Categories
NHL General

Odds and Ends: The state of the NHL


We’ve been neglecting hockey lately but since so much has been made of the ratings of the NHL All-Star game, we thought we’d point you over to two blog entries. First, let’s blame Gary Bettman. Second, perhaps all this angst over the state of the NHL and specifically over the Versus ratings are overblown. However, the big difference between college basketball and the NHL is that the college basketball postseason is a must watch event and the NHL postseason is a “is it on?” event. Finally, we have a sign from a female fan that needs to go into the Fan Sign Hall of Fame.

In other news…

[The Offside]: Fireball soccer? Maybe hockey would be more popular if we dipped the puck in gasoline first.

[Awful Announcing]: Wait, why do black people get two Thanksgivings?

[Can’t Stop the Bleeding]: High School wrestling will never be the same in Minnesota

[Yahoo]: Next time you think NFL players are paid too much

[The Hater Nation]: The best Barbaro story picture

[The 700 Level]: How is it that Freddie Mitchell still in the blogosphere?

And finally…. why white people shouldn’t rap: “take a big dump on the bears”? This type of thing happens every year. Remember when some urologist decided to battle TO? People… please… just stop.

Categories
NFL General

So how long have you been a black quarterback?


Butch John is his name (we’d hate to know what his porn name is) and he was a reporter for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. According to sports lore, he was the guy who asked Doug Williams, “So, Doug, how long have you been a black quarterback?” Except, well, he didn’t.

According to John, he actually said, “Doug, it’s obvious you’ve been a black quarterback all your life. When did it start to matter?'” Doug Williams mishead him and replied, “What? How long have I been a black quarterback?” and the rest is history. The problem is that a ridiculous question is so much funnier than a thoughtfully posed question so it’s unlikely that the truth will ever spread the way the story of the stupid question spread. It’s like when an athlete gets arrested and it makes the front page but when that athlete is exonerated, it’s a small blurb on page 10.

So here we are doing our part to set the record straight. When people google “how long have you been a black quarterback”, hopefully they’ll read the truth of the statement. Or they can just keep making fun of it like we did on Poor Man’s PTI last week. Sadly the latter is more likely.

Links:

[Orlando Sentinel]: Dumbest question was never asked

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Knocked Out


1. The Mamba Strikes
Kobe Bryant is in trouble again for something he claims was unintentional, but at least there is no police involvement in this case. Bryant said that he was “shocked” to be suspended for last night’s game because of an elbow to the face of Manu Ginobili during the Spurs-Lakers game on Sunday. David Stern turned down an appeal hearing that was requested by Bryant yesterday. Last year, Bryant was suspended for two games after a stiff forearm to the throat of Mike Miller. The Mamba says that he felt awful after he realized Ginobili had gone down, but he also felt awful in a tearful press conference after being accused of rape. That doesn’t mean he didn’t sleep with a gold-digger.

2. Hopeful Hornets
One of the best point guards in the league could be back on the court by Friday; that’s because Chris Paul says he’s feeling great and ready to get on the floor. The Hornets have been destroyed by injuries this year after having a solid start to the season, but New Orleans has still been able to hold their own of late and win seven of their last ten. Desmond Mason and Tyson Chandler have been impressive in Paul’s absence and their numbers could get better when their leader returns. Even though Paul leads the team in scoring, he is much more focused on distributing the rock.

3. The Big Benchwarmer
After missing almost the entire season so far, Shaq made his long awaited return last week. But after playing in only two games, he’s been placed back on a very sturdy shelf. The Diesel hurt his calf in practice on Monday and is considered day to day. It looks like this could be the beginning of a series of nagging injuries for the big fella. O’Neal use to claim that despite his regular season obstacles, he would always be ready to go when the playoffs rolled around. But his age is catching up with his body and the results have not been pretty. Considering Shaq’s current conditioning, he’ll need to be completely healthy for a full four to six weeks before the postseason begins to be at his best when it counts.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Gilbert Arenas vs. Detroit 44 min, 36 pts (FG: 10-20, 3FG: 5-12, FT: 11-12), 7 reb, 11 ast

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: San Antonio (32-14) @ Utah (29-17) This is a great match-up despite the team’s struggles of late. Tim Duncan is currently playing some his best ball of the year, as he usually does during the Spurs yearly rodeo road trip. Utah has only lost six games at home and owns a commanding lead in the Northwest Division behind the play of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams. The Jazz have been considering moving Andrei Kirilenko and bringing in someone like Ray Allen or Vince Carter since AK-47 just can’t seem to play up to his standards. Tonight, Kirilenko will need to step up against Bruce Bowen to possibly save in job in Utah.

Buzzer Beater: In case you hadn’t noticed; the Bucks suck. This January, Milwaukee has gone a pathetic 2-12. But things could be changing for the Bucks soon because Michael Redd has said that he could return by next week. That would put Redd in the lineup against Orlando. Currently, the Bucks are four games behind eighth place in the East; which isn’t exactly a death sentence in a fairly pathetic conference. Redd has been rehabbing since going down with a strained patellar tendon in his left leg, leaving his team with a 27.7 point hole to crawl out of every night.

