On the radar today: Tim Tebow, Roy Oswalt, Ted Lilly, Arash Markazi, Stephen Strasburg, Buck Showalter, Rick Pitino, T.O., Travis Pastrana and More.
Phillies get Roy Oswalt: "Roy and Roy and three days of rain" -- and that's probably enough for the Phillies not just to make the playoffs, but win the NL pennant again.
(UPDATE: Reader Brian T. correctly points out that Cole Hamels is killing it lately. All the more reason to consider the Phillies the most dangerous team in the NL, once we get to the playoffs. This is a team built to win series in October.)
Trade deadline "prizes": Ted Lilly? Jake Westbrook? Jeremy Guthrie? That doesn't include anyone who is going to catapult a team into the playoffs, like aces Lee and Oswalt were.
So: How much of the potential between Tim Tebow's base deal of $11 million (over 5 years, $8.7M guaranteed) and his potential earnings of $33 million will he pick up when he wins NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year?
The spiked LeBron-in-Vegas story: Bad news, all the way around. Bad for LeBron (I guess). Bad for ESPN. Bad for Arash Markazi, who is a good guy. Bad for fans.
Stephen Strasburg to the DL: I'm not going to fault the Nats for being overly cautious -- even if it does kill any chance I have of making my fantasy league playoffs, after drafting Stras back in March and stowing him for all those months. But it is just not a good sign that he is suffering shoulder issues already. The foreshadowing is ominous.
O's hire Buck Showalter: It. Won't. Help. (Honestly, MLB is like the NBA -- there is a fundamental problem with the development pipeline for managers/head coaches.)
Ubaldomania returns? Not quite, but at this point, merely winning is a big deal.
Love the old-school Padres uniforms. (Less enthusiastic about the Padres getting Miguel Tejada.)
Rick Pitino should have settled.
I'm sorry: Was there actually a question that Lorenzen Wright died from gunshot wounds related to a homicide?
T.O. Watch: Bengals fans are like Bills fans or Eagles fans or 49ers fans before them: When T.O. isn't on their team, they hate him; when he is on their team, they love him. When he inevitably gripes or freaks or, certainly, leaves, they will claim they never cared. But they do.
Is Travis Pastrana the best-ever in his sport (freestyle moto-x)? Probably. Amazingly, it might not even be his best sport.
Idol: Fact -- Ellen was not a particularly good judge anyway.
Happy retirement to David Tyree: He will be eternally remembered as one-half of the greatest play in the history of the NFL.
-- D.S.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
07/29 Quickie: Phillies, Amare, LeBron
Hold on... I'm still processing the reality that Amare Stoudemire is Jewish.
*The one thing I love about the Phillies is that they recognize this is their window to win championships -- even just to make the playoffs -- and make moves to take advantage of that... like trading for Roy Oswalt.
(Combine that with the Phillies heating up, last night's win behind Halladay's 6-hitter and the call-up of top prospect Domonic Brown -- who had 2 H and 2 RBI in his debut -- and things are looking good for Philly. If they make the playoffs, yikes: The Halladay-Oswalt combo alone could be enough pitching to get them the NL pennant.)
*A-Rod: Still at 599. This could be a while.
*After reading the (pre-)released draft of Arash Markazi's brilliant-for-its-detail LeBron-in-Vegas profile, the only thing that seemed wrong with it was that it embarrassed LeBron.
*RIP, Lorenzen Wright. What a tragic ending.
*Rick Pitino is unlikely to shake the whole "15 seconds" thing, especially when Louisville goes on the road.
*Antonio Gates is -- appropriately -- the highest-paid TE in the NFL: 5Y extension at $7+M a year, with the all-important "guaranteed" money at $20M.
*The best thing that could happen to sports in the state of Arizona is the judicial ruling to put the controversial SB 1070 on hold. Certainly better than what's happening to the D'backs.
*Jeremiah Masoli to Ole Miss? Troubled guy, but supremely talented. Hope the Rebels have a great support system in place for him.
*Soccer: Again, MLS confirms that when they involve European clubs, tons of fans want to get out and watch. The question: How can MLS get 70,000 fans to continue to turn out, even without the lure of Man U.?
*USA Hoops: Are we going to look back in a year or so and wonder how Tyreke Evans didn't make the Top 15 of the non-Olympic-year national basketball team roster?
*Tim Tebow is officially a training camp "holdout." His deal is imminent, but technically, it is a hold out. Mangia, haters.
*Must-Read: SI's list of the 25 Most Hated Teams of All Time. Terrific stuff by Deitsch and the crew. One quibble: It wasn't that fans hated the 89-90 UNLV hoops team (ranked No. 9); they hated the 90-91 team (and even that, I'm not sure about). That 1990 team ripped out Duke's soul -- that alone made it beloved.
-- D.S.
*The one thing I love about the Phillies is that they recognize this is their window to win championships -- even just to make the playoffs -- and make moves to take advantage of that... like trading for Roy Oswalt.
(Combine that with the Phillies heating up, last night's win behind Halladay's 6-hitter and the call-up of top prospect Domonic Brown -- who had 2 H and 2 RBI in his debut -- and things are looking good for Philly. If they make the playoffs, yikes: The Halladay-Oswalt combo alone could be enough pitching to get them the NL pennant.)
*A-Rod: Still at 599. This could be a while.
*After reading the (pre-)released draft of Arash Markazi's brilliant-for-its-detail LeBron-in-Vegas profile, the only thing that seemed wrong with it was that it embarrassed LeBron.
*RIP, Lorenzen Wright. What a tragic ending.
*Rick Pitino is unlikely to shake the whole "15 seconds" thing, especially when Louisville goes on the road.
*Antonio Gates is -- appropriately -- the highest-paid TE in the NFL: 5Y extension at $7+M a year, with the all-important "guaranteed" money at $20M.
*The best thing that could happen to sports in the state of Arizona is the judicial ruling to put the controversial SB 1070 on hold. Certainly better than what's happening to the D'backs.
*Jeremiah Masoli to Ole Miss? Troubled guy, but supremely talented. Hope the Rebels have a great support system in place for him.
*Soccer: Again, MLS confirms that when they involve European clubs, tons of fans want to get out and watch. The question: How can MLS get 70,000 fans to continue to turn out, even without the lure of Man U.?
*USA Hoops: Are we going to look back in a year or so and wonder how Tyreke Evans didn't make the Top 15 of the non-Olympic-year national basketball team roster?
*Tim Tebow is officially a training camp "holdout." His deal is imminent, but technically, it is a hold out. Mangia, haters.
*Must-Read: SI's list of the 25 Most Hated Teams of All Time. Terrific stuff by Deitsch and the crew. One quibble: It wasn't that fans hated the 89-90 UNLV hoops team (ranked No. 9); they hated the 90-91 team (and even that, I'm not sure about). That 1990 team ripped out Duke's soul -- that alone made it beloved.
-- D.S.
07/28 Quickie: T.O., Yao, Stras, Pac-12
Number of weeks until fans are sick of Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco playing "can you top this?" Actually, if you enjoy flamboyant behavior, this is incredible news.
Foreshadowing: Stephen Strasburg was scratched from his start last night because of shoulder inflammation. Already? So not good.
Yao will retire from the NBA if his foot injury doesn't totally heal: The Rockets have done admirably well without him, but it would be a Top 3 all-time "What if...?"
Pac-10 becomes "Pac-12": Larry Scott might be getting mocked, but I really like the Pac's effort to make its brand more national and powerful.
The league has been a weak sister for years -- despite USC's success -- and the fact is that East Coast Bias exists in the media and with fans, and unless you're on the radar back East (or even in the Midwest), you're at a disadvantage: With TV deals, with sponsors, with recruiting.
The idea seems lame-brained... right up until the league actually gets more exposure and improves all those metrics. Scott's willingness to do whatever is a refreshing change for that league. I wonder if, a few years ago, Scott would have openly supported a playoff?
Cliff Lee is awesome: 13 Ks in 9 innings. But it still wasn't enough to get the W -- the Rangers needed Nelson Cruz to hit a game-winning HR in the 10th. They are just having one of "those" years.
MLB makes a smart move: They move the start of the 2011 schedule up and ensure the regular season ends before the start of October, which means that the season -- including the World Series -- will be done before the calendar flips to November. (Baseball nudging into November was greeted with an opposite feeling to the NFL extending into February.)
BCS 2004: Leave it to the BCS to do precisely the wrong thing when it comes to USC. If the NCAA sanctions stand, the BCS will vacate USC's 2004 national title -- there is no champ that year; in the BCS' words, it's like the game was never played.
That would be rather than calling an audible to the group's rules (like they would ever have a rule on the books about a BCS member being declared ineligible) and giving the national title to runner-up Auburn, which never even had a chance to beat USC (which it might have).
If, in today's college football landscape, you find it absurd that an unbeaten SEC champ wouldn't get a direct shot at the national championship, get ready for more: I can totally see the SEC champ having one loss and getting shut out of the NCG by two unbeatens from lesser leagues.
Diego Maradona was fired as Argentina's national soccer coach: We all saw this coming, as soon as ARG got humiliatingly booted. But he will always have the adulation of the group stage.
"Don't talk to Chris Paul": That's basically what the NBA told teams. They don't want a redux of the LeBron debacle, but it has already been set into motion.
Teams don't need to talk with CP3 anyway; they merely need to make a successful trade offer to his GM. I see the Hornets holding on to Paul until his contract year, then trading him before he can bolt leaving them with nothing.
Speaking of leagues telling teams, I missed the story yesterday about the NFL putting up posters in locker rooms warning players about taking concussions seriously, because -- y'know -- playing football causes concussions.
(a) What about non-concussion head injuries, the ones that seem to have an equally debilitating effect on players over time, and
(b) What about getting the posters not just into high school football locker rooms, but into the hands of parents who would make the choice to let their kids get their brains rattled?
