The NBA didn't like that everyone figured out that the Oklahoma City team name is the Thunder, so they went and registered 5 other names: Barons, Bison, Energy, Marshalls and Wind.
Barons is OK, if not sympathetic in tough economic times.
Bison is regionally appropriate, but lame.
Energy is trendy, but falls flat. ("Alternative Energy" would have been awesome.)
Wind is the worst name I have ever heard for a major pro sports team.
As for Marshalls? Let's hope the AP simply had a typo, because otherwise, the NBA registered a misspelling. It would be "Marshals," if they meant like the old lawmen of the Dust Bowl. "Marshalls" would be if they were naming the team after a famous Supreme Court Chief Justice or a down-market department store.
-- D.S.
Friday, July 25, 2008
The A-11 Offense: I'm a Little Obsessed
How long before Michael Lewis does the definitive work on this? (h/t Chandler at Deadspin, Fanhouse)
Favre to Jets: Really Really?
Remember when I had this on the site a few days ago, but took it down after a few hours? Apparently, there was something to it. Favre in New York? Yikes: And you thought the media overkill was bad before...
John Hodgman vs. Drew Magary
There is John Hodgman's brilliant list of hobo names.
And then there is Drew Magary's brilliant list of fantasy football team names ('08 edition).
As JH would say: That is all.
-- D.S.
And then there is Drew Magary's brilliant list of fantasy football team names ('08 edition).
As JH would say: That is all.
-- D.S.
Friday 07/29 A.M. Quickie:
Brawls, NFL Camping, CFB Media Days
You already saw today's big crossover-to-the-mainstream hit in the post below. Brawls are the new Josh Childress, I guess. You can see today's complete column here.
What's inside?
Mocking Nancy Lieberman.
Not mocking Ryan Braun.
Mocking Devin Hester.
Not mocking Carlos Zambrano.
Mocking Phil Fulmer.
Not mocking Ohio State.
Mocking sports-TV wannabes.
Not mocking Childress wannabes.
Everything found here.
More posts all weekend.
-- D.S.
What's inside?
Mocking Nancy Lieberman.
Not mocking Ryan Braun.
Mocking Devin Hester.
Not mocking Carlos Zambrano.
Mocking Phil Fulmer.
Not mocking Ohio State.
Mocking sports-TV wannabes.
Not mocking Childress wannabes.
Everything found here.
More posts all weekend.
-- D.S.
Column Lead Today: Minor-League Brawl
More in a bit. This can help pass the time. It'll be everywhere, shortly enough...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Sunday Morning QB Features Northwestern
I know popular belief is that I have abandoned NU fandom for Florida -- that's just not the case. I certainly celebrate when NU cracks the privileged ranks of Sunday Morning QB analysis. (And I guarantee that it had nothing to do with my laudatory post about SMQ from a couple days ago.) Between this and the program's very own full-time unaffiliated blogger (not to mention a shot at 8 wins), it truly is banner times for my alma mater. -- D.S.
07/24 Thursday A.M. Quickie:
Sabathia, Favre, Tebow, NFL Camps, More
I don't think it's unreasonable... to argue that CC Sabathia is now the front-runner for the NL Cy Young award. That's at the top of today's Sporting News column.
...To keep covering the Brett Favre story if it's going to continue having weird plot twists like Roger Goodell stepping in and Donovan McNabb getting involved.
...For Josh Childress to escape the Hawks and flee to the sunny money in Greece.
...To put Tim Tebow atop my list of the athletes who appear to handle off-field pressure jaw-droppingly... graciously.
...To question why the Army would let Caleb Campbell think that making an NFL team could allow him to defer his dream of service to our country for his dream of playing in the NFL.
...To mock LeBron's guarantee that U.S.A. Oops would win gold in Beijing. Kobe can say that (though he never would); LeBron -- and Team USA -- has no standing to make the claim.
...To celebrate the September-quality pennant-race style action at the top of both the NL East and NL Central (Hell, and NL West and AL East).
...To wait with fascination for the NBA/WNBA to come down on the folks involved in Tuesday's brawl -- especially assistant coach Rick Mahorn.
Complete column here. More later.
-- D.S.
...To keep covering the Brett Favre story if it's going to continue having weird plot twists like Roger Goodell stepping in and Donovan McNabb getting involved.
...For Josh Childress to escape the Hawks and flee to the sunny money in Greece.
...To put Tim Tebow atop my list of the athletes who appear to handle off-field pressure jaw-droppingly... graciously.
...To question why the Army would let Caleb Campbell think that making an NFL team could allow him to defer his dream of service to our country for his dream of playing in the NFL.
...To mock LeBron's guarantee that U.S.A. Oops would win gold in Beijing. Kobe can say that (though he never would); LeBron -- and Team USA -- has no standing to make the claim.
...To celebrate the September-quality pennant-race style action at the top of both the NL East and NL Central (Hell, and NL West and AL East).
...To wait with fascination for the NBA/WNBA to come down on the folks involved in Tuesday's brawl -- especially assistant coach Rick Mahorn.
Complete column here. More later.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wednesday 07/23 A.M. Quickie:
WNBA, Favre, SEC Media Day, Phils, More
Wow, it's not every random, slow summer day that you encounter the defining moment for a sports league. It certainly livens up my Sporting News column today.
But, congratulations, WNBA: You are now a league defined by a brawl involving your biggest superstars, national-TV exposure and a coach pushing a player in the middle of a melee. It's the trifecta of worst-case scenario.
Thankfully for many of you, that YouTube moment -- which will transcend the sports page and make its way to non-sports mainstream media coverage, you just watch -- eclipsed a few things I'm sure you are already sick of:
(1) Brett Favre Watch: So the Packers ARE trying to trade him? I just don't get it. The fans will be so much more irate than if the team either kept him on the bench or bullied him into staying retired.
(2) SEC Media Day, Day 1: Undoubtedly, the last thing most of you want to hear is more about Tebow Tebow Tebow. I, however, can't get enough. I will try to spare you -- for now, obviously. (But how amazing is it that CFB conference media days across the country have become the signal that the new season is here. Between this, the "preview" season, the regular season, the bowl season, the recruiting season and the spring-ball season, CFB has basically become a 10-month-of-the-year sport. That's taking a page from the NFL.)
(3) And New York-centric baseball stories: The Mets collapse to the Phillies (again!) The Yankees win their 9th straight at Yankee Stadium! Yada yada yada... how about this: The Cubs are freaking impotent offensively right now. Or that the trade deadline is coming, and don't think that the Mets loss last night won't inspire them to play for today by trading the farm for Huston Street, Matt Holliday or both.
Prediction: This new urine test for HGH will have more impact in sports over the next few years than anything else. Can you imagine what would happen if we actually had a complete accounting of how many athletes -- NFL and MLB especially -- were using HGH because they knew there wasn't an available test for it?
Not in the SN column (but should have been): Josh Childress bolts the NBA for Greece. Offended by the Hawks, wooed by Greece money, he did what few thought he'd actually go through with: He abandoned the NBA for a better deal. Harbinger or exception?
Complete SN column here, including NFL camping, USA Oops and more.
-- D.S.
But, congratulations, WNBA: You are now a league defined by a brawl involving your biggest superstars, national-TV exposure and a coach pushing a player in the middle of a melee. It's the trifecta of worst-case scenario.
Thankfully for many of you, that YouTube moment -- which will transcend the sports page and make its way to non-sports mainstream media coverage, you just watch -- eclipsed a few things I'm sure you are already sick of:
(1) Brett Favre Watch: So the Packers ARE trying to trade him? I just don't get it. The fans will be so much more irate than if the team either kept him on the bench or bullied him into staying retired.
(2) SEC Media Day, Day 1: Undoubtedly, the last thing most of you want to hear is more about Tebow Tebow Tebow. I, however, can't get enough. I will try to spare you -- for now, obviously. (But how amazing is it that CFB conference media days across the country have become the signal that the new season is here. Between this, the "preview" season, the regular season, the bowl season, the recruiting season and the spring-ball season, CFB has basically become a 10-month-of-the-year sport. That's taking a page from the NFL.)
(3) And New York-centric baseball stories: The Mets collapse to the Phillies (again!) The Yankees win their 9th straight at Yankee Stadium! Yada yada yada... how about this: The Cubs are freaking impotent offensively right now. Or that the trade deadline is coming, and don't think that the Mets loss last night won't inspire them to play for today by trading the farm for Huston Street, Matt Holliday or both.
Prediction: This new urine test for HGH will have more impact in sports over the next few years than anything else. Can you imagine what would happen if we actually had a complete accounting of how many athletes -- NFL and MLB especially -- were using HGH because they knew there wasn't an available test for it?
Not in the SN column (but should have been): Josh Childress bolts the NBA for Greece. Offended by the Hawks, wooed by Greece money, he did what few thought he'd actually go through with: He abandoned the NBA for a better deal. Harbinger or exception?
Complete SN column here, including NFL camping, USA Oops and more.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Will You Read a Blog About the NFC East?
UPDATE: Now, a new search application? You've got my attention.
ORIGINAL: Blogging by division? Hmm.
In my experience, fans consume sports blogs about a particular sport one of two ways: Hyper-locally (blogs about their team) and hyper-nationally (blogs about the sport at large). Oh, there is a third way I don't mean to diminish: Fantasy info, but that's a separate category.
I don't know if a Cowboys fan cares about the rest of the NFC East. I think they care about the Cowboys and about the NFL and about their fantasy team. Are they best-served in a division-by-division approach?
What is interesting is that this just might work for college football, which I didn't buy until a friend who runs a team-specific CFB blog convinced me otherwise, based on Rittenberg's solid work on ESPN.com's Big Ten blog so far. College football fans have a much greater interest in conference-level news -- but it's not at all comparable to division-level news for NFL fans.
In fact, in the CFB blog landscape, blogs that cover an entire conference are actually filling an existing need in the marketplace. I'm not seeing that same need for division-by-division NFL coverage. I would have been intrigued to see this approached in a "let's-win-this" way: Individual blogs for all 32 NFL teams, hosted entirely through ESPN.com.
Tangent: Why did the erstwhile Hashmarks not work where TrueHoop succeeded? Three big reasons: (1) TrueHoop was the most established and credible voice in the NBA blogosphere; Hashmarks was created from scratch. (2) Henry Abbott had a lot more experience in the blog format than Matt Mosley. (3) The NBA blogosphere was/is much more robust than the NFL blogosphere. (Hashmarks obviously also didn't fit in the new division-by-division model.)
I think fans -- certainly bloggers -- will be watching Factor No. 2 carefully: As MDS pointed out on PFT, it remains to be seen whether these print reporters can make the transition to blogging. It is very different. Hey, perhaps it will give them a greater appreciation for the form. And, god knows, mainstream media folks who "get" blogs are welcome. More than welcome -- necessary.
-- D.S.
ORIGINAL: Blogging by division? Hmm.
In my experience, fans consume sports blogs about a particular sport one of two ways: Hyper-locally (blogs about their team) and hyper-nationally (blogs about the sport at large). Oh, there is a third way I don't mean to diminish: Fantasy info, but that's a separate category.
I don't know if a Cowboys fan cares about the rest of the NFC East. I think they care about the Cowboys and about the NFL and about their fantasy team. Are they best-served in a division-by-division approach?
What is interesting is that this just might work for college football, which I didn't buy until a friend who runs a team-specific CFB blog convinced me otherwise, based on Rittenberg's solid work on ESPN.com's Big Ten blog so far. College football fans have a much greater interest in conference-level news -- but it's not at all comparable to division-level news for NFL fans.
In fact, in the CFB blog landscape, blogs that cover an entire conference are actually filling an existing need in the marketplace. I'm not seeing that same need for division-by-division NFL coverage. I would have been intrigued to see this approached in a "let's-win-this" way: Individual blogs for all 32 NFL teams, hosted entirely through ESPN.com.
Tangent: Why did the erstwhile Hashmarks not work where TrueHoop succeeded? Three big reasons: (1) TrueHoop was the most established and credible voice in the NBA blogosphere; Hashmarks was created from scratch. (2) Henry Abbott had a lot more experience in the blog format than Matt Mosley. (3) The NBA blogosphere was/is much more robust than the NFL blogosphere. (Hashmarks obviously also didn't fit in the new division-by-division model.)
I think fans -- certainly bloggers -- will be watching Factor No. 2 carefully: As MDS pointed out on PFT, it remains to be seen whether these print reporters can make the transition to blogging. It is very different. Hey, perhaps it will give them a greater appreciation for the form. And, god knows, mainstream media folks who "get" blogs are welcome. More than welcome -- necessary.
-- D.S.
Tuesday 07/22 A.M. Quickie:
Jackson, Favre, Posada, CFB Media, More
Why talk about Brett when you can talk about breasts? Yesterday's FCC ruling was a great reminder that Janet Jackson's Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" was arguably the single most memorable moment in NFL history. That leads today's SN column.
Wouldn't you rather re-visit that one last time -- call it closure -- than talk about this rumor that Brett Favre might be ending his comeback bid, because the teams the Packers were willing to trade him to were -- gasp! -- probably not contenders.
(Wait: Favre would rather NOT play than play for the Packers in anything but a guaranteed-starter role. Wow, what a team-first icon worthy of Wisconsin fans' idolation.)
Meanwhile, I love college football media days: The ACC and Big 12 picked it up yesterday, allowing for discussion of the "trendy" picks like Clemson and Texas Tech. Can you imagine a Clemson-Texas Tech BCS national title game? No? How about them in the Orange Bowl? (Miami also hosts the BCS national title game a week later.)
Ron Artest to the Pistons? It's like the Pacers-Pistons brawl at the Palace never happened. Amazing.
Jeremy Shockey to the Saints? Over-under on his first Bourbon Street incident: 4 weeks.
I'm with Black Heart Gold Pants: Iowa's Kirk Ferentz must resign -- or be fired. Immediately. And he can take the AD down with him.
Full column here, including a dip into MLB's big storylines -- Matt Holliday becomes "Met" Holliday? Hmm...
-- D.S.
Wouldn't you rather re-visit that one last time -- call it closure -- than talk about this rumor that Brett Favre might be ending his comeback bid, because the teams the Packers were willing to trade him to were -- gasp! -- probably not contenders.
(Wait: Favre would rather NOT play than play for the Packers in anything but a guaranteed-starter role. Wow, what a team-first icon worthy of Wisconsin fans' idolation.)
Meanwhile, I love college football media days: The ACC and Big 12 picked it up yesterday, allowing for discussion of the "trendy" picks like Clemson and Texas Tech. Can you imagine a Clemson-Texas Tech BCS national title game? No? How about them in the Orange Bowl? (Miami also hosts the BCS national title game a week later.)
Ron Artest to the Pistons? It's like the Pacers-Pistons brawl at the Palace never happened. Amazing.
Jeremy Shockey to the Saints? Over-under on his first Bourbon Street incident: 4 weeks.
I'm with Black Heart Gold Pants: Iowa's Kirk Ferentz must resign -- or be fired. Immediately. And he can take the AD down with him.
Full column here, including a dip into MLB's big storylines -- Matt Holliday becomes "Met" Holliday? Hmm...
-- D.S.
Monday, July 21, 2008
"Wardrobe Malfunction" Was No Big Deal
That's what the courts decided today, and it takes me back to Monday, February 2, 2004. I went back to look at what I wrote in the Quickie about Janet Jackson, but found a classic example of the "instant history" that defined the column:
In fact, I believe I was the first one -- at least the first I could find at the time -- that was willing to label the Patriots a "dynasty" after their 2 titles in 3 years. Folks would follow my lead only later -- some much later.
-- D.S.
"Best Ever?" After 2004? Wow: Remember the days when I didn't hate the Patriots?Two Words for You: Breast. Ever?
We may never see another one like that again. (I'm talking about the freshly minted Pats dynasty; what are you talking about -- JJ's freshly flashed mammary moment? Wait: You never un-paused the TiVo after the halftime show, did you?)
That's right: I said "dynasty." In our current NFL era, winning two titles in three years is more than enough of a qualifier, given the crippling salary restrictions, hyper-media scrutiny and ever-increasing league emphasis on parity.
The Pats have accomplished something a lot more impressive than the 1960s Packers, 1970s Steelers or the 1980s 49ers.
And while I'm tossing around the heresy like Tom Brady tosses clutch passes, the current 15-game winning streak -- adjusted for competitive inflation -- should be put on a pedestal to "W's" a notch above those '73 Dolphins.
In fact, I believe I was the first one -- at least the first I could find at the time -- that was willing to label the Patriots a "dynasty" after their 2 titles in 3 years. Folks would follow my lead only later -- some much later.