Categories
New England Patriots

Tom Brady is living the dream


At the risk of turning into some sort of gossipy knitting circle, we do have to report that the rumors are indeed true — Tom Brady is dating Gisele Bundchen. US Weekly has a photo of them walking back to her NYC apartment where they probably spent all night looking at game film.


Gisele: Tom, are you sad you threw that interception to Marlon Jackson and won’t be in the Super Bowl?
Brady: Yeah… sure. (thinking: who cares? This is better than the SB.)

Let us remind you that Tom Brady was a sixth round draft pick who got his chance cause Drew Bledsoe punctured a lung against the Jets. And now he’s trading in Bridget Moynahan for a 26 year old Brazilian model. Forget about Wally Pip. Drew Bledsoe should be the new Wally Pip in sports references… hell all references.

By the way, shouldn’t Brady be smiling more?

Links:
[US Weekly]: Tom & Gisele Step Out Together

Categories
College Football

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #4 Ted Ginn Jr.

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #4.]

It could have been the fairy tale ending to Ted Ginn’s career. He returned the opening kickoff for a BCS title game record 93 yard touchdown but proceeded to injure his left foot during the end zone celebration. Ohio State was humiliated for the remainder of the game as the Buckeye’s offense could only muster a pathetic 82 yards while their playmaker watched from the sideline on crutches. Rumor has it that Ted Ginn Sr. more or less ordered Jr. not to return to the game, saying something along the lines of “you’re in the draft after this game” and “it’s not that important.” You can literally see dollar signs in Sr.’s eyes when he looks at his boy.

Here’s the fateful play:

Back to #5 | Forward to #3

Categories
NFL General

Kevin Federline’s Super Bowl commercial

We have a love/hate relationship with commercials and nowhere is that relationship tested more than the Super Bowl. People who don’t even like football watch the SB “for the commercials” which is really odd in itself… Anyway, here’s the first commercial from the Super Bowl that everyone will be talking about. This year’s Nationwide Insurance entry is a new commercial from their “Life comes at you fast” campaign. Last year it was the lame Fabio commercial that wasn’t funny. This year, we have Kevin Federline making fun of himself. It’s actually hilarious and therefore miraculously makes K-Fed less of a douche.

(via Awful Announcing)

Categories
New Orleans Saints

Maxim has found the F Da Eagles Saints Girl


Her parents must be so proud:

-“You know my daughter Heather?”
-“Oh, you mean F**k Da Eagles Heather? I saw her spread in Maxim.”

Yes, the fine folks over at Maxim immediately jumped onto the instant celebrity bandwagon and hunted down Heather Rothstein, the girl who wore the shirt on the Eagles-Saints telecast that said “Fuck Da Eagles“. She looks pretty good in the Maxim spread. For looking like ass on TV, she claims that she was completely wasted. We’ll reserve judgment.

She says that she went to the Saints-Bears game in Chicago and it was the worst experience of her life.


I had a really crappy experience in Chicago. People threw eggs, donuts, beer and snowballs at us. And they were cowards about it. They would throw something at us, and then we’d turn around and nobody would be there. I mean, if you have the balls to throw an egg at me you better have the balls for me to kick your ass.

It was the most terrible sports experience I’ve ever been through. And the dick-to-chick ratio sucked. For every 500 guys there was one girl. It was terrible. And in New Orleans, it’s guy-girl, guy-girl, guy-girl. It’s southern hospitality down there. We’ll get you shit-faced on Bourbon Street before we whoop your football team’s ass, and then we all drink together again after. So it was like a real culture shock for me. I was like “Wow, you guys suck!” They were mean.

Heather has season tickets and sits in the same seats every game. Looking at the 2007 schedule, we’re gonna need extra security around there as the Eagles visit New Orleans… and, well, Eagles fans travel well and are insane. Good luck next year, Heather, and for chrissakes, please don’t start writing for CNNSI.

Links:
[Maxim]: F**k Da Eagles Heather photos

Categories
College Basketball

Jan 30 in Sports History: UCLA Bruins start streaking



John Wooden

In 1971: UCLA’s basketball team looked to rebound from a tough loss at Notre Dame the week before with a little tune-up against UC Santa Barbara before conference play began. The loss to the Irish ended a 45-game winning streak for the Bruins. Led by Sidney Wicks, UCLA dispatched UCSB 74-61. Then they decided to get serious and win 87 more consecutive games (and three championships). Ironically, the Bruins’ streak would come to an end again at the hands the Irish in South Bend 155 weeks later. Even more ironically (according to a site called referee.com), referee Rich Weiler worked both Notre Dame games. The Bruins’ 88-game winning streak (it could’ve been 133 if Catholics decided not to build a lovely campus in Indiana) will forever be untouched in college basketball.

