disagree. This is a GREAT move by the Lions, probably the best seen since the Barry Sanders days.

The Lions picked up a future 1st, 3rd, and 6th round pick in the 2009 draft and got rid of a guy who couldn't wait to go. I imagine Williams feels a little bit like that one hostage who gets released. Who wouldn't want to get out of that miserable muck? I bet even Matt Millen has been sleeping soundly since he got the boot.

Most importantly, though, this gives the Lions another chance to blow it all up and start over, which is exactly what they need to do. If I were the Lions GM, I'd totally gut the team. Everyone. Every last player, starting with the ones who have been there the longest. I don't want anyone there who remembers what it was like to lose so terribly so many times, at least not until they've spent some time knowing what it's like to win somewhere else. The human mind is too powerful to ignore the psychological effect of being in a losing locker room for so many seasons.

From the Cowboys perspective, Williams may have been a Pro Bowler once upon a time, but he's not putting up Pro Bowl numbers these days (in his defense, he played for the Lions, which needs no explanation). So it remains to be seen how he'll fit in with T.O., who is said to be "ecstatic" with the trade. The only way T.O. is ecstatic is if he gets to catch the ball more often. And if Williams can draw some of the heat away from T.O., that leaves the latter open to catch more passes. Now I get it . . .

Let's just hope Tony Romo comes back before the season gets too far away from them . . . speaking of which, I'm now questioning Romo's allegiance after hearing about college football player Trevor Wikre, who opted to cut his off to avoid season-ending surgery. This is high on my list of most disturbing things I've ever heard.

The Quickie Trifecta

This is shaping into an interesting season for some NFL teams. (I'm ignoring the Adam Jones issues because, really, you get what you pay for.) Interesting in a good way (Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, and of course, the Arizona Cardinals) and a bad way (Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins). Teams that are used to losing (Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders) are not interesting. Good game (finally) for that other Manning brother - Peyton. A blocked field goal sealed the Cardinals win over the Cowboys, who just barely made it into overtime to begin with before that most terrible way to lose. And I take back what I said about the Lions. Their game was actually a little interesting considering it ended in a controversial pass interference call that put the Minnesota Vikings in position to kick a field goal for the win. Although the manner of the ending may have been a surprise, the fact that the Lions lost is not. Maybe if they were in contention for . . . anything, (other than worst team of the last century) then someone would care and maybe even calling for the head of the referee who threw the flag. But the Lions are the Lions, and the ref's job is safe and sound. At least the Lions stimulate the economy. . . .

Monta Ellis may be pissed (although looking at the above pic, he doesn't really look like he gets pissed, does he?) that the Golden State Warriors suspended him 30 games for lying about what happened to his ankle but he should really be glad that they didn't terminate his contract. Of course, he's going to appeal the decision but he doesn't have too much of a bargaining position since what he did made his agreement voidable (i.e., ripped up since riding a motorcycle violates its terms). And former-Run TMC member turned VP of basketball operations for the Warriors, Chris Mullin, has not ruled out the possibility of still voiding the contract if he doesn't play like they paid him to do (read: if he sucks). This will certainly teach him and everyone else that a) lying b) about something that can easily be verified c) where the consequence is losing your livelihood, is just not smart. To any other NBA players currently riding bikes: there are many, many other ways to get your jollies other than by risking your life and career over silliness. Find one.

Speaking of outdoor activities (sorta), the NBA staged its first outdoor game since 1972 in a preaseason matchup between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets (minus Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony who were injured . . .right) in normally beautiful Indian Wells, California. (Indian Wells is also home to a mini-major WTA and ATP tennis tournament.) The number one priority for the league was to make sure that it didn't rain, so they took a cue from Tony! Toni! Tone! (thank me later) and went with Southern California. However, while it might not rain, it can get a bit nippy in the desert when the sun goes down, which it did on this particular night. They say the temperature was in the mid-60's but felt colder because of the 15 MPH winds. Even the seemingly "insulated" Sir Charles (Barkley) had to put a scarf on by the 4th quarter. I'm not sure this is something the NBA wants to do haphazardly. I'm sure most of these guys haven't really played pick up outside in a long time, either. There are plans to do another preseason game outside next year, and maybe even a regular season game. As for the latter, I can't really see that happening. Unless every team had to play outside at least once during the season, and the game was against a "not serious" contender, I can't see the NBA guys going for this at all. And this game had atrocious shooting and Shaquille O'Neal-level free throw shooting from O'Neal and many other players. (Nuggets' guard Mateen Cleaves had the best combined field goal and free throw percentage on the night . . . also probably the most likely of the bunch to be playing pick up ball outside this summer - coincidence?) Although Melo and AI didn't play, the Nuggets magaged to pull off the win 77-72. Pretty low-scoring for the run and gun west. If that keeps up, once the novelty wears off, so will the fans.

Happy Monday!

(Although it is allegedly also Columbus Day in some circles, I don't believe in Columbus Day, especially if we don't get the day off of work.)

MYSM: Dunkin' Ain't Easy

The NFL on Sunday was pretty predictable. Bad teams lost (Detroit Lions - just get used to it), and the good teams eked out wins. Some teams whom we believed would be better at this point are looking sorta average, at least in their records (Philadelphia Eagles) while others are continuing their over-achievement streak (Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins - even though they're only at .500). The Dallas Cowboys had a scare until the Cincinnati Bengals lowered to the occasion. As usual.


