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!

His Time To Shine

I'm sure many of you watched Duke beat the UNC Tar Heels, so I won't rehash it here. But I do want to take the time to profile one particular player: Greg Paulus. Paulus had a rough season last year, struggled to find his range, his game. He is a smaller player among freakish athletes, and when he wasn't performing well, he took a lot of flak. A whole lot. I'm sure it was hard for him and his family to hear people openly discuss how awful they thought he was.

I will admit that I was in the category of people who doubted Paulus and wondered how he had made his way to Duke. From all reports, he was a gifted QB so why would he come to a sport like basketball which seems to be such a struggle?

But the mark of a real winner, a hero, if you will, is not what happens when the going is good. It's how they rise up when everyone thinks they are defeated. Think about the movies. The greatest heroes overcome adversity when all looks lost. No guts, no glory, or so the saying goes.

Despite taking a beating from the public last year, in the last few games, Paulus has shown that Coach K was not crazy when he recruited him. He has the range (did you see where he was pulling from? He was taking whatever shot he wanted and they just dropped), he has heart, and even though he makes mistakes, he has shown that he can raise the level of his game to the elitest of the elite. Which one do I value most? Heart. You can teach someone how to shoot, but heart cannot be taught. And to be clear, heart is not celebrating like crazy when the other team makes a turnover in the first 10 minutes of the game. You know who you are.

Back to Pualus, to come back out here, still given a starting role on a squad that everyone thinks is way over your head, and now make the front page of ESPN.com (that's the pic above) because of your 6-8 shooting from the 3 point line against the Tar Heels. Not only that, but because this is one of the biggest rivalries among all sports, his performance will probably make the big game preview reels for years to come.

While there is no telling what the future holds for Paulus, I for one am happy to see the guy who people least expect rising to the challenge when everyone counted him out. That's two in one week: Eli Manning and now Paulus.

Who's got next?

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!

They May Be #1, But Will They Finish #1?

Has anyone else noticed how close UNC's games have been lately? Yeah they've squeaked out wins, so perhaps they deserve to be highly ranked, but I'm not sure about #1. Wednesday night's game against Georgia Tech, who is at the bottom of the ACC barrel and has a losing record, nearly pulled off a win against the still-undefeated Tar Heels had a few more calls gone their way.

Maybe these teams are just getting up for UNC. But in a one-and-done format like the NCAA tournament, I don't see them going all the way. Their offense can struggle if Hansbrough gets shut down inside, they don't have "the long arms of the law" Brandan Wright in there, and I haven't seen much defending on the perimeter when they face good shooters. Remember I said this.

MYSM: Crank Dat

Of the 7.5 million versions of "people" trying to do the "Soulja Boy," I think the bear may get #1 in ability. The rest of them look like the Michael Jackson's Thriller video.* Forget the mascot that looks like a Reese's peanut butter cup, all I want to know is what team has a crayon as a mascot?

Here's the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team - projected to be tops in the nation - doing a few things, including cranking 'dat (jump ahead to about 9:10). I think I see Tyler Hansbrough in the background doing his best to live up to the stereotype. Nice to see these guys and the coaches having fun with the fans, though.

* Just teasing if you clicked on that link. Here's the real video. Coincidentally, the look-a-like move is also at the 9:10 mark. Greatest video of all time.

College Basketball Preview #2: UNC Tar Heels

Well I started it off with Duke since I was headed to the game (which I did attend, and will discuss as soon as I receive the pictures. Ahem.)

Now we'll turn to the consensus #1 team, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. The Tar Heels have no "true" freshmen (one redshirt freshman in Will Graves), as coach Roy Williams unbelievably didn't recruit any players this year. With a line up like this, I guess he didn't see the need.

Returning are Tyler "we've got a bleeder" Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Deon Thompson, who will likely fill the (long-armed) void left by Brandan Wright's jump to the NBA. Hansbrough, Lawson, and Ellington all already average in double figures (Thomspon had some nice minutes off the bench), and Hansbrough's the consensus #1 in the AP's pre-season All-American poll.

The Tar Heels let it slip away against Georgetown in the last Final Four, but now, with the rare combo (as explained below) of the experience of playing together and talented players, this looks like it could be a good (maybe "the") year for them.

Now for my commentary: I think Hansbrough's attends the J.J. Redick school of overrated players. It's not really his fault, though. He's a decent basketball player, but not really what I'd call athletic on the floor - at all.

ESPN's panel of "experts" overwhelmingly picked Hansbrough as the top All-American and the Player of the Year, with an O.J. Mayo and Roy Hibbert thrown in for good measure. But, he's got a supporting cast that has come to play, which will make the difference to UNC's success this season. With Hansbrough and Lawson, two potential lottery picks in the '07 NBA Draft, coming back, that is huge in a league where most college basketball teams get decimated each year because of the one-year of out of high school rule that the NBA has adopted.

On a side note, I'm not a fan of the one-year rule at all. I think it should either be two years or none at all, with my preference being the latter. One year is not enough to do much of anything, and while it may be good for the player to have a year of experience, it messes up the cohesion of the college team. Two years gives the team some time to gel, and a sense of working and building on a higher level. On the other hand, I'm not really for restricting a person's options. There are so many reasons why a player wants to go to the league out of high school, I say let them.

The bottom line is that these guys have been there, done that, just a few months ago, and they have the benefit of that perspective now. As I said with Duke before, never underestimate a team that expects to win.