Tim Tebow gets another endorsement deal: It's with Jockey, which has a couple of implications. (1) That's a big endorsement. (2) He goes head-to-head with Michael Jordan, who is the lead endorser for Hanes. (3) He picks up the brand's legacy that goes back to Jim Palmer.
Brett Favre still unsure: YOU DON'T SAY. He's going to come back. He doesn't want to deal with training camp. Why doesn't he just say that?
Oh, yikes: Huston Street.
-- D.S.
Foreshadowing: Stephen Strasburg was scratched from his start last night because of shoulder inflammation. Already? So not good.
Yao will retire from the NBA if his foot injury doesn't totally heal: The Rockets have done admirably well without him, but it would be a Top 3 all-time "What if...?"
Pac-10 becomes "Pac-12": Larry Scott might be getting mocked, but I really like the Pac's effort to make its brand more national and powerful.
The league has been a weak sister for years -- despite USC's success -- and the fact is that East Coast Bias exists in the media and with fans, and unless you're on the radar back East (or even in the Midwest), you're at a disadvantage: With TV deals, with sponsors, with recruiting.
The idea seems lame-brained... right up until the league actually gets more exposure and improves all those metrics. Scott's willingness to do whatever is a refreshing change for that league. I wonder if, a few years ago, Scott would have openly supported a playoff?
Cliff Lee is awesome: 13 Ks in 9 innings. But it still wasn't enough to get the W -- the Rangers needed Nelson Cruz to hit a game-winning HR in the 10th. They are just having one of "those" years.
MLB makes a smart move: They move the start of the 2011 schedule up and ensure the regular season ends before the start of October, which means that the season -- including the World Series -- will be done before the calendar flips to November. (Baseball nudging into November was greeted with an opposite feeling to the NFL extending into February.)
BCS 2004: Leave it to the BCS to do precisely the wrong thing when it comes to USC. If the NCAA sanctions stand, the BCS will vacate USC's 2004 national title -- there is no champ that year; in the BCS' words, it's like the game was never played.
That would be rather than calling an audible to the group's rules (like they would ever have a rule on the books about a BCS member being declared ineligible) and giving the national title to runner-up Auburn, which never even had a chance to beat USC (which it might have).
If, in today's college football landscape, you find it absurd that an unbeaten SEC champ wouldn't get a direct shot at the national championship, get ready for more: I can totally see the SEC champ having one loss and getting shut out of the NCG by two unbeatens from lesser leagues.
Diego Maradona was fired as Argentina's national soccer coach: We all saw this coming, as soon as ARG got humiliatingly booted. But he will always have the adulation of the group stage.
"Don't talk to Chris Paul": That's basically what the NBA told teams. They don't want a redux of the LeBron debacle, but it has already been set into motion.
Teams don't need to talk with CP3 anyway; they merely need to make a successful trade offer to his GM. I see the Hornets holding on to Paul until his contract year, then trading him before he can bolt leaving them with nothing.
Speaking of leagues telling teams, I missed the story yesterday about the NFL putting up posters in locker rooms warning players about taking concussions seriously, because -- y'know -- playing football causes concussions.
(a) What about non-concussion head injuries, the ones that seem to have an equally debilitating effect on players over time, and
(b) What about getting the posters not just into high school football locker rooms, but into the hands of parents who would make the choice to let their kids get their brains rattled?
Tim Tebow gets another endorsement deal: It's with Jockey, which has a couple of implications. (1) That's a big endorsement. (2) He goes head-to-head with Michael Jordan, who is the lead endorser for Hanes. (3) He picks up the brand's legacy that goes back to Jim Palmer.
Brett Favre still unsure: YOU DON'T SAY. He's going to come back. He doesn't want to deal with training camp. Why doesn't he just say that?
Oh, yikes: Huston Street.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
07/27 Quickie: Garza, CP3, Haren
Looking for another sign that Tampa's stellar pitching is going to lead it to a playoff season? How about Matt Garza's no-hitter, the first in Rays franchise history?
Dan Haren's Halos debut: The good? 8 Ks through 5 IP. The bad? Didn't keep the Angels from losing to the Red Sox. The ugly? When Haren took a Youkilis shot off his forearm.
Chris Paul says he does NOT want to be traded? What b.s. He obviously learned from LeBron that open infidelity is not optimal; it will only make his inevitable betrayal of Hornets fans that much more painful.
T.O. to the... Bengals? Can the world handle T.O. and Ochocinco on the same field? (Can either guy handle the other as a teammate? Cripes: Talk about enabling.)
Big 12 Media Days: I love how Nebraska doesn't want to talk about its move to the Big Ten -- the "Good Riddance Tour" is only the biggest story in the conference this season.
NBA Trades: Finally, some good news for the Cavs, trading for Ramon Sessions from the T'wolves and giving up Delonte West -- who, immediately after the LeBron debacle, was the face of the franchise -- and Sebastian Telfair. Sessions is underrated. (Let the "now-it-can-be-told" stories about West...commence. BTW: Jonny Flynn is out for 3-4 months with a hip injury -- not that even a Flynn injury will make it reasonable for Telfair to get playing time.)
MLB Fantasy Stud: Joe Mauer (career-high 7 RBI)
Dept. of Litigiousness: The Titans are suing USC for poaching their RBs coach Kennedy Pola. No hard feelings or anything.
T-Mac Watch: That's going to be a "no" from the Bulls. Even as a 12th man? Yikes.
More later.
-- D.S.
Dan Haren's Halos debut: The good? 8 Ks through 5 IP. The bad? Didn't keep the Angels from losing to the Red Sox. The ugly? When Haren took a Youkilis shot off his forearm.
Chris Paul says he does NOT want to be traded? What b.s. He obviously learned from LeBron that open infidelity is not optimal; it will only make his inevitable betrayal of Hornets fans that much more painful.
T.O. to the... Bengals? Can the world handle T.O. and Ochocinco on the same field? (Can either guy handle the other as a teammate? Cripes: Talk about enabling.)
Big 12 Media Days: I love how Nebraska doesn't want to talk about its move to the Big Ten -- the "Good Riddance Tour" is only the biggest story in the conference this season.
NBA Trades: Finally, some good news for the Cavs, trading for Ramon Sessions from the T'wolves and giving up Delonte West -- who, immediately after the LeBron debacle, was the face of the franchise -- and Sebastian Telfair. Sessions is underrated. (Let the "now-it-can-be-told" stories about West...commence. BTW: Jonny Flynn is out for 3-4 months with a hip injury -- not that even a Flynn injury will make it reasonable for Telfair to get playing time.)
MLB Fantasy Stud: Joe Mauer (career-high 7 RBI)
Dept. of Litigiousness: The Titans are suing USC for poaching their RBs coach Kennedy Pola. No hard feelings or anything.
T-Mac Watch: That's going to be a "no" from the Bulls. Even as a 12th man? Yikes.
More later.
-- D.S.
Monday, July 26, 2010
07/26 Quickie: Leaks, Haren, More
It will/would never happen (and the news itself is hardly comparable), but imagine if a news organization got its hands on 100,000 secret documents involving tons of colleges and recruits that exposed widespread problems in recruiting or 100,000 secret documents exposing widespread use of HGH in the football or baseball.
(Forget for a second that everyone already knows/assumes that recruiting is a fairly large racket and that everyone already assumes that PEDs are still widespread in football and baseball.)
It would be massive. But still: For all the information, it is likely that things wouldn't change much. Go back to last week's "we're all pimps" argument -- fans opt to be willfully ignorant of the seedy underbelly of college sports or PED measures some players take to play, because we just want to root for some teams and watch some wins.
I'm not saying that there's an analogy to popular opinion about the war in Afghanistan -- I'm just trying to envision a Wikileaks-like scenario in sports.
More on the radar today:
*It's not a good morning to be a Diamondbacks fan. Your team just gave up your ace for virtually nothing. Go back to last week's discussion of the variety of ways you can position a team so that fans will still be happy; "giving up/dumping salary" -- at least without accompanying it with a plan for why you're doing it -- isn't one of them.
(I couldn't tell whether Rob Neyer was being silly or serious -- acknowledging the reality or satirizing it -- when he referred to the trade as being referred to as the "Most Lopsided Trade in Major League History." It sure feels up there.)
*Meanwhile, the Angels just got an ace. Not sure if it's enough to catch the Rangers -- after all, Texas got its own ace (an even better ace, actually) two weeks ago -- but it might be enough to put some pressure on the Rays and Red Sox for the Wild Card. (The Angels could still use some extra pop in their lineup. Who's playing 1B these days?)
*Is Roy Oswalt next? Not if the Astros aren't willing to have a D'backs-like fire sale. (See, there's the killer for D'backs fans: Your team is now associated with just giving ace talent away.)
*Tom Brady is in camp: What a non-story THAT turned out to be. Anyone NOT see this coming?
*I love that Dez Bryant refused to carry Roy Williams' shoulder pads. It's not exactly in line with Bryant's previous strategy of keeping his head down and just focusing on football -- which has been genius -- but it shows a little bit of spice and keeps him at the top of NFL headlines. There has been no bigger winner in the NFL this month.
*A-Rod: Still at 599. AND he got hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. Yesterday, I said it would take 5 games for him to get to 600. So I'm down to 4.
*The Marlins keep winning in walk-off style -- no team in the NL (and no team besides the Rays) does more with less money. If there was a payroll-adjusted standings, the Marlins would be running away with it.
*You also knew that Carlos Zambrano was going to end up back in the Cubs' rotation. (Whether he is actually effective? Another story.)
*USA Softball's 22-game win streak ends: Apparently, all it took was a fluke (3 hours of rain delay).
*That had to have been Lance's final Tour de France, right? Give him tons of credit for competing, but it's out with a whimper.
*Chip Ganassi with a racing first: His team's cars won the Daytona 500, Indy 500 and Brickyard 400.
