Annual Derby pick, based on my favorite name: Daddy Nose Best (or Daddy Long Legs), with Creative Cause a more likely winner.
Last night's MVP: Pam McGee, JaVale's mom.
Quote of the last 24 hours: "I am coming back. Write it down in big letters. I'm not going out like this." (Mariano Rivera)
I still think the Bulls can win the series with Philly, even if they're now down 2-1. But what's the point? So they can get drilled in the East semis?
I hate the Celtics but I love big games from the ageless KG.
Heard around our house this morning: "Let's! Go! Caps!"
RIP MCA: Got more hits than Sadaharu Oh.
Your weekend longread: "The Kid Who Wasn't There" by ESPN.com's Wright Thompson.
Catch up with the best of Quickish this week -- just go here and scroll down.
-- D.S.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
Friday, May 04, 2012
05/04 (Mariano Rivera) Quickie
There is not a more universally respected baseball player -- possibly not a more universally respected athlete, period -- than Mariano Rivera.
That's my biggest takeaway from the overnight reaction to the news his season (and possibly his career) is over, after a freak knee injury shagging BP flies in centerfield, Rivera's favorite ritual.
(Great stream of reactions to the Rivera news over at Quickish -- check it out here.)
When we look back on the generation of baseball that started with the post-strike Yankees dynasty and lasted until, say, the start of Bryce Harper's career, it will be defined by no player as much as Rivera.
Not Jeter. Not Bonds. Not Clemens. PED scandal? Maybe. "Moneyball?" Partially. Big-spending behemoths? A bit.
But all those things evoke mixed reactions. Not Rivera. There is "Enter Sandman." There is No. 42. There is that cutter. There is yet another save. There is postseason brilliance.
There is universal respect and admiration for Mariano Rivera, the finest practitioner of pitching a baseball as we have seen in generations -- one of the greatest players of all time.
Here's to his recovery and an ending to his career befitting his legendary status.
-- D.S.
That's my biggest takeaway from the overnight reaction to the news his season (and possibly his career) is over, after a freak knee injury shagging BP flies in centerfield, Rivera's favorite ritual.
(Great stream of reactions to the Rivera news over at Quickish -- check it out here.)
When we look back on the generation of baseball that started with the post-strike Yankees dynasty and lasted until, say, the start of Bryce Harper's career, it will be defined by no player as much as Rivera.
Not Jeter. Not Bonds. Not Clemens. PED scandal? Maybe. "Moneyball?" Partially. Big-spending behemoths? A bit.
But all those things evoke mixed reactions. Not Rivera. There is "Enter Sandman." There is No. 42. There is that cutter. There is yet another save. There is postseason brilliance.
There is universal respect and admiration for Mariano Rivera, the finest practitioner of pitching a baseball as we have seen in generations -- one of the greatest players of all time.
Here's to his recovery and an ending to his career befitting his legendary status.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
05/02 (RIP Seau) Quickie
The death of the all-time great NFL linebacker Junior Seau is a tragedy. Did his suicide have something to do with his playing career? Let me step around that:
The fact that it is a topic that is immediately coming up -- whether or not the evidence ends up bearing that out -- is further confirmation that the link between football and brain trauma is both mainstream and entirely intertwined.
The idea remains: If there was a test for CTE or other brain trauma linked to football that could happen pre-mortem, I think tackle football would be over beyond anything but for a lunatic fringe.
The idea remains: Even with the little we know now about the link between brain trauma and football, you would have to be insane to let your child play organized tackle football, at any age.
The idea remains: As powerful as the NFL is -- and it is as close to all-powerful as we get in sports -- I do not believe that in 30 years it will exist in the form that it is in now.
More:
*I found the Saints' bounty program abhorrent, yet I think that giving Vilma a year's suspension -- same as the head coach -- is overly severe. If Vilma gets a year, Sean Payton should get five.
*As I get older, I come to appreciate Kobe's singular moments of brilliance so much more. Appreciate him, folks, because when he's gone, it's hard to see who will replace him. (Durant? Maybe, but Durant -- while relentless -- is too nice. Kobe's level of aggressive obsessiveness is the last of a bygone era.)
*The Bulls are cooked. Could be this round, could be next round. The fact is that they're done, and that even getting out of this Philly series should be viewed as overachieving.
*The Caps offer free admission to their a.m. skate-arounds, and I took my 3-year-old, who is obsessed with hockey, to practice today. He went bonkers. It was an awesome moment.
-- D.S.
The fact that it is a topic that is immediately coming up -- whether or not the evidence ends up bearing that out -- is further confirmation that the link between football and brain trauma is both mainstream and entirely intertwined.
The idea remains: If there was a test for CTE or other brain trauma linked to football that could happen pre-mortem, I think tackle football would be over beyond anything but for a lunatic fringe.
The idea remains: Even with the little we know now about the link between brain trauma and football, you would have to be insane to let your child play organized tackle football, at any age.
The idea remains: As powerful as the NFL is -- and it is as close to all-powerful as we get in sports -- I do not believe that in 30 years it will exist in the form that it is in now.
More:
*I found the Saints' bounty program abhorrent, yet I think that giving Vilma a year's suspension -- same as the head coach -- is overly severe. If Vilma gets a year, Sean Payton should get five.
*As I get older, I come to appreciate Kobe's singular moments of brilliance so much more. Appreciate him, folks, because when he's gone, it's hard to see who will replace him. (Durant? Maybe, but Durant -- while relentless -- is too nice. Kobe's level of aggressive obsessiveness is the last of a bygone era.)
*The Bulls are cooked. Could be this round, could be next round. The fact is that they're done, and that even getting out of this Philly series should be viewed as overachieving.
*The Caps offer free admission to their a.m. skate-arounds, and I took my 3-year-old, who is obsessed with hockey, to practice today. He went bonkers. It was an awesome moment.
-- D.S.
Monday, April 30, 2012
04/30 (Clippers!) Quickie
My goodness: That Clippers comeback last night -- a 28-3 run to finish the game to come back from down 24 with 9:13 to play in the game. Watch highlights from the run here.
It's way too early to say it was a back-breaker for the Grizzlies. They lost home-court advantage, sure, but there's a better case it will be ultra-motivating than it will be ultra-deflating.
(Put it this way: Of the first round's 8 teams that lost in Game 1, I feel most comfortable with the Grizzlies' chances of coming back, even if they suffered the most stunning loss.)
Celtics lose Game 1 in Atlanta, and the headline is that Rondo got tossed and could miss Game 2 -- again, I'm not sure if an 0-2 hole after the first two road games is so problematic for Boston.
Is Andrew Bynum the best center in the NBA? He's certainly the best center in the playoffs. It would be fascinating to see him as the centerpiece of a team, rather than the "next-best guy behind Kobe."
The new Brooklyn Nets' look was revealed this morning, and if there is a single defining characteristic, it is the near-total emphasis on "Brooklyn," rather than "Nets." They realize that's where the cachet is.
My favorite video today: Batting Stance Guy on Bryce Harper:
Today's must-watch/must-follow sports event: Man City vs. Man U.
-- D.S.
It's way too early to say it was a back-breaker for the Grizzlies. They lost home-court advantage, sure, but there's a better case it will be ultra-motivating than it will be ultra-deflating.
(Put it this way: Of the first round's 8 teams that lost in Game 1, I feel most comfortable with the Grizzlies' chances of coming back, even if they suffered the most stunning loss.)
Celtics lose Game 1 in Atlanta, and the headline is that Rondo got tossed and could miss Game 2 -- again, I'm not sure if an 0-2 hole after the first two road games is so problematic for Boston.
Is Andrew Bynum the best center in the NBA? He's certainly the best center in the playoffs. It would be fascinating to see him as the centerpiece of a team, rather than the "next-best guy behind Kobe."
The new Brooklyn Nets' look was revealed this morning, and if there is a single defining characteristic, it is the near-total emphasis on "Brooklyn," rather than "Nets." They realize that's where the cachet is.
My favorite video today: Batting Stance Guy on Bryce Harper:
Today's must-watch/must-follow sports event: Man City vs. Man U.
-- D.S.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
04/29 (Sunday) Quickie
That Derrick Rose injury is awful -- for him, for Bulls fans, for all fans. I worry about a complete, back-to-the-way-he-was recovery, but I am 100% rooting for it (as everyone is... apparently, except that Nike shoe designer who tweeted out a mocking message to Rose about wearing adidas).
This Kevin Durant game-winning floater to lead the Thunder over the Mavs in Game 1 defines "shooter's touch."
It's hard to tell whether the Heat are great or the Knicks just that over-matched. Let's table that until the Heat get past the Celtics or Bulls (even without Rose).
Bryce Harper's debut: Wow. The laser double? The equally laser throw from the outfield? The heady sac fly? His innate unfazedness about the whole thing? Say this for his being groomed for the Majors since you were 11 or 12 -- at 19, he looks entirely comfortable there.
(The best part was the fan behind home plate who mooned the camera just as Harper was slapping his first MLB hit -- TV producers need to relax and just show it. It's just a tusch, not full-frontal.)
Meanwhile: Matt Kemp. Whew. 11 HRs in April... with a day or two left.
NFL Draft: My favorite pick of the final day was the Pats (of course) taking Ohio State's Nate Ebner, a walk-on special-teams player who was on exactly zero NFL draftnik radars. (Anything that makes the draftniks look silly -- and when Belichick drafts someone they've never heard of, they look silly -- is fine with me, and you get the sense Belichick did it, in part, to tweak the so-called draft "experts.")
Lamest pick of the draft: How could the Redskins pull off making the draft's best pick -- RG3 -- and its worst one, too? The Redskins using a 4th-round pick to take Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins. How dumb was this? Let's count the ways: (1) They already drafted RG3 in the 1st; (2) it causes unnecessary "controversy" distractions; (3) they are so loaded everywhere else they can't find talent they wanted more than an extraneous rookie QB? For all those who mocked the Jaguars for taking a punter in the 3rd round or the Patriots for taking a 6th-round Illinois safety in the 2nd round, this is arguably worse.
NHL: After the exhausting series against the Bruins, you could kind of see the Caps getting drummed out of Game 1 vs. the Rangers coming -- the thing is far from over, but it was an end to the "one-goal-away" momentum that the Caps had held throughout the first round, even in losses.
Congrats to Chandler Harnish, who joins the exclusive fraternity of "Mr. Irrelevant."
Great Sunday read: The New York Times profile of Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. It's awkward timing with the Rose injury, but Thibs' brilliance will be even more on display as Chicago tries to navigate the rest of the playoffs without Rose.
On the radar today: Flyers-Devils, Lakers-Nuggets, Bryce Harper's at-bats.
-- D.S.
This Kevin Durant game-winning floater to lead the Thunder over the Mavs in Game 1 defines "shooter's touch."
It's hard to tell whether the Heat are great or the Knicks just that over-matched. Let's table that until the Heat get past the Celtics or Bulls (even without Rose).
Bryce Harper's debut: Wow. The laser double? The equally laser throw from the outfield? The heady sac fly? His innate unfazedness about the whole thing? Say this for his being groomed for the Majors since you were 11 or 12 -- at 19, he looks entirely comfortable there.
(The best part was the fan behind home plate who mooned the camera just as Harper was slapping his first MLB hit -- TV producers need to relax and just show it. It's just a tusch, not full-frontal.)
Meanwhile: Matt Kemp. Whew. 11 HRs in April... with a day or two left.
NFL Draft: My favorite pick of the final day was the Pats (of course) taking Ohio State's Nate Ebner, a walk-on special-teams player who was on exactly zero NFL draftnik radars. (Anything that makes the draftniks look silly -- and when Belichick drafts someone they've never heard of, they look silly -- is fine with me, and you get the sense Belichick did it, in part, to tweak the so-called draft "experts.")
Lamest pick of the draft: How could the Redskins pull off making the draft's best pick -- RG3 -- and its worst one, too? The Redskins using a 4th-round pick to take Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins. How dumb was this? Let's count the ways: (1) They already drafted RG3 in the 1st; (2) it causes unnecessary "controversy" distractions; (3) they are so loaded everywhere else they can't find talent they wanted more than an extraneous rookie QB? For all those who mocked the Jaguars for taking a punter in the 3rd round or the Patriots for taking a 6th-round Illinois safety in the 2nd round, this is arguably worse.
NHL: After the exhausting series against the Bruins, you could kind of see the Caps getting drummed out of Game 1 vs. the Rangers coming -- the thing is far from over, but it was an end to the "one-goal-away" momentum that the Caps had held throughout the first round, even in losses.
Congrats to Chandler Harnish, who joins the exclusive fraternity of "Mr. Irrelevant."
Great Sunday read: The New York Times profile of Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. It's awkward timing with the Rose injury, but Thibs' brilliance will be even more on display as Chicago tries to navigate the rest of the playoffs without Rose.
On the radar today: Flyers-Devils, Lakers-Nuggets, Bryce Harper's at-bats.
-- D.S.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
04/28 (Very) Quickie
I'd say it's a pretty good sports day today: End of NFL Draft, start of NBA Playoffs, Caps-Rangers Game 1, Bryce Harper's MLB debut (with Stephen Strasburg pitching, no less).
My favorite NFL Draft storyline from last night was Rutgers WR Mohamed Sanu -- victim of a nasty prank call on Thursday night that he had been drafted by the Bengals -- was... drafted by the Bengals.
(Runner-up: Much-maligned former Florida CB Janoris Jenkins was taken in the 2nd round by the Rams -- arguably the most high-risk/high-reward prospect since Randy Moss.)
Heat-Knicks at 3:30 is the most must-see NBA game -- although Thunder-Mavs tonight is close. If the Knicks were going to steal one, today is the day.
DC is having a hell of a sports week, but as exciting as drafting RG3 and the MLB promotion of Bryce Harper might be, this afternoon's opener against the Rangers is the biggest event.
That said: There are few MLB "live cut-in" at-bat moments worth making sure you're around for -- even though the chances are he'll fizzle in his first game, Harper feels worth tuning in to check out.
-- D.S.
My favorite NFL Draft storyline from last night was Rutgers WR Mohamed Sanu -- victim of a nasty prank call on Thursday night that he had been drafted by the Bengals -- was... drafted by the Bengals.
(Runner-up: Much-maligned former Florida CB Janoris Jenkins was taken in the 2nd round by the Rams -- arguably the most high-risk/high-reward prospect since Randy Moss.)
Heat-Knicks at 3:30 is the most must-see NBA game -- although Thunder-Mavs tonight is close. If the Knicks were going to steal one, today is the day.
DC is having a hell of a sports week, but as exciting as drafting RG3 and the MLB promotion of Bryce Harper might be, this afternoon's opener against the Rangers is the biggest event.
That said: There are few MLB "live cut-in" at-bat moments worth making sure you're around for -- even though the chances are he'll fizzle in his first game, Harper feels worth tuning in to check out.
-- D.S.
Friday, April 27, 2012
04/27 (Draft and More) Quickie
Whew, what an absolutely loaded morning. Let's get to it:
NFL Draft: The big storyline was the flurry of trades near the top. Kudos to the teams that traded up, taking advantage of a brief "Moneyball"-style inefficiency of the new labor deal that creates new rookie cost certainties that make taking a pick high not nearly the financial risk it once was.
The other big storylines:
*Luck and RG3 go 1-2, as expected. RG3's socks were a highlight, and it is hard to imagine there is a fan base more fired up about their pick than the Redskins fans.
*The Giants' rivals go big: The Cowboys traded up to No. 6 to get exceptional LSU DB Morris Claiborne, which was arguably the biggest power move of the night. The Eagles traded up to get exceptional Mississippi State D-lineman Fletcher Cox, which was another phenomenal deal. (And that's on top of the Redskins trading everything to get RG3.) Big moves needed, big moves made.
*The consensus winner? Arguably the Pats, a team that historically trades down/out of the first round instead traded up -- twice -- to get DE Chandler Jones and LB Donta Hightower. It is an instant upgrade to a defense that was suspect (even porous) last year. (The Pats could cap the coup by finagling embattled DB Janoris Jenkins early in the 2nd round; Bill Belichick has historically liked Urban Meyer's stars at Florida, even if they have potential red flags.)
*"Value" picks: As talents surprisingly slide down the board, better/playoff teams are there to snag them, with no better example than the Steelers getting Stanford OG David DeCastro. (Other late picks that pundits liked: The Chargers getting DE Melvin Ingram and the Bucs getting RB Doug Martin.)
*"Reaches": The Chiefs taking mercurial Memphis D-lineman Dontari Poe at 11 was questioned, as was the Seahawks taking West Virginia DE Bruce Irvin when Ingram and Quentin Coples (drafted by the Jets) were available. The 49ers were questioned for taking Illinois WR AJ Jenkins late in the 1st -- he was graded as a high 2nd-round pick, so it wasn't quite a reach, but he didn't have nearly the positive evals of LSU WR Rueben Randle. And then, of course, there was the biggest risk in the draft: The Dolphins taking Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill at No. 8.
*Brandon Weeden: The Colt McCoy Era appears to be over in Cleveland. The Browns spent a first-round pick on the 28-year-old rookie QB from Oklahoma State, who can't possibly be less effective than McCoy, who will still have a long NFL career, simply as a back-up who gets occasional chances to start when the QB1 gets injured. Weeden's transition would be clearly helped by the presence of new RB Trent Richardson in the backfield.
*Looking ahead to the 2nd round: WR Rueben Randle is the top name on the board, but it will be intriguing to see where Janoris Jenkins lands -- he is, by far, the most talented prospect left.
More:
*NHL Game 7 thrillers: Devils win in OT, Rangers hold off Senators. The East semifinals might as well be sponsored by the Amtrak Acela -- Rangers-Caps and Flyers-Devils. Should be fun.
*NBA Playoffs set: The leading storyline is clear: It is "championship or fail" for LeBron and the Heat. I'll stick with my preseason prediction of Thunder-Bulls in the Finals, with Chicago knocking off Miami in the East finals -- by far the most highly anticipated match-up of the playoffs.
