Categories
Pittsburgh Steelers

Dec 26 in Sports History: Holiday History


On Dec. 23, 1972: The Pittsburgh Steelers first-ever home playoff game ended with an absolute miracle. The Steelers were hosting the Oakland Raiders and had just fallen behind 7-6 with less than a minute left. On 4th and 10 at their own 40 yard line, Steelers’ quarterback Terry Bradshaw dropped back to pass but had nobody to throw to, so he just tossed the ball up for grabs. The ball reached Steelers’ back John “Frenchy” Fuqua and Raiders’ safety Jack Tatum at the exact same time. Tatum was too selfish to just knock the ball away, and was more concerned with knocking Fuqua out. The ball ricocheted away and the instant before it hit the turf, Steelers rookie fullback Franco Harris grabbed it and raced the rest of the way for a 60-yard touchdown, much to the shock of everyone inside Three Rivers Stadium. The Raiders and coach John Madden protested that the ball had touched Fuqua, which, according to rules at the time, would have made it an illegal catch because a pass was not allowed to touch two offensive players. The Immaculate Reception (the term was originally thought of by some fans at a bar after the game—not by anyone on TV or in the newspaper) stood and has been called the greatest play in NFL history. (Shame on You Tube for pulling a video down of the original broadcast of the play, which debunked many myths about its illegality). The Steelers lost in the AFC title game the following week to Miami.

On Dec. 24, 1977: The Raiders were on the other end of a classic playoff game, this time beating the Baltimore Colts 37-31 in double overtime. The game see-sawed back and forth, with the Raiders methodically moving the ball and scoring while the Colts thrilled the home crowd with big plays, including a long interception return and a kickoff return for touchdowns. Both teams bogged down in the first overtime and couldn’t get into scoring position. In the second overtime, Oakland’s Ken Stabler found receiver Dave Casper in the end zone on the famous “Ghost to the Post” play, which was Casper’s third touchdown of the day. It was the third longest game in NFL history. Oakland lost to Denver the following week in the AFC Championship game.

On Dec. 25, 1971: It was a long Christmas in Kansas City, as the Chiefs and the Dolphins played the longest game in NFL history in the first round of the playoffs. The defending champion Chiefs and the upstart Dolphins traded scores on their way to a 24-24 deadlock at the end of regulation. As brilliant as the first 60 minutes were, the next 24 were just as sloppy. Each team’s kickers missed easy field goals that could have ended it. Only when Miami’s Garo Yupremian connected on a 37-yarder midway through the second overtime did it end. Miami went on to lose to Dallas in the Super Bowl.

Categories
NFL General

Odds and Ends: What? No Christian Slater in the booth?



I have friends who are A-listers

The lead producer of Monday Night Football has admitted that perhaps having “B-listers” in the booth for Monday Night Football was a mistake this year and points specifically to Christian Slater. If you were lucky enough to miss Christian Slater promoting a movie during the Seahawks-Raiders game, well, it was extremely painful. When asked whether he was a football fan by Joe Theisman, he replied, “I have friends who are football fans.” Ummm… ok. So next year, ESPN will no longer have any B-list celebs in the booth during games, although there will be plenty of A-list celebs promoting Disney movies.

In other news…

[Call of the Green Monster]: To Welcome Matsuzaka, Manny Plans to Learn “Chinese”

[NBA.com]: Gilbert Arenas responds to Kobe

[Fox News]: Prosecutors drop rape charges against Duke lacrosse players (still face kidnapping and sexual offense chargers)

[TSN.ca]: NHL is considering realigning to 4 divisions

[Newsnet5]: Personal Info On Dozens Of Ballplayers Taken From Dumpster

[Basketbawful]: Whatever happened to Armon Gilliam and his gumby haircut

[Steroid Nation]: Fighter submits a sample of “non-human urine or urine from a dead human being”

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Christmas Comes Early


1. A Lump of Coal for Boston
Paul Pierce has a bum foot and will miss the next two to three weeks of action. Now, if the Celtics struggled to go 10-14 with a healthy roster, the injury would lead you to believe that Boston will begin to make a serious Greg Oden run without their All-Star and his sidekick, Wally Szczerbiak who is out with a sprained ankle. Obviously this is a hard blow for Boston to take right now. Pierce is having one of the best seasons of his career as he carries an inexperienced team, and it’s tough to see how Delonte West or Gerald Green could adequately fill-in for the league’s 10th highest scorer. Looks like Philly’s going to have some competition for worst team in the Atlantic Division over the next few weeks.

