First. Podcast. Ever.

Yes, you read that right--we're on the air! Ok, not really, not live, but hey, my good buddy Mason and I recorded a whole 70 minutes (80 with music breaks) of sports talk. Click here:

https://soundcloud.com/tsprings/springsonsports-podcast-9-1-13

Not perfect by any means, but it's a start, and we'll hope to improve on that stuff as the fall goes on. I'll give you a rundown as best I can (these are de-facto chapter marks, not the actual length of the segments):

04:20--College football opening weekend review
18:25--Homerism/announcer favoritism on broadcasts
26:50 MLB pennant race
45:10 Survivor Football picks
52:10 Sports Media picks of the week
1:03:50 NBA League Pass picks
1:12:50 Mike Budenholzer situation
1:20:30 Closing thought on NFL Concussion Lawsuit/"League of Denial"

Twitter Links

Tyler: @SpringsOnSports
Tyler's Survivor Football Pick of the Week: Houston over San Diego
Tyler's Sports Media Pick of the Week:

Water-powered jetpacks are the biggest watersports craze to hit beaches since the Jet Ski: http://t.co/BtJG1xHLR0 #free
— Commercial Appeal (@memphisnews) September 1, 2013

Mason: @masbury12
Mason's Survivor Football Pick of the Week: Indianapolis over Oakland
Mason's Sports Media Pick of the Week:

VIDEO: JaVale McGee beats kid at pop-a-shot, lets him know about it. http://t.co/peTi33fmMt "WHO SAID I CAN'T SHOOT THREES?!"
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) September 2, 2013

Kevin (guest): @mcduffin_cheese
Kevin's Survivor Football Pick of the Week: Miami over Cleveland
Kevin's Sports Media Pick of the Week:

Incredible play from my old high school. Go Tigers http://t.co/z6dULyhIQn
— Kevin Duffy (@McDuffin_cheese) September 2, 2013

Andrew (guest): @NaturalSprings

This Week's Closing Thought: League of Denial & NFL Concussion Lawsuit
If you believe in coincidence, you might believe that the NFL settling its $765 million dollar concussion lawsuit with 4500 former players last week merely happened to come one week after ESPN, the NFL’s right hand, backed away from an official partnership with PBS on a forthcoming documentary about the concussion issue. You might also have once believed that Santa Claus shows up on Christmas and gifts tend to appear under your evergreen tree shortly thereafter; for that, you would be forgiven. But make no mistake here: these were not events with mutually exclusive outcomes. To allow that documentary, entitlted, “League of Denial,” to be brought to television in October during an ongoing lawsuit would be toxic to the league’s credibility on health issues and potentially impactful with regard to in-season ratings. With ESPN’s stamp on its information and PBS Frontline’s renowned journalistic integrity and editorial control, there would very likely have been no more room for the League to dodge the important questions concerning its former players and how much or how little they have been compensated for the damage to their health caused by a career of subjecting one’s head to thousands of pounds of force with great regularity. So the NFL did what it tends to do: it leaned on the right people, and in doing so, saved itself a lot of trouble. Let’s not forget that the NFL is a non-profit organization, and it would have an awful lot to answer for if we suddenly decided that it was responsible to us, citizens of the United States, based on the fact that it refused to acknowledge that the nature of its game inevitably caused damage to its participants. No, the NFL likes the idea of coincidence: concussions, CTE, ALS, Alzheimer’s and dementia, after all, just happened to befall many a man who played football. Unfortunate, but just a coincidence, wouldn’t you say?

The Top 5 Sports Movies You Need to See (Or See Again)

It is, again, that time of year where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences—and, honestly, all of Hollywood—thinks they get to tell us what is worth our time and what is not. In light of that observation, I decided I would do something unusual (for me) and make a list of my own. Mind you, I do not enjoy this sort of piggybacking-on-the-hype, but every now and then, I let myself to do it. 

I have seen plenty of sports movies, and there are have real merit which don’t get enough publicity. I will not claim to have seen every worthwhile sports movie out there, but I am going to list here a few that are a) recent, and b) undoubtedly deserving of your time.

But first, a disclaimer.

Let’s be real: everyone loves Remember the Titans, Miracle, The Rookie, and Friday Night Lights (I mean the movie, though the TV show certainly has its loyal brood of fans). We love these mostly because they are stories of heroism or agony that are based in fact, even though we are aware that the producers probably took license with some of the details. As for fiction, personal tastes vary. Depending on your favorite sport, you may spend the occasional Saturday morning re-watching the Mighty Ducks trilogy, the Major League series, or even the Bring It On or Air Bud franchises (for which the “sports movie” categorization is highly questionable). In the list that follows, I will do my best to include movies that don’t fall under either the heading “I will watch that anytime” or “Oh, look what ABC Family has on at midnight! Let me grab a Coke, I can stay up.” Additionally, the ESPN 30-for-30 documentary series has been declared ineligible here because of the overarching quality of those films.

So, without further ado, the best five sports movies that you really ought to see:

Warrior (2011) 
Directed by Gavin O’Connor
Written by O’Connor (story/screenplay), Cliff Dorfman (story/screenplay) and Anthony Tambakis (screenplay)
Notable Actors: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison

Before they appeared in The Dark Knight Rises and Zero Dark Thirty respectively, Hardy and Edgerton gave truly gritty performances in Warrior as brothers separated by circumstance who end up entering the same mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament by chance. Hardy plays a Marine gone AWOL whose training helps him stay sober, and Edgerton plays a debt-plagued teacher who sees the tournament as way to finally get his family out from under the bank’s thumb.

Warrior is popular with a lot of the under-30 crowd, but it would probably resonate with older folks as well, given how much it deals with supporting one’s family and battling inner demons. The fight scenes are as authentic as you can get in a fictional film—according to IMDB, both Hardy and Edgerton were seriously injured during production because of the brutal violence involved. I am not an MMA fan myself, but the narrative of sacrifice, triumph, dedication and family bonds is so compelling in Warrior that they could have been competitive gymnasts and I still would have watched. I genuinely felt for all of the four main characters at the end, and any film that can make a person feel that way deserves a DVD rental.