*First-Round Picks: Chicago over Philly in 5; Boston over Atlanta in 6; Indiana over Orlando in 5; Miami over New York in 6; San Antonio over Utah in 7; Memphis over the Clippers in 7; the Lakers over the Nuggets in 7; Oklahoma City over Dallas in 7. Wow, does the West look fun to watch.
*NBA History: Worst team ever? The Bobcats finished the season with the worst winning percentage of all time. I love superlatives, so it's intriguing that "Worst Team Ever" is on the table. You have to adjust a bit for the compressed season and lack of any development time, but even in a full 82-game season with summer league and training camp, I'm not sure the Bobcats do much better.
*A playoff is coming to college football: It will be only a four-team bracket -- and I will guarantee you there is even more of a clusterf--- around picking that 4th team than there was picking the 2nd team in a two-team title game -- but it certainly beats the current system.
*Manager Pep Guardiola quits Barca: Does he want to coach the Wizards? (OK, how about my 5-year-old's kindergarten team?)
*MLB: Carl Crawford is being shut down for a while, and it adds insult to injury to insult for the Red Sox, who shelled out a gazillion dollars for him only to see him underperform last year -- and, now, not perform this year. (More Red Sox: They did shell Philip Humber, coming off his perfect game. So there's that.)
The morning after the draft is a fun moment -- it's all promise and potential, with more picks coming tonight and all weekend, with the hope that your team is getting better. Same with the day before the NBA Playoffs start: If your team is in it, they have a theoretical chance, and you can spend today talking yourself into thinking your team can at least beat expectations (if not win a title). And if your team is out of the playoffs, like mine, you can begin to scheme a plan for the offseason moves. Not sure what to tell you if you're a Barca fan, though....
-- D.S.
NFL Draft: The big storyline was the flurry of trades near the top. Kudos to the teams that traded up, taking advantage of a brief "Moneyball"-style inefficiency of the new labor deal that creates new rookie cost certainties that make taking a pick high not nearly the financial risk it once was.
The other big storylines:
*Luck and RG3 go 1-2, as expected. RG3's socks were a highlight, and it is hard to imagine there is a fan base more fired up about their pick than the Redskins fans.
*The Giants' rivals go big: The Cowboys traded up to No. 6 to get exceptional LSU DB Morris Claiborne, which was arguably the biggest power move of the night. The Eagles traded up to get exceptional Mississippi State D-lineman Fletcher Cox, which was another phenomenal deal. (And that's on top of the Redskins trading everything to get RG3.) Big moves needed, big moves made.
*The consensus winner? Arguably the Pats, a team that historically trades down/out of the first round instead traded up -- twice -- to get DE Chandler Jones and LB Donta Hightower. It is an instant upgrade to a defense that was suspect (even porous) last year. (The Pats could cap the coup by finagling embattled DB Janoris Jenkins early in the 2nd round; Bill Belichick has historically liked Urban Meyer's stars at Florida, even if they have potential red flags.)
*"Value" picks: As talents surprisingly slide down the board, better/playoff teams are there to snag them, with no better example than the Steelers getting Stanford OG David DeCastro. (Other late picks that pundits liked: The Chargers getting DE Melvin Ingram and the Bucs getting RB Doug Martin.)
*"Reaches": The Chiefs taking mercurial Memphis D-lineman Dontari Poe at 11 was questioned, as was the Seahawks taking West Virginia DE Bruce Irvin when Ingram and Quentin Coples (drafted by the Jets) were available. The 49ers were questioned for taking Illinois WR AJ Jenkins late in the 1st -- he was graded as a high 2nd-round pick, so it wasn't quite a reach, but he didn't have nearly the positive evals of LSU WR Rueben Randle. And then, of course, there was the biggest risk in the draft: The Dolphins taking Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill at No. 8.
*Brandon Weeden: The Colt McCoy Era appears to be over in Cleveland. The Browns spent a first-round pick on the 28-year-old rookie QB from Oklahoma State, who can't possibly be less effective than McCoy, who will still have a long NFL career, simply as a back-up who gets occasional chances to start when the QB1 gets injured. Weeden's transition would be clearly helped by the presence of new RB Trent Richardson in the backfield.
*Looking ahead to the 2nd round: WR Rueben Randle is the top name on the board, but it will be intriguing to see where Janoris Jenkins lands -- he is, by far, the most talented prospect left.
More:
*NHL Game 7 thrillers: Devils win in OT, Rangers hold off Senators. The East semifinals might as well be sponsored by the Amtrak Acela -- Rangers-Caps and Flyers-Devils. Should be fun.
*NBA Playoffs set: The leading storyline is clear: It is "championship or fail" for LeBron and the Heat. I'll stick with my preseason prediction of Thunder-Bulls in the Finals, with Chicago knocking off Miami in the East finals -- by far the most highly anticipated match-up of the playoffs.
*First-Round Picks: Chicago over Philly in 5; Boston over Atlanta in 6; Indiana over Orlando in 5; Miami over New York in 6; San Antonio over Utah in 7; Memphis over the Clippers in 7; the Lakers over the Nuggets in 7; Oklahoma City over Dallas in 7. Wow, does the West look fun to watch.
*NBA History: Worst team ever? The Bobcats finished the season with the worst winning percentage of all time. I love superlatives, so it's intriguing that "Worst Team Ever" is on the table. You have to adjust a bit for the compressed season and lack of any development time, but even in a full 82-game season with summer league and training camp, I'm not sure the Bobcats do much better.
*A playoff is coming to college football: It will be only a four-team bracket -- and I will guarantee you there is even more of a clusterf--- around picking that 4th team than there was picking the 2nd team in a two-team title game -- but it certainly beats the current system.
*Manager Pep Guardiola quits Barca: Does he want to coach the Wizards? (OK, how about my 5-year-old's kindergarten team?)
*MLB: Carl Crawford is being shut down for a while, and it adds insult to injury to insult for the Red Sox, who shelled out a gazillion dollars for him only to see him underperform last year -- and, now, not perform this year. (More Red Sox: They did shell Philip Humber, coming off his perfect game. So there's that.)
The morning after the draft is a fun moment -- it's all promise and potential, with more picks coming tonight and all weekend, with the hope that your team is getting better. Same with the day before the NBA Playoffs start: If your team is in it, they have a theoretical chance, and you can spend today talking yourself into thinking your team can at least beat expectations (if not win a title). And if your team is out of the playoffs, like mine, you can begin to scheme a plan for the offseason moves. Not sure what to tell you if you're a Barca fan, though....
-- D.S.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
*The Caps ousted the Bruins in a thrilling OT Game 7.
*The Nationals have the best record in the National League.
*The Wizards (the Wizards!) have won six straight (six!)
*The Redskins are drafting RG3 tonight.
Times have been lean for fans of DC sports teams. For one day, not today.
Picked a good moment to relocate here, apparently.
*The Nationals have the best record in the National League.
*The Wizards (the Wizards!) have won six straight (six!)
*The Redskins are drafting RG3 tonight.
Times have been lean for fans of DC sports teams. For one day, not today.
Picked a good moment to relocate here, apparently.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
04/25 (Pre-Draft) Quickie
It's the eve of the NFL Draft. With Luck and RG3 locked in to the top two picks, my three most intriguing storylines:
(1) What do the Vikings do at No. 3?
(2) Do the Dolphins reach for QB Ryan Tannehill at No. 8?
(3) Who takes a risk on uber-talented CB Janoris Jenkins?
Otherwise, I fully expect the Draft to dominate tomorrow, as everything NFL-related tends to dominate. (As for the league's attempts to keep draft picks off Twitter before the commissioner announces them at the podium: Good luck with that. Information wants to be free.)
More draft coverage at Quickish. Check it out!
More:
*Metta World Peace suspended 7 games: Most folks seem to think this was appropriate. Seems right.
*Soccer: Chelsea pulls off a Champions League stunner, playing 10-v-11 against Barca at Camp Nou and not only winning in aggregate, but playing Barca to a standstill in the game itself.
*NHL: So excited for Caps-Bruins Game 7 tonight. And even if I'm not a fan of either team, tomorrow's Devils-Panthers Game 7 is must-see, too. (As is Rangers-Senators Game 7.)
*MLB Hero of the Night: Yu Darvish, with 8+ IP and 0 ER against the Yankees, with 10 Ks and only 2 BB. A signature game for the highly touted rookie.
*NBA: Tankmania! The Warriors out-tanking the Hornets means that the Wizards don't have to tank the final two games in order to maintain their hold on the No. 2 Lottery spot. Success!
*ICYMI, don't miss Lee Jenkins' SI cover story on LeBron.
-- D.S.
(1) What do the Vikings do at No. 3?
(2) Do the Dolphins reach for QB Ryan Tannehill at No. 8?
(3) Who takes a risk on uber-talented CB Janoris Jenkins?
Otherwise, I fully expect the Draft to dominate tomorrow, as everything NFL-related tends to dominate. (As for the league's attempts to keep draft picks off Twitter before the commissioner announces them at the podium: Good luck with that. Information wants to be free.)
More draft coverage at Quickish. Check it out!
More:
*Metta World Peace suspended 7 games: Most folks seem to think this was appropriate. Seems right.
*Soccer: Chelsea pulls off a Champions League stunner, playing 10-v-11 against Barca at Camp Nou and not only winning in aggregate, but playing Barca to a standstill in the game itself.
*NHL: So excited for Caps-Bruins Game 7 tonight. And even if I'm not a fan of either team, tomorrow's Devils-Panthers Game 7 is must-see, too. (As is Rangers-Senators Game 7.)
*MLB Hero of the Night: Yu Darvish, with 8+ IP and 0 ER against the Yankees, with 10 Ks and only 2 BB. A signature game for the highly touted rookie.
*NBA: Tankmania! The Warriors out-tanking the Hornets means that the Wizards don't have to tank the final two games in order to maintain their hold on the No. 2 Lottery spot. Success!
*ICYMI, don't miss Lee Jenkins' SI cover story on LeBron.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
04/24 (Loomis) Quickie
Two words: Mickey. Loomis. "Loomis" is kind of a Dickensian name for an NFL GM with the league -- certainly the media -- bearing down on him over an alleged eavesdropping scheme. He vehemently denies it, but it's hard to imagine the news would get leaked if it wasn't at least truth-ish. What he probably needed to say was "I totally did that other bounty stuff, but I swear I didn't do this."
NFL Draft: The most interesting thing I read yesterday was the mock draft from NFL Films' Greg Cosell, who based his picks entirely on watching tape of the prospects (and, presumably, team need), with none of the troubling "scuttlebutt" (or disinformation) to sully his picks. That's how you end up with Janoris Jenkins in your Top 5. (Most interestingly, he grades RG3 higher than Luck.)
Meanwhile: RG3 got permission from the NFL to have "Griffin III" on his jersey nameplate. I'll bet his No. 10 Redskins jersey will be one of the Top 5 best-sellers in the league next year.
Tebow Watch: The Jets are going to use him on punt-protection, which drew some guffaws, but I think it's brilliant: Teams punt way too often as it is; Tebow gives the Jets a viable option to do something out of the punt formation besides punt, each and every time they line up to punt. That gives the return team something new to think about and an edge to the Jets.
CFB: Arkansas hires John L. Smith as temporary head coach while they figure out who they want to hire. Aside from screwing over Weber State, which had just hired JLS to be their head coach, it's a pretty brilliant move: Arkansas gets continuity from a previous assistant (one who has head-coaching experience), while setting up the understanding with him that it's a one-season gig; they can start recruiting his replacement immediately. (If you don't think that kind of head-start is important, ask Notre Dame how that went when Florida got a 6-week jump on them for Urban Meyer.) The New York Times' Pete Thamel was right: Arkansas is the most fascinating team in college football next season.
NBA: My Wizards have won four straight, and all I can think of is: "If they blow their previously locked-in No. 2 Lottery position...." Ah, don't you envy the life of a Wizards fan?
NHL: Rangers taking Senators to a Game 7. Nice pairing with the Caps taking the Bruins to a Game 7. Unfortunately, both are likely to end with the favorites escaping on home ice.
Nets say goodbye to New Jersey: As a die-hard fan of the borough of Brooklyn, I say Welcome.
Watch for: the perennial pre-draft rumor-mongering heading into the final 48 hours before the draft commences Thursday night.
-- D.S.
NFL Draft: The most interesting thing I read yesterday was the mock draft from NFL Films' Greg Cosell, who based his picks entirely on watching tape of the prospects (and, presumably, team need), with none of the troubling "scuttlebutt" (or disinformation) to sully his picks. That's how you end up with Janoris Jenkins in your Top 5. (Most interestingly, he grades RG3 higher than Luck.)
Meanwhile: RG3 got permission from the NFL to have "Griffin III" on his jersey nameplate. I'll bet his No. 10 Redskins jersey will be one of the Top 5 best-sellers in the league next year.
Tebow Watch: The Jets are going to use him on punt-protection, which drew some guffaws, but I think it's brilliant: Teams punt way too often as it is; Tebow gives the Jets a viable option to do something out of the punt formation besides punt, each and every time they line up to punt. That gives the return team something new to think about and an edge to the Jets.
CFB: Arkansas hires John L. Smith as temporary head coach while they figure out who they want to hire. Aside from screwing over Weber State, which had just hired JLS to be their head coach, it's a pretty brilliant move: Arkansas gets continuity from a previous assistant (one who has head-coaching experience), while setting up the understanding with him that it's a one-season gig; they can start recruiting his replacement immediately. (If you don't think that kind of head-start is important, ask Notre Dame how that went when Florida got a 6-week jump on them for Urban Meyer.) The New York Times' Pete Thamel was right: Arkansas is the most fascinating team in college football next season.
NBA: My Wizards have won four straight, and all I can think of is: "If they blow their previously locked-in No. 2 Lottery position...." Ah, don't you envy the life of a Wizards fan?
NHL: Rangers taking Senators to a Game 7. Nice pairing with the Caps taking the Bruins to a Game 7. Unfortunately, both are likely to end with the favorites escaping on home ice.
Nets say goodbye to New Jersey: As a die-hard fan of the borough of Brooklyn, I say Welcome.
Watch for: the perennial pre-draft rumor-mongering heading into the final 48 hours before the draft commences Thursday night.
-- D.S.
Monday, April 23, 2012
04/23 (Metta World WTF?) Quickie
Metta World Peace's elbow to the jaw of James Harden -- plus a concussion, naturally -- may or may not have been maliciously intended, but it sure seemed like more than an accident.
With MWP, you can never tell what is intended and what is incidental, and I hesitate to try to climb in his head to figure it out.
All you really need to know is that the 'bow drew massive outrage, and that outrage will likely lead to a massive suspension for MWP, into the playoffs.
(Frankly, the best idea I heard was suspending him a few more games than Harden will have to sit out -- the NBA is behind MLB, the NHL and the NFL when it comes to concussions. We'll see how long Harden is out. I'm presuming it will be less than Sidney Crosby but more than your typical NFL player.)
More:
*NHL: Bruins force a Game 7. Dammit. As I'm all in on the Caps now, this was their shot. Even if the Caps won in Boston in Game 5, I really don't think they can win there in Game 7. The Caps weren't supposed to win this series -- they have given it just about as great of an effort as possible.
*The Rangers are playing the Yankees today, and it's worth asking whether the Rangers are the new Yankees (or, perhaps more accurately, the new Red Sox) -- loaded with talent on the mound and in the lineup, with a super-smart GM and an ownership group willing to spend a ton. A killer combo.
*Today is the Nets' final game in New Jersey. It has been an era marked mostly by laughable problems, with one small flurry of greatness (those Kidd-led Finals teams of the early part of the 2000s) and one horrible tragedy (the death of Drazen Petrovic). Otherwise, it is one of the most woeful franchises in sports -- I do believe things will turn around in Brooklyn, if only because even with a sub-par product, they will have the cachet of Brooklyn.
*It's NFL Draft week. With Luck and RG3 locked in to the first two picks, the next-biggest storyline is which QB-starved franchise picks Texas A& QB Ryan Tannehill. The presumption is that the Dolphins will take him at No. 8, with no teams willing to trade up with the Jaguars at No. 7 to swoop in and swipe him. He's just not worth it in the way RG3 was for Washington. (I need to write a little more about this, but my lifetime disinterest in the Redskins -- from actively disliking them, as a DC-area resident no less, to general apathy about them -- is put to the test, because I am a huge RG3 fan and can't wait to watch him up close.)
*BTW: The best player in the draft is Alabama's Trent Richardson, the best RB college football has produced since Adrian Peterson, and the first RB I have seen since Ron Dayne his freshman year at Wisconsin that made my eyes pop with his sheer power. "Franchise" RBs just aren't as valued as they were in years past -- that's the evolution of the game -- but for however many years he is active, Richardson will be fantastic.
*Some terrific reads from this past weekend. They have been collected on Quickish -- give them a read here.
-- D.S.
With MWP, you can never tell what is intended and what is incidental, and I hesitate to try to climb in his head to figure it out.
All you really need to know is that the 'bow drew massive outrage, and that outrage will likely lead to a massive suspension for MWP, into the playoffs.
(Frankly, the best idea I heard was suspending him a few more games than Harden will have to sit out -- the NBA is behind MLB, the NHL and the NFL when it comes to concussions. We'll see how long Harden is out. I'm presuming it will be less than Sidney Crosby but more than your typical NFL player.)
More:
*NHL: Bruins force a Game 7. Dammit. As I'm all in on the Caps now, this was their shot. Even if the Caps won in Boston in Game 5, I really don't think they can win there in Game 7. The Caps weren't supposed to win this series -- they have given it just about as great of an effort as possible.
*The Rangers are playing the Yankees today, and it's worth asking whether the Rangers are the new Yankees (or, perhaps more accurately, the new Red Sox) -- loaded with talent on the mound and in the lineup, with a super-smart GM and an ownership group willing to spend a ton. A killer combo.
*Today is the Nets' final game in New Jersey. It has been an era marked mostly by laughable problems, with one small flurry of greatness (those Kidd-led Finals teams of the early part of the 2000s) and one horrible tragedy (the death of Drazen Petrovic). Otherwise, it is one of the most woeful franchises in sports -- I do believe things will turn around in Brooklyn, if only because even with a sub-par product, they will have the cachet of Brooklyn.