2. Denver’s Stocking Stuffer
It’s finally here. After weeks of waiting, Allen Iverson will suit up in a new uniform at his Denver debut tonight when the Nuggets host Sacramento. Of course, it will still be a while until A.I. teams up with Carmelo Anthony, but all that means is that Iverson gets the stage all to himself until late January. Now, the only things standing between Iverson and the Pepsi Center floor are a physical and the residual effects of a severe snow storm. But once Iverson gets the official nod to join the team, no blizzard is going to be able to keep the Nugget faithful from enjoying their Christmas present three days early.

3. Dreaming of a Green Christmas
Nike appears to be reaping the rewards of having two of the brightest stars in the NBA signed to shoe contracts with them. Thanks in part to the latest kicks associated with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Nike’s quarterly earnings showed an increase in profit by eight percent in the United States and 15 percent in Asia. While eight and 15 percent might not sound like a lot at first, when dealing with a corporation the size of Nike, it can add up to millions. Wade is not directly endorsed by Nike, but he is signed by Converse who is owned by Nike. The juggernaut of the shoe world will be packing quite a punch for some time considering the duo are only in their fourth season and it is merely a matter of time before their faces are etched onto the Mt. Rushmore of the NBA’s newest generation.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Kevin Martin vs. Washington 46 min, 40 pts (FG: 13-23, 3FG: 4-10, FT: 10-11), 4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

Friday’s Game to Watch: Houston (15-10) @ San Antonio (20-6) While Yao Ming has been elevating his game to new heights this season, the Rockets have struggled to find wins of late; especially on the road where they have dropped five of their last eight. And no relief is in sight as they go up against the leagues best team and their 10-3 home record. The Spurs have won nine of ten games, including their current five game winning streak, thanks to a deep squad that has seen five different players lead the team in scoring over the last ten games.

Buzzer Beater: The Heat have been inconsistent this year, to say the least. However, they have managed to be consistently poor against high scoring teams. When allowing 100 points or more, the Heat are a pathetic 1-11. Unfortunately, Miami’s next three games are all against teams that average triple-digit scoring. So, even though Christmas is right around the corner, Miami is not going to be in a giving mood.

Categories
Oakland Raiders

Art Shell owes Adam Schefter a fruit basket



DAMN YOU SCHEFTER!

Last night on the NFL Network pregame show, Adam Schefter reported that a “high-ranking Raiders official” informed him that Art Shell would be fired after the season. About half an hour later, the Raiders immediately issued a press release that refuted the report.


ADAM SCHEFTER HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FALSE RUMOR MONGERER WITH RESPECT TO THE RAIDERS AND ANTI-RAIDER BASED UPON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH DENVER AND WITH MIKE SHANAHAN.

NO DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE RELATIVE TO THE 2007 OAKLAND RAIDERS NOR WILL THEY BE MADE FOR SOME TIME.

ADAM SCHEFTER COULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN HIS INFORMATION FROM A “RELIABLE SOURCE” BECAUSE THERE’S ONLY ONE RELIABLE SOURCE AND HE DOESN’T TRUST ADAM.

Shefter at halftime said that he sticks by his story and said that if Al Davis wanted to attack his credibility, all he had to do was say that Art Shell would be the coach of the Raiders next season but failed to do so.

And the press release probably was sent directly from Al Davis’ computer because it was typed in ALL CAPS. We get the feeling that a crotchety old Al Davis will keep Art Shell on next season just to spite Adam Schefter and his “bias”. Nevermind that Shell is absolutely wrong for the job and the Raiders will go 3-13 next year.

Links:
[SFGate.com]: Raiders deny report saying Shell’s done

Categories
Green Bay Packers

Favre! Come back, Favre!


Was it the last time? Was it the last Lambeau Leap? (Wait a minute, no touchdown means no leap right? Or did Favre go ahead and do that anyway.) Can Brett please come back next year? We’ve got an awesome fantasy football strategy – start either the defense that’s playing the Oakland Raiders or the Green Bay Packers – and we can’t afford to let that advantage slip away. The Raiders will most likely be just as bad next year but Favre… man, Favre is irreplaceable.

Check out the box score: 26/50 for 285 yards is decent but… 1 sack, 0 TDs, and 2 INTS (1 returned for a TD!). You can’t replace that type of anti-production from an opposing quarterback on such a consistent basis.

So come back Favre. Grace us with another year of setting INT records and defensive fantasy football points. And if not for us, do it for the announcers out there. Where else are they gonna satiate their oral fixation?