He Got Game (1998) 
Directed by Spike Lee
Written by Spike Lee
Notable Actors: Denzel Washington, Milla Jovovich, John Tuturro, Ray Allen

Lee may be better known for directing Washington in Malcolm X, Mo’ Better Blues or even Inside Man, but the pair are just as good in this basketball-centric drama about a convict who must try to convince his blue-chip prospect son to play hoops for the governor’s alma mater. The realities of the college recruiting process are shown at their extremes, and while the circumstances may seem exceptional, the message is not: He Got Game sounds like a prescient “cautionary tale” about how far people will go to ensure the profit-minded success that is fueled by collegiate athletics. Forgiveness, trust and the complicated bonds between parents, coaches, and kids are all issues highlighted in the film. Allen gives a very reasonable performance for an athlete with only a small amount of actor training, and Washington is his tried-and-true hard-shell self with a glimmer of inner compassion. The diversity of characters, as in Lee’s other movies, makes this movie engaging beyond the hoops narrative.


Undefeated (2011)
Directed by Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
*Won the 2012 Oscar for Best Documentary


Mostly on the basis of one article written by reporter Jason Smith (who I mentioned in my previous post), Lindsay and Martin decided to move to Memphis for one year to document the life of O.C. Brown, a talented offensive lineman at Manassas (Tenn.) High who was struggling to improve his grades to be eligible for a college football scholarship. Though the design of their original idea had commonalities with the storyline of “The Blind Side,” Lindsay and Martin’s scope grew when they found out that Manassas had never even won a playoff game.

Despite the widespread poverty affecting the school’s surrounding neighborhoods and facilities, a dearth of athletic talent, and the incredible circumstances that befall the team before the season starts—two starting players shot, one starter arrested—volunteer coach Bill Courtney refuses to allow his team to give in to the hardships of living under duress. Lindsay and Martin take care to document every high and low of the Manassas season, including the stories of violent linebacker Chavis Daniels, fatherless lineman Montrail Brown and the talented-but-undisciplined O.C. Brown, tying them all together through the leadership demonstrated by Courtney under impossible circumstances. What follows is a tale as incredible any “Cinderella” story from the NCAA basketball tournament, except that most of these men and boys will never be recognized under the bright lights of college athletics. I have not shed tears of joy or sadness for any movie in a long time, but I did both while watching this film unfold in the theater. It is an incredible journey that makes you appreciate the perseverance of humankind and the unspoken love that teammates and coaches hold in reserve for one another when “the going gets tough.”


Finding Forrester (2000)
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Written by Mike Rich
Notable Actors: Rob Brown, Sean Connery, Anna Paquin, F. Murray Abraham


Here’s another basketball movie that is about much more than basketball. With an intricately woven plot that brings much more to the table than one would expect, Finding Forrester focuses on the relationship that develops by happenstance between reclusive author William Forrester (Connery) and high schooler Jamal Wallace (Brown). Wallace, an aspiring but undisciplined student, comes under Forrester’s tutelage after the writer catches him trying to burglarize Forrester’s apartment when dared. Wallace inadvertently leaves his backpack, and when it is dropped down to the street unceremoniously from Forrester’s apartment window, Wallace finds that Forrester has taken to editing the journals in Wallace’s backpack, critiquing the boy’s writing. What follows that strange start is a meandering chronicle of Wallace’s first year at a prestigious New York prep school, where he plays basketball very well and improves his writing with Forrester’s help. It is only months later, when Wallace is accused of plagiarism and on the verge of being expelled from school, that he figures out where exactly basketball falls on his list of priorities (and on the school’s list).

In his debut performance, Rob Brown does well across from a giant like Connery; despite starring in the ESPN-made biopic The Express and taking supporting roles in Coach Carter and The Dark Knight Rises, Brown remains one of the most untapped young actors of the current age. As much a tale of growing up as of basketball, Finding Forrester makes a point of challenging its characters’ integrity and confounding the stereotypical perceptions that they have of each other.


Cinderella Man (2005)
Directed by Ron Howard
Written by Cliff Hollingsworth (story/screenplay) and Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)
Notable Actors: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti


Many men saw unfathomable lows during the Great Depression, but James Braddock is one of the few who truly rebounded from rock bottom, riding nothing but a strong pair of hands and unshakable determination. For all that we hear about the great boxing legacies of Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, Braddock’s story might be the most improbable of the three, a man who had to temporarily retire from the sport due to inescabable poverty and painful injuries before being given a random chance to resurrect his career. Zellweger and Crowe are genuinely frustrated as a pair who love each other but can’t stand the things that their circumstances have forced them to do, and Giamatti’s turn as loyal trainer Joe Gould is a beacon to all who have ever had an intense belief in themselves and others but not had the courage to see it through. Generosity, courage, humility and the luck of the draw all play a part in this plot, one which will remain an example of American diligence in the face of long odds for decades to come.


Honorable Mention: Space Jam (1996)
Directed by Joe Pytka
Written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timonthy Harris and Herschel Weingrod

Notable Actors: Michael Jordan, Bill Murray, Wayne Knight, Charles Barkley

OK, so Space Jam isn’t really in the same league as the previous five, but it was a lot of fun for those of us who were appropriately aged at the time of its release. Factor in the preposterous box score of the Monstars-Looney Tunes matchup, the cute-as-a-button scenes with Michael Jordan’s kids interacting with everyone’s favorite cartoons (spoiler alert: they are not his real-life children), and the surprising amicability of Jordan throughout the movie (especially considering what we know about him now), and you would have to agree that Space Jam is a pretty remarkable B-movie. And who could forget the soundtrack! Probably not worth buying on pay-per-view unless you have kids, but it is definitely up there along with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in terms of movies that do their best to mesh 2-D characters with human actors. 

