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May 31, 2012

U.S./Brazil Liveblog

After a very slow start in the Jurgen Klinsmann era, the U.S. Men's National Team is on fire as they head into World Cup qualifying in a couple weeks. Their current 5-match win streak includes two wins in Europe against 2010 World Cup teams, including a win at Italy. But during this streak, they have looked no better than they did they past Saturday when they pasted Scotland, 5-1, in Jacksonville. They appeared to be able to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and the final score could've been worse if Klinsmann hadn't called off the dogs.

As great of a high as the U.S. is on right now, they can add an even bigger notch to their belt if they can get a result against Brazil on this warm late May evening. I will be liveblogging the match.

Pre-Match: Some guy I don't recognize in a Landon Donovan jersey sings the national anthem. He jazzes is it up a bit. I always hate that.

1' Ahoy, matey! The U.S. is unsurprisingly wearing their awful new uniforms that remind me of french sailors. Thank goodness they change these up every couple of years.

12' Brazil gets a penalty kick because the Brazilian striker fired the ball into Oguchi Onyewu's arm. Handballs are only supposed to result in penalties if it was deemed intentional, which this clearly was not and Onyewu didn't even get a card, standard practice for intentional handballs. Infuriating. Brazil's Neymar buries the penalty and goes up 1-0.

12' The Brazilians celebrate with a choreographed dance that was straight out of a Las Vegas gay bar's Carnivale Night. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

13' The U.S. looks like they are fighting mad as a result, as Maurice Edu come down and fires a shot wide. And now the ref goes from bad to worse and books Jose Torres, apparently for dissent. I say "apparently," because the announcers can't figure out what the card is for, either.

17' Wow. Tim Howard is still world class. He denies Neymar 1-on-1 when it looked certain Brazil would go 2-up.

23' More opportunities abound for Brazil. They are controlling the momentum and run of play. It's not like I expected the U.S. to cast aside Brazil like they did Scotland, but this is still disappointing.

26' Thiago Silva scores off a corner kick, and commentator Ian Darke correctly called it "criminal defending" by the U.S. Sigh. 2-0.

29' A monster throw-in from Onyewu found Landon Donovan in the penalty box, and he uncharacteristically booted it over the bar. Gonna be that kind of night, I guess.

44' Well, we just need to get to halftime. Brazil's domination is total and now they ... what's this? Michael Bradley displaces a Brazilian defender? And the flawlessly finds Fabian Johnson who gets it to Herculez Gomez in front of the net? He heads it in effortlessly! 2-1! (In Eddie Murphy Nutty Professor voice) Herka-leez! Herka-leez! That was the type of execution we saw constantly from the U.S. against Scotland. It must be said I thought that Bradley fouled the Brazilian defender. Well, the ref owed us.

Halftime: Well, we got the goal we needed to get some momentum back, and Clint Dempsey should play much of the second half. Some miscellany: this is the 17th time Brazil and the U.S. have played. The United States has won once. Brazil has won the last eight.

48' As poor as the U.S. has looked, especially defensively, Michael Bradley has just been on another level, with a sick lofted pass to Donovan, who got dispossessed. I don't think I've seen Donovan ever play so out of sorts.

52' As soon as the announcers praised the improved effort of the US coming out of the gate in the second half, Neymar scores another one for Brazil, on a setup pretty similar to the U.S. goal (except kicked in rather than headed). 3-1.

56' CLINT DEMPSEY IS ON THE PITCH! With the year Dempsey has had in England, if he can somehow get a brace here and equalize for the U.S., he's gonna overtake Donovan as the U.S.'s foremost soccer star. And I realize Donovan had a hat trick against Scotland.

60' Neymar's hair looks like this, and there are children in the crowd!

64' On a great pass from Fabian Johnson, Dempsey looked sure to score, but for an incredible bit of last-minute defense from Romulo.

65' And now Gomez gets another shot on goal. Can a second U.S. goal be far behind?

66' U.S. dodges a huge bullet as Alexandre Pato hits the post for Brazil. Opportunities are coming fast and furious, seems like 2 or more goals are coming even though there's less than half an hour to play.

76' Heart-wrenching opportunities by Gomez and Terrence Boyd go wanting thanks to great saves by the Brazilian keeper, Rafael.

86' Another amazing save from Rafael, and the U.S. hits the bar on the ensuing corner. Damn, damn, damn. U.S. has looked like the better side for the last 10 minutes; tons of opportunities.

87' Pato scores against the run of play for Brazil. 4-1.

90' It's over.

The only U.S. players that can be said to have been really impressive tonight are Michael Bradley and Herculez Gomez. For Brazil, horrible hair and all, this Neymar is something. He's only 20, and has 9 goals for his country in just 17 games. He made Michael Parkhurst look really foolish on a deke move besides his two goals.

Pretty frustrating that people will see this result in the paper and figure the U.S. was blown-out. They weren't. Well, not in the second half anyway. They had even more opportunities than I wrote about here and I am certain now that they can score against any country, any time, anywhere. Looking at the stat sheet they got 17 shots off (6 on target) compared to Brazil's 13 (7 on target). They also had more corner kicks, 8-5.

That said, they really were dominated in the first half and the back four, who looked suspect against Scotland, continued to demonstrate that they are this team's glaring weakness. None of Brazil's goals were ones Tim Howard should've stopped. If every ball that hit the woodwork or could not have been handled by a merely average goalkeeper went in tonight, the final score would've been something like 6-4, Brazil.

This means get ready for some high-scoring fireworks, unfortunately going both ways, as the U.S. heads into 2014 World Cup qualification.

Posted by Kevin Beane at 7:59 PM | Comments (1)

How to Fix the Cubs

With the worst record in the National League (and a tie for the MLB worst) as of this writing, it's safe to say the Chicago Cubs have some holes to fill. Though nobody picked this team for the World Series, few thought they'd be the worst team in all of baseball. So the question is simple: what basic steps can the Cubs make to improve without threatening their future?

First off, I want to propose my most radical change. There seems to be an overwhelming amount of (somewhat unfounded) support for Starlin Castro as the franchise player and b) the starting shortstop. I do not want to argue that Castro is not a good player. Let's be honest, his 162-game averages of .305/7/65 are respectable. However, there are a few major issues with his game: he hates taking walks (only 4 in 189 plate appearances in 2012; yes, FOUR); he strikes out too much for a non-power hitter (on pace for roughly 98 this season); he is an absolutely atrocious defensive shortstop (league-leading 29 errors in 2011, 8 so far in 2012). Put all of these facts forward, and what's the solution?

Move Castro to center field. Now, I'd be remiss not to mention that Castro has improved this season. According to a Bill James sabermetric stat that measures how many runs per season a defensive player is worth, Castro has improved from -15 last season to +6 this season. However, his physical skills are ideal for a center fielder. Out there, he could focus more on hitting, roam a relatively small centerfield (Wrigley Field), and not have to worry about the pressures of being involved in the most defensive plays on the field.

What effect does this have on the rest of the organization? Well, for starters, there would be a surplus of outfielders. Brett Jackson, the CF-of-the-future, is having a mediocre season at AAA Iowa, so his ascension to the majors might be on the slow track; however, where would he play? That's a fair question — one that I have worked out with the next change.

Release Alfonso Soriano, bring up Anthony Rizzo to fill his roster spot. I already know the counterarguments: Soriano has over $36 million left on his contract, he's a veteran and it would hurt the clubhouse morale, can the minor leaguers do as well as him yet? And then on the Rizzo side: don't rush him up, he hit .141 with the Padres after his call-up last year, blah blah blah. This move is inevitable, so what better time than now?

Listen, Soriano could be the greatest guy in the world, but he's holding a spot that a youngster could be learning to play. Kerry Wood's talent was waning (not nearly as rapidly as Soriano's, mind you) and he stepped away to give the young guys a chance. This was a noble, though sad, decision. It's time the Cubs ask Soriano to do the same — and pay him out, cut their losses.

Rizzo is currently hitting .353 with 16 homers in the minors. The guy is too good for AAA. Is he good enough for the MLB? Maybe not. But he'll never get acclimated to this level if he isn't given a legitimate chance. The big difference between the Cubs/Rizzo situation and last season's Padres/Rizzo one is that the Padres were in relative contention and, in effect, asked Rizzo to produce immediately. With the Cubs, he has the luxury of knowing he is not the savior. This team is built to win in 3+ years, not now, so the pressure to be great would not be there.

Suddenly, we have a dramatically different defensive setup: Bryan LaHair moves to LF (Soriano out), Castro to CF (Campana back to the bench), David DeJesus in RF (warming up the spot for young Brett Jackson in 2013). Rizzo at 1B, Darwin Barney at 2B, Ian Stewart at 3B, and here's where the third major change comes in.

Find a young shortstop. How? I don't know that answer. Draft? Maybe (the Cubs are currently slated for one heck of a draft pick). Trade? This might work. Certain organizations who want to contend this season (see: Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, et al) might be willing to part with a young prospect at shortstop in exchange for a Matt Garza or a Ryan Dempster. As much as the Cubs wouldn't want to let either of these guys go, keep in mind: build for the future. If you lose an extra 10 games this season for the benefit of the next 10 seasons? Well worth it.

Lastly, the Cubs need to address their bullpen. Pitchers Jeff Samardzija, Paul Maholm, and Travis Wood are a good 2, 4, 5 combination for a starting rotation and either Dempster or Garza can fill one of the missing slots, so the starters will be fine. The 'pen, however, is not nearly as pretty. With Carlos Marmol's fear of bats and Wood retiring, there is a lack of experience back there. This is the portion of the team that can be developed most slowly and handled — if the team gets close to contention by next year — through free agency. I don't want to sound like I'm glossing over a major hole in the Cubs' roster, but I want to make it clear that a bullpen should not be prioritized over youngsters with all-star potential who will be playing every day (Castro, Jackson, Rizzo, etc.).

Obviously, the Cubs can't make enough rapid changes to become an immediate powerhouse, but with minor tweaks such as these (all wholly realistic), they could put themselves into contention as early as 2013. The NL Central is not the strongest division in baseball, and we've seen wild card teams prove again and again that just getting hot at the right time can make all the difference in the world between an early vacation and the World Series.

If the Cubs want to truly rebuild, then they need to do so in a way that builds camaraderie and trust among their current youth. The above ideas accomplish that.

Here's to hoping Epstein and Jed Hoyer see similar pathways to success and that the Cubs fanbase can enjoy a World Series before another four generations pass.

Posted by Louie Centanni at 2:56 PM | Comments (1)

May 30, 2012

The 95th Giro d'Italia

Competitive cycling has three Grand Tours: the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España. The Giro is first on the calendar, and last weekend concluded the 95th edition of the race, which began in 1909, but was suspended for the first and second World Wars. It was in many ways a historic race, and I'll highlight that below, but let's begin with a summary of this year's Giro.

Stage 1

The 95th Giro was scheduled to begin in Washington, DC, but logistic issues moved it instead to Denmark, where the first three stages were held. Stage 1 featured individual time trials, which is unfortunate, because one-at-a-time sucks a lot of the drama out of racing. It's not a great way to pull in new or casual fans. The early lead was held by 24-year-old Lithuanian Ramūnas Navardauskas, of the Garmin-Barracuda team. Several of the last few cyclists finally surpassed him, pushing Navardauskas to sixth, with the win going to 21-year-old American Taylor Phinney, the son of former cyclists Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter-Phinney.

Competing in just his second Grand Tour, and never having finished one, Phinney captured the individual time trial and the maglia rosa of the race leader, making him one of only three U.S. cyclists ever to don the pink jersey. Second place went to Geraint Thomas, of Great Britain's Team Sky.

Stage 3

After a crash at the end of Stage 2 derailed several riders, the sprint finish at the end of Stage 3 created even more chaos. With the racers setting up in the final straightaway, Roberto Ferrari of the Androni Giocattoli team swerved to his right. He collided with Stage 2 winner and Stage 3 favorite Mark Cavendish, who toppled to the street and took a dozen other riders with him, including Phinney. It was initially reported that Phinney, who crossed the finish line in an ambulance, would be forced to drop out of the race, but he took advantage of the early rest day before Stage 4 and remained in the competition.

Ferrari was penalized, but he remained in the race, later winning Stage 11. He was strongly chastised by many riders and race observers, including Cavendish, who tweeted that Ferrari should be "ashamed to take out Pink, Red & World Champ jerseys" and noted that he himself had been removed from races for less serious offenses. U.S. announcers Steve Schlanger and Todd Gogulski joked that when the cyclists took two planes to Italy on the rest day before Stage Four, 197 of them went in one plane, and Ferrari in the other.

Stage 4

Phinney finally lost the pink jersey in Stage 4, the team time trial. After a mechanical issue in Stage 2 dropped him to the back of the peloton, his team helped Phinney back to the front of the race, only to see him caught in the crash. Following the more serious crash in Stage 3, during the team time trial Phinney went off into the grass and had to pull a chunk of earth out of his back wheel. By this time, he had also been struck by a car, whose right side view mirror brushed him during an earlier stage. Phinney finished the Giro, but on the final day of the race, another individual time trial, the motorcyle leading him went off-course. If there's any justice in the world, Phinney has used about a year's worth of bad luck in three weeks, and has a friendlier future to look forward to.

The biggest story in the team time trial was a surprisingly strong run by Katyusha, riding for General Classification hopeful Joaquim Rodriguez, but the stage was won by Garmin-Barracuda, putting Navardauskas into the maglia rosa and five of his teammates into the top 10.

Stages 7-10

The early stages featured little serious climbing, but a medium mountain stage on the sixth day of racing dropped Navardauskas out of the lead. The following day, however, his team recaptured the maglia rosa with General Classification leader Ryder Hesjedal, a 6th-place finisher in the 2010 Tour de France. Hesjedal held the race lead for three days, losing it to Rodriguez when the Spanish cyclist pulled away at the end of Stage 10 to capture both the stage and the maglia rosa. At this point, Hesjedal and Rodriguez, well-positioned from their team time trials, were favorites to win the Giro d'Italia.

Stages 14-15

Leading into the Giro's second and final rest day, the race featured its first two serious mountain stages, with the race leaders truly establishing themselves. Among the notable withdrawals in these stages was RadioShack-Nissan's Fränk Schleck, the national champion of Luxembourg and an expected contender in the General Classification. Hesjedal attacked at the end of Stage 14 and recaptured the maglia rosa, but lost it right back to Rodriguez in an epic Stage 15, one of two defining stages of the 2012 Giro.

Featuring four categorized climbs, Stage 15 saw an early two-man breakaway less than 20 kilometers into the 169-km stage. The two men in the breakaway, Guillaume Bonnafond and Matteo Rabottini, eventually established a lead of about nine minutes. When the lead fell to eight minutes at the foot of the first major climb, Rabottini left Bonnafond and continued to hold the race lead without any assistance.

Rabottini's lead gradually shrank as the GC riders made up ground, and he even crashed on a descent, but it appeared that his improbable lead would stick, with Rabottini capturing a mountain stage win at the Giro after riding solo for most of the day. He slowed considerably in the final kilometers, though, and with just 400 meters remaining, he was passed by Joaquim Rodriguez, who had broken away from the main group. When Rodriguez caught him, though, Rabottini found new strength, staying on Rodriguez's wheel and using a furious sprint to pass the Spaniard on an inside corner and capture the Stage.

It's hard to communicate in print how dramatic and inspiring Rabottini's win was to behold.

Stages 16-19

After the peloton seemed to take a collective rest in Stage 16, the following three days further established that there seemed to be only four serious contenders for the General Classification: Rodriguez, Hesjedal, defending champion Michele Scarponi of the Italian Lampre team, and fellow Italian Ivan Basso of Liquigas-Cannondale, himself a two-time Giro champion. The only other riders within four minutes of the race lead were Team Sky's Rigoberto Urán, wearing the white jersey of the best young rider, Beñat Intxausti of Movistar, and Colnago's Domenico Pozzovivo.

The Astana team lost two GC contenders in Stage 17, when both Roman Kreuziger and Stage 7 winner Paolo Tiralongo were dropped in the mountains. Kreuziger recovered to win Stage 19, but never rejoined the top 10 overall. Hesjedal finished second in Stage 19, cutting Rodriguez's lead to :17 and establishing himself as the strong favorite, since he is a much stronger time trialist than Scarponi, Basso, and especially Rodriguez.

Stage 20

The brutal Stage 19 was followed by an equally brutal queen stage, featuring the highest altitude of the race. Stage 20 included climbs of the famous Passo del Mortirolo and Passo dello Stelvio. With Garmin-Barracuda's Hesjedal now a strong favorite to win the Giro, the other teams focused on him, allowing a breakaway featuring top-10 GC riders Thomas De Gendt and Damiano Cunego to establish a significant lead late in the race.

On the Stelvio, Hesjedal finally acknowledged the possibility that De Gendt, also a fine time trialist, could surpass him in the General Classification and win the race. Pushing the pace and without anyone else to take pulls at the front, Hesjedal dropped Basso and most of the other contenders, leading a trio with Rodriguez and Scarponi to the front. De Gendt, of the Vacansoleil team, won the stage, finishing almost a minute ahead of Cunego and more than three minutes ahead of Rodriguez, who passed Scarponi and Hesjedal in the final kilometer. Rodriguez retained the pink jersey, but with Hesjedal only :31 behind going into the individual time trial, it seemed unlikely he would capture the GC.

Stage 21, Final Stage

After three grueling weeks, the 95th Giro d'Italia wrapped up with a 28.2-km individual time trial. The stage was won by Italian national champion Marco Pinotti, with Geraint Thomas again finishing second. More importantly, De Gendt and Hesjedal both finished in the top 10, putting the Canadian in the maglia rosa and the Belgian De Gendt on the podium. Scarponi finished :53 behind De Gendt in the time trial and :26 back overall, placing fourth and marking the first time since 1995 that no Italians stood on the final podium of their national race. Basso finished fifth, and Scarponi's teammate Cunego ranked sixth, giving the host nation three of the top six but no one in the top three.

Hesjedal's victory made him the first Canadian ever to win a Grand Tour, and only the third non-Italian to win the Giro in the last 16 years, following 2010 and 2011 wins by Basso and Scarponi, respectively. It was also the first time since 1984 that the maglia rosa changed hands on the final day of the race.

Rodriguez, second in the GC, did pass British sprinter Mark Cavendish in the Points Classification, while Rabottini, the Stage 15 winner, easily won the King of the Mountains classification, and Team Sky's Rigoberto Uran was the best Young Rider, finishing 7th in the GC.

Points classification

1. Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP), Katyusha, 139 pts
2. Mark Cavendish (GBR), Team Sky, 138
3. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN), Garmin-Barracuda, 113

King of the Mountains

1. Matteo Rabottini (ITA), Farnese Vini, 84 pts
2. Stefano Pirazzi (ITA), Colnago, 44
3. Andrey Amador (CRC), Movistar, 43

Young Riders

1. Rigoberto Urán (COL), Team Sky, 91:44:59
2. Sergio Henao (COL), Team Sky, 91:46:52 (+ 1:53)
3. Gianluca Brambilla (ITA), Colnago, 91:53:22 (+ 8:23)

General Classification

1. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN), Garmin-Barracuda, 91:39:02
2. Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP), Katyusha, 91:39:18 (+ :16)
3. Thomas De Gendt (BEL), Vacansoleil, 91:40:41 (+ 1:39)
4. Michele Scarponi (ITA), Lampre, 91:41:07 (+ 2:05)
5. Ivan Basso (ITA), Liquigas-Cannondale, 91:42:46 (+ 3:44)
6. Damiano Cunego (ITA), Lampre, 91:43:42 (+ 4:40)
7. Rigoberto Urán (COL), Team Sky, 91:44:59 (+ 5:57)
8. Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA), Colnago, 91:45:30 (+ 6:28)
9. Sergio Henao (COL), Team Sky, 91:46:52 (+ 7:50)
10. Mikel Nieve (ESP), Euskaltel, 91:47:10 (+ 8:08)

Other Thoughts

I love races. I write mostly about football, but my greatest love in sports is racing. I was an all-conference hurdler and relay runner in high school, so of course I love track and field, but this isn't just about reliving my glory days as a sprinter. I quit the swim team when I was 8, and I think horse racing is barbaric, but two of my all-time favorite events were the 2007 Belmont Stakes and Men's 4x100 Meter Freestyle Relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics. My favorite event at the Winter Games is cross-country skiing. Yes, it is. I love races.

That extends to cycling. This was my first time watching the Giro d'Italia, and while some stages were more exciting than others, it was definitely a positive experience, and one I'd recommend to anyone else who enjoys races. NBC's Universal Sports carried the Giro, for which I'm immensely thankful, and largely did a very good job. The picture was choppy sometimes, but that's to be expected when you're broadcasting from Denmark and the Italian Alps. The announcers, Schlanger and Gogulski, were pleasant to listen to, and informative without being esoteric.

There are several areas, however, in which the U.S. television broadcast could be immensely improved:

1) Replays. Most of the broadcasts picked up more than halfway through the stage. That's fine — it's probably best that I don't spend six hours a day for three weeks watching most of the riders in a group with little real separation. But when a serious crash occurs during that first half of the stage, especially a crash that causes riders to withdraw from the race, viewers should get a chance to see what happened.

2) Breakaways getting caught. When the peloton or a chase group catches someone who had been up ahead in a breakaway, that's interesting. During one stage, I practically jumped off the couch when the camera cut away from such a scene to show ... the back of the peloton. That's like a baseball broadcast cutting from the play itself to show the manager sitting in the dugout scratching himself. Please, don't do that.

3) More attention to more riders. I'm not sure I heard De Gendt's name mentioned until Stage 20, when he moved into fourth place and a likely spot on the final podium. Beñat Intxausti was in the GC's top seven from Stages 8-18, and it sometimes seemed like the announcers were going out of their way not to talk about him. I understand that, because "Intxausti" is a tricky name, but if NFL announcers can handle "Houshmandzadeh" then Schlanger and Gogulski can figure out Intxausti.

With so much attention paid to Hesjedal, Rodriguez, Scarponi, Basso, Kreuziger, Cavendish, and even Schleck, there was very little attention given to other riders except when they were in a small breakaway. I was shocked when it became apparent, during Stage 20, that this guy I hadn't heard of had a legitimate chance of winning the Giro d'Italia. That's a serious mis-step from the U.S. broadcast team. At the very least, top-10 riders should be highlighted at some level.

4) Show the standings. Speaking of which, my biggest disappointment was that I had to go online to find standings. The announcers often neglected to mention who finished second or third in a stage, and I don't feel like a graphic with that information is unreasonable to expect in 2012. Expanded GC standings would be nice, too, especially in the later stages.

Don't get me wrong, I think Universal Sports largely did a great job with a tough event, but I'm not asking for the moon and stars here. Show a few replays, don't cut away from something interesting, don't focus quite so much on the perceived top contenders, and at the end of each stage, take a moment to show the results from the stage and the current GC standings. Those are all pretty do-able, and they'll enhance the experience for viewers.

The Tour de France begins June 30. See you then.

Posted by Brad Oremland at 3:08 PM | Comments (1)

NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 12

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson — One week after winning the All-Star Race, Johnson saw a top-five finish in the Coca-Cola 600 slip away after he drug his gas man down pit road. The subsequent stop-and-go penalty left him with an 11th-place finish.