-- D.S.
Sunday Morning QB Giveth Another Lesson
This is a fantastic example of why Matt from Sunday Morning QB is the best and brightest. SMQ and EDSBS are the best one-two punch in any sport, whether mainstream or bloggish.
Selfishly, I would hate to see SMQ Matt get scooped up by a mainstream sports site, because I love his indie vibe (even if it is through SB Nation).
That said, if I possess any credibility with any number of the various mainstream sports sites where I had/have relationships: FOR GOD'S SAKE, SIGN THIS KID TO WRITE FOR YOU.
(Orson/Spencer has that cush gig at Sporting News already, making SMQ *the* top talent available out there, if you want someone to write uber-smartly about college football on a national scale.)
ESPN.com is loaded with CFB content already, yet they would be way better off if they had him. Meanwhile, what's everyone else's excuse?
I already noted that SI.com signed up CHFF to write about the NFL; it would be entirely in line with deals like that for SI.com to do the same thing with SMQ.
That said: He's out there for any of 'em -- FoxSports.com (which only has a massive-million-dollar vested interest in college football); Yahoo Sports (not an ideal fit, strategically, but doable); CBSSports.com (they can't JUST rely on hey-look-at-me-I'm-not-just-contrarian-but-a-d'bag-to-boot! columnists, and they too have a cross-platform investment in CFB).
Mainstream online sports media has done a really good job in the last year or so of plucking out fresh talent from the sports-blog universe. It astounds me that SMQ doesn't have a full-time deal yet.
-- D.S.
Selfishly, I would hate to see SMQ Matt get scooped up by a mainstream sports site, because I love his indie vibe (even if it is through SB Nation).
That said, if I possess any credibility with any number of the various mainstream sports sites where I had/have relationships: FOR GOD'S SAKE, SIGN THIS KID TO WRITE FOR YOU.
(Orson/Spencer has that cush gig at Sporting News already, making SMQ *the* top talent available out there, if you want someone to write uber-smartly about college football on a national scale.)
ESPN.com is loaded with CFB content already, yet they would be way better off if they had him. Meanwhile, what's everyone else's excuse?
I already noted that SI.com signed up CHFF to write about the NFL; it would be entirely in line with deals like that for SI.com to do the same thing with SMQ.
That said: He's out there for any of 'em -- FoxSports.com (which only has a massive-million-dollar vested interest in college football); Yahoo Sports (not an ideal fit, strategically, but doable); CBSSports.com (they can't JUST rely on hey-look-at-me-I'm-not-just-contrarian-but-a-d'bag-to-boot! columnists, and they too have a cross-platform investment in CFB).
Mainstream online sports media has done a really good job in the last year or so of plucking out fresh talent from the sports-blog universe. It astounds me that SMQ doesn't have a full-time deal yet.
-- D.S.
Cold Hard Football Facts Debuts on SI.com
Congrats to Kerry Byrne and the Cold Hard Football Facts crew for their new content deal with SI.com. Here is the first piece, and it is right in CHFF's wheelhouse. CHFF has always been one of the best NFL sites out there, and it's a really good deal for them to extend their visibility and authority.
Meanwhile, I just got a copy of Pro Football Prospectus (and it's only mid-July!), which I can't wait to dig into. I'm sure I'll promote as we get closer to the start of the NFL season, but based on their previous must-read work (book AND, obviously, the FootballOutsiders site), it has to be considered a must-have for any fan (and available now... in mid-July!)
So, let's see: If you're an NFL fan, you've got KSK, MJD's Shutdown Corner at Yahoo, Drew's weekly at Deadspin, CHFF, FO, PFT, MDS at Fanhouse and whatever site(s) you use for your local fandom. Who needs mainstream NFL media opinion commentary again?*
-- D.S.
(* - I obviously exclude mainstream beat writers from this. Without their original reporting, the commentariat -- mainstream, blog or in-between -- are stuck with little... well, little besides what we actually perceive on the field for ourselves without mediation, which isn't insubstantial.)
Meanwhile, I just got a copy of Pro Football Prospectus (and it's only mid-July!), which I can't wait to dig into. I'm sure I'll promote as we get closer to the start of the NFL season, but based on their previous must-read work (book AND, obviously, the FootballOutsiders site), it has to be considered a must-have for any fan (and available now... in mid-July!)
So, let's see: If you're an NFL fan, you've got KSK, MJD's Shutdown Corner at Yahoo, Drew's weekly at Deadspin, CHFF, FO, PFT, MDS at Fanhouse and whatever site(s) you use for your local fandom. Who needs mainstream NFL media opinion commentary again?*
-- D.S.
(* - I obviously exclude mainstream beat writers from this. Without their original reporting, the commentariat -- mainstream, blog or in-between -- are stuck with little... well, little besides what we actually perceive on the field for ourselves without mediation, which isn't insubstantial.)
Monday 07/21 A.M. Quickie:
Norman, Taylor, Angels, NL East, More
If you were playing Family Feud and the category was "Reasons People Watch Sports on TV," I would imagine that "novelty" and "nostalgia" would both rank pretty high.
Given the hoopla around Greg Norman's surge to Sunday (and ultimate failure to win...insert obligatory "again"), the latter was in full effect -- the former, not so far off.
Norman leads today's Sporting News column, though I'm still fleshing out the depth of this "novelty"/"nostalgia" thing -- it's huge, but I'm just not sure how huge.
Meanwhile, nothing spices up the start of NFL Training Camps like a fairly noteworthy trade: Jason Taylor -- now known more for his interest in an off-field career in entertainment than his interest in on-field destruction -- to the Redskins.
The deal robs us of the awkward relationship between Parcells and Taylor in Miami -- on the other hand, it provides a marquee stage for the Taylor saga in one of the NFL's most intense markets.
In MLB, I was torn between leading with the compelling stuff at the top of the NL East (Mets gain a tie with the Phillies! Marlins right behind them!) and the compelling stuff at the top of the AL (Angels sweep Red Sox...meaning...nothing as it relates to October!) Of course, I end up inserting the Yankees' winning streak -- meh.
I'm sort of bummed that the NBA Summer League in Vegas is over, although if they're retiring jerseys for summer-league play (Nate Robinson), I think we've all overstayed the welcome. Jerryd Bayless was MVP for his uncanny scoring ability; Kevin Love wins my MVP -- he had way more to prove here than Bayless did.
Oklahoma City Thunder? OK: It could have been much worse.
That and so much more in today's SN column, found here.
More later. (Oh, and Orson over at EDSBS succinctly wraps up the s--tstorm brewing at Iowa. Something is very wrong if Ferentz and the AD aren't fired over this.)
-- D.S.
Given the hoopla around Greg Norman's surge to Sunday (and ultimate failure to win...insert obligatory "again"), the latter was in full effect -- the former, not so far off.
Norman leads today's Sporting News column, though I'm still fleshing out the depth of this "novelty"/"nostalgia" thing -- it's huge, but I'm just not sure how huge.
Meanwhile, nothing spices up the start of NFL Training Camps like a fairly noteworthy trade: Jason Taylor -- now known more for his interest in an off-field career in entertainment than his interest in on-field destruction -- to the Redskins.
The deal robs us of the awkward relationship between Parcells and Taylor in Miami -- on the other hand, it provides a marquee stage for the Taylor saga in one of the NFL's most intense markets.
In MLB, I was torn between leading with the compelling stuff at the top of the NL East (Mets gain a tie with the Phillies! Marlins right behind them!) and the compelling stuff at the top of the AL (Angels sweep Red Sox...meaning...nothing as it relates to October!) Of course, I end up inserting the Yankees' winning streak -- meh.
I'm sort of bummed that the NBA Summer League in Vegas is over, although if they're retiring jerseys for summer-league play (Nate Robinson), I think we've all overstayed the welcome. Jerryd Bayless was MVP for his uncanny scoring ability; Kevin Love wins my MVP -- he had way more to prove here than Bayless did.
Oklahoma City Thunder? OK: It could have been much worse.
That and so much more in today's SN column, found here.
More later. (Oh, and Orson over at EDSBS succinctly wraps up the s--tstorm brewing at Iowa. Something is very wrong if Ferentz and the AD aren't fired over this.)
-- D.S.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sunday 07/20 (Very) Quickie
All eyes on Greg Norman: Story of the day. What makes it especially great is that there are only two very dramatic outcomes: Norman wins (OMG) or Norman loses (yet again).
If he loses, Norman will be given credit merely for making it interesting at this point of his career, when he hasn't been relevant for more than a decade. On the other hand, what does it say about the state of golf in a world without Tiger when the only thing that can ratchet the drama is to lean on nostalgia for a guy who hasn't been a factor in 15 years. (Golf in 2008: It's all about... 1986! Cripes: It's like the NBA.)
With the time difference, it's odd that this will be decided by early afternoon, rather than the usual East Coast bias of having Sunday sports culminate in the late afternoon.
MLB Studs: Marlins/Phillies as series of the weekend? FLA staves off 2 Burrell HR to close with 2 G of NL East lead... Dan Haren beats the Dodgers... Are the Rays back? 2 straight wins, yesterday over Halladay (thanks to Garza and Longoria)...
NFL: Redskins camp opens. Zorn will be analyzed like a presidential candidate...
Favre Watch: If there was awkwardness at that banquet last night where both Favre and Ted Thompson were in attendance, there isn't much to report about it...
Rams agree to a deal with 1st-round draftee Chris Long...
NBA Summer: Jerryd Bayless owns Vegas (36 pts)... Kevin Love limited to 10/9 in limited minutes...
-- D.S.
If he loses, Norman will be given credit merely for making it interesting at this point of his career, when he hasn't been relevant for more than a decade. On the other hand, what does it say about the state of golf in a world without Tiger when the only thing that can ratchet the drama is to lean on nostalgia for a guy who hasn't been a factor in 15 years. (Golf in 2008: It's all about... 1986! Cripes: It's like the NBA.)
With the time difference, it's odd that this will be decided by early afternoon, rather than the usual East Coast bias of having Sunday sports culminate in the late afternoon.
MLB Studs: Marlins/Phillies as series of the weekend? FLA staves off 2 Burrell HR to close with 2 G of NL East lead... Dan Haren beats the Dodgers... Are the Rays back? 2 straight wins, yesterday over Halladay (thanks to Garza and Longoria)...
NFL: Redskins camp opens. Zorn will be analyzed like a presidential candidate...
Favre Watch: If there was awkwardness at that banquet last night where both Favre and Ted Thompson were in attendance, there isn't much to report about it...
Rams agree to a deal with 1st-round draftee Chris Long...
NBA Summer: Jerryd Bayless owns Vegas (36 pts)... Kevin Love limited to 10/9 in limited minutes...
-- D.S.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Can I Still Invest In Brandon Jennings?
Fascinating article in the New York Times today about Brazilian entrepreneurs who invest in young soccer talent, then earn returns based on future earnings (mainly transfer fees).
It makes me wish that I had advanced that theory on behalf of Brandon Jennings.
Jennings should have found a couple of high-net worth investors to fund his year between high school and the NBA, in exchange for an equity stake in his all-but-certain future earnings.
The finance jocks can help me with my math here, but let's just throw some numbers on this concept: Jennings signed a deal with that Italian team for a reported $600,000.
Here's another option: I would have offered him $250,000 for a 10 percent stake of all future earnings in his first 4 years of the NBA, not including shoe deals or other endorsements (which could be big, per Rovell). That gives Jennings a sort of "post-money valuation" of $2.5 million. Not bad for a player who has yet to play a single minute of college or pro basketball.
Assuming that in his year off -- funded by my $250,000 (plus any other equity stakes he might sell off) -- he trains exclusively for the NBA and rightfully ascends to a Top 5 pick (let's say No. 5).
Now, Jennings would earn $10.5M over his first 4 years (first 3 guaranteed, 4th as an option). My $250,000 investment for my 10 percent stake would yield me roughly $1M, a tidy 4X return on my original investment.
Meanwhile, Jennings gets to keep $9M of his salary, plus all of his endorsement money PLUS any contract he signs after his first 4-year deal, which -- if he turns out to be the star I think he will be -- would be huge.
Why would Jennings sell me a stake of his equity? Because for him during this year off, perhaps that $250,000 up front as financial security -- among other things, to finance his NBA training in the U.S. -- might be more appealing to him than spending it in European exile.
If he is as good as he presumably thinks he'll be -- and that I, as the investor, think he'll be -- then it's a great deal for both of us.
(By the way, I originally thought about offering the $250K using more onerous VC-style terms, particularly given that I was willing to give up endorsement income and any income beyond the first 4 years of his NBA career: I would invest $250K not for a 10 percent stake, but a 25 percent stake, which would have yielded a 10x return on my original investment. As an intellectual exercise, I'm modest in my ROI expectations.)
If Jennings really wanted to break the mold, he wouldn't have simply just made it about skipping college to train for the NBA Draft abroad, but he would have made it a very legitimate opportunity to sell equity in his NBA future. Hmm: Maybe one of the players next year...
-- D.S.
It makes me wish that I had advanced that theory on behalf of Brandon Jennings.
Jennings should have found a couple of high-net worth investors to fund his year between high school and the NBA, in exchange for an equity stake in his all-but-certain future earnings.
The finance jocks can help me with my math here, but let's just throw some numbers on this concept: Jennings signed a deal with that Italian team for a reported $600,000.
Here's another option: I would have offered him $250,000 for a 10 percent stake of all future earnings in his first 4 years of the NBA, not including shoe deals or other endorsements (which could be big, per Rovell). That gives Jennings a sort of "post-money valuation" of $2.5 million. Not bad for a player who has yet to play a single minute of college or pro basketball.
Assuming that in his year off -- funded by my $250,000 (plus any other equity stakes he might sell off) -- he trains exclusively for the NBA and rightfully ascends to a Top 5 pick (let's say No. 5).
Now, Jennings would earn $10.5M over his first 4 years (first 3 guaranteed, 4th as an option). My $250,000 investment for my 10 percent stake would yield me roughly $1M, a tidy 4X return on my original investment.
Meanwhile, Jennings gets to keep $9M of his salary, plus all of his endorsement money PLUS any contract he signs after his first 4-year deal, which -- if he turns out to be the star I think he will be -- would be huge.
Why would Jennings sell me a stake of his equity? Because for him during this year off, perhaps that $250,000 up front as financial security -- among other things, to finance his NBA training in the U.S. -- might be more appealing to him than spending it in European exile.
If he is as good as he presumably thinks he'll be -- and that I, as the investor, think he'll be -- then it's a great deal for both of us.
(By the way, I originally thought about offering the $250K using more onerous VC-style terms, particularly given that I was willing to give up endorsement income and any income beyond the first 4 years of his NBA career: I would invest $250K not for a 10 percent stake, but a 25 percent stake, which would have yielded a 10x return on my original investment. As an intellectual exercise, I'm modest in my ROI expectations.)
If Jennings really wanted to break the mold, he wouldn't have simply just made it about skipping college to train for the NBA Draft abroad, but he would have made it a very legitimate opportunity to sell equity in his NBA future. Hmm: Maybe one of the players next year...
-- D.S.
Saturday 07/19 (Very) Quickie
Choi vaults Norman for lead at British Open: Norman is THE story there; worth tracking today...
Favre Watch: Packers prez Mark Murphy backs McCarthy and Thompson. Like he was going to side with Favre? It would be nice if the Packers management would just say, "We won't trade him. Period." Then let Favre react. Meanwhile, Favre and Thompson are supposed to be at the same banquet tonight: Awk-waaaard!
MLB Studs: CC Sabathia (CG 4-hitter, 1 ER, 10 Ks -- um, that's his 2nd straight CG W)... Garrett Anderson (HR, 5 RBI in LAA W over BOS)... Bronson Arroyo (8 IP in Reds W over Mets, snapping NYM 10-G W streak)... Why are the Cardinals in the NL playoff chase? Partly because Ryan Ludwick has 22 HR (and Rick Ankiel does, too)... Rays finally end L streak...
NBA: Jazz lock up Deron Williams. (Of course they did -- he's only the 2nd-best PG in the NBA)
NBA Summer: I think Wilson Chandler (31 pts) is going to like it in Mike D'Antoni's offense... Joey Dorsey (22 and 13) outshines Donte Greene... Jason Thompson: 20 and 10...
More NFL: New Jags WR Jerry Porter will be out for the entire preseason with a hammy injury; let's take bets now how gimpy this makes him for the regular season.
-- D.S.
Favre Watch: Packers prez Mark Murphy backs McCarthy and Thompson. Like he was going to side with Favre? It would be nice if the Packers management would just say, "We won't trade him. Period." Then let Favre react. Meanwhile, Favre and Thompson are supposed to be at the same banquet tonight: Awk-waaaard!
