I'd Love to Say It

Your move, Bud. Again. Rarely is that the case, given that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig already played his card, squashing a broadcast deal between the Dodgers and FOX, and stepping on soon-to-be-former owner Frank McCourt’s neck. But the ploy only bought time. It didn’t save the team, bad and broke and embarrassing for baseball, itself … Continue reading »

The reaction to the NFL’s soon-to-be-signed collective bargaining agreement might be confusion, maybe for how confusing it isn’t. Unlike revisions past, this proposed labor deal is as vanilla as the paper it’s printed on. Its beauty is its simplicity. Owners and players dumbed this thing down to third-grade bartering, a milk carton for a Snack … Continue reading »

The whispering stopped. The hyping started. As does the smiling. Rory McIlroy’s weekend, in a nutshell. The golf distanced McIlroy from past collapses. McIlroy won convincingly at Congressional, pinning a 16-under par and doubling the 8-under by runner-up Jason Day. He shot the lowest score (268) of any golfer at any Open ever. He shaved … Continue reading »

You’d like to see it. Players might deserve it. But paying college athletes won’t happen. It can’t. Think of the pro-paying proposal: Legislate compensation for the highest earning Division 1 programs through the NCAA,  compensating amateurs for the value-added from their talents. No, my laptop isn’t fuming or sparking or spontaneously combusting. You’d think it … Continue reading »

It’s time for the NBA owners to own their baggage: Admit you were wrong. Change your proposal. Spare us a lockout. As the league teeters on a possible work stoppage, certain if an agreement isn’t reached by July 1, the owners’ proposal seems stuck in irrationality. It’s about as good an idea as ferret legging … Continue reading »

A lot of teams win 105-95 games on the road. A lot of series end in Game 6es. But not like Dallas. Not in these Finals. Not like this: unconventional validation. How often does a team enter that accomplished — this was a clincher, after all — yet so questioned? For as warm a story … Continue reading »

LeBron isn’t buried yet. As bad as it’s been — as he’s been — LeBron James can still survive this. With two fourth quarters to go in these NBA Finals, redemption is very much a possibility. Even if his latest 12 minutes were flimsy yet again. Even if he wilted with the Heat’s four-point lead … Continue reading »

This changes everything. Last night’s 112-103 win sits Dallas down with destiny, the first time in franchise history it’s one away from a title. And being the first game-winner to go back-to-back has its perks, like the Mavericks 3-2 series lead. You warm to that unfamiliarity pretty quick. But those, by themselves, aren’t it. Other … Continue reading »

This one feels different. Maybe because it is. It feels different for the Red Sox, loving their lives and leverage. After last night’s 11-6 win — in New York, mind you — the season series tilts a more-than-friendly 7-1, advantage Boston. That’s something new, even for the club that domineered the last decade. The last … Continue reading »

You know why he did it. But why’d he wait to run? Terrelle Pryor’s greed signifies a growing problem in college football: players are done playing unpaid cash cattle. They want theirs, programs and a personalities and potential be damned. That drove him to bartering with a tattooist. That, to him, justified carving through Columbus … Continue reading »

A blunderous 48th minute should to bury you. Miscues and misfires and mismatches usually spell the formula for a sleepless, laying-with-your-eyes-open night. Despite an overcomplicated closing minute in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks survived and prevailed, 86-83, and renewed the series, now at two games apiece. But all things considered, two … Continue reading »

Can you see it? Light, glimmering at the end of a tunnel? If it — the reported sale of the Philadelphia 76ers to a leveraged buyout extraordinaire — is true, this would be to the city what excavating equipment meant to Chilean miners: Rescue. Times have been tough for Philadelphia basketball of late. The 76ers haven’t … Continue reading »

Don’t give in. I get it, the temptation to liken Plaxico Burress to Michael Vick. With Vick’s blast-from-the-past-and-prison breakout and Burress’ release from a New York jail this morning being so fresh, the comparison feels right. But it’s off. Most simply: Burress turns 34-years-old in August, well over the 28 years on Vick after he … Continue reading »