"Usually," Johnson said, "when someone gets taken for a ride, it's NASCAR rules officials, and Chad Knaus is driving. This time, though, it was my fueler. And people thought I was 'tanking' in the All-Star Race."

2. Denny Hamlin — Hamlin finished second at Charlotte, posting his second runner-up result in the last three races. He is up one spot to third in the Sprint Cup point standings, 16 behind Greg Biffle.

"There was no catching Kasey Kahne," Hamlin said. "He took off like a bat out of hell. At least that's what Red Bull Racing said when Kahne's obligations with them were up.

"Now he's in the No. 5 car at Hendrick Motorsports. I expect him to be there a long time. Only a fool would give up that ride. And I know fools. In fact, I work with one."

3. Greg Biffle — Biffle led 204 of 400 laps in the Coca-Cola 600, but slowed late as track conditions cooled and Kasey Kahne took over the race. Biffle still finished fourth, his seventh top-five of the year, and remained atop the point standings with a 10-point lead over Matt Kenseth.

"I've held the lead in the point standings for months," Biffle said. "Now,my supporters and my detractors are saying the same thing: 'Biffle's not going anywhere.'

"We were unstoppable in the early stages. Then, like Carl Edwards in last year's Chase, we couldn't get the job done in 'prime time.'"

4. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. — Earnhardt finished a solid sixth at Charlotte, earning his ninth top-10 result of the year. He is now fourth in the point standings, 18 behind points leader Greg Biffle.

"My winless streak has reached 141 races," Earnhardt said. "That means it's been almost four years since I've tasted champagne. Junior Nation fans are so loyal, they're still impressed with my performance, despite my lack of wins. They're amazed than anyone can go that long without alcohol.

"Regardless, I'm still the sport's most popular driver. That makes me NASCAR's 'Mr. Congeniality.' And, here at Hendrick Motorsports, home of 10 championships and 201 victories, most of which aren't mine, well, that makes me 'Mr. Congratulatory.'"

5. Matt Kenseth — Kenseth finished 10th at Charlotte, joining Roush Fenway teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards, who finished fourth and ninth, respectively, in the top 10. Kenseth remained second in the point standings, only 10 behind Biffle.

"I finished 10th," Kenseth said, "yet I was a lap down. I've been called a 'non-factor' before, usually in physical confrontations with other drivers, but this takes the cake."

6. Kasey Kahne — Kahne won his third Coca-Cola 600, taking charge late and besting his closest pursuers easily to grasp his first win for Hendrick Motorsports. With top-nine finishes in his last six points races, Kahne is arguably the hottest driver in NASCAR.

"That one win was a long-time coming," Kahne said. "Mighty Kasey finally struck.

"The No. 5 team is hot now, with a win to go along with six consecutive top-10 finishes. I think it will behoove people at Hendrick to be a little more specific when they say 'It's 5-time.'"

7. Kyle Busch — Busch stayed hot with a third-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600, and has now finished no worse than fourth in his last four points races. He improved one place to eighth in the Sprint Cup point standings, where he trails Greg Biffle by 62.

"You can talk about the 'old' Kyle Busch and the 'new' Kyle Busch," Busch said. "But really, what's changed? Competitors are still irritated by my driving — they just don't want to punch me for it. I think marriage has calmed me. I think it could do the same for my brother Kurt — if he had 12 wives.

"But a lot of people have noticed a difference, for the better, in me. Some of my rivals like to call it 'chump change.'"

8. Martin Truex, Jr. — Truex finished one lap down, in 12th place, at Charlotte, as handling issues exacerbated by changing track conditions spelled trouble. He dropped one spot in the point standings to sixth, 49 out of first.

"This was the fastest 600 in history," Truex said. "And that can't be good for television ratings, because it was the 'least-watched' race in history.

"But it's off to my favorite track, Dover, which is music to my ears, much like the sweet, soothing voice of Michael Waltrip."

9. Kevin Harvick — Harvick finished eighth in the Coca-Cola 600, scoring his sixth top-10 result of the year and second in a row. He is now seventh in the point standings, 55 out of first.

"We're by no means where we want to be," Harvick said, "but that's two-straight top-10 results. Slowly, but surely, we're getting there. Even my wife DeLana keeps insisting, 'Baby steps, Kevin. Baby steps.'"

10. Tony Stewart — Stewart was knocked off the lead lap when he collided with Brad Keselowski on pit road midway through Sunday's race. Stewart eventually finished 25th, three laps down.

"I'm in the pits," Stewart said, "and the next thing I know, I'm pointed in the wrong direction. Keselowski had an explanation for it, all right — it's called the 'Polish Pit Stop.'

"But I'm not one to point fingers, unless they're balled into a fist and hurled in the direction of an enemy."

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2012

Will the Real Youth Please Stand Up?

If you still had any questions on whether it was the energy of youth or the experience of age that counted the most, this French Open should be more than enough to settle the issue. Many statistics show now that since the turn of the century, the average age of winners, finalists, and semifinalists in the Slams has consistently climbed up. But this French Open puts the exclamation mark on that statement.

Several articles have been written about how teenagers no longer win Slams in the 2000s like they were in the '80s and '90s. Maria Sharapova on the women's side in 2006 (U.S. Open), and Rafael Nadal on the men's side in 2005 (French Open) were the last teenage winners of Slam, both at the age of 19. I have written myself about the trend back during the 2010 U.S. Open.

Nevertheless, I wonder if any tournament has slapped reality in the face of the tennis world like this French Open has already in the first few days of the event regarding the dominance of aged players in both draws. There should be absolutely no doubt about it in anyone's mind at the end of the first round matches on the evening of May 29, 2012.

Let's look at the grim reality for the teenagers: in the men's draw, can you guess how many teenager players went past the first round in the men's draw? One! His name is Bernard Tomic, one of the few biggest "young" stars of the ATP Tour — yes, you guessed it, the other "few young stars" are already 20 years or older. Tomic is 19-years-old.

It gets even grimmer. How many teenagers were in the main draw when it was announced? One! Yes, Tomic was the only teenager to enter the French Open main draw. But wait, folks, we are not finished yet…

Just in case you were surprised that only one teenager made the main draw, trying to find more of them in the ATP rankings yields even more shocking results. Tomic is indeed, and get ready for this, the only teenager in the top 100! As a matter of fact, you would have to go all the way to the American 19-year-old player Denis Kudla ranked No. 179 before you can find a teenager in the ATP rankings.

Is this just a teenager problematic? Or are young players simply being outclassed by the older players more than ever before? Before I announce my verdict, here is an interesting comparison of numbers: in the second round of French Open Men's Draw, including Tomic, there are only 12 players left under the age of 25. To put that last number in perspective, there are more players aged 30 years or above in the French Open Men's draw after the first round than players aged below 25.

The average age of the 64 men still competing in the men's draw at the end of the first round is a very high 26.8! My verdict: no, this is not only a teenager problem. Age and experience rule, youth and enthusiasm are left behind.

Furthermore, numbers sing the same sad song for the teenagers in the women's draw, where one would usually see more teenagers than in the men's draw.

Traditionally, the women's tennis players have always been successful at a much younger age than their male counterparts. Teenagers have often been in the last weekend of tennis tournaments, and before Sharapova in 2006, there were several teenagers who made their marks in the '80s, '90s, and 2000s, such as Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Teenagers were once again better represented on the women's side then the men's side when the main draw was announced: there were eight of them. However, that number is already much less than what one would have seen in the not-so-distant past — there were 16 of them 10 years ago in the 2002 French Open women's draw.

After the first round, fewer teenagers remain in this year's French Open women's draw than in the semifinal lineups of several Slams during the previous 30 years. Lauren Davis and Sloane Stephens, both Americans and each 19 years of age, are the only two teenagers to survive the first round of play at Roland Garros. On the other hand, there are seven players in the draw aged 30 or above, and the number of players aged 25 or above is higher than the number of players aged below 25.

The average age of the women in the main draw is an astonishing 24.9! I do not have the age statistics for every year, but I am wondering if the average age of the women's draw at the end of the first round has ever been this close to 25 in any Slam.

If none of these numbers left you bewildered, consider this simple yet astonishing fact: there are only three teenagers left at the end of first round in both the women's and the men's draw combined!

Many theories can be put forth to explain this trend such as the top players remaining longer on top of their games, or players simply being in better condition and having access to better equipment with advanced technology, thus being able to remain fit for longer periods of time.

In any case, it is time to reconsider the age benchmarks for certain terms and expressions in tennis that all of us use every now and then, such as "young and upcoming," "too old to win titles," and "on the downside of his/her career."

Posted by Mert Ertunga at 3:24 PM | Comments (8)

Ilya Kovalchuk's Redemption Tale

What a difference a year makes.

At this time last year, the New Jersey Devils were an afterthought and one of the major talking point about the Devils' season was Ilya Kovalchuk. Kovalchuk and his new 15-year contract didn't do much to endear themselves to the New Jersey faithful that season, as Kovalchuk's awful start (9 goals in the first three months of play) made him the subject of much mockery.

For Devils fans, it was "what did we get ourselves into?" For critics, the targets were all too easy — stereotypes like "lazy Russian player" and "greedy free agent" came out despite Kovalchuk's good second half. The barbs were many and they were tipped with plenty of venom. Ironically, Los Angeles Kings fans made plenty of comments about how they dodged that bullet, since Kovalchuk danced with signing in LA.

If you needed examples of players who tailed off in their late 20s, the NHL record books offer plenty. 2010-11's 31 goals and 60 points certainly weren't bad, but they weren't good enough for a 15-year contract.

Fast-forward to today. The Devils are gearing up to face the Kings for the Stanley Cup, and look who's on top of the scoring race — Ilya Kovalchuk. And it's not just a hot playoff run either; Kovalchuk returned to form this year with a healthy 83 points in 77 games. For the first half of the season, many New Jersey fans lobbied that Kovalchuk could be an early Hart Trophy candidate, and at the end of it all, there's no denying his impact on the team.

So what happened? Did he flip a switch and turn off the "lazy Russian player" and "greedy free agent" modes? Or did he have very ill-timed bad year?

Kovalchuk's first half of the 2010-11 season was a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg conundrum. The Devils were unbelievably bad under new head coach John MacLean, but they also dealt with their share of major injuries. During that time, whether it was bad luck or lack of linemates due to injury or just a transition period under MacLean. (Kovalchuk claims a big part of it was that his family being away from him for that first New Jersey season.) Of course, there was a transition period under incoming coach Jacques Lemaire, and many expected Lemaire's defensive system to be Kovalchuk's doom.

Instead, the reverse happened. Lemaire turned the Devils around, putting together a stirring run. More importantly, he turned Kovalchuk's game around while instilling a new defensive responsibility in the star player. Lemaire noted that he had a good relationship with Kovalchuk and that Kovalchuk was always willing to learn.

Today, while no one will nominate Kovalchuk for the Selke Trophy anytime soon, there's no doubt that he's a more complete player. His natural talents — his shoot, speed, and ability to hit a one-timer — are still as prominent as ever. However, Kovalchuk is now fully buying into a team concept. And while that 15-year contract may still look a little bit on the absurd side, it's easier to swallow all around.

Perhaps the biggest lesson learned from Ilya Kovalchuk's season is one of redemption. As sports fans, we're quick to judge based on the now — not the past and not the untapped future. Call it maturity, adjustment, or coaching, but Kovalchuk was able to show that a big contract and a bad year aren't necessarily the beginning of the end for a star player. We've seen examples before of finesse players transforming their game to become winners (Mike Modano, Steve Yzerman), but there have been those players that have failed to adapt (Alexei Kovalev).

In the case of Kovalchuk, it's a reminder that change is possible. Kovalchuk comes with the worst of stereotypes, from the notion that Russian players are selfish to the idea that players take it easy following large contracts. He had plenty of excuses to fall back on, and yet he put together a season and an evolved style of play that bucked all of that. If Kovalchuk can do that, then maybe there's hope for the other so-called enigmas out there.

Posted by Mike Chen at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2012

The Main Event

Let's be honest. This year's NBA playoffs haven't been anything special. While the game often slows down and scoring drops once the second season starts, this year has had a litany of ugly rock-fights played in the '70s. This is especially the case in the East, where the Sixers and Celtics played the most unwatchable, non-compelling seven-game series I can ever remember. The fact that the sputtering Celtics are now just four wins from the grandest stage speaks volumes about the level of play on that side of the league.

For at least four games, we will have a reprieve from the subpar basketball that has blighted May when the Spurs and Thunder play for the Western Conference crown and, probably, the de facto NBA title.

After the first day of the playoffs, when Derrick Rose was lost for the Bulls, the Thunder and Spurs appeared to be the two hottest teams with the least glaring weaknesses. With each bit of bad news about Chris Bosh's abdominal injury, the superiority of San Antonio and Oklahoma City versus the two remaining Eastern Conference teams is clarified further.

The last time it was this clear that the two best teams remaining in the playoffs were in the same conference was 2002, when the Lakers faced the Kings in a seven-game classic that is remembered as much for the crooked officiating in Game 6 as for a supremely dramatic Game 7 or a Robert Horry buzzer-beating three-pointer in Game 4. The Lakers went on to sweep the Nets in the Finals.

The Spurs are the favorite, and look nearly unbeatable over a seven-game series. San Antonio has not lost a single game since falling to the Lakers on April 11. More remarkably, several of the games late in the regular season came with one of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker resting. Since the middle of March, the Spurs have gone 30-2.

If those numbers don't strike you, consider this: Manu Ginobili missed 10 of the Spurs' 16 losses with various injuries, mostly in January and February. If he was healthy and San Antonio had won eight of those 10 games (totally realistic considering its current run), the Spurs would have finished with a higher winning percentage than the 1996 Bulls.

What makes San Antonio's fantastic run almost unbelievable is the style they are playing. Before these playoffs, the casual fan probably still had the image of the great defense, good-enough offense, and great rebounding Spurs. The fantastic rebounding is still there, but the Spurs now have an offense that is fast, perimeter-oriented, and features some of the most beautiful passing you're likely to ever see on a basketball court. The Spurs have several three-point threats, and every player knows his role by heart. Defensively, the Spurs ranked 10th during the regular season in defensive efficiency, still solid, but a bit removed from their previous identity. In the playoffs, San Antonio is second among all teams in that category. In Game 1 against Oklahoma City, the Spurs had some lapses early, but made big stop after big stop in the fourth quarter to overtake the Thunder.

I don't think enough as been made about the season Parker has had. While he finished fifth in MVP voting, one could make the argument that only LeBron James and Kevin Durant were more important to their teams in the regular season, especially as Ginobili missed over 30 games and Duncan was often relegated to limited minutes. Parker's scoring was not a career-high, but his assists were, and it's clear that the offense runs through him. The Frenchman's defense doesn't get talked about in the same esteem as his offensive game, but he was stellar on that end of the floor against the Clippers and Chris Paul.

So where does that leave the Thunder at the beginning of the late spring's biggest series? If we're to continue the comparisons from the most recent generation, are the Thunder more like the 1996 Magic, or the 2006 Heat? The answer probably lies somewhere in between, as it still seems unlikely that the Spurs will sweep the Thunder.

Like San Antonio, Oklahoma City has been an offensive juggernaut in the playoffs and through the regular season. However, the Thunder look more vulnerable through this point in the playoffs, and have played many more close games than the Spurs. It's a testament to Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden that Oklahoma City has persevered in every close game except for Game 3 in Los Angeles, but the Thunder haven't shown the ability to regularly blowout teams like the Spurs. At this stage last year, Oklahoma City couldn't close the deal or hold leads late against a Dallas team that had much less experience at the top than San Antonio's nucleus.

For the last couple years, there's been a year-ahead-of-schedule vibe about the Thunder. In 2010, they weren't supposed to be competitive with the eventual champion Lakers. Last year, they weren't supposed to get to the Conference Finals. This year, the NBA Finals would be the next step in the linear progression for Oklahoma City. But, San Antonio has shown that it can be outstanding in transition defense in the playoffs, which would possibly take out Oklahoma City's single biggest strength.

Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith have consistently made excellent points throughout the playoffs on TNT (we don't need to discuss Shaq's contributions or lack thereof), but none have stuck with me as much as what they said after Game 1 of the Spurs-Clippers series. In that game, the Spurs completely emasculated the pick-and-roll game of LA, leading Barkley and Smith to comment on how Gregg Popovich is one of the greats at identifying a team's strength and eliminating it. With his best team ever, it's hard to see the Thunder's massive talent and youthful exuberance overcoming the Spurs' wisdom.

On Sunday, the Spurs played the first three quarters about as poorly as any three quarters they had in the playoffs to this point. San Antonio had 14 first-half turnovers and Duncan and Parker were struggling from the floor. Then, the Spurs went into attack mode on offense, found open three-point shooters like Stephen Jackson and Gary Neal, and delivered precision passes to Duncan cutting to the basket. In a few possessions, you knew the Spurs had taken control of the game and weren't letting go. Oklahoma City is the second best team in the NBA, but it's going to take a Herculean effort to topple the Spurs.

For some reason, the Spurs still don't seem to be getting their total due as the league's best, and possibly a historically great team. If San Antonio is to pull off another dominating series win, the evidence may be too hard to overlook.

Posted by Ross Lancaster at 4:42 PM | Comments (0)

From Players to Owners: Now Gwynn Wants a Shot

It's a little too soon to say for sure, but Nolan Ryan may have started something. His fellow Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn seems to have a hankering to become a baseball owner. Gwynn is reported to be teaming with film producer Thomas Tull in a bid to buy the San Diego Padres, for whom Gwynn played his entire major league career.

This may come as a slight shock to some fans today, but Ryan and Gwynn aren't exactly unprecedented for becoming players-turned-owners. Some did better as owners than as players, depending on your point of view about "better"; at least one did better as a pitcher than as an owner when all was said and done:

Charlie Comiskey — A .264-hitting first baseman who scored 994 runs in his major league career, Comiskey is sometimes credited as the first man to play his position behind the base inside the foul line. Comiskey eventually became a player-manager and shepherded the move of the St. Paul Saints to Chicago and membership in the American League in 1900. The Old Roman then became the renamed White Sox's owner from the league's inception until his death in 1931. He won five American League pennants and two World Series, but he's remembered only too much the best for the penuriousness which helped inspire the plot to throw the 1919 World Series.

Connie Mack — Former major league catcher. Became the owner/manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. Presided over two legendary A's dynasties before retiring as manager in 1950; he remains the only major league manager ever to win consecutive World Series on two separate occasions. (He was also the last major league manager, along with Brooklyn's Burt Shotton, to manage his team wearing a suit and tie instead of the team uniform, though Shotton sometimes wore a Dodger jacket instead of his suit jacket.)

Famous as a manager for repositioning his fielders by way of signaling with his lineup card, the Tall Tactician became the team's co-owner with Ben Shibe, after buying out two other partners in 1913, becoming the sole owner in 1937, following the deaths of Shibe and his two sons. He sold the A's in 1954 when he was near bankruptcy (Mack's sole income had always been baseball and the A's), and new owner Arnold Johnson moved the team to Kansas City — all but promptly making it a virtual finishing team for the Yankees, especially since Johnson was beholden to Yankee co-owner Del Webb for getting to buy the A's in the first place.

Clark Griffith — A better than serviceable major league pitcher. (He once led the National League with a 1.88 ERA; he was a seven-time 20-game winner, albeit in a time when winning thirty wasn't unheard-of.) The Old Fox eventually became the owner of the Washington Senators, winning three pennants and an unlikely World Series (in 1924). He may even have thought about integrating major league baseball in the 1940s, his attitudes about race being broken down little by little by way of his shepherding of the legendary Homestead Grays toward playing their home games in Griffith Stadium when the Senators were on the road.

Branch Rickey — Once a major league catcher (three seasons), and manager (the St. Louis Browns), Rickey actually became a partial owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers (after years of making his reputation running the St. Louis Cardinals and pioneering the farm system) in the 1940s. Until he was bought out by Walter O'Malley in 1950, the Mahatma finished the rebuilding of both Ebbets Field and the Dodger system and, of course, smashed the color line by signing Jackie Robinson. (He also had his ways of keeping Dodger salaries down when it suited him, of course.)

After his Brooklyn buyout, Rickey moved on to become the general manager of the moribund Pittsburgh Pirates, where some of his actions were controversial enough (including and especially his undermining of their lone drawing card, Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner), but others planted several of the seeds that would sprout the Pirates' 1960 World Series winner. He returned to the Cardinals as a consultant until his death; his behind-the-scenes machinations may or may not have helped compel manager Johnny Keane to plan his resignation after the 1964 season while accepting a backchannel offer from the Yankees to replace incumbent Yogi Berra, whom they planned to dump no matter how 1964 ended up.

(It ended up with Keane's Cardinals playing Berra's Yankees in a thriller of a World Series, the Cardinals winning in seven, and with both managers out the day after, Berra being executed and Keane shocking Cardinal owner Gussie Busch with his resignation … at the press conference where Busch planned to announce Keane's rehiring!)

Ryan, of course, emerged the winner in the bankruptcy auction of the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have been to back-to-back World Series (they haven't won one yet) since the Express took the helm. Should they win a World Series under his helmsmanship, Ryan would become the first man in major league history to win a World Series ring as a player (he pitched for the 1969 Miracle Mets, of course) and as an owner.

Of course, becoming a baseball owner doesn't exactly come without its hazards. When Roger Kahn, author of The Boys of Summer, decided to dip into the ownership waters by buying a big piece of the Utica Blue Sox (about which Kahn wrote Good Enough to Dream), he dropped the news to Carl Furillo, the great Brooklyn right fielder (nicknamed the Reading Rifle in honour of a strong throwing arm) with whom he struck a friendship while writing the book.

"You? An owner?" Furillo cracked. "You'll be lucky if you don't have two ulcers by Opening Day."

Posted by Jeff Kallman at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2012

Foul Territory: Metta World Miscellany

* Stan, Bye, You're (Not the) Man, or Howard's End — The Orlando Magic fired coach Stan Van Gundy and parted ways with general manager Otis Smith. It appears that not only does Dwight Howard pull muscles, he pulls strings and plugs, as well.

* Men and Juice, or to Roger Clemens, This Struck a Nerve, Which is a Lot Like Hitting a Vein — A man testified Monday that he saw Roger Clemens at a 1998 party hosted by Jose Canseco, a party Clemens denied attending. Jurors were shown a picture of then 11-year-old Alexander Lowry next to Clemens at the party. Asked what an 11-year-old was doing at the party, Lowry reportedly replied that, like a syringe loaded with a banned substance, he was an "injection of youth."

* "Bow" to the Masses — Gamers will be able to "Tebow" in EA Sports NFL Madden 13 video game, which will be released on August 28th. It's yet another dimension of reality for the iconic game, for players with little real football talent will be able to "Tebow," just like in the NFL.

* He Would Have Had No Problem Filling Those Shoes, or Bad Move and Bad Movie — Shaquille O'Neal decided not to pursue the Orlando Magic's general manager opening. It was a potential hiring that was destined to fail: the last time Shaq was paired with magic, the world got Kazaam.

* Fu' Fighter — Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita said he did not participate in the Saints bounty program. The NFL suspended Fujita three games for contributing "a significant amount" of money towards a bounty pool, an allegation he says is not true. On the Fujita scale, the former Saint said he'd give Roger Goodell an "FU."