*It's NFL Draft week. With Luck and RG3 locked in to the first two picks, the next-biggest storyline is which QB-starved franchise picks Texas A& QB Ryan Tannehill. The presumption is that the Dolphins will take him at No. 8, with no teams willing to trade up with the Jaguars at No. 7 to swoop in and swipe him. He's just not worth it in the way RG3 was for Washington. (I need to write a little more about this, but my lifetime disinterest in the Redskins -- from actively disliking them, as a DC-area resident no less, to general apathy about them -- is put to the test, because I am a huge RG3 fan and can't wait to watch him up close.)
*BTW: The best player in the draft is Alabama's Trent Richardson, the best RB college football has produced since Adrian Peterson, and the first RB I have seen since Ron Dayne his freshman year at Wisconsin that made my eyes pop with his sheer power. "Franchise" RBs just aren't as valued as they were in years past -- that's the evolution of the game -- but for however many years he is active, Richardson will be fantastic.
*Some terrific reads from this past weekend. They have been collected on Quickish -- give them a read here.
-- D.S.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Friday 04/20 (Fenway) Quickie
Fenway turns 100: I like the pageantry. I like the park. I'm partial to Wrigley.
Heat d. Bulls: For the last time, none of this matters -- let's see who emerges from the playoff series.
(For that matter, not only can I not get outraged at the "anti-tanking" movement led by my friends -- and the very smart folks -- at TrueHoop, but I find myself kind of supporting a team's right to tank.)
Anonymous scouts vs. RG3: I'm a huge RG3 fan. My problem with the anonymous scout-bashing is that it is entirely unaccountable -- you can find someone to say something nasty or contrarian about anything (and you can usually find some wannabe pundit to do it on the record). Oh, and that I think the NFL Draft media coverage is an exercise in reporters getting played on a daily basis. And that I'd put my money on RG3 every time.
NHL Playoffs: I'm all in on the Caps (he says as he prepares to drive 50 miles to the nearest hockey super-store to buy gear for my 3-year-old, who is obsessed with hockey and moving from skating lessons to full-blown hockey lessons next week... I know, I know...)
Dwight Howard is done for the season, including the playoffs: Not that the Magic had any shot before, but now they're just wasting everyone's time. The real question is whether Howard is on the team NEXT season.
Roger Goodell goes to L.A.: There's no question the city is getting a team, it's just a matter of when (and which team will relocate).
MMA: I am kind of ashamed to say that I have never watched a "big" UFC event live. That might change tomorrow night for Jones-Evans.
Have a good weekend -- updates here and on Quickish all weekend.
-- D.S.
Heat d. Bulls: For the last time, none of this matters -- let's see who emerges from the playoff series.
(For that matter, not only can I not get outraged at the "anti-tanking" movement led by my friends -- and the very smart folks -- at TrueHoop, but I find myself kind of supporting a team's right to tank.)
Anonymous scouts vs. RG3: I'm a huge RG3 fan. My problem with the anonymous scout-bashing is that it is entirely unaccountable -- you can find someone to say something nasty or contrarian about anything (and you can usually find some wannabe pundit to do it on the record). Oh, and that I think the NFL Draft media coverage is an exercise in reporters getting played on a daily basis. And that I'd put my money on RG3 every time.
NHL Playoffs: I'm all in on the Caps (he says as he prepares to drive 50 miles to the nearest hockey super-store to buy gear for my 3-year-old, who is obsessed with hockey and moving from skating lessons to full-blown hockey lessons next week... I know, I know...)
Dwight Howard is done for the season, including the playoffs: Not that the Magic had any shot before, but now they're just wasting everyone's time. The real question is whether Howard is on the team NEXT season.
Roger Goodell goes to L.A.: There's no question the city is getting a team, it's just a matter of when (and which team will relocate).
MMA: I am kind of ashamed to say that I have never watched a "big" UFC event live. That might change tomorrow night for Jones-Evans.
Have a good weekend -- updates here and on Quickish all weekend.
-- D.S.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
04/19 (Summitt) Quickie
*End of an era with Pat Summitt stepping down: Greatest college basketball coach of all time.
*Colts going to draft Luck: No! You're kidding! The "Suck for Luck" cycle is complete.
*Bo Ryan hates transfers: Another battle the NCAA is going to eventually lose, because it doesn't pass the common-sense test.
*Cliff Lee going 10: Awesome for its novelty/throwback-ishness.
*Pudge Rodriguez is retiring: First-ballot Hall of Famer.
*Dwight Howard wants Stan Van Gundy out: For real this time. SVG will be fine -- he'll make a mint on TV or coaching a different contender (he'd be fantastic in NYC, although the Dolans would hate him). Can't say the same thing about D12.
*NHL: The Penguins are still going to lose the series, but at least they won't experience the humiliation of a sweep.
*Today's best read: ESPN Mag's Tom Friend on RG3.
-- D.S.
*Colts going to draft Luck: No! You're kidding! The "Suck for Luck" cycle is complete.
*Bo Ryan hates transfers: Another battle the NCAA is going to eventually lose, because it doesn't pass the common-sense test.
*Cliff Lee going 10: Awesome for its novelty/throwback-ishness.
*Pudge Rodriguez is retiring: First-ballot Hall of Famer.
*Dwight Howard wants Stan Van Gundy out: For real this time. SVG will be fine -- he'll make a mint on TV or coaching a different contender (he'd be fantastic in NYC, although the Dolans would hate him). Can't say the same thing about D12.
*NHL: The Penguins are still going to lose the series, but at least they won't experience the humiliation of a sweep.
*Today's best read: ESPN Mag's Tom Friend on RG3.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
04/18 (NFL Schedule) Quickie
It is a testament to the power of the NFL that the release of its schedule last night was the biggest deal in sports.
The headline/headliner is Peyton: He opens against the Steelers, and if there is a single game that everyone is circling as the most hyped game of the year, it's Broncos-Pats.
Otherwise, it has become a signature moment of annual optimism: Looking through the schedule and thinking your team has as good as any of making the playoffs.
(Good Quickish stuff on the NFL Sked here.)
More:
*Moyer Mania: 49-year-old Jamie Moyer becomes the oldest pitcher ever to get an MLB win. Again: There isn't a single player more worth seeing in person this season than Moyer.
*Kentucky 5 goes pro: I absolutely do not understand any hand-wringing about "one-and-done" players -- the only hand-wringing worth doing is over the existence of any age limit, period.
Don't get how people would want to force these kids to have to stay in school, particularly if the NBA -- the market -- signals (via projected draft position) they are clearly ready to enter the league.
*Anthony Davis will be the No. 1 overall pick. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist ("MKG") will be either No. 2 or No. 3. Terrence Jones will go in the Lottery. Marquis Teague will go in the first round. Doron Lamb might go in the first round, but probably the second. Not a bad class.
*NBA: That was a pretty good game by Melo and a pretty good win by the Knicks -- they will open the playoffs with either the Heat or Bulls and New York's best-case scenario is simply to keep things interesting through 6 or 7 games before losing in the first round.
*Ozzie is back: It's like he never left (except he will likely be way more careful about what he says -- to the extent that Ozzie can ever be too careful about things like that).
*Time's 2012 "Top 100 Most Influential People" list included six athletes: Novak Djokovic, Jeremy Lin, Lionel Messi, Oscar Pistorious, Tim Tebow, and Yani Tseng.
More later. Tons of great stuff on Quickish yesterday -- Will Leitch's GQ cover story on Derrick Rose, Wright Thompson on Ozzie Guillen and politics in Miami, Peter King's mock draft for this week's SI, Part 3 of John Branch's excellent series on a girls' high school hoops team in Tennessee being run by the local correctional system. Click here to check it out.
-- D.S.
The headline/headliner is Peyton: He opens against the Steelers, and if there is a single game that everyone is circling as the most hyped game of the year, it's Broncos-Pats.
Otherwise, it has become a signature moment of annual optimism: Looking through the schedule and thinking your team has as good as any of making the playoffs.
(Good Quickish stuff on the NFL Sked here.)
More:
*Moyer Mania: 49-year-old Jamie Moyer becomes the oldest pitcher ever to get an MLB win. Again: There isn't a single player more worth seeing in person this season than Moyer.
*Kentucky 5 goes pro: I absolutely do not understand any hand-wringing about "one-and-done" players -- the only hand-wringing worth doing is over the existence of any age limit, period.
Don't get how people would want to force these kids to have to stay in school, particularly if the NBA -- the market -- signals (via projected draft position) they are clearly ready to enter the league.
*Anthony Davis will be the No. 1 overall pick. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist ("MKG") will be either No. 2 or No. 3. Terrence Jones will go in the Lottery. Marquis Teague will go in the first round. Doron Lamb might go in the first round, but probably the second. Not a bad class.
*NBA: That was a pretty good game by Melo and a pretty good win by the Knicks -- they will open the playoffs with either the Heat or Bulls and New York's best-case scenario is simply to keep things interesting through 6 or 7 games before losing in the first round.
*Ozzie is back: It's like he never left (except he will likely be way more careful about what he says -- to the extent that Ozzie can ever be too careful about things like that).
*Time's 2012 "Top 100 Most Influential People" list included six athletes: Novak Djokovic, Jeremy Lin, Lionel Messi, Oscar Pistorious, Tim Tebow, and Yani Tseng.
More later. Tons of great stuff on Quickish yesterday -- Will Leitch's GQ cover story on Derrick Rose, Wright Thompson on Ozzie Guillen and politics in Miami, Peter King's mock draft for this week's SI, Part 3 of John Branch's excellent series on a girls' high school hoops team in Tennessee being run by the local correctional system. Click here to check it out.
-- D.S.
Monday, April 16, 2012
04/16 (Monday) Quickie
*Damn: The Flyers are putting on an impressive beat-down.
*Calm down: The Heat beating the Knicks isn't quite the Heat beating the Bulls.
*However: The Lakers have to figure out if it's Bynum's team or Kobe's team.
*Sports x Pop Culture: "Mad Men" incorporating the 1966 World Cup.
*Today in Tebow Hysteria: Tebow at a Yankees game! (In a Yankees hat!)
*Two words: Matt. Kemp.
*Great read: John Branch's series in the NYT about the girls' hoops team administrated by the local correctional system.
*By the way: Tebow's new Nike jersey sold out on its first day of availability.
More later.
-- D.S.
*Calm down: The Heat beating the Knicks isn't quite the Heat beating the Bulls.
*However: The Lakers have to figure out if it's Bynum's team or Kobe's team.
*Sports x Pop Culture: "Mad Men" incorporating the 1966 World Cup.
*Today in Tebow Hysteria: Tebow at a Yankees game! (In a Yankees hat!)
*Two words: Matt. Kemp.
*Great read: John Branch's series in the NYT about the girls' hoops team administrated by the local correctional system.
*By the way: Tebow's new Nike jersey sold out on its first day of availability.
More later.
-- D.S.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Saying Goodbye to Gram
My Gram passed away yesterday. She was 93. She was my roommate.
She spent the last 14 years without my Pop. He died in 1998 after a year of living with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. That’s what brought me to their house in the Midwood section of Brooklyn in 1997 as a sort of valet for them as he battled, and that’s how she and I ended up as roommates after he passed away.
It wasn’t quite the Brooklyn-hipster lifestyle. She lived pretty far out in the borough. No cable. No dishwasher. No dryer. She didn’t drive. She didn’t eat red meat. We ate simply; the highlight was Friday night Shabbat dinners, usually featuring a potato kugel from the “good” kugel store on Avenue M and, hopefully, a black and white cookie.
Usually, we would break out the mini-TV and put it on the kitchen table as we ate, watching the local NBC news broadcast at 5, then the PBS NewsHour at 6. She liked politics. As the wife of a 40-year New York Timesman, she was a devoted reader of the paper.
(Even after she left New York and moved into the assisted-living facility in Maryland, she kept the subscription -- in her room yesterday, I found a copy of my piece from the Sunday Times a few weeks ago on a table. I have the voicemail she left me on the day it came out; it’s nice to know that at age 39, I can still make my Gram as proud of me as she was on that call.)
I tried to be as helpful as possible, but -- after all -- we were roommates. Given that I was 25 and she was 79, there would be squabbles, of course. But we got along pretty well. Gram knew I had her back, and I knew she had mine. She only called me “Daniel,” a holdover from when I was a little boy. When I was feeling particularly cheeky (or exasperated), I’d call her by her first name, “Lil.”
The months after my Pop died were hard for her, but we didn’t talk about it very much. I know she appreciated my help but I also know she needed to figure out how to live by herself. We finally decided I should move out -- she needed to find her footing on her own, without her husband of 50-plus years; it was time for me to find a non-octogenarian lifestyle in New York.
Besides, I would still be in New York to ferry her around if she needed it -- to doctor’s appointments and family events that she would never miss. She had a lot of friends and stayed active (that was something the folks at the assisted-living facility kept telling us -- Gram was always participating in whatever they had scheduled for the residents).
A few years later, I was in between years of business school and back in New York for the summer -- I think it was a foregone conclusion for me that I would be living with her. I think it messed with her system to have me around again, but I think she liked having me rattle around the house again. And at least this time she knew there was an end-point.
My favorite moment with Gram was that summer. You can imagine living in Midwood with an 82-year-old wasn’t exactly conducive to dating, although that was a lot more about me suggesting 5:30 dinner reservations than anything Gram did. I had gone out on a date -- my first in a long time -- and I had stayed out all night, which was not anticipated.
I called Gram the next day from Manhattan -- sort of a “Talk of Shame.” I let her know I was OK... and that, uh...well...actually, I would be staying in Manhattan for the rest of the day and another night with this girl from the date. (Obviously, it was a pretty good first date, although not exactly the kind you would want to talk about with your grandma-roommate.)
I could hear Gram chuckle through the phone. She had a lot of strong opinions, but she could be very “live and let live.” She knew I was happy. A few weeks later, as I was getting ready to move out of her house, presumably for the last time, I confided in her that I already knew this girl was going to be it. Gram and my wife had an amazing relationship over the past 10 years.
Gram was no-nonsense and wasn’t big on sentimentality. I know she missed my grandfather dearly, but she did not burden the rest of us with that grief. But she loved her two daughters and her five grandkids and she was particularly proud of her nine great-grandkids. I am so glad she got to meet her ninth great-grandkid, Lucy, who was born 6 weeks ago. I am so glad that, by moving to DC, we spent the last 8 months being a 10-minute ride from where she lived. (Obligatory plea that always seem to happen in moments like this: “You don’t call your grandparents enough, if you’re lucky enough to still have any. Call them to say hi and tell them a story about what you’re up to.”)
There is a special feeling I have for my Gram, unlike anything I felt for my other grandparents or my own parents and siblings or even my wife and kids.
Think about your favorite roommate ever -- the kind of loyalty and familiarity you develop. It’s not about the signature moments (although those stand out) as much as the pleasant hum of the every day. Gram and I had a unique and odd set-up, one that I don’t think either of us asked for or saw coming 20 years ago when it was your standard “proud grandma” / “loving grandson” dynamic -- senior and kid.
But for the last day, it has made things so much happier for me, to remember that “sit-com”-ish premise of our living situation -- hopefully, I made her life easier (maybe even happy). Living with her certainly made my life happier. But so much sadder right now.
-- D.S.
She spent the last 14 years without my Pop. He died in 1998 after a year of living with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. That’s what brought me to their house in the Midwood section of Brooklyn in 1997 as a sort of valet for them as he battled, and that’s how she and I ended up as roommates after he passed away.
It wasn’t quite the Brooklyn-hipster lifestyle. She lived pretty far out in the borough. No cable. No dishwasher. No dryer. She didn’t drive. She didn’t eat red meat. We ate simply; the highlight was Friday night Shabbat dinners, usually featuring a potato kugel from the “good” kugel store on Avenue M and, hopefully, a black and white cookie.
Usually, we would break out the mini-TV and put it on the kitchen table as we ate, watching the local NBC news broadcast at 5, then the PBS NewsHour at 6. She liked politics. As the wife of a 40-year New York Timesman, she was a devoted reader of the paper.
(Even after she left New York and moved into the assisted-living facility in Maryland, she kept the subscription -- in her room yesterday, I found a copy of my piece from the Sunday Times a few weeks ago on a table. I have the voicemail she left me on the day it came out; it’s nice to know that at age 39, I can still make my Gram as proud of me as she was on that call.)
I tried to be as helpful as possible, but -- after all -- we were roommates. Given that I was 25 and she was 79, there would be squabbles, of course. But we got along pretty well. Gram knew I had her back, and I knew she had mine. She only called me “Daniel,” a holdover from when I was a little boy. When I was feeling particularly cheeky (or exasperated), I’d call her by her first name, “Lil.”
The months after my Pop died were hard for her, but we didn’t talk about it very much. I know she appreciated my help but I also know she needed to figure out how to live by herself. We finally decided I should move out -- she needed to find her footing on her own, without her husband of 50-plus years; it was time for me to find a non-octogenarian lifestyle in New York.
Besides, I would still be in New York to ferry her around if she needed it -- to doctor’s appointments and family events that she would never miss. She had a lot of friends and stayed active (that was something the folks at the assisted-living facility kept telling us -- Gram was always participating in whatever they had scheduled for the residents).
A few years later, I was in between years of business school and back in New York for the summer -- I think it was a foregone conclusion for me that I would be living with her. I think it messed with her system to have me around again, but I think she liked having me rattle around the house again. And at least this time she knew there was an end-point.
My favorite moment with Gram was that summer. You can imagine living in Midwood with an 82-year-old wasn’t exactly conducive to dating, although that was a lot more about me suggesting 5:30 dinner reservations than anything Gram did. I had gone out on a date -- my first in a long time -- and I had stayed out all night, which was not anticipated.
I called Gram the next day from Manhattan -- sort of a “Talk of Shame.” I let her know I was OK... and that, uh...well...actually, I would be staying in Manhattan for the rest of the day and another night with this girl from the date. (Obviously, it was a pretty good first date, although not exactly the kind you would want to talk about with your grandma-roommate.)
