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NFL General

Jan 8 in Sports History: The Music City Miracle



After the 90.5 degree lateral from Wycheck

In 2000: An otherwise nondescript AFC Wild Card game suddenly found itself joining the Immaculate Reception, the Hail Mary and The Drive in pantheon of unbelievable playoff finishes. The Tennessee Titans were locked in a defensive struggle with the visiting Buffalo Bills in the first playoff game of the new millennium. The Bills rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half and took their first lead of the game at 16-15 with only 16 seconds left. On the ensuing kickoff, Tennessee’s Lorenzo Neal fielded the ball and handed it to H-Back Frank Wycheck. Wycheck threw the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who ran 75 yards for the touchdown. The Titans had to wait out a lengthy review by referee Phil Luckett (who was the Forrest Gump of the NFL in the late 90’s–he seemed to be involved in every major event), but the play stood and “the Music City Miracle” was on the list. The Bills protested that it was a forward pass by Wycheck and the play shouldn’t have stood, but replays show that the play was a lateral.

In 2003: Two Wild Card games played back-to-back provided NFL fans with one of the most exciting days of football ever. First, in Pittsburgh, the Steelers trailed 24-7 and 33-21 before rallying to beat the Cleveland Browns 36-33, despite 433 yards passing by Brown’s backup Kelly Holcomb. Then in San Francisco, the 49ers fell behind the NY Giants 38-14 in the second half before rallying to take a 39-38 lead behind Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens. The last play of the afternoon summed up the entire day. The Giants lined up for a game-winning field goal attempt but the snap was botched, and holder Matt Allen scrambled right and heaved a desperation pass to Giants’ guard Rich Seubert (who was an eligible receiver). Seubert was blatantly interfered with by the 49ers’ Chike Okeafor, but the referees instead penalized the Giants for an illegal man downfield. If the referees had called offsetting penalties (or if Allen had just spiked the ball—it was third down) the Giants could’ve had another shot at winning the game. The 49ers, for some reason, didn’t let the Giants play at Tampa the next week in their stead.

Categories
New England Patriots

Bill Belichick is a phony

Let’s see, the Jets beat the Patriots in the regular season and Belichick gives his former protege a cold fish running away handshake. The Patriots beat the Jets in the playoffs and all of the sudden, he’s ok with Mangini and gives him a bear hug. Just because the student hasn’t overtaken the master, it means everything is fine again? On top of that, he shoves a photographer out of the way like the guy was trying to shoot Belichick’s wife… or mistress.

And while Rich Eisen and the NFL crew try to make fun of the man hug in this clip, they don’t dare veer into the “Belichick is a pompous ass” territory. When asked about shoving the photographer, Belichick responded, “There were 80 people between me and Eric. I’m just trying to coach the team, that’s all.” How is that coaching a team? Will the rest of the Patriots be sore losers/gracious winners too?


Links:

[STL today.com]: Postgame hug draws attention

Categories
Dallas Stars

You’d have to try hard to miss this goal

Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe scored over 800 goals in their careers. Mario Lemieux had 690. Dallas Stars’ forward Patrick Stefan couldn’t get any closer to them last night despite literally having an open net a foot in front of him. In fact, the former top overall draft pick couldn’t be any farther away from those guys if he were traded to Ice Station Zebra. Or farther away from a 4-year-old midget player whose parents couldn’t afford the skating lessons. Seconds away from a 5-4 victory in Edmonton last night, Stefan made a nifty steal of the puck and had an empty net staring at him as he skated into the Oilers zone untouched. For some reason, he didn’t shoot the puck, instead skating all the way in. He then proceeded to miss the open net as the puck jumped off his stick. Then Stefan fell to the ice a la Happy Gilmore in hockey tryouts as the Oilers went the other way and tied the game on an Ales Hemsky goal. Remember, this guy was a number one overall draft pick!

Just think everybody; for a few seconds last night, you were not the worst hockey player in the world. That goes for everybody, even if you live on the Equator and have never heard of hockey, someone out there was worse at it than you were.

The Stars did bail Stefan out, however, by winning 6-5 in a shootout.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Step Aside Showgirls


1. Vegas Rules
Forget about Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Gilbert Arenas. The real all-stars are performing during the timeouts. So, for the first time, NBA.com is compiling votes in order to assemble The 2007 Las Vegas NBA All-Star Dance team which will be composed of one girl from each NBA team. Now, you can go online and, ahem, entertain yourself with pictures and bios from every babe, I mean dancer, on every team. Finally, the talent and inner beauty of women like Courtney from Boston, Katherine from Miami and Julie from Houston can get the proper recognition they deserve. So, show these ladies how much you truly appreciate them; vote early, vote often and send a thank you to NBA.com for creating a one stop shop for dancing divas from around the league.