MLB Studs: CC Sabathia (CG 4-hitter, 1 ER, 10 Ks -- um, that's his 2nd straight CG W)... Garrett Anderson (HR, 5 RBI in LAA W over BOS)... Bronson Arroyo (8 IP in Reds W over Mets, snapping NYM 10-G W streak)... Why are the Cardinals in the NL playoff chase? Partly because Ryan Ludwick has 22 HR (and Rick Ankiel does, too)... Rays finally end L streak...
NBA: Jazz lock up Deron Williams. (Of course they did -- he's only the 2nd-best PG in the NBA)
NBA Summer: I think Wilson Chandler (31 pts) is going to like it in Mike D'Antoni's offense... Joey Dorsey (22 and 13) outshines Donte Greene... Jason Thompson: 20 and 10...
More NFL: New Jags WR Jerry Porter will be out for the entire preseason with a hammy injury; let's take bets now how gimpy this makes him for the regular season.
-- D.S.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Greg Norman Leads The British Open?
This would qualify as the most unlikely event of the season in sports -- and that's just him leading through 2 rounds, let alone winning the thing.
Let's not get carried away here: Even if Norman wins the British Open, it wouldn't eclipse the Giants beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl. (It would eclipse Tiger winning the US Open.)
Middle-aged sportswriters and pundits freaking out over this, please consider that when Norman last won the British Open, any sports fan under the age of 25 would have no recollection.
-- D.S.
Let's not get carried away here: Even if Norman wins the British Open, it wouldn't eclipse the Giants beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl. (It would eclipse Tiger winning the US Open.)
Middle-aged sportswriters and pundits freaking out over this, please consider that when Norman last won the British Open, any sports fan under the age of 25 would have no recollection.
-- D.S.
Newest Obsession: Wordle
Friday 07/18 A.M. Quickie:
Mets, Skins, Love, MMA, More
Blitzed this morning trying to get out the door. Here is the link to today's SN column. More later. -- D.S.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Thursday 07/17 A.M. Quickie:
Slow, Favre, MLB, Love, Tiger, More
Between yesterday morning's post-ASG/Favre/Clemens storylines and this morning, very little happened. The Wednesday after the MLB All-Star Game is, regularly, among the slowest sports days of the year -- if not THE slowest.
I have written a daily sports column for five and a half years; it was never particularly lacking for material. I always looked to this day -- rather than the obvious, "big" days -- as the true test of the "daily" gimmick: Is there enough to fill a column?
You can see today's results here. (No, I couldn't bring myself to go back and find the URLs for every preceding year from the Quickie on the day after the MLB All-Star Game.) Are there items that might not necessarily make the cut on other days? Totally. Did it still generate a good 10-15 storylines on the radar this morning? Absolutely.
It's either a good thing or a horribly bad thing that the Favre story continues to be top of the headlines, the latest being this "Vikings tamper" charge. As I write in the column, at some point, Packers fans need to have the self-respect to turn on Favre: He was openly talking with the O.C. of your rival about bolting the Pack and joining the Vikings.
Meanwhile, it will be hard for MLB's 2nd half to be much better than its 1st half; I'd be happy with the status quo being sustained through October.
And here's the story from the NBA Summer League in Vegas: Kevin Love is the real deal -- by far the best rebounder in the Summer League, and -- quite possibly -- ready to become one of the best rebounders in the NBA, immediately.
Full column here. More later.
-- D.S.
I have written a daily sports column for five and a half years; it was never particularly lacking for material. I always looked to this day -- rather than the obvious, "big" days -- as the true test of the "daily" gimmick: Is there enough to fill a column?
You can see today's results here. (No, I couldn't bring myself to go back and find the URLs for every preceding year from the Quickie on the day after the MLB All-Star Game.) Are there items that might not necessarily make the cut on other days? Totally. Did it still generate a good 10-15 storylines on the radar this morning? Absolutely.
It's either a good thing or a horribly bad thing that the Favre story continues to be top of the headlines, the latest being this "Vikings tamper" charge. As I write in the column, at some point, Packers fans need to have the self-respect to turn on Favre: He was openly talking with the O.C. of your rival about bolting the Pack and joining the Vikings.
Meanwhile, it will be hard for MLB's 2nd half to be much better than its 1st half; I'd be happy with the status quo being sustained through October.
And here's the story from the NBA Summer League in Vegas: Kevin Love is the real deal -- by far the best rebounder in the Summer League, and -- quite possibly -- ready to become one of the best rebounders in the NBA, immediately.
Full column here. More later.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Obligatory 2008 ESPY Picks
Some habits die hard...
Male Athlete: Kobe Bryant (What, no Tebow?)
UPDATE: It was Tiger, obviously.
Female Athlete: Candace Parker
Team: New York Giants
Championship Performance: Tiger at 2008 US Open
Breakthrough Athlete: Stephen Curry
Record-Breaking Performance: Barry Bonds
Upset: Giants over Pats
Moment: Softball sportsmanship
Game: Super Bowl XLII
Play: Manning-to-Tyree
Sports Movie: Not voting (Protest)
Coach: Tom Coughlin
Finish: Western Kentucky
NFL Player: Tom Brady
NBA Player: Kobe Bryant
MLB Player: A-Rod
NHL Player: Alex Ovechkin
Male College Athlete: Tim Tebow
Female College Athlete: Candace Parker
Finding a nominee list is a p.i.t.a. Submit your picks in the Comments.
-- D.S.
Male Athlete: Kobe Bryant (What, no Tebow?)
UPDATE: It was Tiger, obviously.
Female Athlete: Candace Parker
Team: New York Giants
Championship Performance: Tiger at 2008 US Open
Breakthrough Athlete: Stephen Curry
Record-Breaking Performance: Barry Bonds
Upset: Giants over Pats
Moment: Softball sportsmanship
Game: Super Bowl XLII
Play: Manning-to-Tyree
Sports Movie: Not voting (Protest)
Coach: Tom Coughlin
Finish: Western Kentucky
NFL Player: Tom Brady
NBA Player: Kobe Bryant
MLB Player: A-Rod
NHL Player: Alex Ovechkin
Male College Athlete: Tim Tebow
Female College Athlete: Candace Parker
Finding a nominee list is a p.i.t.a. Submit your picks in the Comments.
-- D.S.
Wednesday 07/16 A.M. Quickie:
ASG, Clemens, Favre, Bonds, Camby, More
It truly is a remarkably grim day in sports (even in my always-perky SN column) when the headlines are dominated by the Big Three of Can't-We-Stop-Talking-About-This:
Roger Clemens: Had HGH delivered to his house, and Kirk Radomski has the receipts to prove it. Not sure why this is coming out now, but it doesn't look good for Rocket. At all.
Brett Favre: Hates Packers management and seems to think threats of attending minicamp should scare them. As long as the Packers don't blink, Favre should be scared.
Barry Bonds: As a Yankee?!?! (Here's the thing: The Yankees should totally do it. In fact, they are complete idiots if they don't do it. Like they'll be fazed by a media circus?)
See: All three are designed for maximum annoying over-coverage. This is our problem today, friends. They're all in today's Sporting News column, but subordinated to MLB:
It would have been a lot easier if the All-Star Game had ended before freaking 1:30 a.m. ET. Did you stay up for the finish? Because I sure as hell didn't. At least it wasn't a tie.
Meanwhile, in the NBA, you can mock all sorts of fan bases for having teams that have basically decided to phone it in this season -- but you have to feel for Nuggets fans.
Denver gave away Marcus Camby for the Clippers' $10 million trade exception. If it wasn't for the thrill of watching AI, this team has just given its fans nothing to bother rooting for.
I appreciate the bold move by the Clippers to shore up their post play; I'm slightly confused how Camby and Kaman will play together, but it has to be better than the alternative.
Belated congrats to the Ballhype team of Jason and Erin Gurney, who sold their site to Future US, who will take Ballhype's traffic and turn it into advertising revenue.
Ballhype is arguably the greatest start-from-scratch entrepreneurial success story of the sports-blog world. Enjoy that reported $3M purchase price, Gurneys. You've earned it.
-- D.S.
Roger Clemens: Had HGH delivered to his house, and Kirk Radomski has the receipts to prove it. Not sure why this is coming out now, but it doesn't look good for Rocket. At all.
Brett Favre: Hates Packers management and seems to think threats of attending minicamp should scare them. As long as the Packers don't blink, Favre should be scared.
Barry Bonds: As a Yankee?!?! (Here's the thing: The Yankees should totally do it. In fact, they are complete idiots if they don't do it. Like they'll be fazed by a media circus?)
See: All three are designed for maximum annoying over-coverage. This is our problem today, friends. They're all in today's Sporting News column, but subordinated to MLB:
It would have been a lot easier if the All-Star Game had ended before freaking 1:30 a.m. ET. Did you stay up for the finish? Because I sure as hell didn't. At least it wasn't a tie.
Meanwhile, in the NBA, you can mock all sorts of fan bases for having teams that have basically decided to phone it in this season -- but you have to feel for Nuggets fans.
Denver gave away Marcus Camby for the Clippers' $10 million trade exception. If it wasn't for the thrill of watching AI, this team has just given its fans nothing to bother rooting for.
I appreciate the bold move by the Clippers to shore up their post play; I'm slightly confused how Camby and Kaman will play together, but it has to be better than the alternative.
Belated congrats to the Ballhype team of Jason and Erin Gurney, who sold their site to Future US, who will take Ballhype's traffic and turn it into advertising revenue.
Ballhype is arguably the greatest start-from-scratch entrepreneurial success story of the sports-blog world. Enjoy that reported $3M purchase price, Gurneys. You've earned it.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Michael Wilbon. Dan Shanoff. Billy Packer.
Michael Wilbon. Dan Shanoff. Billy Packer. Let's go.
Start with this: Everyone is entitled to like or dislike a sports-TV analyst. That’s an inalienable right of fandom. We all have the analyst who we don’t mind as much as others. That said, there are some analysts for whom there is a near-universal dislike.
Michael Wilbon likes listening to Billy Packer; the rest of us, not so much.
Caveat: I like Michael Wilbon’s work (although I think even he would admit that his columns have changed since he started doing full-time TV work). In fact, I grew up on his Washington Post columns; I would call Wilbon’s work influential on me as a wee would-be journalist. I even followed Wilbon to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, from which we are both extremely proud alums. During my erstwhile Around the Horn career a few years ago, I even sat in Wilbon’s chair – the exhilarating symbolism of the moment wasn’t lost on me.
In fact, it was a nice little thrill for me that in his Washington Post column today, Wilbon quoted from my Sporting News column yesterday about Billy Packer. Here is the part he quoted, that Packer:
That said, I believe most fans agree with me. A 70-year-old called me to congratulate me on the mention – and agree with me. It probably won’t surprise you that tons of 20- and 30-something bloggers posted and readers emailed, agreeing with me, too.
In fact, when I wrote it, it hardly seemed like a controversial position. So, faced with Wilbon’s alternative argument, I did want to give him the respect of an acknowledgement and engage in an interactive response to his argument.
Strangely (or perhaps appropriately), Wilbon opens up with the litany of reasons that Packer was entirely “excrutiating” to listen to:
*Packer made implicitly and explicitly racist comments (which Wilbon fairly points out that Packer appeared to have worked on later in his career);
*Packer was an open misogynist (which Packer didn’t appear to feel the need to change and Wilbon side-stepped with all but a superficial mention);
*Packer hated Cinderella (seriously: how can you live college hoops and hate small-conference teams and unlikely winners?);
*Packer hated the NBA (not unconscionable, but rarely backed up by anything but spite).
That’s not my analysis, mind you -- that’s Wilbon’s acknowledgement. And other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?
Wilbon then delivered a series of qualitatively derived (and entirely arguable) findings, a few of which I wanted to point out (with an obligatory nod to Fire Joe Morgan, which pioneered and perfected this style of commentary):
“Nobody has been as good at explaining and analyzing a college basketball game.”
On straight analysis, particularly in making it accessible, I would take Jay Bilas over Billy Packer. I would take Bill Raftery over Billy Packer. I would take Doris Burke over Billy Packer. It was often hard to understand his analysis through the loathing.
“His very presence at a game lifted its importance.”
I’m pretty sure that the Final Four or even the weekly NBC or CBS “Game of the Week” would be an “important” game without Packer being there. That’s called correlation without causation.
“You knew he loved college basketball but he didn't come to the microphone with pom-poms.”
Wilbon is obviously talking about Dick Vitale here, which is a totally separate issue. Although it is very possible that Packer came to view himself as a one-man campaign to correct – or over-correct, as it were – to the see-no-evil boosterism of Vitale, who eclipsed Packer as the presumptive authority of the sport.
Because of that, Packer was entirely about seeing evil: Every play was second-guessed, whether a coach or a player. Almost every issue -- happy or not -- earned an Edward G. Robinson/Chief Clancy Wiggum-style: “Nyah!”
But here’s the crux of my problem with Packer: No, in fact you DIDN’T know he loved college basketball. At all.
In fact, if you were new to the game, you might watch him and ask, “Why is that man so angry?” That’s why rather than go with the instantly marginalized descriptor: “Sucks,” I went with “Joyless.”
Because Packer’s joylessness was at the root of why so many fans didn’t like him. You can be imperious in your analysis yet still exude even the slightest sense that you actually love the game. Wilbon and I can disagree, but I just didn’t see that love of the game from Packer, and many more fans likely agree with my perspective.
It was probably most on display in 2006, when Packer went nutjob irate during the Selection Show over the number of mid-major teams included – including… wait for it... George Mason. He then spent the next two weeks using his platform to continue to rip the selections; even his eventual, forced compliments were back-handed, begrudging.
Cripes: How can you love college basketball but hate Cinderella? (Answer: You can’t.)
“When it came to X's and O's, timeouts, strategies, philosophies, what coaches should do next, Packer was a bit Hubie Brown, an insider who simplified every situation for the viewer with authority.”
If talking down to the viewer and projecting an unceasing “I-know-more-than-the-coaches-or-players” attitude counts as “authority.” (And, by the way, the flip side of Packer’s 33-year broadcasting career is that he was hardly an "insider" in the mold of Hubie. He was a career TV analyst – his college career was eons ago, his coaching career…um, hunh?)
“I'd gladly put up with all of Packer's agendas and his affiliations because when he sat to call a game he threw himself into it and made the experience better for anybody who cared about the game.”
Nice try: The implication here is that if you didn’t like Packer’s style, you didn’t really care about the game. Two can play at that game, Wilbon: I’d argue that if you didn’t recognize how insufferable he was – how little joy he brought to the experience – you didn’t really care about the game.
“That he wasn't a warm and fuzzy creature probably shouldn't count against Packer ultimately.”
Why not? Isn’t part of the role of the analyst to make the game accessible? And doesn’t accessibility, in part, derive from an emotional connection to the viewer?
So, now, let me try to make sense of this, because there does seem to be a schism between the Wilbons (and other industry and media insiders) and everyone else, particularly younger viewers, which turns out to be the key:
The disconnect feels generational.
Wilbon grew up on the legendary college hoops TV team of Billy Packer, Dick Enberg and Al McGuire. I have only seen a handful of clips and clip shows, but it feels like McGuire -- perhaps the greatest college hoops analyst of all time, the perfect combination of insight and pathos – was the perfect counterbalance to Packer’s joylessness.
McGuire masked -- or at least mitigated -- Packer's essential nature. (In fact, Packer was most human and humane when he talked about McGuire.)
I suspect that Wilbon remembers THAT Packer in a different light than the rest of us, who merely knew him as the stand-alone analyst, unchecked in his pronouncements and increasingly curmudgeonly as the landscape beneath him shifted from his supreme rule to a Vitalicized world to the universe of opinions we have now.
(It is worth noting that Packer would have never survived his “tough monkey” moment in the mid-90s if it had happened today. It remains as unforgivable now as it was then, and – whether you choose to remember Packer fondly, as Wilbon does, or not, like me, “tough monkey” will be Packer’s lasting legacy, along with "George Mason?!?!")
Again, Wilbon and I can agree to disagree. I suspect that more people agree with me, by a wide margin, and I am glad Wilbon gave my perspective a mention in his column, because I think more people read it and said, “Yes, he WAS totally joyless!” than they will be won over by Wilbon’s more sympathetic take.
At least Wilbon and I can agree that Northwestern football is due for a fun bowl season this year. I'll meet you at the bowl game, Mike, and the first toast is on me. Just don't expect me to toast Billy Packer's career -- unless we're talking about its conclusion.