Nice win for the Pittsburgh Steelers, though. On a total side note, how come I never noticed Ben Roethlisberger's "urban drawl" until today? I went back and looked at a few older videos of him and he didn't quite sound like that. Maybe it only creeps up during post-game interviews. I could blame it on rap but then how do you explain Michael Phelps? Although, if Phelps sounded more like Lil' Wayne, I think he could have an interesting endorsement future ahead of him . . .



In other news on Sunday, the Detroit Shock won the WNBA Finals with a sweep of the San Antonio Silver Stars. This is the Shock's third title in six years. Smells like a dynasty. Here comes my first DVR complaint - I set it up specifically to record . . . why didn't these record??!! That means I missed both game 2 and game 3, and since the series is over, I didn't get to see one minute of the finals. And like last time, the one picture I found was of Bill Laimbeer shaking hands. It obviously wasn't meant for me to watch the games and write about it here, but in any event, congratulations to the Shock!

Speaking of sweeps, the Chicago Cubs were swept out of the National League Division Series by the underdog L.A. Dodgers. The Dallas Mavericks of the MLB?


That takes us right into smiling. Today's videos (twice the fun) have one theme in common: dunking. Or I should say, the desire to dunk. A key but often under-appreciated aspect of dunking is actually letting go of the ball. But as attempted dunker #1 so aptly demonstrates, the ability to jump high doesn't matter if you don't include a forward motion. A reminder for us all.

#2. This should never happen. Ever.



Happy Monday!

MYSM: Dancey Dance Time with Amare

Just returning from another field trip, this time to Nike Town, USA, aka Beaverton, Oregon. Pics and story to come tomorrow . . .

This means I didn't quite catch the (football) games today, but I'll catch up with everything tomorrow . . . I hope. Some surprising results, n'est-ce pas? KC and Cleveland won (the latter not quite as impressive as the former. Good for Big Herm), the Cowboys and Eagles lost (the latter to da Bears), and Brett Favre set a career high in TD passes. The fact that he's setting records that have nothing to do with his longevity is quite impressive. I guess he was feeling better. Keep it up, New Yorkians will love you. Looks like that small bet on a random team might end up a big payoff come Super Bowl time.

Happy Monday!

Amare
Uploaded by bsap11

Phoenix Suns star Amare Stoudemire is our special friend, earning him his first spot on MYSM. Hey, at least he's trying to do something for the kiddies. I can dig it!

I'm also digging the leg of the blue thing in the back who appears to be some kind of step class enthusiast. Someone tell him/her/it that's not good dribbling form.

Go crazy!!

Two Quickies: Kenny George; The Replacement Players

Last college basketball season, I wrote about a player named Kenny George from UNC-Asheville. At 7'7" and in possession of the top field goal percentage in the NCAA, you'd think he had it made, but his size seems to get in the way of him living a normal life. This is a guy whose dad has to drive across the country to pick him up from school because he can't fit on an airplane. And I felt a tinge of sadness watching him play, mainly because he seemed to be in pain. Although I'm sure he loves basketball, there's an air of exploitation surrounding him. I'm not suggesting that UNC-Asheville is necessarily the culprit, but it's just an uneasy feeling I get.

Well, now it looks like he's going to miss the entire upcoming season. George is currently laid up in a Chicago hospital following two surgeries due to a foot infection, and his coach says that he's probably not going to even attend school this semester, which sucks because this is his senior year. (Although he could possibly have another year of eligibility if his injury is non-sports related. I actually had an extra year of sports eligibility when I started law school. . . but God denied my petition for 28 hours in a day.) Hopefully, he will be able to at least return to graduate even if he can't play . . . something tells me that even if he takes the year off, he has a good shot at being picked up by an NBA team who wants to take a chance on him. While I don't think his body will handle too many years in the league, though, I do hope he gets a shot - for his own sake and no one else's . . .


The latest episode of "Pull the Plug on the QB," features the Minnesota Viking's Tarvaris Jackson. Vikings coach Brad Childress announced Wednesday that Jackson will be riding the pine from here on out until further notice. In his place will be 15-year veteran Gus Frerotte - aka the poster child for "one time a bride, usually a bridesmaid." He made a name for himself with the Washington Redskins where he made the Pro Bowl in 1996 (12 years ago) but was perhaps even more famous in our nation's capital for spraining his neck during a touchdown celebration (but at least he scored, DeSean) and ending up in the hospital.

Only two weeks in and the coach is shaking things up. Childress clearly doesn't like what he sees and apparently neither do the fans as they vocally expressed their disapproval of Jackson's playing during the last game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Vikings have certainly woefully underperformed in their first two games, but I'm not sure anyone on the team was expecting this move, not even the two men who are swapping jobs. Right now, Jackson has barely 300 yards in his two starts - Tony Romo and Donovan McNabb both had about that on Monday night. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing (everyone can't be Romo and McNabb)...if you're still getting it done other ways. Oh, there's the problem: Despite Adrian Peterson rushing for 160 yards, the Vikings never scored a touchdown in Sunday's game against the Colts. Childress probably thinks, like many folks, that if you've got a player like AP, who's still performing at AP-level (i.e., LT - I know, the toe, but 2007 counts, too) you ought to be winning, or at the very least, scoring.