*Very smart for MLS to import top European clubs: Yesterday, they set a record for the largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in Kansas City, with the local Wizards beating Manchester United. Now, it's on the Wiz and MLS to convert those fans into bigger/better MLS fans.
*"If you love the game, it will love you back." -- Andre Dawson, with a lovely coda to his Hall of Fame induction.
-- D.S.
(Forget for a second that everyone already knows/assumes that recruiting is a fairly large racket and that everyone already assumes that PEDs are still widespread in football and baseball.)
It would be massive. But still: For all the information, it is likely that things wouldn't change much. Go back to last week's "we're all pimps" argument -- fans opt to be willfully ignorant of the seedy underbelly of college sports or PED measures some players take to play, because we just want to root for some teams and watch some wins.
I'm not saying that there's an analogy to popular opinion about the war in Afghanistan -- I'm just trying to envision a Wikileaks-like scenario in sports.
More on the radar today:
*It's not a good morning to be a Diamondbacks fan. Your team just gave up your ace for virtually nothing. Go back to last week's discussion of the variety of ways you can position a team so that fans will still be happy; "giving up/dumping salary" -- at least without accompanying it with a plan for why you're doing it -- isn't one of them.
(I couldn't tell whether Rob Neyer was being silly or serious -- acknowledging the reality or satirizing it -- when he referred to the trade as being referred to as the "Most Lopsided Trade in Major League History." It sure feels up there.)
*Meanwhile, the Angels just got an ace. Not sure if it's enough to catch the Rangers -- after all, Texas got its own ace (an even better ace, actually) two weeks ago -- but it might be enough to put some pressure on the Rays and Red Sox for the Wild Card. (The Angels could still use some extra pop in their lineup. Who's playing 1B these days?)
*Is Roy Oswalt next? Not if the Astros aren't willing to have a D'backs-like fire sale. (See, there's the killer for D'backs fans: Your team is now associated with just giving ace talent away.)
*Tom Brady is in camp: What a non-story THAT turned out to be. Anyone NOT see this coming?
*I love that Dez Bryant refused to carry Roy Williams' shoulder pads. It's not exactly in line with Bryant's previous strategy of keeping his head down and just focusing on football -- which has been genius -- but it shows a little bit of spice and keeps him at the top of NFL headlines. There has been no bigger winner in the NFL this month.
*A-Rod: Still at 599. AND he got hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. Yesterday, I said it would take 5 games for him to get to 600. So I'm down to 4.
*The Marlins keep winning in walk-off style -- no team in the NL (and no team besides the Rays) does more with less money. If there was a payroll-adjusted standings, the Marlins would be running away with it.
*You also knew that Carlos Zambrano was going to end up back in the Cubs' rotation. (Whether he is actually effective? Another story.)
*USA Softball's 22-game win streak ends: Apparently, all it took was a fluke (3 hours of rain delay).
*That had to have been Lance's final Tour de France, right? Give him tons of credit for competing, but it's out with a whimper.
*Chip Ganassi with a racing first: His team's cars won the Daytona 500, Indy 500 and Brickyard 400.
*Very smart for MLS to import top European clubs: Yesterday, they set a record for the largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in Kansas City, with the local Wizards beating Manchester United. Now, it's on the Wiz and MLS to convert those fans into bigger/better MLS fans.
*"If you love the game, it will love you back." -- Andre Dawson, with a lovely coda to his Hall of Fame induction.
-- D.S.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sunday (Very) Quickie
Congrats to Andre Dawson and the rest of the Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. '87 forever -- I don't care how much of a joke you might be able to prove that it was!
(And, if I may throw the SABR folks who make a strong case about the bad decision-making behind Dawson's MVP, let's all rally around Tim Raines!)
It is fair to say that Ubaldomania is over. It's been fun, but the best pitcher in the NL is Josh Johnson.
Oh, yes: T.O. would do wonders for the confidence of Rams rookie franchise QB Sam Bradford. Yikes.
A-Rod stuck on 599. Prediction on how many games it takes to get him to 600: 5.
It shouldn't surprise anyone -- especially a USC alum like Jeff Fisher -- that Lane Kiffin would poach Fisher's RBs coach without calling him first. Stay classy, Lane!
The rehabilitation of Dez Bryant's reputation -- through being the first 1st-rounder to sign a contract, through being the first player on the field at training camp -- is remarkable.
More NFL Camping: Take it easy, Wes Welker! No need to put yourself out now.
CP3 + D12 > LBJ + DW + CB4? Chris Paul to Orlando? The Magic can offer the best chance of winning a ring. But can they offer the best trade package?
(It would be phenomenal for the league for its best PG and best C to team up to battle its best SG, best SF and one of its best PFs. In the same state, no less.)
USA Hoops: Kevin Durant dominates the intrasquad scrimmage last night, which I caught glimpses of (hot Saturday night, woo!)
-- D.S.
(And, if I may throw the SABR folks who make a strong case about the bad decision-making behind Dawson's MVP, let's all rally around Tim Raines!)
It is fair to say that Ubaldomania is over. It's been fun, but the best pitcher in the NL is Josh Johnson.
Oh, yes: T.O. would do wonders for the confidence of Rams rookie franchise QB Sam Bradford. Yikes.
A-Rod stuck on 599. Prediction on how many games it takes to get him to 600: 5.
It shouldn't surprise anyone -- especially a USC alum like Jeff Fisher -- that Lane Kiffin would poach Fisher's RBs coach without calling him first. Stay classy, Lane!
The rehabilitation of Dez Bryant's reputation -- through being the first 1st-rounder to sign a contract, through being the first player on the field at training camp -- is remarkable.
More NFL Camping: Take it easy, Wes Welker! No need to put yourself out now.
CP3 + D12 > LBJ + DW + CB4? Chris Paul to Orlando? The Magic can offer the best chance of winning a ring. But can they offer the best trade package?
(It would be phenomenal for the league for its best PG and best C to team up to battle its best SG, best SF and one of its best PFs. In the same state, no less.)
USA Hoops: Kevin Durant dominates the intrasquad scrimmage last night, which I caught glimpses of (hot Saturday night, woo!)
-- D.S.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
07/23 Quickie: CP3, Henry, More
I know I've been running long the past two days -- that's hardly my style...
Good riddance to Chris Paul: That's what I would be thinking if I was a Hornets fan. I appreciate that he is a star, but he doesn't appreciate the team, the fans or the region. Let him walk. (For more, see yesterday's bonus post.)
A-Rod hits No. 599: Like him or not, care about PEDs or not, "600" is a big deal. In A-Rod's case, the only reason it might not be such a big deal is that it's not like he is at the very tail end of his career, where he is nudging over 600 and that's that; will we remember 600 when he crosses 700? Unlikely.
MLB Hall of Fame Weekend: As a Cubs fan growing up, I loved Andre Dawson -- loved that he took a discount to play at Wrigley, loved that he put up MVP numbers (if winning a controversial MVP award), loved that he remains beloved with Cubs fans.
I also like that his induction creates a cool Marvel Team-Up combo of Cubs fans and Expos fans. Now, HOF voters, about Tim Raines...
More HOF: I grew up in suburban DC within earshot of Frick enshrinee Jon Miller calling games for the Orioles. He is, by far, my favorite baseball play-by-play person ever. As a kid who similarly grew up playing Strat-o-Matic and calling my own games, with short-lived aspirations of being a baseball broadcaster, he's a bit of a hero.
In praise of Robbie Caldwell: Two words: Turkey. Insemination. The new/interim Vandy football coach earned a standing ovation from the media folks at SEC Media Days, for his disarming and charming interview session under the bright lights. (Great post by Clay Travis about it.)
Dez Bryant signs: What a smart P.R. move to avoid the holdout, become the first 1st-round pick to sign and make people forget about the mess with the NCAA that ruined his last college season. Holdouts are rep-killers with fans; the opposite is true, too: Players who sign quick earn a ton of cred.
I was wrong about Thierry Henry in MLS: For soccer fans, it's a very big deal. I'm still bummed I didn't get out to Red Bull Arena last night, but I would have been there to watch Tottenham, which is my Premiership team (preceding the bandwagon-jumping by some other sportswriters). BTW: Henry took the PATH train (public transportation) from Manhattan to the game -- very cool.
T'wolves GM David Kahn does it to himself: Why call Chris Webber a schmuck during an on-air radio interview? Points for solid Yiddish, but the guy is a buffoon.
NBA Free Agency: What if I told you that Matt Barnes was going to be the X-factor that would give the Lakers the ultimate edge over the Heat when they inevitably battle in the Finals? (You wouldn't believe me, but let's revisit in 10 months.) Theo Ratliff? Another big doesn't hurt -- he can certainly be the answer to Miami's... oh, Joel Anthony.
NFL Offseason: Broncos sign Elvis Dumervil for 6Y/$61M. Well worth it for a disruptive pass rusher in his prime. That Denver Post article about Tebow's potential "hold out" was kind of ludicrous; training camp starts next Wednesday -- he'll have a deal hammered out by then. If Dez Bryant can manage it....
Your Moment of Tebow: The next Bachelor? I freaking hope not.
Last question: How many MLB players would fail if there was a league-wide test given today for HGH? 5 percent? 10 percent? 25? 50? More?
-- D.S.
Good riddance to Chris Paul: That's what I would be thinking if I was a Hornets fan. I appreciate that he is a star, but he doesn't appreciate the team, the fans or the region. Let him walk. (For more, see yesterday's bonus post.)
A-Rod hits No. 599: Like him or not, care about PEDs or not, "600" is a big deal. In A-Rod's case, the only reason it might not be such a big deal is that it's not like he is at the very tail end of his career, where he is nudging over 600 and that's that; will we remember 600 when he crosses 700? Unlikely.