-- D.S.
Start with this: Everyone is entitled to like or dislike a sports-TV analyst. That’s an inalienable right of fandom. We all have the analyst who we don’t mind as much as others. That said, there are some analysts for whom there is a near-universal dislike.
Michael Wilbon likes listening to Billy Packer; the rest of us, not so much.
Caveat: I like Michael Wilbon’s work (although I think even he would admit that his columns have changed since he started doing full-time TV work). In fact, I grew up on his Washington Post columns; I would call Wilbon’s work influential on me as a wee would-be journalist. I even followed Wilbon to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, from which we are both extremely proud alums. During my erstwhile Around the Horn career a few years ago, I even sat in Wilbon’s chair – the exhilarating symbolism of the moment wasn’t lost on me.
In fact, it was a nice little thrill for me that in his Washington Post column today, Wilbon quoted from my Sporting News column yesterday about Billy Packer. Here is the part he quoted, that Packer:
“[W]asn't just a curmudgeon; he was joyless, which made listening to him excruciating. His ouster is a great day for college hoops fans."Wilbon disagrees with me, emphatically. Again, on matters of sports-TV taste, we can all disagree.
That said, I believe most fans agree with me. A 70-year-old called me to congratulate me on the mention – and agree with me. It probably won’t surprise you that tons of 20- and 30-something bloggers posted and readers emailed, agreeing with me, too.
In fact, when I wrote it, it hardly seemed like a controversial position. So, faced with Wilbon’s alternative argument, I did want to give him the respect of an acknowledgement and engage in an interactive response to his argument.
Strangely (or perhaps appropriately), Wilbon opens up with the litany of reasons that Packer was entirely “excrutiating” to listen to:
*Packer made implicitly and explicitly racist comments (which Wilbon fairly points out that Packer appeared to have worked on later in his career);
*Packer was an open misogynist (which Packer didn’t appear to feel the need to change and Wilbon side-stepped with all but a superficial mention);
*Packer hated Cinderella (seriously: how can you live college hoops and hate small-conference teams and unlikely winners?);
*Packer hated the NBA (not unconscionable, but rarely backed up by anything but spite).
That’s not my analysis, mind you -- that’s Wilbon’s acknowledgement. And other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?
Wilbon then delivered a series of qualitatively derived (and entirely arguable) findings, a few of which I wanted to point out (with an obligatory nod to Fire Joe Morgan, which pioneered and perfected this style of commentary):
“Nobody has been as good at explaining and analyzing a college basketball game.”
On straight analysis, particularly in making it accessible, I would take Jay Bilas over Billy Packer. I would take Bill Raftery over Billy Packer. I would take Doris Burke over Billy Packer. It was often hard to understand his analysis through the loathing.
“His very presence at a game lifted its importance.”
I’m pretty sure that the Final Four or even the weekly NBC or CBS “Game of the Week” would be an “important” game without Packer being there. That’s called correlation without causation.
“You knew he loved college basketball but he didn't come to the microphone with pom-poms.”
Wilbon is obviously talking about Dick Vitale here, which is a totally separate issue. Although it is very possible that Packer came to view himself as a one-man campaign to correct – or over-correct, as it were – to the see-no-evil boosterism of Vitale, who eclipsed Packer as the presumptive authority of the sport.
Because of that, Packer was entirely about seeing evil: Every play was second-guessed, whether a coach or a player. Almost every issue -- happy or not -- earned an Edward G. Robinson/Chief Clancy Wiggum-style: “Nyah!”
But here’s the crux of my problem with Packer: No, in fact you DIDN’T know he loved college basketball. At all.
In fact, if you were new to the game, you might watch him and ask, “Why is that man so angry?” That’s why rather than go with the instantly marginalized descriptor: “Sucks,” I went with “Joyless.”
Because Packer’s joylessness was at the root of why so many fans didn’t like him. You can be imperious in your analysis yet still exude even the slightest sense that you actually love the game. Wilbon and I can disagree, but I just didn’t see that love of the game from Packer, and many more fans likely agree with my perspective.
It was probably most on display in 2006, when Packer went nutjob irate during the Selection Show over the number of mid-major teams included – including… wait for it... George Mason. He then spent the next two weeks using his platform to continue to rip the selections; even his eventual, forced compliments were back-handed, begrudging.
Cripes: How can you love college basketball but hate Cinderella? (Answer: You can’t.)
“When it came to X's and O's, timeouts, strategies, philosophies, what coaches should do next, Packer was a bit Hubie Brown, an insider who simplified every situation for the viewer with authority.”
If talking down to the viewer and projecting an unceasing “I-know-more-than-the-coaches-or-players” attitude counts as “authority.” (And, by the way, the flip side of Packer’s 33-year broadcasting career is that he was hardly an "insider" in the mold of Hubie. He was a career TV analyst – his college career was eons ago, his coaching career…um, hunh?)
“I'd gladly put up with all of Packer's agendas and his affiliations because when he sat to call a game he threw himself into it and made the experience better for anybody who cared about the game.”
Nice try: The implication here is that if you didn’t like Packer’s style, you didn’t really care about the game. Two can play at that game, Wilbon: I’d argue that if you didn’t recognize how insufferable he was – how little joy he brought to the experience – you didn’t really care about the game.
“That he wasn't a warm and fuzzy creature probably shouldn't count against Packer ultimately.”
Why not? Isn’t part of the role of the analyst to make the game accessible? And doesn’t accessibility, in part, derive from an emotional connection to the viewer?
So, now, let me try to make sense of this, because there does seem to be a schism between the Wilbons (and other industry and media insiders) and everyone else, particularly younger viewers, which turns out to be the key:
The disconnect feels generational.
Wilbon grew up on the legendary college hoops TV team of Billy Packer, Dick Enberg and Al McGuire. I have only seen a handful of clips and clip shows, but it feels like McGuire -- perhaps the greatest college hoops analyst of all time, the perfect combination of insight and pathos – was the perfect counterbalance to Packer’s joylessness.
McGuire masked -- or at least mitigated -- Packer's essential nature. (In fact, Packer was most human and humane when he talked about McGuire.)
I suspect that Wilbon remembers THAT Packer in a different light than the rest of us, who merely knew him as the stand-alone analyst, unchecked in his pronouncements and increasingly curmudgeonly as the landscape beneath him shifted from his supreme rule to a Vitalicized world to the universe of opinions we have now.
(It is worth noting that Packer would have never survived his “tough monkey” moment in the mid-90s if it had happened today. It remains as unforgivable now as it was then, and – whether you choose to remember Packer fondly, as Wilbon does, or not, like me, “tough monkey” will be Packer’s lasting legacy, along with "George Mason?!?!")
Again, Wilbon and I can agree to disagree. I suspect that more people agree with me, by a wide margin, and I am glad Wilbon gave my perspective a mention in his column, because I think more people read it and said, “Yes, he WAS totally joyless!” than they will be won over by Wilbon’s more sympathetic take.
At least Wilbon and I can agree that Northwestern football is due for a fun bowl season this year. I'll meet you at the bowl game, Mike, and the first toast is on me. Just don't expect me to toast Billy Packer's career -- unless we're talking about its conclusion.
-- D.S.
Tuesday 07/15 A.M. Quickie:
Hamilton, Morneau, Favre, Packer, More
The "eh-it-wasn't-THAT-great" backlash has already begun this morning, but I stand by last night's instant reaction that Hamilton's Round of 28 was totally thrilling -- not just for the 28 HRs themselves, but the context of the moment. Cripes, even Yankees fans were cheering for him. That is a true signal of a transcendent, unifying moment in sports that maintain their memorability.
Hamilton, of course, leads today's Sporting News column, but there's a lot more:
*Why Justin Morneau got the shaft.
*Why Van Susteren is the new Mortenson.
*Why Packer's ouster isn't ALL good news.
*Why Donte Greene is the new OJ Mayo.
*Why sports bloggers get depressed.
There's a lot more, including a Last Word about the new MLB campaign to promote their playoffs, featuring some actor pretending to be a...blogger.
It's nice recognition, obviously, but they got a bunch of details wrong, including the lack of obvious self-loathing, the lack of any reference to Erin Andrews and the lack of the blast email saying, "LINK TO ME!"
More later, because if you're going to get name-checked in a Michael Wilbon column on one of the slowest days of the sports year, a response is more than appropriate. Coming later.
-- D.S.
Hamilton, of course, leads today's Sporting News column, but there's a lot more:
*Why Justin Morneau got the shaft.
*Why Van Susteren is the new Mortenson.
*Why Packer's ouster isn't ALL good news.
*Why Donte Greene is the new OJ Mayo.
*Why sports bloggers get depressed.
There's a lot more, including a Last Word about the new MLB campaign to promote their playoffs, featuring some actor pretending to be a...blogger.
It's nice recognition, obviously, but they got a bunch of details wrong, including the lack of obvious self-loathing, the lack of any reference to Erin Andrews and the lack of the blast email saying, "LINK TO ME!"
More later, because if you're going to get name-checked in a Michael Wilbon column on one of the slowest days of the sports year, a response is more than appropriate. Coming later.
-- D.S.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Josh Hamilton is ABSURD
28 home runs in the 1st round of the HR Derby (on 54 pitches by the ageless 71-year-old Clay Counsil) in one of the most thrilling live sports moments I have witnessed in a long time. Utterly amazing. -- D.S.
Monday 07/14 A.M. Quickie:
Favre, All-Stars, Derby, Packer, More
In theory, this Brett Favre story should be a fun one to follow. In reality -- like many of these "all-hands-on-deck, 24/7" stories -- it is dragging the fan experience down.
In the lead item of today's Sporting News column, I laid out what I think is my final answer:
*Favre has every right to come back.
*The Packers should welcome him back.
*The Packers shouldn't trade him for anything.
*Let Favre sit on the bench... or stay retired.
*To re-emphasize: The Pack should NOT trade him.
With that out of the way, I'm going to try to avoid the Favre story as much as is reasonable -- especially when there is such a juicy other story to revel in:
Billy Packer is out at CBS. This is huge: The guy was there forever -- too long, actually. My biggest problem with him, as I said in the column and have said for a while, is that he is utterly joyless. I'm not asking that he act like Dick Vitale; I'm only asking he not act like he hates the game and everyone participating in it.
Meanwhile, we've hit the MLB All-Star Break. Oh, how a few weeks changes things: The Rays have lost 7 straight and have fallen out of 1st in the AL East -- terrible timing, with the break to think about it; the Mets have won 9 straight and are .5 GB the NL East lead -- terrible timing, with the break to think about it.
Count me among those who enjoy the HR Derby -- although I watch it with the DVR, not live. And on mute, for obvious reasons. I'm rooting for Braun; I wouldn't mind seeing Hamilton win; I suspect that Chase Utley WILL win. How's that for hedging?
Full SN column here. More coming later.
-- D.S.
In the lead item of today's Sporting News column, I laid out what I think is my final answer:
*Favre has every right to come back.
*The Packers should welcome him back.
*The Packers shouldn't trade him for anything.
*Let Favre sit on the bench... or stay retired.
*To re-emphasize: The Pack should NOT trade him.
With that out of the way, I'm going to try to avoid the Favre story as much as is reasonable -- especially when there is such a juicy other story to revel in:
Billy Packer is out at CBS. This is huge: The guy was there forever -- too long, actually. My biggest problem with him, as I said in the column and have said for a while, is that he is utterly joyless. I'm not asking that he act like Dick Vitale; I'm only asking he not act like he hates the game and everyone participating in it.
Meanwhile, we've hit the MLB All-Star Break. Oh, how a few weeks changes things: The Rays have lost 7 straight and have fallen out of 1st in the AL East -- terrible timing, with the break to think about it; the Mets have won 9 straight and are .5 GB the NL East lead -- terrible timing, with the break to think about it.
Count me among those who enjoy the HR Derby -- although I watch it with the DVR, not live. And on mute, for obvious reasons. I'm rooting for Braun; I wouldn't mind seeing Hamilton win; I suspect that Chase Utley WILL win. How's that for hedging?
Full SN column here. More coming later.
-- D.S.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Sunday 07/13 (Very) Quickie
Advantage: Packers. OK, Brett, you can un-retire. But we won't release you, and we won't start you. Enjoy the scout team, MF'er.
It's a good strategy -- their only strategy. Keep him on the team and make HIM look like the asshole for wanting to abandon the team to start somewhere.
In fact, I don't know why the Packers would ever decide to trade Favre, rather than keep him on the bench. (1) The fans will mutiny. (2) Even a 3rd-round pick in return isn't worth that kind of grief. (3) Isn't it fair to guess that Rodgers just might get hurt during the season?
So I keep hearing all this talk about them not releasing him, but considering trading him. And I say: Why in the world would they do that?
MLB: Harden's debut a gem -- 5 IP, 10 K, Cubs win (eventually)... A-Rod: More career HRs than Mantle... Shane Victorio: Where were those 2 HR when I needed them in fantasy earlier this season... Ervin Santana: 10K shutout... Who had Ryan Ludwick with 20+ HR at the All-Star Break?
Matt Jones: Not my coke! (Right.)
NBA Summer Rookies:
Stud: OJ Mayo: 26 pts (9/19 FG)
DJ Augustin: 14 pts, 2 ast
Eric Gordon: 15 pts (4/10 FG)
Sonny Weems: 17 pts
Marreese Speights: 14 pts, 5 reb
Dud: Joe Alexander: 7 pts (2/13 FG)
-- D.S.
It's a good strategy -- their only strategy. Keep him on the team and make HIM look like the asshole for wanting to abandon the team to start somewhere.
In fact, I don't know why the Packers would ever decide to trade Favre, rather than keep him on the bench. (1) The fans will mutiny. (2) Even a 3rd-round pick in return isn't worth that kind of grief. (3) Isn't it fair to guess that Rodgers just might get hurt during the season?
So I keep hearing all this talk about them not releasing him, but considering trading him. And I say: Why in the world would they do that?
MLB: Harden's debut a gem -- 5 IP, 10 K, Cubs win (eventually)... A-Rod: More career HRs than Mantle... Shane Victorio: Where were those 2 HR when I needed them in fantasy earlier this season... Ervin Santana: 10K shutout... Who had Ryan Ludwick with 20+ HR at the All-Star Break?
Matt Jones: Not my coke! (Right.)
NBA Summer Rookies:
Stud: OJ Mayo: 26 pts (9/19 FG)
DJ Augustin: 14 pts, 2 ast
Eric Gordon: 15 pts (4/10 FG)
Sonny Weems: 17 pts
Marreese Speights: 14 pts, 5 reb
Dud: Joe Alexander: 7 pts (2/13 FG)
-- D.S.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Saturday 07/12 Quickie: Favre Coming Back
Brett Favre is coming back to the NFL. Just not with the Packers.
He wants his release from the team -- he isn't part of the team's plans for 2008 or beyond, unless you count "jersey retirement ceremony" -- and it ensures two things:
(1) He will be playing in the NFL this season.
(2) He will not be playing with the Packers.
This conjures up all sorts of issues:
(1) Who will he play for? (Who wants him? Who needs him? And what jersey will he be wearing on the cover of Madden 09, which is coming out one month from today?)
I could totally see him staying in the division -- heresy! -- and playing for either the QB-challenged Bears or QB-challenged Vikings, both of whom might be one All-Pro unretired QB from competing for the NFC title.
UPDATE: It's important to distinguish between his outright release -- which could trigger the Doomsday Scenario of him landing within the NFC North -- or a trade, where the Packers could ship him out of sight (or at least to the AFC). Imagine the insanity if he joins Bill Parcells in Miami.
(2) How will Packers fans react? (Badly, I'm assuming. Not only is their football god coming back and NOT playing for them, but the team is perceived to have run him off.)
Aside from ruining Aaron Rodgers' psyche forever, I don't understand why the Packers don't bring Favre back; it seems to me that he is more meaningful to the franchise than whatever wins -- and it won't be a Super Bowl win, certainly this year, than Rodgers might deliver.
This isn't a Michael Jordan-playing-for-the-Wizards. At least there, there were a few years between his last Bulls moment and his jump to D.C. With Favre, the proverbial body isn't even cold yet.
I appreciate his interest in unretiring, by the way. Superseding my natural dislike of Favre is my long-standing rule that individual athletes -- and only the athlete themselves -- have the ultimate right to determine their own retirement fate.
Even if it has come across as -- hmm, not wishy-washy... but typical attention-whoring Favre. Celebrate me, I'm retiring! No, celebrate me, I'm unretiring!