So what movies do you think are watching again and again? Comment below if you feel compelled.

On Retirement: Athletes and The Grass That Grows "Over the Hill"

It hasn't been all smiles
for Darrell Waltrip since
he retired from NASCAR.  

I was drawn to an article written late last week by Marty Smith, ESPN’s lead NASCAR reporter, who took time in his column to chronicle the emotional and financial struggles of former NASCAR greats like Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip. Smith’s piece included supplementary perspectives from retired professionals like driver Ricky Craven, NBA center Brad Daugherty, and others, but the crux of his work examined the idea that “athletes die twice.” Smith credits the aphorism to comments made by longtime sportswriter John Feinstein on a Charlotte radio show in reference to the recent suicide of retired NFL player Junior Seau. From ESPN.com:

“Feinstein expounded on the comment by noting that, upon retirement, the world as a professional athlete has always known it no longer exists, and that he or she must completely relearn how to function in society. He then cited the difficulty many former athletes experience in the taxing attempt to acclimate themselves to what most of us consider normal.

“The stringent nature and structured routing required to achieve professional sporting excellence is no longer necessary. And even more dynamic than that, the doting adulation and attention from fans, media, family and most everyone else in their midst vanishes. Just like that.”

In his column, Smith noted that Wallace and Craven suddenly found themselves unable to pay for all the things they once could. Jarrett said the depression-like emotions he battled in early retirement contributed to his divorce. Waltrip struggled mightily with the idea that his late-career performance didn’t mirror the success of the 80+ wins he’d accumulated between 1975 and 1992.  As triumphant and driven as they’d been on the track, the inability to sustain that prosperity and sense of purpose made their racing “after-lives” painfully unfamiliar.

By comparison, former NFL defensive lineman Trevor Pryce seems to be handling the early stages of retirement with a little more skill. At 36, he’s not even 18 months removed from a 3-tackle performance in the New York Jets’ loss to Pittsburgh in the 2011 AFC championship game. But while Pryce, a father of three, can relate to feeling similarly rudderless in the open water beyond his football career, he doesn’t seem quite as troubled as some. From NYTimes.com:

“Having retired way before my time, I have started to lose focus and drive. At times, I feel ostracized.

           

“…Starting from scratch can be unsettling. If you’re not prepared for it, retirement can become a form of self-imposed exile from the fulfillment and the exhilaration of knowing you did a good job…

“During the six-month off-seasons [during my career], I pretty much educated myself, dabbling in music, Hollywood, journalism, real-estate and everything in between, with varying degrees of success. I was able to do a lot in so little time. Now that I have all the time in the world, it’s amazing how little I accomplish every day…

Trevor Pryce is a little unsure about his
retirement, but he's working to figure things out.

“Don’t cry for me, though. I’m getting used to it slowly and will be content with my new life. That is, until [Jets coach] Rex [Ryan] calls.”    

One point made elsewhere in the Pryce and Smith pieces was the importance of age and tenure in the retirement process. “[For] Most of us competitors... you’ve [competed] for a very long period of time, and that will and desire to compete doesn’t just go away,” Jarrett tells Smith. But there is a spectrum to that “very long period.” A man like Waltrip, who drove amateur races as a teenager, finds himself beyond the half-century mark with the daunting knowledge that the one thing he’s been trained to do for the better part of 40 years is now no longer his profession; he’s almost twice as old as ball-sport retirees like Daugherty and doubly tethered to his primary skill set.  The older they get, the harder it is to teach dogs new tricks.

In talking to Jarrett (age 55, retired at 51), Wallace (55/48), Waltrip (65/52), and the others, Smith made it clear that none of them really understood the impact of that lifestyle change, how it would more or less wrench the fabric of their existence right out from under their feet.  All of the men spoke to similar psychological problems that handicapped their efforts in post-retirement life: lack of focused competition, departure from community/peer group, financial losses, decreased attention from fans, and overall, a paralyzing feeling of inadequacy and not knowing how or where to ask for help. 

If there were an obvious solution to helping retirees in their second careers, the answer would seem to be education, an objective the NFL has already identified. I’ve definitely wondered whether or not the existence of so many NFL players’ charitable initiatives is a requirement of league by-laws, but depending on how involved the player is, I suppose it could also serve to expose the athlete to a business-like infrastructure that they don’t see in weekly practices or one-on-one contract negotiations with their front office. I’ll have to do more digging into that to see if players’ foundations are somehow mandated by the country’s only professional non-profit sports league. 

I don’t know nearly enough about NASCAR to even begin to think of ways that its veterans might benefit from some sort of post-racing training — shoot, for all I know, such a program already exists, and the struggles of these lifers simply surpass the knowledge delivered therein.  Nonetheless, it’s distressing to read a column like Smith’s, where there is no apparent answer for dealing with a lifetime of success that seems to have suddenly fallen out of one’s pocket. To be fair, these drivers have had their share of nights with bright lights and days with bulging wallets, far more than the average joe who works a 40-hour week for 40 years and gets to retirement a whole lot later.  But considering the early end met by Seau and others who battled post-career demons, the most responsible move would be to putting even more emphasis on making drivers and other athletes aware of the fiscal and mental challenges that face them once their primary careers are finished.

“The idea of doing nothing — that’s the American Dream, right? That’s called retirement?” Craven told Smith. “It’s a lonely place.”

Nobody should be lonely at the end.

Non-Sports Post: Jabari Greer, advocate for fatherhood

Here's the LINK: "Hometown Saint"

The shortened URL above will take you to an article I wrote a few weeks ago on New Orleans Saints cornerback Jabari Greer and the non-profit foundation he's started to promote fatherhood.