* He Almost Became a New York "Islander," or Anything But a Law-Abiding Citizen, or Got Jah! — New York Jets defensive tackle Kenrick Ellis will serve 45 days in jail as part of a plea agreement on assault charges. Ellis, who was born in Jamaica, is not a United States citizen and could have faced deportation if convicted of felony assault. Ellis said he has no intentions of "Tebowing" while incarcerated.

* He's Only Lost a Step on the Field, or Floor General — Green Bay's Donald Driver was crowned winner of Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday. Driver likened the victory to winning the Super Bowl, while everyone else likened Driver's comparison to the Hyper Bowl. Driver received a number of congratulatory text messages, while his partner, Peta Murgatroyd, received only one, from Brett Favre.

* Call it "Metta-phorically" Speaking, or Go on With Your Bad Self, or Thunder Clap — The Thunder closed out the Lakers in Oklahoma City on Monday night, winning 106-90 to take the series 4-1. Despite losing, L.A.'s Metta World Peace said the Lakers were the better team. OKC's James Harden pointed out that World Peace's elbow accomplished something the Lakers couldn't — seven games.

* Court Fester, or Suit Yourself — The NFL Players Association filed a lawsuit against the NFL, claiming the league colluded with owners to establish a secret salary cap in 2010. It will likely be the first time the term "Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Game" will be used in court. In response to the union's allegation, the NFL called "B.S.," which must be the initials of their legal counsel.

* Close, But No Cigar, or He Hesitated to Say He'd Like to "Make it a Habit" — Tiger Woods said he's close to regularly contending on the PGA Tour. It's likely the first time Woods has been called a "regular" on the Tour by anyone other than his numerous mistresses.

* I'll Show You Mine Once You Show Me Yours — Roger Goodell said he expects evidence in the Saints bounty cases will be made public once all player appeals and lawsuits have been heard or settled. At the current rate of litigation, that should be sometime in the next decade.

* Hall Pass, or Five For Citing — Rusty Wallace headlined the group of five selected to enter NASCAR's Hall of Fame, joining Leonard Wood, Herb Thomas, Cotton Owens, and Buck Baker. Wallace's former teammate Ryan Newman eagerly volunteered to induct Wallace, saying he's always wanted to "bust" Wallace.

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 3:54 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2012

Worst Golf Partners

We're always so focused on the pros that we forget ourselves very quickly. Their victories, defeats, trials and tribulations are far more important than our own. But why should they be? After all, we have a much harder time of it, what with being partnered up with some of the worst partners in history.

Every club has its elitists, and though golf isn't quite the exclusive game it once was, it still has its fair share of mild eccentrics. So I thought, why not point them out? We can't name and shame, but we can at least shame.

Running Late Guy

There's always one isn't there? You have your tee off time sorted, you tell everyone a week in advance, and remind them the day before, but five minutes before you're due to tee off your phone rings – "Hey, I'm running a little late, setting off now, be there in 10." But of course, it's soon 15 or 20. And it's not a one-off. It's every week.

On the Phone Guy

You're about to take a putt to finally make par on the seventh, when your partner's phone rings. Having a phone switched on is against club policy, but "it's just advice, not a rule'" or so he says anyway. He then proceeds to chat for a couple of minutes, before you throw him a dirty look and he's like, "Sorry, bro, on the course at the moment, talk later." Later is apparently when he's spending five minutes getting ready to tee off on the ninth.

Club Thrower

I have to come clean — this one's me. Or it certainly used to be. But it annoys everyone else. You muck up the fairways with dirty great holes, or else spend longer picking up your club than you do playing a shot. And your partner is having a rubbish time while you're having a temper tantrum. Not cool guys, not cool.

Guy With the Buggy

"My knees are just a bit off today, they twinged a bit when I got out of bed this morning." Sure they did, you big lump of lard, sitting there like the king. You just fancied a sit down you lazy so and so.

Guy With the Caddy

Seriously? Golf is fairly expensive to play nowadays, with green fees going up and club membership fees rising too. But you think it'll reflect well on yourself to flaunt your money by hiring a caddy from the club? It doesn't. You just look like a prat with money. And no, if you've got your grandson or nephew to caddy for you for free, that's even worse.

Two Off the Tee

"Whoa, that one went way right. I think I'll just try that one again" or "I topped that one a bit, I can hit a good forty yards further, I'll just take another" are this guy's favorite phrases. Doesn't matter if their shot was twice as good as yours, it wasn't good enough for them, so they'll have another try. They wouldn't ever take three, though — that would going too far.

100 Practice Swings

Okay, so it's not always 100, but if you're an adult, and not a total beginner, if you take more than about three practice swings, you're in grave danger of annoying your partner. If you are a regular offender, all I can say is I hope you're a great conversationalist.

"Remember My Hole-in-One" Guy

We all know a guy like this. It's not necessarily a hole-in-one story, but it'll be some story from the glory days when they won the club championships back in '79, or when they sank an albatross (or double eagle) on the tricky 14th, after landing in a bunker from the tee shot. They just keep going on with that same dead story. But the reason it annoys everyone else so much, is because we don't have a story like it yet.

"Helpful" Guy

Whether you ask for help or not, this guy is always on hand to fix your perfectly acceptable swing. All he succeeds in doing is annoying you, putting you off your game, and quite possibly ruining your swing.

"Haven't Played in a While" Guy

This should really be in a part one and part two. Both of them say they haven't played in a while, and both say, "I'm just a bit rusty." One will go on to have a brilliant round, beating everyone by miles, because you all agreed to give him a low handicap. The other remains "rusty" for the next three years, and frankly needs to spend a little less time watching the Masters, and a little longer on the driving range.

Compliments Guy

"What a shot! You're getting better by the hole!" This guy's permanently chipper attitude is the annoying thing here. He compliments all of your shots, no matter how poor they were. "Unlucky" and "poor shot, man" are not in his vocabulary.

"Put a Twenty on it!" Guy

You're having a perfectly nice day; everything's going fine, nothing out of the ordinary. You could be having a great round, or a not so great one, but this guy will always see an opportunity to start betting on the next hole; the whole round; the back nine; the next drive; the last putt; anything that you can possibly bet on. It doesn't matter how many times you've said no in the past, the words "why don't we make this interesting" will never cease to roll from his tongue.

I am sure I've not covered everything, so if you can think of any more annoying golf partners, be sure to leave a comment.

Posted by Angus Saul at 3:18 PM | Comments (1)

May 23, 2012

The Newest Game Changer

When you first heard it, it didn't sound right. It was surprising.

The SEC, fresh off of prying two programs away from the Big 12, goes back to the scorned conference and makes a deal that sent ripples across the college football nation.

On paper, it seems simple. The SEC and Big 12 agreed to have their champions meet in a bowl game should they fail to be the four teams selected in the soon-to-be official playoff system. If the conference champion was in the playoff, the next highest squad would be chosen. That didn't seem entirely a huge deal. In fact, take the top four teams in 2011 into discussion (Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma State and Stanford) and the Cotton Bowl was the exact game between the next highest SEC squad, Arkansas, and Big 12 squad, Kansas State.

This agreement, though, means much more. First, the SEC and Big 12 called out the remaining four (while I can say it) AQ schools and one-upped them all. Second, it became more than evident that the Big 12, who was inches away from the athletic graveyard, has landed solidly on its feet.

It became obvious, that, with the never-ending demand by the Pac-12 and Big Ten to keep the Rose Bowl traditions alive, the two conferences were very lukewarm towards the playoff system. They had a bowl game that still had the mystique, the parades, the pomp and circumstance that demanded national attention. And, given the dominance of the SEC in recent years, one couldn't totally blame the two conferences for clinging to a piece of football lore that was uniquely theirs.

But, for the old school, Rose Bowl tradition of the Pac-12 and Big Ten, the SEC and Big 12 introduced the new school way of things. Having been the two top conferences in the short history of the BCS, they would create a new legacy by duplicating the Rose Bowl standard, but putting cities on alert: the bowl game was up for bidding. So, while the Rose Bowl sticks to what it does, New Orleans, Dallas, and Atlanta stockpile war chests, ready to play the biggest college football bidding game yet.

The edge, for now, goes to New Orleans, given the history of the Sugar Bowl with the SEC and the fact the Big 12 champion headed to the Fiesta Bowl, which now is geographically a bad scenario for both conferences. However, given the way Paul Hoolahan and company have run the Sugar Bowl over the last couple of years, it would be no surprise if the far more shrewd Jerry Jones made the Cotton Bowl Classic in Cowboys Stadium the site of the big showdown, thus adding facilities into the old school/new school debate.

Meanwhile, while the Big East remains struggling and gasping for breath (as you read this, Boise State has still yet to officially withdraw from the Mountain West), the news of this game was a punch in the stomach to the ACC. The hoops-crazed league bet on the wrong sport financially and now, face a troubling future of being left behind by the other four conferences (let's face it, no one considers the Big East that big at the moment). While it seemed at first that Florida State's earlier vent at the ACC for being too Carolina and basketball centric was just a small tale of sour grapes, now it seems as if the Seminoles were steps ahead of their conference brethren. The powers that be in Tallahassee have to really take a step back and tread carefully to see where their best future lies (and don't think Miami and Virginia Tech aren't doing the same).

The rise of the Big 12 is amazing, and Chuck Neinas deserves some praise for an incredible job in lifting the conference from the depths of despair. The potential suitor list to join the once embattled league is growing, much to the delight of Neinas and everyone at the Longhorn Network. Along with Florida State, one can't ever count out BYU as a potential member as well. The Cougars, who went independent only because rival Utah joined the Pac-12 without them, bring a large fan base and their own TV network, which of course is no problem with the Big 12.

Now that college football is becoming more centered around four conferences, BYU has to strike now or face a challenging road ahead. So does Notre Dame, whose stubborn refusal to join a conference in football cost the Big East dearly. The Irish could be left behind if they don't act soon and find a conference for its football program. Meanwhile, West Virginia is breathing massive sighs of relief from their fortunes. Those same sighs can be heard in Ames, Iowa, Lawrence and Manhattan, Kansas and Waco, Texas.

It was just an announcement of a bowl game. Yet, in this never-ending maze of realignment in college athletics, it was a day that could possibly live in football infamy.

Posted by Jean Neuberger at 1:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2012

Don't Blame Contact Sports

Earlier this month, I wrote about Junior Seau and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), arguing that organizations like the NFL need to do more to protect players from concussions and other head trauma. But I also believe that the dangers of contact sports are often over-stated, especially in the non-sports media. Conversely, the dangers of non-contact sports are routinely under-stated.

For instance, most people consider cycling to be vanilla and safe. But in Stage 3 of last year's Giro d'Italia, Belgium's Wouter Weylandt died following a downhill crash. The day before Stage 3 of this year's Giro, the mayor of Horsens, Denmark, had a fatal heart attack during a bicycle race to celebrate the Giro's visit to his town. In Stage 3 itself, with the cyclists sprinting toward the finish at close to 40 miles per hour, a reckless move by Roberto Ferrari caused a huge crash that knocked Stage 2 winner Mark Cavendish to the street, where he was run over by another rider and toppled a dozen others, including race leader Taylor Phinney.

This year's Giro has seen a significant crash almost every time there's been a sprint finish. These guys are traveling upwards of 30 miles an hour and all they have for protection is a bike helmet. Basically, it's the equivalent of a medium-speed motorcycle crash. That's happened four times in this year's race. U.S. announcer Todd Gogulski said during Stage 7, "It's part of the game of being a professional cyclist, is getting injured."

What about something like downhill skiing? I know some fans have trouble with the distinction between contact sports like football, where collisions are deliberately part of the sport, and racing, where crashes only happen when something goes wrong. But something always goes wrong. It's ridiculous to pretend we can hold major cycling, skiing, and auto races without crashes. They are an inevitable by-product of competition. And when collisions occur in those sports, they are far more dangerous than a tackle in a football game or a punch in a boxing ring.

The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research uses the term catastrophic injury to distinguish life-threatening or permanently life-altering injuries, such as paralysis. NCCSI's data includes both direct injuries (like Weylandt's fatal crash at last year's Giro) and indirect injuries (like the mayor's heart attack, a systemic failure as a result of exertion, at this year's).

Contact sports get a reputation as dangerous because we can see the violence; high-speed collisions and blows to the head are a fundamental part of the sport. That's true. But it's only part of the story. Looking at all levels of competition (not just the NFL), at least one fatality occurs in football almost every year. But the majority of these are indirect, and have little or nothing to do with getting hit. During the past ten years there have been 29 heat stroke deaths in football. That's a huge problem, but it's not because these guys are getting tackled. From the standpoint of permanent injury and death, contact may be the least dangerous aspect of the sport. And while direct injuries are more common in contact sports, the accidental injuries in other sports are usually far more dangerous. To argue that contact sports are uniquely dangerous is simply false.

Strange as it may sound, the most dangerous sport in the U.S. is probably competitive cheerleading. Cheerleaders make up about 3% of all female high school athletes in the United States, but account for approximately 65% of their catastrophic injuries. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that cheerleading leads to about 25,000 emergency room visits annually. In the last 20 years, at least 18 college and high school cheerleaders have died in competition. Figures from the NCAA's insurance program suggest that a cheerleader is roughly eight times as likely to suffer major injury as a college football player.

CPSC data shows that of the 25,966 cheerleading emergency room visits in 2006, over 20% of them involved head, neck, or facial injuries — including 1,070 concussions, 75 head or neck fractures, and 1,157 internal injuries. Cheerleading is not a contact sport, but accidents happen. Name a sport you think of as safe, and there are counter-examples to show it can be dangerous. How about high school girls' basketball? Over the last 30 years, NCCSI has recorded 16 fatalities, all indirect. Track and field? In 2010, a high school athlete was hit in the face by a discus, and two college pole vaulters died when they landed or bounced out of the pit area. In 2009, two high school cross-country runners died from heart and heat problems.

The numbers above are from NCCSI's 2010 report, which frankly is terrifying. Most athletes never suffer a catastrophic injury, but there's no such thing as a "safe" sport. Baseball? Head-first slides, beanings, and balls hit at the pitcher can cause head and neck injuries. Soccer? NCCSI reports, "Since 1998 there have been at least seven deaths and another 1,800 kids treated in emergency rooms because of injuries from movable soccer goals." There is also growing concern about concussions in soccer, mostly from head-to-head contact with other players or participants striking their heads on the ground or goalposts. Gymnastics? Many of the same risks as cheerleading.

I'm not trying to pretend that contact sports like football, ice hockey, boxing, and MMA can't be dangerous. Of course they can. CTE should be a serious concern for anyone involved in those sports, and this is a condition linked with limited neurological capacity, significant personality changes, and major depression. There's a lot of progress that still needs to be made in addressing head trauma and brain damage in these sports. But arguing that these activities should be banned doesn't make sense. Ultimately, modern contact sports aren't much more dangerous than non-contact sports.

Many of the most serious catastrophic injuries are indirect, things like heart failure, heat stroke, and seizure. Those aren't unique to football, or to any contact sport. Devastating accidents can happen in any event, and just because they're accidents doesn't mean they aren't part of the sport. Ultimately, the only way to guarantee no one gets hurt is not to do anything athletic, and we can all die from obesity-related problems when we turn 30.

Contact sports can be dangerous, but we need to make them safer, not get rid of them. That applies to everything we do.

Posted by Brad Oremland at 11:51 AM | Comments (5)

May 21, 2012

Back to the Future, Texas-Style

Let's take a moment to think back to 1999 — you know, assuming you existed back then. It was a strange time. Bruce Willis was starring in a movie with people who didn't know they were dead yet, the End Times were only months away, and in an NBA season cut dramatically by a lockout, the San Antonio Spurs played at a level far above their competition.

Which is all to say, it was exactly like 2012.

You see, the 2012 Spurs weren't supposed to be this good. After being upset despite the Western Conference's top seed in last year's postseason, 2012 was going to finally, at long last, no-really-this-time-we're serious, be the end of the Tim Duncan/Greg Popovich era. If you keep betting against black, you eventually have to be right.

Instead, 2012 has turned out to be a year of rejuvenation for the Spurs. The league's smartest organization was brave enough to acknowledge the limitations the shortened and compressed season would pose to its aged nucleus. Defense and low-possession counts are a young man's game. In contrast to their dominant title-winning 1999 team (104 points per offensive possession, 95 points allowed per defensive possession), this year's Spurs have relied on offensive efficiency (111 points per offensive possession, 103 points allowed per defensive possession).

Beyond re-crafting their identity, the Spurs stole an (alleged) tactic from their perennially lottery doomed league-mates: they tanked.

On a handful of nights this season, such as April 9 at Utah, the Spurs chose not to play their older stars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. It is a strategy that any battlefield general would endorse: sacrifice the insignificant battle to win the war. But in a league and culture where retreat and sacrifice are loathed, it was a bold decision. Coaches often speak of limiting minutes to key players at the business end of a back-to-back, but not even bringing them along in the first place? Unheard of.

And that is exactly how the Spurs have done it all these years, by embracing what would otherwise seem illogical. San Antonio starts Danny Green, an unheralded swingman out of North Carolina who couldn't scratch Mike Brown's rotation in Cleveland. Gregg Popovich gives significant minutes to the troublesome-elsewhere Stephen Jackson and the left-for-dead Boris Diaw, a survivor of the 2012 Charlotte Bobcat-astrophe.

Great game theorists recognize a point of inflection in their contests where the outcome is swung either way. The Spurs have broken down basketball in this way, and this is precisely where they have cultivated championship-caliber basketball across three decades while the Heat, for example, are struggling to hold together for just a few years. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are redundant; while each is elite in a set of skills, those two sets overlap in several ways. San Antonio, by contrast, collects skills, even if the player only has one to offer. DeJuan Blair may be short, round, and have horrible knees, but he knows how to rebound. On a less established team, Kawhi Leonard would have to use his athleticism and energy to try to score 20 per game; as a Spur, he can use his hustle to disrupt opponents on the wing and constantly move on the offensive end.

Given their longevity, San Antonio's convenient comparable is Michael Jordan's Bulls, but the construction and philosophy of the two teams could not be more different. The Michael Jordan Bulls were a force of one player's will, performing best when a set of satellites fell into orbit in the gravity of a massive star. The Spurs are a different kind of celestial system, one where each body reacts to the pull of the others around him.

However, the nature of this longevity also explains why the Spurs' era has been marked by less sheer dominance. They are vulnerable to being overpowered, whether it be by early 2000s Shaq and Kobe or the "big ball" Memphis used last season. They weave an intricate web that can collapse if any strand is weakened.

Their probable coming showdown with Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals will be a testament to San Antonio's excellence. After all, the Thunder have been built by a Spurs front office alum in the model of his previous organization. And while many of the storylines approaching that series would focus on the old-vs.-young difference, the two teams have more in common than average age would suggest. Like San Antonio, Oklahoma City is a toolbox of implements, each capable of serving a precise need.

For all of the bombast that NBA stars like James and Dwight Howard have inserted into the NBA dialogue of the past several years, San Antonio is a great reminder that championship teams are built in pieces through careful decision-making, not bought and delivered in neat turnkey packages.

Posted by Corrie Trouw at 2:34 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2012

Foul Territory: Ranters, Ravers, and Slow Players

* Ironically, Vilma Found a Good Lawyer By Hiring a Headhunter — Suspended New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma filed a defamation lawsuit against Roger Goodell on Thursday, claiming the commissioner crippled Vilma's reputation and harmed his football earning potential. Vilma said if he can't play defense this year, then Goodell will have to.

* Na Na Na Boo Boo, Fore! Hours Too Long, or Na't Fast Enough — Kevin Na was heckled mercilessly for slow play at The Players Championship, and fell from first to seventh in the final round. Reportedly, Na's slow play so enraged Elin Nordegren, she attempted to assault him with a "long" iron.

* How Do You Get Fluid Out of the Ear of the UFC President? You "Tap" it Out — UFC president Dana White will have surgery to treat a recently diagnosed case of Ménière's disease, a condition characterized by elevated levels of inner ear fluid, which can affect balance and hearing. Following the surgery, White will stop wearing "Affliction" t-shirts.

* Booty Call, or What Has More Holes? Clemens' Story, or His Butt? — Brian McNamee testified he first gave Roger Clemens a shot of steroids in 1998, injecting an anabolic steroid into Clemens' right buttocks in Toronto when Clemens was a Blue Jay. It was the first of many injections administered by McNamee. McNamee said he also injected Clemens wife Debbie in the buttocks with human growth hormone, a claim that is sure to "buttress" the prosecution's arguments.

* Cavalier Aptitude — Cleveland's Kyrie Irving was named the NBA's rookie of the year on Tuesday, joining LeBron James as the only Cavaliers to win the award. For once in Cleveland, fans lauded "the decision."

* It's Not That Time of the Month, It's That Time of the Year, or Girl on Girl Action — The WNBA tipped off its 16th season on Friday as the Seattle Storm hosted the Los Angeles Sparks. If you didn't already know that, then you must be a basketball fan.

* Fat Chance — Donovan McNabb has dropped 20 pounds and is staying in shape in hopes that he'll play again in the NFL. Eagles head coach Andy Reid said he'd "highly recommend" teams give McNabb a shot. McNabb said he's got a lot left in the tank; he just hope he can keep it there and not "lose it" on the field.

* Busch Baby — NASCAR fined Kurt Busch $50,000 and placed him on probation until July 25th for his actions at Darlington last Saturday. Busch sped through Ryan Newman's pit stall and bumped Newman's car after the race, sparking a heated confrontation between crew members of the two teams. The oft-fined Busch unofficially became the driver to have experienced the most "G's."

* Man-ny Overboard, or Philli- Fanatic, or We All Thought Manny Understood the Sweet Science — Manny Pacquiao was banned from the Grove, a ritzy Los Angeles shopping mall, after stating that he feels homosexual men should be "put to death." Pacquiao's inflammatory statements accomplished the near-impossible — by making Floyd Mayweather seem more likable.

* For a Change, Someone's Paying Taylor For Something — Lawrence Taylor is auctioning off his Super Bowl XXV ring, and expects to make $100,000 from the sale. The ring is encrusted with 19 diamonds, as well as 20 years worth of cocaine residue.

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 1:36 PM | Comments (3)

May 17, 2012

The Rise and Fall of the WAC

In the continuing reshuffling of college football conferences, there's a certain natural order in place. The very top conferences (Big Ten, Pac-10, and SEC) can cannibalize any conference they wish (it's tempting to include the ACC in that, as well, but they haven't had much football luster since Florida State and Miami stopped contending for national titles, and FSU has considered leaving the ACC for the Big 12). Then the second tier (ACC, Big 12, Big East) picks apart each other, as well as the third tier (Conference USA, Mountain West), who go after each other, and the fourth tier (MAC, WAC, Sun Belt). The fourth tier schools then try to replenish with schools from Division 1-AA.

But there is one upset, one hitch, in the natural order, and that is the way the WAC has gone, in the last 30 years, from second tier to third to fourth to conference non grata and, in all likelihood, is not going to be a conference beyond 2013, or at very least not one that plays football at the Division 1-A level (I still refuse to use the fake marketing terms "FBS" and "FCS").