That said, I'm quibbling: The drama that this will cause throughout the league -- from the question over who he will play for to the hell that Packers fans will go through watching him suit up for another team -- is instantly the defining storyline of the 2008 NFL season.
More:
OK, it turns out that there will be no Obama NASCAR car. That's too bad. I was all set to plunk down my $100 to be listed on the side of the car as a co-sponsor.
MLB Stud: Roy Halladay, who threw a 2-hitter to beat the Yankees. I'm sure Terry Francona was watching with great interest, in deciding which pitcher starts the ASG on Tuesday.
(For what it's worth, I am a huge proponent of this gimmick that Mariano Rivera should start the game. Hell, ASG SPs don't go more than an inning anyway. This should be a no-brainer.)
NBA Summer League intrigue:
Anthony Randolph: 30 points (!)
Eric Gordon: 23 pts (5/18 FG)
Marreese Speights: 22 and 13.
OJ Mayo: 15 points.
Darrell Arthur: 19 points (9/12 FG)
Scandal Watch: Why would Jim Bowden skim bonus money from poor prospects in the D.R.? He isn't doing well enough for himself?
Meanwhile, it doesn't surprise me that top-level MLB scouts are gambling (on baseball or anything else). It does beg the question of smoke and fire.
More later, but I would imagine that the "Favre Watch" becomes a permanent fixture within sports media between now and... oh, too long to bother figuring out.
-- D.S.
He wants his release from the team -- he isn't part of the team's plans for 2008 or beyond, unless you count "jersey retirement ceremony" -- and it ensures two things:
(1) He will be playing in the NFL this season.
(2) He will not be playing with the Packers.
This conjures up all sorts of issues:
(1) Who will he play for? (Who wants him? Who needs him? And what jersey will he be wearing on the cover of Madden 09, which is coming out one month from today?)
I could totally see him staying in the division -- heresy! -- and playing for either the QB-challenged Bears or QB-challenged Vikings, both of whom might be one All-Pro unretired QB from competing for the NFC title.
UPDATE: It's important to distinguish between his outright release -- which could trigger the Doomsday Scenario of him landing within the NFC North -- or a trade, where the Packers could ship him out of sight (or at least to the AFC). Imagine the insanity if he joins Bill Parcells in Miami.
(2) How will Packers fans react? (Badly, I'm assuming. Not only is their football god coming back and NOT playing for them, but the team is perceived to have run him off.)
Aside from ruining Aaron Rodgers' psyche forever, I don't understand why the Packers don't bring Favre back; it seems to me that he is more meaningful to the franchise than whatever wins -- and it won't be a Super Bowl win, certainly this year, than Rodgers might deliver.
This isn't a Michael Jordan-playing-for-the-Wizards. At least there, there were a few years between his last Bulls moment and his jump to D.C. With Favre, the proverbial body isn't even cold yet.
I appreciate his interest in unretiring, by the way. Superseding my natural dislike of Favre is my long-standing rule that individual athletes -- and only the athlete themselves -- have the ultimate right to determine their own retirement fate.
Even if it has come across as -- hmm, not wishy-washy... but typical attention-whoring Favre. Celebrate me, I'm retiring! No, celebrate me, I'm unretiring!
That said, I'm quibbling: The drama that this will cause throughout the league -- from the question over who he will play for to the hell that Packers fans will go through watching him suit up for another team -- is instantly the defining storyline of the 2008 NFL season.
More:
OK, it turns out that there will be no Obama NASCAR car. That's too bad. I was all set to plunk down my $100 to be listed on the side of the car as a co-sponsor.
MLB Stud: Roy Halladay, who threw a 2-hitter to beat the Yankees. I'm sure Terry Francona was watching with great interest, in deciding which pitcher starts the ASG on Tuesday.
(For what it's worth, I am a huge proponent of this gimmick that Mariano Rivera should start the game. Hell, ASG SPs don't go more than an inning anyway. This should be a no-brainer.)
NBA Summer League intrigue:
Anthony Randolph: 30 points (!)
Eric Gordon: 23 pts (5/18 FG)
Marreese Speights: 22 and 13.
OJ Mayo: 15 points.
Darrell Arthur: 19 points (9/12 FG)
Scandal Watch: Why would Jim Bowden skim bonus money from poor prospects in the D.R.? He isn't doing well enough for himself?
Meanwhile, it doesn't surprise me that top-level MLB scouts are gambling (on baseball or anything else). It does beg the question of smoke and fire.
More later, but I would imagine that the "Favre Watch" becomes a permanent fixture within sports media between now and... oh, too long to bother figuring out.
-- D.S.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Erin Andrews Homecoming, Obviously
We know which town Erin Andrews will be voting for as "Titletown." EA and I have a mutual friend. This really must yield an interview at some point.
UPDATE: Clay Travis has been doing an impressive job in his first week at Deadspin -- big shoes, Commenters relationships, mainstream-to-"underground," yada yada yada -- and I give him extra points for swallowing the non-stop Tebow coming this week.
Only 71 days until Florida at Tennessee, Clay. (He and I hung out in Gainesville during last year's Florida-Tennessee game. He walked around the tailgate area wearing a subtle yet obvious Vols polo shirt, for which he took a fair amount of curse-heavy grief.)
-- D.S.
UPDATE: Clay Travis has been doing an impressive job in his first week at Deadspin -- big shoes, Commenters relationships, mainstream-to-"underground," yada yada yada -- and I give him extra points for swallowing the non-stop Tebow coming this week.
Only 71 days until Florida at Tennessee, Clay. (He and I hung out in Gainesville during last year's Florida-Tennessee game. He walked around the tailgate area wearing a subtle yet obvious Vols polo shirt, for which he took a fair amount of curse-heavy grief.)
-- D.S.
Greatest. Homage. Ever.
This might be the best tribute I have ever seen. Ex-Commenters, I salute you!
Friday 07/11 A.M. Quickie:
Final Vote, Favre, Ryan Howard, More
I always had faith in the power of the fan vote, but the MLB Final Vote affirmed it: Evan Longoria in the AL; NOT David Wright in the NL. It's cause to celebrate, which I do in the lead of today's Sporting News column.
Meanwhile, anyone who doubted Ryan Howard back in April or even May? I presume there aren't doubters now. I don't care about his .230 BA; it's the 27 HR. Although one player, who also had a great day yesterday, remains the one I'd draft if I was starting a franchise today from scratch: Hanley Ramirez.
(Great comments question: If you were starting a team from scratch today, who would you pick? Do you agree with Hanley? Do you go another way?)
I'm getting so tired of the Brett Favre Watch: Cripes, isn't it obvious that he's coming back? This dribs-and-drabs stuff ("50/50" from his brother; "80 percent" from Pat Kirwan, whatever the hell that means). The only intrigue is whether it's with the Packers or another team. Period.
I consider tracking Michael Beasley at the Orlando Summer League to be an appetizer; the everyone-in-the-pool Vegas Summer League starts today, and there are enough names floating around that something interesting should happen every day.
Full SN column here.
Speaking of interesting, please let me know if you download the MLB At Bat app from the iTunes store and how your experience is with it. I recognize it might take a few days to get there; I'd love to cover it next week.
Have a great weekend. I'll be blogging "(Very) Quickies" all weekend right here. Back at SN and DS.com on Monday morning, as usual.
-- D.S.
Meanwhile, anyone who doubted Ryan Howard back in April or even May? I presume there aren't doubters now. I don't care about his .230 BA; it's the 27 HR. Although one player, who also had a great day yesterday, remains the one I'd draft if I was starting a franchise today from scratch: Hanley Ramirez.
(Great comments question: If you were starting a team from scratch today, who would you pick? Do you agree with Hanley? Do you go another way?)
I'm getting so tired of the Brett Favre Watch: Cripes, isn't it obvious that he's coming back? This dribs-and-drabs stuff ("50/50" from his brother; "80 percent" from Pat Kirwan, whatever the hell that means). The only intrigue is whether it's with the Packers or another team. Period.
I consider tracking Michael Beasley at the Orlando Summer League to be an appetizer; the everyone-in-the-pool Vegas Summer League starts today, and there are enough names floating around that something interesting should happen every day.
Full SN column here.
Speaking of interesting, please let me know if you download the MLB At Bat app from the iTunes store and how your experience is with it. I recognize it might take a few days to get there; I'd love to cover it next week.
Have a great weekend. I'll be blogging "(Very) Quickies" all weekend right here. Back at SN and DS.com on Monday morning, as usual.
-- D.S.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Prep for the New iPhone App Store: MLB
I wrote a few weeks ago that MLB's application for the iPhone and iPod Touch via Apple's new iTunes "app store" would be a ground-breaking killer in sports media. Valleywag (sort of) agrees, putting it in its ten must-have iPhone apps. Store launches tomorrow. Kudos, MLB. -- D.S.
(UPDATE: You can get into the App Store now, with iTunes v. 7.7. It's $4.99 for the rest of the season. And now I face the reality that I have neither the iPhone nor iPod Touch. Hey, MLB: I'm SO open to reviewing your product if you'll just ship me a new iPod Touch loaded with the new MLB app! Call me, Bob Bowman!)
(UPDATE: You can get into the App Store now, with iTunes v. 7.7. It's $4.99 for the rest of the season. And now I face the reality that I have neither the iPhone nor iPod Touch. Hey, MLB: I'm SO open to reviewing your product if you'll just ship me a new iPod Touch loaded with the new MLB app! Call me, Bob Bowman!)
Thursday 07/10 A.M. Quickie:
MLB Final Vote, Brand, Favre, R-Rod, More
The populist in me can't help but be obsessed with the MLB All-Star "Final Vote" situation, which leads today's Sporting News column.
I love that it is setting new records for votes. I love that it is discrete enough of a task that teams and fans can set up "campaign" operations. I love that there's a chance for fans to show how smart they are by picking the Rays' Evan Longoria -- and to prove doubters wrong by NOT making David Wright the automatic candidate in the NL, simply because he plays in New York. If Wright and Giambi are both shut out, the fans win.
Meanwhile, it's an open question whether Josh Hamilton is the best player in baseball right now, but his walk-off winner (off K-Rod, no less) certainly emphasizes the point.
Tomorrow, I am going to do my MLB midseason award winners, and I encourage you to submit your own choices for each league's MVP, Cy, Rookie and Manager in the comments. I'll lead tomorrow's column with it, I think. That, or Monday.
In NBA Free Agency, all of a sudden, the Sixers are the new hotness. That's what a career 20/10 post player relocated to the East will do for you. I don't blame Brand -- all money being equal, I'd bolt for the East too. Just look what it did for KG's career. He leaves the Clips (and Baron Davis) in the lurch; then again, Davis did the same thing to Golden State. The move puts the Sixers in the Top 5 in the East -- but what does that mean, exactly, when they are obviously still behind the Celtics next season... and perhaps behind the Pistons and Wizards, too.
I will repeat yesterday's sentiment: The Packers are totally screwing up the p.r. around this Favre story. Maybe they're in a no-win situation, but they certainly aren't helping themselves out with the way they're handling it.
There's a ton more in the column, including more on Brandon Jennings, more on Rich Rodriguez, more on MLB and more on the Jaguars' potential relocation. Check it out here. More later.
-- D.S.
I love that it is setting new records for votes. I love that it is discrete enough of a task that teams and fans can set up "campaign" operations. I love that there's a chance for fans to show how smart they are by picking the Rays' Evan Longoria -- and to prove doubters wrong by NOT making David Wright the automatic candidate in the NL, simply because he plays in New York. If Wright and Giambi are both shut out, the fans win.
Meanwhile, it's an open question whether Josh Hamilton is the best player in baseball right now, but his walk-off winner (off K-Rod, no less) certainly emphasizes the point.
Tomorrow, I am going to do my MLB midseason award winners, and I encourage you to submit your own choices for each league's MVP, Cy, Rookie and Manager in the comments. I'll lead tomorrow's column with it, I think. That, or Monday.
In NBA Free Agency, all of a sudden, the Sixers are the new hotness. That's what a career 20/10 post player relocated to the East will do for you. I don't blame Brand -- all money being equal, I'd bolt for the East too. Just look what it did for KG's career. He leaves the Clips (and Baron Davis) in the lurch; then again, Davis did the same thing to Golden State. The move puts the Sixers in the Top 5 in the East -- but what does that mean, exactly, when they are obviously still behind the Celtics next season... and perhaps behind the Pistons and Wizards, too.
I will repeat yesterday's sentiment: The Packers are totally screwing up the p.r. around this Favre story. Maybe they're in a no-win situation, but they certainly aren't helping themselves out with the way they're handling it.
There's a ton more in the column, including more on Brandon Jennings, more on Rich Rodriguez, more on MLB and more on the Jaguars' potential relocation. Check it out here. More later.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Ballhype Sports Blog Atlas: Shanoff Less Opinionated, More Newsy Than Schilling
This is kind of genius. (When I saw this in Vanity Fair about non-sports bloggers, which itself was a rip-off from a regular New York magazine conceit, which itself was a rip-off from Spy, I wanted to do something exactly like this. Ziller beat me to it. Awesome stuff.) -- D.S.
Wednesday 07/09 A.M. Quickie:
Jennings, Harden, Sabathia, Brand, More
And I was just saying how slow this week felt...
Loaded Sporting News column today:
As you know, I'm slightly obsessed with the Brandon Jennings story. He's officially giving up on the NCAA/NBA system in favor of Europe, and I say mazel tov, young man.
Now, Europe wouldn't be MY choice -- I would have done the shoe deal and the documentary deal and trained individually in the U.S. to get ready for being a Top 3 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
But I appreciate his intention here: Opting out of a system designed not help the "one-and-done" players reach their pro potential, but to either exploit it (NCAA) or quash it (NBA).
Anyway, I hope other players follow him next year (this year would be too much to ask for), and it forces the NBA to turn the D-League into a pro development arm for the players who need it most (and the ones who will do the most for the league) -- the "one and done" candidates.
Meanwhile, I love that on July 8 -- not even at the All-Star Break -- the Cubs and Brewers are in an arms race. The Brewers get CC Sabathia (who won his debut yesterday, naturally), so the Cubs get Rich Harden, who -- if healthy (big if) -- is every bit the ace that Sabathia could be.
And in the NBA, Elton Brand signs with the Sixers -- and (again, IF healthy) the East suddenly has one more pretty potent team. Not just "potent for the East," but very good by any measure. I think it locks Philly in as a playoff team. I'm not sure about Thaddeus Young's development curve, but you could do a lot worse than a duo of Brand and Andre Miller.
Meanwhile, the Warriors -- oozing desperation -- gave Corey Maggette a 5-year deal. With Baron gone and Brand off the table (and apparently -- mystifyingly -- no interest in Josh Smith), they had to do something, and Maggette goes from "MLE" to more millions.
Josh Smith is now a bit screwed: The Sixers were his top suitor, and are presumably out of the FA market. The Warriors don't want him. The Hawks do, but now no longer have to deal with a competitive bid from Philly. If Memphis was smart, they would sign him with all their cap room -- imagine Conley, Mayo, Gay and Smith. (Memphis isn't smart, though.)
NBA Summer League: Um, so about Michael Beasley... meanwhile, Kevin Durant makes a summer league appearance!
I have no idea what Ted Thompson is thinking. The Brett Favre story isn't about whether or not the Packers want him -- it's pretty obvious they don't. The Packers' real issue is how they handle the p.r. -- currently, badly.
It's not like they're in a good position: Not bringing him back will anger fans. Ticking him off will anger fans. Letting him go to another team (wear another team's jersey) will anger fans. Those fans won't hold it against Favre for being a traitor to his franchise and playing for another team -- that idea is 20 years stale -- but they will hold it against the team execs for letting it happen.
And, yet, Thompson does precisely the wrong thing and blunders his way through the story. Instead, he should be forcing Favre to publicly shun his Packers fan base. ("Brett, don't you want to do what's best for the Packers and their fans?")
Anyway, the full column is here.
-- D.S.
Loaded Sporting News column today:
As you know, I'm slightly obsessed with the Brandon Jennings story. He's officially giving up on the NCAA/NBA system in favor of Europe, and I say mazel tov, young man.
Now, Europe wouldn't be MY choice -- I would have done the shoe deal and the documentary deal and trained individually in the U.S. to get ready for being a Top 3 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
But I appreciate his intention here: Opting out of a system designed not help the "one-and-done" players reach their pro potential, but to either exploit it (NCAA) or quash it (NBA).
Anyway, I hope other players follow him next year (this year would be too much to ask for), and it forces the NBA to turn the D-League into a pro development arm for the players who need it most (and the ones who will do the most for the league) -- the "one and done" candidates.