Frerotte has had a very, very (very) long time to become a premier QB in this league, and if it hasn't happened in 14 years, I don't see 15 being the charm, so we'll see how long this lasts. But, boy oh boy, life is tough for a starting QB, isn't it? We're just two games in, and this season has already changed at least one institution: fantasy football. All those "draft the best QB first" owners will definitely be re-thinking that strategy next year . . .

PnC Is Ready For Some FOOTBALL!

What a weekend. Camp Obama (which will be sending me to a battleground near you!). The Sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson. Tina Fey knocking her impression of Palin out of the park on Saturday Night Live . . .



Michael Phelps, uh, hosting SNL . . .

And sports. Where should we start?
I'll go in order (sorta) of occurrence:

So I was all excited for my first planned real college football viewing of the season, featuring Ohio State and USC, and I have to say I was pretty disappointed. It wasn't much of a contest from what I saw, so I got into conversation with a friend during much of it . . . unless someone was getting hit - hard! Well, I don't think this game will affect the Trojans because you can't get much higher than #1, but it wasn't entirely clear where Ohio State would rank because they lost to #1. Maybe they're #2 . . . maybe not. Maybe #13. I've seen the 100,000 comments from OSU fans on ESPN.com so I'm not trying to get hate comments from those who stumbled on this page from Google, but even they have to admit that was fairly unwatchable. This was on the premier national stage, so I'm sure the glare hurt worse, but they found a disappointed bedfellow in . . .

Michigan vs. Notre Dame. All you need to know is that the Wolverines had 7 fumbles, 6 turnovers, which resulted in 3 touchdowns for Notre Dame. Yes, it was mucky and nasty, as it was in a lot of parts of the country on Saturday, but they were both playing in the same conditions. It's funny (not "haha") that this used to be a huge rivalry, even outside of South Bend and Ann Arbor. I was just thinking yesterday that these programs aren't really relevant anymore except to their students and alum. Allegedly, they're both rebuilding (the Fightin' Irish
perhaps moreso than the waning Wolverines). But how long is that going to take?

Freak accident at the game: Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis had both his MCL and ACL torn when his defensive end crashed into him on the sidelines following a block. I always wondered if people ever got seriously injured standing that close, and now I know. Not as much outcry about this as there was for Tom Brady. I think it was a dirty hit. . .Unlike that weakling Brady who decided to succumb to the knife*, Weis says he's going to forego surgery (for now) so he can remain in the danger zone they call the sidelines, proving there's no "i" in coach, either . . .

Pro football. I like to end on a good note so let's start with the Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers. Not a good week for the State of Michigan (in sports, anyway -- the Tigers just lost a doubleheader, too, to the Chicago White Sox). Unfortunately, being a Michigan team wasn't the only similarity the Lions had to the Wolverines. After coming back against the Packers in the second half, and going up 25-24 late in the game, the Lions -- or should I say Jon Kitna -- threw 3 interceptions in the last 5 minutes of the game. Even better, the three interceptions came in about 3 minutes - no, I'm not kidding. Two straight weeks facing young (or un-tested) QB's in Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers, and two straight bad losses. But they still manage to sell out every week. I might compare this to the phenomenon of voting for the same regime and expecting a different result . . . but I digress.

Speaking of Brett Favre, or teams that used to feature him, the NY Jets game against the New England Patriots was supposed to be very interesting a week ago. Brett vs. Tom, like an early Christmas gift. Alas, it didn't pan out that way, and to be honest, this game was ho-hum at best. I tried to watch it in real-time, and failed, then tried to DVR it, and couldn't get through it again. As not-interesting as it was, the Patriots are 2-0, and Matt Cassel has now started and won his first game since high school. I wonder when they'll start the predictions about them matching the '72 Miami Dolphins . . .

Interesting ending to the Denver Broncos game vs. the San Diego Chargers. End result is two last second losses and an 0-2 record for the Chargers. With about a minute or so left in the game, down by 8 points, around the 10 yard line, Broncos QB Jay Cutler clearly fumbles the ball (he'd already dropped it once a few minutes earlier), and the Chargers recovered it. But the ref blew the whistle (I couldn't hear it but he confessed to it) which deaded the ball at the 10 yard line. Saved by the whistle. Then Cutler threw a TD to WR ER (Eddie Royal), which meant the Broncos were only down by one. Then, I saw the unbelievable - really, even the other Broncos were surprised. Broncos coach Mike Shanahan and Cutler call for a two-point conversion for the win, at home, rather than just going for the extra point, which would have tied the game. In basketball, sometimes they'll go for the 3-pointer for the win rather than the two-point field goal if they have a better look at the former. But in football, since the extra point is pretty much a given, and every single game is so precious (as Chargers coach Norv Turner's post-game interview so aptly "alluded"), going for the conversion is pretty risky. But they went for it, and they converted it, with another pass from Cutler to Royal. The commentators alternated between Shanahan was "playing with the house's money" (i.e., they pressed their luck after they'd already lucked up with the bad call) and that the coach was showing his confidence in his team, more specifically, in Cutler. I agree. Whether they converted or didn't, knowing coach would bet the house on you has to do good things to the self-esteem. Smart man. All I know is that Shanahan has instantly earned my respect, because if they don't convert that, the secret service may have needed to return to Mile High Stadium to get him out of there. Or maybe the fans are nicer in Denver than they are in the rest of the country. Either way, people would have been pissed. . .but they won, so they're not (and to anyone who regularly bets for/against the Broncos, now you know). This just proves yet again that the only difference between a bad idea and a good idea is whether it worked. Kudos to Cutler, again, for keeping the party going under the circumstances. . .