I got the chance to meet Mr. Greer at a free movie screening in his hometown of Jackson, TN while covering the event for my school's student newspaper. Judging by the things he said over the course of the evening and our own brief dialogue, my overall impression was that he's more thoughtful than your average joe. (Further proof: he's cerebral enough that he dares to express himself in verse on his blog.) Maybe that's not what you might expect from a man who has played for a coach that preached unapologetic intentional violence as a primary tactic, but even in that light, Greer made sure he identified himself and his fellow Saints as "fathers, professionals, and men of integrity," individuals who are not bound by the cruel instructions of a few bloodless overseers thirsty for victory.  Players, let's not forget, are the ones who do the hitting, not the coaches.

Qatar "Makes It Rain," Beats USA Soccer, 2022-0

ZURICH - On a cold and cloudy morning in a neutral country, FIFA made clear its own biases.

The world's governing body for soccer awarded the 2022 World Cup home site to Qatar on Thursday morning, drawing cheers from a Connecticut-sized country that will become the first nation in the Persian Gulf region to host the sport's biggest tournament.  The cheers, due to the country's small population, were not loud enough to be heard by anyone in the area, but the people carried on nonetheless.

"This is an enormous win for us," said Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the country's emir. "We would be shouting from the tops of mountains if we had any."  

Qatar, which won the committee's final vote 14-8 over the US, assuaged concerns about climate and crowd control by reasoning that their budget for the tournament would more than cover any health and safety measures that needed to be put in place to ensure a good experience for players and fans alike.  Russia, which won the bid for the 2018, had similar justifications for its own ability to host; both countries rank in the top 3 in proven natural gas reserves, and the export of such resources remains the driving force behind each country's economy.
"It took a lot of convincing,'' Al-Thani admitted. "We were not sure that [FIFA's executive committee] would consider us a worthy candidate because of our small physical size, population and average summer temperature of 118 degrees Fahrenheit. But once we made the final round of voting, we knew that our financial capabilities were starting weigh heavily on their minds.''

"Yeah, they've got money," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. "We like that. The decision to host this year's cup in South Africa was more sentimental than fiscal.  We don't intend to go back any time soon if we can help it - the financial constrains are just too difficult to work through." 

FIFA's announcement gave a huge boost to wealthy underdog countries that have hopes of hosting future tournaments. Luxembourg, Singapore and Hong Kong, all of which share with Qatar a top-15 worldwide ranking in per-capita GDP (purchasing power parity, 2009), were rumored to have already begun talks with the federation regarding hosting possibilities for post-2030 tournaments.

***

If your brain is half the size of a Jabulani, you've intuited by now that the above 300+ words were tongue-in-cheek satire (though the linked facts are real).  The emotion, however, was legitimate, and I know there are many frustrated soccer fans across the country that would agree.

I'd be doing soccer fans a disservice if I counted myself among their ranks, but for one day this past May, I put myself in their shoes and walked into Lincoln Financial Field to watch the US take on Turkey in a pre-Cup friendly. The US won, 2-1, but even more than the win, what struck me was the atmosphere. You hear about it from people who have attended matches and you see the chaos on TV, but it's impossible to appreciate the feeling in the building unless you're actually there.  Even when Turkey was winning, the fans were on their feet, smoke bombs going off now and again, beach balls surfing the crowd and chants resounding from section to section. There was as much noise and more passion in that stadium - for an exhibition, mind you - than you would find at any regular season NFL game. That level of excitement, coupled with watching Landon Donovan's improbable goal (props to Ian Darke on a masterful call), had me thinking "Hey, this is pretty fun!"

You can imagine, then, the disappointment I shared with millions of other American supporters when I heard FIFA's decision.  The bid had slipped to the back of my memory until last week, and I had forgotten the surge of enthusiasm I'd felt this summer. It never really hit me that there was a good chance that we wouldn't get it. It made sense: we've got the stadiums, the accomodations, the transportation, the people - and a good team, to boot. Why not US?

I failed to remember, however, what is becoming increasingly clear in sports: money talks, and when you need it, the talk is louder than any sports-related motive every will. It is its own language and native speaker, fluent in every dialect and more persuasive than the shiniest of trophies. It can buy you your health, your house, and your car, and it can buy things for others if you want it to. It won't give you happiness, but it can buy a lot of things with it that will make you happy. Best of all, money doesn’t tell you what to do – it only asks what you want and if it can help; only when you answer does it stop talking.

For FIFA, and to be fair, for many other letter combinations, the answer is yes. NFL. BCS. ESPN. The list is long. Michael Crabtree. Pete Rose. Frank and Jamie McCourt. Cecil Newton is just the most recent example.  I'm not pretending this theme is going to die away anytime soon, because it won't.  But it's infuriating when there are unequivocal dangers in seeking that kind of compensation and people and organizations choose to follow their wallets anyway; it is particularly upsetting when there is a smaller payday in sight that makes much more sense.  No matter. The glint of a whole lot of coin is blinding.

"There's no way around it: I am disappointed," Sunil Gulati, president of US Soccer, wrote in an email sent out on behalf of GoUSABid.com.  "Millions of U.S. soccer fans worked hard to bring the World Cup to our country. To come up short is very difficult to take."

Indeed.  I'm sure it hit these fans hardest; it's gonna be a while before they have something to cheer.

"...And Then We F----- Up The Endgame"

Botched end-of-game scenarios drive everyone crazy.  It would seem logical, especially for professional teams that practice regularly during the season, that coaches would make sure their teams practiced these scenarios until the Gatorade ran out, but time and again teams manage to bungle their chances of winning the game by making stupid mistakes (usually rushed decisions) or forgetting simple things that they would easily remember in a morning shoot-around. I won't claim to know what the best plan is for every time-sensitive situation, but there are certain situations in which teams seem to make bad decisions that any fan watching on TV could make.

Exhibit A: Lakers-Thunder, Friday night.  LA down 1, OKC ball, :30 to go.  Russell Westbrook misses a J and Kobe Bryant gets the rebound, :17 to go.  And then this.



Where do I start? First, Oklahoma City lets Westbrook (6'3") pick up Kobe (6'6") as he brings the ball upcourt.  Mind you, Kobe's had a lot of trouble in this series when being guarded by Kevin Durant (6'10") because of Durant's length, but Westbrook is doesn't present the same degree of difficulty.