Culpability has its bounds. Stars, even in humbling team defeats, sometimes get off scot-free. This wasn’t on Dirk Nowitzki. That’s as meaningful as pocket lint to Dirk, who won’t forgive himself for the 88-86 loss at the American Airlines Center, given a pass or not. But it’s truth, and should be as circulated as the … Continue reading »

It’s widely rumored that Dirk Nowitzki hasn’t seen a single frame of game film from the Mavs 2006 Finals flop. So the story goes, the collapse was unbearable enough the first time. Hope he sticks to his self-preservation strategies this time around. Even after a win, 95-93. Even stealing a game at American Airlines Arena … Continue reading »

David Kahn has carved himself a niche, a class of shame all his own. And he’s done it by doing. His head slapping sins of commission trickle into draft day. The Minnesota GM has botched free agency and trades and coaching moves. Hell, he managed to miff the draft lottery, where nobody does much of … Continue reading »

Who’s the headache? That’s the implied question posed by the Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter report, that both sides of the NFL labor dispute held a secret meeting in Chicago yesterday. It was designed to exclude, for the betterment of the process. Organizers centralized the meeting in Chicago in the general vicinity of St. Louis, … Continue reading »

Put a fork in it. The Mavericks, all but a T-bone from Lone Star Steakhouse, are done. Sorry Mavs fans: your order, and this run, is up. The Heat might’ve entered better on paper, but before Game 1, the first glimpse of the teams and match-ups and psyches as they are now, was just talk … Continue reading »

This changes everything — Ohio State’s fate, recently resigned head coach Jim Tressel’s parting shot, the NCAA’s system check-up — for the worse. How the story escalated before Monday left a damning wake enough. Reports that players bartered memorabilia for tattoos likely tanked the Buckeyes’ 2011 season, with five players serving five-game suspensions. That Tressel … Continue reading »

Consider the bubble of sameness popped, its comfort zone collapsed. Baseball needs to end this. Hits on catchers, like the one that sidelined Giants behind-the-plate man Buster Posey for at least 8 weeks, aren’t part of the game. Not sure where the purists’ argument comes from, being that baseball isn’t a contact sport. Baseball needs … Continue reading »

Sweeping the Lakers wet the mix. Steamrolling the Thunder poured it. But Dirk Nowitzki’s place in history is far from cemented. Not yet, with so much left unsettled. What if the wheels come off? What if the Finals proves too shiny a stage — the second time? What if he’s beaten and flustered and negated … Continue reading »

Progress by prohibition. That’s the undertone of the NCAA infractions appeals committee stiffing USC football, which hoped regain eligibility for the 2011 postseason and relief from the NCAA’s hard-pressed thumb. “We can’t do anything other than to say we received the decision,” head coach Lane Kiffin said to the Orange County Register. “We’re happy that … Continue reading »

This had to happen. The Thunder don’t want to hear it, not after last night’s 100-96 loss at the American Airlines Center. Oklahoma City didn’t want to see that, a second blown fourth-quarter lead to end its season. That’s a sour taste, watching a six-point lead whittled, shot by steal by dunk. But it’s the … Continue reading »

L.A. needs luster, the Lakers bluster. Neither describe Mike Brown, the rumored object of Jerry Buss’ intrigue as the likely replacement for Phil Jackson. You’ve got to be kidding. Mike Brown, more a people pleaser than wunderkid. Mike Brown, not the best defensive mind available. At 41, the former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach has the … Continue reading »

Hurts so much more when there’s no one to blame, doesn’t it? The Bulls’ 101-93 overtime loss might be more bearable, if heads rolled. The 3-1 deficit might sting less, if pointed fingers flew. But they won’t. You can try. You can burn Tom Thibodeau for not subbing more. You can scathe general manager Gar … Continue reading »