2. Way Downtown
The Cavs LeBron James proved on Wednesday that he is capable of hitting the long range bombs in real life, as well as in commercials. When he nailed an 83 footer at the end of the third quarter against Boston, not only did he add three points to his scoring total but he also added his name to the record books. According to a statistician, James’ shot was the third longest in NBA history. Only an 84 footer by Chicago’s Norm Van Lier in 1977 and an 89 footer by Baron Davis (then with Charlotte) had more air time than James’. Kinda makes you wonder if he really was hitting jumpers from the opposite baseline in those ads. Nah, he couldn’t do that. Could he?

3. The Hornet with No Sting
Tyson Chandler isn’t far from becoming a big time player in this league. Chandler cleans the glass with the elite in the league, he’s currently sixth in boards, and he’s been blocking shots with ferocity of late. But despite all of the talent that he possesses, Chandler appears to have absolutely no desire to score. In fact, his season high is only 14 points and he hasn’t taken ten shots in any game this year. The Hornets have got to find a way to get more offense out of his 7-1, 245 pound frame and Chandler must learn to be aggressive if he’s ever going to live up to his second pick potential.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Kobe Bryant @ Sacramento 48 min, 42 pts (FG: 11-21, 3FG: 3-5, FT: 17-20), 10 reb, 9 ast

Friday’s Game to Watch: Dallas (26-7) @ San Antonio (23-10) It’s probably the biggest rivalry in the NBA and tonight’s game should be another great game between these two division foes. The Mavericks have a 10-4 record away from Dallas this season, as well as a three game lead over the Spurs in the Southwest Division that has been steadily growing during the Mavs current 12 game win streak. San Antonio, on the other hand, has struggled recently; losing two in a row and four of their last seven. This will be the third game between these two with each team winning in the others gym.

Buzzer Beater: The referees in last night’s game between the Lakers and Kings became a bit whistle happy in the second quarter as they sent players to line an astounding 47 times. Talk about a snore fest! By half-time of the game there had been 38 total fouls called and six players had already picked up three fouls each. After regulation and overtime ended, a total of 80 fouls had been called and 102 free throws had been shot. I hope that the NBA front office takes note and remembers this performance when it comes time to assign referees to the All-Star Game. Please Mr. Stern, just say no to Dick Bavetta, Jess Kersey and Robby Robinson.

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Jan 5 in Sports History: Ruth sold to the Yankees


In 1920 This was the day that the Boston Red Sox and their fans were given an 86-year excuse for losing pennants and World Series’ in unbelievable fashion. Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold George Herman Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 in cash. Some believe it was so Frazee could finance a Broadway play called “No No Nanette,” others believe it was because The Babe had become absolutely insufferable as a superstar for the Red Sox, and the huge amount of money at that time was too good to pass up (Frazee had intended to buy other players with the money, not finance the play, but was entangled with legal problems with the American League). Either way, the fortunes of two franchises completely reversed. Boston, which had won four titles in eight years, did not win for another 86, The Yankees, meanwhile, won 26 during that time.

In 1927: Public hearings began on the most forgotten scandal in sports history. Baseball hall of famers Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, two of the greatest players of all time, were implicated in an alleged fixing of a game in 1919. Former Tigers’ pitcher Dutch Leonard made accusations that Speaker and Cobb, along with “Smokey” Joe Wood (another hall of fame pitcher), wrote letters to him that Cobb and Speaker planned to throw a Tigers-Athletics game at the end of the 1919 season. At first, Cobb and Wood admitted to the letters (Speaker denied everything) but claimed it was a horse racing bet and that Leonard was angry that Cobb (who was also a manager by then) had sent him to the minor leagues. Cobb and Speaker were to privately resign their managerial posts and accept a lifetime ban. In the end, however, Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis cleared all players because Leonard was unable to convince him (or the public) that the players actually threw the game.

Categories
San Antonio Spurs

Odds and Ends: Eva Longoria already has Tony Parker on lockdown


Yes folks, it’s just another excuse to run a pic of Eva Longoria but In Touch Weekly (you know, the magazine you pretend not to read at the dentist office) is reporting that Eva has banned Tony Parker from having a bachelor party because she thinks it’s just asking for trouble. Hmmm… unless Jessica Alba or Scarlett Johannson is showing up at the bachelor party and giving lapdances, we think Eva is pretty safe that she won’t get traded in.