MLB Hall of Fame Weekend: As a Cubs fan growing up, I loved Andre Dawson -- loved that he took a discount to play at Wrigley, loved that he put up MVP numbers (if winning a controversial MVP award), loved that he remains beloved with Cubs fans.
I also like that his induction creates a cool Marvel Team-Up combo of Cubs fans and Expos fans. Now, HOF voters, about Tim Raines...
More HOF: I grew up in suburban DC within earshot of Frick enshrinee Jon Miller calling games for the Orioles. He is, by far, my favorite baseball play-by-play person ever. As a kid who similarly grew up playing Strat-o-Matic and calling my own games, with short-lived aspirations of being a baseball broadcaster, he's a bit of a hero.
In praise of Robbie Caldwell: Two words: Turkey. Insemination. The new/interim Vandy football coach earned a standing ovation from the media folks at SEC Media Days, for his disarming and charming interview session under the bright lights. (Great post by Clay Travis about it.)
Dez Bryant signs: What a smart P.R. move to avoid the holdout, become the first 1st-round pick to sign and make people forget about the mess with the NCAA that ruined his last college season. Holdouts are rep-killers with fans; the opposite is true, too: Players who sign quick earn a ton of cred.
I was wrong about Thierry Henry in MLS: For soccer fans, it's a very big deal. I'm still bummed I didn't get out to Red Bull Arena last night, but I would have been there to watch Tottenham, which is my Premiership team (preceding the bandwagon-jumping by some other sportswriters). BTW: Henry took the PATH train (public transportation) from Manhattan to the game -- very cool.
T'wolves GM David Kahn does it to himself: Why call Chris Webber a schmuck during an on-air radio interview? Points for solid Yiddish, but the guy is a buffoon.
NBA Free Agency: What if I told you that Matt Barnes was going to be the X-factor that would give the Lakers the ultimate edge over the Heat when they inevitably battle in the Finals? (You wouldn't believe me, but let's revisit in 10 months.) Theo Ratliff? Another big doesn't hurt -- he can certainly be the answer to Miami's... oh, Joel Anthony.
NFL Offseason: Broncos sign Elvis Dumervil for 6Y/$61M. Well worth it for a disruptive pass rusher in his prime. That Denver Post article about Tebow's potential "hold out" was kind of ludicrous; training camp starts next Wednesday -- he'll have a deal hammered out by then. If Dez Bryant can manage it....
Your Moment of Tebow: The next Bachelor? I freaking hope not.
Last question: How many MLB players would fail if there was a league-wide test given today for HGH? 5 percent? 10 percent? 25? 50? More?
-- D.S.
So Chris Paul Wants Out?
I was reading Henry Abbott's terrific analysis of the Chris Paul situation in New Orleans and saw this line:
Everyone else fell into categories like Henry described: Young and growing (Thunder) or fun to watch (Warriors). Everyone else was in a neutral zone of tanking or sucking. And, by sucking, I mean that even if you make the playoffs, if you're not eventually going to contend for a title, you're not going the right way.
That's why I was so happy the Wizards got John Wall: They may not contend for years -- they may not contend ever -- but they will be fun to watch. And that's enough. Only one team can win a championship; in the NBA, the calculus is brutal. (See the limited number of teams that have won titles in the last 20-30 years.) I am perfectly happy for my team to be fun to watch.
Here is why the Hornets should trade Chris Paul, even though he is a megastar and they will get back dimes on the dollar: Because they have Darren Collison -- who isn't Chris Paul but proved that he isn't devastatingly far behind, either -- they can still be entertaining, but a hell of a lot more financially sound. And, even at dimes on the dollar, Paul should command a premium of talent complementary to Collison.
The game isn't competing for championships -- any Hornets fan who thought the team was in that position is deluding themselves. It's about being fun to watch and having the financial flexibility to maintain the fun in the near and long-term future. Dumping CP3 gives them that.
If it's the Lakers, I demand Bynum.
If it's the Knicks, I demand Gallinari AND Randolph.
If it's the Celtics, I demand Rondo (and make it work).
And 1st-round picks from all of them.
And taking on my worst contracts.
The Hornets will be better off.
(And that doesn't even get into CP3 not wanting to be there, which -- as a fan -- would make me want to ship him out as fast as possible. Good riddance.)
Don't get LeBron'ed, NOLA.
-- D.S.
There are a lot of different stories you can use to rally your fanbase -- good ones include: we're young and growing, we're fun to watch, or we're contenders.Yes. This is, approximately, my Unifying Theory of the NBA. I went through it last year, in a less nuance form: You're either contending or not, and I argued that the list of real contenders -- not teams with a shot at the title but teams that were actually trying to win a title, this season -- was about a half-dozen long. Maybe a few more.
A less compelling story: We're on the playoff bubble, and likely to stay there. In other words, it's entirely possible they won't be exciting in the playoffs nor the draft.
Everyone else fell into categories like Henry described: Young and growing (Thunder) or fun to watch (Warriors). Everyone else was in a neutral zone of tanking or sucking. And, by sucking, I mean that even if you make the playoffs, if you're not eventually going to contend for a title, you're not going the right way.
That's why I was so happy the Wizards got John Wall: They may not contend for years -- they may not contend ever -- but they will be fun to watch. And that's enough. Only one team can win a championship; in the NBA, the calculus is brutal. (See the limited number of teams that have won titles in the last 20-30 years.) I am perfectly happy for my team to be fun to watch.
Here is why the Hornets should trade Chris Paul, even though he is a megastar and they will get back dimes on the dollar: Because they have Darren Collison -- who isn't Chris Paul but proved that he isn't devastatingly far behind, either -- they can still be entertaining, but a hell of a lot more financially sound. And, even at dimes on the dollar, Paul should command a premium of talent complementary to Collison.
The game isn't competing for championships -- any Hornets fan who thought the team was in that position is deluding themselves. It's about being fun to watch and having the financial flexibility to maintain the fun in the near and long-term future. Dumping CP3 gives them that.
If it's the Lakers, I demand Bynum.
If it's the Knicks, I demand Gallinari AND Randolph.
If it's the Celtics, I demand Rondo (and make it work).
And 1st-round picks from all of them.
And taking on my worst contracts.
The Hornets will be better off.
(And that doesn't even get into CP3 not wanting to be there, which -- as a fan -- would make me want to ship him out as fast as possible. Good riddance.)
Don't get LeBron'ed, NOLA.
-- D.S.
07/22 Quickie: On Pimps
Let's talk about pimps.
That's what Alabama's Nick Saban called agents yesterday: Pimps.
Here's the thing: Many of them are -- or, at least, many of them act like that. Obviously, the worst ones are particularly bad.
Then again, many coaches are pimps -- or, at least, pimp-ish. So are many assistant coaches. So are many would-be coaches.
So are many boosters.
So are many high school coaches or AAU "coaches." So are many in the "recruiting industrial complex."
So are many "advisors." So are many family members.
So are many in sports media. Even fans are willing to be exploitative.
And so are many players.
Now, let's stipulate that players are the most vulnerable here -- although it's pretty hard to consider OJ Mayo "vulnerable." Plenty of players have a sixth sense: Entitlement.
But as a relatively new parent, I'm not willing to say that players' entitlement is natural; it is nurtured, by all those folks around them I just listed above.
The fact is that the entire system is built around exploitation -- exploiting players, yes, but ultimately exploiting consumers.
The daisy chain is convoluted, but our dollars as fans drive this process. And so underlying all of this is greed: Sometimes it's for money, sometimes it's for fame, sometimes it's for winning.
A long time ago, we all decided -- collectively -- that we didn't want to know how the sausage was made. Only that it was tasty.
Whether you are the NCAA, sports media, fans, coaches, whoever: It is disingenuous to be shocked -- shocked, I say! -- to find out that the social contract we signed came with some costs.
Want to crack down? First of all, you'll get some really bad situations as the tectonic plates shift. Second, you will change sports, and I'm not sure all fans want them changed in this way. Third, there will always be greed, and there will always be sleazy chicanery at the margins. To layer on yet another metaphor: It is dangerous to paint with an overly broad brush. That said:
We're all pimps, at one level or another.
-- D.S.
That's what Alabama's Nick Saban called agents yesterday: Pimps.
Here's the thing: Many of them are -- or, at least, many of them act like that. Obviously, the worst ones are particularly bad.
Then again, many coaches are pimps -- or, at least, pimp-ish. So are many assistant coaches. So are many would-be coaches.
So are many boosters.
So are many high school coaches or AAU "coaches." So are many in the "recruiting industrial complex."
So are many "advisors." So are many family members.
So are many in sports media. Even fans are willing to be exploitative.
And so are many players.
Now, let's stipulate that players are the most vulnerable here -- although it's pretty hard to consider OJ Mayo "vulnerable." Plenty of players have a sixth sense: Entitlement.
But as a relatively new parent, I'm not willing to say that players' entitlement is natural; it is nurtured, by all those folks around them I just listed above.
The fact is that the entire system is built around exploitation -- exploiting players, yes, but ultimately exploiting consumers.
The daisy chain is convoluted, but our dollars as fans drive this process. And so underlying all of this is greed: Sometimes it's for money, sometimes it's for fame, sometimes it's for winning.
A long time ago, we all decided -- collectively -- that we didn't want to know how the sausage was made. Only that it was tasty.
Whether you are the NCAA, sports media, fans, coaches, whoever: It is disingenuous to be shocked -- shocked, I say! -- to find out that the social contract we signed came with some costs.
Want to crack down? First of all, you'll get some really bad situations as the tectonic plates shift. Second, you will change sports, and I'm not sure all fans want them changed in this way. Third, there will always be greed, and there will always be sleazy chicanery at the margins. To layer on yet another metaphor: It is dangerous to paint with an overly broad brush. That said:
We're all pimps, at one level or another.
-- D.S.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
SB Nation Acquires The Sporting Blog
My column's most recent home is traded to one of my favorite sports media companies.