In 1996: In the only Super Bowl where a player from the opposing team should’ve been given the MVP award, Steelers quarterback Neil O’Donnell “led” the Dallas Cowboys to their third title in five years with two horrendous interceptions in a 27-17 victory in Super Bowl XXX at Arizona’s Sun Devil Stadium. Brown was just sorta standing there, minding his own business and not covering anybody on either play. But O’Donnell insisted on landing him a huge free agent contract by giving Brown the MVP award. Even worse, O’Donnell questioned “which direction” the Steelers were headed that offseason when he landed an even bigger contract with the soon-to-be 1-15 Jets. Karma did the best it could, as Brown only played 14 games the next two years after getting all that money from the Raiders while O’Donnell fizzled out, became a journeyman backup and was not allowed anywhere near the ball during Super Bowl XXXIV with the Titans.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Latrell Sprewell is in good form


1. Grocery Budget
Latrell Sprewell is back on the court; no wait, sorry. Latrell Sprewell is back in court as his babies’ momma is filing a $200 million lawsuit accusing Spree of breaking a long-term cohabitation deal and then roughing her up last month in their home. Allegedly, Sprewell slapped a phone out of Candace Cabbil’s hands as she attempted to dial 911 and then he dragged her down a flight of stairs by her feet. Spree has not played in the NBA since leaving Minnesota in 2004-05 after turning down a three-year extension because he was insulted by the paltry pay. Apparently, Latrell’s right; $21 million isn’t enough to feed his family. It’s more like $200 million.

2. Suns Set
It took a monumental effort from Kevin Garnett to overcome the monumental effort from Steve Nash, but the Phoenix Suns have finally fallen. After 17 consecutive wins that spanned a period of one lossless month, the Timberwolves were able to capitalize on a rare poor shooting fourth quarter by the Suns; 44 points, including 15 in the final period, from The Big Ticket didn’t hurt either. With a win, Phoenix could have tied the 1969 Knicks, 1982 Celtics and the 1996 Bulls with the fourth longest win streak in league history. Instead, the Suns will begin from scratch as they attempt to build up a third streak of 15+ consecutive wins.

3. Time to Move On
Despite having one of the best seasons of his career, it appears that New Jersey is determined to shop Vince Carter before the trade deadline passes. Carter’s name has been floated around all over the league but it seems that the main contenders in the Vinsanity sweepstakes are Memphis, Utah and Seattle. Pau Gasol, Andrei Kirilenko and Ray Allen are the main possibilities to replace Carter in Jersey. The Nets just can’t seem to move ahead in the depleted Atlantic Division; it would be irresponsible of the front office to be content with a sub .500 record and it’s become painfully obvious their talent pool is not going to gel. Gasol could become an excellent compliment to Jason Kidd if he can remain healthy.

4. Skills Showdown
The NBA might have a hard time getting the big name superstars to compete in the slam dunk competition, but the league’s elite appear to be lining up to get a crack at the skills challenge. Dwyane Wade, the winner of last year’s event, will return to defend his crown against some of the best ball handlers in the game. Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and LeBron James will be dribbling, passing and shooting it out with Wade on All-Star Saturday. Nash is the only other player with experience in the event, after he won the challenge in 2005. In addition to being the only participant without a ring or MVP award, King James will be the only non-guard competing in the event.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Kevin Garnett vs. Phoenix 39 min, 44 pts (FG: 18-29, 3FG: 0-1, FT: 8-10), 11 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Detroit (25-17) @ Washington (26-17) Washington has only lost four games at home this year behind Gilbert Arenas’ MVP level of play. The Wizards currently have the best record in the Eastern Conference and before being blown out by Phoenix last week, the last time the Wizards had dropped a home game was back on December 9. Detroit, on the other hand, has done a majority of their damage on the road. The Pistons are only half a game behind Washington as they continue to work Chris Webber into the game plan. This will already be the fourth time these two teams have hooked up with Detroit winning two of the previous games, including one win in Washington.

Buzzer Beater: When looking at the NBA spectrum, you have two polar opposites serving as the bookends for the league. On the winning side of things, there’s Phoenix who has won 17 of their last 18. And then you have the Celtics, losers of 11 in a row and 18 of their last 20. Clearly, Boston is one of the more pathetic franchises in recent history and with Paul Pierce out for at least another week; it’s not going to get any prettier for Bean Town. At this point, the only thing that can save the Celtics’ season would be a number one pick in the upcoming draft.

Categories
Soccer

Top 10 Dumbest in-game Injuries: #5 Paulo Diogo

[Sportscolumn is running down the ten dumbest in-game injuries in sports.  Here’s #5.]

In a Swiss soccer league game, a Servette FC player set-up a successful goal and in wild merriment he scaled a fence that was in place to separate the fans from the field. The just married Paulo Diogo’s wedding band snagged on the fence as he leapt off and part of his finger along with his ring remainder atop the fence after he had hit the ground. Talk about a symbol of love.

And if having a finger ripped off isn’t bad enough, a referee misinterpreted Diogo’s writhing on the ground and shrieks of agony as an excessive celebration and threw a yellow card in his face. Unfortunately, doctors were unable to reattach the ring finger and instead opted to amputate what portion was left.

Back to #6 | Forward to #4