In other news…

[MSNBC]: LaDanian Tomlinson becomes the first Charger to win MVP

[SI ]: Not only were the players juiced, so were the balls

[Sportsline]: If a WNBA franchise folds in the woods…

[MSNBC]: Appleby says Wie ‘not ready’ to play men

[NBA]: Finally, an NBA All-Star team worth voting for: Dancers!

[The Offside]: This might be your last chance to see Ronaldo’s ex having sex on YouTube

Categories
Boxing

Mike Tyson’s understatement of the year

The Smoking Gun released the transcript of Mike Tyson’s police interview after he was pulled over and arrested for DUI and coke possession. Iron Mike told police in a taped interview, “I am fucked up”. Other not as obvious highligts:

  • Tyson has someone roll his joints for him
  • He uses cocaine “whenever [he] can get [his] hands on it”
  • “I’m an addict”
  • If Tyson isn’t taking Zoloft, he gets a little crazy
  • He smokes cocaine in his Marlboro cigarettes
  • “Fuck You, I hate you, fuck you, dead beat, fuck you”. (Tyson talking to the ground/himself)

Well, if it wasn’t already clear, Mike Tyson has got some serious problems. His next pay per view might be a date with Britney Spears. Although, seriously… who wouldn’t pay to see that? That’s $39.95 well spent. Hook it up Don King!

Links:
[The Smoking Gun]: Tyson To Cops: “I Am Fucked Up”

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Houston, We Have A… Nevermind


1. No Yao, No Problem
There’s no doubt that the Rockets miss their big man in the middle, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at their record. Since Yao broke a bone in his leg the Rockets have won four of five games, including their current four game winning streak. Whatever was holding down Tracy McGrady earlier in the season is no longer a problem as he has scored over 30 points in four of the games since Yao got injured. But the rest of January could prove to be detrimental as their schedule becomes tougher with teams that rely more on their inside presence. While nobody is happy with the loss of Yao, T-Mac has got to be enjoying having free reign to create on the floor and, once again, be able to score at will.

2. Scoring at Will
If you had to guess two teams in the league that would combine to score 279 points in a game, it probably wouldn’t have been Memphis and Golden State. But that’s exactly what happened. In an offensive explosion, each team scored at least 30 points per quarter as Memphis held on to win, 144-135. The Warriors’ Matt Barnes had a game-high 36 points and Mike Miller lead his team with 33. 13 out of 19 players that logged time in the game scored double digit points. It was only the fourth win since the beginning of December but it was their second win in four games as Pau Gasol returns to his old form. Tony Barone Sr. seems to be filling in quite nicely since the team fired Mike Fratello.

3. The Hurt Heat
There were not too many people who believed that Miami would win the championship last year, but now it’s getting hard to believe that Miami will even make the playoffs. Injuries have plagued this team throughout the year and nothing appears like it will change anytime soon. Currently, the team is missing Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, Antoine Walker, James Posey, Wayne Simien and coach Pat Riley. And last night against the Clippers it showed. Miami lost 110-95 and fell to 13-18 on the season, dropping them to five games behind first place in the Southeast Division. At this point, the defending champs would miss the playoffs altogether. But even with a healthy cast it will take a spectacular comeback over the second half of the season for the Heat to have a chance to defend their title in the post-season.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Gilbert Arenas vs. Milwaukee 44 min, 32 pts (FG: 12-25, 3FG: 4-9, FT: 4-5), 11 reb, 8 ast, 4 stl

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Indiana (17-15) @ Dallas (25-7) After a surprising end to last season and an even more surprising start to this season, the Mavericks have been one of the most impressive teams in the league. Dallas strung together a 15 game win streak earlier this season and also have a current 11 game streak. Despite a loss to Charlotte on Saturday, the Pacers have been playing good ball lately in winning six of their last nine. Jermaine O’Neal has stepped up his play and currently averages a double-double but Dirk Nowitzki will be a tough opponent to defend as he continues to push his name into the ring for MVP.

Buzzer Beater: When you make your living as a professional athlete, is it too much to ask that you be in shape? Apparently, some Miami players think it is. And that’s why Antoine Walker and James Posey could be facing suspensions for their poor health. The two were already deactivated for their game against the Clippers and forced to remain in Miami where they will workout with the team’s strength and conditioning coach. Looks like it’s time to leave the lunch line and start running lines for these Heat heffers.