07/21 Quickie: USC, Lou, SEC, More
Let’s start with this: It’s not enough for USC to return Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy -- now, it’s on the Heisman Trust to give the Trophy to the player who deserved it: Vince Young.
Meanwhile: Can someone point to the part of Pat Haden’s resume that would minimally qualify him for a job like Athletic Director?
Oh, that’s ideal: Take a corrupt program and put the guy with no actual experience in charge. Haden’s interpretation of “compliance” is fluffing Notre Dame as a TV “analyst.”
This whole agent-crackdown by the NCAA feels like an overreaction. It is cynical to say “It’s widespread and that’s that,” but is this really a rock that the NCAA wants to turn over?
(Question: If UNC’s Marvin Austin was eligible for the past NFL Draft, where would he have gone? Well, he’s projected as a mid-1st pick in 2011, so let’s say no lower than mid-2nd. It’s probably even more severe for Alabama’s Marcel Dareus, projected as a high-1st in 2011.)
I’m with Joe Sheehan: Lou Piniella should be in the Hall of Fame. The job he did with the Reds in 1990 is one of the great single-season managerial jobs in recent memory.
I’m partial to Lou: My baseball glove was a Piniella model, and a former girlfriend’s dad was very close to Lou; somewhere, I have a signed ball, made out to the two of us.
It’s a double-whammy for me: Ryne Sandberg is my all-time favorite player, and he appears to be the leading contender for the Cubs job next season. He better get seasoned up fast.
Are the Phillies about to trade for Roy Oswalt? Because when you say that they are in the market for another top-line pitcher, the list is pretty short.
Link of the Day: OK, the ending of the Giants-Dodgers game was totally convoluted. Luckily, Rob Neyer can make as much sense of it as anyone -- but some things are still left unclear.
Of course Brad Childress and Brett Favre didn’t discuss some kind of actual deadline. That would undermine the entire process of the enabling.
I should always stay away from hockey analysis, but I’m not sure what the NHL is thinking in rejecting Ilya Kovalchuk’s unprecedented 17-year deal with the Devils. Can’t see how the net result of teams locking in their stars for the rest of their careers is a bad thing.
Given that they already have two combo guards, are the Warriors signing Jeremy Lin for the local marketing value? Nothing inherently wrong with that -- btw, he played well enough in Summer League to merit a roster spot, regardless of potential jersey sales -- but I’d appreciate it if they at least acknowledged it.
Jimmy Johnson as a contestant on Survivor: Nicaragua? I just don’t see Jimmy putting himself in a position where he might have to get off his boat. Let alone mess up his hair. (Also: Doesn’t Fox have a problem with Johnson appearing on a signature CBS show? If Johnson wants to be a reality-TV star, can’t Fox make that happen for him?)
Looking ahead to today’s big story: SEC Media Days, the king of all college media days. Last year’s total “Teclipse” won’t be matched, and it feels like the recent NCAA/agent run-ins involving Florida and Alabama -- only the two biggest teams in the league, with the two biggest star coaches -- will be the big topic of conversation. Can’t we just talk about how awesome John Brantley will be?
-- D.S.
Meanwhile: Can someone point to the part of Pat Haden’s resume that would minimally qualify him for a job like Athletic Director?
Oh, that’s ideal: Take a corrupt program and put the guy with no actual experience in charge. Haden’s interpretation of “compliance” is fluffing Notre Dame as a TV “analyst.”
This whole agent-crackdown by the NCAA feels like an overreaction. It is cynical to say “It’s widespread and that’s that,” but is this really a rock that the NCAA wants to turn over?
(Question: If UNC’s Marvin Austin was eligible for the past NFL Draft, where would he have gone? Well, he’s projected as a mid-1st pick in 2011, so let’s say no lower than mid-2nd. It’s probably even more severe for Alabama’s Marcel Dareus, projected as a high-1st in 2011.)
I’m with Joe Sheehan: Lou Piniella should be in the Hall of Fame. The job he did with the Reds in 1990 is one of the great single-season managerial jobs in recent memory.
I’m partial to Lou: My baseball glove was a Piniella model, and a former girlfriend’s dad was very close to Lou; somewhere, I have a signed ball, made out to the two of us.
It’s a double-whammy for me: Ryne Sandberg is my all-time favorite player, and he appears to be the leading contender for the Cubs job next season. He better get seasoned up fast.
Are the Phillies about to trade for Roy Oswalt? Because when you say that they are in the market for another top-line pitcher, the list is pretty short.
Link of the Day: OK, the ending of the Giants-Dodgers game was totally convoluted. Luckily, Rob Neyer can make as much sense of it as anyone -- but some things are still left unclear.
Of course Brad Childress and Brett Favre didn’t discuss some kind of actual deadline. That would undermine the entire process of the enabling.
I should always stay away from hockey analysis, but I’m not sure what the NHL is thinking in rejecting Ilya Kovalchuk’s unprecedented 17-year deal with the Devils. Can’t see how the net result of teams locking in their stars for the rest of their careers is a bad thing.
Given that they already have two combo guards, are the Warriors signing Jeremy Lin for the local marketing value? Nothing inherently wrong with that -- btw, he played well enough in Summer League to merit a roster spot, regardless of potential jersey sales -- but I’d appreciate it if they at least acknowledged it.
Jimmy Johnson as a contestant on Survivor: Nicaragua? I just don’t see Jimmy putting himself in a position where he might have to get off his boat. Let alone mess up his hair. (Also: Doesn’t Fox have a problem with Johnson appearing on a signature CBS show? If Johnson wants to be a reality-TV star, can’t Fox make that happen for him?)
Looking ahead to today’s big story: SEC Media Days, the king of all college media days. Last year’s total “Teclipse” won’t be matched, and it feels like the recent NCAA/agent run-ins involving Florida and Alabama -- only the two biggest teams in the league, with the two biggest star coaches -- will be the big topic of conversation. Can’t we just talk about how awesome John Brantley will be?
-- D.S.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
07/20 Quickie: Final Wake-Up Call
I break a huge scoop in today's SN column: Today will be my final column for SportingNews.com.
It has been a fun run with the Wake-Up Call, and I sincerely thank the folks at Sporting News for giving me a home for the last 2+ years and 600+ columns.
Next up: TBA.
-- D.S.
It has been a fun run with the Wake-Up Call, and I sincerely thank the folks at Sporting News for giving me a home for the last 2+ years and 600+ columns.
Next up: TBA.
-- D.S.
Monday, July 19, 2010
07/19 Quickie: Cubs, Heat, More
Recovering from a busy weekend in Chicago, but the game was terrific. A friend who works for the Cubs got us onto the field before the game for pictures and couldn't have been sweeter to my kid. (Per the comments on the last post, he got that certificate of "First Game at Wrigley." Nice touch.)
It was hard to tell how he was experiencing the whole thing. As with the Knicks game, the food was a major focus: He started with an ice cream-in-the-mini-helmet before moving on to cotton candy. At that point, he was like Cornholio.
He did make it to the 7th-inning stretch, which in 95 degree heat is pretty good. He knows the song, but I think the enormity of the collective experience finally hit him as everyone around him got up and started singing.
All in all, it was a terrific first MLB game -- again, simply having at Wrigley on a Friday afternoon alone puts it in the 99th percentile of baseball experiences. That he was there with me, my brother, my dad, my wife and my sister-in-law only made it more memorable.
The rest of the weekend was a sprint to stay ahead of two antsy kids.
Today's SN column leads with MJ's comment about LeBron, dissing The Decision. However, one comment on Twitter really resonated: Jordan's judgment is so bad that perhaps that actually means LeBron made exactly the right decision. Man, wish I had said that.
Speaking of saying things, Dwyane Wade needs some perspective. As if the Heat wasn't going to get booed in New York as it was.
Much more in the column. And more later today, hopefully.
-- D.S.
It was hard to tell how he was experiencing the whole thing. As with the Knicks game, the food was a major focus: He started with an ice cream-in-the-mini-helmet before moving on to cotton candy. At that point, he was like Cornholio.
He did make it to the 7th-inning stretch, which in 95 degree heat is pretty good. He knows the song, but I think the enormity of the collective experience finally hit him as everyone around him got up and started singing.
All in all, it was a terrific first MLB game -- again, simply having at Wrigley on a Friday afternoon alone puts it in the 99th percentile of baseball experiences. That he was there with me, my brother, my dad, my wife and my sister-in-law only made it more memorable.
The rest of the weekend was a sprint to stay ahead of two antsy kids.
Today's SN column leads with MJ's comment about LeBron, dissing The Decision. However, one comment on Twitter really resonated: Jordan's judgment is so bad that perhaps that actually means LeBron made exactly the right decision. Man, wish I had said that.
Speaking of saying things, Dwyane Wade needs some perspective. As if the Heat wasn't going to get booed in New York as it was.
Much more in the column. And more later today, hopefully.
-- D.S.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Big Day for the Shanoff Boys
Can you remember the first game you went to? I certainly can't. When you become a parent, it becomes this opportunity for you to experience that through your kid.
My older son, now 4, has been to a local (low-level D1) college basketball game and a Knicks game. He has been to a minor-league baseball game. He even went to the Swamp for a game (when he was 2... he lasted all of 5 minutes. Atrocious parenting choice.)
But he has never been to a Major League Baseball game, arguably the quintessential first real sports event for a parent and child.
I could have taken him to the Mets or -- ugh -- Yankees. But a year ago, my dad set up a trip for he, my wife and kids and my siblings (and sibs-in-law) to meet in Chicago this weekend. The big reason is to celebrate the centennial of my late grandfather, my dad's dad -- a Chicago lifer.
As it happens, when the MLB schedule came out last winter, we checked and the Cubs were going to be in town, playing the Phillies. That seemed like the ideal moment to bring the kid to his first game. Tickets were secured.