You see a slaughter, I see survival. You hear a door slam shut, I sense life flicker. It could be a lot worse for Oklahoma City. It could be over, but it’s not. Down 3-1, it’s close, after last night’s 112-105 overtime loss to Dallas. But the Thunder’s collapse was its saving grace. Had they … Continue reading »

Start the casualty count. Between OTAs and regular season games, and mini- and training camps, other likely victims of this NFL lockout might grab more press and tap more pockets. But none are as costly as the NFL’s rookie symposium, axed Monday by the league. Rattle off what plagues the league — bad behavior, irresponsible … Continue reading »

Tuned in to Mike Missanelli tearing up the 97.5 The Fanatic airwaves today, and heard him challenge listeners about Harold Camping’s doomsday prediction. (Full disclosure: I interned with production through Dec. 2010, and do promotions work for the Philadelphia radio station.) Not exactly sports, but it sucked me in. Given how irrationally some reacted — … Continue reading »

Rev. Ray is right. Ray Lewis, interviewed for ESPN’s Sunday Conversation yesterday, looked through a broader lens when forecasting the recoil of the NFL’s lockout. “Do this research if we don’t have a season — watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game,” … Continue reading »

Apology not accepted. Joakim Noah’s mea culpa doesn’t cut it. “I apologize,” he said in the locker room. “The fan said something to me that I thought was disrespectful, and I got caught up in the moment, and I said some things that I shouldn’t have said. I was frustrated and I don’t mean no … Continue reading »

Physicality has been Eastern Conference Finals operative term. Spoon-feeding ferocity was common, boxing cliches bountiful. The intensity was on sale, and people were buying. Customers should be repeaters after Game 3, the whole single side of it. Problem for Chicago is the lone lane didn’t run its way. Not last night, in a 96-85 loss. … Continue reading »

Its absence kills the Heat. Its wrath buried the Lakers. Depth. Options. Vigor. The markers of a reliable bench. The fulcrum in a Thunder victory. They — Nick Collison, Daequan Cook, Jeff Harden and Eric Maynor — fueled the Thunder’s 106-100 win in Dallas. They broke the series even at one game apiece. They stepped … Continue reading »

Maybe Kendrick Perkins was a hedgeable bet against Denver. Maybe you could gloss over his deficiencies against Memphis. But not here, the Western Conference Finals. Not now, against the Dallas Maverics. Not ever, in this pivotal moment in franchise history. The Perkins Problem just got serious. Perk is unmotivated and uncontrollable and unproductive. His Thunder … Continue reading »

Well played, Pujols. Forget the Joe Mauer spots for MLB: The Show. Pujols’ wits won him a ton of cash last night, from the Cards or the free agency field. Everything Albert does this year ties into his pending free agency. This — volunteering his services at third base in an eventual 3-1 win over … Continue reading »

We’re not there. Not yet. Rick Welts admission brings promise. With news breaking of the first pro sports’ executive to ever step from the closet came a long-awaited chiseling at sports last standing barrier, between homosexuality and the locker room. With Welts’ proclamation, you’d hope, others might follow. And they – team executives – will. … Continue reading »

No Andrew, no. You don’t have the right. Not to skew reality. Not to deflect blame. Not to bitch and moan. Not to do much but dig — L.A. out of a two-games-to-none hole, and your foot from your mouth. In blasting team cohesion, Andrew Bynum was toxic.  In forgetting his deficiencies – in last … Continue reading »

Go ahead. Be irreverent. Be sacrilege. Don’t be sorry for Tom Brady. Not after talent scouts sized up his dainty frame, and upturned their noses. Not after 32 NFL teams passed on him, and purportedly slighted him. Not after a six-round free fall, into the laps of the savviest front office in recent memory. Don’t feel bad … Continue reading »

Something was missing today. What was supposed to be dense action, great drama, a last-minute tune-up, was disappointingly defined by its emptiness. Dwight Howard was. And is. In that moment, in the Bulls 102-99 win over his Magic. In Jameer Nelson’s desperate 3-point haul. In TBD MVP debate. In talk of lofty hopes and grander schemes. … Continue reading »