Speaking of announcers, all those people complaining that they don’t get the NFL Network? You might consider yourself lucky. In addition to the snoozefest that was last night’s 9-7 game, listening to Bryant Gumble announce a game is excruciating. For a veteran TV guy, he’s just awful as an announcer. We’re not sure exactly what it is but some combination of his voice and delivery for the play by play that actually makes us wish Chris Collingsworth would do more of the talking. Yeah… that’s how bad it is. Time to hire away the “B” team from ESPN.

Categories
Florida Marlins

Dontrelle Willis arrested for DUI in South Beach


Dontrelle Willis, he of the high leg kick and squeaky clean image was arrested last night on a DUI charge by Miami Police when he stepped outside his Bentley to pee on the street. (Well, of course, he wasn’t going to pee in his Bentley.) Police say that he failed a field sobriety test but refused a breathalyzer.

The 2003 NL Rookie of the Year and 2003 World Series Champ (oh by the way Cubs fans, he was original drafted by the Cubs) had up until now had a squeaky clean image was the face of the Marlins after they cleaned house following 2003. He also earned about 1/4 of the entire Marlins payroll (at $4.35M last year) and was in negotiations for a new contract in 2007. We’re going to assume that as good of a pitcher as he is, this won’t negatively affect his contract. Hell, Leonard Little actually killed someone on a DUI and the Rams still gave him a new contract.

CBS Sportsline had the best headline of the day, calling him the Pee-Train. Now, that’s a nickname that won’t go away. Makes you think he’s R. Kelly or something.

Links:
[Miami Herald]: Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis arrested in SoBe on DUI charge

Categories
All Other Sports

Odds and Ends: The hottest male athletes


SI, which never saw a slideshow they didn’t like (have you seen their top 20 athletes with herpes series?) released their hottest athletes list and it’s full of dudes… then we realized there’s also a female version. Any way, to balance out all the Women We Love stuff on here, we thought we’d just stick with the hottest male athletes. Apparently the hottest guy in the world is Kelly Slater who, like, surfs. Followed by a bunch of soccer players. The first major sport athlete to make the list? Of course, Tom Brady at #5. Can we use this to our advantage? Is there any way we can send Brady to coax once-very-hot Katie Holmes from the Dark Side?

In other news…

[Macondawg]: Two men banned for attacking UGA mascots

[Valentine’s Views]: Tiki Barber for the Hall of Fame?

[Can’t Stop the Bleeding]: Isiah To Cowardly New Yorkers : Say It To My Face

[The Offside]: Liverpool Players use Official for Target Practice (video)

[The Big Lead]: More on the fight between the son of Wellington Mara and some Eagles fan

Categories
Philadelphia 76ers

"A.I. gone, Brown may return to Philly"


Here’s what’s wrong with sports media today. The headline, from MSNBC/AP would have you think that Larry Brown might return to the Sixers now that Allen Iverson is gone because he has a huge problem with AI. This is simply not true and completely irresponsible. This is like saying that Britney Spears became a fat hillbilly mess after meeting Kevin Federline… wait no… that actually is true. The point is: just because one thing precedes another doesn’t mean it caused the other. But that is what the headline is screaming.

First of all, Larry Brown has been acting as an unofficial adviser to Billy King and might just go back to the Sixers in an official capacity. Second, Larry Brown and Iverson had a lot of famous clashes but LB is probably the only coach the Sixers had that AI ever respected. Third, if LB had such a huge problem with AI that Iverson’s presence in Philly kept him from going back to the Sixers in an official capacity, then why would George Karl ever take on Iverson? Karl and Larry Brown are good friends — so good in fact that LB’s dismissal from the Knicks is what caused the brawl at MSG a week ago as Karl tried to rub it in Isiah’s face for his handling/firing of Brown. Of course Karl got the green light from LB before the trade was made.

We usually don’t get so fired up about sports reporting anymore. Hell, just this week Desmond Howard starting analyzing a nonexistent bowl game and ESPN claimed a scoop that they didn’t actually scoop… Oh well, what can you do.

Categories
NFL General

The NFL has got a ball problem too


While all the attention was focused on the synthetic microfiber balls the NBA adopted this year (and will drop in Jan), the NFL has a problem with the footballs they were sent this year by Wilson — QBs are complaining that they’re too slick and then getting even slicker with age.