It wasn't always this way. The WAC of my youth was second to only the Pac-10 in Western football dominance, and a close second at that. You had the high-flying offense of Hawaii, Marshall Faulk and San Diego State, and always-competitive Air Force. And then, of course, was BYU, who was an elite football program throughout the '80s and even won a national championship in 1984.

It seems bizarre to consider it now, but the first nail in the WAC's conference probably was the result of being too aggressive in expansion. Once the Southwest Conference broke up and the Big West stopped sponsoring football, the WAC picked up the carrion, and grew to 16 teams in 1996.

While it would not surprise me to see a 16 (or more) team conference again, and soon, in 1996 it was radical and, as it turns out, unsustainable. Travel costs were enormous for a conference that stretched from Hawaii to Oklahoma, and the old guard of conference founders felt the conference as a whole was diluted.

So eight of the 16 schools (for all intents and purposes, the best eight) bolted to form their own conference, the Mountain West in 1999.

But the WAC wasn't done competing as a solid conference, far from it. What kept the WAC relevant was the emergence of Boise State.

I'm not sure that there is an equivalent tale in college sports to the meteoric and seemingly permanent rise of Boise State. The closest I can come is comparing them to Gonzaga in college basketball. Boise State didn't even compete in 1-AA until 1978, 16 years after the WAC was born.

In 1-AA, they were solid, and then moved to 1-A, first to the Big West and then the WAC. Since the advent of the BCS, a school from a non-BCS conference has only qualified for or been invited to a BCS Bowl five times, and three of those were WAC schools (twice with Boise, who won both their BCS Bowls, and Hawaii once). TCU nabbed the other two berths for the Mountain West. BYU has never made a BCS bowl. In this regard, the WAC has been even more successful than the Mountain West, the conference that is supposedly the heir apparent, in terms of quality, to the original WAC.

But Boise State left for the Mountain West, as well, last year (and soon will be headed to the Big East), and just about everyone else has left in the aftermath. Boise took Hawaii, Fresno State, and Nevada with them to the Mountain West. The WAC gamely tried to replace them, to maintain that natural order. They added Seattle, Denver, and Texas-Arlington as non-football schools, and also snagged Texas State from the Southland (1-AA) Conference, as well as Texas-San Antonio, who only recently started a football program. This would leave the WAC as a shell of its former self, but at least it would remain a viable football conference.

Three weeks ago, the bombs really started to drop on the WAC. They lost two more members to the Mountain West, San Jose State and Utah State. Louisiana Tech joined Conference USA. But perhaps most stunningly, the two schools that only just agreed to join also announced plans to leave — UTSA to Conference USA and Texas State to the Sun Belt Conference. Less than a month ago, a move from the WAC to the Sun Belt would have been considered a step down. Now it's merely a bid for survival. Even their commissioner, Karl Benson, left to take the same role in the Sun Belt Conference.

UTSA and Texas State will play exactly one year in the WAC before moving on to their new conferences, and then, despite new commissioner Jeff Hurd saying all the right things about "exploring every possible option" and keeping the WAC alive as a 1-A football conference, it is almost impossible to think anything other than next year is the last for WAC football.

The speed in which all of this went down is truly dizzying. Consider that on November 26th, 2010, less than 18 months ago, No. 3 ranked Boise State was playing No. 19 Nevada in a de facto WAC championship game between two national powers.

Now there are two WAC football-playing schools still in the conference with no announced plans to depart: Idaho and New Mexico State.

Idaho is an especially interesting case. As an Ohio State alum, I have enjoyed a dominance over my rival that only ended last year. Before that, I would sometimes troll Michigan fan sites and say the OSU/Michigan rivalry will never be competitive again, that Ohio State has left the Wolverines in the rearview mirror forever. As I say, I was trolling. I realize that rivalries have ebbs and flows for each team.

But Idaho and Boise State used to have a big rivalry, and it truly will never be the same again, at least not in any foreseeable future. They play (or rather, played, now that they are no longer in the same conference) for the Governor's Trophy. In 1998, Idaho beat Boise State 36-35 to take a 17-10 lead in the their all-time series with the Broncos. Idaho has not beaten them since, over 12 games, and now finds themselves so undesirable that they are (again, along with New Mexico State) the only school not able to extract itself from the ashes of the WAC. They are in talks with the Big Sky Conference, which carries the same geographical footprint of the old WAC, and if they make that move, it will be a drop down to Division 1-AA. Since the advent of 1-A and 1-AA, no school has ever dropped from the former to the latter. As of this writing, New Mexico State hasn't even been able to find that much of a home.

I've spent a lot of space in this column describing what has happened to the WAC. What I can't explain is why. The issues such as travel costs have not destroyed the other conferences operating over the vast expanse of the Western United States, so I cannot accept that as a primary reason for the WAC's demise. Whatever the reason, it is a sad and unfitting end to a once-great conference. The WAC is dead, long live the WAC.

Posted by Kevin Beane at 12:13 PM | Comments (3)

May 16, 2012

Baseball: The College Years

Graduation season is always interesting because it provides the perfect juncture of an over-romanticized vision of the past with an over-idealistic vision of the future. Everything that has happened has brought us to this glorious achievement, from which the possibilities are endless.

Of course those of us who've put a few years between those high-spirited days know different. Graduation day was nothing more than a change in scenery, and often it lead to the removal of a protective barrier from the "real world" to come.

The insular world of high school turns into either a life spent working crap jobs for people who went to college, or a Pandora's box of debauchery and much harder classes that will sharpen many and leave others by the wayside.

College leads to jobs. If you're lucky.

And then you realize you only have 40-50 years left until you can stop working. Again, if you're lucky.

But back to those days when you didn't know all that (and if you just found out, sorry). Remember back then? Remember all those possibilities?

In baseball, that's the end of spring training. Everybody is done with the games that don't really count (a great metaphor for high school), and it's time to get off into the "real world."

For those who follow the college path, freshman year is like the first six weeks of the baseball season. You can't win anything, but you can certainly screw yourself over pretty damn good.

From there through the All-Star Break is sophomore year. You're in the thick of things, but you're still working the gen eds and you're probably on your second or third major. Also, a lot of those people you hung out with all the time freshman year start to disappear.

Once you make past the All-Star Break, that's junior year. You've got a handle on things and the end seems closer than it actually is. Burnout can start to set in, and that's how you end up with an online learning industry based on people just needing 20 or so credits to complete their degree. This will only take approximately 15 more years to finish.

Then comes September and October, senior year, where the final preparations for the next stage of life are made. In college, you find out that all that work still doesn't mean that much when you can't land a decent job and have to move back into your parents' house. That's like winning 95 games and not making the playoffs.

But for those lucky ones who graduate and land that job and get into the really real word (the playoffs), well, still nothing is guaranteed. You could end up marrying a great person, having great kids and living happily ever after. Or you could end up getting fired, getting divorced, and working for idiots as you try to make your child support payments for the next 15 years.

(In case you're wondering, I'm doing great thanks largely to my incredible good fortune.)

(Knock on wood.)

So with the longest meandering introduction to a baseball article this side of Matthew Berry (Crikey!), here's how baseball's 30 clubs break down in the spectrum of higher education.

Never made it out of high school. Good chance of ending up in jail.

Minnesota Twins: Worst team in baseball and no real prospects for turning things around. Maybe we need to start talking about contracting them again. Worked the last time.

Graduated high school, but college was never really an option. Now working menial jobs while getting drunk with buddies every night.

Chicago Cubs: Not a good team, but developing.

Kansas City Royals: Like Chicago, except BBQ instead of pizza.

San Diego Padres: Fact — every fish taco stand needs a fish taco stand vendor.

Houston Astros: They're giving it a go and even took two of three from St. Louis, but there's no way it holds up.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Two more months 'till Steelers training camp!

Junior college dropouts.

Colorado Rockies: If they gave awards for fantasy baseball keepers secretly killing your team, Troy Tulowitzki would be an all-star, Gold Glover and top-five MVP candidate.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Kirk Gibson ANGRY!!!!!!!!

Oakland A's: There's always three years from now!

Disappeared after freshman year. (Flunked out, knocked up, bored, and broke. College life ain't for everybody.)

Cleveland Indians: The only starting pitchers with an ERA under 4 are Derek Lowe and Jeanmar Gomez. Anybody who thinks that's going to last has been drinking the bong water.

Boston Red Sox: With their current payroll, if the Sox play .500 ball for the rest of the season, they would end up at right about $22 million spent per win this season. That's a lot of fried chicken and beer.

Seattle Mariners: Two good starters, good closer, but nowhere near enough offense to hang for the long term.

Dropping out after sophomore year of college to be the next Bill Gates only to end up working at Best Buy.

Milwaukee Brewers: Nyjer Morgan is the equivalent of crazy chick you have a one-night stand with, then calls you 20 times per day and shows up at your dorm room and freaks out your roommates.

Kicked out for buying papers off TermPapers.com.

Los Angeles Angels: How many times are we going to see owners spend stupid money on pieces that don't fit together before they realize it doesn't work? But hey, at least they fired loyal employee Mickey Hatcher. That should fix things right up.

Florida Marlins: The Frankenstein of baseball teams.

Philadelphia Phillies: Last year was the year. It didn't happen, and now the walls are crumbling.

Chicago White Sox: If I gave you Barak Obama Electoral Votes (-80) over Adam Dunn strikeouts, would you take it?

Smoked so much pot they actually made it to junior year majoring in "Classics."

San Francisco Giants: When Tim Lincecum is your worst starting pitcher, you've got a pretty decent chance.

Baltimore Orioles: The young over-achieving teams rarely have enough depth to last the season. In a couple of years, though, Peter Angelos will have a pretty good team to destroy.

Toronto Blue Jays: And just like that, Jose Bautista became Jose Bautista again.

New York Mets: If you had to pick a team that best represents slightly-above-mediocrity in baseball, it would be these guys.

Cincinnati Reds: Scott Rolen is the zombie of baseball players. Somebody is actually going to have to shoot him in the head to make him stop playing.

Graduated with honors, but top out in middle management. Probably have an affair and buy a red sports car in the early 50s.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The fake boobs of baseball teams.

Atlanta Braves: If we're using baseball players to cast "The Avengers 2," Freddie Freeman is the "Hulk."

Graduated with a film degree, moved back in with folks, ends up winning multiple Oscars.

Washington Nationals: No team in any division is set up better for a half-decade of dominance like the Nats. They're just not there yet.

Detroit Tigers: I'd like them more if they got rid of the Mel Gibson of baseball players in Delmon Young.

Tampa Bay Rays: Just imagine how good they'll be when Matt Moore is half as good as he's supposed to be.

Graduated with a great job they didn't really earn.

NY Yankees: The Mitt Romney of baseball teams.

Future CEOs of America —Yahoo! edition.

St. Louis Cardinals: Talent everywhere, but every team needs the manager to pull the right strings at just the right time to keep things going. Mike Matheny has not yet shown that ability. That doesn't mean he won't, but he hasn't yet.

Future CEOs of America — Facebook edition.

Texas Rangers: Yu Darvish was a home run signing, and Josh Hamilton is a runaway AL MVP candidate right now. They're either winning the World Series or going down as one of the top 10-15 teams in history to not win it.

Posted by Joshua Duffy at 1:30 PM | Comments (1)

NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 11

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Matt Kenseth — Kenseth finished sixth at Darlington, posting his seventh top-10 of the year. He is second in the Sprint Cup point standings, and now trails leader Greg Biffle by 2 points.

"Once again," Kenseth said, "the cowardly actions of Kurt Busch have overshadowed an exciting and historic night at Darlington. Bojangles picked the right race to sponsor. They're a lot like Kurt Busch — they both specialize in 'chicken.'"

2. Greg Biffle — Biffle started on the pole at Darlington, and dominated the first third of the race before handling issues arose due to changing track conditions. He maintained the lead in the points position and leads Matt Kenseth by two.

"I've held the points lead for a long time," Biffle said. "And I plan on battling to keep it. Say what you will about me, but don't compare me to Kurt Busch, because I won't go down without a fight."

3. Denny Hamlin — Hamlin led 56 laps in the Southern 500, and sped by Tony Stewart on the final restart to claim the runner-up spot to Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin held on to fourth in the point standings and is 17 behind Greg Biffle.

"I had my fire suit signed by the great Cale Yarborough," Hamlin said. "Now I can say I'm just like Jimmie Johnson: I've got the name of a Sprint Cup champion on my suit."

4. Jimmie Johnson — Johnson led a race-high 134 laps in the Southern 500 and controlled the final third of the race. After speeding away on the final restart, Johnson had his first win of the season, as well as Hendrick Motorsports' 200th win.

"In addition to giving Rick Hendrick his 200th win," Johnson said, "I also broke a 16-race winless streak with the victory. That's called 'killing two birds with one stone.' This year, it seems I'm the only driver at Hendrick capable of 'throwing' a stone."

5. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. — Earnhardt finished 17th at Darlington, his first finish outside the top 10 in seven races. He remained third in the Sprint Cup point standings, 14 out of first.

"Congratulations to all at Hendrick Motorsports on their 200th win," Earnhardt said. "I can call myself part of a winning team for the first time in years."

6. Tony Stewart — Stewart battled back from clutch troubles to compete for the win at Darlington. But a subpar restart on the green-white-checkered finished relegated him to a solid third-place finish. He is seventh in the point standings, 42 out of first.

"Indeed," Stewart said, "we had serious clutch problems. That pales in comparison to the plight of Carl Edwards. He experienced 'clutch' problems in all 10 races of the Chase last year.

"I hear the teams of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch had to be separated after the race. If I were feuding with Busch, everyone knows the only things needing separation would be my hand and Kurt's face."

7. Martin Truex, Jr. — After struggling at Richmond and Talladega, Truex rebounded with a fifth in the Bojangles' Southern 500, posting his fourth top-five result of the year. He is tied for fifth in the point standings, 39 out of first.

"Michael Waltrip said Darlington Raceway is probably the most intimidating track on the NASCAR circuit," Truex said. "But hearing that said in Waltrip's silky, effeminate voice quelled my trepidations. Michael puts the 'lady' in 'Lady in Black.'

"'The Lady in Black' wasn't the only lady in Darlington. Danica Patrick was there. She's 'The Lady in Red,' after finishing six laps in the hole."

8. Kyle Busch — Busch recorded his third consecutive top-4 finish, posting a fourth at Darlington. After a slow start to the season, Busch is up to ninth in the point standings, where he trails Greg Biffle by 62.

"I may be the hottest driver in NASCAR right now," Busch said, "but I doubt anyone's aware of that. I know it seems impossible, but a Busch brother can do something quietly.

"My older and less-wiser brother Kurt was involved in a confrontation with Ryan Newman's team after Kurt spun his tires through Newman's pit stall. Newman attributed Kurt's actions to a 'chemical imbalance.' That's an astute observation. Kurt often loses his balance, often after being slapped in the face."

9. Carl Edwards — Edwards finished seventh in the Southern 500, earning his seventh top-10 result of the year. He is now 10th in the point standings, 74 out of first.

"Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are 1-2 in the point standings," Edwards said, "while good old Cousin Carl well behind in seventh. I guess that makes me a 'distant' cousin."

10. Kevin Harvick — Harvick was not a factor at Darlington, finishing 16th in the Bojangles' Southern 500. Harvick has only two top-10s in the last five races, and hasn't won since September of 2011.

"I don't know who's more 'due,'" Harvick said. "Me or my wife. I just know I bitch less about it.

"In any case, Darlington is one tough track. Not only is it hard to drive there, it's near impossible to get your hands on a Busch brother there, as well. Whether they finish the race or not, the Kyle and Kurt are always classified in the race results as 'running.'"

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2012

Best Running Back Seasons By Age

Running backs have the shortest careers of any position in the NFL. A great quarterback can play into his 40s. Most RBs, even the best of them, are washed up by the time they turn 30. Which running backs burned brightest early in their careers? Which were still powerhouses later on? What was the greatest season ever by a running back in his 30s? To answer those questions, I broke down the best seasons any running back has had in the modern era, dividing them by age as of Week 4 in that season.

Age 21

Barry Sanders, 1989
1,470 yards, 5.3 average, 14 TD

Everyone knew Barry Sanders was going to be a star, and he didn't disappoint. Early in the season, the Lions were careful with Sanders, as he only carried 44 times in the first four weeks. Afterwards, he averaged 20 attempts per game, topping 100 yards seven times and 150 yards twice. Later in his career, Sanders developed a reputation as someone who shouldn't be used in short-yardage situations, but as a rookie, he ranked second in the NFL in rushing TDs.

Honorable Mentions

Jim Brown, 1957
Jerome Bettis, 1993
Marshall Faulk, 1994
Edgerrin James, 1999
Clinton Portis, 2002

Most great young RBs are contemporary players familiar to young fans. It is more common now for players to leave college early, and it is more common for them to see a lot of playing time right away. This makes Jim Brown's rookie season all the more impressive. He led the NFL in rushing by over 20 yards per game and led the league in rushing TDs. That said, I'd give the second-place nod behind Sanders to Edgerrin James, who led the NFL with 1,553 rushing yards and joined Eric Dickerson as the only rookies in history with over 2,000 yards from scrimmage. His 17 TDs are also the most by a rookie RB other than Dickerson.

Age 22

Jim Brown, 1958
1,527 yards, 5.9 average, 17 TD

In a 12-game season, Brown rushed for almost twice as many yards as second-place Alan Ameche (791), averaged nearly 6 yards a carry, and tied the single-season touchdown record. Brown's 12-game totals are more impressive, across the board, than Barry Sanders was in 16 games at age 21, and that's not a slight against Sanders. This is arguably the greatest season by a running back of any age.

Honorable Mentions

Gale Sayers, 1965
Franco Harris, 1972
Barry Sanders, 1990
Edgerrin James, 2000
Clinton Portis, 2003

Running backs tend to peak early, so there are some great seasons that didn't even make the list of honorable mentions, including Ottis Anderson in 1979 (1,605 yds), Emmitt Smith in 1991 (1,563), Adrian Peterson as a rookie (single-game rushing record), and Ray Rice in 2009 (over 2,000 YFS, 5.3 avg). Looking at the five I chose, Sayers scored 22 TDs in 14 games. Harris led the Steelers to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and caught the Immaculate Reception. Sanders led the league in rushing and TDs. James rushed for over 1,700 yards. Portis had 1,500 and averaged 5.5 yards per carry.

Age 23

Walter Payton, 1977
1,852 yards, 5.5 average, 14 TD

Payton's season is marred by 11 fumbles (in 14 games!), but it's still one of the finest in history. Sweetness led the NFL in rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns (16), and rushing average, leading in rushing by almost 600 yards (Mark van Eeghen, 1273). Payton's 132.3 yards per game is the third-highest mark in history, better than Eric Dickerson's record-setting 1984 season.

Honorable Mentions

Hugh McElhenny, 1952
Jim Brown, 1959
Gale Sayers, 1966
Eric Dickerson, 1983
Emmitt Smith, 1992

McElhenny averaged 7 yards a carry and was an explosive receiver out of the backfield. Brown led the NFL in both rushing and TDs by huge amounts. This was Sayers' best season, with a career-high 1,231 rushing yards. Dickerson rushed for 1,808 yards, added 404 receiving, and scored 20 TDs. Smith led the league with 1,713 yards and 19 TDs. Several other outstanding seasons missed the cut.

Age 24

Chris Johnson, 2009
2,006 yards, 5.6 average, 14 TD

In the season that earned him the nickname CJ2K, Johnson rushed for over 100 yards in each of the final 11 games, over 130 in seven of them. He led the NFL in rushing by nearly 600 yards, with a superb average per carry, and scored 14 TDs despite losing goal-line carries to LenDale White. Johnson also caught 50 passes for over 500 yards and 2 more TDs. Johnson's 590-yard rushing lead (Steven Jackson, 1,416) was the most since O.J. Simpson in 1973.

Honorable Mentions

Lenny Moore, 1958
Eric Dickerson, 1984
Terrell Davis, 1997
LaDainian Tomlinson, 2003
Arian Foster, 2010

If I had to choose the single best age for RBs, it's probably 24. Moore averaged 7.3 yards per carry and scored 14 TDs. His 1,536 yards from scrimmage were far more than anyone else besides Jim Brown (see Age 22). Dickerson fumbled an astonishing 14 times, but he set a single-season rushing record that has stood for 30 years. Davis rushed for 1,750 yards and went on to have perhaps the greatest postseason of any RB in history. Tomlinson, stuck on a team that went 4-12, rushed for 1,645 yards, caught 100 passes, and scored 17 TDs. You remember Foster's season, right? 1,600 rushing, 600 receiving, 18 TDs?

Honorable Mentions, Part Two: Dan Towler, 1952; Jim Brown, 1960; Leroy Kelly, 1966; Earl Campbell, 1979; Jamal Lewis, 2003.

Age 25

Terrell Davis, 1998
2,008 yards, 5.1 average, 21 TD

This is still the only season in history in which a player rushed for 2,000 yards and scored 20 touchdowns. TD's 23 total touchdowns were then the third-highest total in history. He had 11 100-yard rushing games, with five over 150 and another at 149. In the playoffs, he rushed for 199 yards and 2 TDs, then 167 and another touchdown. In Super Bowl XXXII, Davis again rushed for over 100 yards, this time adding 50 yards as a receiver.

Honorable Mentions

Rick Casares, 1956
Earl Campbell, 1980
Marcus Allen, 1985
Thurman Thomas, 1991
Larry Johnson, 2005

Casares led the NFL in rushing by over 200 yards — 17 yards per game in a 12-game season — and led the league in TDs. Campbell rushed for 1,934 yards, including a record seven games with over 150 yards and four with over 200. Allen and Thomas were named NFL MVPs. Johnson, a backup to Priest Holmes for the first half of the season, nonetheless rushed for 1,750 yards and 20 TDs. In the final eight games, L.J. tallied 1,244 yards and 15 TDs. That's in half a season.

Age 26

O.J. Simpson, 1973
2,003 yards, 6.0 average, 12 TD

The first 2,000-yard season in history, this is still the record for rushing yards per game (143.1) — by quite a lot, 10 yards per game. This is also the NFL record for largest margin of difference between the leading rusher (Simpson) and second-leading rusher (John Brockington, 1,144) — 859 yards, or 61 per game. Simpson's 6.0 average is also among the best in history, 5th all-time for players with at least 150 attempts.

Honorable Mentions

Steve Van Buren, 1947
Leroy Kelly, 1968
Barry Sanders, 1994
Emmitt Smith, 1995
Marshall Faulk, 1999

This is another age at which the list is agonizing to trim. I could easily name 15 Honorable Mentions. Van Buren in 1947 became just the second NFL player to gain 1,000 rushing yards in a season, leading the league by over 300 rushing yards and 5 rushing TDs. In an era when offense was withering, Kelly was the NFL's only 1,000-yard rusher — with 1,239 — and his 20 TDs led the league by 6. Sanders rushed for 1,883 yards with a 5.7 average. Smith rushed for 1,773 and set the single-season TD record (25). Faulk had 1,381 yards rushing and 1,048 receiving.