There’s a reason it’s not called a “sports career” ending. Deny it all you want but the last words on athletes aren’t written in pixie dust. They’re written in blood. Take Manny Ramirez’ abrupt retirement. An 18-year vet, 12-time All Star and owner of World Series and American League MVP hardware, Man Ram left at … Continue reading »

If he could, David Stern might buy Hank Crone an ice cream. The NBA commissioner probably won’t be around to see Crone, a 13-year old kid with lineage drawn in baseball ink, come into his own as a pro. And with Crone more likely to skate as an NHL winger than slash as an NBAer, Stern won’t … Continue reading »

ESPN’s Jay Bilas questioned the NCAA’s selection committee’s shape-recognition — “I wonder if the selection committee knows the ball is round,” he said during yesterday’s reveal special on ESPN — in criticizing its eye for talent. Co-worker Dick Vitale suggested including coaches or other seasoned basketball men on the panel. In no uncertain terms, both were … Continue reading »

DWYANE WADE CLEARS HIS HEAD, CUSTODY BATTLE FROM PLATE People forget who they are: PEOPLE. Dwyane Wade might live the life of a mass media misconstrusion of reality, but he started as a normal guy, slicking the South Side of Chicago city streets. He’s human. He’s got interests. He’s got emotions. (It’s not just a Heat thing…) … Continue reading »

Lonely out here — on the island of one warm to the idea of the NFL lockout. Embrace the it. It’s not your enemy. It’s not to you what the NFL and (what used to be) its players union were to each other. They bickered like kids, eyes glazed over and haymakers flailing. Older brother — federal … Continue reading »

NFL LABOR NEGOTIATIONS Like a no-name actor in a zombie movie, I’m boarding up the house, stocking the basement with Ramen noodles, and stuffing the DVR with episodes of NFL Replay. Guys, the lockout is upon us. Get ready for a football-less half-year (at least), and the ensuing psychological epidemic. I’m expecting eyes as red as 28 … Continue reading »

Time to grieve sports fans. That one hurt like the bullet that bit Forrest Gump. The Rutgers devout took a hit, and watched a botched call jerk the e-brake on any Big East tournament run. As did St. John’s pious , now stuck fending off haters who dub the win over the Scarlet Knights’ tainted after video replay showed the Red Storm … Continue reading »

WILLIAMSTOWN, NJ — The last time New Egypt played, one Times’ freelancer got it all wrong. After this one, the NJSIAA Group I state semis, the girls intervened. Lucky him. “Greatness plus greatness equals great greatness,” Haley Anderson tipped. As Emily Bausher lobbied, “Make sure you get that in there.” The recap for the Central … Continue reading »

It’s the only thing you can’t blame Jim Tressel for. Sure, the attribution went to a guy known less for his philosophy than political policy (neither being comically untouchable). But in his career’s most defining moment, in whom else would the Vest vest? “The most pathetic thing is a leader who’s looking for self-pity,” said Ohio State’s … Continue reading »

NEW EGYPT, NJ — Haley Anderson shared the moment. The rest of the gym wasn’t at the line – she was, lofting free throws to ice New Egypt’s win over Highland Park.  But on the precipice of its first NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I Sectional Championship, the least common denominator between them was a shortage … Continue reading »

TRENTON, NJ – When tensions flare, Trenton’s girls basketball team knows where to turn. They head for the bench, and within earshot of assistant coach Mike Fauntleroy. Be it opponent runs, a flurry of turnovers, or frustration with each other, Fauntleroy’s voice soothes. Like the problem suddenly wasn’t, or never mattered. “He means a lot,” … Continue reading »

SOMERSET, NJ — A round-bellied and wide-mouthed Rutgers Prep High fan grumbled from the stands. “These girls are down, like, 20 points,” he bellyached with six minutes left in the girls’ NJSIAA Prep B State Championship. “Why are they still playing?” Why? Because even in a 59-36 loss, by their estimation, Princeton Day School had plenty … Continue reading »