And so this afternoon, I will be giving my kid his first experience with Major League Baseball in what I can only consider the ideal way: The classic Friday afternoon game at Wrigley.
There is no better first impression about baseball that can be made to a young fan.
What makes it all the more special is that my dad -- who grew up in Chicago a Cubs fan -- will be there, in the same stadium where his own father took him to games a half-century ago.
And I will be there, too. Even living in D.C., I grew up a HUGE Cubs fan. I'm not sure my dad pressed that on me, as much as I chose to embrace the Cubs. Maybe I wanted that as a special relationship with him. I certainly enjoyed being unique -- a Cubs fan in an Orioles town.
In that magical Cubs year of 1984, I was 11 -- precisely the age where I argue that fandom begins to really take shape. One of my first sports-fan memories that I can remember? Watching on TV, as the ball skirted through Leon Durham's glove.
I vividly remember calling my local cable company, begging them to carry WGN so I could watch the Cubs, just like I did when I would visit my grandparents in Chicago.
Ryne Sandberg was my favorite player -- he remains my favorite baseball player of all time.
When I was filling out my facebook -- no, not Facebook -- profile for college, I listed among my hobbies "Chicago Cubs." I had this worn-in Cubs hat I wore EVERYWHERE.
I ostensibly went to Northwestern for the journalism school, but a massive bonus was that I would finally be living in the same town as the Cubs. I could join my brethren.
I definitely took advantage of the experience, attending plenty of those Friday afternoon home games before hitting the cheesy Division Street bars for happy hour specials, then trucking home on the Evanston Express El line.
(Ironically, through my four years of college, my Cubs fandom actually eroded. Too much armchair psychology packed in there to get into it here.)
After college, I got an apartment with two buddies on Addison, a couple long tosses from Wrigley itself. On game days and nights, we would sit on our porch, sometimes sharing beers with passing fans, sometimes getting a stray ticket and wandering over for a few innings. This was (almost entirely) pre-internet, pre-cellphone. Looking back, it was like living in the 1950s.
I'm not sure where I stand with the Cubs right now -- I'm certainly sympathetic, although I wouldn't insult true die-hard Cubs fans by calling myself a "fan." When it looked like the Cubs were going to make the World Series, I was conflicted, because I felt like I didn't deserve to celebrate, having not hung on to my childhood fervor for the team.
I think it's enough that I was a die-hard Cubs fan when I was a kid, at the formation of my sports fandom. They were my first team. Even if, quite atypically, they don't remain your team, there is a very special place for your first team. That said, I can only imagine what 14-year-old me would think of me now. He'd probably say, "Florida? Well, at least you married a hottie.")
Being a Cubs fan is in my DNA, metaphorically (as the first team I chose to die-hard root for) and literally (they are my father's team, and his father's team). That makes it in my kids' DNA, too.
There are a couple traditional roots to fandom: Geography (growing up in the region of the team), Serendipity (getting into a certain college) and Biology (who your parents root for).
The fact is that if your parents root for a certain team and "encourage" their children to root for that team -- and that is either sentimentally awesome or the worst kind of overbearing -- chances are the kid is going to turn out to be a fan of that team.
I think teams and sports leagues don't recognize and promote this nearly enough: They could spend their marketing dollars trying to get adults in town with a casual or passive interest in the sport or team to attend their games... or they could try to lock in to the kids through the parents, creating a spectacular lifetime customer value for themselves.
I went to the Cubs' website to try to find something specifically for parents taking their kids to a game. I found a cheesy "Kids' Club" section -- made for kids, not parents -- but nothing for this particular situation.
I did like the fact that the team had a section on the site about Cubs fandom being a "Way of Life" -- not far off from what I'm talking about -- but little in the way of promoting the parent-kid-Cubs connection. If you know of a team that does a good job of this, let me know. (I'm certain that there are certain minor-league baseball franchises that must excel at this.)
The fact is that the experience of me taking my kid to their first baseball game stands up on its own. The Cubs could do nothing but open the gates to Wrigley and we will be fine.
I couldn't ask for a better introduction for my kid to Major League Baseball. (His little brother, not yet 2, will spend the game exploring Wrigleyville with his aunt and uncle. Bros pacifying bros?) Even if my kid doesn't end up rooting for the Cubs for his lifetime, starting off his baseball fandom with a day game at Wrigley will plant the seed that baseball is a wonderful game worth his energy -- and particularly worth attending in person.
He already knows the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." He already has a Cubs hat. Our seats are in the 500-level, literally the worst seats in the house.
But just being inside Wrigley with him makes this one of my favorite days yet as a parent and a fan.
-- D.S.
(I'll try to tweet and TweetPic and video-tweet as we go. Follow along at @danshanoff.)
My older son, now 4, has been to a local (low-level D1) college basketball game and a Knicks game. He has been to a minor-league baseball game. He even went to the Swamp for a game (when he was 2... he lasted all of 5 minutes. Atrocious parenting choice.)
But he has never been to a Major League Baseball game, arguably the quintessential first real sports event for a parent and child.
I could have taken him to the Mets or -- ugh -- Yankees. But a year ago, my dad set up a trip for he, my wife and kids and my siblings (and sibs-in-law) to meet in Chicago this weekend. The big reason is to celebrate the centennial of my late grandfather, my dad's dad -- a Chicago lifer.
As it happens, when the MLB schedule came out last winter, we checked and the Cubs were going to be in town, playing the Phillies. That seemed like the ideal moment to bring the kid to his first game. Tickets were secured.
And so this afternoon, I will be giving my kid his first experience with Major League Baseball in what I can only consider the ideal way: The classic Friday afternoon game at Wrigley.
There is no better first impression about baseball that can be made to a young fan.
What makes it all the more special is that my dad -- who grew up in Chicago a Cubs fan -- will be there, in the same stadium where his own father took him to games a half-century ago.
And I will be there, too. Even living in D.C., I grew up a HUGE Cubs fan. I'm not sure my dad pressed that on me, as much as I chose to embrace the Cubs. Maybe I wanted that as a special relationship with him. I certainly enjoyed being unique -- a Cubs fan in an Orioles town.
In that magical Cubs year of 1984, I was 11 -- precisely the age where I argue that fandom begins to really take shape. One of my first sports-fan memories that I can remember? Watching on TV, as the ball skirted through Leon Durham's glove.
I vividly remember calling my local cable company, begging them to carry WGN so I could watch the Cubs, just like I did when I would visit my grandparents in Chicago.
Ryne Sandberg was my favorite player -- he remains my favorite baseball player of all time.
When I was filling out my facebook -- no, not Facebook -- profile for college, I listed among my hobbies "Chicago Cubs." I had this worn-in Cubs hat I wore EVERYWHERE.
I ostensibly went to Northwestern for the journalism school, but a massive bonus was that I would finally be living in the same town as the Cubs. I could join my brethren.
I definitely took advantage of the experience, attending plenty of those Friday afternoon home games before hitting the cheesy Division Street bars for happy hour specials, then trucking home on the Evanston Express El line.
(Ironically, through my four years of college, my Cubs fandom actually eroded. Too much armchair psychology packed in there to get into it here.)
After college, I got an apartment with two buddies on Addison, a couple long tosses from Wrigley itself. On game days and nights, we would sit on our porch, sometimes sharing beers with passing fans, sometimes getting a stray ticket and wandering over for a few innings. This was (almost entirely) pre-internet, pre-cellphone. Looking back, it was like living in the 1950s.
I'm not sure where I stand with the Cubs right now -- I'm certainly sympathetic, although I wouldn't insult true die-hard Cubs fans by calling myself a "fan." When it looked like the Cubs were going to make the World Series, I was conflicted, because I felt like I didn't deserve to celebrate, having not hung on to my childhood fervor for the team.
I think it's enough that I was a die-hard Cubs fan when I was a kid, at the formation of my sports fandom. They were my first team. Even if, quite atypically, they don't remain your team, there is a very special place for your first team. That said, I can only imagine what 14-year-old me would think of me now. He'd probably say, "Florida? Well, at least you married a hottie.")
Being a Cubs fan is in my DNA, metaphorically (as the first team I chose to die-hard root for) and literally (they are my father's team, and his father's team). That makes it in my kids' DNA, too.
There are a couple traditional roots to fandom: Geography (growing up in the region of the team), Serendipity (getting into a certain college) and Biology (who your parents root for).
The fact is that if your parents root for a certain team and "encourage" their children to root for that team -- and that is either sentimentally awesome or the worst kind of overbearing -- chances are the kid is going to turn out to be a fan of that team.
I think teams and sports leagues don't recognize and promote this nearly enough: They could spend their marketing dollars trying to get adults in town with a casual or passive interest in the sport or team to attend their games... or they could try to lock in to the kids through the parents, creating a spectacular lifetime customer value for themselves.
I went to the Cubs' website to try to find something specifically for parents taking their kids to a game. I found a cheesy "Kids' Club" section -- made for kids, not parents -- but nothing for this particular situation.
I did like the fact that the team had a section on the site about Cubs fandom being a "Way of Life" -- not far off from what I'm talking about -- but little in the way of promoting the parent-kid-Cubs connection. If you know of a team that does a good job of this, let me know. (I'm certain that there are certain minor-league baseball franchises that must excel at this.)
The fact is that the experience of me taking my kid to their first baseball game stands up on its own. The Cubs could do nothing but open the gates to Wrigley and we will be fine.
I couldn't ask for a better introduction for my kid to Major League Baseball. (His little brother, not yet 2, will spend the game exploring Wrigleyville with his aunt and uncle. Bros pacifying bros?) Even if my kid doesn't end up rooting for the Cubs for his lifetime, starting off his baseball fandom with a day game at Wrigley will plant the seed that baseball is a wonderful game worth his energy -- and particularly worth attending in person.
He already knows the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." He already has a Cubs hat. Our seats are in the 500-level, literally the worst seats in the house.