Meanwhile, I love that on July 8 -- not even at the All-Star Break -- the Cubs and Brewers are in an arms race. The Brewers get CC Sabathia (who won his debut yesterday, naturally), so the Cubs get Rich Harden, who -- if healthy (big if) -- is every bit the ace that Sabathia could be.
And in the NBA, Elton Brand signs with the Sixers -- and (again, IF healthy) the East suddenly has one more pretty potent team. Not just "potent for the East," but very good by any measure. I think it locks Philly in as a playoff team. I'm not sure about Thaddeus Young's development curve, but you could do a lot worse than a duo of Brand and Andre Miller.
Meanwhile, the Warriors -- oozing desperation -- gave Corey Maggette a 5-year deal. With Baron gone and Brand off the table (and apparently -- mystifyingly -- no interest in Josh Smith), they had to do something, and Maggette goes from "MLE" to more millions.
Josh Smith is now a bit screwed: The Sixers were his top suitor, and are presumably out of the FA market. The Warriors don't want him. The Hawks do, but now no longer have to deal with a competitive bid from Philly. If Memphis was smart, they would sign him with all their cap room -- imagine Conley, Mayo, Gay and Smith. (Memphis isn't smart, though.)
NBA Summer League: Um, so about Michael Beasley... meanwhile, Kevin Durant makes a summer league appearance!
I have no idea what Ted Thompson is thinking. The Brett Favre story isn't about whether or not the Packers want him -- it's pretty obvious they don't. The Packers' real issue is how they handle the p.r. -- currently, badly.
It's not like they're in a good position: Not bringing him back will anger fans. Ticking him off will anger fans. Letting him go to another team (wear another team's jersey) will anger fans. Those fans won't hold it against Favre for being a traitor to his franchise and playing for another team -- that idea is 20 years stale -- but they will hold it against the team execs for letting it happen.
And, yet, Thompson does precisely the wrong thing and blunders his way through the story. Instead, he should be forcing Favre to publicly shun his Packers fan base. ("Brett, don't you want to do what's best for the Packers and their fans?")
Anyway, the full column is here.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
On Olbermann and Patrick's TV Reunion
Given that most sports bloggers came of age as fans during the Olbermann-Patrick era of the 11 p.m. SportsCenter -- making them one of the most influential guides to sports at the most influential time of our fan development -- it's no wonder their return (on NBC's Football Night In America show) is greeted as a big deal.
Count me among the intrigued. My question is this: Do they still have it?
"It" not just being their chemistry -- which I'm sure is still world-class -- but the wit (dare I say: snark) that made the Big Show THE show that made ESPN what it is.
We have come a long way in sports media since Keith and Dan ruled, mostly exclusively. Their brand of snark is now a commodity -- not on TV, mind you, where imitators still try (and fail) to re-create the Big Show's original awesomeness.
But certainly in blogs, that snark -- no doubt influenced by KO and DP -- abounds. As good as KO and DP might be, I will take MJD's live-blog (or whatever Drew Magary is planning for NFL coverage on Sundays this fall) for pure humor value combined with some insight.
Here is one thing they have going for them: NBC's Sunday night highlight show remains one of the last places where many fans are seeing highlights for the first time. Part of what makes weekday news shows (particularly at 6 p.m.) so weak is that by the time you see them, you have already fully digested everything in their rundown, thanks to your "workday" online.
On Sundays, however, you've spent the day following your team (real and fantasy); FNIA is the "first pass" on TV at digesting everything at once (more than the banal 2 clips per game that the Fox and CBS post-game shows might provide), and Keith and Dan get to offer it up. Their take is fresh; by Monday mid-day, it would be trite. Advantage: NBC.
Here is my suggestion to NBC and FNIA: Hand the keys to Keith and Dan and make the show about the highlights -- and their narration. Minimize the chirping from the essentially valueless "analysts" like Barber and Bettis.
If anything, ramp the "info" segments from King -- and, if they want to really do something different that adds value, layer in a "Best of the Blogs" segment that gives a real-time snapshot of how bloggers are reacting to the day in the NFL. (Hey, let Costas host THAT segment.)
Olbermann and Patrick were the original sports-tv tag-team and, still, the best. Times have changed, but their gravitational pull remains so strong that I think we're all ready to take things back to the early 90s -- when sports undoubtedly felt more fun for many of us...and KO and DP ruled.
-- D.S.
Count me among the intrigued. My question is this: Do they still have it?
"It" not just being their chemistry -- which I'm sure is still world-class -- but the wit (dare I say: snark) that made the Big Show THE show that made ESPN what it is.
We have come a long way in sports media since Keith and Dan ruled, mostly exclusively. Their brand of snark is now a commodity -- not on TV, mind you, where imitators still try (and fail) to re-create the Big Show's original awesomeness.
But certainly in blogs, that snark -- no doubt influenced by KO and DP -- abounds. As good as KO and DP might be, I will take MJD's live-blog (or whatever Drew Magary is planning for NFL coverage on Sundays this fall) for pure humor value combined with some insight.
Here is one thing they have going for them: NBC's Sunday night highlight show remains one of the last places where many fans are seeing highlights for the first time. Part of what makes weekday news shows (particularly at 6 p.m.) so weak is that by the time you see them, you have already fully digested everything in their rundown, thanks to your "workday" online.
On Sundays, however, you've spent the day following your team (real and fantasy); FNIA is the "first pass" on TV at digesting everything at once (more than the banal 2 clips per game that the Fox and CBS post-game shows might provide), and Keith and Dan get to offer it up. Their take is fresh; by Monday mid-day, it would be trite. Advantage: NBC.
Here is my suggestion to NBC and FNIA: Hand the keys to Keith and Dan and make the show about the highlights -- and their narration. Minimize the chirping from the essentially valueless "analysts" like Barber and Bettis.
If anything, ramp the "info" segments from King -- and, if they want to really do something different that adds value, layer in a "Best of the Blogs" segment that gives a real-time snapshot of how bloggers are reacting to the day in the NFL. (Hey, let Costas host THAT segment.)
Olbermann and Patrick were the original sports-tv tag-team and, still, the best. Times have changed, but their gravitational pull remains so strong that I think we're all ready to take things back to the early 90s -- when sports undoubtedly felt more fun for many of us...and KO and DP ruled.
-- D.S.
Tuesday 07/08 A.M. Quickie:
Beasley, HR Derby, Torres, Big Show, More
I totally reject the claims that Dara Torres is cheating. You know I'm pretty comfortable with skepticism, but the knee-jerk contrarianism on display is just cynicism.
I'm not going to load down this post with that argument. You can read it here at today's Sporting News column. But there were plenty of other contenders for the lead item:
(1) Michael Beasley's sick NBA debut. Doubters were so very very wrong.
As a guru of Instant History, I cannot stand the "well, it was only one game" talk. My freaking CAREER is dedicated to the idea that what happened today is the most important thing in sports. So, naturally, I would go crazy over Beasley's 28-point rampage.
Of course, I am not willing to write off Derrick Rose, even though his debut was far less intriguing or exciting. But, affirmatively, Beasley had the kind of debut that says: Um, yeah -- he's going to be a sick pro.
Given that there were obvious questions about Beasley's worthiness as the top talent in the draft, I think it's not too early to question that assumption: The doubters were wrong. The Bulls may have had a position need, but Beasley is the best talent in the draft class.
(2) Olbermann and Patrick reuniting on Football Night in America. I have a bonus post coming a little later this morning on that. (No empty promises: I wrote it last night, and it's already teed up and ready to go!)
There's a lot more in the column: On A-Rod's divorce situation, on Hiroki Kuroda (whom I gave up on in my fantasy league a month ago...d'oh!), on the amazingness of Mario Chalmers, and on why Josh Hamilton is the obvious pick to win the Home Run Derby.
Here is a link to the full Sporting News column.
Meanwhile, continuing last week's momentum for Stefan Fatsis' must-read new book, "A Few Seconds of Panic," KSK's Drew Magary weighs in with his review.
-- D.S.
I'm not going to load down this post with that argument. You can read it here at today's Sporting News column. But there were plenty of other contenders for the lead item:
(1) Michael Beasley's sick NBA debut. Doubters were so very very wrong.
As a guru of Instant History, I cannot stand the "well, it was only one game" talk. My freaking CAREER is dedicated to the idea that what happened today is the most important thing in sports. So, naturally, I would go crazy over Beasley's 28-point rampage.
Of course, I am not willing to write off Derrick Rose, even though his debut was far less intriguing or exciting. But, affirmatively, Beasley had the kind of debut that says: Um, yeah -- he's going to be a sick pro.
Given that there were obvious questions about Beasley's worthiness as the top talent in the draft, I think it's not too early to question that assumption: The doubters were wrong. The Bulls may have had a position need, but Beasley is the best talent in the draft class.
(2) Olbermann and Patrick reuniting on Football Night in America. I have a bonus post coming a little later this morning on that. (No empty promises: I wrote it last night, and it's already teed up and ready to go!)
There's a lot more in the column: On A-Rod's divorce situation, on Hiroki Kuroda (whom I gave up on in my fantasy league a month ago...d'oh!), on the amazingness of Mario Chalmers, and on why Josh Hamilton is the obvious pick to win the Home Run Derby.
Here is a link to the full Sporting News column.
Meanwhile, continuing last week's momentum for Stefan Fatsis' must-read new book, "A Few Seconds of Panic," KSK's Drew Magary weighs in with his review.
-- D.S.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Monday 07/07 A.M. Quickie: All-Star Mania, Nadal, Torres, More
Crap: Couldn't put a post up with a link to today's column before I had to jump on a flight. You know where to find it, hopefully.
Today's biggest arguments:
*Can an entire franchise receive an All-Star snub? (Yes: Rays)
*Is CC Sabathia the next Rick Sutcliffe?
*Nadal-Federer: Best. Tennis Match. Ever.
*Beasley-vs-Rose is the NBA Summer League game of the year.
*Dara Torres is utterly amazing. The haters/doubters are kind of pathetic.
More later. Head to http://www.thesportingblog.com to find today's column. Sorry for the lack of direct link.
- D.S.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Dara Torres is Ridiculous
Not sure we've ever seen anything like this before in sports.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sunday 07/05 (Very) Quickie
Dara Torres!
Chris Duhon!
Chris Duhon!
More in a bit.
- D.S.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Friday, July 04, 2008
Friday 07/04 (Very) Quickie: Happy July 4
Nothing says "America" like Serena vs. Venus in the Wimbledon final. Um, except that it's in England.
Brendan Hansen: Wow. Shocker at the Olympic swimming trials in the 200 breaststroke.
Chris Paul gets paid: $68M -- a bargain.
Red Sox stifle Yankees: One more sign the Yankees just can't compete with the Rays.
Have a hot dog. Just not 55 or 60 of 'em.
Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July, everyone. I'm trying to stay dry today.
-- D.S.
Brendan Hansen: Wow. Shocker at the Olympic swimming trials in the 200 breaststroke.
Chris Paul gets paid: $68M -- a bargain.
Red Sox stifle Yankees: One more sign the Yankees just can't compete with the Rays.
Have a hot dog. Just not 55 or 60 of 'em.
Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July, everyone. I'm trying to stay dry today.
-- D.S.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
A Few Seconds of Panic By Stefan Fatsis:
Must-Have for Your Summer Reading List
A Few Seconds of Panic by Stefan Fatsis is THE sports book of the summer -- probably the fall, too, given its NFL-focused subject. It will certainly make my short list for Best Sports Books of 2008.
The premise is simple: Fatsis goes to NFL training camp as a kicker with the Broncos. But this is no "Paper Lion" -- it's better. It's the most fascinating look at life inside the NFL that I have ever read, but also this totally engaging personal narrative by this guy who could be you or me -- certainly one of your buddies -- with an absolutely amazing story to tell. Fatsis just happens to be a uniquely gifted writer, too, who can pull it off. (He wrote the similarly must-read "Word Freak.")
I'm going to have a more extensive review next week, but if you are looking for an absolutely awesome read for this long holiday weekend -- or anytime the rest of this summer, pick up the book, either at the store or via Amazon. (And, if you're jonesing for the NFL in early July, this totally satisfies that craving.)
(Hardback books are often hard to recommend. In this case, it's one you'll want to have on your shelf long after you have enjoyed it. I actually recently reorganized my main "sports-book" bookshelf, which is large; the process of paring it down was much more involved than I thought it would be, but I had a chance to really revisit my favorite sports books of all time. As it happens, "A Few Seconds of Panic" made the cut.)
Kudos to Fatsis on an amazing effort. Get this book.
-- D.S.
(It must be noted that last December, Fatsis gave me and this blog a name-check on his weekly NPR sports segment, related to a turn-of-phrase I made about Tim Tebow breaking the Heisman's traditional "Class Ceiling." I was a fan of Fatsis long before that.)
The premise is simple: Fatsis goes to NFL training camp as a kicker with the Broncos. But this is no "Paper Lion" -- it's better. It's the most fascinating look at life inside the NFL that I have ever read, but also this totally engaging personal narrative by this guy who could be you or me -- certainly one of your buddies -- with an absolutely amazing story to tell. Fatsis just happens to be a uniquely gifted writer, too, who can pull it off. (He wrote the similarly must-read "Word Freak.")
I'm going to have a more extensive review next week, but if you are looking for an absolutely awesome read for this long holiday weekend -- or anytime the rest of this summer, pick up the book, either at the store or via Amazon. (And, if you're jonesing for the NFL in early July, this totally satisfies that craving.)
(Hardback books are often hard to recommend. In this case, it's one you'll want to have on your shelf long after you have enjoyed it. I actually recently reorganized my main "sports-book" bookshelf, which is large; the process of paring it down was much more involved than I thought it would be, but I had a chance to really revisit my favorite sports books of all time. As it happens, "A Few Seconds of Panic" made the cut.)
Kudos to Fatsis on an amazing effort. Get this book.
-- D.S.
(It must be noted that last December, Fatsis gave me and this blog a name-check on his weekly NPR sports segment, related to a turn-of-phrase I made about Tim Tebow breaking the Heisman's traditional "Class Ceiling." I was a fan of Fatsis long before that.)
Thursday 07/03 A.M. Quickie:
Favre, A-Rod, Longoria, Maggette, More
It's a good day for rumor-mongering, which is why I lead my Sporting News column today with some of the choicest:
Brett Favre unretiring? Come on! Who DIDN'T see this coming? He can deny all he wants (and he isn't even denying it!), but you know it's happening.
A-Rod and Cynthia splitting? And not just over A-Rod being with Madonna, but C-Rod is supposedly rocking out with Lenny Kravitz (between A-Rod's dabbling in Jewish mysticism and Cynthia hanging with Kravitz, the two Rods SO love the Jewish thing).
The Rays bandwagon should reach epic proportions, following their sweep of the Red Sox in Tampa. (0-6 at Fenway? Who cares: If the season ended today, the Red Sox would have the bigger problem, sitting behind the Rays in the standings and 0-6 at the Trop.) I'm not sure if the Rays are the best story in baseball this decade, but they are the MLB story of 2008 for sure.
Meanwhile, you have to feel awful for Seattle NBA fans, who officially lost the Sonics when the city sold them out to Clay Bennett for $45 million and the hope that the NBA will put a team there again someday. Good luck with that. It sucks for Seattle fans, with the only solace being that they have had months to prepare. But it sounds like now the team moves virtually overnight. (On the other hand, congrats to Oklahoma City, a fan base that earned its cred with its unconditional support of the Hornets while the team was relocated.) It will be wierd not to have the green and gold Seattle Sonics anymore, though.
Katie Hoff is awesome.
Everyone suddenly loves Corey Maggette, because he can't make more than the MLE, so he has the freedom to pick a contender (my money is on the Spurs, and he helps them continue their on-again, off-again, on-again championship run).
No Sporting News column tomorrow (or over the weekend, as usual), but I will be blogging all three days, if you have any interest in popping by. Otherwise, have a safe and relaxing long weekend. Another post or two coming this morning, I think.
-- D.S.
Brett Favre unretiring? Come on! Who DIDN'T see this coming? He can deny all he wants (and he isn't even denying it!), but you know it's happening.
A-Rod and Cynthia splitting? And not just over A-Rod being with Madonna, but C-Rod is supposedly rocking out with Lenny Kravitz (between A-Rod's dabbling in Jewish mysticism and Cynthia hanging with Kravitz, the two Rods SO love the Jewish thing).
The Rays bandwagon should reach epic proportions, following their sweep of the Red Sox in Tampa. (0-6 at Fenway? Who cares: If the season ended today, the Red Sox would have the bigger problem, sitting behind the Rays in the standings and 0-6 at the Trop.) I'm not sure if the Rays are the best story in baseball this decade, but they are the MLB story of 2008 for sure.