Categories
NFL General

Jan 4 in Sports History: More NFL playoff history


In 1976: The Dallas Cowboys became the first Wild Card team to reach the Super Bowl with a 37-7 drubbing of the Los Angeles Rams on the road. Roger Staubach, who had tortured the Vikings the week before with a miracle “Hail Mary” pass in the final seconds, threw for four touchdown passes in the blowout victory. The Cowboys were unable to complete the dream, as they lost in the Super Bowl to Pittsburgh.

In 1981: What does Sportscolumnhave against the Cleveland Browns? Nothing really — but when the Daily History writer is from Pittsburgh, these things get mentioned. Another January Sunday, another Cleveland Browns colossal playoff failure. This time, Browns’ quarterback Brian Sipe, kicker Don Cockcroft and coach Sam Rutigliano did the honors as the Browns blew another one they could’ve had. The warm weather Oakland Raiders were greeted with minus 37 degree wind chills (and snow balls from the Cleveland fans). But it was the Browns who were frozen, as Cockcroft missed three field goals and an extra point and Sipe threw three interceptions in a 14-12 loss. Cleveland drove to the Raiders 13 yard line in the final minutes, but Rutigliano elected not to have Cockcroft kick the game-winner (he did make two earlier) and called the infamous “Red Right 88” Sipe’s pass was intercepted by Mike Davis, and the Raiders went on to become the first Wild Card team to win a Super Bowl.

In 1980: President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States Olympic Team would be boycotting the Summer Games in Moscow later that year. In a highly criticized reaction to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan a few months earlier, hundreds of American athletes were not allowed to compete in their only chance to win an Olympic medal. The Soviets responded by not boycotting the upcoming Lake Placid Winter Games (we’re thankful for that- there wouldn’t have been a ‘Miracle On Ice’) but instead by skipping the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Both boycotts backfired, as the Soviets went unchallenged in 1980 and the U.S. had no competition in ’84. Really, it was just stupid, silly politics getting in the way of some great athletic contests. Carter wasn’t re-elected that year.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Washington’s Wizard


1. Accolades and Injuries
Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was named the Eastern Conference player of the month for his performances during December. Arenas averaged a league high 34.1 points and scored 30 or more in 12 of 16 games, including a career-high 60 point game and a 54 point game. Unfortunately, the Wizards might have to play without their star after he injured his shoulder on Saturday in a game versus Milwaukee. Tonight, the Bucks will travel to Washington where Arenas has excelled this season. Arenas has yet to miss a game this year and head coach Eddie Jordan sure hope this isn’t his first.

2. Francis Returns to Houston
It’s a new year, but some things just never change for the Knicks. Steve Francis’ knee has been a chronic problem since he arrived in New York and now he’s left the team to undergo rehabilitation on the plagued right knee in Houston. N.Y. knows how this story can go since it was just a year ago that Penny Hardaway left for rehab in Houston and never returned. Stevie Franchise will probably not return this season and he will likely never be the same player he once was. So, New York will be left holding his unmovable rights that include three years and $48.5 million left on his current contract. It’s just another bruising blow to Isiah Thomas as he attempts to turn around his team before the end of the year.

3. Hole Down Low
As shocking as it might sound, the Lakers are going to miss not have Kwame Brown in the lineup. Feels weird writing it, but it’s true. With Chris Mihm out for the year and Lamar Odom out until mid-month, the ankle injury to Brown couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Lakers are two games behind Phoenix in the Pacific Division and have a tough schedule ahead of them. Brown will never live up to the hype that he received as a number one draft pick but he is the Lakers best interior defender without Mihm around. But interior defense is obviously not L.A.’s number one concern. How could it be when Mihm is your most dominant enforcer?

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Amare Stoudemire @ Chicago 36 min, 24 pts (FG: 10-20, FT: 4-4), 18 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: San Antonio (23-9) @ Minnesota (14-15) San Antonio will take one of the leagues best road records into Minnesota as Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett add another chapter into their great rivalry. The former MVP’s continue to post impressive numbers as they lead their teams in points and rebounds, but the Timberwolves have lacked consistency as a team as they maintain the search for an elusive winning record. The Spurs, on the other hand, have been amongst the leagues elite for the entire season as Duncan’s supporting cast continues to grow and produce.

Buzzer Beater: Allen Iverson gave his old coach the cold shoulder when he ignored him before the game between the Nuggets and Sixers last night. Understandable considering the way Maurice Cheeks and owner Billie King handled the situation leading up to Iverson’s trade, but what’s up with Andre Miller blowing off George Karl. Surely he’s not upset that Karl traded him for one of the greatest players in the history of the game. There was only one untouchable player on the Nuggets and his name was Anthony, not Andre. Get over yourself Miller.