Eagles team equipment manager John Hatfield attributes it to the change in regime from Tagliabue to Roger Goodell:


They had a problem this summer up in Ohio where they make the balls,” Hatfield said. “They had a humidity problem in the curing process [of the leather].”

Wilson, which has been the exclusive provider of footballs for the NFL since 1941, usually produces most of its footballs earlier in the year, when the Ohio weather is cooler and they have a bigger batch of balls from which to select the 720 “NFL-worthy” balls they send to each team.

But after Goodell was named commissioner on Aug. 8, the league informed Wilson it wanted a whole new supply of Goodell-signature balls delivered to teams in time for the start of the regular season.

Doug Wisner, a marketing analyst for Wilson footballs, acknowledged that a summer heat wave in Ohio affected the production of the Goodell footballs.

“When there’s a humidity problem, what happens is the pebble definition [on the ball] isn’t as great,” he said. “That did occur this summer. There was a big heat wave right when we were producing the footballs. It’s not that it made the balls slick. But the pebble definition wasn’t as great, which makes the ball slicker. Basically, after they brushed them down, they did have a slicker ball. But after Week 3 or 4, we didn’t hear many complaints.”

According to Wisner, only one out of every 10 balls Wilson makes is deemed “NFL-worthy.” But because they had much less time to make and send the new Goodell balls to NFL teams, balls that previously wouldn’t have been considered up to NFL standards, now were.

Despite all the complaining, the overall league completion rate is up 1/2 a percent (even with all of Terrell Owen’s drops) so the new slick ball isn’t much of a factor. Unless QBs in the league are getting better… but anyone who has watched Bruce Gradkowski or Andrew Walter play this year knows that can’t be true.

Links:
[Philly.com]: GET A GRIP, NFL

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Jazz Perform a Late Jam Session


1. Turkish Sharpshooter
With a 21 point lead at the end of the third quarter, Atlanta figured they had stolen a win from a formidable Western Conference foe. But the Hawks didn’t count on Mehmet Okur and company making a furious fourth quarter rally that would bring the Jazz all the way back to win the game 112-106 in Atlanta. With twelve minutes remaining in the game the score was 93-72. Then Okur lead the comeback with 12 points in the fourth, including two big threes with less than two minutes in the game. Okur shot four of five from behind the arc and finished the game with 30 points and ten rebounds to go along with 14,823 broken hearts in Hotlanta.

2. Rare Sprewell Sighting
Latrell Sprewell disappeared from the NBA faster than you can say “choke artist” after turning down an offer from the Timberwolves in 2005. And while, according to Spree, $21 million wasn’t enough money to feed his family, apparently he found the funds to dine out with former Minnesota teammates Kevin Garnett, Trenton Hassell and Troy Hudson in Milwaukee last week. Reports are that Sprewell has no desire to return to the league but maybe New York could change his mind with another ill-advised, over-inflated contract they have become infamous for.

3. Overtime State of Mind
After a blowout loss to Denver which ended with an ugly brawl, New York has responded by playing competitively in their last two contests. On Monday, a shorthanded Knicks squad pulled out a one point win in overtime against an excellent Utah team, and last night they squeaked out a 111-109 victory in double overtime versus Charlotte. While David Lee has been solid throughout the season, he has been especially active since the team received their share of suspensions from the outbreak against the Nuggets. The second year forward from Florida followed up a 17 point, 20 rebound effort against Utah with a ten point, 19 rebound game against the Bobcats that included a buzzer beating tip-in to win the game for New York.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Mehmet Okur @ Atlanta 36 min, 30 pts (FG: 11-17, 3FG: 4-5, FT: 4-5), 10 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Detroit (15-8) @ Cleveland (14-10) After starting the season with a 2-3 road record, the Pistons have become road warriors going 6-2 since then. Detroit currently sits atop the Central Division, two games ahead of the Cavs. Despite their recent struggles, Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland has provided an edge to the Cavaliers who have gone 11-2 at home. LeBron James is coming off a 37 point, eight assist performance in a loss to New Jersey on Wednesday.

Buzzer Beater: Tim Duncan proved once again why he will forever be remembered as a horrible free throw shooter. Along with Shaquille O’Neal, Duncan has dominated opponents from everywhere on the court. Everywhere except the charity stripe. Last night against Memphis, Duncan was a perfect 8-8 from the field but he was a pathetic 5-10 from the line. Big men are notoriously bad free throw shooters, but once a percentage dips below 65, it’s probably time to resort to a more effective granny shot. While it’s quite embarrassing, at least there’s nothing underhanded about it.