Meanwhile, you have to feel awful for Seattle NBA fans, who officially lost the Sonics when the city sold them out to Clay Bennett for $45 million and the hope that the NBA will put a team there again someday. Good luck with that. It sucks for Seattle fans, with the only solace being that they have had months to prepare. But it sounds like now the team moves virtually overnight. (On the other hand, congrats to Oklahoma City, a fan base that earned its cred with its unconditional support of the Hornets while the team was relocated.) It will be wierd not to have the green and gold Seattle Sonics anymore, though.
Katie Hoff is awesome.
Everyone suddenly loves Corey Maggette, because he can't make more than the MLE, so he has the freedom to pick a contender (my money is on the Spurs, and he helps them continue their on-again, off-again, on-again championship run).
No Sporting News column tomorrow (or over the weekend, as usual), but I will be blogging all three days, if you have any interest in popping by. Otherwise, have a safe and relaxing long weekend. Another post or two coming this morning, I think.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Terry Pluto Is Living In Denial Re LeBron
"Too early to talk about it?" Give me a break. What I'm wondering is: What took everyone so long? Some of us have been spouting this for years already.
Here's my question: Resignation aside, why don't Cavs fans just enjoy the next two seasons? That's what Pluto should have said. (Second question: If LeBron leaves, will Cavs fans hate him?)
Another: Why aren't Cavs fans more outraged that LeBron does nothing to quash the speculation (his lack of quashing a big reason that there is speculation to begin with)?
Perhaps it's because they're so afraid that if they express any outrage about it, it provides him with a more convenient excuse to leave -- which he is going to do anyway.
(Presuming that Cavs ownership eventually realizes that there's no way in hell that LeBron is staying, I hope they have the good sense to deal him at the 2010 trading deadline.)
So there you have it, Cavs fans: Enjoy the next two seasons and STFU -- OR -- get noisy about it and force LeBron to make the same commitment to you that you have to him.
Those are the only two options that retain any modicum of self-respect for yourselves; what most of you are doing now -- irrational and angry denial at those who say Brooklyn is a done-deal and/or meek acquiescence toward LeBron himself -- is slightly pathetic.
-- D.S.
Here's my question: Resignation aside, why don't Cavs fans just enjoy the next two seasons? That's what Pluto should have said. (Second question: If LeBron leaves, will Cavs fans hate him?)
Another: Why aren't Cavs fans more outraged that LeBron does nothing to quash the speculation (his lack of quashing a big reason that there is speculation to begin with)?
Perhaps it's because they're so afraid that if they express any outrage about it, it provides him with a more convenient excuse to leave -- which he is going to do anyway.
(Presuming that Cavs ownership eventually realizes that there's no way in hell that LeBron is staying, I hope they have the good sense to deal him at the 2010 trading deadline.)
So there you have it, Cavs fans: Enjoy the next two seasons and STFU -- OR -- get noisy about it and force LeBron to make the same commitment to you that you have to him.
Those are the only two options that retain any modicum of self-respect for yourselves; what most of you are doing now -- irrational and angry denial at those who say Brooklyn is a done-deal and/or meek acquiescence toward LeBron himself -- is slightly pathetic.
-- D.S.
Slide Over, Koufax: So Does Alex Rodriguez Now Qualify As a Jewish Baseball Player?
Is A-Rod the greatest Jewish baseball player ever?
So one quite awesome detail about the A-Rod/Madonna story is that according to the New York Post, A-Rod has reportedly been studying Kabbalah, a "Jewish mystical practice popularized by Madonna."
OK. Hold it right there.
I am officially embracing A-Rod as an officially unofficially officially Jewish baseball player.
Today was already sizing up as an amazing one for fans of Jewish baseball players -- perhaps the most selective of all of the various segments of baseball players. Kevin Youkilis appears to be headed for an All-Star Game starting position, and Ryan Braun was giving Kosuke Fukudome a run for his money as the 3rd NL outfield starter.
But this tops them both. I welcome A-Rod to the meshpuchah as an honorary participant.
Hank Greenberg. Sandy Koufax. (Rod Carew, per Commenters). Alex Rodriguez.
This changes everything.
-- D.S.
So one quite awesome detail about the A-Rod/Madonna story is that according to the New York Post, A-Rod has reportedly been studying Kabbalah, a "Jewish mystical practice popularized by Madonna."
OK. Hold it right there.
I am officially embracing A-Rod as an officially unofficially officially Jewish baseball player.
Today was already sizing up as an amazing one for fans of Jewish baseball players -- perhaps the most selective of all of the various segments of baseball players. Kevin Youkilis appears to be headed for an All-Star Game starting position, and Ryan Braun was giving Kosuke Fukudome a run for his money as the 3rd NL outfield starter.
But this tops them both. I welcome A-Rod to the meshpuchah as an honorary participant.
Hank Greenberg. Sandy Koufax. (Rod Carew, per Commenters). Alex Rodriguez.
This changes everything.
-- D.S.
Wednesday 07/02 A.M. Quickie:
MLB All-Star Voting, Rays, Baron D, More
As I wrote in the lead of today's Sporting News column, I am torn about the All-Star Voting (which ends tonight): Six Red Sox in the starting lineup would make me retch; six Red Sox in the starting lineup at Yankee Stadium would make me laugh.
There is a middle ground: Youkilis, Pedroia, Manny, Papi -- yes. Varitek and Drew -- no. Either way, Red Sox Nation is flexing; the Rest of the Nation isn't organized enough to rally around one "Anyone But Red Sox" contender at each position.
Meanwhile, I would love to see Kosuke Fukudome make the All-Star Game as a starter -- but not at the expense of Ryan Braun, who probably ranks as my favorite active player. Should be an interesting final surge today; presumably, Japan in its entirety rallies more than Milwaukee.
In the NBA, the Baron Davis deal putting him in LA with the Clippers is fascinating. Remember yesterday that I was saying Gilbert Arenas is first-team All-NBA when it comes to entertainment? Baron joins him, instantly giving the Clips a star they can build some enthusiasm around -- not to mention lure Elton Brand back (if he doesn't go to Golden State) and pair with rookie Eric Gordon.
Oh, and the Seattle judge decides on the fate of the Sonics today: My bet is that they are allowed to leave for OK City.
Finally, you might still be a month away from caring about watching Olympic events on TV, but you really should be watching the US Olympic swimming trials, where world records are falling every night and the nail-biting finishes between going-to-Beijing 2nd and going-home 3rd are intense.
Here is the complete column.
More later. I have a book review ready for a new book that I think is a must-read for this long weekend.
-- D.S.
There is a middle ground: Youkilis, Pedroia, Manny, Papi -- yes. Varitek and Drew -- no. Either way, Red Sox Nation is flexing; the Rest of the Nation isn't organized enough to rally around one "Anyone But Red Sox" contender at each position.
Meanwhile, I would love to see Kosuke Fukudome make the All-Star Game as a starter -- but not at the expense of Ryan Braun, who probably ranks as my favorite active player. Should be an interesting final surge today; presumably, Japan in its entirety rallies more than Milwaukee.
In the NBA, the Baron Davis deal putting him in LA with the Clippers is fascinating. Remember yesterday that I was saying Gilbert Arenas is first-team All-NBA when it comes to entertainment? Baron joins him, instantly giving the Clips a star they can build some enthusiasm around -- not to mention lure Elton Brand back (if he doesn't go to Golden State) and pair with rookie Eric Gordon.
Oh, and the Seattle judge decides on the fate of the Sonics today: My bet is that they are allowed to leave for OK City.
Finally, you might still be a month away from caring about watching Olympic events on TV, but you really should be watching the US Olympic swimming trials, where world records are falling every night and the nail-biting finishes between going-to-Beijing 2nd and going-home 3rd are intense.
Here is the complete column.
More later. I have a book review ready for a new book that I think is a must-read for this long weekend.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Gilbert Arenas: Washington or Golden State?
The Warriors want Gilbert Arenas back. Badly. I think if the Wizards hadn't re-signed Antawn Jamison so quickly and aggressively, Gilbert would have thought twice; now, I can't seem him turning down roughly equal money to bail on teammates and a town he loves in D.C.
(One rumor has the Maloofs desperate to bring him to Sacto; I understand the impulse: As I've been saying for a while, if you're not winning the NBA title -- as the Kings and Wiz aren't -- you have to go for highest entertainment value. And that's where Gilbert is All-NBA.)
Still, the offer made me nervous, if only because with Gil, you never know.
-- D.S.
Tuesday 07/01 A.M. Quickie:
Rays, Tigers, NBA Free Agency, More
Where are all the Rays fans? That's the lead of today's Sporting News column.
Sure, the Trop was 80 percent full last night, but -- seriously? -- the first-place Rays were playing their new-rival Red Sox. I know it was a Monday, but it was also probably half Red Sox fans; despite the Rays' success, the fans aren't following. What a shame.
As I said in today's column, there are more Rays fans among other teams' fans than there are natural Rays fans. There is no shame in being bandwagon here, MLB fans who live in Florida. Adopt the Rays today, and no one will ever fault you for it.
Meanwhile, for something presumed to be a dud, NBA Free Agency is kind of hopping today: Antawn Jamison went back to the Wiz, presumably setting the table for an Arenas return, too. Baron Davis opted out, as did Brand and Maggette from the Clips. The Knicks are looking at Chris Duhon; presumably, others might be, too.
And yet all anyone can talk about is 2010. I'm going to try to have a post about that later today.
-- D.S.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday 06/30 A.M. Quickie:
Phelps, Hoff, Gay, Rays, Lackey, More
Now that Tiger Woods is done for the year, it is clear that Michael Phelps will be the biggest superstar in sports in America -- perhaps the world -- this year.
That's why he is leading today's Sporting News column, even though the Olympics don't start for another 5 weeks.
You got a taste last night when he broke the world record in the 400 IM, in a phenomenally dramatic swim with Ryan Lochte.
NBC was right on to put Phelps in prime time -- he is even more ready for the spotlight than he was in Athens 4 years ago.
Meanwhile, the Rays are in 1st place. It is June 30 and the Rays are in 1st place. And in a delightful bit of scheduling karma, they play the Red Sox at the Trop.
Now, what's the over-under on the attendance tonight. Anything less than a sell-out is a shame, but I wouldn't put it past the region to only make the place half-full -- oh, unless Red Sox fans show up to fill up the rest.
NBA Free Agency starts today: As a Wizards and Gil Arenas fan, I should probably be at least slightly nervous that something will go wrong before he signs a new deal with them, now that he has become an unrestricted free agent.
Count me among the folks who are willing to take a risk and give him max or near-max money. As long as the Wizards aren't winning any NBA titles -- and, let's face it, they aren't, now or anytime soon -- I want one of the Top 3 most entertaining players in the league on my team.
There's a lot more in the column. Check it out here. More later.
-- D.S.
That's why he is leading today's Sporting News column, even though the Olympics don't start for another 5 weeks.
You got a taste last night when he broke the world record in the 400 IM, in a phenomenally dramatic swim with Ryan Lochte.
NBC was right on to put Phelps in prime time -- he is even more ready for the spotlight than he was in Athens 4 years ago.
Meanwhile, the Rays are in 1st place. It is June 30 and the Rays are in 1st place. And in a delightful bit of scheduling karma, they play the Red Sox at the Trop.
Now, what's the over-under on the attendance tonight. Anything less than a sell-out is a shame, but I wouldn't put it past the region to only make the place half-full -- oh, unless Red Sox fans show up to fill up the rest.
NBA Free Agency starts today: As a Wizards and Gil Arenas fan, I should probably be at least slightly nervous that something will go wrong before he signs a new deal with them, now that he has become an unrestricted free agent.
Count me among the folks who are willing to take a risk and give him max or near-max money. As long as the Wizards aren't winning any NBA titles -- and, let's face it, they aren't, now or anytime soon -- I want one of the Top 3 most entertaining players in the league on my team.
There's a lot more in the column. Check it out here. More later.
-- D.S.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday 06/29 (Very) Quickie
If you had to pick only one story to talk about this weekend, it is a baseball milestone that is even more exclusive than the 600 HR Club:
The Angels became only the 5th team in MLB history to lose after pitching a no-hitter. Jared Weaver and Jose Arredondo get the no-no, but the Dodgers get the win.
Matt Kemp: Reached 1B on an error. Took 2B on a SB. Got 3B on another error. Scored on a sac fly.
Otherwise, the Dodgers got bupkus; unfortunately for the Angels pitchers, that was one more bupkus than the Angels had.
Meanwhile, Euro 08 final today: Germany (without Ballack?) vs. Spain, seemingly destined to break its curse today.
Tyson Gay: New American record in the 100M.
NBA: Lot of talk that the Knicks want a PG and that Stephon Marbury is as good as released when that happens. (Hmm: Monta Ellis in a sign-and-trade? Would the Warriors want to give up on him?) Meanwhile, is there going to be a Camby-for-Hinrich deal?
Sports of interest in our house today: US Olympic swimming trials.
-- D.S.
The Angels became only the 5th team in MLB history to lose after pitching a no-hitter. Jared Weaver and Jose Arredondo get the no-no, but the Dodgers get the win.
Matt Kemp: Reached 1B on an error. Took 2B on a SB. Got 3B on another error. Scored on a sac fly.
Otherwise, the Dodgers got bupkus; unfortunately for the Angels pitchers, that was one more bupkus than the Angels had.
Meanwhile, Euro 08 final today: Germany (without Ballack?) vs. Spain, seemingly destined to break its curse today.
Tyson Gay: New American record in the 100M.
NBA: Lot of talk that the Knicks want a PG and that Stephon Marbury is as good as released when that happens. (Hmm: Monta Ellis in a sign-and-trade? Would the Warriors want to give up on him?) Meanwhile, is there going to be a Camby-for-Hinrich deal?
Sports of interest in our house today: US Olympic swimming trials.
-- D.S.
Friday, June 27, 2008
AJ Daulerio New Deadspin Editor;
Clay Travis Named Associate Editor
Hope none of you put your money on me! (I wouldn't have.)
Two amazing hires, starting at the top. AJ Daulerio is an incredible talent and he offers a seamless transition from the Leitch Era; the talented Clay Travis is/was woefully undervalued at CBSSports.com, and this is his perfect platform that should introduce him to even more fans. Rick Chandler stays in place. Awful Announcing's Brian Powell takes a new role.
Can't wait to see what these guys can do, but the future looks very good for Deadspin.
On that note, all best to Will Leitch in his new post-Deadspin life. Fantastic run is understatement.
-- D.S.
Two amazing hires, starting at the top. AJ Daulerio is an incredible talent and he offers a seamless transition from the Leitch Era; the talented Clay Travis is/was woefully undervalued at CBSSports.com, and this is his perfect platform that should introduce him to even more fans. Rick Chandler stays in place. Awful Announcing's Brian Powell takes a new role.
Can't wait to see what these guys can do, but the future looks very good for Deadspin.
On that note, all best to Will Leitch in his new post-Deadspin life. Fantastic run is understatement.
-- D.S.
Friday 06/27 A.M. Quickie:
NBA Draft, Nets, Mayo, Love, Garza, More
UPDATE: The Stephen A. Smith sock puppet is, hands down, my favorite tradition of the NBA Draft. Brilliant -- as ever.
If you followed my NBA Draft Twitter feed last night, you know how I felt about the broadcast: That was the single worst desk of analysts I have ever seen for a major sporting event. The analysis from Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy was banal (at best); there was no chance of conventional wisdom being driven from what they had to say, because they really didn't say much of anything. Bilas was strong, but he has a fetish for wingspan. You were better off tracking the various live-blogs out there, and I'm not even talking about my Twitter effort.
Anyway, one of my biggest frustrations -- and I have to believe that the NBA told ESPN that it was off-limits on-air -- was that they didn't link the Nets' moves to recruiting LeBron. Cripes, is it so opaque?! Yi? China foothold. Lopez? Post-anchoring 7-footer. Anderson and Douglas-Roberts? High-upside bench complements, CDR in particular being a steal who might one day replace the need for Vince Carter. This wasn't a draft about 2008 -- it was a draft about 2010. This should be all that people are talking about today -- certainly the biggest story -- and it led my Sporting News column, as you could imagine.
UPDATE: Ken Berger of Newsday totally gets it.
Otherwise, the draft was midly interesting, but not really. The Mayo-Love trade -- which came well after the choices were made -- was kind of fascinating. Doesn't Jefferson-Love-Miller-Foye feel like a good core for the T'wolves? And doesn't Mayo-Conley-Gay do the same for the Grizzlies? At least they will be fun to watch.