Honorable Mentions, Part Two: Joe Perry, 1953; Frank Gifford, 1956; Jim Taylor, 1961; Thurman Thomas, 1992; Ahman Green, 2003

Age 27

Jim Brown, 1963
1,863 yards, 6.4 average, 12 TD

This may be the most remarkable season by any RB in history. For starters, it's the highest single-season rushing average (6.40). Brown led the NFL in rushing yardage by 845 yards, 83% (Jim Taylor, 1018). He also led the NFL in TDs (15) and became the first player in history with six 150-yard rushing games in a season. His average of 133.1 rushing yards per game is the second-best in history, trailing only O.J. in '73. Brown's combination of speed and power, evident every season of his nine-year career, was unparalleled. No other running back has so consistently dominated the league and stood out from his peers.

Honorable Mentions

Chet Mutryn, 1948
Joe Perry, 1954
Jim Taylor, 1962
Marshall Faulk, 2000
LaDainian Tomlinson, 2006

Playing for the Buffalo Bills of the AAFC, Mutryn was a standout runner (5.6 avg, 10 TD), receiver (794 yds, 5 TD), and returner (26.3 KR avg, 17.1 PR avg, TD). Perry became the first player in history with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, leading the league by almost 400 yards and averaging 6.1 yds/att. During Jim Brown's career, Taylor in '62 was the only player besides Brown himself to lead the NFL in rushing, netting 1,472 yards and 19 TDs in just 14 games. Faulk set a single-season TD record (26) and won NFL MVP. Tomlinson rushed for 1,815 yards, added 508 receiving, and set a TD record (31) that probably will never fall in a 16-game season.

Age 28

O.J. Simpson, 1975
1,817 yards, 5.5 average, 16 TD

I might argue that this was an even better season than his 2,000-yard campaign two years earlier. In 1973, Simpson rushed for 2,003 yards, but he only gained 70 receiving yards and scored 12 total TDs. In '75, the Juice had almost 200 fewer rushing yards, but he added 426 receiving yards and scored 23 TDs, the most ever in a 14-game season. Are 356 receiving yards and 11 TDs worth 186 rushing yards and a few points of average? It's at least close.

Honorable Mentions

Spec Sanders, 1947
Steve Van Buren, 1949
Marshall Faulk, 2001
Priest Holmes, 2002
Shaun Alexander, 2005

If you insist on an Honorable Mention between 1950-2000, consider Jim Brown in '64 and Roger Craig or Eric Dickerson in 1988. Sanders, a single-wing tailback for the AAFC's New York Yankees football team, rushed for 1,432 yards, by far the highest single-season total in a major pro league until Jim Brown. Sanders scored 18 rushing TDs and averaged 6.2 yards per attempt, the third-best average in history. Van Buren became the first NFL player to rush for 1,100 yards in a season, led the NFL in touchdowns, and set a postseason record with 196 yards in the NFL Championship Game.

Faulk gained 2,147 yards from scrimmage and led the NFL in touchdowns and rushing average. Despite missing the last two games of the season with an injury, Holmes led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,287) and TDs (24), while fumbling only once in 383 touches. Alexander led the league in rushing, broke the single-season TD record (28), and earned MVP honors.

Age 29

Barry Sanders, 1997
2,053 yards, 6.1 average, 11 TD

In his first two games, Sanders rushed for a combined 53 yards. He was over 100 in every game for the rest of the season, setting a record for most 100-yard rushing games (14) that has never been seriously challenged. His 14-game total of exactly 2,000 yards would be the second-best in history, just three behind O.J. Simpson's historic 1973 effort. Sanders' 6.1 rushing average is the highest ever by a player with at least 300 carries.

Honorable Mentions

Jim Taylor, 1964
Jim Brown, 1965
O.J. Simpson, 1976
Priest Holmes, 2003
Tiki Barber, 2004

For ages 23-28, it's heart-breaking to trim the list of Honorable Mentions, cutting really great years because they're just a little bit weaker than the others. There are still some sensational seasons among the five above. Brown in '65 scored 21 TDs, rushed for 80% more yards (1,544) than second-best Gale Sayers (867), and won NFL MVP. Holmes in '03 gained over 2,100 yards from scrimmage and set the single-season TD record (27). The other three seasons were great, but they don't stand out the same way.

Age 30

Tiki Barber, 2005
1,860 yards, 5.2 average, 9 TD

This is almost certainly the greatest season ever by a running back in his 30s. Barber's 1,860 yards rank as the best by almost 200 yards (Curtis Martin, 1,697), his 5.2 average is the best of anyone with at least 250 attempts, and that doesn't even include 54 catches for 530 yards and 2 TDs. Despite Barber's reputation for fumbling, he put the ball on the ground only once in 2005. Barber rushed for 200 yards three times, the only player to do so since Earl Campbell in 1980. In the final game of the regular season, with a playoff spot on the line, Barber gained 203 yards rushing and another 60 receiving in a 30-21 victory.

Honorable Mentions

Tony Canadeo, 1949
Marion Motley, 1950
Tom Matte, 1969
Walter Payton, 1984
Charlie Garner, 2002

Canadeo rushed for 1,052 yards in a 12-game season, only the third player to top 1,000 in the NFL. Motley led the NFL in rushing by over 100 yards, with a 5.8 average, and was the best blocking back in the league. Matte led the NFL in YFS and TDs. Payton rushed for 1,684 yards and added 368 as a receiver. Garner gained over 900 yards as both a rusher (962) and receiver (941), averaging 5.3 yds/att, catching 91 passes, scoring 11 TDs, and not fumbling all season. Lenny Moore (20 TDs) also had a very productive age 30 season.

Age 31

Tiki Barber, 2006
1,662 yards, 5.1 average, 5 TD

Man, is this a close call. Tiki had another great season — 2,127 yards from scrimmage, over five yards a carry, eight 100-yard games, plus 137 in a playoff loss to the Eagles. But was Barber in '06 really better than Walter Payton in 1985 and Curtis Martin in 2004? Um, maybe? Payton gained 2,034 YFS, averaged 4.8 yds/att, scored 11 TDs, and played on what is widely regarded as the greatest team of all time. Martin led the NFL in rushing (1,697) and scored 14 TDs. I give Barber a slight edge, but it's very, very close.

Honorable Mentions

Joe Perry, 1958
Walter Payton, 1985
Ricky Watters, 2000
Curtis Martin, 2004
Thomas Jones, 2009

Perry was third in the NFL in rushing yards, averaging 6.1 yards per carry on 125 attempts. Watters rushed for 1,242 yards (4.5 avg), caught 63 passes for 613 yards, and scored 9 TDs. Jones rushed for 1,402 yards and 14 TDs. Since I already discussed Payton and Martin above, let's also throw a little credit toward Tony Dorsett, who just missed the cut in several years and isn't listed at any age yet. As a 31-year-old in 1985, Dorsett rushed for over 1,300 yards and had perhaps his best season as a receiver, catching 46 passes for 449 yards and 3 TDs.

Age 32

Walter Payton, 1986
1,333 yards, 4.2 average, 8 TD

Payton just missed at 31, so this year he gets the benefit of the doubt over John Henry Johnson. In '86, his final season before giving way to Neal Anderson, Payton remained a workhorse and effective all-around player for the 14-2 Bears. Third in the NFL in rushing attempts, Payton also continued to contribute as a receiver (382 yds, 3 TD). I see Sweetness as the greatest RB at ages 23 and 32, almost a decade apart. His longevity and consistency separate Payton from other RBs who were just as good or almost as good in their primes.

Honorable Mentions

John Henry Johnson, 1962
Ottis Anderson, 1989
Herschel Walker, 1994
Mike Anderson, 2005
Ricky Williams, 2009

Johnson, as I mentioned above, is the strongest in this group. He gained the 2nd-most rushing yards in 1962, behind Jim Taylor but ahead of Jim Brown and Cookie Gilchrist. O.J. Anderson enjoyed a career renaissance, topping 1,000 yards for the first time since 1985 and scoring 14 TDs. No longer a featured ball-carrier, Walker re-invented himself as the premier third-down back in the NFL and one of the best kickoff returners (27.7 avg, TD). He had 500 yards rushing, receiving, and returning, with a 4.7 rushing average and 8 TDs. Mike Anderson rushed for 1,014 yards and scored 13 TDs. Ricky Williams, half a decade removed from his retirement during the 2004 season, rushed for 1,121 yards, with a 4.7 average, and scored 13 TDs.

Age 33

Marcus Allen, 1993
764 yards, 3.7 average, 12 TD

Okay, we're dropping quickly at this point. Most running backs, even the best of them, are retired at this point. In a strange quirk, though, 33 is actually a weaker age for top RB seasons than 34 is. In 1993, Allen finally escaped from Al Davis and was reborn as a short-yardage specialist in Kansas City. Paul Zimmerman wrote of Allen that "down around the goal line, a sixth sense kicked in and his instincts for the end zone became phenomenal. It was a unique talent." The early '90s were a dry period for running backs, and Allen this season ranked 15th in rushing yards, t-9th in rushing first downs, and led the league in rushing TDs. Not bad for an old man.

Honorable Mentions

John Henry Johnson, 1963
John Riggins, 1982
Franco Harris, 1983
Ottis Anderson, 1990
Warrick Dunn, 2008

Johnson ranked 4th in the NFL in rushing (773 yds). Riggins atoned for a disappointing regular season (3.1 avg, 3 TD) with a phenomenal postseason performance, maybe the best ever. Harris is the only 33-year-old ever to rush for 1,000 yards, and his 1,285 yards from scrimmage are the most ever by a 33-year-old RB. Anderson totaled 923 yards from scrimmage and scored 11 TDs, then went on to win the MVP Award of Super Bowl XXV. Dunn gained a combined 1,116 yards from scrimmage, and never fumbled in 233 touches.

Age 34

John Riggins, 1983
1,347 yards, 3.6 average, 24 TD

Riggins had an awful rushing average (3.6 yds/att) and contributed nothing as a receiver (5 rec, 29 yds), but he ranked 5th in rushing yardage and broke the single-season TD record, setting a mark that stood for over a decade. The Diesel also made another stellar postseason run, combining for 242 yards and 5 TDs in two playoff games, and scoring Washington's only touchdown in Super Bowl XVIII.

Honorable Mentions

Joe Perry, 1961
John Henry Johnson, 1964
Tony Dorsett, 1988
Marcus Allen, 1994
Earnest Byner, 1996

Perry, a lifelong 49er, moved to the Colts in 1961. Despite splitting time with Lenny Moore, he rushed for 675 yards and caught 34 passes for another 322. Johnson rushed for 1,048 yards, only the second season of his career in which he topped 1,000, with a 4.5 average and 8 TDs. Dorsett, starring for the Broncos in his final season, rushed for 703 yards with a 3.9 average. Yeah, I know that doesn't sound great. The guy was 34, give him a break. Allen caught 42 passes and gained a combined 1,058 yards. Byner, in the Ravens' inaugural season, rushed for 634 yards — his highest total since 1992 in Washington — and caught 30 passes for 270 yards.

Age 35

John Riggins, 1984
1,239 yards, 3.8 average, 14 TD

How was John Riggins so productive at an age when most RBs are not only washed up, but so washed up that they admit they can't play any more, and finally retire? It presumably wasn't the clean lifestyle of a man known for his eccentric personality and no-holds barred partying. So we attribute Riggins' success to a historic offensive line (The Hogs), a brilliant offensive coach (Joe Gibbs), the obvious (skill, perseverance, and luck — not necessarily in that order) ... and maybe a year off. Riggins sat out the 1980 season in a contract dispute, so he had less wear and tear — at least of a football nature — than most players that age, and he'd even had a year to recover.

Honorable Mentions

Marcus Allen, 1995
Emmitt Smith, 2004

I could name more than two Honorable Mentions. There are other running backs who played and contributed at this age. But to illustrate how minor those contributions were, consider that the 5th-leading 35-year-old rusher of all time was a quarterback, Joe Theismann. Actually, 36-year-old QBs Doug Flutie and Steve Young rate even higher. Aside from Riggins, the only RBs who really distinguished themselves at this age were Allen (1,040 YFS) and Smith (1,042 YFS, 9 TD). Allen and Riggins also had respectable age 36 seasons.

Below is a list of the best RB at each age included in the study.

Ages 23-28 are the clear heart of a running back's career.

Posted by Brad Oremland at 12:38 PM | Comments (3)

Hard Road Ahead For Top Seeds at French

Roland Garros begins in less than two weeks, and on the men's side, until a few months ago, any tennis enthusiast would have predicted that the winner of Roland Garros in 2012 would be either Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic — sorry, Roger Federer fans, but if you picked him, you were being partial.

It seemed highly unlikely that any player outside of the top two players the world could go through both of them and hold the winner's trophy at the end of the final day in Paris. Rafael Nadal, who would have been the only name to pick until Djokovic's amazing run since the beginning of 2011, seemed to be the favorite once again because … well … it's on clay, and it's Roland Garros!

Djokovic was also a legitimate favorite because he has been the best player in the world for over a year, including a seven-match winning streak against his top rival Nadal, that streak recently coming to an end three weeks ago in Monte-Carlo Masters Series tournament, where Nadal has not been beaten since his only loss there as a 16-year-old teenager against Guillermio Coria back in 2003.

But, as I said, that was a few months ago. Fast-forward to today, and it no longer seems so evident that Djokovic and Nadal are the only favorites to win the tournament.

That being said, let's be clear: Nadal is still the favorite to win once again, especially considering that he has rolled through competition in the only two tournaments played on "red" clay this year. If you have followed the "blue" clay charade of last week, you would know very well why I put the word "red" in quotation marks.

For those who did not follow, very briefly, the Masters Series tournament that took place last week in Madrid was played on blue clay, apparently Ion Tiriac's latest innovative idea. It fell barely short of being a complete debacle with multiple players complaining about the poor quality of the surface, and both Nadal and Djokovic threatening never to return again unless the tournament went back to traditional red clay next year. Just in case you wondered, neither of them made it to the semifinals.

Nevertheless, Nadal seems to be back on track now that his favorite time of the year has arrived: the clay court season culminating with Roland Garros. However, is he as much far ahead of everyone else in the field? If you compare his situation and the competition now to the several years past, unless you are an avid Rafa fan and are choosing willingly to deny it, the answer is clearly no. While anyone would have been shocked if Nadal lost in Paris every year since 2006 — and yes, we know the feeling from the Robin Soderling loss in 2009 — if he was not to win this year, it would not qualify as the biggest story of the tennis season so far.

Djokovic, for his part, has not looked as invincible in April and May as he did at this point last year. So far in 2012, he sits at 26 wins and 4 losses with two titles. While it seems like a redoubtable season by almost any standard, once taken into account where Djokovic was sitting at this time last year — undefeated and three wins over each of his two main rivals, Federer and Nadal — it pales in comparison. He has not faced Federer this year and he is 1-1 against Nadal, most recent one being a comfortable, straight-set win for Nadal in Monte-Carlo.

Perhaps this is why the Masters Series tournament in Rome, taking place as this article is being written, has become so important for both players. It is the last top quality event before the French Open, and each of them would be delighted to make an impression on the other by winning the tournament and mentally getting a step ahead of the other prior to Roland Garros. I don't believe it would be an exaggeration to say that the odd-makers would drastically be shifting positions on the title chances at Roland Garros depending on who wins in Rome, especially if the top two players end up playing each other in the finals.

Perhaps other players have also closed the gap between them and the top two players. In fact, Federer has just moved to the No. 2 ranking ahead of Nadal, although in terms of French Open discussion, Nadal is the king of Roland Garros. Nevertheless, it shows that the chances of having a winner other than the top two players in the world have recently increased. There is no denying that Federer is coming into Roland Garros with plenty of confidence and tournament wins under his belt, and the possibility of having both Djokovic and Nadal on the other side of the draw. Roland Garros was also where he played his best tennis in 2011, so why not in 2012? Who knows if it will be enough, but it is certainly worthy enough not to take him off the possible winner list.

There are certainly other players who could come out of nowhere to step up and take the title, but it is not the goal of this article to list possible dark horses for Roland Garros. Nonetheless, I can already hear the seemingly-all-erudite "not this year, buddy" comment coming my way, but I would have probably heard it also if I listened carefully in the years 2004 (unseeded Gaston Gaudio), 2002 (20th-seeded Albert Costa), 1997 (unseeded Gustavo Kuerten), 1989 (15th-seeded, 17-year-old Michael Chang), and 1982 (unseeded, 18-year-old Mats Wilander).

If this list is not enough, then consider the No. 1 players in the Open era who have never managed to lift the "Coupe des Mousquétaires" at the end of the two weeks: Pete Sampras, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick — okay, they are Americans, so they have an excuse — but also consider Marcelo Rios, Patrick Rafter, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, and John Newcombe.

It has been a nightmarish tournament to win not only for the No. 1 ranked players, but also the player entering the tournament as the top seed. Through the '70s and '80s, there were only three players, Jan Kodes, Bjorn Borg, and Ivan Lendl, who lived up to their top-seeded status; but two of them, Borg and Lendl, did it more than once (Borg five times!).

Things went from bad to worse for the top seeds beginning with the '90s. Since Lendl's last title in 1987, only three times has the top-seeded player managed to win Roland Garros: Jim Courier in 1992, Kuerten in 2001, and Nadal in 2011. That is only once in each decade! If tennis was a numbers game, Djokovic winning Roland Garros this year as the top-seeded player would have to be considered an extraordinary anomaly!

With Rome going on this week, and Roland Garros beginning next month, a lot is on the line for the top two players in the world, as well as several other players looking to prove that they are ready to join the elite group of top-ranked players; and nothing would make that a reality quicker than being crowned the winner, on the last Sunday of the tournament on the Court Philippe Chatrier.

Posted by Mert Ertunga at 11:58 AM | Comments (3)

May 14, 2012

Material Differences

They say that opposites attract. It supposedly rings true in life, love, and business. The same can be said throughout the world of basketball. We usually peer in at the "contrast in styles" between opponents. It could feature a uptempo squad versus a defensively staunch team, or jump shooting bombers against players built for the paint. But as the NBA's conference semifinals get underway, there is another stark difference in these series.

Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert took a pot shot at Miami earlier in the week, saying his team made the playoffs "the right way" when it comes to building a team. Among each of the eight remaining contenders, there has been at least one player that has made a difference via trade or free agency. However, the use of that philosophy is what provides the gap in each franchise's thought process.

San Antonio vs. L.A. Clippers

The Spurs are the probably the most unassuming champions in any professional sport over the last decade ... and they've mostly done it by drafting well. When Tim Duncan was taken number one overall in 1997, everyone knew they were getting one heck of a player. Two years later, the pairing of him with David Robinson was too much for the league to handle. Over the next four years, the organization would turn a project and a chance into the building blocks for a juggernaut. Manu Ginobili (57th overall, second to last in 1999 draft) and Tony Parker (28th overall, last in first round of 2001 draft) formed the tri-pronged attack that led to three titles since 2002.

Now, those pieces are wise veterans (or, in other terms, old). But that doesn't bother San Antonio. They've rebuilt their core of youthful exuberance with more crafty decision making. Frontcourt players Tiago Splitter (2007) and DeJuan Blair (2009) were drafted, along with backcourt mates James Anderson (2010) and Cory Joseph (2011). Rookie Kawhi Leonard became part of the team through a draft-day trade for George Hill (another Spurs draftee). These men are part of the future of the franchise. But will the past and future meet to make the present fruitful?

The Clippers began their trek on the same path. Young super-stud Blake Griffin justifies his number one overall pick in terms of jaw-dropping highlight appeal. But L.A. had more of a core to offer with Al Thornton (2007), Eric Gordon (2008), and Al-Farouq Aminu (2010) a part of the action. Those three guys are gone now, partly due to a deal that brought elite point guard Chris Paul to the bright lights of SoCal.

Putting Paul next to Griffin gave the Clips instant relevance and buzz. They've lived up to it fairly well. Now, with key veteran stars Kenyon Martin and Caron Butler around to solidify the roster, there's a chance that Donald Sterling's wallet might actually pay some dividends.

Oklahoma City vs. L.A. Lakers

The Thunder they started this ascension to the top of the Western Conference in another age (or time zone). The franchise was located in Seattle when they selected Kevin Durant with the second overall pick in 2007 (and got fifth overall pick Jeff Green in the famed Ray Allen trade). The next year, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka joined the fold as the organization relocated to their new home. In 2009, James Harden (current Sixth Man of the Year) was selected by the team.

This is the base for the Northwest Division champs. The main addition outside of draft night was Kendrick Perkins, who was traded for Green in 2011. With the defensive stopper in the middle, many think that their time is now. However, they will have a tall task to overcome.

On the opposite side, you have the Lakers and their tradition that goes back to the days of Wilt Chamberlain back in the late 1960s. Their leader, Kobe Bryant, may have flown to stardom through the Draft, but the surrounding cast is another story. Other than big man Andrew Bynum, this L.A. story was constructed outside of town.

The second-in-command, Pau Gasol, was acquired through one of those "highway robbery" trades. Metta World Peace came to the squad via free agency when he was simply known as Ron Artest from Queensbridge. Ramon Sessions just got there mid-season. Role players Matt Barnes and Steve Blake came in after playing with at least one other organization. Can their tradition of acquiring outside talent equal success this time around?

Boston vs. Philadelphia

The Celtics brought together their own version of a free agency "Big Three" when Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined forced with Paul Pierce in 2007. It's resulted in one title, another Finals appearance, and a return to Garden Glory for fans in the Northeast. It has been five years since everything turned for the better, but all three pieces are still around and still a threat.

Danny Ainge is trying to replicate what R.C. Buford is doing in San Antonio. Rajon Rondo (draft rights acquired from Phoenix in 2006) has arguably become the leader of the squad. Drafted role players Avery Bradley (2010) and E'twaun Moore (2011) are providing sparks in the backcourt. However, these team still has the fingerprints of the Superstar Triad all over it. We'll find out if that experience can help them churn out one last run.

The 76ers looked to build on their rising team in 2008 when they made a splash by signing free agent Elton Brand. Several people, including myself, thought this was an important move that would set the team up to be a contender. Although Brand has turned out to be a key cog in the team's resurgence, it plain didn't work at the outset.

The main reason for Philly's run back to the postseason happened in the board room. Andre Iguodala's selection in the 2004 lottery set the first piece in place. The Sixers went on to take Lou Williams (2005 second round), Thaddeus Young (2007 lottery), Jrue Holiday (2009 first round), and Evan Turner (2010 second overall) in following years. It's these decisions that have helped the franchise get their playoff series win since 2003. And they'll tell you that they're not done yet.

Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers

You guys know the story. Miami is where the latest, greatest version of the free agent sweepstakes is playing out. The newest version of the "Big Three" came about to a lot of fanfare on South Beach and a WHOLE lot of jeering around the rest of the country. LeBron James and Chris Bosh believe it'll be much easier to win a ring with Dwyane Wade than without. They got within two games of accomplishing that on the first try.

Now they have a year of playoff scrutiny and competition under their belts, which meant doom for the Knicks. Some have the Heat as the outright favorites for the title, largely based on the talent of these three. But, like I said, you guys know that.

What you may not be aware of is the new look Pacers. Until last week, the organization hadn't won a playoff series in seven years. That drought came to an end because the experience much of the young core got in last year's postseason. It was only the second time in that situation for team star Danny Granger (2005 first round pick). It was the first time for Hibbert (2008 draft day trade from Toronto), Tyler Hansbrough (2009 lottery), and Paul George (2010 lottery).