After crossing midcourt, there is about a 3-4 second window in which Kobe is completely stationary, priming Westbrook for his next move.  If you're Westbrook and you realize that you are guarding the man who has made more shots in the last :10 of games this season than any other player in the league AND you are not the best man on the floor for the job, shouldn't you foul him instead of risking embarrassment when Kobe (more than likely) makes the winning shot? More to the point, shouldn't you foul him, so that even if he does make his free throws, you still have time to retaliate rather than watching him score at the buzzer?

I realize I'm acting like Kobe made the shot, but effectively he did.  If the shot had gone in, there would have been roughly 2.5 seconds left on the clock, which is ample time to run a decent inbounds play from halfcourt, but it seems like having 5-8 seconds and the ball while being down by 1 or 2 is a better option.  In that scenario, there is at least time for the player receiving the inbounds pass to consider dishing to a teammate rather than just shooting.        

--

On another note, here's ESPN's preview of Madden 11. The video below isn't tied to the article, but it gives a decent taste of the action.  The new system for calling plays looks good, but the lack of a turbo button will take some getting used to.

MMA: Monday Morning Address, 12/7/09

1) What the Raiders are doing these days is nuts. 27-24 over the Steelers in Pittsburgh?! Absolutely bonkers. Bruce Gradkowski (20/33, 308 yards, 3 TDs) is doing a better Brett Favre imitation than I've seen anyone do in a long time - did you see the 23-yard wounded duck he threw to Louis Murphy to set up the winning touchdown? Steelers corner Ike Taylor needs some serious pine time. 'Atta boy, Bruce!

2) I cannot believe UNC lost to Calipari's 'Cats. I'm gonna be sick.  What a bad week for the ACC - Duke can't get past Wisconsin (granted, the Badgers are good at home, but c'mon, this is Duke we're talking about here) the Heels lose a stinker in Lexington and the Terps turn it over 19 times in a 9-point loss to No. 3 Villanova that was otherwise a decent game. Yuck.

3) We should all feel awful for TCU and Boise State, but worse for Cincinnati.  They pulled off a furious comeback to win the Big East crown over Pitt and what did they gain? A non-championship bowl berth against Tim Tebow and the Gators in Florida after Alabama made Tebow cry on national television.  That game will be a blow-out however it turns out: either Tebow gets mad like he did after the loss to Ole Miss last year, or he throws in the towel to keep himself healthy and his draft stock high. I'm not a betting man, but I'd put my money on Tebow to come out and dominate.

4) Anquan Boldin proved once again last night why he's the most devastating No. 2 receiver in the league. He's got an easy job playing second fiddle to Larry Fitzgerald, but I can see why he want's out of Arizona - he's got all the skills every NFL coach from Oakland to Tampa Bay is dying to have.

Pure Thriller, No Vanilla

We have seen some crazy last-second passes this football season.  One of them was certainly Brett Favre's pass to Greg Lewis to beat the 49ers a few weeks back.  Another was Brandon Stokley's "immaculate reception" to beat the Bengals. None, however, competes with Vince Young's game winner to Kenny Britt to beat the Cardinals last night.  What separates this play is the gravity of the completion - it was the culmination of a 99-yard two-minute drill during which Young converted three fourth downs to keep the drive alive, including the touchdown pass as time expired.  The touchdown was the capstone to a 387 yard performance during which Young completed 62% of his passes, including 10 completions on the comeback drive. Young threw zero interceptions and, excluding the final play of the first half (during which he was sacked as the half finished), consistently demonstrated the poise and escapability that are absolutely vital to any quarterback's survival in the NFL.  The win is the Titans' fifth in a row after losing their first six games; all of the wins have come with Young at the helm, but this is the first in which Young took matters into his own hands rather than relying on others to make plays.  I don't know if it is too soon to say VY has arrived, but it's pretty difficult to think of any other way to describe such a performance.  These Titans are legitimate heavyweights, too - second-year running back Chris Johnson leads the league in rushing and compiled his sixth straight 130-yard game, and rookie wideout Kenny Britt demonstrated his worth by catching seven balls for 128 yards, including the victory strike.  Being a Titans fan by association, I will surely be pulling for Tennessee the rest of the way, and if the Ravens somehow fail to make the playoffs, I think it would be spectacular to see Young lead this team to the postseason again.

Lost in the gleam of Young's pyrotechnics was the first good performance regular season performance by Cardinals QB Matt Leinart in more than two years.  Leinart (21/31, 220 yards) didn't do anything highlight-worthy, but he didn't make mistakes and he was able to lead his team on a nine play, 80-yard lead-changing drive in the fourth quarter to put the Cardinals up by four.  I still believe both quarterbacks, former combatants in the 2006 BCS National Championship, can be starters in the NFL, but LP Field sure looked a lot like the Rose Bowl on Sunday.

Now to more important things: Ravens 20, Steelers 17, final in OT.  They did it! They saved the season, and they did it in much the way I suggested before the game.  Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall (95 yards rushing) was able to alleviate some of the strain placed on replacement QB Dennis Dixon, but it wasn't quite enough.  Although they were not able to sack  Dixon, they did put pressure on him all night and eventually forced his only mistake, an overtime interception, through the use of Pittsburgh's own zone blitz.  Dixon played incredibly well for someone who had previously attempted one pass in his career. His final line (12/26, 145 yards, 1 TD/1 INT) does not speak to how well he handled himself in the pocket.  He consistently was able to extend plays with his legs and, on two occasions (one of which was negated due to a penalty), scrambled for more than twenty yards in a manner which can only be compared to Michael Vick.  Kudos to him for playing a pretty damn good game in a tough atmosphere.