LAWRENCE, NJ — For Colburn Yu, age used to be an asterisk. It was the stuff you saved for parentheses. At yesterday’s NJSIAA state semifinal, age didn’t explain away what the freshman couldn’t do. Nor was it solace for what he will. It put what he did – clinch the Princeton boys swim team’s berth … Continue reading »

If Southeast Asians cared about basketball beyond Yao Ming, they’d rewrite their rotation of animals and corresponding themes to include 2010-11: The Year of The Crazy GM.   With Feb. 24 and the trading dealine a mere 48 hours away,  GM season is about over. (At least the juicy stuff. Even if basketball worked like baseball – the sport … Continue reading »

North Brunswick, NJ — Yesterday’s girls swimming Central Jersey B Sectional Final was supposed to redefine tight. With juggernauts like Princeton and Manasquan, expectations were competition like stuffing a sumo wrestler in a corset. “Oh yeah. This one’s gonna be close,” called Princeton assistant Craig Haywood. “Hopefully not too close.” His forecast was off, but … Continue reading »

North Brunswick, NJ — At one point or another, the Princeton boys swimming team won the Central Jersey B Sectional Final. True, when Matt Kulik punched the underwater automated pad first for the Tigers’ 400 meter freestyle relay squad, who went heads up with Ocean Township yesterday, it became on-paper official. But was it ever … Continue reading »

What are we going to do without football? The question has made its rounds on the sports talk circuit like a bad Justin Beiber joke circulates among comedians. And with owners storming out of the negotiating room after their latest bout with players, and with the blank schedule where future talks should be ringing louder, it’s much more … Continue reading »

LAWRENCE, NJ — Derek Colaizzo peeled off his swim cap after finishing his leg of the 400 meter freestyle relay, tossing it poolside. One by one, his Princeton relay team event mates – Harun Filipovic, Will Strange and Peter Deardorff – followed suit. Might as well have been neckties. Even at the boys Mercer County … Continue reading »

LAWRENCE, NJ — For meets and tournament finals, coaching up swimmers is a cinch. Pre-race pep talks read something like, “Swim. Fast.” But for yesterday’s preliminaries, Mercer County’s aqua men didn’t have it so easy. They all went heads-up against a bizarre water-dwelling foe: speeding through yesterday, saving gas for tomorrow. What’s a coach to … Continue reading »

That was it. John Calipari reached a breaking point. He had seen enough. The Kentucky head coach seethed at freshman phenom Terrance Jones’ fourth turnover. A rogue call in taking the game’s final shot, when Calipari wanted Doron Lamb pulling the trigger at the buzzer. And, unquantifiable as unacceptable, an air of selfishness stinking up the … Continue reading »

Tell me more, tell me more. That’s what the media expects, what fans demand. Yet when it comes to talk about Brady Hoke’s introduction as Michigan’s newest head coach, there’s not much to say. When Brady Hoke took the podium Wednesday, there wasn’t going to be a reception. It would be more an exercise in … Continue reading »

He made a living, if not a persona, dancing on it. And now Rex Ryan’s crossed the line. The audacity here isn’t his approach, but its context. Simple motives lead Ryan down the route of loquacity: he wants to be heard. If that’s what he needs for attention, if not validation, so be it. Enjoy, … Continue reading »

Two years ago, when Ravens’ LB Terrell Suggs popped out Steelers’ RB Rashard Mendenhall’s shoulder with a Madden-like hit stick, talk around the league was about blood money – were guys really taking out casual contracts on each other’s bodies, if not their heads? But lately, it seems the chatter rings more like hush money … Continue reading »

EWING, NJ — With the season’s end so fresh, TCNJ quarterbacks Jay Donoghue and Nick Tyson responded predictably: Reflecting, digesting, and trying – while sometimes failing – to articulate a near-bottomless everything. So, they figured, they’d talk it out. “I know five-and-five isn’t what we were looking for this year,” Tyson said, factoring in a … Continue reading »