Eli Manning and the NY Giants beat the St. Louis Rams. zzzzz. Which leads me to the real point of this post . . .


BRING ON MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!






*Severe sarcasm, in case you're new here.

Timeout for T.O.

Every time Terrell Owens opens his mouth, I cringe. I don't care if he's talking about his charity (does he have one? Hopefully he does), you just never know what he might say. Scratch that. You know what he's going to say, you just don't know who he's going to offend.

This time the target was Donovan McNabb - again - in anticipation of the Dallas Cowboys Monday meeting against the Philadelphia Eagles (Can't wait for that one!) Choice excerpts:

"I will say that Donovan made me a better receiver in Philadelphia, but I think Donovan would have a hard time admitting I made him a better quarterback," he said.

Owens also suggested their problems were the result of McNabb being insecure about Owens' popularity surpassing that of the quarterback, saying, "I remember being in that stadium and hearing them chanting my name, and that couldn't bode well for Donovan."

Owens said he has a unique relationship with the Cowboys' Tony Romo because the quarterback "gets me" in a way none of the others ever did.

Owens also said he honestly does not believe what happened in Philly was his fault.

Owens says in many ways he still feels like a kid from a small town in Alabama with something to prove.

When asked about how it seemed Philly dominated the NFC East when he was an Eagle, much as the Cowboys are doing now, Owens suggested it was largely because he had changed teams. "The common denominator was me being in both places, but I will let you make that assessment," he said.

Part of me says this is just showmanship, talking trash to get more hype for the game. But the tone of his words are just . . . ugly. There's a way to hype up the game without taking multiple shots directly at McNabb. Just once, I wish he would take the high road. What happened to that note he left on his locker that time? Bring that back.

Let me be clear. I like T.O. I just recalled that I won autographed pictures of him and McNabb at an auction once. He is clearly talented, one of the best receivers, and is always entertaining, but he has to be hurting himself in the endorsement area (and likely elsewhere) because his personality is just not that likable. People say "he may be an a****** but at least he keeps it real." Maybe it's good that he feels he can be himself, but when "yourself"is mean-spirited and holds a grudge for years on end, perhaps you ought to think about being someone else for a change.

Vince Young Is Normal

I was going to do a run-down but this story deserves a little more attention. So this is it for today. I'll be back tomorrow with others. Sleep is for the weak . . .

"This story" is the one about Vince Young's mental stability. After Young disappeared "abruptly" and "without a cell phone" for a few hours on Monday night, his concerned family contacted his team, the Tennessee Titans, who then contacted the police. The police located Young at a friend's house not long after they began searching for him. It was later discovered that the family's concerns were "unfounded," and the Titans are now trying to sweep the matter under the rug.

Apparently, the cops noted that there was an unloaded handgun in Young's vehicle (I'm guessing it's a truck), but Young's agent said he had known his whereabouts all along.

By way of background, on Sunday, Young was booed by his own fans and ended up coming out of the game (which the Titans won) early - some say he took himself out because of his poor performance - with an injured knee. It looks like he might be out for at least a few weeks if not a month.

Young's mother made some statements indicating that her son is having a tough time with it all:

"What would you think, if you were tired of being ridiculed and persecuted and talked about and not being treated very well, what would you do? What kind of decision would you make?'' Young's mother Felecia Young told The Nashville Tennesssean on Tuesday. "He may not want to deal with it [all], but you have to get to that point before you make that decision first.

"But we're not talking about football right now. We're talking about what would make him happy, and that is the most important thing. ... You don't want people to be hurting like he is. But it is a growing-up process, and he will eventually come out like gold no matter what. But Vince is going to be OK. We are just going to try and give him some space."

Hmm. Well, it sounds like the kid has a lot more going on than meets the eye.

He actually came to my church one time and spoke about meeting his goals and how his faith had helped him get to where he was. I recall him talking about going through setbacks and just realizing that it was all a part of the plan to make him better. I talked to him briefly afterward, he seemed like a nice guy.

The high pressure on professional athletes doesn't receive much attention these days, and quarterbacks get it the worst. They are pretty much sitting ducks for criticism every single day while they are in season, and at least monthly when the season is over. Unless you're a doctor or have some other job on which lives depend, most of us go to our jobs and no one cares that much if we don't perform perfectly. Not the professional athlete. We expect them to not have any issues (other than injuries) and - especially when it comes to QB's - they're always to be tough. So then they turn to other (de)vices when they don't have an outlet, like sex, drugs/alcohol, etc. - you know, the "normal" outlets.

"He's fine. There's nothing to be concerned with," says his coach, Jeff Fisher.