On offense, the Ravens did a great job of balancing distribution.  WR Mark Clayton caught seven passes for 129 yards (including a sweet 54 yard vertical completion), RB Ray Rice had 5 for 62, and wideout Derrick Mason pulled in 5 grabs for 67 yards, including a very athletic leaping grab on a fade route to the endzone for the Ravens' 2nd touchdown of the game.  Backups Le'Ron McClain and Willis McGahee carried a combined nine times (compared to Rice's 19) for a total of 46 yards and one touchdown (compared to Rice's 88 yards and no scores).  Billy Cundiff made the game-tying field goal late in the fourth quarter and came up just 3 yards short on a 56-yard attempt at the buzzer, which he had previously admitted was not in his range.  He redeemed himself with a 29-yarder in overtime to win the game, courtesy of rookie Paul Kruger's interception, a fantastic play for someone who has only played in portions of three games this season.

As if the NFL action were not enough, Texas A&M went blow for blow with Texas until the Longhorns pulled out a late Turkey Day victory to preserve their undefeated season.  On Friday, the Iron Bowl proved an important test for SEC West leader Alabama, as it squeaked by Auburn with a late touchdown to keep their national title hopes alive.  To add to the fury, Tiger Woods got in a car accident early Friday morning which some are calling a domestic violence-related incident.  While Woods is stone cold on the course, this shakeup in his personal life has surely damaged his image as an ambassador of the game and upstanding human being.  Whatever happened, Woods appears OK and has not sustained any serious injuries. Let's hope we can say the same thing for his marriage.

"Manning" Up

Before school starts, a few diddlies on the NFL, as in (Peyton) "Manning" Up, and other sports-related events:

-Tomorrow begins one of the best sports weeks of the year for me: the Little League World Series. If you're wondering, yes, I was watching the regional final between Mass and Rhode Island and that was an epic walk-off grandslam the kid hit to win the game. That kind of magic can only happen when you're twelve years old. It's special. Who am I pulling for? Mercer Island, WA. Why the heck not? It's Little League, and it's awesome.

-Thank God Roger Goodell suspended Dante Stallworth for the season, but Plaxico Burress gets 2 years for shooting himself in the leg? Someone on ESPN said it best, something to the effect of "Jail is for people who do bad things," and Burress is not one of them. He shot himself, by accident. He didn't run a dogfighting business, and he certainly didn't kill another man with his car while driving drunk. Where is this world headed? This Burress thing should have been open and shut a while ago - 1 year max sentence, probably less, community service about gun violence. How difficult is that?

-Watch out for Oklahoma State on the gridiron. Can't exactly call 'em sleepers, but they could be in the BCS mix come January. The three-headed monster of Zac Robinson, Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant can prove nasty if they stay healthy. Offensive shootouts galore at the OK Corral. Go 'Pokes!

-Brett Favre will lose to the Packers at least once this season, but he will also lead the Vikings to the NFC Championship. 40 years old or not, torn bicep or whole, he will find a way. I'm sticking my neck out here, Brett. Get to it!

-Kentucky basketball fans, congratulations - you're about to be sick. Your fab five for this season are about to be trained and coached by the only coach to ever take two different schools to the Final Four and get in trouble for violations both times. Don't think you're immune, even if you do make the Final Four. You hired him, you have to live with him. Cal, you're a cheat, and your haircut belongs on a used car salesman. What goes around comes around, and it's coming to you, buddy. Just wait.

Heroes, Woes and Throwin 'Bows

The Capitals finally got it right. After switching goalies and taking a solid week to warm up to playoff hockey, Washington posted a tight 2-1 home victory last night at the Verizon Center, courtesy of a Sergei Federov "pull-up" top corner wrister with five and change to play. And to think, I used to hate that guy when he was a Red Wing. Varlamov had a super game (again!) and the Caps owned the night until being upstaged a little later by the Hurricanes' final minute comeback to top the Devils in Jersey. Nonetheless, a great series, if a little close for comfort. Brashear's absence was not a factor. Can't wait to take it to Sid the Kid on Saturday.

Orioles lost again today to negate a good 6 IP by Uehara (4 hits, 1 ER) before giving up 2 jacks in the 7th and leaving the game after being hit with a line drive. (He'll be fine. He has to be fine. We can't afford for him to be anything else.) I know it's a day game after a night game, but seriously, 1 run? We can do better. When you're 1-3 hitters are hitting over .350 and the next closest is .272, you know you need more balance. Especially with this rotation.

And 1
The buzz surrounding two egregioius fouls committed in last night's NBA games is off the charts. In case you didn't know, Dwight Howard's already been suspended for the mean right elbow he threw Sam Dalembert in the opening quarter. (Howard was not ejected and went on to be the difference maker in the gme, which the Magic won.) Rajon Rondo committed a foul in similar bad taste on Brad Miller to prevent Miller's game tying lay-up. To distinguish, Rondo's foul was in the final seconds of the game, but if you foul someone who's about a foot taller and 60 lbs heavier, you must have gone all out to do it. And he did. Miller came up spitting blood. Howard's foul was definitely worse, being totally unprovoked and not relevant to the situaton (the game gets loose during the last few ticks), but Rondo doesn't get off the hook for being the lesser of two evils. The NBA has stated the foul will stand as it was called, although I think he deserves at least a flagrant 1 or 2 - he practically slapped the guy! C'mon, now. Wanna know who said what to whom? Here's a transcript of all the dialogue immediately post-assault:

Brad "Cameron Frye" Miller: Why'd you hit me?
Rajon "Ferris Bueller" Rondo: Where's your brain?
Miller: Why'd you hit me?
Rondo: Where's your brain?
Miller: Why'd you hit me?
Rondo: Where's your brain?
Miller: I asked you first!
Rondo: Did you really just attempt to take it to the hole underhanded? With the game on the line? LEBRON doesn't take it underhanded EVER! What was I supposed to do?
Miller: I spared you from having to defend another ludicrous Ben Gordon floater, and you flipped out.
Rondo: I lightly slapped you.
Miller: You hit me. Look, just don't guard Gordon if you don't want me to participate in your stupid crap. You made me look bad in front of John Paxson - that man could squash my nuts into oblivion! A-a-a-and then, then, because of you, I miss the free throw. Wonderful.