They've turned around the fortunes of this stagnant franchise. And the additions of former New Orleans Hornets David West (free agency) and Darren Collison (trade) could make this team a dark horse now and in the near future. They only just have to beat the favorites to do it.

So what's the better way to bring a squad to championship form? Do you grow the talent from seedlings up or purchase the best talent from the free agency market? The next two weeks could give us an answer.

Posted by Jonathan Lowe at 6:23 PM | Comments (0)

Grow Up, Bryce Harper

Last week, SC's Jeffrey Boswell covered an altercation in which Cole Hamels purposefully hit 19-year-old rookie Bryce Harper in the back, and then admitted to it, causing a five-game suspension, which, for a starting pitcher, means an extra day of rest. Hamels should simply say, "Thank you, commish!" As a result, Hamels won't even miss a start this season. Well done, Mr. Selig. But if you want to read about Hamels, go to Boswell's article.

I want to talk about Harper. When Hamels hit Harper, there were two outs. Harper then hustled from first to third on a single in the next at bat, then stole home when Hamels threw to first to check the runner. That gutsy decision showed me that Harper was somebody to keep my eye on.

Before getting hit by Hamels' pitch, Harper had a pair of spot on throws from the outfield. Neither resulted in outs, one due to the catcher, one due to the umpire, but nevertheless, Harper came into Major League Baseball ready to play and very eager to impress everybody, playing hard, hustling on the bases, making accurate throws, drawing walks, and doing the little things right. Harper was doing all that and I was paying attention.

In his third major league game, Harper didn't reach base. He went 0-3 with a strikeout. Those games happen. The Nationals lost that game 5-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks. That was the only game in which he didn't reach base until Friday against the Cincinnati Reds.

In a game where the Nationals won 7-3 and had those seven by the fourth inning, Harper went 0-5 with 3 strikeouts. His worst game of his young career. Those days happen. To everybody. For example, Josh Hamilton is hitting better than anybody in the world right now. But on April 21 at Detroit, Hamilton went 0-5 with four strikeouts against the Tigers.

Bryce Harper reacted to his bad day (which wasn't as bad as Josh Hamilton's) by returning to the dugout after one of his outs, swinging his bat against the wall and having it bounce back and hit him in the eye, an injury requiring 10 stitches. After Friday's game, Harper informed the media that the doctor had cleared him to play on Saturday. National's manager Davey Johnson said Harper would likely miss some time. Harper got his way, going 0-4 on Saturday with 1 strikeout.

This self-inflicted piece of stupidity comes less than two weeks after New York Knicks power forward Amare Stoudemire injured his hand after punching the glass casing housing a fire extinguisher. Stoudemire amazingly missed only one game as a result of his frustration and stupidity, but I doubt his presence would have moved the Knicks any closer to beating the Heat.

Harper's injury is far more stupid than Stoudemire's. Why? Because at least Amare was frustrated with something worth being frustrated about: his team had lost its first two playoff games.

Harper smashed a baseball bat into a wall and consequently into his face because he had a personal bad day, all while his team was destroying the Reds. Harper's frustration and attention were entirely on himself. It's like he didn't even know the Nationals were about to win the game. At the end of the day, a player who goes 0-5 while his team wins should be far happier than a guy who goes 5-5 while his team loses. Personal accolades are insignificant in comparison to your team failing.

Look at Michael Jordan and Karl Malone. They have reasonably comparable career statistics. Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six championships. Malone led the Utah Jazz to zero. A fair number of basketball fans would say that Jordan was the greatest to ever play the game. How many say that about Malone? Not very many, if any.

Or look at Joe Montana and Dan Marino. When looking at statistics, the edge obviously goes to Marino. When looking at championships, the score is Montana four, Marino zero. When people talk about the greatest quarterback of all-time, Montana's name gets more support than Marino's. Nobody will deny that Marino is top-10, most would say top-five, but to put him at number one without rings just doesn't seem right.

Bryce Harper needs to take a cue from these examples and understand a few things. Firstly, the Nationals are very good this year. As of Saturday morning, their pitching ranked first in ERA, quality starts, WHIP, and opposing team's batting average. They are a playoff caliber team based on that alone. The hitting could use some improvement and Harper can be a part of that. He has the tools. He has the talent. He has the passion. But right now it's pretty obvious to me that he doesn't have the patience. Bryce Harper can be a part of a playoff team that has a relatively decent chance to advance to the World Series. In your rookie season, that should be the biggest deal to you as an athlete. Professionally, nothing else should even compare to that reality.

Secondly, Harper needs to take the following advice: calm down.

Harper is not Matt Kemp. He is not Josh Hamilton. He's not even Michael Cuddyer or Billy Butler. And he's certainly not Ted Williams or Stan Musial, so he seriously needs to calm down.

Yes, Harper has the potential to be one of the best players in the history of baseball, but he never will be if he continues to act in such a selfish, arrogant, immature, and idiotic way. And furthermore he will never even be considered a good player, much less one of the best, if he doesn't stop putting so much pressure on himself to perform. The only thing Bryce Harper seems to understand right now is that Bryce Harper has potential. He has no idea how to harness that potential, nor what the point of being a great player is (winning championships).

Nobody is expecting Harper to bat .350 with 35 home runs and 120 runs batted in his rookie year. Alex Rodriguez put up those numbers in his third season. Rodriguez made his debut in 1994 to the tune of 17 games, a .204 batting average and zero home runs. In 1995, Rodriguez played in 48 games, with a .232 batting average and five homers. After those two test pilot runs, Rodriguez finally exploded and became a star. Today Rodriguez is a player who will almost certainly reach 3,000 hits and 700 home runs. In doing so, he'll be only the second player in major league history to accomplish such a feat, along with Hank Aaron. Who knows, maybe Rodriguez will even reach 800 home runs and 3,500 hits.

Harper has that kind of potential if he allows himself to be eased into the game. If he allows himself to learn from his 0-5 games (because Friday's certainly won't be his last), instead of pouting about them and injuring himself through temper tantrums.

Davey Johnson needs to sit Harper down for a couple games in my opinion. Nearly every young player who comes up to the big leagues struggles at first with something. Rodriguez did. So did Frank Robinson (though he overcame it in time to win the Rookie of the Year award). Ken Griffey, Jr., wasn't immediately an MVP threat, either.

Bryce Harper needs to take stock of where he is right now. He needs to understand what he is good at according to major league standards right now, and what he can do to improve those things he is struggling at. The Nationals are good and if he can figure a few things out in time for the playoffs, he could be a major contributing factor to the offense, which really could use a boost.

Obviously, he has a great arm. He's already made people question if they should run on him or not. Obviously, he has that killer instinct. That drive and passion that makes him take risks such as stealing home. Those are really great things to have. No doubt about it.

But obviously, he does not handle personal failure well. Throwing a tantrum about an 0-5 game in your first month in the majors is no way to prove to anybody that you belong where you are. If Harper were a 24-year-old rookie drafted 347th overall instead of a 19-year-old rookie who was drafted first, he'd probably get sent back down to AAA for acting like such a fool.

Careers are not made in one day by one good performance. Philip Humber threw a perfect game last month. That doesn't mean he'll win 300 games or make the Hall of Fame. It's doubtful he will. Likewise, Harper should realize that even if he had gone 5-5 with three home runs in Friday's game, such a change in one game wouldn't affect the legacy of his career.

And while careers are not made in one day, they can be unmade in one day. Kirby Puckett was on his way to 3,000 hits when a high fastball from Dennis Martinez broke his jaw, destroyed his vision, and ended his career. Obviously, that's not the only example.

Imagine if Harper's bat had hit him more squarely in the eye. Do you think he'd be able to ever get a hit again if he were blind in one eye?

And one final thing that Harper needs to understand, consider it a word of warning: all eyes are on you.

When Ken Griffey, Jr., made his major league debut, I was 5 years old and I loved him. He was an icon of what kids like me could be if we worked hard and were blessed with some talent. When Alex Rodriguez debuted, I was 10 and felt the same way all over again. Kids are drawn to young players and they will be watching what Bryce Harper does on the field and they will hear about what he does off the field. And everybody will know more about Harper's successes and failures than Griffey's or Rodriguez's because of the technological advancements of the media.

And I can guarantee this: nobody is going to want to be like Friday's Bryce Harper. That Bryce Harper won't inspire anybody to want to play baseball. He'll only inspire people to laugh at him for doing something even a 5-year-old knows is stupid.

All eyes are on you Bryce Harper and trust me, people will like you a lot more and remember you more positively if you bat .250 with 5 home runs and are gracious and positive and a good teammate than if you bat .350 with 40 home runs and are a complete moron off the field. Grow up, kid. Enjoy the fact that you have been so blessed with talent and opportunity. Don't throw it away because of one bad day.

Posted by Andrew Jones at 10:13 AM | Comments (2)

May 11, 2012

Sports Q&A: The Truth Won't Set You Free

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels was suspended for intentionally hitting Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper on Sunday night. What's the bigger issue here: Hamels hitting Harper, or admitting he did it on purpose?

Finally, after much speculation about how it would go down, Major League Baseball has its answer to the burning question: what happens when a player "outs" himself?

But seriously, Hamels sexuality isn't in question here, only his manhood. And let's face it, in Major League Baseball, real men don't tell the truth, they skirt it. Only in baseball can one's integrity be questioned by the very act of showing integrity.

Commissioner Bud Selig bas likely never faced such a quandary in his 20 years as commissioner of baseball. In all likelihood, Hamels would not have been suspended had he not admitted to intentionally plunking Harper. But his intent was plainly evident. Even former umpire Don Denkinger, or any blind man, could have recognized Hamels' intent without having it verified by Hamels' admission. Therein lies Selig's dilemma — suspending a baseball player for telling the truth! Oh, the horror! If Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, etc. were in graves, they'd be spinning in them like blood samples in a centrifuge.

According to Hamels, he hit Harper as an "old school" way to welcome the rookie to the big leagues. Harper went "new school" in his reply, by stealing home on Hamels in the same inning. The Nationals later went "old school" when pitcher Jordan Zimmerman nailed Hamels in the leg as he squared to bunt in the third inning.

That could have been the end of the situation. It was all square. Hamels made his point; the Nationals made theirs. Then Hamels had to give an interview that was too candid for his own good. Apparently, according to baseball's "unwritten codes of conduct," a player should never admit to purposely hitting another. In other words, as many steroid and HGH scandals have told us, you should lie when breaking baseball's unwritten rules, as well as baseball's written rules.

Most in the Phillies organization wished Hamels had not been so forthcoming — manager Charlie Manuel said as much when he commented that Hamels could have been "more discreet" or "less honest." Look what baseball has become; now, managers are advising players to be less honest, and not just their lawyers. As a precaution, Hamels' next post-start interview should be held in front of Congress. There's no way the truth comes out then.

Of course, Selig was left with no choice but to suspend Hamels. It was likely the easiest decision Selig has ever made, and for once, it seems, everyone can agree with the Commissioner's call. Possibly, for the first time in his tenure, Selig has an approval rating.

But give Hamels credit for having the guts to tell the truth, even when he knew he would likely be punished by the league, as well as ostracized for some, if not many, fellow players. This is professional baseball, and Hamels was well-aware of the plight of another fellow big league left-hander, Andy Pettitte. Pettitte learned the hard way that the longer you delay in telling the truth, the greater your chances of misremembering it. Everyone in the sports knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that your credibility is shot once Roger Clemens starts making up vocabulary words to describe your actions.

But Clemens, more than any player, knows when to tell the truth and when to lie. Never and always. What did Clemens say after slinging the business end of a broken bat towards Mike Piazza in the 2000 World Series? "Piazza delivery," maybe. I doubt it, but whatever he said, it wasn't the truth.

In MLB, the truth, in most cases, won't set you free. Just ask Pete Rose. He lied, and can't get into the baseball Hall of Fame. He told the truth, and still can't get in. At least, not without a ticket. If Rose had told the truth from the start, then, in all likelihood, he would now be allowed to enter the Hall of Fame. So, if you're going to lie, it makes more sense to do so well after the fact.

So, what's in the future for Hamels? Can he put this behind him, or will the only thing in the future ‘behind him' be a high, hard fastball the next time the Phillies face the Nationals? I'm guessing the next time Hamels hits a batter, he'll be nothing but truthful when he says it was an "accident."

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2012

Pace Yourself

It's been said all year, by almost everyone, including me — the Miami Heat are and should be the favorites in the East. This isn't an article written to dispute that, but rather an article written to point out what has become increasingly obvious to some fans, analysts, and even some players over the last couple days, as the second round of the playoffs has taken shape.

The Indiana Pacers are going to give the Miami Heat all they can handle in a best of seven series that promises to at least come within a stone's throw of a Game 7. There's nothing flashy about the Pacers, but there are a few things that make them an undesirable matchup for the Heat.

1. They're Really Deep

I know that other teams may well lay claim to having this advantage over the Heat (and for good reason), but nobody has a deeper bench than Indiana. They could field a team of just bench players for a contest against most teams in the league, while still maintaining a solid chance of winning. Not many other teams out there can reasonably make that claim.

2. They Rebound Way Better

Make no mistake about this, the Heat are going to get beat badly off the glass. As a matter of fact, if Chris Bosh doesn't step up his game for the entire series, the Heat won't have many second chance opportunities, which spells trouble for a team that relies on their leaders, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, to convert second chance attempts. If they keep their game predicated upon creating chances off of misses, the Heat will get embarrassed until they change their approach.

3. They Play Much Bigger

I'm not necessarily saying that the Heat can't put out an ensemble of five players to match the Pacers size, but rather that at all times, Indiana simply plays like a much bigger team. Too much of Chris Bosh's game is focused on the mid-range, and David West will exploit that in this series. Despite actually being slightly shorter than Bosh, West's proficiency in the paint on both ends of the court will force Chris Bosh to become strictly a jump-shooter — not good for Miami.

4. They Have Nothing to Lose

I know this one gets overplayed every time a prohibitive favorite plays a team expected to walk away with nothing more than an "Atta-Boy," but here it fits the mold perfectly, and mostly for reasons beyond the control of the Pacers. With the relative collapse of the Heat last year in the Finals, much was expected of the "not one, not two, not three…" bunch from the very beginning of this year.

If the Heat fall again, it will be viewed as a collapse on their part, which means two things. The first is that they have all the pressure in the world on them, and the second is that any team they play (in this case, the Pacers) is ignored as simply another road block on the way to too many rings for one hand. This should let them play their game in a loose, relaxed fashion.

Regardless of what happens starting on Sunday, one thing is clear — this will be a series to watch from beginning to end. Whether LeBron and company take that next step, or fail once again, everyone will be talking about this one for a while.

Posted by Paul Foeller at 1:53 PM | Comments (0)

May 9, 2012

NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 10

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Matt Kenseth — Kenseth led with one lap to go at Talladega, but was passed by Brad Keselowski, benefitting from a huge push from Kyle Busch. Kenseth settled for third, and advanced one place in the point standings to second, seven behind Greg Biffle.

"My first thought was to say 'Where's the Biff?'" Kenseth said. "I didn't mean to leave Biffle. Ask Carl Edwards. He'll tell you that usually when I run away from a teammate, it's on purpose.

"I just got too far out in front. That's how it goes when you're leading the field at Talladega. If you check out on the field, you better be ready to check up on the field. I was like my own debris caution."

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. — Earnhardt finished ninth at Talladega, unable to muster the momentum needed for a late-race surge towards the front. He dropped one spot to third in the Sprint Cup point standings and trails Greg Biffle by 9. Earnhardt's winless streak now stands at 139.

"The No. 88 Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet was fast," Earnhardt said, "but not fast enough to win. That's been a familiar refrain for me lately. I hate to repeat myself, and that's sad, because I'm getting pretty good at it."

3. Greg Biffle — Biffle posted a solid fifth in the Aaron's 499, leading 15 laps and running near the front for much of the day. On the green-white-checkered finish, Biffle pushed Matt Kenseth to a sizeable lead, but Biffle's No. 16 couldn't keep pace with Kenseth's No. 17. With their draft connection lost, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch passed the Roush Fenway duo.

"Keselowski and Busch just blew us away," Biffle said. "The 'friends with benefits' were outdone by the 'enemies with benefits.'

"But I'm still on top of the Sprint Cup point standings. At least we know one Roush Fenway driver can hold a lead."

4. Kyle Busch — With one lap to go in the Aaron's 499, Busch was in the driver's seat, in second place, trailing race leader Brad Keselowski. But Busch never got close enough to even attempt a race-winning move, and settled for the runner-up spot. Busch moved up two spots to ninth in the point standings, 70 out of first.

"I had Keselowski," Busch said, "right where I wanted him. But he outsmarted me. In other words, he had me. But I'm not upset. This made me a complete driver. Now, I can say I've been 'schooled' for going too fast, and 'schooled' for going too slow."

5. Brad Keselowski — Keselowski, with a strong push from draft partner Kyle Busch, surged into the lead with a lap to go at Talladega, zooming past the Roush Fenway duo of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. Keselowski held off Busch and won for the second time this year, and second career victory in the Talladega spring race.

"I got a big push from Kyle," Keselowski said. "I'll reiterate what I said at Bristol some years back: 'Kyle Busch is an ass…et.' I'm not sure if Kyle follows me on Twitter, but he definitely follows me on asphalt. That's two second place finishes for Busch for the weekend. Apparently, M&Ms melt in your hands, and under pressure.

"It was an extremely satisfying win for me. Not only did I win the race, but I was able to tweet from Victory Lane for the second time this year. Call it a 're-Tweet.'"

6. Denny Hamlin — Hamlin was fast all day at Talladega, and was prepared to make a charge after a restart on lap 192. Hamlin's dive to the middle lane was cut off by a block from A.J. Almendinger, and the contact knocked Hamlin out of the race. He finished 23rd, and fell one place in the points to fourth, 27 out of first.

"I got dinged by the 'Dinger,'" Hamlin said. "But that's just the nature of racing at Talladega. You race all day, waiting for the 'Big One.' And, when it happens, you can usually blame the 'Biggest One.'

"Trust me. I'd like nothing more than to seek revenge. But I can't afford the penalty that is sure to follow. Therein lies the 'Catch-22' of catching 22."

7. Tony Stewart — Stewart ended a frustrating day at Talladega with a 24th in the Aaron's 499, as Stewart-Haas teammate Ryan Newman finished 36th. Newman suffered early engine trouble, while Stewart was KO'd in a nine-car wreck four laps from the finish.

"You probably heard about my tongue-in-cheek assessment of the racing at Talladega," Stewart said. "That's just my way of keeping my 'tongue-in-check.' For those too ignorant to understand sarcasm, call it Talladega Spites: The Ballyhoo of Tony Stewart."

8. Martin Truex, Jr. — Truex was collected in a lap 142 pileup started when Dave Blaney and Aric Almirola made contact. Truex's No. 55 Toyota slammed into Jeff Gordon's No. 24, ending the day for both. Truex fell one spot to sixth in the points, and trails Greg Biffle by 46.

"The No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota was running well," Truex said. "Then it all came crashing down. NAPA 'know how' suddenly became NAPA 'no how.'"

9. Jimmie Johnson — Johnson suffered a broken oil pump that sent him to the garage just 61 laps into the Aaron's 499. He finished 35th and fell two places in the Sprint Cup point standings, 54 out of first.

"We certainly don't look like 5-time champions," Johnson said. "Then again, who does?

"I watched the rest of the race from Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s pit box. It's quite a view from up there. You can see for miles, and somewhere in the distance, there's a win on the horizon."

10. Kevin Harvick — Harvick was caught in a lap 184 wreck that left his No. 29 Rheem Chevrolet unable to continue. He finished a disappointing 25th and is now fifth in the point standings, 45 out of first.

"We led one lap," Harvick said, "so the car went from the front of the field to the back of the garage. Appropriately, with Rheem as our primary sponsor, we ran hot and cold.

"Brad Keselowski drove a heck of a race. He kept Kyle Busch behind him. Last year at Darlington, I couldn't keep Busch in front of me."

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

May 8, 2012

Junior Seau and CTE

Junior Seau made the most Pro Bowls (12) of any linebacker in history. He was first-team all-pro six times. Seau was a starter on the 1990s All-Decade Team, but was so skilled and kept himself in such good condition that he played for another full decade afterwards, retiring after the 2009 season as the oldest LB in NFL history. He will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

But Seau himself won't be present at his induction into Canton, because he died last week of a gunshot wound to the chest, apparently self-inflicted. Many athletes struggle with the transition away from playing — Seau had been a football player basically all his life, and it was surely a central part of his self-identity — but I don't have anything to add to the speculation concerning a 43-year-old's possible motivations for ending his own life.

Many fans have been struck, however, by Seau's shooting himself in the chest rather than the head. Former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson did the same thing last year, asking that his brain be used for research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) caused by his football career. Seau's family has decided to donate his brain for similar research, and frankly it would be shocking at this point if there are no indications of CTE.

CTE is associated with symptoms like depression and early-onset dementia, as well as neurological problems like memory loss or confusion, and more fundamental personality changes like irritability and aggression. Seau was a respected locker room leader, and a community icon who won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for his charitable work. He never had any legal troubles, or even any controversies. But in October 2010, less than a year after his retirement, Seau was arrested on domestic violence charges. When he was released, he drove his SUV off a 100-foot cliff, surviving with minor injuries. No one knows for sure, but he didn't seem like the same man who led the Chargers to Super Bowl XXIX or created the Junior Seau Foundation.

I wrote an article last year about Hines Ward and his cavalier attitude toward head trauma in the NFL. Unfortunately, I also wrote about Ward's recent drunk driving citation, which led some readers to feel that I was attacking Ward personally rather than just criticizing his position on an important issue. I thought it was relevant, because someone who regards drunk driving as an acceptable risk probably is not a good judge of whether playing with concussions is an acceptable risk. Obviously I didn't make that clear at the time.

CTE has become an epidemic in contact sports. It's most prominent in football, but this also applies to ice hockey, boxing, mixed martial arts, and other contact sports. Muhammad Ali's condition is famous worldwide. The NHL has dealt with high-profile cases like Bob Probert and Derek Boogaard. This March, Ben Fowlkes wrote for both MMA Fighting and Sports Illustrated about the struggles of Gary Goodridge, a kickboxer and mixed martial artist whose short-term memory effectively is gone and whose personality simply isn't the same as it was when he'd taken fewer hits to the head.

The NFL has taken steps to reduce the impact of conditions like CTE on its players. Moving kickoffs back to the 35-yard line. Extra protection for quarterbacks. The new "defenseless receiver" rules. Fines for the really big hits. New guidelines for players who suffer head injuries. It's not enough. Chris Henry played for the Bengals from 2005 until his death in 2009. This isn't someone like Lou Creekmur or Duerson, or even Seau, who played before we knew how devastating head injuries can be when a player's career is over. Post-mortem analysis of Henry's brain revealed that he had CTE.

The NFL made several big announcements about its new rules for concussions, but those clearly are not being enforced. Last season, in a game against the Jets, the Chargers' Kris Dielman fell down after a block, tried to get up, and fell down again. He stumbled toward the sideline on rubber legs but stayed in the game.