EWING, NJ – With 54 minutes and 44 seconds gone yesterday, everyone roaming the College of New Jersey’s sideline was looking. Moreover, they were hoping. Who was it gonna be? In a tight game with expansive implications, who’d be the one to break the game open, and spark their season’s breakthrough? With 52 seconds left, icing a 7-0 … Continue reading »

After they’d toppled CVC rival Princeton yesterday, 31-14, you could say “it finally happened.”  Two months and change removed from the August grind, the Lawrence high football team had won. You could say it. The Lawrence guys can’t argue it, but can take liberties. They’re perfectly entitled to quip, “We made it happen.” “We finally worked together,” … Continue reading »

LAWRENCE–Question for coaches everywhere: What do you tell a now 0-5 football team, its latest lumping by way of a 31-17 lopsided beating by Hightstown? Something uplifting, inspirational? Affirmation that better brighter days are yet to come? The answer from Rob Radice, head man at Lawrence: I don’t have to say anything. No doubt, Radice … Continue reading »

TCNJ enthusiasts: Pump the breaks, even if only for a short while. The Lions’ (1-3, 1-2 NJAC) latest loss of 37-0 to SUNY-Cortland spelled out, stuffed in an envelope and postmarked the telling message, that this isn’t your older brother’s TCNJ football squad. Of Chris Jameses, Cam Richardsons and stat lines stolen from EA Games. … Continue reading »

CHESTERFIELD, NJ — Hardly finished five minutes after one round, Greg Bunner was already plotting out his next. He was going to win this thing. Step One: Veg out. “I’m just gonna go home and hang out, not think about golf,” he said, before yesterday’s final round at the Trusted Choice Big “I” Junior National … Continue reading »

You’d figure today — Round Three at the Trusted Choice Big “I” Junior Championship — would be all about game faces. Instead, the buzz was its new faces: caddies. For the first time this week, players could opt to have a caddy to tag along, lug clubs and drop knowledge. The Big “I” started the … Continue reading »

CHESTERFIELD, NJ — Try holding your breath for 30 seconds. Now try it for five and a half hours — your average round of golf at Old York Country Club, host of this year’s Trusted Choice Big “I” Junior National Championship. Tough task, isn’t it? One on players today, more so than any other: Cut … Continue reading »

CHESTERFIELD, NJ–It wasn’t supposed to be easy. And why would it? Yesterday, the opening round of the 42nd Trusted Choice Big “I” Junior National Championship, kicked off one of the three toughest stops on the amateur circuit. The whole idea is to separate the tour’s almost-there-men from its still-clearly-boys. But this course was a doozy. … Continue reading »

The Open Championship. St. Andrews. Miserable winds. Crowds lining each hole, eating it all up (despite cheeks flapping like MC Hammer’s pants). The 139th Open Championship looked to have the makings of everything it’s supposed to be, all we’ve come to love about it. Until… Wait a second. Hold the Droid… John Daly?! Stop the scorecards! There’s … Continue reading »

It’s finally here, like some leap-year Christmas. It seems like we’ve been waiting forever for this World Cup Final. And once the tournament schedule was announced, the global sports audience knew almost exactly how it’d be spending its July 11: Seven continent’s worth of eyes glued to TV sets, a zillion languages worth of national … Continue reading »

What a move. With a roster already chock full of potential energy, the Jets’ acquisition of former (round pick of draft) Braylon Edwards appears to be the final piece to the team’s conversion into a full-blown kinetic force. Finally adding a vertical threat, at least one tall enough to ride the big-boy train among the … Continue reading »

Not how I woulda done it… That’s it, as far as I’ll go. Was this reveal — an hourlong, ESPN-produced, James’ camp-brokered, nationally-blasted TV bonanza entitled, “The Decision” — an ideal way to do it? Nope. But am I resorting to the name-through-mud-dragging, jersey-torching, and character-questioning like everybody else with platform and an opinion (and … Continue reading »