Really? I'm not convinced. I know his agent is just trying to protect his investment, and his coach wants to calm things down, but if his family is worried about him to this degree, maybe they ought to be concerned. Since most of the sports world and writers are male, it should not be surprising that they aren't comfortable with the idea that Young might need help. Our society just won't accept the idea of an alpha male who can't work everything out by himself. There's no crying in baseball - or any other sport, for that matter. And if you think it's difficult for a layman to show vulnerability, weakness in a professional football player is pretty much a no-no . . .

. . . unless you're Brett Favre. He surpassed likable and reached lovable status because he has pretty much always risen to the occasion, no matter what was going on in his personal life (including playing the game of his life the day after his dad passed away). And while many people will remember how he performed in the face of adversity, Favre showed great vulnerability when he admitted that he was addicted to painkillers. But I don't think that the addiction receives as much press when his triumphs are mentioned, and my guess would be because we're still not entirely comfortable acknowledging that our hero succumbed to a weakness and was unable to control himself. But I think there was also a sense of relief that he struggles just like you and I do, which just made him that much more endearing. Kudos to him for being strong enough to admit his troubles (although perhaps he didn't really have much of a choice).

Unfortunately, the unspoken rule in all this is that Brett Favre can afford to be more vulnerable because he was already "Brett Favre" when trouble occurred, and he remained "Brett Favre" after they went away. A less revered player (read: pretty much anyone other than Tom Brady) whose vulnerabilities occur before he's "made" it, and might affect his chances of ever making it? Someone, somewhere, is calling him that other name for a cat as I type.

Oh, they'll write novels about the story of how you almost lost it all . . . after you get it all back. Redemption is what sports are all about. But while you're still losing it? They're just writing you off.

So while there aren't too many examples these days of vulnerability in sports (one noted exception came today, ironically, which ESPN deemed the result of "dedication") much less football, if something really is wrong with Vince Young, I certainly hope that he and others around him are strong enough to do something about it. But he shouldn't be written off as a headcase or mentally unstable - or worse, a spoiled brat (I won't even link to that one but I will note that just because he plays sports for a living and his life appears to be more fun than yours doesn't mean he needs to just "suck it up.").

He's in one of the most high-pressure jobs there is. So perhaps he's having some trouble adjusting to life in the NFL where he's not necessarily performing like he did at the University of Texas. That's OK. All is not lost.

I'm pulling for you, Vince . . . on the field and off.

Running From City To City

So much excitement in the world of sports, just over the weekend. I wish I had another person to write for me, but thus far, it's just me (if you want to guest blog, let me know!) So that means not enough time to cover everything. My selection:

1. Exciting first weekend in the NFL. My brief observations: Brett Favre looks good in his new suit, eh? Did he really call them "New Yorkians"? As I told Novak Djokovic, I'm available for American culture lessons...Way to go Aaron Rodgers, even doing the "Lambeau Leap" like that other guy. Keep winning, they'll forget all about him...More and more the NFL seems like it stands for "Not For Long" with all of these significant injuries on day one, including Brady, Vince Young, Nate Burleson, at least 15 others. What gives?...What happened to the Colts?...The Philadelphia Eagles, and more specifically, Donovan McNabb, look very good...St. Louis looks...the same. And with the Lions performance, that makes two of them...Kudos, though, to Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan. Keep winning, they'll forget all about him...Happy to see Jay Cutler (with his Denver Broncos) doing well in his first regular season game since learning he has diabetes. Very much looking forward to seeing how the rest of this season shakes out, and I don't even have a fantasy team. Go figure.

2. U.S. Open wins by Roger Federer and Serena Williams. I love seeing people (around) my age still getting it done. Serena's final was much more interesting than Fed's, but the best matches were definitely played in their quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively. Each got a "milli"* and a half for their efforts and regained their respective perch at the top of the rankings - Fed, of course, not having left that long ago. This is a huge deal for Serena though, hence the high racquet throw at the end of the match. Her win effectively silences all of the critics who said her and her sister weren't dedicated to the game. They don't need to do what everyone else does. They're really just that good. And so is that Oreo commercial featuring the Williams sisters vs. the Manning brothers (see video in right corner). I love the concept but must admit I'd prefer it was for something healthy like, PowerBar, rather than Double Stuf Oreos. Ah, well.

3. I am really curious to know what in the world Monta Ellis did to his ankle that would cause him to lie to the Golden State Warriors about its cause. He claimed he hurt it playing basketball, but then it was discovered that he tore his deltoid ligament and had multiple scrapes and scratches, "not typical of a basketball injury." I got scratched in basketball once and still have the scar on my arm to prove it, but yeah, he really should have made sure his story would check out better than this before he decided to lie. I don't know him, but I'll guess it's something silly that violates his contract like wheelies on an ATV or motorcycle, parachuting, extreme jump roping, bear-wrestling, etc. I'm kinda hoping it's one of the latter two and not any of the first three. The truth comes to the light eventually...

4. Marion Jones left prison. Sad. (Some of these news stories are a little harsh, don't you think? I don't see other admitted dopers getting treated this harshly.)

5. I saw an ad the other morning for a new show on National Geographic called Dogtown: Saving the Michael Vick Dogs. Normally, I would think this was a great idea...if it weren't the season premiere of the Dogtown series and if it didn't include his name in the title. It seems a bit exploitative, premiering not coincidentally within a day of the Atlanta Falcon's own season. Not that I expect much out of Hollywood these days, but I thought National Geographic was different. I guess I was wrong. Why can't we let sleeping dogs lie?