I could hear Gram chuckle through the phone. She had a lot of strong opinions, but she could be very “live and let live.” She knew I was happy. A few weeks later, as I was getting ready to move out of her house, presumably for the last time, I confided in her that I already knew this girl was going to be it. Gram and my wife had an amazing relationship over the past 10 years.
Gram was no-nonsense and wasn’t big on sentimentality. I know she missed my grandfather dearly, but she did not burden the rest of us with that grief. But she loved her two daughters and her five grandkids and she was particularly proud of her nine great-grandkids. I am so glad she got to meet her ninth great-grandkid, Lucy, who was born 6 weeks ago. I am so glad that, by moving to DC, we spent the last 8 months being a 10-minute ride from where she lived. (Obligatory plea that always seem to happen in moments like this: “You don’t call your grandparents enough, if you’re lucky enough to still have any. Call them to say hi and tell them a story about what you’re up to.”)
There is a special feeling I have for my Gram, unlike anything I felt for my other grandparents or my own parents and siblings or even my wife and kids.
Think about your favorite roommate ever -- the kind of loyalty and familiarity you develop. It’s not about the signature moments (although those stand out) as much as the pleasant hum of the every day. Gram and I had a unique and odd set-up, one that I don’t think either of us asked for or saw coming 20 years ago when it was your standard “proud grandma” / “loving grandson” dynamic -- senior and kid.
But for the last day, it has made things so much happier for me, to remember that “sit-com”-ish premise of our living situation -- hopefully, I made her life easier (maybe even happy). Living with her certainly made my life happier. But so much sadder right now.
-- D.S.
4/13 (Page 2) Quickie
When Page 2 launched in the fall of 2000, I immediately emailed my former colleague on the ESPNet.SportsZone edit desk, Kevin Jackson -- now in charge of the project with a universally esteemed magazine lifer named Jay Lovinger -- and asked how I could be a part.
It started with a gimmicky "What's Hot, What's Not" list on New Year's Day of 2001, then continued over the next 18 months or so with regular contributions, including a weekly "What's Hot/What's Not" column. It was a lot of fun, and it was a nice change of pace from my work in business school.
In the spring and summer of 2002, as I was finishing up my MBA, I was thinking about how online news consumption was changing and came up with an idea I thought would work as a daily conceit -- not to mention a way for me to claim my dream job as a daily national sports columnist.
I pitched the idea for what would become the Daily Quickie to Jackson and Lovinger over the summer. They helped me hone the concept (I just found some of the early emails, and they are awesome) and the column launched in January of 2003.
Gratifyingly, people liked it and I got to keep doing it every day, batting lead-off for a lineup that included heavy hitters like Wiley, Simmons, HST and Halberstam. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I never took for granted.
When I left Page 2, I wished them nothing but the best -- I maintain the sentimentalism of an alum -- and I have been thrilled to see Jackson ascend to become a key leader within ESPN.com, to see Schoenfield become one of the most essential baseball writers in the country, to see Lovinger spearhead the incredible E-Ticket initiative and to see the rest of my Page 2 colleagues find great success, both on and off ESPN.com.
With no disrespect to the folks who managed Page 2 over the past five years, those first five years -- pre-sportsblogs, pre-Facebook, pre-Twitter -- were something very unique and special, with the kind of willingness to experiment and innovate that was rare in mainstream sports media and, hopefully, inspiring (or at least entertaining) to folks who saw it.
Page 2 ends today. There will be new ideas starting next week, and hopefully they will let their imagination go -- the landscape couldn't be more different (or competitive) than it was 12 years ago. The legacy of Page 2, at least for me, is that it's OK to try -- that's a kernel worth keeping.
It was a good run -- a fun run -- and I'm proud to know I played a small part.
-- D.S.
It started with a gimmicky "What's Hot, What's Not" list on New Year's Day of 2001, then continued over the next 18 months or so with regular contributions, including a weekly "What's Hot/What's Not" column. It was a lot of fun, and it was a nice change of pace from my work in business school.
In the spring and summer of 2002, as I was finishing up my MBA, I was thinking about how online news consumption was changing and came up with an idea I thought would work as a daily conceit -- not to mention a way for me to claim my dream job as a daily national sports columnist.
I pitched the idea for what would become the Daily Quickie to Jackson and Lovinger over the summer. They helped me hone the concept (I just found some of the early emails, and they are awesome) and the column launched in January of 2003.
Gratifyingly, people liked it and I got to keep doing it every day, batting lead-off for a lineup that included heavy hitters like Wiley, Simmons, HST and Halberstam. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I never took for granted.
When I left Page 2, I wished them nothing but the best -- I maintain the sentimentalism of an alum -- and I have been thrilled to see Jackson ascend to become a key leader within ESPN.com, to see Schoenfield become one of the most essential baseball writers in the country, to see Lovinger spearhead the incredible E-Ticket initiative and to see the rest of my Page 2 colleagues find great success, both on and off ESPN.com.
With no disrespect to the folks who managed Page 2 over the past five years, those first five years -- pre-sportsblogs, pre-Facebook, pre-Twitter -- were something very unique and special, with the kind of willingness to experiment and innovate that was rare in mainstream sports media and, hopefully, inspiring (or at least entertaining) to folks who saw it.
Page 2 ends today. There will be new ideas starting next week, and hopefully they will let their imagination go -- the landscape couldn't be more different (or competitive) than it was 12 years ago. The legacy of Page 2, at least for me, is that it's OK to try -- that's a kernel worth keeping.
It was a good run -- a fun run -- and I'm proud to know I played a small part.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
04/11 (Petrino) Quickie
Let's not give Arkansas AD Jeff Long too much credit: Bobby Petrino HAD to be fired. This wasn't a moral issue; it was an employment-law issue. It's not that Petrino isn't bigger than the Arkansas football program -- it's that he isn't bigger than the legal bill the school would have racked up had they kept him around after he hired his mistress. That said: Long gets credit for letting his outrage show on TV last night, which -- in a climate of "college sports are so corrupt!" -- gets points for being refreshing. But let's make it clear: This wasn't "Profiles in Courage" as much as "CYA."
Now, did Ozzie Guillen HAVE to be suspended by the Marlins? Yes, and as Joe Sheehan and some others have pointed out, it was entirely about the money -- the damage done to the Marlins' business by Guillen popping off about Castro in a way that seemed even remotely sympathetic, in a town where Castro is Public Enemy No. 1. The team had to worry about its relationship with fans in the area, both in the short- and long-term. I'm all for folks in sports saying whatever they want about politics or society, but that doesn't mean they don't need to be careful about what they say and consider the audience. As has been pointed out elsewhere, if Guillen said the same thing about Castro while managing the White Sox in Chicago, it's much less of a big deal. But in Miami? Ozzie should be suspended for the lack of judgment alone.
More:
*I don't hate the Celtics in twilight nearly as much as I did when they were title contenders -- I will certainly root against them, but I hope last night's Boston win over the Heat is an indicator that they are ready to make their share of the playoffs interesting. If they can push the Bulls to 6 or 7 games in the Eastern Conference semis, that's as much as you can ask of them. (They would be much better off if they were matched up with the Heat in the semis than the Bulls, who are less likely to fold if bullied.)
*Where will the top two prep hoops prospects -- Nerlens Noel and Shabazz Muhammad -- say they are going to spend next year in college, when they announce tonight? I'm holding out a smidgen of hope that Noel picks Georgetown, but I think both will pick Kentucky -- as they should. (If Noel does spurn UK, it'll be for Syracuse, not G'town.)
*Bill Parcells isn't going to coach the Saints: That's too bad, because that would have been a lot of fun.
More later -- pop by Quickish all day for great takes on the big stories.
-- D.S.
Now, did Ozzie Guillen HAVE to be suspended by the Marlins? Yes, and as Joe Sheehan and some others have pointed out, it was entirely about the money -- the damage done to the Marlins' business by Guillen popping off about Castro in a way that seemed even remotely sympathetic, in a town where Castro is Public Enemy No. 1. The team had to worry about its relationship with fans in the area, both in the short- and long-term. I'm all for folks in sports saying whatever they want about politics or society, but that doesn't mean they don't need to be careful about what they say and consider the audience. As has been pointed out elsewhere, if Guillen said the same thing about Castro while managing the White Sox in Chicago, it's much less of a big deal. But in Miami? Ozzie should be suspended for the lack of judgment alone.
More:
*I don't hate the Celtics in twilight nearly as much as I did when they were title contenders -- I will certainly root against them, but I hope last night's Boston win over the Heat is an indicator that they are ready to make their share of the playoffs interesting. If they can push the Bulls to 6 or 7 games in the Eastern Conference semis, that's as much as you can ask of them. (They would be much better off if they were matched up with the Heat in the semis than the Bulls, who are less likely to fold if bullied.)
*Where will the top two prep hoops prospects -- Nerlens Noel and Shabazz Muhammad -- say they are going to spend next year in college, when they announce tonight? I'm holding out a smidgen of hope that Noel picks Georgetown, but I think both will pick Kentucky -- as they should. (If Noel does spurn UK, it'll be for Syracuse, not G'town.)
*Bill Parcells isn't going to coach the Saints: That's too bad, because that would have been a lot of fun.
More later -- pop by Quickish all day for great takes on the big stories.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
04/10 (Instagram) Quickie
I'm a big fan of Instagram, a big fan of entrepreneurship, a big fan of great user-experience -- I'm very happy for the founders of Instagram on their billion-dollar sale to Facebook.
I think Instagram has a big place with sports fans -- you've seen it here and there -- and there is a lot more to do with it. More than that, it is a triumph of the mash-up of the social and the visual, both of which are core to the sports-fan experience. If you are a fan of this stuff, it is worth your time to read some of the backstories to Instagram's start and growth that are floating around -- not to mention the analysis of why this was a smart move for Facebook.
FWIW: Want some everyday relevance of Instagram in sports? How about this photo posted on Instagram by Shabazz Muhammad, the top-ranked high school hoops player (and guaranteed Top 3 pick of the '13 NBA Draft), who will make his college choice today.
More:
*Ozzie Guillen: Needs to apologize, even if he doesn't believe it. Gotta know your audience.
*OK, so Yu Darvish struggled in his debut, but the Rangers' barrage of run support was a good reminder of why he was lucky to end up with Texas.
*The Mets are 4-0. Amazing.
*Derrick Rose ankle: Needless to say, if he's not full strength, the Bulls are still good enough to get to the Eastern conference finals, but not good enough to topple the Heat.
*Baylor vs. NCAA: Were the coaches given bad advice by the school's NCAA compliance officer? Better hope so, because if not, that's some serious phone-call violatin'.
Pop by Quickish all day for the best takes on the biggest stories.
-- D.S.
I think Instagram has a big place with sports fans -- you've seen it here and there -- and there is a lot more to do with it. More than that, it is a triumph of the mash-up of the social and the visual, both of which are core to the sports-fan experience. If you are a fan of this stuff, it is worth your time to read some of the backstories to Instagram's start and growth that are floating around -- not to mention the analysis of why this was a smart move for Facebook.
FWIW: Want some everyday relevance of Instagram in sports? How about this photo posted on Instagram by Shabazz Muhammad, the top-ranked high school hoops player (and guaranteed Top 3 pick of the '13 NBA Draft), who will make his college choice today.
More:
*Ozzie Guillen: Needs to apologize, even if he doesn't believe it. Gotta know your audience.
*OK, so Yu Darvish struggled in his debut, but the Rangers' barrage of run support was a good reminder of why he was lucky to end up with Texas.
*The Mets are 4-0. Amazing.
*Derrick Rose ankle: Needless to say, if he's not full strength, the Bulls are still good enough to get to the Eastern conference finals, but not good enough to topple the Heat.
*Baylor vs. NCAA: Were the coaches given bad advice by the school's NCAA compliance officer? Better hope so, because if not, that's some serious phone-call violatin'.
Pop by Quickish all day for the best takes on the biggest stories.
-- D.S.
Monday, April 09, 2012
04/09 (Bubba) Quickie
I'm torn by Bubba Watson's Masters win.
On the one hand, it's a victory for non-conformity -- as Bubba's mythology goes, he has never taken a proper lesson. That unconventional shot on the second playoff hole -- one of the most memorable in Masters history -- was a perfect symbol of "Bubba golf."
On the other hand, we like to talk about "process over outcome" -- we like to think that if we get professional help, our performance will improve. Maybe that's a myth, but more likely, it'll get you to a 90% or 95% outcome but potentially not let you be an outlier, with an accompanying outlier result. (On the other other hand, maybe he debunks the notion of gurus, which isn't a bad thing.)
In other words, Bubba isn't a model -- he's an exception. And we should appreciate and enjoy that exception for all the same reasons we appreciate and enjoy lots of exceptions out there. I just wouldn't look at it as a model.
(Check that: I wouldn't look at it as a model of how to win a Masters -- I would absolutely look at it as an example of someone who seems to have his priorities in order: He is open with his emotions, he is a devoted new father and husband, he spends his money on pop-culture kitsch, he seems hyper-competitive but not to the point of losing his humanity.... we could all learn something from that kind of "Bubba" lifestyle.)
-- D.S.
On the one hand, it's a victory for non-conformity -- as Bubba's mythology goes, he has never taken a proper lesson. That unconventional shot on the second playoff hole -- one of the most memorable in Masters history -- was a perfect symbol of "Bubba golf."
On the other hand, we like to talk about "process over outcome" -- we like to think that if we get professional help, our performance will improve. Maybe that's a myth, but more likely, it'll get you to a 90% or 95% outcome but potentially not let you be an outlier, with an accompanying outlier result. (On the other other hand, maybe he debunks the notion of gurus, which isn't a bad thing.)
In other words, Bubba isn't a model -- he's an exception. And we should appreciate and enjoy that exception for all the same reasons we appreciate and enjoy lots of exceptions out there. I just wouldn't look at it as a model.
(Check that: I wouldn't look at it as a model of how to win a Masters -- I would absolutely look at it as an example of someone who seems to have his priorities in order: He is open with his emotions, he is a devoted new father and husband, he spends his money on pop-culture kitsch, he seems hyper-competitive but not to the point of losing his humanity.... we could all learn something from that kind of "Bubba" lifestyle.)
-- D.S.
Friday, April 06, 2012
04/06 (Another Opening Day) Quickie
*Nats win! (See yesterday's thing.)
*Same old, same old for the Red Sox. Same old, same old for Verlander.
*Toronto's 16-inning win feels like an omen we'll look back in in September.
*Powerful: The "Rangers Fans" statue of Shannon and Cooper Stone.
*Henrik Stenson's 8 on 18 was far more compelling than anything Tiger did.
*D12 vs. SVG: Why hasn't the Magic let SVG go yet? Yikes.
*Petrino: The wins and the skeeviness are all of a piece. Arkansas knows it.
*Gregg Williams' NFL career is over. But SHOULD it be over? I say yes.
*The Caps have eked into the NHL playoffs. Can't end up worse than cruising in.
*Yesterday's best thing: That Cubs-vs-Sox New Era ad. Brilliant.
*To those celebrating, a good Easter and/or good Passover to you.
*My favorite Passover treat: Chocolate-covered marshmallow bars, frozen.
-- D.S.
*Same old, same old for the Red Sox. Same old, same old for Verlander.
*Toronto's 16-inning win feels like an omen we'll look back in in September.
*Powerful: The "Rangers Fans" statue of Shannon and Cooper Stone.
*Henrik Stenson's 8 on 18 was far more compelling than anything Tiger did.
*D12 vs. SVG: Why hasn't the Magic let SVG go yet? Yikes.
*Petrino: The wins and the skeeviness are all of a piece. Arkansas knows it.
*Gregg Williams' NFL career is over. But SHOULD it be over? I say yes.
*The Caps have eked into the NHL playoffs. Can't end up worse than cruising in.
*Yesterday's best thing: That Cubs-vs-Sox New Era ad. Brilliant.
*To those celebrating, a good Easter and/or good Passover to you.
*My favorite Passover treat: Chocolate-covered marshmallow bars, frozen.
-- D.S.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Cub Fan, Nats Man
The Nats-Cubs season-opener feels awkward for me.
When I was a kid growing up in the DC suburbs, I loved the Cubs. Loved. Loved loved loved. Die-hard. I was 11 for 1984's "Next Year Is Here."
I called my local cable company -- which hadn't been around very long, mind you -- to lobby them to add WGN SuperStation.
I had a Cubs hat that I wore around so much that it wore out. I took a Sharpie and wrote "8/8/88" on my baseball glove, commemorating the night the lights went on at Wrigley.
In my freshman facebook entry for college, among my interests, I listed "Chicago Cubs."
20 years ago, the idea of going to college in Chicago and being able to drop by Wrigley as often as I wanted -- which I did -- seemed like a dream.
When I graduated college, I moved into an apartment in Wrigleyville, about three blocks from the field -- close enough we could sit on our stoop and trade cans of beer for free tickets.
Somewhere along the line, I went from die-hard to not being a fan at all. There's no question that part of it came from me losing some of my passion for baseball. Some of it, ironically, came from the proximity -- being a displaced Cubs fan felt special; being in the middle of it was, weirdly, less appealing. But, looking back, a lot had to do with my interest in baseball fading -- a strange thing for a one-time Strat-o-Matic addict.
Fast-forward to 2012. I have moved back to the DC area. Baseball-wise, the biggest difference between the early-90s and now is the presence of the Nationals. Not just the presence, but the buzz -- Strasburg. Harper. Zimmerman. That rotation! That bullpen! Davey Johnson! Mike Rizzo! Thomas Boswell!
A few years ago, the Nats piqued my interest -- I had grown up going to Orioles games (for years, my dad had the "Sunday home game" ticket package), but I never had the connection to them, aside from an abiding regional love for Cal Ripken, which every kid had regardless of who they grew up rooting for.
That the Nats went from a sorry team to one of the most promising in baseball was compelling. They have a must-see ace and a must-see hitter-in-waiting. I began to follow the team, but once I actually moved down here, I started following them much more closely.