So… Remember yesterday, when I spent about 700 words dissecting how the Miami Thrice plan had its kinks? Namely that the Heat wouldn’t be able to afford Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh — who’ve already committed — and LeBron James without moving Michael Beasley’s $5 million contract? Which would be tough considering A.) Toronto doesn’t want … Continue reading »

No time for semantics. There comes a time in journalism, the deadline-driven, hair-graying, mind-rattling ass kicking that it is, when the clock starts ticking, and you’ve got to start typing. Nothing cute. Nothing fancy. Nothing but clear, succinct brain waves. Looks like I’m on the clock. Here’s mine… So soon-to-be-former Raptors forward Chris Bosh is … Continue reading »

I wish I could believe him. When word first broke of the shooting outside the Virginia bar that hosted Michael Vick’s 30th birthday bash, we braced for the worst. When reports stirred up the victim’s relationship to Vick’s 24-month stint in an orange jumpsuit, we shared a collective gasp. We, people who care; cheer for … Continue reading »

These NBA Finals did it big. Like 28.1 million viewers big. The largest draw of the decade big, outdoing every other summer broadcast since the season finale of Survivor’s first go-round. It rocked the Nielsen ratings like it belonged on the Richter scale. But NBA fans beware: There’s an aftershock a brewin’. Pro hoops is … Continue reading »

With World Cup action rolling back in the limelight, we all know what it means: The game’s greatest rolling around under South African spotlights. Right on cue, America’s national sports media has shot soccer some flak it damn well deserves. But put fandom aside. Let’s call a spade a spade: If you loaded up a … Continue reading »

And to think I was qualified to give the lecture below… Said Phil Jackson, the Zen master, on his rumored interest in then-vacant coaching gigs in New Jersey and New Orleans: “I’m not going to rule that out, but it doesn’t look like that’s an option … You hate to say ‘not’ and you’re out … Continue reading »

Tom Izzo: A predetermined, self-described “lifer.” But, at the vibrant age of 55, the Michigan State head coach has got a lot of life to left to live, and a lot to learn. As far as the latter goes, maybe he just needs a minute. If he wasn’t so busy booking six Final Four trips … Continue reading »

Nope, it wasn’t dumb luck. Wasn’t divine intervention either. Nor was it a change of heart, an end-of-Disney-movie realization that demanded the right thing be done. When the University of Texas stayed put, and offered (we’d need Elias Sports Bureau to count) others the chance to do the same, it might have been a twist … Continue reading »

The NFL’s powers that be are scheduled to convene today in Dallas, with overtime rules and the CBA high up on the agenda. More conventional is the focus of football’s iron fist, commissioner Roger Goodell, who’s mulling over implementing rule changes from March come August, giving the postseason changes an early trial run before January. … Continue reading »

What to do, what to do. With Roy Oswalt shaping up as this summer’s hot commodity, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro has to be curled over his desk somewhere in Philly, waffling over whether to go after the Houston Astros ace. At first glance, why wouldn’t he? The Phils’ glaring hole lies in their rotation – … Continue reading »

Never thought I’d hear myself say it, but thank God for finals week. Reason for the rarity is that all the studying kept me from blogging, or prematurely praising the Phillies security staffers who dropped shenanigan-pulling 17-year-old (whose idiocy I won’t dignify by naming) with a Tazer gun. But for all the phight the Phils’ … Continue reading »

Not much unlike everybody else, I wasn’t taken aback over Josh McDaniel’s early evening draft strategy Friday:  Wheels and deals like Cutco sales – in the first round, Denver slid back thrice and jumped up twice, making sure it drafted players at market value, while hoarding late-round picks.  Kind of like Bill Belichick. But somewhere around … Continue reading »

For his players, it’s facing fourth-and-goal, a dwindling clock and a scoreboard deficit. But for Roger Goodell, his gut-check moments are ones like these: when the lines aren’t crossed, but he’s ultimately left interpreting his players’ interpretive dances upon them. This time, though – when he mulls over the conduct of one of the league’s (in)famous faces — it shouldn’t even come to … Continue reading »