Dielman wasn’t even checked for a concussion until the game was over, and suffered a seizure on the plane ride home. He missed the rest of the season and retired at age 30, a four-time Pro Bowler who couldn't risk further damage to his brain. This is precisely what Commissioner Roger Goodell promised wasn't going to happen any more. Following Dielman's seizure, the league announced that this time, for real, concussions were being monitored. The rest of the world collectively laughed at that idea in Week 14. In front of a national audience on NFL Network's Thursday Night broadcast, the Browns' Colt McCoy took a brutal hit from the Steelers' James Harrison and returned to the field despite an obvious concussion.

Preventing and treating head injuries can't just be a P.R. issue for the NFL, and to be fair, the league has taken some positive steps. Moving kickoffs back to the 35 was a great idea. Limiting contact to the quarterback's head is a good idea, at least in principle — no one likes seeing a 15-yard penalty when a defensive end's little finger grazes the helmet. It would be nice if the league can make a distinction to avoid penalizing harmless, inadvertent contact, or players who deliberately pull up and try to avoid causing damage.

That's the problem with the "defenseless receiver" rules and post-game fines — they're applied too unevenly. Players and fans and even referees don't know what constitutes an illegal hit. The league needs to clarify its policy, stop fining players who accidentally injure opponents, and begin suspending dirty players and head-hunters. I know the players union will fight suspensions, but the league can't give in. Players like Ward, who admitted lying to doctors, need to be protected from themselves.

Junior Seau was never officially reported as suffering a concussion, but his ex-wife told The Associated Press that he simply played through them. That was common until the last couple of years. When I began covering the NFL in 2002, it was almost unheard of for a player to miss a whole game just because of a little brain damage — and that's what a concussion is. The word concussion is interchangeable with the medical term "mild traumatic brain injury". And for years, we've been treating this like it's no big deal. It's in everyone's short-term interest to handle the situation that way. Players want to play, and teams want them out there.

This is not the players' responsibility. Seau played through head injuries. Dielman waved off the training staff to stay in the game. Ward lied to doctors so he could stay on the field. Guys like Ali and Goodridge and Chuck Liddell took multiple fights when it was clear they were already affected by the results of too many hits to the head.

Football and hockey players want to help the team. They feel a responsibility to their teammates, coaches, and fans. Fighters want to entertain, and they need to earn a living. Some of these guys have other ways of doing that, and some of them have made enough money they don't need any more. But then you have guys like Goodridge who have to keep fighting if they want to provide for their families, or Seau, who couldn't step away from the game he loved.

Who can blame them for that? The NFL knows it has a problem, and it has taken some small steps in the right direction. More needs to be done. You can't expect a coach or a team doctor to diagnose concussions and hold the players out. It would be nice if things worked out that way, but in many cases it is not realistic. Teams have a selfish interest in getting the most out of players as soon as possible. The league needs an air-tight, non-negotiable program for independent concussion-monitoring, both in-game and during the week.

There should be a private doctor, qualified to diagnose concussions, on the field for every game, independent of any team. With full access to players and to available replay footage, the doctor should examine any player who appears to suffer a head injury and make a medical decision about whether that player can safely return to action, or whether further testing is required first. We can't have the teams making these decisions, and there needs to be accountability. The NFL must outline a clear procedure and make clear who is in charge and who is responsible if any mistakes occur.

There will be more Mike Websters and Dave Duersons and Junior Seaus. That's probably inevitable. But we can't accept CTE as a necessary by-product of tackle football. Junior Seau was great. In every sense. He was an incredible athlete, a standout basketball player, a champion shot putter, and one of the greatest football players in the history of the sport. He was a good man who started a charitable foundation before it was common for players to do that. He won respect around the NFL as a player and as a person.

He's gone, now. Junior Seau was 43. We don't know yet whether CTE played a role in Seau's apparent personality shifts and depression. But we know we've lost a fine man too soon, and we know CTE is a problem that isn't going away. Athletes are bigger and faster than ever, and modern playing surfaces accommodate greater speeds and stronger impact in collisions.

The NFL is the most popular sports league in the United States, and among the most visible worldwide. Seau's death generated headlines abroad. Goodell and union head DeMaurice Smith have a unique opportunity to take a leadership role in defining how sports respond to CTE and protect their participants. We've made some positive changes, but not nearly enough.

R.I.P. Junior Seau, 1969-2012.

Posted by Brad Oremland at 4:07 PM | Comments (2)

May 7, 2012

Why the Spurs Could Capture the Title

Now that the NBA postseason is underway, speculation abounds as to who will be crowned the next champion. Will this finally be the year LeBron James gets his title with the Miami Heat, or will Kobe Bryant steal another one for the Lakers? Perhaps the Oklahoma City Thunder will bring a title to that city with Kevin Durant, or maybe the Chicago Bulls can overcome the devastating loss of Derrick Rose to a season-ending knee injury.

While most of the playoff guessing game centers around these possibilities, there's another team setting its sights on the league's big prize, but hardly anyone is noticing, except their fans. The San Antonio Spurs could have something to say about who grabs the brass ring. After a slow start to an already compressed season due to the lockout, the Spurs galloped into the postseason with the best record and the top seed in the Western Conference.

Could Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili have enough left in the tank for another championship? Here are five reasons the answer may be a resounding yes!

1. Momentum

After the first 21 games, the Spurs looked more like an average team than a championship-caliber juggernaut. Their record was 12-9, and many wondered if they would even be in the playoff hunt by the end of the season.

The Spurs then went on a nearly month-long road trip while the At&T Center hosted San Antonio's annual Livestock Show and Rodeo. That's when the Silver and Black suddenly found its stride, putting together three double-digit winning streaks en route to an astounding 38-7 record over the last 45 regular season games. They entered the postseason having won 10 straight, after reeling off two separate 11-game winning streaks over a two-month period.

During their 38-7 stretch, the Spurs averaged a league-best 106 points per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the floor, and 39.7 percent from three-point range, both league highs. The offensive firepower wasn't limited to Duncan, Parker, or Ginobili, as 10 different players led the team in scoring. San Antonio finished the regular season ranked in the top five in points per game (103.7), field goal percentage (.478), three-point shooting percentage (.393), assists per game (23.1), and fewest turnovers per game (13.5).

2. Depth

While most teams narrow their rotation to seven or eight players, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is not shy about going deep into his bench. Eleven players have averaged 19 or more minutes this season. The New Jersey Nets, Charlotte Bobcats, and New York Knicks are the only other teams with 10 or more players averaging 19 or more minutes.

The Spurs bench scored an NBA season-high 82 points in an April 6 win over the New Orleans Hornets, and averaged a league-best 41.9 points per game. Ginobili, Matt Bonner, Stephen Jackson, Patty Mills, Gary Neal, and Tiago Splitter make the Spurs second unit one of the most formidable in the league, allowing Popovich to keep his troops fresh during the playoffs.

3. Experience Blended With Youth

Since Tim Duncan joined the Spurs prior to the 1997-98 season, the team has won four NBA championships and eight division titles. During that stretch, they have a .702 winning percentage, the best mark of any team in the four major professional sports, and have made the playoffs 15 consecutive years, the longest active streak in the NBA.

Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili have each scored over 10,000 points during their career with San Antonio, making them the only active Big Three to play on the same team and score over 10,000 points, and just the fourth threesome in league history to accomplish the feat.

While Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili have been a consistent stabilizing force, the Spurs front office has kept the team fresh by adding other veterans and young talent through the draft and free agency. Eight of the 14 players from this year's roster have less than three years of NBA experience.

In a March 23 trade, the Spurs reacquired Stephen Jackson from the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Richard Jefferson, T.J. Ford, and a protected first-round pick. That same month, they signed Boris Diaw and Patty Mills. All three have given the team much-needed depth during their late-season run.

4. Solid Coaching

If you're the general manager, and you decide to replace the head coach with yourself, it isn't always a popular decision, particularly among your fans. Such was the case with Gregg Popovich when he replaced Bob Hill with himself as Spurs head coach in 1996.

After nearly 16 seasons, the only grumbling you hear comes from opposing teams and their fans. Popovich, who relinquished his GM duties in 2002 in order to concentrate fully on coaching, surpassed Red Auerbach in April for second place on the all-time wins list with one team with 847. His tenure with the same team is the longest of any coach in all four major professional sports.

Popovich just picked up his second Coach of the Year award to go along with the one he earned in 2003. He's been named Coach of the Month 14 times during his career, including back-to-back months in February and March this year. His ability to mold an ever-changing team into a cohesive unit is one of the reasons the Spurs have won consistently during his reign.

5. Redemption

Last season, the Spurs entered the playoffs as the Western Conference top seed, only to be sent packing in six games by the Memphis Grizzlies. Fans were wondering if the teams slow start this season was due to the extended lockout and shorter preseason, or the sting of their first-round playoff exit.

The biggest difference between last year's playoffs and this year's is health. Ginobili's late-season injury kept him out of the Memphis series, but he, Duncan, and Parker all appear to be healthy. Gregg Popovich even rested his three stars the last several games of the regular season, so they shouldn't be as battle-weary during the intense postseason.

The Spurs will certainly have their hands full, no doubt about it. Even if they go beyond the Western Conference Finals, they may have to face a Miami Heat team that's looking for some redemption of their own. The Dallas Mavericks denied LeBron and Co. a championship by beating them in last year's finals, and the pressure to win is even stronger this year. But with the momentum and offensive explosiveness combined with a rejuvenated Tim Duncan, better depth, experience mixed with youth, and great coaching, the Spurs are just as motivated to win "one for the thumb."

Posted by Stephen Kerr at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

May 4, 2012

Foul Territory: Athletes Behaving Normally

* Jewish Panhandler? Oxymoron; Delmon Young? Just a Moron — Detroit's Delmon Young was suspended by Major League Baseball for seven days without pay following his arrest last week on a hate crime harassment charge last week in New York. Young yelled anti-Semetic epithets at a panhandler wearing a yarmulke and a Star of David. Young was ordered to take a sensitivity training class, and also sentenced to a subway ride with John Rocker.

* When the Fist Meets the Glass, You Become a Dumbass, That's Amare, or Healthy Scratch — Amare Stoudemire punched a glass casing surrounding a fire extinguisher minutes after a frustrating Knicks loss to the Miami Heat on Monday, suffering cuts that required surgery. Stoudemire missed Game 3 of the series on Tuesday, but downplayed the extent of the injury, saying it was just a "Knick."

* 'Baugh, Humbug! The Patriots Counted Ways to Defend Themselves, on Three Fingers — John Harbaugh said the Patriots three Super Bowl championships are tainted by the Spygate scandal, and those titles "got asterisks now." Several in the Patriots organization defended themselves, adding that when inlaid in championship rings, asterisks look a lot like diamonds.

* Boston T'd Party — Rajon Rondo was suspended for Game 2 of the Celtics series with the Hawks for bumping referee Marc Davis while protesting a call. Rondo said the discipline was unjustified, and cited the case of Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, who was guilty of way more "bumps" and wasn't disciplined at all.

* Re-Misremember, or Injection of Doubt — Andy Petitte took the stand on Tuesday in Roger Clemens' perjury trial, and testified that Clemens told him he had taken human growth hormone. Pettitte later said he could have misunderstood what Clemens had said, which the prosecution characterized as the best curveball Pettitte's ever thrown.

* He Aced the Physical Exam, But "Deuced" the Wonderlic Test — The Buffalo Bills worked out quarterback Vince Young on Wednesday, looking to add depth behind Harvard graduate Ryan Fitzpatrick, which is as close as Young will ever get to Harvard.

* Vil-ified, or Jonathan Swift-boated, or Paying the Price — New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the entire 2012 season for his role in the team's bounty system. Although Vilma now has a wide-open schedule, Commissioner Roger Goodell insisted he received no incentive for "cleaning his clock."

* His Football Skills Are Limited, But He's Now the Raiders Best "Player" — Oakland Raiders signed Matt Leinart to a one-year contract on Tuesday, where he'll back up fellow USC alum Carson Palmer at quarterback. Leinart now becomes the most-eligible bachelor in Oakland. In related news, Sebastian Janikowski plans to give up GHB and use Leinart to meet women.

* It Was the High Point of His Career, or Boston Brewin,' or Not-So-Clean Monster — Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd admitted he used crack cocaine every day of the 1986 season with the Boston Red Sox. Boyd was 16-10 that year with a 3.78 ERA, statistics that belie the fact that he got "rocked" often.

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 3, 2012

X-ceptional

This year's NBA playoffs have already given us epic comebacks, suspensions, MVP season-ending injuries, confrontations with refs, confrontations with fire extinguishers, and (my personal favorite) superstar game winners … and no team has played more than two games.

Though there are definitely favorites, every playoff season brings with it an x-factor that takes a team over the edge. In the last 10 years, we've seen (Robert) Horry's, (Derek) Fisher's, Manu's (Ginobili), and (Rajon) Rondo's become household names because of exceptional playoff appearances and the question now is, "Who will be this year's x-factor player that takes his team over the edge?"

Western Conference

Utah Jazz (No. 8 seed, 36-30)

The Jazz are young and fun to watch, but don't really stand much of a chance against the top-seeded Spurs. The Spurs aren't going to let an eight-seed knock them out like they did last year, and after a 15-point routing in Game 1 and three convincing wins during the regular season, I can only see one real chance for the Jazz to pull it off. In the last meeting of the regular season, the Jazz did manage to take down the Spurs, 91-84. The Jazz's "x-factor" in that game was Greg Popovich. Pop and the Spurs had a playoff spot locked up and decided to sit Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan and thus the Jazz escaped with a victory. I can't see this series going past five games unless Pop decides to rest his stars for a few games again.

Dallas Mavericks (No. 7 seed. 36-30)

You have to respect a defending champion, and because of this, I think the Mavs could actually stand a chance against the crazy talented, crazy athletic OKC Thunder. In Game 1, a shooter's touch is all that gave the home team Thunder the victory at an arena with the most energetic and supportive fans in all of basketball, and Game 2 was only decided by 3 points. If Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs can win their home games, a Game 7 upset could be a-brewin'. In last years' playoff run, Tyson Chandler was the Mavs' x-factor and he is gone. If new face Delonte West can recover from his illness and get hot, he could give the Mavericks a chance to make a run.

Denver Nuggets (No. 6 seed, 38-28)

Though sluggish in Game 1, the Nuggets looked like a playoff team in Game 2. Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum are both playing their best basketball of the season and this doesn't bode well for any of the teams in their path, but if they slow down, the Nuggets might have a chance. Ty Lawson scored 25 points and took control of the game during the Nuggets' fourth-quarter charge. If he can play at that same level for four quarters, the Nuggets could make it a series.

L.A. Clippers (No. 5 seed, 40-26)

Amazing did happen in the Clippers' opener when they erased a 27-point deficit to take home court advantage from the Grizzlies. The game was more than just a win, it was a huge momentum builder and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Clip Show take down the series in four if they steal another one in Memphis. Nick Young and Eric Bledsoe both played outstanding during the fourth quarter heroics, and both deserve "x-factor" consideration, but I think I have to give the title to the superstar.

Chris Paul is arguably the most passionate player in the league and when he was sat down early in the fourth quarter, he literally had to beg his coach to let him "give our team a chance." When he went back on the floor, he simply made the game his own. If the support players can keep on doing what they're doing and Chris Paul stays in attack mode, there just might be a new king of the Staples Center after this playoff run.

Memphis Grizzlies (No. 4 seed, 41-25)

After the aforementioned heartbreaking loss to the Clippers, the Grizz will have to put it behind them if they want to stand a chance against the surging Clippers. Though I really do think the Clippers will now take down the series in four or five games, the Grizzlies are a very good team and if a few things fall into place, they can make a series out of it. They were obviously doing something right to go up by 27 points on a playoff team and if they can slow down the Clippers' offense, they can get some wins. Their scoring attack was pretty even across the board, but no one really stood out. I think the Grizzlies are the only team without an "x-factor" right now, but if Mike Conley, Jr. or O.J. Mayo (or both) can step up their games to help take the pressure off Rudy Gay, they could turn things around for sure.

L.A. Lakers (No. 3 seed, 41-25)

The Lakers are looking very good behind Kobe Bryant, who always seems to look five years younger during the playoffs, and Pau Gasol is playing solid, as well. Bynum is, without a doubt, this team's x-factor and if he continues to play at the level he is playing at, the Lakers are going to be very, very difficult to beat. After proving to the world why he was an all-star starter by posting a triple-double in Game 1, Bynum followed it up with 27 points in Game 2, when scoring was what won the Lakers the game.

OKC Thunder (No. 2 seed, 47-19)

Even with less-than-convincing one-basket victories at home in Games 1 and 2, the Thunder are still my favorite to win the whole shebang. With two of the NBA's top five scorers both playing very well, it will be impossible to beat this team by more than a few points, but if James Harden continues his role as the sixth man of the decade, it will be impossible to beat the Thunder at all. Kevin Durant is hot almost every single night, so the Thunder's x-factor title has to go to his Robin in this case. When Russell Westbrook is hot, he is as good as a scorer as Durant and his energy (as well as the fans' in OKC) just propels everyone around him to be that much better. If he plays solid throughout, the Thunder will win the championship.

San Antonio (No. 1 seed, 50-16)

The Spurs are old, no doubt, but they are still a great basketball team. If they make their way to the Western Conference finals and they play the Thunder, it will be like watching Sam Perkins play Nate Robinson in a one-on-one game, but being exciting doesn't necessarily get you victories. I think health will be the Spurs' x-factor, and if they can take down series in five or six games to give themselves rest, they have as good a chance of winning as the Thunder.

Eastern Conference

Philadelphia 76ers (No. 8 seed, 35-31)

Though absolutely dismal after the All-Star break (10-14) I was glad to see the Sixers sneak into the playoffs. Most people are pointing the finger at the Bulls after their Game 2 loss because of the absence of Derrick Rose, but the Bulls were 18-9 without Rose during the regular season, so I point my finger at the 76ers and say, "Way to go!" Jrue Holliday was exceptional and if he plays like he is capable of playing, he can be the x-factor that carries the Sixers into the second round. Scoring leader Lou Williams played well and all-star Andre Iguodala did, as well. If Jrue continues his high level of playing, I think a few more people might join me in pointing the finger towards the 76ers, too.

New York Knicks (No. 7 seed, 36-30)

After a (metaphorical and literal) knock-out punch in Game 2 against the Heat, I don't see much of a chance for the Knicks. Iman Shumpert was a huge loss, as he is the only guy on that team that can keep Dwyane Wade at bay and I think Wade will be even bigger when he goes to New York for the next two games. The only "x-factor" to help the Knicks make a series out of this one would be the long ball. When Carmelo Anthony is hot, he simply does not miss. If he can put the team on his back and get some shooting help from Steve Novak and the gang, they might stand a chance. Amar'e Stoudemire might have "handed" the Heat Game 3 but if he comes back, the middle (alongside Tyson Chandler) isn't a place anyone wants to go. If they can make the series a shootout, maybe we'll see more than four games.

Orlando Magic (No. 6 seed, 37-29)

Dwight Howard was the reason the Magic were good this year. After he went down, I thought they would be a joke against the Pacers, but after winning Game 1 (the only game I didn't watch over the weekend, thinking it would be 125-40) I am happy to say I was way off. I don't think anyone would argue who the Magic's x-factor has to be, and that is Glen Davis. No one can be Dwight Howard, but he was darn close in the first game of the series. Glen held down the paint and scored 16 points and grabbed 13 boards (Howard averaged 20 and 14, not bad). In Game 2, Big Baby still put up the points (18), but only corralled 3 defensive rebounds. Not what you need from your starting center. If Glen can control the paint, the Howard-less Magic could definitely prove me wrong.

Atlanta Hawks (No. 5 seed, 40-26)

After an exceptional series-opener where he went for 22 points and 18 rebounds, I would love to say that Josh Smith is the Hawks' x-factor, but an untimely injury (which I guess they all are in the playoffs) in Game 2 made me go searching somewhere else. With no one in their lineup to replace Smith's size and athleticism down low, another starter will have to step up and take some of the scoring load off Jeff Teague and Joe Johnson. Kirk Heinrich isn't known for scoring, but if he gets open threes, he knocks them down. I think if the Hawks can run some off ball screens and get Heinrich in a rhythm, he could be the x-factor they need to make a run.

Boston Celtics (No. 4 seed, 39-27)

Though Rajon Rondo's chest bump was stupid, I think it will prove advantageous in the long run. With the spotlight given back to Paul Pierce in Game 2, due to the Rondo suspension, he went absolutely batty and put up 36 points. Pierce is at his best when he is confident and having the whole team on his back and coming out with a victory, his confidence is, no doubt, sky-high. Rondo plays at his best when he has something to prove (very Kobe-esque) and after the suspension, I think he is going to be incredible the rest of the series.

Indiana Pacers (No. 3 seed, 42-24)

The Pacers have, arguably, the most balanced starting five in the NBA. If they can continue the balanced offensive attack they have, they will continue winning games. Their defense is great, and will continue to be, but they definitely need one of the balanced five to step up his game and I think it will be David West. West was "the man" in New Orleans and is definitely not talked about near as much in Indiana, but I think the playoffs could be his time to reclaim the limelight. West needs to be the x-factor for the Pacers, and if he is, they can go deep.

Miami Heat (No. 2 seed, 46-20)

The Heat look disgustingly good and are my favorite to take down the east. The big three are all playing exactly how they should be playing and could triple-handedly take the team to the Eastern Finals, but then they will need someone else to step up when LeBron James and D-Wade have to go up against one of the pesky defenses that define the teams in the top spots in the East. I think this x-factor has to be James Jones off the bench. He is one of the purest shooters in the league and has already been impressive in the playoffs. If he plays his role and knocks down a few clutch threes, I think the Heat are a shoe-in to the finals and could definitely take down the Thunder (or whoever ends up being there).

Chicago Bulls (No. 1 seed, 50-16)

Losing an MVP is never a good thing, but Tom Thibodeau is one of the best coaches in the game and knows how to use what he has. I don't count the Rose-less Bulls out for one second. If everyone continues to play their roles (C.J. Watson and John Lucas III are both very good point guards) the games will stay close and the Bulls will have chances to win. Where the Bulls' x-factor position needs filled is a finisher. If Rip Hamilton can take the reins late and shoot the ball with the confidence he had during the Pistons' championship runs, the Bulls could make a run of their own.

Posted by Gary Flick at 2:13 PM | Comments (0)

Grading SEC Helmets, Past and Present

I've written about helmets and logos before, and it's now time to return to that pool with the most dominant college football conference, the SEC.

First, all of the links I will be referring to are mostly on this page. When linking a bunch of logos/helmets in the past on such articles, I have encountered problems with link rot and borked URLs. So this time, just look on that page, and I will refer to the team/years I'm referring to.

A word about my helmet preferences. I am not a traditionalist. I don't like blank helmets or helmets with just a letter on it in an unimaginative font. But you can definitely be too gaudy, as well. I like schools that find the happy medium. I also prefer it when teams use a helmet logo that that contains just a wordless/letterless logo, as I see such schools as trying to build a brand that will eventually be so recognizable they don't even need a identifying letter/word for the world to know who they are. Onto the schools:

ALABAMA — Helmets with numbers on the side are just as boring as blank ones. However, I'm sure the spotters in the press box appreciate the extra identifying piece. And I have to give them respect in noting that there has been no cosmetic change in their helmets in 52 years.