But just being inside Wrigley with him makes this one of my favorite days yet as a parent and a fan.
-- D.S.
(I'll try to tweet and TweetPic and video-tweet as we go. Follow along at @danshanoff.)
07/15 Quickie: 2nd Half Picks
For reasons I'll explain a little later this morning, today's SN column led with a very global view of the sports world.
Coming off the annual Slowest Sports Day of the Year, it was a good moment to take a look at the 2nd half of the sports year with 10 predictions for the rest of 2010.
They include some oldie-but-goodies: Boise State wins the college football national title, Tim Tebow accounting for 10 TDs, one of Miami's Big Three getting injured early in the NBA season.
Otherwise, it's a light day:
*Did Vandy's Bobby Johnson burn out? It's only the toughest job in college football. And he did it astoundingly well, I would say.
*Shaq on the Knicks? Ugh.
*Seth Meyers' opening monologue last night at the ESPYs was terrific. The SNL-style skits? Hit or miss. Janelle Monae? Phenomenal.
*I will continue to contend that the Saints' onside kick in the Super Bowl was the Play of the Year -- it didn't even make the short list fans could vote on.
This seems crazy to me. It wasn't just the Play of the Year, but arguably the greatest play (and play call) in the history of the NFL. It deserves its own ESPY for awesomeness.
(I probably should have led today's column with that, now that I think of it. Glad I have the blog! More on that later.)
See the complete column here. Oh, and today is the 1-year anniversary of TimTeblog.com's launch. And tomorrow I am taking my older son to his first MLB game -- at Wrigley, no less. So there's that!
-- D.S.
Coming off the annual Slowest Sports Day of the Year, it was a good moment to take a look at the 2nd half of the sports year with 10 predictions for the rest of 2010.
They include some oldie-but-goodies: Boise State wins the college football national title, Tim Tebow accounting for 10 TDs, one of Miami's Big Three getting injured early in the NBA season.
Otherwise, it's a light day:
*Did Vandy's Bobby Johnson burn out? It's only the toughest job in college football. And he did it astoundingly well, I would say.
*Shaq on the Knicks? Ugh.
*Seth Meyers' opening monologue last night at the ESPYs was terrific. The SNL-style skits? Hit or miss. Janelle Monae? Phenomenal.
*I will continue to contend that the Saints' onside kick in the Super Bowl was the Play of the Year -- it didn't even make the short list fans could vote on.
This seems crazy to me. It wasn't just the Play of the Year, but arguably the greatest play (and play call) in the history of the NFL. It deserves its own ESPY for awesomeness.
(I probably should have led today's column with that, now that I think of it. Glad I have the blog! More on that later.)
See the complete column here. Oh, and today is the 1-year anniversary of TimTeblog.com's launch. And tomorrow I am taking my older son to his first MLB game -- at Wrigley, no less. So there's that!
-- D.S.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Highly Recommended: Joe Sheehan
The slowest sports day of the year -- certainly the slowest day of the baseball season -- is an ideal time to enthusiastically promote Joe Sheehan’s email newsletter.
It’s very simple: Joe Sheehan’s email newsletter about baseball is likely the best $20 I have spent on media this year.
Let me unpack that:
When Sheehan -- a pillar of Baseball Prospectus and one of the smartest baseball writers in the world -- first launched an email newsletter you pay to receive, I loved the idea.
On one level, I applaud his entrepreneurialism -- both to strike out on his own and to value his content enough to charge for it. On another level, I was excited to read him in this format. I think Sheehan is in the Top 3 baseball writers in the country (and the only reason I wouldn’t rank him No. 1 outright is because I can’t bring myself to dislodge Rob Neyer and there is a regular rotation of great baseball writers I would include in my Top 3. But Sheehan is on the Rushmore.)
I didn’t immediately subscribe -- looking back, that was an error. I was talking with Leitch a few weeks ago and Sheehan came up. I mentioned that I had been meaning to subscribe -- Will couldn’t recommend it more highly.
Already entirely ready to support Sheehan’s start-up, I quickly signed up: $20 via PayPal. Half-a-dozen newsletters in, I feel like the subscription has already paid for itself. That I have what will probably end up being 40 editions left between now and the World Series (there could be plenty more, depending on how enthusiastic Joe is) feels like the greatest kind of bargain. In short: I love it.
If you are a huge baseball fan, you will appreciate the baseball insights of an expert. If you are a less intense fan -- like me -- you will really appreciate him.
Sheehan picks out the most interesting stories, then gives you insights you won’t find elsewhere and that -- and this is really big for me -- will make you smarter as a fan.
Let me say that again: I am a better baseball fan for being a Sheehan newsletter subscriber. I am smarter. That’s all I want from my analysis: Make me a smarter fan, and don’t demand too much of my time or energy to do it.
At this point, I anxiously look forward to Sheehan’s latest emails, and when they arrive, I devour them. I've got one waiting in my in-box right now, featuring his notes from the All-Star Game and his take on George Steinbrenner.
I can’t recommend the newsletter highly enough. Even for half a season, it is entirely worth $20. Even if you are only a casual baseball fan, it is entirely worth $20.
(When I say casual, I mean you should like and follow baseball. It's not for people looking for a shallow, Quickie-esque survey of the big headlines. Though we love those kind of people very much!)
With Joe, though, you will, however, get an incredibly interesting perspective that, when parroted in the office or on the barstool, will impress your co-workers and friends who DO love baseball - and to whom you should especially recommend to get this newsletter, too.)
Beyond its immediate value as phenomenal baseball analysis, I love supporting an independent voice.
Click here to get to Joe's website and subscribe.
(Even better: This month, he is donating a portion of all subscriptions to a charity dedicated to cancer research.)
-- D.S.
It’s very simple: Joe Sheehan’s email newsletter about baseball is likely the best $20 I have spent on media this year.
Let me unpack that:
When Sheehan -- a pillar of Baseball Prospectus and one of the smartest baseball writers in the world -- first launched an email newsletter you pay to receive, I loved the idea.
On one level, I applaud his entrepreneurialism -- both to strike out on his own and to value his content enough to charge for it. On another level, I was excited to read him in this format. I think Sheehan is in the Top 3 baseball writers in the country (and the only reason I wouldn’t rank him No. 1 outright is because I can’t bring myself to dislodge Rob Neyer and there is a regular rotation of great baseball writers I would include in my Top 3. But Sheehan is on the Rushmore.)
I didn’t immediately subscribe -- looking back, that was an error. I was talking with Leitch a few weeks ago and Sheehan came up. I mentioned that I had been meaning to subscribe -- Will couldn’t recommend it more highly.
Already entirely ready to support Sheehan’s start-up, I quickly signed up: $20 via PayPal. Half-a-dozen newsletters in, I feel like the subscription has already paid for itself. That I have what will probably end up being 40 editions left between now and the World Series (there could be plenty more, depending on how enthusiastic Joe is) feels like the greatest kind of bargain. In short: I love it.
If you are a huge baseball fan, you will appreciate the baseball insights of an expert. If you are a less intense fan -- like me -- you will really appreciate him.
Sheehan picks out the most interesting stories, then gives you insights you won’t find elsewhere and that -- and this is really big for me -- will make you smarter as a fan.
Let me say that again: I am a better baseball fan for being a Sheehan newsletter subscriber. I am smarter. That’s all I want from my analysis: Make me a smarter fan, and don’t demand too much of my time or energy to do it.
At this point, I anxiously look forward to Sheehan’s latest emails, and when they arrive, I devour them. I've got one waiting in my in-box right now, featuring his notes from the All-Star Game and his take on George Steinbrenner.
I can’t recommend the newsletter highly enough. Even for half a season, it is entirely worth $20. Even if you are only a casual baseball fan, it is entirely worth $20.
(When I say casual, I mean you should like and follow baseball. It's not for people looking for a shallow, Quickie-esque survey of the big headlines. Though we love those kind of people very much!)
With Joe, though, you will, however, get an incredibly interesting perspective that, when parroted in the office or on the barstool, will impress your co-workers and friends who DO love baseball - and to whom you should especially recommend to get this newsletter, too.)
Beyond its immediate value as phenomenal baseball analysis, I love supporting an independent voice.
Click here to get to Joe's website and subscribe.
(Even better: This month, he is donating a portion of all subscriptions to a charity dedicated to cancer research.)
-- D.S.
07/14 Quickie: Boss, NL All-Stars, More
At his essence, George Steinbrenner was about winning. Sometimes at all costs, sometimes with strange methods, but I believe you can say his heart was in the right place.
If you believe winning is everything.
I would contend that -- in addition to a sense of belonging to a community and maintaining a version of a public trust -- an extreme commitment to winning is an ideal quality in your sports team owner.
Now, Steinbrenner enjoyed some tremendous financial advantages that allowed him to spend-spend-spend on the Yankees.
But consider the larger point: He spent. He reinvested, always. Everything went back into the business, with the goal to make the team a winner.
As you all know, I have spent the last few years fairly obsessed with the notion of "Championship or Failure." Perhaps that's why Steinbrenner's maniacal focus on winning championships resonated with me.
You can question his methods. You cannot question his intentions.
More in today's SN column:
*If you are college-aged or younger, last night was probably the first NL win in an All-Star Game you can ever remember.
*Do Al Jefferson and Tyson Chandler make the Jazz and Mavs contenders in the West? I certainly wouldn't pick them over the Lakers, but I like that they are continuing to try to contend for a title. They will remain on my very short list of teams sincerely attempting that.
*Stanford clocks in at No. 51 on SN's preseason CFB countdown, and I contend that not only will Andrew Luck out-rank Jake Locker among Pac-10 QBs, but Luck will finish the season as 1st-team All-America at QB... and the top-picked QB in the 2011 NFL Draft.