For me, it seems to be one of life’s (or journalism’s) miscellaneous lessons; I can’t remember where I picked it up but somewhere between investigative reporting, magazine writing and computer-assisted reporting (a euphamism for Intern Prep 101), someone, somewhere dropped the following knowledge. Show me. Don’t tell me. That one-liner wisdom wasn’t intended for college football’s fabled faces, as much … Continue reading »

They just couldn’t help it. Dallas had to go and prove pasty TV personality Skip Bayless right. Looks like I’m not watching ESPN’s First Take this morning. …Yeah, that’s all I got. The harshest criticism I can muster after last night’s 24-0 win over Philadelphia was split—half inspired by handing Bayless grounds to gloat, and … Continue reading »

Thursday, most of the Sun Bowl’s TV audience vegged out during an entertaining 60 minutes of college football, one that featured the Cardinal of Stanford against the Oklahoma Sooners in El Paso, TX. All but one. The other? Me. The most emotionally vested Protestant in Notre Dame football, I sat, fixated, just like everybody else. But, it … Continue reading »

Brace yourself for this one: Peyton Manning–(n., proper) a product of the system. I know, I know. That kind of statement steps on expert analyst’s toes, and oversteps the bounds of conventional thinking. And, considering its tacit blasphemy against the football gods, a power-surge from my ESPN-tuned TV set isn’t something I’ve ruled out of the realm, … Continue reading »

Brad Childress just can’t help himself. Like the slighted half of an abusive relationship, the Vikings head coach must have serious issues with masochism. I’m no doctor, but that’s my best shot diagnosing the torture he’s subjected himself to in the media. Exhibit A:  Sunday night, during Minnesota’s primetime TV dismantlement against Carolina. It remains unclear … Continue reading »

Admittedly, I’m expecting the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 16 matchup with Denver to grab hold of my undivided attention. But even as an emotionally embattled Dallas fan, I insist, my interest isn’t spiteful. And not just because the game is inconsequential to determining the NFC East champ. More importantly, altruistically, I don’t see myself making it … Continue reading »

So what? Yesterday, during a last-ditch, do-or-die opportunity for the Irish national team to wedge its way onto South Africa’s guest list for the 2010 World Cup, it wasn’t the opposing striker’s world-class right foot that carried Les Blues to a 2-1 triumph. Instead, the game’s deciding factor was Theirry Henry’s left hand. Twice. Since, … Continue reading »

Dear Atlanta Falcons, I know you guys probably get a ton of fan mail—especially early in 2009, when you actually played like the southern surprise you were supposed to be—but I gotta tell you, I love what you guys have been doing lately. See, I’m a die-hard New York Giants’ fan. And as you’ve probably … Continue reading »

Early weeks of blowout N. F. L. action may have disproved its alleged parity, but the resounding theme magnified during tip-off to the N. B. A. season might be exactly that. Disparity, or better (or worse) polarity, was on display Tuesday night in its grandest form, epitomized by inaugural competition of two of the league’s … Continue reading »

For those of us — and there’s a few — that have about had their fill with the always-dreaded Brett Favre saga, it’s completely understandable why many of us have bottlenecked out animosity toward the former-Green Bay Packer, present-Minnesota Viking, and future-Hall-of-Famer. But I’m telling you, you’ve got the wrong guy(s). See the problem is, … Continue reading »

If the 2009 Coach-of-the-Year ballots were due today, Denver Broncos’ head coach Josh McDaniels has certainly earned my vote. It’s been well-documented that–in his first year at the helm–McDaniels has certainly had his share of culture-shock in his first year in Denver, as spoiled sports megastars have put forward their best efforts to dictate the … Continue reading »

I wonder how this would sound… This just in: Michael Vick jaywalked this morning, according to news correspondents camping in shrubbery outside the high-profile Philadelphia Eagle’s home in Hampton, VA. Initial eyewitness reports indicate that the former No. 1 overall pick lazily began to stroll across the road “several inches” before the entirety of his … Continue reading »