I really like baseball -- particularly the "national" stories and the intellectual approach that has taken hold of the game and its complementary analysis. (I don't mind saying that subscribing to Joe Sheehan's baseball newsletter helped my enjoyment of the game substantially.)
But now I find myself gravitating towards rooting for a team again. I'm still very sympathetic for the Cubs -- I cannot possibly turn against my 13-year-old self -- but I consider myself a burgeoning Nats fan, even a bandwagon Nats fan (then again, every DC area fan who adopted the Nationals simply out of proximity or regional allegiance is a bandwagon fan).
More importantly, once again, I consider myself a real (or "real") fan (or "fan") of a specific team, nonetheless.
Ironically, the first MLB game that I took my oldest kid to was a Cubs game, two summers ago. He loved it. The video I have of him singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" remains one of my favorite moments of being a parent.
Even more ironically, he has no interest in the Nationals -- like any kid born and raised in New York, he is... much to my regret... a Yankees fan. My impulse is to try to break him of that, but who am I to manipulate his fandom like that? That's his thing.
Now, if the Nationals get good and he grows up from age 6 to age 16 watching Strasburg mow down hitters and Harper jack homers and the team win division titles (or even a World Series or two), he may change his mind.
That would certainly be taking after his dad.
-- D.S.
When I was a kid growing up in the DC suburbs, I loved the Cubs. Loved. Loved loved loved. Die-hard. I was 11 for 1984's "Next Year Is Here."
I called my local cable company -- which hadn't been around very long, mind you -- to lobby them to add WGN SuperStation.
I had a Cubs hat that I wore around so much that it wore out. I took a Sharpie and wrote "8/8/88" on my baseball glove, commemorating the night the lights went on at Wrigley.
In my freshman facebook entry for college, among my interests, I listed "Chicago Cubs."
20 years ago, the idea of going to college in Chicago and being able to drop by Wrigley as often as I wanted -- which I did -- seemed like a dream.
When I graduated college, I moved into an apartment in Wrigleyville, about three blocks from the field -- close enough we could sit on our stoop and trade cans of beer for free tickets.
Somewhere along the line, I went from die-hard to not being a fan at all. There's no question that part of it came from me losing some of my passion for baseball. Some of it, ironically, came from the proximity -- being a displaced Cubs fan felt special; being in the middle of it was, weirdly, less appealing. But, looking back, a lot had to do with my interest in baseball fading -- a strange thing for a one-time Strat-o-Matic addict.
Fast-forward to 2012. I have moved back to the DC area. Baseball-wise, the biggest difference between the early-90s and now is the presence of the Nationals. Not just the presence, but the buzz -- Strasburg. Harper. Zimmerman. That rotation! That bullpen! Davey Johnson! Mike Rizzo! Thomas Boswell!
A few years ago, the Nats piqued my interest -- I had grown up going to Orioles games (for years, my dad had the "Sunday home game" ticket package), but I never had the connection to them, aside from an abiding regional love for Cal Ripken, which every kid had regardless of who they grew up rooting for.
That the Nats went from a sorry team to one of the most promising in baseball was compelling. They have a must-see ace and a must-see hitter-in-waiting. I began to follow the team, but once I actually moved down here, I started following them much more closely.
I really like baseball -- particularly the "national" stories and the intellectual approach that has taken hold of the game and its complementary analysis. (I don't mind saying that subscribing to Joe Sheehan's baseball newsletter helped my enjoyment of the game substantially.)
But now I find myself gravitating towards rooting for a team again. I'm still very sympathetic for the Cubs -- I cannot possibly turn against my 13-year-old self -- but I consider myself a burgeoning Nats fan, even a bandwagon Nats fan (then again, every DC area fan who adopted the Nationals simply out of proximity or regional allegiance is a bandwagon fan).
More importantly, once again, I consider myself a real (or "real") fan (or "fan") of a specific team, nonetheless.
Ironically, the first MLB game that I took my oldest kid to was a Cubs game, two summers ago. He loved it. The video I have of him singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" remains one of my favorite moments of being a parent.
Even more ironically, he has no interest in the Nationals -- like any kid born and raised in New York, he is... much to my regret... a Yankees fan. My impulse is to try to break him of that, but who am I to manipulate his fandom like that? That's his thing.
Now, if the Nationals get good and he grows up from age 6 to age 16 watching Strasburg mow down hitters and Harper jack homers and the team win division titles (or even a World Series or two), he may change his mind.
That would certainly be taking after his dad.
-- D.S.
04/05 (Opening Day-ish) Quickie
Is it baseball's Opening Day yet? (What does it say that I have to ask for clarification?)
*The top storyline is whether Albert Pujols can get the Angels to the playoffs.
*My most must-see player of the season is 49-year-old Jamie Moyer.
*There is no chance that the sport can match last season's "Game 162" finale.
*That said, the new playoff format will keep things interesting all the way.
*If you read one thing: Schoenfield's "100 Reasons to be Excited"
*Saints/Gregg Williams: The "Go lay that mother-f---er out!" audio -- listen here -- is the most damning evidence that could be produced. I stand by my initial take: Gregg Williams is finished in the NFL. "Indefinitely" isn't "back next year" -- the league will make him a radioactive hire.
*Masters: Tiger is the main event. Rory is must-see, but Tiger is who everyone will be tracking between now and Sunday. (The best Masters read I found was this one by ESPN.com's inimitable Wright Thompson.)
*Should Augusta National admit women? Yes. As a private club, it's their prerogative not to, but I perennially find it interesting that the sports-media world creates the cognitive dissonance to know the exclusion is wrong yet still slather over the club. Let's not give the club too much power; if everyone stopped covering it -- and if the PGA stopped supporting it (which will never happen) -- they would admit as many women as someone tells them to.
*Heat tip Thunder: I think 99% of NBA fans -- sorry, Bulls fans -- would be thrilled with a Heat-Thunder Finals. That game had a playoff intensity -- only weeks away. (Want a great read on LeBron? Kevin Van Valkenburg -- a writer I really like -- makes his ESPN Mag debut with a good piece on LeBron's place in the NBA world.)
*Must-see video clip from last night: Blake Griffin posterizes Pau Gasol...twice.
*MLB Opening-ish Night: The Marlins park is really nice. The team may take a few more weeks (months?) to get it together. Impressive to see the Cards start so fast in the post-Pujols Era.
*MLB Opening-ish Day: Aces all over the place, including Verlander, Halladay and Kershaw. But my must-see today is Stephen Strasburg when the Nats open the season at Wrigley against the Cubs at 2:20 ET.
*NBA Draft: Jared Sullinger is in, as expected. His NBA potential, however, is much more murky. Like Harrison Barnes, he's a Top 10 pick, but not close to the Top 5 (Top 3?) pick he would have been a year ago. He is not the next Kevin Love. If he's lucky, he's the next DeJuan Blair. But I actually think Blair was the better college rebounder. The comp I always come back to is Danny Fortson, who had a nice little NBA career, but was hardly a star.
*Calipari says he's staying in college: I believe him -- he is at the pinnacle of the sport, with a system that ensures he is a championship contender every year. Why leave that? Want to see Calipari think twice about staying in college? Eliminate the one-and-done rule, which is Cal's arbitrage.
Enjoy Opening Day -- or whatever it is.
-- D.S.
*The top storyline is whether Albert Pujols can get the Angels to the playoffs.
*My most must-see player of the season is 49-year-old Jamie Moyer.
*There is no chance that the sport can match last season's "Game 162" finale.
*That said, the new playoff format will keep things interesting all the way.
*If you read one thing: Schoenfield's "100 Reasons to be Excited"
*Saints/Gregg Williams: The "Go lay that mother-f---er out!" audio -- listen here -- is the most damning evidence that could be produced. I stand by my initial take: Gregg Williams is finished in the NFL. "Indefinitely" isn't "back next year" -- the league will make him a radioactive hire.
*Masters: Tiger is the main event. Rory is must-see, but Tiger is who everyone will be tracking between now and Sunday. (The best Masters read I found was this one by ESPN.com's inimitable Wright Thompson.)
*Should Augusta National admit women? Yes. As a private club, it's their prerogative not to, but I perennially find it interesting that the sports-media world creates the cognitive dissonance to know the exclusion is wrong yet still slather over the club. Let's not give the club too much power; if everyone stopped covering it -- and if the PGA stopped supporting it (which will never happen) -- they would admit as many women as someone tells them to.
*Heat tip Thunder: I think 99% of NBA fans -- sorry, Bulls fans -- would be thrilled with a Heat-Thunder Finals. That game had a playoff intensity -- only weeks away. (Want a great read on LeBron? Kevin Van Valkenburg -- a writer I really like -- makes his ESPN Mag debut with a good piece on LeBron's place in the NBA world.)
*Must-see video clip from last night: Blake Griffin posterizes Pau Gasol...twice.
*MLB Opening-ish Night: The Marlins park is really nice. The team may take a few more weeks (months?) to get it together. Impressive to see the Cards start so fast in the post-Pujols Era.
*MLB Opening-ish Day: Aces all over the place, including Verlander, Halladay and Kershaw. But my must-see today is Stephen Strasburg when the Nats open the season at Wrigley against the Cubs at 2:20 ET.
*NBA Draft: Jared Sullinger is in, as expected. His NBA potential, however, is much more murky. Like Harrison Barnes, he's a Top 10 pick, but not close to the Top 5 (Top 3?) pick he would have been a year ago. He is not the next Kevin Love. If he's lucky, he's the next DeJuan Blair. But I actually think Blair was the better college rebounder. The comp I always come back to is Danny Fortson, who had a nice little NBA career, but was hardly a star.
*Calipari says he's staying in college: I believe him -- he is at the pinnacle of the sport, with a system that ensures he is a championship contender every year. Why leave that? Want to see Calipari think twice about staying in college? Eliminate the one-and-done rule, which is Cal's arbitrage.
Enjoy Opening Day -- or whatever it is.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, April 04, 2012
04/04 (Opening Day-Ish) Quickie
It's the week of both men's and women's college hoops title games, MLB Opening Day(s) and The Masters, and yet yesterday's biggest story -- by far -- was the reveal of Nike's new NFL uniforms.
Curious about the mania, I was up in NYC yesterday for the event -- more on that later -- but even though I was sure it would be a big story, even I underestimated (foolishly) just how big.
(Quick verdict: I like the Seahawks turning themselves into the Oregon of the NFL... I am legitimately curious whether the tighter-fitting jerseys will make holding -- or tackling -- more difficult... $100 for the replica jersey seems high, but people will pay. On the way out of town, I dropped $30 at Modell's for a Tebow-Jets T-shirt. Because I am an idiot.)
More:
*MLB Opening Day-ish: Wow, is MLB screwing up Opening Day or what? In an era of the NFL turning "Kickoff Weekend" into multi-day event, MLB is doing a Bizarro version -- a mish-mash of opening days (no capital-O/capital-D), simultaneously missing a window of extreme fan interest (and nothing going on on the schedule) on Monday, yesterday and today. In a week, we'll be in full swing and we'll have forgotten, but this feels like a swing and a miss. Check that: It feels like standing there watching strike three go by with the bat on your shoulder.
*Baylor goes 40-0: It's unprecedented -- not the unbeaten season, but racking up 40 wins while going unbeaten. Brittany Griner cements her legacy as the most dominating player in the history of women's basketball -- and she sounds committed to returning to Baylor next year, which would make them the wildly prohibitive favorite to repeat (and, perhaps, repeat 40-0).
*Heat clinch a playoff spot: Biggest "meh" news of the day. Like Kentucky, the Heat are "Championship or Fail." Period. Let's talk again in early June.
*Joe Flacco says "I think I'm the best" QB in the NFL: It would be weirder if he said "I think I'm not in the Top 5, but definitely in the Top 10... probably."
*Masters goofy story of the day: The guy who claims his dog ate his Masters tickets. Instead of paying attention to that, read Spencer Hall's eulogy to his beloved dog, Isis.
*David Stern wants to expand the NBA Draft age-limit to two years: No. No, no, no, no, no. Terrible idea. (To be very open: I think there should be no age limit for the NBA Draft, and instead of artificially and arbitrarily limiting the professional opportunities for the kids, the NBA should make a bigger effort to get their GMs not to screw up the picks, either the selection or the subsequent development... not that taking prep-to-pro prospects is a bad idea. In fact, it's typically a way better idea than taking a college kid.)
Curious about the mania, I was up in NYC yesterday for the event -- more on that later -- but even though I was sure it would be a big story, even I underestimated (foolishly) just how big.
(Quick verdict: I like the Seahawks turning themselves into the Oregon of the NFL... I am legitimately curious whether the tighter-fitting jerseys will make holding -- or tackling -- more difficult... $100 for the replica jersey seems high, but people will pay. On the way out of town, I dropped $30 at Modell's for a Tebow-Jets T-shirt. Because I am an idiot.)
More:
*MLB Opening Day-ish: Wow, is MLB screwing up Opening Day or what? In an era of the NFL turning "Kickoff Weekend" into multi-day event, MLB is doing a Bizarro version -- a mish-mash of opening days (no capital-O/capital-D), simultaneously missing a window of extreme fan interest (and nothing going on on the schedule) on Monday, yesterday and today. In a week, we'll be in full swing and we'll have forgotten, but this feels like a swing and a miss. Check that: It feels like standing there watching strike three go by with the bat on your shoulder.
*Baylor goes 40-0: It's unprecedented -- not the unbeaten season, but racking up 40 wins while going unbeaten. Brittany Griner cements her legacy as the most dominating player in the history of women's basketball -- and she sounds committed to returning to Baylor next year, which would make them the wildly prohibitive favorite to repeat (and, perhaps, repeat 40-0).
*Heat clinch a playoff spot: Biggest "meh" news of the day. Like Kentucky, the Heat are "Championship or Fail." Period. Let's talk again in early June.
*Joe Flacco says "I think I'm the best" QB in the NFL: It would be weirder if he said "I think I'm not in the Top 5, but definitely in the Top 10... probably."
*Masters goofy story of the day: The guy who claims his dog ate his Masters tickets. Instead of paying attention to that, read Spencer Hall's eulogy to his beloved dog, Isis.
*David Stern wants to expand the NBA Draft age-limit to two years: No. No, no, no, no, no. Terrible idea. (To be very open: I think there should be no age limit for the NBA Draft, and instead of artificially and arbitrarily limiting the professional opportunities for the kids, the NBA should make a bigger effort to get their GMs not to screw up the picks, either the selection or the subsequent development... not that taking prep-to-pro prospects is a bad idea. In fact, it's typically a way better idea than taking a college kid.)
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Congrats, Quickish Readers Bracket Winners
Huge congratulations to the three folks who tied for the championship of the "Quickish Readers" group of ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge: "Giggs," "DResvilla" and "TeeMabry22."
I can't help but post with pride that my 5-year-old Gabe picked his own bracket this year, entirely by himself (handwritten and all) and finished in the 92nd percentile nationally. Not bad.
If you used the "National Bracket," you'd have finished in the 87th percentile.
If you simply picked all higher seeds, you'd have finished in the 82nd percentile.
If you used Barack Obama's picks, you would have finished in the 64th percentile.
I got off a multi-year schneid by finishing in the 70th percentile.
And if you used SI.com's "Survival Analysis" from Harvard Sports Analysis Collective's John Ezekowitz, you would have finished in the 97th percentile. Keep that in mind for next year.
I can't help but post with pride that my 5-year-old Gabe picked his own bracket this year, entirely by himself (handwritten and all) and finished in the 92nd percentile nationally. Not bad.
If you used the "National Bracket," you'd have finished in the 87th percentile.
If you simply picked all higher seeds, you'd have finished in the 82nd percentile.
If you used Barack Obama's picks, you would have finished in the 64th percentile.
I got off a multi-year schneid by finishing in the 70th percentile.
And if you used SI.com's "Survival Analysis" from Harvard Sports Analysis Collective's John Ezekowitz, you would have finished in the 97th percentile. Keep that in mind for next year.
04/03 (Kentucky) Quickie
And so Kentucky did one of the hardest and most compelling things in sports -- certainly college sports: Win it all when they were expected to win it all. In the harsh dichotomy of "Championship or Fail," they won.
But there is another reason this Kentucky team is so compelling, and it has been covered by some of the great college writers out there: It is a validation of John Calipari's "one-and-done" system that takes maximum advantage -- arbitrage, really -- of the inane and arbitrary rules about NBA eligibility set out by the NBA and exploited by the NCAA. It shouldn't be studied by other coaches -- it should be studied at Harvard Business School.
Now, here's the caveat: It might be replicable -- oh, sure, Calipari will bring in another No. 1 recruiting class or batch of one-and-done freshmen, whose next stop is the NBA Lottery -- but it's not sustainable, at least if you define "sustained" as "winning championship after championship."
*It won't include Anthony Davis, who is nothing less than the most game-changing defensive talent (freshman or otherwise) in modern college hoops history.
*It won't include Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the ultimate "glue guy" -- who also happens to be the consensus No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft behind Davis.
*It won't include that smidgen of upperclass experience -- Terrence Jones and Darius Miller and Doron Lamb (no slouches, themselves) -- that remains a prerequisite for March success.
It will, however, include John Calipari, who is as much arbitrageur as coach (although I entirely believe the sincerity of his "players-first" commitment) and who might lose Davis and MKG, but who will replace them with the best available freshmen talent.
And he now has a championship template to point them to: Defensive intensity. Offensive brilliance. But, more than anything, sublimating their "one-and-done" NBA dreams for the good of the program and for the chance to make that one year a championship year: "Title or bust."
Calipari has seen the fulfillment of a system -- a template -- he created a few years ago. It might not always result in national titles, but it puts him in the best position to win them and it puts his players in the best position to maximize their college and pre-NBA potential. That's all you can ask for.
Don't miss the Quickish coverage of Kentucky and Calipari's ultimate triumph.
-- D.S.
But there is another reason this Kentucky team is so compelling, and it has been covered by some of the great college writers out there: It is a validation of John Calipari's "one-and-done" system that takes maximum advantage -- arbitrage, really -- of the inane and arbitrary rules about NBA eligibility set out by the NBA and exploited by the NCAA. It shouldn't be studied by other coaches -- it should be studied at Harvard Business School.