ARKANSAS — This is what I'm talking about. You see that logo, you know who it is. You don't need an "A" to help you. They could stand to make it bigger though. And wasn't he cute when he got himself painted red, white, and blue on 09/11/2011?

AUBURN — Better than Alabama, but not great. I liked it better with the orange face-masks they wore from 1979-83. And if your name is something fierce like the "Tigers" and you're are closely associated with the name "War Eagle," shouldn't you do something like that? Like an eagle in army fatigues cocking a rifle whilst riding on top a tiger?

FLORIDA — I don't know why "our nickname, in cursive" is so popular, but there it is with Florida and until recently, Maryland and Washington State, too. And to think they used to cleverly intertwine the U and the F to make goalposts. And they got away from one of the coolest logos in sports about a decade ago.

GEORGIA — Started using this helmet logo in 1964. The Green Bay Packers started using it in 1961. So let it be known the Bulldogs ripped this off the Packers and not the other way around. Grambling uses it, too. I don't know why so many teams are so in love with it.

KENTUCKY — Oh man, those helmets you wore in 1973-74 and then trotted out again for a game in 2004. Besides the overly-detailed wildcat head (I think I even see pores and dander), it wasn't enough! Let's put an outline of the state on there, too! I honestly can't decide if I love it or hate it. As you can also see, like most bad teams looking to kickstart an identity and a "new era," every couple of years they'ved dabbled in about 50 berzillion designs, none that interesting or different from one another. My suggestion: use the current all-purpose logo, but lose the "UK."

LSU — Same problem as 1973-74 Kentucky, That tiger head is too detailed, and with it being as small as it is, makes it especially pointless. Why not use the super-cool tiger eye that graces the 50-yard line?

MISSISSIPPI — Oh man, those helmets you wore in the 1970s. This is what I mean when I say there's such a thing as too gaudy. Colonel Reb was one of the strangest mascots ever. He doesn't look like he'll kick your ass, like most mascots. But you still get the impression if you don't get him a mint julep this very second, you're gonna regret it. He's redrawing the will as we speak. And as borderline over-the-top it was to stick him on the helmet, it wasn't enough! By God, we need to put "Ole Miss" on there, too! Otherwise, they will think we are some other school with a mascot with a walking stick who can make one phone call and get the lily-livered Lieutenant Governor who's gettin' too big for his britches impeached!

MISSISSIPPI STATE — See Kentucky. "Let's experiment with about 1,000 not very interesting themes with just letters, even though we are called the "Bulldogs." Also, what is up with their 1969-71 helmet decal? Mississippi State is not on the Gulf Coast. I don't think it's big fishing school. And also it looks like you're reeling in your own team.

MISSOURI — Another school tweaking with a bunch of elements on the same theme that ... what? Starting next year, you are getting rid of the M entirely and just going with the tiger head? Bravo, Missouri. Bravo.

SOUTH CAROLINA — Well, they had it right, almost, in 1966-67 and again from 1969-74 (even if that "Scholarship - Leadership" banner was unnecessary and over the top), but then they had to add that C. Even still, they need to redesign the gamecock so it doesn't look like he's practicing judo starting moves. Of the different colors they've played with, I prefer the garnet helmets with the white circle.

TENNESSEE — This is, and has always been, so boring, that I can't even think of any interesting way to make fun of it. So please take this time to clean out the lint drawer in your dryer, and by the time you get back, I'll have moved on to the next school.

TEXAS A&M — In 1965, the A and the M were at the bottom. In 1978, they started to levitate. And expand, which it did again in 1979, 1999, and 2007. By 2018, the letters A and M will be above the T, and the whole logo will cover the whole helmet side. By 2025, the A and M will have floated off the helmet entirely and will hover above the players like weird halos (Jesus did, after all, attend A&M as an undergrad). I also think they should chuck this logo entirely and put this on their helmets (minus the title of course).

VANDERBILT — Nice. Not too plain and not gaudy, either. I'm glad they went back to the star with the V in the middle after a decade (1991-2001) of moving away from it.

Posted by Kevin Beane at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

May 2, 2012

The Conference of Quarterbacks

The Pac-12 Conference lived up to its nickname as the "conference of quarterbacks" by having three of them selected in the recent NFL draft (tied with the Big 12) and another being signed as a free agent. But with the positive attrition comes the headache (in some instances) of replacing the Andrew Lucks, Brock Osweilers, and Nick Foles of the world.

To some, the job of naming a replacement starter for a departed signal-caller is a no-brainer. To others, finding that new starter is about as easy as finding Neptune on a cloudy night. But, in either case, knowing who will take the first snap of the upcoming season for their team is what keeps the fire fueled for most fans of college football.

The losses of Luck, Osweiler, Foles, and Tyler Hansen to the NFL, and Darron Thomas to an ill-advised draft declaration (he's yet to be signed by a pro team), no doubt created some gigantic holes in the depth charts of their now alma maters. In fact, of those five schools, only one of them has a clear-cut starter to begin the 2012 season. Arizona has apparently decided that senior Matt Scott will take over for Foles under center. The ironic thing about that is that Scott didn't take a snap in 2011 because Foles's backup, Bryson Beirne, was lost to graduation.

But Stanford's heir apparent to Luck is still up in the air as junior Brett Nottingham is receiving some serious pressure from senior Josh Nunes, and Arizona State, Colorado and Oregon all have up-and-comers vying for the starting job. The Sun Devils have a trio of sophomores — Mike Bercovici, Michael Eubank and Taylor Kelly – duking it out for the top spot. Bercovici and Kelly both saw limited action last season, but experience is lacking throughout on the ASU roster. Colorado is looking at Texas transfer Connor Wood and incumbent backup sophomore Nick Hirchman for the starting role. And just about everyone in Eugene thought sophomore Bryan Bennett, who looked just as good as Thomas in his brief appearances, would be the starter, but redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota outplayed him in the Ducks' spring game.

Meanwhile, only two other schools to lose starters (sort of) to graduation were Washington State and Utah. At Wazzu, senior Jeff Tuel, who was last year's starter until injuries sidelined him for most of the season (Marshall Loebbestael started the majority of those games), is being pushed by sophomore Connor Halliday, who looked brilliant at times last year (and like a freshman at others). But, barring further injuries and a collapse in ability, Tuel should be the signal-caller for new coach Mike Leach come September. Conversely, Utah's situation appears to be in hand with senior Jordan Wynn taking over for the graduated Jon Hays.

The rest of the Pac-12 seems to be more decided regarding who 2012's starting quarterbacks will be, with a couple exceptions. UCLA, under new coach Jim Mora, thought that one of its two seniors would be the definite starter, but redshirt freshman Brett Hundley appears to be a worthy challenge for Richard Brehaut and Kevin Prince. My hunch is that Mora will go with one of the seniors out of respect and for their game experience. Meanwhile, Oregon State also thought that sophomore Sean Mannion would be the starter this coming season, but a late surge this spring by fellow sophomore Cody Vaz has a few people in Corvallis taking notice.

As for everyone else, it's pretty much chiseled in stone who the starting quarterbacks will be in four months when the season starts, and they're also pretty much no-brainers. Can anyone compete against Matt Barkley at USC, or Keith Price at Washington, or Zach Maynard at Cal? Not really.

So, with those three quarterbacks firmly ensconced at the top of the depth charts, could they be the next Luck/Osweiler/Foles trio to be drafted next year? Quite possibly. But getting through the upcoming season and putting their teams in the best possibilities to win are more on their minds than playing at the next level — which is also the priority of the other quarterbacks fighting for the top job at their schools. Some will have to fight long and hard to get and keep their starting roles. But whether they've been the starter for years or are trying to win it, 2012 should be another exciting year in the Pac-12 thanks to another good crop of quarterbacks.

Posted by Adam Russell at 1:01 PM | Comments (1)

NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Week 9

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. — With a 137-race winless streak still dogging him, Earnhardt nearly broke through at Richmond, finishing second to Richmond stalwart Kyle Busch in the Capital City 400. Earnhardt now trails points leader Greg Biffle by 5 points in the Sprint Cup point standings.

"What does Busch have that I don't, besides a win at Richmond?" Earnhardt said. "A 'checkered' past.

"Anyway, I've got two second-place finishes and two thirds so far this year. They may not be wins, but in the eyes of Junior Nation, I lead NASCAR in 'Little' victories."

2. Denny Hamlin — Hamlin followed last week's win at Kansas with a fourth at Richmond, as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won for the first time this season. Hamlin improved two spots in the point standings to third, 9 points out of first.

"Kyle ran an unbelievable of a race," Hamlin said. "He was patient, methodical, and in control. And that makes it unbelievable, because he was totally out of character."

3. Greg Biffle — Biffle finished 18th in the Capital City 400 at Richmond, handicapped by handling issues that proved unresponsive to adjustments. He maintained the top spot in the points, but now leads Dale Earnhardt, Jr. by only 5 points.

"Five points isn't much of a lead," Biffle said, "but it's a lead nonetheless. And let's face it, any lead over Earnhardt is a safe lead."

4. Jimmie Johnson — Johnson posted his third-straight top-six finish, and seventh top-10 result of the year, with a sixth in the Capital City 400. He is now sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 24 out of first.

"I finished sixth," Johnson said, "to move into sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings, on the way to what will surely be my sixth championship. That's three sixes, which is a hell of a lot, and certainly an omen of good things to come.

"As you may have heard, I was named Forbe's most influential athlete. That means I can win, and 'win over.' That's two more wins than Dale Junior."

5. Tony Stewart — Stewart was sailing towards a win at Richmond, with a comfortable lead over Kyle Busch, when NASCAR flew a debris caution with 12 laps to go. A slow pit stop allowed Busch to exit with the lead, and Stewart settled for third, and later questioned NASCAR's decision.

"I understand the 'debris' in question was a water bottle," Stewart said. "That's garbage. I'm not sure what was in that bottle, but whatever it was, it was 'full of it.' And, I guess I'll have to 'swallow' it.

"Anyway, it's clear NASCAR doesn't want to see me run away with the championship. And, as my typical subpar runs that follow strong runs would suggest, neither do I."

6. Martin Truex, Jr. — Truex finished 25th at Richmond, his worst finish of the year, after an untimely caution on lap 311 cost him two laps. He tumbled three places in the point standings to fifth, and now trails Greg Biffle by 22.

"After five-straight top-10 finishes," Truex said, "I was due for a mediocre finish. And I didn't disappoint. But I hesitate to say I'll 'rebound' at Talladega, because there may be a wall involved."

7. Carl Edwards — Edwards led 206 of 400 laps, but lost any chance for his initial 2012 victory when he was penalized for jumping a restart on lap 89. Edwards battled back from the penalty and eventually finished 10th , but was left doubting the veracity of NASCAR's decision. He is ninth in the point standings, 51 out of first.

"I was told I was the leader," Edwards said, "while NASCAR insists that Tony Stewart was the leader. Apparently, they were just blowing 'Smoke' up my behind."

8. Matt Kenseth — Kenseth finished 11th at Richmond, just missing his sixth top-10 finish of the year. He holds the fourth spot in the point standings, 10 behind Roush Fenway teammate Greg Biffle.

"NASCAR said Carl Edwards jumped a restart with 89 laps to go," Kenseth said. "I know exactly how that feels. 'That' being the restart, because I've been 'jumped' by Edwards myself."

9. Kyle Busch — Busch took advantage of a late caution and beat Tony Stewart out of the pits, then pulled away to win at Richmond. It was Busch's fourth-straight Richmond spring win, and first of the year, as he followed Joe Gibbs teammate Denny Hamlin's win at Kansas last year.

"Thanks to NASCAR for a timely caution," Busch said. "Usually, when NASCAR gives me a 'gift,' it's probation instead of a suspension."

10. Kevin Harvick — Harvick finished 19th in the Capital City 400, the last car on the lead lap, after starting third. The No. 29 Jimmie John's Chevy was solid early in the race, but faded late on a tough day for Richard Childress Racing.

"Right now," Harvick said, "we don't look like a true championship contender. We're struggling, with an average finish of 11th. It seems the last positive I experienced was on a pregnancy test."

Posted by Jeffrey Boswell at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

May 1, 2012

Baseball's Defiant April?

Baseball's limitless pleasantries include those times, and they have been many, when things are not the way they're "supposed" to be. Reassurance that Andujar's Law (In baseball, there's just one word — you never know) is immune to repeal, and is perhaps the sole law of the land that ought to be so, is an impeccable way to open a season.

The St. Louis Cardinals, who withstood the free agency departure of Albert Pujols and the retirement of Tony La Russa, were not "supposed" to be picking up (an 11-7 start and 14-8 as of this writing) the way they left 2011 (regular season) off (at 11-7, en route a stupefying World Series conquest). The Los Angeles Angels, who welcomed Pujols with a fat decade's contract, were not supposed to be looking like aging also-rans approaching April's closure, and Pujols was not supposed to be looking like a man in search of his swing.

But there they are. The Cardinals have the National League Central rather secure for now, three games ahead of the .500-clinging Cincinnati Reds. And the Angels have the American League West's basement rather secure for now, themselves, nine and a half games out of first place. The Texas Rangers, who succumbed to the Cardinals' extraterrestrial conquerors last October, were supposed to have hearty competition from Disneyland. Now they have the division to themselves as the first month expires, and the Angels — who can't seem to decide which of their talented youth to plug in where, and at whose expense — must surely have the feeling that hell is very much like this.

The Washington Nationals were expected merely to look competitive. That was then: "Washington — First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League," from your early-to-mid 20th Century history. This is now: Washington — first in war, first in peace, and first in the National League. Okay, let's not get technical: at this writing, they're in a dead heat with the Atlanta Braves, with both clubs a mere game ahead of ... drumroll, please ... the New York Mets. And the Nats may well have the pitching to stay the course. Come to think of it, phenom Bryan Harper wasn't supposed to be making major league noise this soon; the Nats sent him for further seasoning in spring training. But there he was, on April's final weekend ... making noise, at the plate and in the field alike, ahead of schedule enough and just in time to make Washington's already-bristling enthusiasm shift into sixth gear.

That was 50 years ago, in the Mets' infant season: "Come an' see my amazin' Mets. I been in this game a hundred years but I see new ways to lose I never knew were invented yet," manager Casey Stengel would hector the paying customers milling into the antique Polo Grounds. (They played there while awaiting the completion of the playpen whose planning left Robert Moses safe to drive Walter O'Malley's Dodgers out of Brooklyn.) This is now: Manager Terry Collins (art this writing) must surely be tempted to say of his 13-9 charges, "I been in this game 50 years but I see new ways to win I never new were invented yet." Maybe that would be a slight exaggeration. But if you can win despite your bullpen being half full of bull, your team incapable until his fifth start to give recovered Johan Santana even a single first-inning run (without securing a win for the man), and your front office still believed half-capacitated by the owners' shaking off their Bernie Madoff fleecings, maybe you have discovered such ways.

The Cleveland Indians were supposed to be continuing a rebuilding. They weren't supposed to be (at this writing) in a tight fight for first in the American League Central. Were they? But there they are, with the Chicago White Sox (minus Ozzie Guillen) and the Detroit Tigers both a mere game in their rear view mirrors. Where the White Sox and the Tigers take their early comfort: for the Indians thus far, scoring runs is only slightly less a challenge than mining diamonds with swizzle sticks.

The Baltimore Orioles, who reverted back to the cap style of their glorious "Oriole Way" years (the 1970s and early 1980s), were also thought to be due to revert back to their style of the new century: sad, sadder, saddest. They weren't even supposed to be a subtopic when the subject was the competition in the American League East. But there they are (at this writing), holding a half-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays (who were supposed to be one subtopic) and the New York Yankees (who were supposed to be another).

Everyone agreed on this much regarding the Los Angeles Dodgers: their prying away from Frank McCourt's hands at long enough last (and into the hands of, among others, Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten) was, at least, supposed to have removed the earth mover that was parked atop the franchise's head for long enough. Not everyone agreed the Dodgers would graduate from narcissist's plaything to even remote contention. But there they are, on the next to last April day, with the best record in baseball (16-6) and the player (Matt Kemp) who seems to be doing what Pujols was supposed to be doing down the freeway. (Is it me, or are they already pondering Triple Crowns for Kemp and the Rangers' Josh Hamilton?) The pitching doesn't exactly hurt, and the rest of the Dodgers aren't exactly pushovers. If you pass through Los Angeles and hear an incessant chorus of "Get Happy," don't be too surprised.

Alas, everyone agreed only on this much regarding the Boston Red Sox: they'd be nothing if not interesting, as usual, even if they couldn't possibly top the crash of 2011 and the shameful putsch of Terry Francona. The bad news: The Red Sox, too, have just about picked up where they left off, except that on April's final weekend they were dead last in the AL East. The worse news: New manager Bobby Valentine not only stirred an unnecessarily angry pot early on, questioning Kevin Youkilis's head in the game as Youkilis opened in a slump and stirring team leader Dustin Pedroia to all but slap his manager down in reply, but Valentine has looked the way he merely accused Youkilis. Consider what Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci has merely outlined, since Valentine:

"Didn't have a lineup planned in advance for the third game of the year, leaving Kevin Youkilis to find he was not in the lineup when he showed up at the park that day. (Most managers will give veterans a heads up to a lineup change, especially when it is so easy to script that early in the season.)

"Has admitted leaving pitchers in too long, such as letting lefty Justin Thomas get beat by Toronto's right-handed J.P. Arencibia, and letting Daniel Bard lose a game with walks.

"Created an unnecessary firestorm by challenging the commitment of Youkilis. I doubt Valentine meant harm with his words, but the media blowback seemed to catch Valentine off guard.

"Had no left-handed reliever ready Wednesday when the Twins — without righty Josh Willingham available to pinch-hit — had three straight lefty hitters due (Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Chris Parmelee) against a tired Clay Buchholz. Valentine brought in a righty, Scott Atchison, to pitch to Mauer (39 points better against righties), who ripped a two-run single off the pitcher's foot. If the logic is that Valentine doesn't have confidence to even warm Thomas or Franklin Morales with a five-run lead, this roster is more problematic than we think.

"Started his runner at first base with one out in the ninth April 18 — down four runs with two on. A line drive double play to first base ended the game. It's basic Baseball 101: you don't risk runners when you don't even have the tying run to the plate yet."

So much for the best April of David Ortiz's career.

Valentine was out of the American game for a decade before he shook hands with the Red Sox. Ozzie Guillen, who left the south side of Chicago for Miami, was out of the American game for about ten minutes before he made that change, so to say. His Marlins have new colors and last place in the NL East. And he already had himself a nasty early-season controversy, getting himself suspended five games — by his bosses — after he waxed in such manner as to cause people to think he has a sentimental weakness for Fidel Castro, a Communist tyrant for whom much of Miami's population, never mind Cuba's, has anything but a sentimental weakness.

Hmmm. On the other hand, maybe a few things — Bobby Valentine's ability to outsmart himself and merely alienate others; the Blizzard of Ozz's ability to find the few places left on his foot through which to shoot himself — are the way they're "supposed" to be, after all. Including the fact that it is, merely, on the threshold of May.

Posted by Jeff Kallman at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

Invicta Puts Women's MMA in the Spotlight

On a weekend without a major fight card from the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, or Dream, a brand new mixed martial arts organization stepped in to fill the void for fight fans last Saturday. Invicta Fighting Championships, which will only feature women's matches, aims to build a model that keeps female fighters active and in the proper weight classes.

Since women's fights are so sparse in other major organizations, the best in the world are often forced out of their weight class simply to appear in a major show or take on a legitimate opponent, sometimes creating mismatches even for talented fighters. Invicta aims to correct that. Saturday's card featured both positives and negatives. Let's start with the good.

Positives

Real fighters

Invicta FC featured several fighters familiar to MMA fans, including Marloes Coenen, Liz Carmouche, and Lisa Ellis (née Ward). Some of the competitors on the card were outmatched or with limited training, but there were plenty of real mixed martial artists in action. Even Randi Miller, who was disappointing in a winning performance, is an Olympic medalist whose MMA debut had long been anticipated.

Good fights

Nearly any fight card will invariably include some clunkers, and Saturday night's was no exception, but overall it was an entertaining event, comparable to many UFC or Strikeforce shows. Kaitlin Young vs. Leslie Smith, easily the fight of the night, featured three terrific rounds before ending in a well-deserved draw. Like most sports fans, I prefer decisive outcomes, but the tie was a fair result, and Invicta should capitalize by booking and promoting a rematch.

The other standout fight was the co-headliner featuring Bellator veterans Jessica Penne and Lisa Ellis. Penne took over in the third round, drawing a fountain of blood from her opponent's nose en route to an eventual TKO victory.

The right people involved

Many of the most famous people involved with Invicta's inaugural broadcast weren't the competitors. Fight fans recognized veteran announcer Mauro Ranallo, former Strikeforce champions Mo Lawal and Miesha Tate, former UFC ring girl Natasha Wicks, and even UFC cut men Stitch Duran and Don House. Getting so many recognized and respected MMA veterans involved demonstrated that Invicta FC and its president, Shannon Knapp, know their business and are committed to a quality product.

The announcers, naturally, were the most important to viewers. Ranallo was joined behind the mic by Julie Kedzie and Lawal. The team hadn't worked together before, so they don't have the same chemistry as Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan or Michael Schiavello and Frank Trigg, but the trio mostly did a solid job. Kedzie, a member of Greg Jackson's fight team and a veteran of 25 professional fights, stole the show. She was affable without being cloying, and it was great to have a woman involved in the announcing duties without sacrificing integrity or including someone in over her head.

Room For Improvement

You expect hiccups with a new promotion, and Invicta's debut show certainly had its share.

Elementary mix-ups

The new promotion did such a good job getting most of the big things right, it was surprising how many little things turned out wrong. Fighter information in the first couple "Tales of the Tape" were so far off that I just stopped trusting any of it to be correct. Most notably, fighter weights were repeatedly misidentified. At one point, Liz Carmouche's name scrolled in huge letters behind a different fighter as she walked toward the cage. These things are so easy to set up before the broadcast, it was disappointing that they hadn't been attended to.

Pacing

The event started on time, and the broadcast moved along crisply, with very little dead time between bouts. But there was so little time between matches that little things like getting a drink or taking a bathroom break had to be rushed along so you wouldn't miss anything. Then, following the momentum of Smith and Young's terrific match and Carmouche's dominant TKO victory, there was almost half an hour of dead air before the co-headlining fight. That should have been handled better.

Unless I missed it, the announcers didn't even explain what was going to happen, they just disappeared. Furthermore, King Mo apparently wandered off during the break. Ranallo repeatedly said that Lawal was "busy tweeting", and he was replaced by Miesha Tate, but it was odd for him to vanish so abruptly.

Depth

The top of the card featured talented, high-profile fighters. Some of the competitors in the early bouts looked like they'd never had a striking lesson. It's okay to feature prospects on the undercard, but I'd like to seee Invicta bring in more quality competitors in the future.

Overall, Invicta's debut showed promise, and most of the missteps look easily correctable. Long-term success probably requires substantially growing the fighter roster, eventually including stars like Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey, and Megumi Fujii, and that's probably not on the immediate horizon, but this is still a promotion MMA fans can get excited about.

Posted by Brad Oremland at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)