*If anyone caught the MTV VMA's last night (DVR is again my new best friend!), 'Lil Wayne has officially taken over James Brown spot as the hardest working man in showbiz. The Kid Rock set confirmed it. I think his pants are the same length as the sleeves of my coat, though - he's not even sagging, he actually has them cut to only come up to his hip. What next?

"Knee" England Mourns the Loss of Its Golden Boy

Yuck. Knees really aren't supposed to bend like that.

If you're here, you've probably already heard the news that New England Patriot's QB Tom Brady is a wrap for the season. All this talk about consecutive starts, Tom always gets up, ended in the blink of an eye - or a blow to the knee.

While I'm sure this makes some teams and players happy, to any real competitor worth his salt, this should be seen for what it is: a terrible thing.

Brady's departure during the first quarter of the first game was probably the last thing anyone thought was possible - kind of like seeing Superman knocked down. Remember when he was in that foot cast gallivanting around town with Giselle? No one (including me) thought it was a realistic possibility that he was not going to play - and he did indeed play.

So yesterday, when he was screaming on the field, didn't get up, and didn't at least return to the sidelines for the rest of the game, the Patriots must have known this time was serious, but I'm sure they hadn't allowed themselves to believe he was really going to be done.

Of course, now the Patriots will have very low expectations from here on out this season, considering their backup QB, Matt Cassel, has been a groomsmen and never a groom since he was in high school. Cassel says he's ready, and he did eek out a win yesterday, but even he had to admit he's no Tom Brady. Not too many guys are, Cassel, and therein lies the significance of the loss. Ironically, I mused in a post about eleven months ago about whether it's the QB, the other players on offense, or the blocker that made the Pats so good. I guess we'll finally get our answer.

As I said before, any true competitor is upset by this. No one should want to beat the team minus its star - the win's just not as sweet when there's an asterisk after it in the minds of everyone, including the now-winner.

This reminds me of what happened to Lolo Jones (whose good looks make this an even better analogy than I had anticipated) in the Olympics a few weeks ago. In case you missed it, Jones was the far and away favorite to win the gold medal in the 100m hurdles. And for the first eight hurdles of the race, she held a commanding lead and was well on her way to a win. But, God had another plan. Instead of clearing that one like she'd done the others, her foot hit it, and - miraculously - she kept her balance but faltered enough to leave her with a seventh place finish. Had she tripped over the first hurdle, the eventual winner, Dawn Harper, might have had greater cause for celebration (at least in my book - she was quite ecstatic when she won). But Jones fell after she was way ahead, which made everyone who came behind her seem more like also-rans (pun more than apropos) than winners. Not to take anything from the medal winners, but I would much rather beat the champion than have the champion get taken out by something or someone having nothing to do with me.

So goes Brady, who also "hit the hurdle" after having already established himself as the leader in the race for the top the QB of his generation. No viable argument can be made that any QB playing today has come close to what he's done at such a young age and with such dominance, and just that fast, beating the Pats just took on a whole lot less significance.

The NFL is certainly going to be brooding for a long time. There go the ratings, the merchandise, the fans at the games of terrible teams who showed up just to see Brady and his Pats.

And finally, Brady himself. What's he going to do all year? Actually, I'm sure he'll be right there with the team as much as humanly possible for an injured person. Good thing that the football season is short so he won't have to suffer through it too long. I'm not a big Pats fan but I am sorry to see him gone, just out of the pure love of knowing I'm seeing the best of the best compete.

Oh, and there is one more greatly affected party who ESPN won't lament in the weeks to come: fantasy owners who thought they had it made in the shade when they got Brady. Good thing I waited too late to play because with my penchant for winning drawings, that probably would have been me. And this post would have been a lot less pleasant.

Here's to a speedy recovery, Tommy. We'll miss you.

But Sometimes He Does Get the Carry

More and more frequently these days, I find myself reading a story that makes me say "what the **** is wrong with people?" Today, of course was no exception.

No, I'm not talking about the message of hope spread during the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. This is a sports blog, after all.*

Recently released Detroit Lions (who for the last, oh, 20 years have provided more heartbreak than happiness to their "fans") running back Tatum Bell had seemed so welcoming to the man who he knew was replacing him - Rudi Johnson. The Lions didn't bring Johnson in just for kicks (no pun intended), so Bell knew his time was up. He helped Johnson get settled, gave him tips for living in (I know some of you might have said "surviving") Detroit, and generally didn't seem to harbor any ill will.

Now for those of you who did not have the misfortune of having Bell on your fantasy team last year, at this point, you should be saying "Ok, he sounds like a good guy." Not to say he's not (I don't know him but he seemsed nice enough) but he left something to be desired last season . . . namely, points. I think I dumped him midway through the season but not before he'd already cost me a few key wins after Maurice Jones-Drew went down. I'll leave it at Mr. Bell didn't have his best season. Hence, it surprised few that when Johnson, a former RB for the Cincinnati Bengals who has had his share of injuries but is still solid (and definitely much probably better than Bell) became available, the Lions jumped at the chance to pick him up.