Now, here's the caveat: It might be replicable -- oh, sure, Calipari will bring in another No. 1 recruiting class or batch of one-and-done freshmen, whose next stop is the NBA Lottery -- but it's not sustainable, at least if you define "sustained" as "winning championship after championship."
*It won't include Anthony Davis, who is nothing less than the most game-changing defensive talent (freshman or otherwise) in modern college hoops history.
*It won't include Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the ultimate "glue guy" -- who also happens to be the consensus No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft behind Davis.
*It won't include that smidgen of upperclass experience -- Terrence Jones and Darius Miller and Doron Lamb (no slouches, themselves) -- that remains a prerequisite for March success.
It will, however, include John Calipari, who is as much arbitrageur as coach (although I entirely believe the sincerity of his "players-first" commitment) and who might lose Davis and MKG, but who will replace them with the best available freshmen talent.
And he now has a championship template to point them to: Defensive intensity. Offensive brilliance. But, more than anything, sublimating their "one-and-done" NBA dreams for the good of the program and for the chance to make that one year a championship year: "Title or bust."
Calipari has seen the fulfillment of a system -- a template -- he created a few years ago. It might not always result in national titles, but it puts him in the best position to win them and it puts his players in the best position to maximize their college and pre-NBA potential. That's all you can ask for.
Don't miss the Quickish coverage of Kentucky and Calipari's ultimate triumph.
-- D.S.
Sunday, April 01, 2012
04/01 (Very) Quickie
Kentucky -- Anthony Davis, specifically -- was as good as advertised. Louisville made a game of it, and though moral victories don't amount for much (especially within the boundaries of the state of Kentucky), in this case Louisville can say they played one of the great teams of the past 10 years about as closely as they could. (About those 16 missed dunks/layups....)
Kansas-Ohio State was a bit ugly, but KU earned it with that gritty comeback. Withey dominated -- folks who think Jared Sullinger is a great NBA prospect need to take that as a reality check... Sullinger might be a decent rotation player, but he's the next DeJuan Blair, not the next Kevin Love. (Not even close.) Thomas Robinson didn't have a great game, either.
I'm not sure how many fans think the title game will be close -- it'll be closer to a coronation for one of the great teams of the past decade, for Calipari's first national title team and for the validation of his system of embracing one-and-done talents.
Of the 15 NCAA champs since Kentucky's dominating '96 team, I'd slot this Kentucky team inside the Top 5 -- not quite at the level of '07 Florida, '05 UNC or '01 Duke, but better than '06 Florida, '09 UNC or '03 Syracuse (which, up until Anthony Davis, had the most talented and dominating freshman in NCAA Tournament history).
FWIW: I think '06 Florida would give '12 Kentucky a game, if only because the Gators could throw Joakim Noah and Adrian Moss and Chris Richard at Anthony Davis, but Kentucky would have no answer for Al Horford -- Terrence Jones would have been throttled. Corey Brewer vs. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist would have been a jaw-dropping wash.
Of course, that's only if Kentucky fulfills its massive expectations and closes this out. It is hard to imagine that they won't. At that point, we have to be talking about Anthony Davis not as the best freshman of all time (displacing Carmelo and, to a lesser extent, Kevin Durant), but as the best college basketball player of the past 20 years.
-- D.S.
-- D.S.
Kansas-Ohio State was a bit ugly, but KU earned it with that gritty comeback. Withey dominated -- folks who think Jared Sullinger is a great NBA prospect need to take that as a reality check... Sullinger might be a decent rotation player, but he's the next DeJuan Blair, not the next Kevin Love. (Not even close.) Thomas Robinson didn't have a great game, either.
I'm not sure how many fans think the title game will be close -- it'll be closer to a coronation for one of the great teams of the past decade, for Calipari's first national title team and for the validation of his system of embracing one-and-done talents.
Of the 15 NCAA champs since Kentucky's dominating '96 team, I'd slot this Kentucky team inside the Top 5 -- not quite at the level of '07 Florida, '05 UNC or '01 Duke, but better than '06 Florida, '09 UNC or '03 Syracuse (which, up until Anthony Davis, had the most talented and dominating freshman in NCAA Tournament history).
FWIW: I think '06 Florida would give '12 Kentucky a game, if only because the Gators could throw Joakim Noah and Adrian Moss and Chris Richard at Anthony Davis, but Kentucky would have no answer for Al Horford -- Terrence Jones would have been throttled. Corey Brewer vs. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist would have been a jaw-dropping wash.
Of course, that's only if Kentucky fulfills its massive expectations and closes this out. It is hard to imagine that they won't. At that point, we have to be talking about Anthony Davis not as the best freshman of all time (displacing Carmelo and, to a lesser extent, Kevin Durant), but as the best college basketball player of the past 20 years.
-- D.S.
-- D.S.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
03/31 (Final Four, For Real) Quickie
If there's a team that won't have any fear of Kentucky, it's Louisville. Sometimes, fearlessness just ain't enough -- especially when Anthony Davis is anchoring the back line, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is out in transition, and those two and the rest of UK is focused entirely on winning. (Ohio State-Kansas should be less dramatic, but also more of a toss-up.)
Meanwhile, 49-year-old Jamie Moyer made the Colorado Rockies' starting rotation and will step on the mound next week with the chance to become the oldest player ever to win an MLB game. There isn't a more fascinating story in baseball this season, and if the Rockies are coming to your town and Moyer is scheduled to pitch, I highly recommend you go -- it's possible seeing a 49-year-old pitch (let alone start) will be a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
Some fun stuff on Quickish between this morning and yesterday a.m., so give it a look.
-- D.S.
Meanwhile, 49-year-old Jamie Moyer made the Colorado Rockies' starting rotation and will step on the mound next week with the chance to become the oldest player ever to win an MLB game. There isn't a more fascinating story in baseball this season, and if the Rockies are coming to your town and Moyer is scheduled to pitch, I highly recommend you go -- it's possible seeing a 49-year-old pitch (let alone start) will be a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
Some fun stuff on Quickish between this morning and yesterday a.m., so give it a look.
-- D.S.
Friday, March 30, 2012
03/30 (Final Four) Quickie
For all the enthusiasm around the Final Four, this year's version feels like a coronation -- Kentucky claiming its spot as one of the great teams of the post-KG era in college basketball and John Calipari finally getting that first championship.
Klosterman made a good point on Grantland yesterday: It would be an affirmation of Cal's singular "pre-NBA" recruiting approach, although it's not to be discounted that this particular group at Kentucky is unique:
Anthony Davis is the best college interior defensive player since Patrick Ewing. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is not only talented enough to be the No. 2 NBA prospect in the country, but he is a phenomenal teammate. The two of them -- despite being the team's top NBA prospects -- are 4th and 5th on the team in shots taken.
The reality is that it has taken Cal a few years to refine his system to the point where his insanely talented NBA-ready players subordinate themselves to the ideal of spending a few months focused entirely on winning six straight games in late March.
It is unclear whether next year's one-and-done crop will take the same attitude (and they certainly won't be as talented as Davis and MKG) -- all the more reason to appreciate this team and its potential dominance.
As for game picks:
I have really appreciated the crazy rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville (sorry, Cards fans: between Louisville and Kentucky), but UK is going to win by double-digits.
Meanwhile, I'll take Ohio State over Kansas, if only because my 5-year-old picked Ohio State to the title game and if that happens, he'll finish in the 98th percentile nationally on a bracket he picked entirely himself.
More:
*MLB preview and picks -- absurdly shallow, as always -- coming Monday.
*Stanford wins NIT: Uh...woo?
*Thunder win over Lakers: Just another indicator it's OKC's world now in the West.
*And the Heat over the Mavs is just another indicator the teams are going in opposite directions this year (although "rings bling forever," and that's where the Mavs have it over the Heat forever.)
*Steve Nash to the Heat this summer? That would just be unfair.
*NFL Draft: Trent Richardson is going to be the best pro RB since Peterson.
*NBA Draft: Barnes/Henson/Marshall all going pro early. Barnes is basically Calbert Cheaney. Henson is too skinny (remember Brandon Wright?) Marshall made UNC go, but is not quick enough to play defense in the NBA. McAdoo a better prospect than all of them.
A few notes coming this weekend. But definitely pop by Quickish today (there's been some great Final Four tips to recommend) and all weekend.
-- D.S.
Klosterman made a good point on Grantland yesterday: It would be an affirmation of Cal's singular "pre-NBA" recruiting approach, although it's not to be discounted that this particular group at Kentucky is unique:
Anthony Davis is the best college interior defensive player since Patrick Ewing. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is not only talented enough to be the No. 2 NBA prospect in the country, but he is a phenomenal teammate. The two of them -- despite being the team's top NBA prospects -- are 4th and 5th on the team in shots taken.
The reality is that it has taken Cal a few years to refine his system to the point where his insanely talented NBA-ready players subordinate themselves to the ideal of spending a few months focused entirely on winning six straight games in late March.
It is unclear whether next year's one-and-done crop will take the same attitude (and they certainly won't be as talented as Davis and MKG) -- all the more reason to appreciate this team and its potential dominance.
As for game picks:
I have really appreciated the crazy rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville (sorry, Cards fans: between Louisville and Kentucky), but UK is going to win by double-digits.
Meanwhile, I'll take Ohio State over Kansas, if only because my 5-year-old picked Ohio State to the title game and if that happens, he'll finish in the 98th percentile nationally on a bracket he picked entirely himself.
More:
*MLB preview and picks -- absurdly shallow, as always -- coming Monday.
*Stanford wins NIT: Uh...woo?
*Thunder win over Lakers: Just another indicator it's OKC's world now in the West.
*And the Heat over the Mavs is just another indicator the teams are going in opposite directions this year (although "rings bling forever," and that's where the Mavs have it over the Heat forever.)
*Steve Nash to the Heat this summer? That would just be unfair.
*NFL Draft: Trent Richardson is going to be the best pro RB since Peterson.
*NBA Draft: Barnes/Henson/Marshall all going pro early. Barnes is basically Calbert Cheaney. Henson is too skinny (remember Brandon Wright?) Marshall made UNC go, but is not quick enough to play defense in the NBA. McAdoo a better prospect than all of them.
A few notes coming this weekend. But definitely pop by Quickish today (there's been some great Final Four tips to recommend) and all weekend.
-- D.S.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
03/29 (Early Baseball) Quickie
*My one-month-old daughter wouldn't sleep at 5 a.m., so thank you, MLB, for having the Mariners and A's on live from Japan. Opening Day-ish-ish! (Cespedes!)
*Apparently, I missed my window to buy Reebok Tebow Jets gear. Well played, Nike.
*I am absolutely loving all this coverage of the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry, which I knew existed but didn't nearly appreciate enough.
*Mike Brown has pulled off the trick of alienating both Kobe and Bynum in the same week.
*The Knicks are apparently just fine without Jeremy Lin. This is going to be a fun nothing-to-lose team to watch in the playoffs.
*OK, so he's not Shaka Smart, but Ohio's John Groce is a great hire for Illinois. He is high-energy, he recruits like a maniac and his system wins tournament games in March.
*If I was Bill Parcells, I would totally step in and coach the Saints next year. Why not?
*Have you seen Ray Lewis' locker room speech to Stanford men's hoops?
-- D.S.
*Apparently, I missed my window to buy Reebok Tebow Jets gear. Well played, Nike.
*I am absolutely loving all this coverage of the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry, which I knew existed but didn't nearly appreciate enough.
*Mike Brown has pulled off the trick of alienating both Kobe and Bynum in the same week.
*The Knicks are apparently just fine without Jeremy Lin. This is going to be a fun nothing-to-lose team to watch in the playoffs.
*OK, so he's not Shaka Smart, but Ohio's John Groce is a great hire for Illinois. He is high-energy, he recruits like a maniac and his system wins tournament games in March.
*If I was Bill Parcells, I would totally step in and coach the Saints next year. Why not?
*Have you seen Ray Lewis' locker room speech to Stanford men's hoops?
-- D.S.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
03/27 (Tebow vs. NYC) Quickie
*Let's be clear: Tim Tebow's Jets press conference yesterday was entirely unremarkable -- which apparently is remarkable to New York media. Had they never seen him do interviews before? He is more expert at it than any athlete in sports. The vaunted NYC media was overmatched.
*Baylor superstar Brittney Griner simply can't jump off the bench and onto the court to get involved in a teammate's on-court yapping match, even to support the team.
*Thoughts are with Pat Summitt as she moves on to the next stage of her life -- hopefully, the memories she gave to the rest of us serve as a sort of distributed storage network of her "best of all time" career.
*The Parcells-to-Saints rumor is fun, but absurd. (But wow would that be fun. And even though Parcells won't do it, you have to imagine that he at least considered it.)
*US Soccer: You can argue that the Olympics are fairly low on the list of great world soccer events, but this team needs all the seasoning it can get -- missing the Olympics (and on a dumb stoppage-time goal, no less) is a problem for this program.
*College football/BCS: It seems pretty clear we are in "when" not "if" for a season-ending college football playoff. I'm guessing that we end up with the top 4 teams playing it out, with the semifinals held on college campuses (although the smarter play would be to put the games up for bid from any city willing to pay for it).
I like a college football playoff, but the unintended consequence is the inevitable dispute over inclusion -- most years, it's fairly easy to pick two teams to play for the title, with perhaps a single third team having a gripe. There will be a half-dozen teams (if not more) that will have a legitimate claim to the 3rd and 4th playoff spots. If you don't think this will be just as much of an issue as excluding teams from the 1-2 match-up, you're kidding yourself.
Pop by Quickish today to catch up on all the best takes on the biggest storylines.
-- D.S.
*Baylor superstar Brittney Griner simply can't jump off the bench and onto the court to get involved in a teammate's on-court yapping match, even to support the team.
*Thoughts are with Pat Summitt as she moves on to the next stage of her life -- hopefully, the memories she gave to the rest of us serve as a sort of distributed storage network of her "best of all time" career.
*The Parcells-to-Saints rumor is fun, but absurd. (But wow would that be fun. And even though Parcells won't do it, you have to imagine that he at least considered it.)
*US Soccer: You can argue that the Olympics are fairly low on the list of great world soccer events, but this team needs all the seasoning it can get -- missing the Olympics (and on a dumb stoppage-time goal, no less) is a problem for this program.
*College football/BCS: It seems pretty clear we are in "when" not "if" for a season-ending college football playoff. I'm guessing that we end up with the top 4 teams playing it out, with the semifinals held on college campuses (although the smarter play would be to put the games up for bid from any city willing to pay for it).
I like a college football playoff, but the unintended consequence is the inevitable dispute over inclusion -- most years, it's fairly easy to pick two teams to play for the title, with perhaps a single third team having a gripe. There will be a half-dozen teams (if not more) that will have a legitimate claim to the 3rd and 4th playoff spots. If you don't think this will be just as much of an issue as excluding teams from the 1-2 match-up, you're kidding yourself.
Pop by Quickish today to catch up on all the best takes on the biggest storylines.
-- D.S.
Monday, March 26, 2012
03/26 (Big Monday) Quickie
*If you weren't around this weekend, don't miss my piece in yesterday's New York Times about Tebow fandom and Jets fandom (and rooting for the name on the back of the jersey, not the front).
*How's your bracket? Anyone have Kentucky-Louisville-Ohio State-Kansas as their Final Four? A few thoughts:
- Wow, is Kentucky a buzzsaw. Haven't seen "Win or Fail" expectations like this since 2007 Florida. And they justify it.
- Louisville will have no fear of Kentucky, and that is probably the No. 1 factor in any chance the Cards have to pull a monumental upset.
- Kansas made everyone forget about their lackluster tournament through the Elite Eight by pulling off the best win of the tournament so far. Triangle and two? Love it.
- Ohio State feels very overlooked -- I actually like them to upend KU in the Final Four.
*Tiger wins (finally): It's been a long, long time, and suddenly the Masters is a lot more than "Will Tiger finally win one?" It's "Wow, can Tiger win the Masters again?" which would be one of the great comeback stories in sports of the past generation.
*If it's Heat-Thunder in the NBA Finals, I think everyone could get behind that. I still think the Bulls can/will beat the Heat in the East Finals.
*Tim Tebow introductory NY Jets press conference at noon. That won't be a big deal or anything.
*The sports world has been so insane the past week, it's crazy to think that the baseball season starts this week.
-- D.S.
*How's your bracket? Anyone have Kentucky-Louisville-Ohio State-Kansas as their Final Four? A few thoughts:
- Wow, is Kentucky a buzzsaw. Haven't seen "Win or Fail" expectations like this since 2007 Florida. And they justify it.
- Louisville will have no fear of Kentucky, and that is probably the No. 1 factor in any chance the Cards have to pull a monumental upset.
- Kansas made everyone forget about their lackluster tournament through the Elite Eight by pulling off the best win of the tournament so far. Triangle and two? Love it.
- Ohio State feels very overlooked -- I actually like them to upend KU in the Final Four.
*Tiger wins (finally): It's been a long, long time, and suddenly the Masters is a lot more than "Will Tiger finally win one?" It's "Wow, can Tiger win the Masters again?" which would be one of the great comeback stories in sports of the past generation.
*If it's Heat-Thunder in the NBA Finals, I think everyone could get behind that. I still think the Bulls can/will beat the Heat in the East Finals.
*Tim Tebow introductory NY Jets press conference at noon. That won't be a big deal or anything.
*The sports world has been so insane the past week, it's crazy to think that the baseball season starts this week.
-- D.S.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
03/25 (Tebow In New York) Quickie
Hell of a rally by Louisville. Gritty win by Ohio State. Worth Final Four teams, both.
Meanwhile, I have an essay in today's New York Times about Tebow fans who suddenly find themselves Jets fans -- but it's about a lot more than that. Give it a read here (and feel free to share it with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, email, whatever -- the more the better.)
-- D.S.