Update: Henry Abbott is on to something, that the Grizzlies might be positioning to trade Mayo to the Heat for Beasley. Plus other things, but that would seem to make the most sense for everyone, given everyone's interests.
The rest of the draft was a bit of a dud. Yes, the Heat got Beasley, but rumors won't go away that they'll try to shop him still. Yes, the Sonics got "next Rondo" Russell Westbrook, a pretty good complement to Durant. I think that the Blazers did well to trade for Bayless, who is a terrific complement to Brandon Roy. If you're going to have a small combo guard, it helps to have a large combo guard running beside him. For all the hoopla around Derrick Rose and the "Era of the Point Guard," I think the real trend we'll see is the "Era of the Complementary Combo Guards."
On a personal level, I was entirely disappointed by my Wizards, who passed on all sorts of talent for JaVale McGee, who most believe is a 7-foot stiff who can't even really play defense, let alone offense. I know the Wizards have a pretty full roster, but with yet another playoff flame-out, you'd think they might want someone who can help right away. Guess that's what free-agency is for. (They had my hopes up when they drafted Bill Walker, then traded him away to the Celtics, where I'm sure in 3 years he will be some kind of freakish scoring machine.)
Loved the Heat grabbing Mario Chalmers in the second round. Loved the Nets grabbing CDR, obviously. Loved the fact that the NBA blogging and analyzing fan-boys can't get enough of anything that Portland GM Kevin Pritchard or Seattle GM Sam Presti do.
Oh, and the Knicks blew it, I think. The fans hate the pick and Gallinari's upside is questionable; the right pick if they were going for small forward was Joe Alexander, whose insane work ethic and amazing athleticism would have electrified the Garden from the start. Instead, Alexander ends up in Milwaukee, playing the same position as new franchise cornerstone Richard Jefferson; hey, maybe they will complement each other.
Anyway, the draft is a ton of fun -- right up there with the NCAA Tournament as my favorite event of the sports year. And now it's behind us; we can start looking ahead to summer leagues and the minimal activity in free agency this season. Remember: It's all about 2010. We have two years to get there, but it looks like the Nets are already well on their way.
Full Sporting News column here.
More later.
-- D.S.
If you followed my NBA Draft Twitter feed last night, you know how I felt about the broadcast: That was the single worst desk of analysts I have ever seen for a major sporting event. The analysis from Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy was banal (at best); there was no chance of conventional wisdom being driven from what they had to say, because they really didn't say much of anything. Bilas was strong, but he has a fetish for wingspan. You were better off tracking the various live-blogs out there, and I'm not even talking about my Twitter effort.
Anyway, one of my biggest frustrations -- and I have to believe that the NBA told ESPN that it was off-limits on-air -- was that they didn't link the Nets' moves to recruiting LeBron. Cripes, is it so opaque?! Yi? China foothold. Lopez? Post-anchoring 7-footer. Anderson and Douglas-Roberts? High-upside bench complements, CDR in particular being a steal who might one day replace the need for Vince Carter. This wasn't a draft about 2008 -- it was a draft about 2010. This should be all that people are talking about today -- certainly the biggest story -- and it led my Sporting News column, as you could imagine.
UPDATE: Ken Berger of Newsday totally gets it.
Otherwise, the draft was midly interesting, but not really. The Mayo-Love trade -- which came well after the choices were made -- was kind of fascinating. Doesn't Jefferson-Love-Miller-Foye feel like a good core for the T'wolves? And doesn't Mayo-Conley-Gay do the same for the Grizzlies? At least they will be fun to watch.
Update: Henry Abbott is on to something, that the Grizzlies might be positioning to trade Mayo to the Heat for Beasley. Plus other things, but that would seem to make the most sense for everyone, given everyone's interests.
The rest of the draft was a bit of a dud. Yes, the Heat got Beasley, but rumors won't go away that they'll try to shop him still. Yes, the Sonics got "next Rondo" Russell Westbrook, a pretty good complement to Durant. I think that the Blazers did well to trade for Bayless, who is a terrific complement to Brandon Roy. If you're going to have a small combo guard, it helps to have a large combo guard running beside him. For all the hoopla around Derrick Rose and the "Era of the Point Guard," I think the real trend we'll see is the "Era of the Complementary Combo Guards."
On a personal level, I was entirely disappointed by my Wizards, who passed on all sorts of talent for JaVale McGee, who most believe is a 7-foot stiff who can't even really play defense, let alone offense. I know the Wizards have a pretty full roster, but with yet another playoff flame-out, you'd think they might want someone who can help right away. Guess that's what free-agency is for. (They had my hopes up when they drafted Bill Walker, then traded him away to the Celtics, where I'm sure in 3 years he will be some kind of freakish scoring machine.)
Loved the Heat grabbing Mario Chalmers in the second round. Loved the Nets grabbing CDR, obviously. Loved the fact that the NBA blogging and analyzing fan-boys can't get enough of anything that Portland GM Kevin Pritchard or Seattle GM Sam Presti do.
Oh, and the Knicks blew it, I think. The fans hate the pick and Gallinari's upside is questionable; the right pick if they were going for small forward was Joe Alexander, whose insane work ethic and amazing athleticism would have electrified the Garden from the start. Instead, Alexander ends up in Milwaukee, playing the same position as new franchise cornerstone Richard Jefferson; hey, maybe they will complement each other.
Anyway, the draft is a ton of fun -- right up there with the NCAA Tournament as my favorite event of the sports year. And now it's behind us; we can start looking ahead to summer leagues and the minimal activity in free agency this season. Remember: It's all about 2010. We have two years to get there, but it looks like the Nets are already well on their way.
Full Sporting News column here.
More later.
-- D.S.
NBA Draft Twitter Madness
Here is the link. It is in reverse-chronological order, so scroll down about 100 entries and read up, in all of its frustrated glory. More coming later this morning.
Free Darko's live-blog is a gold standard. (And Shoals wasn't even there -- he was at Deadspin.)
Free Darko's live-blog is a gold standard. (And Shoals wasn't even there -- he was at Deadspin.)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Will Leitch Roast Over at Deadspin
Part 1. (Drew Magary, Alexa Stevenson)
Part 2. (David Hirshey, Whitney Pastorek, Aileen Gallagher, Brian Powell, Eamonn Brennan, Gourmet Spud, Bethlehem Shoals, Dan Steinberg, DJ Gallo, Henry Abbott)
Part 3. (Matt Sussman)
Part 4. (Bill Simmons, in perhaps his most overt "yeah-like-you're-going-to-fire-me" act in his not-quite passive-aggressive surge against ESPN. Plus I earned a name-check, and it's always nice to be remembered.)
Part 5. (JE Skeets: Video!)
Part 6. (Spencer Hall/Orson Swindle)
Part 7. (Amy Blair)
Part 8. (The Dugout)
Part 9. (Kissing Suzy Kolber posse)
Part 10. (Scott Van Pelt)
Part 11. (Deadspin HOF Induction)
Part 2. (David Hirshey, Whitney Pastorek, Aileen Gallagher, Brian Powell, Eamonn Brennan, Gourmet Spud, Bethlehem Shoals, Dan Steinberg, DJ Gallo, Henry Abbott)
Part 3. (Matt Sussman)
Part 4. (Bill Simmons, in perhaps his most overt "yeah-like-you're-going-to-fire-me" act in his not-quite passive-aggressive surge against ESPN. Plus I earned a name-check, and it's always nice to be remembered.)
Part 5. (JE Skeets: Video!)
Part 6. (Spencer Hall/Orson Swindle)
Part 7. (Amy Blair)
Part 8. (The Dugout)
Part 9. (Kissing Suzy Kolber posse)
Part 10. (Scott Van Pelt)
Part 11. (Deadspin HOF Induction)
Worst. Draft Analysis. Ever
17 years ago tonight, I waited on hold on the Ken Beatrice Show (local DC sports talk radio host) for an hour after the draft was concluded, just so I could confidently proclaim to everyone listening that Bullets draft pick Calbert Cheaney would be "incredible" and has "Jordan-like potential." My brother says he still has the tape saved somewhere. Yeesh. -- D.S.
Thursday 06/26 A.M. Quickie:
NBA Draft, Beasley, Mayo, MLB, More
Reminder: I will be using my Twitter page to comment on the NBA Draft in real time. You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/danshanoff or just look at the area in the upper-right corner.
So here are a few pieces of intrigue, heading into the Draft:
Will Pat Riley really pass on Beasley? This is the lead of today's Sporting News column. Either he trades the No. 2 pick and the team trading up takes Beasley (and Miami regrets not taking him for, oh, ever) or Miami keeps the No. 2 pick and drafts Mayo over Beasley, which seems incomprehensible -- and I agree Mayo is arguably the 3rd-best pro prospect in the draft class.
I floated this one notion in the column today, and it echoes something that Chad Ford said during his debate with Simmons: If Beasley had come before Durant, we would have talked about Beasley as the transformational player, and Durant -- a year later and by comparison -- would have been picked on for being skinny, a poor defender and a sub-par rebounder. I'm just positing that everyone -- well, certain folks -- invested so much energy in claiming that Durant was this transcendent prospect that the idea that a player could come along a mere year later and not just top Durant's college production, but be a better NBA prospect, causes, what Ford aptly ID'ed as, "cognitive dissonance." Anyway...
Who gets Mayo? I think it's a foregone conclusion that - as long as the Heat trade away the No. 2 pick -- Mayo goes No. 3. (If the Heat keep the 2 and take Mayo, the T'wolves will quickly snatch up Beasley and wonder how they got so lucky.) But assuming it's Rose-Beasley at 1-2, the only question is whether the T'wolves will keep their pick and take Mayo or let one of the drooling teams behind them trade up -- the Sonics? the Knicks? the Bobcats? the Blazers?
What do the Knicks do? With Walsh and D'Antoni replacing Isiah and the home-court advantage for the draft crowd, the Knicks' new era begins tonight. Do they trade David Lee and collect the Grizzlies' No. 5 pick to go with their No. 6 pick? Can they trade up to get Mayo, a new franchise face? Do they trade down, knowing that the pick at No. 6 isn't much different from a little further down? Do they take the Best Guard Available at No. 6? (Bayless? Westbrook? Gordon?) Do they do what I predicted they would and take Jumpin' Joe Alexander?
Who rises? Who falls? Sounds like Russell Westbrook is high on everyone's list, as high as No. 4 after Rose-Beasley-Mayo. Sounds like Marreesse Speights is falling. Seems like DeAndre Jordan is up and down. Seems like Anthony Randolph is the biggest question mark -- most potential, cutting both ways. It is a truism of the draft: Someone gets stuck with a bust; someone gets a hindsight steal. Plural, more than likely.
The draft's biggest winner? Kansas. The national champs won't have a player taken in the Top 10, but they could have 3 taken in the next 10 after that: Brandon Rush (who has tons of momentum); Mario Chalmers (ditto); and Darrell Arthur (less momentum, but still enough potential to go Top 20). If the players in the Top 10 are stuck on perennial Lottery teams, then the players taken in the teens actually have the potential to impact playoff teams' fortunes.
There is more, obviously. You can find the complete column here. As news and rumors break, I'll post updates throughout the day. And don't forget the Twitter event tonight.
Meanwhile, I would say that if any event from yesterday got my attention, it was this Nash charity soccer game on this little field on the Lower East Side in New York. I didn't go, but from the accounts and videos, it sounds like it was (a) pretty amazing to watch, and (b) one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that you wonder why more athletes don't try, given the positive buzz it creates within the local and national communities. (Actually, things like this happen all the time in hoops summer leagues, when NBA players show up to suit up -- GMs may cringe, but I love it.)
More later.
-- D.S.
So here are a few pieces of intrigue, heading into the Draft:
Will Pat Riley really pass on Beasley? This is the lead of today's Sporting News column. Either he trades the No. 2 pick and the team trading up takes Beasley (and Miami regrets not taking him for, oh, ever) or Miami keeps the No. 2 pick and drafts Mayo over Beasley, which seems incomprehensible -- and I agree Mayo is arguably the 3rd-best pro prospect in the draft class.
I floated this one notion in the column today, and it echoes something that Chad Ford said during his debate with Simmons: If Beasley had come before Durant, we would have talked about Beasley as the transformational player, and Durant -- a year later and by comparison -- would have been picked on for being skinny, a poor defender and a sub-par rebounder. I'm just positing that everyone -- well, certain folks -- invested so much energy in claiming that Durant was this transcendent prospect that the idea that a player could come along a mere year later and not just top Durant's college production, but be a better NBA prospect, causes, what Ford aptly ID'ed as, "cognitive dissonance." Anyway...
Who gets Mayo? I think it's a foregone conclusion that - as long as the Heat trade away the No. 2 pick -- Mayo goes No. 3. (If the Heat keep the 2 and take Mayo, the T'wolves will quickly snatch up Beasley and wonder how they got so lucky.) But assuming it's Rose-Beasley at 1-2, the only question is whether the T'wolves will keep their pick and take Mayo or let one of the drooling teams behind them trade up -- the Sonics? the Knicks? the Bobcats? the Blazers?
What do the Knicks do? With Walsh and D'Antoni replacing Isiah and the home-court advantage for the draft crowd, the Knicks' new era begins tonight. Do they trade David Lee and collect the Grizzlies' No. 5 pick to go with their No. 6 pick? Can they trade up to get Mayo, a new franchise face? Do they trade down, knowing that the pick at No. 6 isn't much different from a little further down? Do they take the Best Guard Available at No. 6? (Bayless? Westbrook? Gordon?) Do they do what I predicted they would and take Jumpin' Joe Alexander?
Who rises? Who falls? Sounds like Russell Westbrook is high on everyone's list, as high as No. 4 after Rose-Beasley-Mayo. Sounds like Marreesse Speights is falling. Seems like DeAndre Jordan is up and down. Seems like Anthony Randolph is the biggest question mark -- most potential, cutting both ways. It is a truism of the draft: Someone gets stuck with a bust; someone gets a hindsight steal. Plural, more than likely.
The draft's biggest winner? Kansas. The national champs won't have a player taken in the Top 10, but they could have 3 taken in the next 10 after that: Brandon Rush (who has tons of momentum); Mario Chalmers (ditto); and Darrell Arthur (less momentum, but still enough potential to go Top 20). If the players in the Top 10 are stuck on perennial Lottery teams, then the players taken in the teens actually have the potential to impact playoff teams' fortunes.
There is more, obviously. You can find the complete column here. As news and rumors break, I'll post updates throughout the day. And don't forget the Twitter event tonight.
Meanwhile, I would say that if any event from yesterday got my attention, it was this Nash charity soccer game on this little field on the Lower East Side in New York. I didn't go, but from the accounts and videos, it sounds like it was (a) pretty amazing to watch, and (b) one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that you wonder why more athletes don't try, given the positive buzz it creates within the local and national communities. (Actually, things like this happen all the time in hoops summer leagues, when NBA players show up to suit up -- GMs may cringe, but I love it.)
More later.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Death of Len Bias, An Annual Remembrance
NBA Draft week always reminds me of the tragic death of Len Bias.
Like Michael Weinreb -- who put together this must-read (perhaps even definitive) piece on Bias' death -- I was 13 when Bias died (13 being arguably your peak year as an earnest fan before you realize the complexities that come with sports).
And I might just agree with Weinreb that Bias' death was "the most socially influential moment in the history of modern sports." (Presumably, he means what I commonly refer to as "the ESPN Era," which I'd describe as 1980-Present.)
Like many who grew up in suburban Maryland in the mid-80s, I worshipped Len Bias. The memory of his death being announced on TV is something I remember as vividly as if it was yesterday.
-- D.S.
Like Michael Weinreb -- who put together this must-read (perhaps even definitive) piece on Bias' death -- I was 13 when Bias died (13 being arguably your peak year as an earnest fan before you realize the complexities that come with sports).
And I might just agree with Weinreb that Bias' death was "the most socially influential moment in the history of modern sports." (Presumably, he means what I commonly refer to as "the ESPN Era," which I'd describe as 1980-Present.)
Like many who grew up in suburban Maryland in the mid-80s, I worshipped Len Bias. The memory of his death being announced on TV is something I remember as vividly as if it was yesterday.
-- D.S.
NBA Draft Preview, Continued
Would love to get your own mocks, but to focus even more, let's talk about players you think will have the biggest impact (depends on the team that drafts them, obviously), the ones you think are destined for the dud pile and the ones you think are the sleepers who will surprise. You know you have one or two. Submit them in the Comments and I'll try to update as often as possible.
-- D.S.
-- D.S.
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