Enter jealousy. I've always thought that if you are up to no good, the least you can do is scope the scene for cameras. We had a kid get suspended from school for doing something quite untoward on camera (I'll let you use your imagination but, trust me, it's way worse than you think) and to this day, I'll never understand why he didn't look up. The cameras weren't half spheres like they are now, they were giant camcorders on a tripod hanging from the ceiling. But I digress.

With the wide-spread use of cameras, people just can't lie like they used to (unless you hire the best attorneys in the country to help you lie . . . no offense to my people). Apparently Bell didn't consider this possibility when he hoisted Johnson's belongings away - apparently around the same time he was cut from the team - like a thief in the night from the Lions headquarters. Bell claims he thought that he was picking up bags for another (now former) teammate, and a woman did later return the bags (Gucci bags!), minus its contents . . . contents like Johnson's "draws" and socks, and some money and credit cards, too. For his part, Bell had this to say in his defense:

They said they got me on film taking the bags. I said, 'If you look on film, I wasn't in no hurry or nothing.' I was just going about my day," he said.

Bell said he delivered the bags to a female friend of [former teammate Victor] DeGrate's without opening them. Bell told the Free Press that he did not have anything of Johnson's and wanted to clear his name.

"I ain't no thief," Bell told the Free Press. "I ain't never been one, and I ain't never going to be one."

Note to Bell: the "Cool Hand Luke" defense is not your best move. Not surprisingly, Johnson's not buying his explanation, and was not welcoming when Bell tried to reach out to him:

"I didn't want to talk to him, but I let him know where I stand," he said.
"He knows how I feel about it, and it isn't anything positive."

Nothing nice. When I was in middle school, I temporarily carried away the school bag of my crush at the time, preventing him from doing his homework for the evening. He was mad but he got over it, and we dated afterward so it worked out for me. For Bell? Thankfully for him, Johnson decided not to snitch so this probably means "Takum" will avoid any legal troubles. It's unclear how this will affect his chances of getting picked up by another team (unlikely) or of his teammates asking him to grab their bags (yes).

I don't even know what to say about this one. It's funny and really sad at the same time. I laughed for about 10 minutes in my office when I read it but then I thought man, some (ok, a lot) of these guys just really don't grow up. These folks comments on ESPN.com didn't help. From one of those heartbroken ones I mentioned before:

Sadly, Bell now has more picks in the pre-season than our entire secondary.

And from another:

At first nobody believe it was Tatum on the surveillance footage because he
didn't get knocked down 1 yard into his escape. But then the bags slipped out of
his hands.

Quite creative. Clearly, there's some maturity issue here, and as I have said in the past (way, way, past), it's not all the player's fault. Somewhere along the line, someone let him get away with this type of behavior, and now you have a grown man seemingly acting like a child. If we don't start putting our proverbial feet down when people start acting up, this is the result. I do hope it really was a misunderstanding . . . but more than that, I want to see the tape!

*Did anyone else catch the New York Republican delegate at the RNC? In an attempt to extol the virtues of NY, he rattled off the "World Champion" Yankees (really? still?), the "soon to be" champion Mets, and forgot - until reminded by someone nearby - that the Giants *are* actual champions. ". . . and oh yeah, the Giants . . . and can't forget the Jets! We love our Jets!" Poor Eli and his Giants just can't shake that chopped liver status, even at the RNC.

How Many More?

So that "vacation" ended up being more of a hiatus that almost became permanent if not for the prodding of a few folks. So thanks to them - you know who you are. I'm now blogging on the same couch in a different state than the last time I was here. Other than that, not too much has changed. I am looking forward to September, though, because real sports finally return. I love Pardon the Interruption but I struggled to keep my interest with no sports of interest going on. That's one reason I like the fall. The other is the clothes. (Yes, I'm a woman, and I like clothes).

Now I had hoped to start it off with an interesting story, but not necessarily a tragic one. Unfortunately, life doesn't always go how we plan.

This one out of Jacksonville, Florida, home of the NFL's Jaguars, where tragedy struck over the holiday weekend when two players (one now former, since he was recently cut from the team) were involved in a shooting while waiting outside what the media is calling a "middle class neighborhood." One - Kenneth Pettway - was not hurt, the other - Richard Collier - was shot several times and is in critical but apparently stable condition. One can't help but think back on the Washington Redskins' Sean Taylor, who was killed nearly a year ago, also in Florida. I truly hope this one doesn't end like that one did.

Collier seemed to have an interesting story. After high school, thinking he didn't have the grades for college, he worked for two years at Wal-Mart. But then, he entered junior college and transferred to a Division II school where he excelled and learned the value of hard work. He never got drafted so he certainly expected to be where he was, and was probably was told he would never get where he was because of the choices he made in his life. He almost quit and went back to Wal-Mart until the Jaguars gave him his only crack at the big times, and he took it and ran with it.

I could take this and run with it, too, calling it another situation in which an athlete is in the wrong place at the wrong time, running with the wrong crowd. And that could be true. He could be another Mike Vick. It doesn't help that the storyline says that they were going to the house of women they had just met that evening.