(Ok, you got me. I just needed an excuse to squeeze the phrase "squash my nuts into oblivion" into my post. I gotta watch that again soon - too many good lines.)
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Pulled an all-nighter last night to finish that Humanities paper and I am just WIPED. Gotta make it to Friday and I might be alright. Spanish presentation in the morning and then an insane amount of stuff to do this weekend. Might try to make it out to Memphis in May (Memphis' annual music festival) for one night, but probably not. My finals are all blitzing me in the same 48 hour window next Monday through Wednesday and then I'm free. Sort of. Don't get home til the 18th and no O's games til the week after that. You watch, though - my goal is to make at least 4 games in the 28 days I have before I'm off to my summer job. We'll see. Hang tight.

The Big One

To be clear, I don't like NASCAR. I don't get the whole fascination with spending an afternoon watching cars make left turns at high speeds (in NASCAR's defense, it's a lot more interesting than drag racing). I can appreciate some of the nuances, like watching people pass one another in a certain stretch through adept maneuvering and use of drafting; nonetheless, I find the biggest attraction of that kind of racing (as opposed to road-course or off-road racing) to be the anticipation/occurrence of a violent, large-scale accident involving multiple cars (dubbed by racing fans as "The Big One"). The latest "Big One" occurred on Sunday at Talladega, a track notorious for its brutal collisions. In a post-race interview, Carl Edwards (who's car collided with the retaining wall while airborne) bashed the use of the restrictor plates by NASCAR as a method of capping the top speed of the cars as a safety measure, later implying that it would take someone's death for NASCAR to revisit changing the use of restrictor plates.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here a little bit, so if you disagree/know more than I do, please speak up. My question is, how has the use of restrictor plates gone on this long without being more closely examined? I was only 11 when Dale Earnhardt Sr. died at Daytona in 2001, but to me at the time, he was NASCAR, along with Jeff Gordon, and looking back on it, I can't see why they didn't do away with the plates right then. Bobby Allison disagrees with Edwards, citing the fact that "the risk [inherent to driving with restrictor plates] is part of the attraction" and that drivers are very aware of the danger, but I think Allison's ability to voice that opinion has a lot to do with the fact that he survived his own crash at Talladega in 1987 without any major injuries. I don't know a great deal about the mechanics of a car, but knowing how much a car's performance can be enhanced by tweaking parts of it makes me wonder whether restrictor plates are a good idea. Theoretically, these are experienced racers who know how to handle fast cars: if they know that, they probably are aware of their own limitations, and racing without plates would be to their advantage because they can control what they do according to their experience. The use of plates, while decreasing speed, increases the level of danger by bunching the drivers together in packs; furthermore, racing in a pack punishes the smallest of mistakes with the possibility of spinning out and hitting other cars on the way.

If there are no restrictor plates, there's a better chance that that a car will not be as close to the pack when he screws up and therefore will only bring damage on himself if it happens. If you choose to go fast at one of the faster tracks (Talladega or Daytona), that's your choice and you make it while understanding the risk you take. NASCAR should not force everyone to be subjected to unnecessary peril - if they're smart, the drivers can "police themselves" by not making dumb decisions that could cost them their lives or someone else's.

Allison likened the risk associated with restrictor plates to being hit in the head and killed by a wayward shot at a hockey rink or a foul ball at a baseball stadium. He's half right: NASCAR, like baseball or hockey, could be considered a "sport" or "game" (although that too is debatable) because it involves some amount of skill. He's dead wrong about the other half (emphasis on dead): you have a slightly higher chance of being killed by a 3,000 lb. piece of twisted metal traveling at breakneck speed than a 9 oz. leather sphere, wouldn't ya say?

And 1
Donald Brashear's vicious hit on Blair Betts in the first period of Sunday's game was awesome, but maybe not worth the price. He's been suspended for five games for that hit and a sixth for a different incident, meaning he won't be available for the all-important Game 7 of the quarterfinals on Tuesday night in DC. So much for sending a message.

U(ehara), Me, and Dupree

Not a bad weekend for Baltimore area sports. However, I think my work as draft scout may be finished.

Ravens
My prediction that they would take a WR with their first round pick (which, admittedly, has been a bust for them in years past), the Ravens' front office surprised just about everybody by drafting standout Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher, presumably as Jared Gaither's partner in crime and Jonathan Ogden's long-awaited heir apparent. What surprised me most was that Oher was one of the Ravens' 15 highest rated prospects; additionally, it appeared that Brandon Pettigrew (TE, Oklahoma State) had been our first priority before he was drafted by the Lions. Far be it from to me to question Ozzie, though - the man is dynamite in the war room.

A quick follow-up: The youngest O-line in the NFL last season just got younger, and better. The second round saw the Purple and Black add Utah DE Paul Kruger to the roster, giving us yet another versalite defender for the 3-4. CB Lardarius Webb (Southern Miss/Nicholls State) will add depth and compete for time on kick returns, as well as contributing on special teams. Linebacker Jason Phillips (TCU) will play a supporting role, and TE Davon Drew (East Carolina) provides us with another pass-catching tight end. RB Cedric Peerman (UVA) will back up McGahee/Rice and has the chance to help on special teams.

As for my picks, the Texans took Brian Cushing at fifteen, Clay Matthews went 26th to Green Bay, and Maualuga slipped all the way into the 2nd round, taken by the Bengals with the sixth pick (38th overall). Hakeem Nicks went 29th to the Giants and Darrius Heyward-Bey went seventh to the Oakland Raiders, ahead of better prospects like Michael Crabtree (who went tenth to San Francisco) and Jeremy Maclin (nineteenth, Philadelphia). ESPN showed a telling graphic of seven of Al Davis' most recently drafted players, all of whom had one thing in common: a sub 4.4 time in the 40-yard dash. Speed kills, but it's not everything. I feel terrible for Heyward-Bey - with Crabtree also in the Bay Area, he'll be relentlessly scrutinized in comparison and will be forever labeled as a bust if he doesn't perform. I hope for his sake that he plays out of his mind or gets traded faster than General Motors' stock; if he doesn't, Davis' unreasonable standards and fan expectations will ruin him.