Meanwhile, I have an essay in today's New York Times about Tebow fans who suddenly find themselves Jets fans -- but it's about a lot more than that. Give it a read here (and feel free to share it with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, email, whatever -- the more the better.)
-- D.S.
Friday, March 23, 2012
03/23 (Elite Eight) Quickie
You'll have to excuse me -- I'm busy reveling in Florida's largely unexpected run to the Elite Eight.
I knew the Gators had the potential to do it. Marquette seemed like the kind of team that would give Florida fits -- and, despite being forced into quite a few misses, Florida handled them easily.
Now regional 1-seed Michigan State has been dispatched and it's Billy Donovan vs. his mentor Rick Pitino for a spot in the Final Four -- 25 years after they paired up for Providence's Final Four run that put both of them on the map nationally. Should be a fun one.
(A quick aside about fabulous Florida freshman Bradley Beal: I have been watching Florida closely as a die-hard fan for more than 10 years -- and was certainly very familiar with the program before that -- and it is pretty clear that Beal is the best player to ever suit up for the program. Now that his 3s are dropping reliably, he is the most complete player in college hoops -- he can shoot, his defense is tremendous, he rebounds better than any guard in the country, he is supremely athletic and, best of all, he has as high of a basketball IQ as anyone I've seen. And he is not even 19 yet. Don't be surprised when Beal emerges as the clear No. 2 talent of the 2012 NBA Draft behind Anthony Davis. Questions about Beal's size -- he is probably somewhere between 6-3 and 6-4, on the small side for an NBA 2-guard -- should be mitigated by how big he plays. If you watch him on the court, you would swear he is 6-6 or 6-7.)
Meanwhile, kudos to Louisville for KO'ing a Michigan State team everyone assumed would be advancing. Louisville's defense was phenomenal.
On the other side of the bracket, it's chalky in the East: Syracuse vs. Ohio State, a match-up of two very good defenses and two OK offenses. It is a testament to how good Syracuse is that even without Fab Melo, they should be considered the favorites to beat the Buckeyes tomorrow night. (Although they will never miss him as much as they will when trying to stop Jared Sullinger inside.)
Tonight in the Sweet 16: Kentucky has four games left to claim what should be theirs, and the easiest step of all of them will be wreaking vengeance on an Indiana team that gave Kentucky its only loss of the regular season... In the other South regional semi, if Baylor can shoot like it did last weekend, Xavier won't have a chance to pull another upset. Kentucky-Baylor on Sunday would be a fun one, with a half-dozen (or more) NBA first-round picks on the floor.
In the Midwest: No Kendall Marshall for UNC, which would be a problem against any other team in the Sweet 16 except Ohio.... Based on the close call against Purdue, Kansas could absolutely lose to NC State (particularly if they are looking ahead to playing UNC without or with a very limited Marshall); KU muscles through, setting up the regional final we all wanted to see (and predicted we'd see).
How's your bracket? I'm still hovering around the 50th percentile. The bracket I filled out for my 3-week-old daughter is in the 97th percentile. The bracket my five-year-old filled out himself is in the 87th percentile. He gets to write the Wall Street Journal column next year.
More:
*Tim Tebow takes New York, cont'd: The trade was delayed (again), but this is still happening. The major media meme is that this is going to be bad for the Jets. I'll just go back to the idea that every time the media has proclaimed something limiting about Tebow or the Tebow phenomenon, it has been wrong, often diametrically. So I'll say it's going to be great for the Jets. Whatever the most absurd scenario is (short of winning the Super Bowl), I'll take that.
*Pat Robertson thinks God will strike down Peyton Manning because the Broncos screwed around with Tebow: Are we really paying attention to this? Ironically, if Robertson had simply said "Why is everyone making an assumption that Manning's neck will hold up to being battered by defensive ends intent on hurting him?" he would have been fine.
*Andrew Luck's Pro Day: Throwing to his receivers on his home field in a choreographed pattern he had been practicing for weeks, he looked... amazing! Well, naturally. The fact is Luck remains the No. 1 talent of the draft and the most can't-miss QB prospect in a generation (as is Robert Griffin III, which is its own fascinating sub-plot). Colts fans will be thrilled.
*Chipper Jones will retire at the end of the season: He's a Hall of Famer, sure, but it strikes me as a bit disingenuous that HOF voters would come out so strongly for Jones but keep Jeff Bagwell at arm's length. They have the same level of confirmed PED usage -- which is to say: Zilch.
Great weekend of hoops ahead. Hope your brackets stay solid.
-- D.S.
I knew the Gators had the potential to do it. Marquette seemed like the kind of team that would give Florida fits -- and, despite being forced into quite a few misses, Florida handled them easily.
Now regional 1-seed Michigan State has been dispatched and it's Billy Donovan vs. his mentor Rick Pitino for a spot in the Final Four -- 25 years after they paired up for Providence's Final Four run that put both of them on the map nationally. Should be a fun one.
(A quick aside about fabulous Florida freshman Bradley Beal: I have been watching Florida closely as a die-hard fan for more than 10 years -- and was certainly very familiar with the program before that -- and it is pretty clear that Beal is the best player to ever suit up for the program. Now that his 3s are dropping reliably, he is the most complete player in college hoops -- he can shoot, his defense is tremendous, he rebounds better than any guard in the country, he is supremely athletic and, best of all, he has as high of a basketball IQ as anyone I've seen. And he is not even 19 yet. Don't be surprised when Beal emerges as the clear No. 2 talent of the 2012 NBA Draft behind Anthony Davis. Questions about Beal's size -- he is probably somewhere between 6-3 and 6-4, on the small side for an NBA 2-guard -- should be mitigated by how big he plays. If you watch him on the court, you would swear he is 6-6 or 6-7.)
Meanwhile, kudos to Louisville for KO'ing a Michigan State team everyone assumed would be advancing. Louisville's defense was phenomenal.
On the other side of the bracket, it's chalky in the East: Syracuse vs. Ohio State, a match-up of two very good defenses and two OK offenses. It is a testament to how good Syracuse is that even without Fab Melo, they should be considered the favorites to beat the Buckeyes tomorrow night. (Although they will never miss him as much as they will when trying to stop Jared Sullinger inside.)
Tonight in the Sweet 16: Kentucky has four games left to claim what should be theirs, and the easiest step of all of them will be wreaking vengeance on an Indiana team that gave Kentucky its only loss of the regular season... In the other South regional semi, if Baylor can shoot like it did last weekend, Xavier won't have a chance to pull another upset. Kentucky-Baylor on Sunday would be a fun one, with a half-dozen (or more) NBA first-round picks on the floor.
In the Midwest: No Kendall Marshall for UNC, which would be a problem against any other team in the Sweet 16 except Ohio.... Based on the close call against Purdue, Kansas could absolutely lose to NC State (particularly if they are looking ahead to playing UNC without or with a very limited Marshall); KU muscles through, setting up the regional final we all wanted to see (and predicted we'd see).
How's your bracket? I'm still hovering around the 50th percentile. The bracket I filled out for my 3-week-old daughter is in the 97th percentile. The bracket my five-year-old filled out himself is in the 87th percentile. He gets to write the Wall Street Journal column next year.
More:
*Tim Tebow takes New York, cont'd: The trade was delayed (again), but this is still happening. The major media meme is that this is going to be bad for the Jets. I'll just go back to the idea that every time the media has proclaimed something limiting about Tebow or the Tebow phenomenon, it has been wrong, often diametrically. So I'll say it's going to be great for the Jets. Whatever the most absurd scenario is (short of winning the Super Bowl), I'll take that.
*Pat Robertson thinks God will strike down Peyton Manning because the Broncos screwed around with Tebow: Are we really paying attention to this? Ironically, if Robertson had simply said "Why is everyone making an assumption that Manning's neck will hold up to being battered by defensive ends intent on hurting him?" he would have been fine.
*Andrew Luck's Pro Day: Throwing to his receivers on his home field in a choreographed pattern he had been practicing for weeks, he looked... amazing! Well, naturally. The fact is Luck remains the No. 1 talent of the draft and the most can't-miss QB prospect in a generation (as is Robert Griffin III, which is its own fascinating sub-plot). Colts fans will be thrilled.
*Chipper Jones will retire at the end of the season: He's a Hall of Famer, sure, but it strikes me as a bit disingenuous that HOF voters would come out so strongly for Jones but keep Jeff Bagwell at arm's length. They have the same level of confirmed PED usage -- which is to say: Zilch.
Great weekend of hoops ahead. Hope your brackets stay solid.
-- D.S.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
03/22 (Tebow and Jets) Quickie
Tim Tebow on the Jets is going to be insane. Tim Tebow anywhere is already insane. Now add New York.
I think Jets fans (and New York media) have no idea what's coming. They think they do, but they don't. It's so much bigger than they think. Tebow is better than they think. The impact he has on the game and his teammates is bigger than they think. After three-plus years of covering Tebow for TimTeblog.com, I can assure you: It's ALWAYS bigger than you think.
Just wait for that first touchdown in Week 1 -- the Jets fans will come around quickly. This is what happens. I think he'll be starting by midseason, either because Sanchez implodes or gets injured.
Tebow's success is self-created, up to a point. But I go back to a familiar refrain: He needs a coach brilliant enough and ballsy enough to create innovative schemes around him -- schemes that the league hasn't seen before and very well might change the game.
The Denver Post's Mike Klis had a tweet last night that the Jets should go for two after EVERY touchdown, letting Tebow manage the conversion. Even if they only make it 3 out of 4 times, that is 6 points versus 4 points -- for a team and in a league where every point counts.
Would that be innovative enough for Rex Ryan? Exploiting an arbitrage between tightly held NFL conventional wisdom about kicking extra points and the expected value of going for two every time when you have the ultimate "going for two" player? Changing how the game is played? Winning games based on an undervalued edge? This is the essence of Moneyball.
And so, yes, the Page 6 stuff is going to be bananas. The Post and the Daily News and SNY and WFAN and ESPNNY.com and everyone else are going to see audience surges like they have never seen before. The team is going to be the NFL's biggest story, and nothing else even comes close.
But it's not simply that the Jets have acquired Tim Tebow. It's HOW they'll use him. That is the really interesting part.
BTW: Like other Tebow fans, as of yesterday, I am no longer a Broncos fan and am now a Jets fan. I'm sure the die-hard Jets fan nation are thrilled to hear it.
More:
*NFL crushes the Saints: Star coach Sean Payton is suspended for the year. GM Mickey Loomis is suspended for nearly half the season (but none of the offseason, which sort of defeats the purpose). In any other industry, that kind of punishment would be accompanied by their termination by a self-respecting owner. But Tom Benson will ride it out; 2012 will be a lost season.
(Gregg Williams won't be so lucky. He is suspended "indefinitely," which means that his NFL career is all but over; the Rams might want to keep him around -- but, really, though: why? -- but I suspect the suspension comes with a back-channel warning from the NFL that the guy isn't to be employed by a team ever again.) Player suspensions pending.
*Oh, and today is the first half of the Sweet 16 regional semifinals in the NCAA Tournament. It's kind of a shame those have been drowned out by the Peyton-Tebow-Saints news this week. I'm picking Wisconsin over Syracuse and Ohio State over Cincinnati in the East. In the West, I'm taking Michigan State over Louisville -- Tom Izzo is just too good in games like this -- and Florida over Marquette, which is, by far, the best game of the night and by no means one I feel comfortable picking the Gators in. Let's revise that: I think Marquette has a really really good chance of winning, but I'm obviously rooting for UF. (The story of the night, obviously, would be if either of the 1-seeds lost.)
-- D.S.
I think Jets fans (and New York media) have no idea what's coming. They think they do, but they don't. It's so much bigger than they think. Tebow is better than they think. The impact he has on the game and his teammates is bigger than they think. After three-plus years of covering Tebow for TimTeblog.com, I can assure you: It's ALWAYS bigger than you think.
Just wait for that first touchdown in Week 1 -- the Jets fans will come around quickly. This is what happens. I think he'll be starting by midseason, either because Sanchez implodes or gets injured.
Tebow's success is self-created, up to a point. But I go back to a familiar refrain: He needs a coach brilliant enough and ballsy enough to create innovative schemes around him -- schemes that the league hasn't seen before and very well might change the game.
The Denver Post's Mike Klis had a tweet last night that the Jets should go for two after EVERY touchdown, letting Tebow manage the conversion. Even if they only make it 3 out of 4 times, that is 6 points versus 4 points -- for a team and in a league where every point counts.
Would that be innovative enough for Rex Ryan? Exploiting an arbitrage between tightly held NFL conventional wisdom about kicking extra points and the expected value of going for two every time when you have the ultimate "going for two" player? Changing how the game is played? Winning games based on an undervalued edge? This is the essence of Moneyball.
And so, yes, the Page 6 stuff is going to be bananas. The Post and the Daily News and SNY and WFAN and ESPNNY.com and everyone else are going to see audience surges like they have never seen before. The team is going to be the NFL's biggest story, and nothing else even comes close.
But it's not simply that the Jets have acquired Tim Tebow. It's HOW they'll use him. That is the really interesting part.
BTW: Like other Tebow fans, as of yesterday, I am no longer a Broncos fan and am now a Jets fan. I'm sure the die-hard Jets fan nation are thrilled to hear it.
More:
*NFL crushes the Saints: Star coach Sean Payton is suspended for the year. GM Mickey Loomis is suspended for nearly half the season (but none of the offseason, which sort of defeats the purpose). In any other industry, that kind of punishment would be accompanied by their termination by a self-respecting owner. But Tom Benson will ride it out; 2012 will be a lost season.
(Gregg Williams won't be so lucky. He is suspended "indefinitely," which means that his NFL career is all but over; the Rams might want to keep him around -- but, really, though: why? -- but I suspect the suspension comes with a back-channel warning from the NFL that the guy isn't to be employed by a team ever again.) Player suspensions pending.
*Oh, and today is the first half of the Sweet 16 regional semifinals in the NCAA Tournament. It's kind of a shame those have been drowned out by the Peyton-Tebow-Saints news this week. I'm picking Wisconsin over Syracuse and Ohio State over Cincinnati in the East. In the West, I'm taking Michigan State over Louisville -- Tom Izzo is just too good in games like this -- and Florida over Marquette, which is, by far, the best game of the night and by no means one I feel comfortable picking the Gators in. Let's revise that: I think Marquette has a really really good chance of winning, but I'm obviously rooting for UF. (The story of the night, obviously, would be if either of the 1-seeds lost.)
-- D.S.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
03/21 (Where's Tebow?) Quickie
And so we have moved from "Peyton Manning to the Broncos!" and "The Broncos are going to trade Tim Tebow!" to... "Where is Tim Tebow going?"
There's a case for the Jaguars, obviously.
There's a case for the Patriots.
The Packers were rumored to be involved.
In a late-breaking development Tuesday, the Jets are reportedly interested.
I wrote a five-point analysis for the Washington Post of why the Redskins should trade for him.
Deadspin did the heavy lifting and found an appeal for Tebow from every team in the league.
Tebow is already an object of omni-media fascination -- this is another level, like the week leading up to the 2010 NFL Draft x 100.
I think the Jaguars owner will ultimately step in and -- ahem -- insist to his GM that the team import the local star.
As I have since around 2007, I think that the Patriots are the best fit for him -- you have to lose your presumption that the only role Tebow can or would play is full-time starting QB. (Of course, I don't see John Elway trading Tebow to a bonafide rival for the AFC title. Elway may not think much of Tebow as his starting QB, but he surely can visualize Bill Belichick unleashing Tebow in a playoff game against the Broncos in a way that punishes Elway severely.)
And yet I heard about that Jets rumor tonight and realized that -- yes -- it would be just perfect that mere months after I leave New York City, Tebow would come to town. The dumb part is that we can all see it coming that Tebow would displace Mark Sanchez, even with all that money that the Jets stupidly just gave him.
I'd say we're anywhere from a few hours to 72 hours from a conclusion here. And part of the excitement is that no one can really say where he's going to end up. Think what you want about Tebow as a starting QB -- you can't deny the popular appeal of the story.
-- D.S.
There's a case for the Jaguars, obviously.
There's a case for the Patriots.
The Packers were rumored to be involved.
In a late-breaking development Tuesday, the Jets are reportedly interested.
I wrote a five-point analysis for the Washington Post of why the Redskins should trade for him.
Deadspin did the heavy lifting and found an appeal for Tebow from every team in the league.
Tebow is already an object of omni-media fascination -- this is another level, like the week leading up to the 2010 NFL Draft x 100.
I think the Jaguars owner will ultimately step in and -- ahem -- insist to his GM that the team import the local star.
As I have since around 2007, I think that the Patriots are the best fit for him -- you have to lose your presumption that the only role Tebow can or would play is full-time starting QB. (Of course, I don't see John Elway trading Tebow to a bonafide rival for the AFC title. Elway may not think much of Tebow as his starting QB, but he surely can visualize Bill Belichick unleashing Tebow in a playoff game against the Broncos in a way that punishes Elway severely.)
And yet I heard about that Jets rumor tonight and realized that -- yes -- it would be just perfect that mere months after I leave New York City, Tebow would come to town. The dumb part is that we can all see it coming that Tebow would displace Mark Sanchez, even with all that money that the Jets stupidly just gave him.
I'd say we're anywhere from a few hours to 72 hours from a conclusion here. And part of the excitement is that no one can really say where he's going to end up. Think what you want about Tebow as a starting QB -- you can't deny the popular appeal of the story.
-- D.S.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Peyton Picks Broncos; Whither Tebow?
I don't have much to say about Peyton Manning picking the Broncos except for:
(1) "If Peyton can stay healthy..." is the biggest "if" in sports history.
(2) John Elway (and John Fox) never wanted Tebow. They are doubly thrilled, not just to get Manning but to get rid of Tebow.
(3) I enjoyed my two years of being a Broncos fan. Feel fine about moving on.
Now, I do have a fair bit to say about "What next for Tebow?", given that the Broncos are going to (try to) trade him. I noted these on Twitter:
(1) Best fit for Tebow: Team with a coach clever/confident enough to use him in innovative ways (maybe as QB, but not necessarily/exclusively).