While we don't know all of the details just yet, at the very least, we have another example of the extreme vigilance necessary to be a "have" in a sea of "have nots." But they aren't the only ones getting caught up. Right before I started writing, I caught a rare few moments of the local news and was saddened to hear about three children who lost their lives in three separate shootings this weekend, ones in which they "just happened" to be outside at the time. One of the mothers of the deceased children said she wished there was some kind of program to get these kids off the streets. (If all goes according to *my* plans in the election this year, we will.) But no program will work without buy-in from the rest of us, and buy-in means giving time to change things where we can, no matter how small. We can't get used to this, folks.

My prayers for a speedy recovery to Richard Collier.

Rundown From the Run-Down: 'Jones'ing For Some Rest

Running it down before I retire:

1. I hate to say I told you so. Actually, no, I don't. So I do have a record saying that UNC was going to receive their first check in the "L" column fairly soon. I can't say that I didn't think it would be this soon, because I did. I can say that I'm surprised they held on as long as they did. Then came the University of Maryland, with a just OK record (including losses to VCU and Ohio(?)), who exposed their defense. No fluke here, though, because Maryland coach Gary Williams enjoys a great rep as a top team slayer. And UNC is starting to enjoy a rep as a team that doesn't play D. Back to the basics for the other Williams (UNC coach Roy).

2. Speaking of holding on as long as he could, did anyone catch the Roy Jones, Jr./Felix "Tito" Trinidad fight? If you saw Jones knock out Tito twice (FYI, that second time was not a slip, he lost his balance after getting HIT. It counts.) then you know that Jones is as much a showman as he is a fighter, and I can appreciate that. He is honestly a bit of a nut, but judging by their talk post-fight (where Jones won in a unanimous decision), I think Trinidad "gets" him, so he probably didn't mind the antics as much as one might have thought. If it brings more fans to the sport, they all win. So says Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, who are, as we speak, planning a Part Deux of their last affair. Just because they get punched in the head doesn't mean they aren't shrewd businessmen.

3. Eli! In the NFC Championship game, I was sentimental for the Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre, because I wanted to see the "old-timer" defeat the odds and make a run for another Super Bowl title. But alas, the bigger underdog won and won me over, and his name is Eli Manning. Manning has finally emerged in the fastest time ever (an instant) from the shadow of big brother Peyton to make the premier national stage. I've always liked Eli because he was the "other" Manning, behind his brother and his dad, Archie, who never really got the glory even though he was a starting QB in a major sports market (the NY Giants). Reminds me of a post I once wrote. I am sure Giants fans are still reeling from the shock. The fact that exactly no one is expecting them to beat the New England Patriots has to make this that much better because Eli will still be a hero (forever, to little brothers everywhere) either way. Bravo, kiddo.

4. Serena Williams made an exit out of the Australian Open Monday night. I can't say that I watched a single point, but I've seen her play enough to get an idea of what happened. If you are not familiar with the term "unforced errors," watch a match where Serena is losing and you will hear it a lot. Why? Because when she's not making errors, this woman is virtually unstoppable, which is how she won the Australian Open crown last year as an unseeded, 81st ranked player in the world. But when she's off, she can be hard to watch. And apparently she was pretty off at times. She did lose to the 3rd seed, but like I said, on a good day she can dust anyone, so I'm not impressed. . .

5. In other Australian Open news, Justine Henin, the #1 ranked player in the world (yeah, I have to tell you, and that's sad. Not for you, but for tennis) is playing Maria Sharapova (a little more familiar, I hope) at 3:30 a.m. Eastern standard time on Tuesday. To some that's Tuesday morning, but I prefer to call it Monday night when it's before 5 a.m. What tennis should be calling it is a total waste of what could be the best match of the tournament.

G'day, mate!

Shake 'Em Up

This year is shaping up to be an interesting playoff series. Saturday's game featuring the Jacksonville Jaguars vs. the New Englad Patriots was predictable.

Sunday's games were anything but. This is why the NFL has an advantage in the excitement area over other sports, rivaling maybe the men's NCAA basketball tournament. No series, no second shots. One game.

Two teams who took full advantage and struck first were the San Diego Chargers (minus LT, and at the end of the game, their starting QB) and the New York Giants, who took down the Indianopolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys, respectively. Also, the defending Super Bowl champs and America's team, respectively.

I won't give much ink to this because you can find everything you need to know about the games on your big sports sites. I will say that I heard a lot of talk recently about how the Colts weren't getting much press this season despite being last year's champs . . . well, now we see why. A few key injuries here and there, but I think they'll be back.

The Cowboys? They looked pretty invincible all year, but after playing the Giants twice during the regular season, eventually it had to be the Giants turn, right? This one was still a stunner to the Cowboys, who have now gone 11 years without a playoff win. They somehow managed to score two touchdowns in the second quarter, and none in the other 3. Yeah, that was not going to get them very far. I do like seeing the other Manning (Eli) getting his time to shine. This whole "Tony Romo can go back to sunning in May-hee-co with with Jessica Simpson" story is probably not Romo's first choice. Just a guess.

Sometimes, I like to see Cinderella teams make it, but only if they have the ability to go all the way. What I hate to see (and which happens much more often than not) is the team/individual has an emotional let down after a large win, and then get blown out by a team that is not as good as the one they just beat.

Here's to the Giants beating the Green Bay Packers, and the Chargers taking out . . . the Patriots. Hey, like Kobe Bryant says, impossible is nothing.

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.