Orioles
Having blown successfully blown the 4-1 lead I mentioned they held on Friday night (and wasted a good outing by Uehara), the O's continued their losing streak Saturday, nearly salvaging an ugly start by Mark Hendrickson (4.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER w/ 4 HR) before losing, 6-5. We finally righted the ship today, erasing a 5-1 deficit with homers from Brian Roberts and Adam Jones to secure an 8-5 victory.

AL East
Toronto 14-6 (just won their sixth series of the season today)
Boston 11-6, 1.5 games back (playing tonight vs. Yankees)
New York 9-8, 3.5 GB (playing tonight vs. Red Sox)
ORIOLES 9-10, 4.5 GB (a -23 run differential? Ouch!)
Tampa Bay 7-12, 6.5 GB (2 wins at home thus far)

Terps
Biggest news from College Park: reserve center Braxton Dupree is transferring. Not surprising, considering his lack of playing time this season, but a little disappointing. Dupree played at Calvert Hall, not far from my high school, and I like to see kids from our league do well. My buddy Ed played with him @ CHC and once took a charge that gave him a concussion (Ed now plays with a helmet-like covering, a la Petr Cech), and he thinks Braxton will catch on somewhere, possibly at Loyola (MD), which has been a popular destination for ex-Terps in recent years. Oh, and Greivis Vazquez declared for the draft. No surprise there - he's not hiring an agent, and I think we'll see him back for next season.

And 1
Lastly, the Caps dropped 5 on the Rangers this afternoon at MSG, sending the series back to DC for Game 7. Having not watched a whole lot of hockey in recent years, I may be behind in this praise, but I'd like to commend NBC Sports on their telecast - although I've come to prefer Gary Thorne (given his Orioles stint), "Doc" and "Enzo" do a pretty good job, and Pierre McGuire's sideline reporting is the most insightful and least entrapment-like of any sport I've watched in the last few months. Kudos.
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Back to work. Due to the fact that Memphis (where my school is) had a weekend of gorgeous weather, I've managed to get through... about 5% of all the stuff I had planned this weekend. Still to go: a Humanities paper, revising some Fiction Writing story attempts, finishing a Spanish project, and oodles of Philosophy exercises. Estimated bedtime: 4:30AM (Central).

Have a wonderful Monday.

Post 1

Orioles 4, Rangers 2, top 7 - we'll see if that holds. Starter Koji Uehara's still in the game, hanging in there pretty well w/ 6 Ks. Just gave up a HR to Hank Blalock though. O's started 6-2 on the year but have since fallen to 8-8. Once again, our pitching's gonna be the dealbreaker this year - behind Jeremy Guthrie, we don't have a quality starter. Cross your fingers. We'll pick up some more run support once they call up Matt Wieters from Triple-A Norfolk, but we've gotta hang in there til then.

Yanks beatin the BoSox 2-1, bottom 5
Toronto's already hung 4 on the ChiSox, bottom 3
Tampa Bay plays later @ Oakland

Ravens
Everybody's fired up about the draft tomorrow (4PM Eastern, ESPN). Ravens have pick #26 in the first round and 2 more in the top hundred (57 & 88), as well as one each in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds. Experts are saying our needs are at wideout, linebacker, defensive end and DB, but Ozzie Newsome's a believer in taking the best guy on the board, so I wouldn't be surprised if we took none of those positions (we have a bad history w/ wideouts anyway - see Travis Taylor, Practice All-Star). If I had my druthers, I'd go w/ WR Hakeem Nicks of UNC. He's not a burner, but he does have great hands and does the little things well. I love guys that pass the eye test, and he definitely does. If not him, I like Darrius Heyward-Bey of Maryland or any of the USC linebackers (Cushing, Maualuga, Matthews) that might still be on the board. Heyward-Bey ran the best 40 yd dash at the combine - the knock on him is, if he's not going deep, he's not nearly as effective. I watched him firsthand a few years ago when my school played his (shout out to the MIAA, St. Paul's and McDonough) and it would be cool to have a kid from the Baltimore area; however, Eric DeCosta demands that the guys he picks have intense passion for the game, and Heyward-Bey originally started playing football just as a way to stay in shape for track. Make of that what you will, but I like Nicks.

P.S. If you think we'll trade for Anquan Boldin, keep your shorts on. DeCosta's whole scheme involves having as many draft picks as possible, and there's no way we'd give Arizona a first and third rounder, even if Boldin is a Pro-Bowl caliber player. Apparently, the Cardinals have just lowered their demands to a second rounder, so it may be a workable deal. More on that as it develops.

P.P.S. I'm not sold on Matt Stafford. The Lions have got to get it right with the first pick, and I think Jason Smith is the safer bet. I hope for their sake that three years from now Stafford hasn't joined the Joey Harrington club.

Terps
Not much since both basketball teams lost in the NCAA tournament. Gary Williams has 2 recruits lined up for next season (both in the Rivals.com Top 150 for 2009), so that'll definitely help our rebounding presence (the kids are 6'7" and 6'10"). Lance Stephenson, ranked #11, still has yet to decide, but Maryland's in the running, and that would take a huge weight off Greivis Vazquez if we could get another scoring guard on the roster.

And 1 (more)...
That a baby, Caps! Washington's up 4-0 on the Rangers w/ 5 to go in the third period. We hang on & we can get the series back to 3-2. Ovechkin's scored in his second straight game. Keep truckin', buddy.
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Got a ton of work tomorrow - last classes are on Wednesday w/ exams starting next week, so I'll do my best to post when I can, but no guarantees. Keep it real.