(2) That's not necessarily the best fit for the Broncos. No way Elway trades Tebow to Belichick so TT can play uberback & score 12 TDs a year.
(3) Last thing: Unclear why everyone assumes Tebow would demand to play QB. He lined up as a WR in Week 3. He'll do whatever his team needs.
More later.
-- D.S.
(1) "If Peyton can stay healthy..." is the biggest "if" in sports history.
(2) John Elway (and John Fox) never wanted Tebow. They are doubly thrilled, not just to get Manning but to get rid of Tebow.
(3) I enjoyed my two years of being a Broncos fan. Feel fine about moving on.
Now, I do have a fair bit to say about "What next for Tebow?", given that the Broncos are going to (try to) trade him. I noted these on Twitter:
(1) Best fit for Tebow: Team with a coach clever/confident enough to use him in innovative ways (maybe as QB, but not necessarily/exclusively).
(2) That's not necessarily the best fit for the Broncos. No way Elway trades Tebow to Belichick so TT can play uberback & score 12 TDs a year.
(3) Last thing: Unclear why everyone assumes Tebow would demand to play QB. He lined up as a WR in Week 3. He'll do whatever his team needs.
More later.
-- D.S.
03/19 (Sweet 16) Quickie
"How's your bracket?" It's the question of the day. As the NCAA Tournament hits the end of its first of three acts, I'm barely (but still barely!) over the 50th percentile.
By comparison, President Obama's bracket is in the 99th percentile (although he has already lost one of his Final Four teams, Mizzou). My 2-week-old daughter's bracket is in the 98th percentile.
It is a testament to the lack of drama in the tournament's first weekend that the biggest story as we hit the Sweet 16 is Kendall Marshall's injured wrist, which probably has derailed UNC's shot at a national championship -- and probably even a Final Four. The injury is that questionable and Marshall's value to the Tar Heels is that integral.
It probably doesn't matter -- it is hard to see any team stopping Kentucky, and if the Wildcats do fulfill every expectation and win the championship, that's what we'll remember, along with Friday night's epic pair of "15 over 2" wins.
I don't feel badly for Lehigh and Norfolk State getting bounced out of the tournament yesterday; their place in college hoops history is secure and forever -- we will remember those two wins more than whoever ends up runners-up in the Final Four.
Otherwise, the Sweet 16 is dominated by Marshall's injury, Kentucky's dominance, the unprecedented presence of four teams from the same state (Ohio, Ohio State, Xavier and Cincinnati) and the idea that -- excluding Kentucky, which is going to throttle Indiana -- at least one 1-seed won't make it through the weekend (maybe UNC, but almost certainly Syracuse).
I'm not going to lament the absence of buzzer-beaters, which is a big reason we all plug in for twelve hours at a stretch. Just remember that feeling as Lehigh was knocking off Duke on Friday night -- that should be more than enough to sustain you through the end of the week.
More:
*What will Peyton Manning decide? Titans if he wants to feel close to home... Broncos if he wants to make the playoffs from the AFC... 49ers if he wants the best shot to win a Super Bowl.
*Seahawks sign Matt Flynn: Yes, it's a risk, but a calculated one -- Seattle wasn't getting a better QB through the draft and needed a solid prospect to build on. (The Dolphins though? Yeesh.)
*What about Alex Smith? He's the odd-QB-out if Peyton ends up in SF, but if Manning spurns the 49ers, they could absolutely bring back Smith -- it's the best situation for him, pride aside.
*Derek Fisher jumping to the Thunder? Yes, please. Especially if it includes a playoff match-up with the Lakers.
*Madoff trustee settles with Mets' Wilpons for $162M: The Wilpons had to do it -- it's probably low enough they don't have to sell the Mets, but it sure doesn't help. (Except that it puts this lawsuit behind them.)
*Women's tournament: You've GOT to try to catch Delaware's Elena Delle Donne, who is arguably -- pound for pound -- the most talented basketball player on the planet right now.
Lots going on at Quickish -- pop by and scroll down to catch up on some of the best of the weekend. It'll only take you about 60 seconds, and it's got some great nuggets in there.
-- D.S.
By comparison, President Obama's bracket is in the 99th percentile (although he has already lost one of his Final Four teams, Mizzou). My 2-week-old daughter's bracket is in the 98th percentile.
It is a testament to the lack of drama in the tournament's first weekend that the biggest story as we hit the Sweet 16 is Kendall Marshall's injured wrist, which probably has derailed UNC's shot at a national championship -- and probably even a Final Four. The injury is that questionable and Marshall's value to the Tar Heels is that integral.
It probably doesn't matter -- it is hard to see any team stopping Kentucky, and if the Wildcats do fulfill every expectation and win the championship, that's what we'll remember, along with Friday night's epic pair of "15 over 2" wins.
I don't feel badly for Lehigh and Norfolk State getting bounced out of the tournament yesterday; their place in college hoops history is secure and forever -- we will remember those two wins more than whoever ends up runners-up in the Final Four.
Otherwise, the Sweet 16 is dominated by Marshall's injury, Kentucky's dominance, the unprecedented presence of four teams from the same state (Ohio, Ohio State, Xavier and Cincinnati) and the idea that -- excluding Kentucky, which is going to throttle Indiana -- at least one 1-seed won't make it through the weekend (maybe UNC, but almost certainly Syracuse).
I'm not going to lament the absence of buzzer-beaters, which is a big reason we all plug in for twelve hours at a stretch. Just remember that feeling as Lehigh was knocking off Duke on Friday night -- that should be more than enough to sustain you through the end of the week.
More:
*What will Peyton Manning decide? Titans if he wants to feel close to home... Broncos if he wants to make the playoffs from the AFC... 49ers if he wants the best shot to win a Super Bowl.
*Seahawks sign Matt Flynn: Yes, it's a risk, but a calculated one -- Seattle wasn't getting a better QB through the draft and needed a solid prospect to build on. (The Dolphins though? Yeesh.)
*What about Alex Smith? He's the odd-QB-out if Peyton ends up in SF, but if Manning spurns the 49ers, they could absolutely bring back Smith -- it's the best situation for him, pride aside.
*Derek Fisher jumping to the Thunder? Yes, please. Especially if it includes a playoff match-up with the Lakers.
*Madoff trustee settles with Mets' Wilpons for $162M: The Wilpons had to do it -- it's probably low enough they don't have to sell the Mets, but it sure doesn't help. (Except that it puts this lawsuit behind them.)
*Women's tournament: You've GOT to try to catch Delaware's Elena Delle Donne, who is arguably -- pound for pound -- the most talented basketball player on the planet right now.
Lots going on at Quickish -- pop by and scroll down to catch up on some of the best of the weekend. It'll only take you about 60 seconds, and it's got some great nuggets in there.
-- D.S.
Friday, March 16, 2012
03/17 (Lehigh Wins! Duke Loses!) Quickie
Wow. Wow. Wowowowowowow.
Aside from your own team's greatest moment, the greatest moment of any/every college basketball season is the moment Duke is ousted from the NCAA Tournament. It is the best feeling in the world. They could be good. They could be bad. Overrated, underrated. It doesn't matter.
In this case, that Duke was a 2-seed makes it special -- the best seed Duke has ever had when they have lost in the Round of 64 of the tournament. That they lost to Lehigh is great, but any 15-seed would have been an absurd-sounding team.
Norfolk State beating Missouri was -- at least according to Vegas bookies -- an even bigger upset, but it was entirely reasonable to see Mizzou flaming out early in this tournament (if not THIS early). It was glorious, like the handful of other "15 over 2" games, a defining moment in tournament history... right up until the Duke-Lehigh supernova eclipsed everything.
It's a "national" moment we're having right now, when we can all come together in schadenfreude and celebrate the annual renewal of the best moment of the college basketball season. Your status in the pool seems secondary. The reveal in two weeks of the tournament's champion seems secondary, too.
Let's sit back and enjoy this unprecedented bit of madness.
-- D.S.
Aside from your own team's greatest moment, the greatest moment of any/every college basketball season is the moment Duke is ousted from the NCAA Tournament. It is the best feeling in the world. They could be good. They could be bad. Overrated, underrated. It doesn't matter.
In this case, that Duke was a 2-seed makes it special -- the best seed Duke has ever had when they have lost in the Round of 64 of the tournament. That they lost to Lehigh is great, but any 15-seed would have been an absurd-sounding team.
Norfolk State beating Missouri was -- at least according to Vegas bookies -- an even bigger upset, but it was entirely reasonable to see Mizzou flaming out early in this tournament (if not THIS early). It was glorious, like the handful of other "15 over 2" games, a defining moment in tournament history... right up until the Duke-Lehigh supernova eclipsed everything.
It's a "national" moment we're having right now, when we can all come together in schadenfreude and celebrate the annual renewal of the best moment of the college basketball season. Your status in the pool seems secondary. The reveal in two weeks of the tournament's champion seems secondary, too.
Let's sit back and enjoy this unprecedented bit of madness.
-- D.S.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
03/15 (First Thursday) Quickie
Last chance to join the Quickish readers group of the Tournament Challenge. Do it now!
I've said this for going on 10 years now: The first Thursday (and Friday) of the Tournament are the most sanctified sports days of the year. I call today "First Thursday," and I think everyone should know what I'm talking about: The first Thursday of the Tournament, when 16 games - running from noon until after midnight - keeps you entertained and enthralled. Let's get to it:
Picks in bold.
12:15: (6) Murray State vs. (11) Colorado State (CBS)
12:40: (8) Kansas State vs. (9) Southern Miss (TRU)
1:40: (4) Louisville vs. (13) Davidson (TBS)
2:10: (4) Wisconsin vs. (13) Montana (TNT)
Tastes a bit chalky. Hopefully, that means we'll get upsets.
2:45: (3) Marquette vs. (14) BYU (TBS)
3:10: (1) Syracuse vs. (16) UNC-Asheville (TRU)
4:10: (5) New Mexico vs. (12) Long Beach St (TBS)
4:40: (5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) Harvard (TNT)
The afternoon finishes a bit more interesting: With a game already under its belt, BYU might be confident enough to spring a surprise on Marquette. Meanwhile, let's see how Syracuse responds to not having Fab Melo. And with two 5-12 games, you know something interesting is going to happen.
6:50: (1) Kentucky vs. (16) Western Kentucky (TBS)
7:15: (5) Wichita State vs. (12) VCU (TBS)
7:20 (7) Gonzaga vs. (10) West Virginia (TNT)
7:27 (3) Baylor vs. (14) South Dakota State (TRU)
Wichita State vs. VCU is the best game of the first round. Don't call WVU over Gonzaga an upset; the game is in the Eers' backyard, Pittsburgh. Anyone NOT want to see SoDak State beat Baylor?
9:20 (8) Iowa State vs. (9) UConn (TBS)
9:45 (4) Indiana vs. (13) New Mexico State (CBS)
9:50 (2) Ohio State vs. (15) Loyola (TNT)
9:57 (6) UNLV vs. (11) Colorado (TRU)
Indiana returns to the Tournament in what feels like forever. The defending champs could very well go down. UNLV looks to put the final nail in the worst season ever by a major college conference.
So, if you discount West Virginia as an upset and recognize that picking a 9 over an 8 is not an upset, then I have zero upsets today. It's possible that's how it will play out, but you have to hope for at least a few -- and, in the absence of that, close games with buzzer-beating finishes. Wow: That Wichita-VCU game is just amazing -- it's perhaps the best first-round match-up I can remember. Here's hoping it lives up to the potential.
Oh, and it's the NBA Trading Deadline: Dwight Howard said he was staying, then going, then staying. Let's assume he stays -- if I'm the Nets, I'm trying to trade Deron Williams for whatever I can get, because that guy is as good as gone in July.
Oh, and Peyton Manning is still out there, and apparently the Titans owner not only offered him the starting QB job basically sight unseen, but he gave him a lifetime-contract offer, with a lucrative job in the front office (and maybe a piece of the team?) after his career ends.
Yet another reason I love my wife: On her resume, under "Interests," right at the top... "March Madness."
She finished her bracket last night, as usual relying on "Four Factors" advanced metrics like offensive rebounding percentage. My kids filled out their brackets. I filled out a bracket for our two-week-old baby. I have my bracket ready to go. Add your bracket to the Quickish group.
It feels like a holiday. Maybe that's because it IS a holiday.
-- D.S.
I've said this for going on 10 years now: The first Thursday (and Friday) of the Tournament are the most sanctified sports days of the year. I call today "First Thursday," and I think everyone should know what I'm talking about: The first Thursday of the Tournament, when 16 games - running from noon until after midnight - keeps you entertained and enthralled. Let's get to it:
Picks in bold.
12:15: (6) Murray State vs. (11) Colorado State (CBS)
12:40: (8) Kansas State vs. (9) Southern Miss (TRU)
1:40: (4) Louisville vs. (13) Davidson (TBS)
2:10: (4) Wisconsin vs. (13) Montana (TNT)
Tastes a bit chalky. Hopefully, that means we'll get upsets.
2:45: (3) Marquette vs. (14) BYU (TBS)
3:10: (1) Syracuse vs. (16) UNC-Asheville (TRU)
4:10: (5) New Mexico vs. (12) Long Beach St (TBS)
4:40: (5) Vanderbilt vs. (12) Harvard (TNT)
The afternoon finishes a bit more interesting: With a game already under its belt, BYU might be confident enough to spring a surprise on Marquette. Meanwhile, let's see how Syracuse responds to not having Fab Melo. And with two 5-12 games, you know something interesting is going to happen.
6:50: (1) Kentucky vs. (16) Western Kentucky (TBS)
7:15: (5) Wichita State vs. (12) VCU (TBS)
7:20 (7) Gonzaga vs. (10) West Virginia (TNT)
7:27 (3) Baylor vs. (14) South Dakota State (TRU)
Wichita State vs. VCU is the best game of the first round. Don't call WVU over Gonzaga an upset; the game is in the Eers' backyard, Pittsburgh. Anyone NOT want to see SoDak State beat Baylor?
9:20 (8) Iowa State vs. (9) UConn (TBS)
9:45 (4) Indiana vs. (13) New Mexico State (CBS)
9:50 (2) Ohio State vs. (15) Loyola (TNT)
9:57 (6) UNLV vs. (11) Colorado (TRU)
Indiana returns to the Tournament in what feels like forever. The defending champs could very well go down. UNLV looks to put the final nail in the worst season ever by a major college conference.
So, if you discount West Virginia as an upset and recognize that picking a 9 over an 8 is not an upset, then I have zero upsets today. It's possible that's how it will play out, but you have to hope for at least a few -- and, in the absence of that, close games with buzzer-beating finishes. Wow: That Wichita-VCU game is just amazing -- it's perhaps the best first-round match-up I can remember. Here's hoping it lives up to the potential.
Oh, and it's the NBA Trading Deadline: Dwight Howard said he was staying, then going, then staying. Let's assume he stays -- if I'm the Nets, I'm trying to trade Deron Williams for whatever I can get, because that guy is as good as gone in July.
Oh, and Peyton Manning is still out there, and apparently the Titans owner not only offered him the starting QB job basically sight unseen, but he gave him a lifetime-contract offer, with a lucrative job in the front office (and maybe a piece of the team?) after his career ends.
Yet another reason I love my wife: On her resume, under "Interests," right at the top... "March Madness."
She finished her bracket last night, as usual relying on "Four Factors" advanced metrics like offensive rebounding percentage. My kids filled out their brackets. I filled out a bracket for our two-week-old baby. I have my bracket ready to go. Add your bracket to the Quickish group.
It feels like a holiday. Maybe that's because it IS a holiday.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
3/14 (Pre-Madness) Quickie
As an unabashed fan of the NCAA Tournament play-in round in Dayton, I was gleeful that last night's "First Four" was an absurd motherlode of unlikely comebacks -- in the first game, Western Kentucky coming back from a gazillion down with 5 minutes to play, in the second game, BYU coming back from 20-something down in a half. If that can't get you in the mood...
Frankly, if that can't get you in the mood, try...
*My annual bracket picks made in the Wall Street Journal.
*My annual analysis of President Obama's bracket picks at The Awl.
*Check out Quickish's incredible stream of NCAA Tournament recommendations.
*Join the Quickish readers group of the ESPN.com Tournament Challenge!
Meanwhile, two nights ago my older kids made their picks. 5-year-old Gabe filled out his own bracket, by hand -- he went entirely with chalk, which means he will absolutely out-perform me. 3-year-old Jonah did his picks based on me telling him each match-up. He ended up with Kentucky winning it all (on his own, I promise), but also with Kansas State and Temple in his Final Four, which -- if true -- means I need to ship him off to Vegas in April. I have to tell you that doing the picks with them this year was, quite possibly, my favorite moment yet as a parent.
More:
*Trade Dwight Howard today, Orlando.
*Trade Carmelo Anthony tomorrow, New York.
*Calvin Johnson is worth every penny.
*I'm all for the Redskins loading up on meh receivers.
*The best thing I read today was SI's Tim Layden on March 14, 1981.
-- D.S.
Frankly, if that can't get you in the mood, try...
*My annual bracket picks made in the Wall Street Journal.
*My annual analysis of President Obama's bracket picks at The Awl.
*Check out Quickish's incredible stream of NCAA Tournament recommendations.
*Join the Quickish readers group of the ESPN.com Tournament Challenge!
Meanwhile, two nights ago my older kids made their picks. 5-year-old Gabe filled out his own bracket, by hand -- he went entirely with chalk, which means he will absolutely out-perform me. 3-year-old Jonah did his picks based on me telling him each match-up. He ended up with Kentucky winning it all (on his own, I promise), but also with Kansas State and Temple in his Final Four, which -- if true -- means I need to ship him off to Vegas in April. I have to tell you that doing the picks with them this year was, quite possibly, my favorite moment yet as a parent.
More:
*Trade Dwight Howard today, Orlando.
*Trade Carmelo Anthony tomorrow, New York.
*Calvin Johnson is worth every penny.
*I'm all for the Redskins loading up on meh receivers.
*The best thing I read today was SI's Tim Layden on March 14, 1981.
-- D.S.
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