February 2008 - Posts
Bobby Knight loved to express his disdain of sports journalists and often said that if he ever needed a brain transplant, he’d want one from a sportswriter because he knew it had never been used.
Too bad he won’t be able to use that line anymore. And it’s not just because now he is a member of the media, but because journalism has rules against plagiarism, and Knight stole that line from former Eagle quarterback Norm Van Brocklin.
I’m not saying ESPN should not have hired Knight; the man does know college basketball as well as anyone alive, and if he can bring himself to criticize his coaching buddies, he could be a great analyst. But it would be nice if the network would at least acknowledge that it once had a problem with him and explain why the guy who busted a dedicated and honest reporter would now be welcomed into the fold.
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I don’t agree that often with commissioners of sports leagues, but I’m with them on this one. Congress has no business getting involved in running their drug-testing programs.
The heads of the four major team sports leagues – MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL – were hauled down before a congressional subcommittee on Wednesday, and not the same one that so recently hosted Roger Clemens. You’d think one would be enough to straighten out something that’s not broken, but you’d be wrong. If it’s worth doing at all in Washington, it’s worth overdoing. If only they’d be that vigilant about their other business.
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At the risk of beating a maimed horse that refuses to die, I can’t stop thinking about Sen. Arlen Specter’s Captain Ahab-like obsession with the NFL’s Spygate, which even the Patriots’ most fervent opponents say is dead and buried. The reason I can’t help thinking about it is because of a recent blithe assertion by Troy Vincent, president of the NFL Players Association, that human growth hormone (HGH) is not a problem in the league.
Specter’s crusade continues to draw headlines. Vincent’s statement, lacking any evidence, barely elicited a comment. However, because he said it, the subcommittee that can’t resist calling in sports bigwigs to talk about performance-enhancing drugs has called another round of hearings. This time with representatives from both labor and management of each of the four major professional sports leagues. But Vincent wasn’t mentioned and he’s not on the list of witnesses.
These three developments all came about independently. To Congress, they’re not related, and that’s the problem: They should be.
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Barry Bonds hasn’t retired and is ready to play ball right now. He hasn’t said that publically, because he’s way too busy feeling sorry for himself to have time to do anything so common as speak for himself.
So Bonds sent his agent, Jeff Borris, out to spread the word: the greatest home-run hitter of all time (performance-enhanced division) is available. So far, there are no takers, and there don’t look to be any. He’s old, he’s slow, and there’s a federal indictment hanging over his head. Oh, and people aren’t happy with the allegations of steroid and HGH use, either.
Just sign a minor league contract. Prove he can still play. Show them how much he wants it.
It worked for Rickey Henderson.
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Far be it from me to suggest that a U.S. Senator could be influenced by such petty concerns as money. But if you’re scratching your head trying to figure out why Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican, is so interested in the NFL’s Spygate scandal, you could – just for fun – follow the money.
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I’m a golfer, and I’m pathetic. Yeah, I know, that’s redundant, like saying I’m a talk-show host, and I’m self-righteous.
This is how pathetic I am: It is three minutes to midnight and I must be up in 6 ½ hours. But I can’t go to sleep. “Caddyshack” – the unedited version – is on HBO Zone. It’s got adult language and nudity. Nudity! And golf! Does it get any better than this?
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Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest centers ever to play the game. I don’t think there’s any argument about that, and it was confirmed 11 years ago when he was chosen as one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time. So why is he going to his fourth team, having been traded by two teams that didn’t see themselves winning anymore with him playing center?
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When you win a game, the animosity is supposed to stop. Afterwards, no matter what you think of your opponents, you congratulate them on their effort, tell the world what worthy foes they were, and act with the dignity befitting a champion.
I kind of wish the Giants would catch on. There’s no call for them to be kicking the Patriots now that they’re down. New England didn’t diss the Giants before Super Bowl XLII, and whatever talk there was on the field goes down as part of the game. Afterwards, I didn’t hear the Pats whining that the Giants were lucky or undeserving in any way, or that they still thought they were the better team.
The Giants, though, wouldn’t let it rest. They gloated after the game, and two days later, when they were collecting their keys to the City of New York (And that and $6 will get across the George Washington Bridge.), Michael Strahan leaped high in the air, come down with a two-footed stomp on the dais, and told the cheering crowd that’s what his team did to the Pats – “We stomped you out.” CONTINUED >>
The guys in the home office wanted me to check in today with a recap of all the craziness of Super Bowl Week. This was something we’d planned all week, and now here we are on deadline, and the realization is setting in that if there’s been craziness, I’ve missed it.
It could be being billeted in a hotel out by the airport, far from the madding crowd. Whatever loopiness is going on in the downtown hotel lobbies has had to get along without me. But I think it’s more a case of Super Bowl Week not being what it used to be.
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