(Between Luck, Locker and -- at least according to scouts -- Ponder, it should be a solid QB class at the top of next year's draft. Makes you wonder if the Rams -- who will undoubtedly have a top choice -- blew it by taking Bradford over Suh, when they could have had an even better prospect a year from now. Yes, I think Luck and Locker are better pro prospects than Bradford, who has yet to prove he can withstand a pounding from BYU linemen, let alone NFC linemen.)
*I am predicting a big night for the Saints at the ESPYs tonight.
*The Old Spice viral video campaign yesterday was absolutely brilliant.
Complete SN column here. More later.
-- D.S.
If you believe winning is everything.
I would contend that -- in addition to a sense of belonging to a community and maintaining a version of a public trust -- an extreme commitment to winning is an ideal quality in your sports team owner.
Now, Steinbrenner enjoyed some tremendous financial advantages that allowed him to spend-spend-spend on the Yankees.
But consider the larger point: He spent. He reinvested, always. Everything went back into the business, with the goal to make the team a winner.
As you all know, I have spent the last few years fairly obsessed with the notion of "Championship or Failure." Perhaps that's why Steinbrenner's maniacal focus on winning championships resonated with me.
You can question his methods. You cannot question his intentions.
More in today's SN column:
*If you are college-aged or younger, last night was probably the first NL win in an All-Star Game you can ever remember.
*Do Al Jefferson and Tyson Chandler make the Jazz and Mavs contenders in the West? I certainly wouldn't pick them over the Lakers, but I like that they are continuing to try to contend for a title. They will remain on my very short list of teams sincerely attempting that.
*Stanford clocks in at No. 51 on SN's preseason CFB countdown, and I contend that not only will Andrew Luck out-rank Jake Locker among Pac-10 QBs, but Luck will finish the season as 1st-team All-America at QB... and the top-picked QB in the 2011 NFL Draft.
(Between Luck, Locker and -- at least according to scouts -- Ponder, it should be a solid QB class at the top of next year's draft. Makes you wonder if the Rams -- who will undoubtedly have a top choice -- blew it by taking Bradford over Suh, when they could have had an even better prospect a year from now. Yes, I think Luck and Locker are better pro prospects than Bradford, who has yet to prove he can withstand a pounding from BYU linemen, let alone NFC linemen.)
*I am predicting a big night for the Saints at the ESPYs tonight.
*The Old Spice viral video campaign yesterday was absolutely brilliant.
Complete SN column here. More later.
-- D.S.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
07/13 Quickie: Boss, ASG, Wall, More
News just broke that George Steinbrenner is dead. There will be a TON written and said about him today, tomorrow and into the future, but I will leave it with this:
"The Boss" was the most larger-than-life owner in the history of U.S. sports: A bombastic, obsessive manager who ranks at the top of the most competitive people in sports history.
Of the many, many things to remember about him, this is what I will remember most:
He wanted his Yankees to win championships more than any other thing. It drove all of his decision-making, for better and worse. He spent whatever he needed to and demanded success.
I respect that he felt an obligation for the Yankees to be the greatest franchise in sports -- and he lived with that obligation always in mind.
Condolences to his family, friends and Yankee fans.
Today's SN column digs into the All-Star Game of fresh faces, Big Papi's Derby revival, John Wall winning over the NBA, the NCAA vs. Facebook, Tim Tebow and EA's NCAA Football 11 and More. See it all here.
-- D.S.
"The Boss" was the most larger-than-life owner in the history of U.S. sports: A bombastic, obsessive manager who ranks at the top of the most competitive people in sports history.
Of the many, many things to remember about him, this is what I will remember most:
He wanted his Yankees to win championships more than any other thing. It drove all of his decision-making, for better and worse. He spent whatever he needed to and demanded success.
I respect that he felt an obligation for the Yankees to be the greatest franchise in sports -- and he lived with that obligation always in mind.
Condolences to his family, friends and Yankee fans.
Today's SN column digs into the All-Star Game of fresh faces, Big Papi's Derby revival, John Wall winning over the NBA, the NCAA vs. Facebook, Tim Tebow and EA's NCAA Football 11 and More. See it all here.
-- D.S.
Monday, July 12, 2010
07/12 Quickie: Spain, LeBron, Wall, ASG
So at this point, everyone knows that as it relates to LeBron and the Heat, at best it was highly unseemly and at worst it was tampering with the biggest star in the league.
Now, it probably wouldn't have mattered: LeBron was going to team up with D-Wade and Bosh anyway -- hmm...or would he?
That's the litmus test of true tampering: In the absence of the tamp effort, would LeBron have made a different choice? In this case, it is unclear, one way or the other.
It is a moot point: The NBA will ignore it, and for all the bluster from the Cavs, they had no problems doing a sign-and-trade to give LeBron as much money as possible.
(For those of us who read the signals a long time ago that LeBron was going to abandon Cleveland, it is easy to say in hindsight that the Cavs should have traded him.)
In today's SN column, I led with Paul the Octopus as an excuse to predict that the league wouldn't do anything about LeBron and the Heat's tampering. More in today's column:
*John Wall is going to spend next season living at the free-throw line.
*Spain wins the World Cup: Gotta love the biggest sports thing to ever happen to a country.
(What would be the US analogue? No question: "Miracle on Ice" in 1980. I'm going to narrowly define it, because it is very hard not to put "Jackie Robinson integrates baseball" at No. 1 of any list related to defining sports moments in the US. It's parsing, but maybe that's the difference. Damn, should have led the column with that.)
*Forlan wins the Golden Boot: Love this pick.
*Nick Swisher might not win the HR Derby, but he will make it more fun.
*If the Heat retain Udonis Haslem AND get Derek Fisher, I'll revise my prediction and say they will win the NBA title. But they won't get either.
*Jordan Farmar is coming to Brooklyn. I mean...
*Putting on my octopus hat, I think that Carmelo's marriage lasts longer than Carrie's.
*Totally approve of EA re-signing with ESPN -- and it's brilliant to put her on GameDay (plus extending GameDay by an hour -- ESPN's best studio show).
Packed column today: See it here. More later. Big week!
-- D.S.
Now, it probably wouldn't have mattered: LeBron was going to team up with D-Wade and Bosh anyway -- hmm...or would he?
That's the litmus test of true tampering: In the absence of the tamp effort, would LeBron have made a different choice? In this case, it is unclear, one way or the other.
It is a moot point: The NBA will ignore it, and for all the bluster from the Cavs, they had no problems doing a sign-and-trade to give LeBron as much money as possible.
(For those of us who read the signals a long time ago that LeBron was going to abandon Cleveland, it is easy to say in hindsight that the Cavs should have traded him.)
In today's SN column, I led with Paul the Octopus as an excuse to predict that the league wouldn't do anything about LeBron and the Heat's tampering. More in today's column:
*John Wall is going to spend next season living at the free-throw line.
*Spain wins the World Cup: Gotta love the biggest sports thing to ever happen to a country.
(What would be the US analogue? No question: "Miracle on Ice" in 1980. I'm going to narrowly define it, because it is very hard not to put "Jackie Robinson integrates baseball" at No. 1 of any list related to defining sports moments in the US. It's parsing, but maybe that's the difference. Damn, should have led the column with that.)
*Forlan wins the Golden Boot: Love this pick.
*Nick Swisher might not win the HR Derby, but he will make it more fun.
*If the Heat retain Udonis Haslem AND get Derek Fisher, I'll revise my prediction and say they will win the NBA title. But they won't get either.
*Jordan Farmar is coming to Brooklyn. I mean...
*Putting on my octopus hat, I think that Carmelo's marriage lasts longer than Carrie's.
*Totally approve of EA re-signing with ESPN -- and it's brilliant to put her on GameDay (plus extending GameDay by an hour -- ESPN's best studio show).
Packed column today: See it here. More later. Big week!
-- D.S.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday (Holland-Spain) Quickie
I will miss the World Cup. But I enjoy the styles of both the Netherlands and Spain -- it will be a great first-time champ, regardless of who wins. (I'll say... Holland.)
I think the big point is that for whichever country, a World Cup title will be the greatest moment in their sporting history, not unlike France in '98. That is going to be so cool to watch.
Travis Wood: So close!
Cliff Lee's Rangers debut: Complete-game...loss.
Rockies win 6th straight: If you had to put a bet down on the NL West champ, would it be the Padres -- or Colorado? I'm on the Rox bandwagon.
LeBron Watch: "Witness" poster removed. Obviously. (Protection?)
SuperFriends update: Not sure whether I like or hate that nickname yet. But if they can get Derek Fisher, it would be a coup. (Anyone else want to see them sign AI and T-Mac, too?)
NBA Free Agency: Will the Bulls get JJ Redick or will the Magic match? Not a bad situation for the one-time "bust."
(BTW: It's good to be Wes Matthews. All the more reason your draft slot is irrelevant -- it's all about fit and opportunity.)
NBA Summer in Vegas: Derrick Caracer, steal of the draft?
Enjoy your day.
-- D.S.
I think the big point is that for whichever country, a World Cup title will be the greatest moment in their sporting history, not unlike France in '98. That is going to be so cool to watch.
Travis Wood: So close!
Cliff Lee's Rangers debut: Complete-game...loss.
Rockies win 6th straight: If you had to put a bet down on the NL West champ, would it be the Padres -- or Colorado? I'm on the Rox bandwagon.
LeBron Watch: "Witness" poster removed. Obviously. (Protection?)
SuperFriends update: Not sure whether I like or hate that nickname yet. But if they can get Derek Fisher, it would be a coup. (Anyone else want to see them sign AI and T-Mac, too?)
NBA Free Agency: Will the Bulls get JJ Redick or will the Magic match? Not a bad situation for the one-time "bust."
(BTW: It's good to be Wes Matthews. All the more reason your draft slot is irrelevant -- it's all about fit and opportunity.)
NBA Summer in Vegas: Derrick Caracer, steal of the draft?
Enjoy your day.
-- D.S.
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