Baseball Brass Misses Missed Calls

In between bites of brats, deep-dish pizza and other hardy Midwestern fare, baseball’s general managers got down to the business of correcting the obvious and easy-to-fix deficiencies that have recently become all too evident.

After weeks of ample televised evidence, the GMs gathered in Chicago to hammer out ways to restructure the Arizona Fall League and make changes to the annual amateur draft.

If for even a nanosecond you thought that, in the wake of the embarrassing and brutal umpiring in the playoffs and World Series, MLB would look at expanding instant replay, then you obviously haven’t been paying attention.

Much like Senate members who won’t bring a bill to vote unless the ayes have the majority and the president has stowed his denial-inducing veto pen, baseball’s general managers are not going to waste time discussing an idea that the commissioner has already shot down on numerous occasions.

In the ever-confused mind of Bud Selig, any admission of imperfection in baseball is tantamount to proclaiming that Jesus Christ couldn’t hit a curve ball. It’s blasphemy. Baseball is perfect, and until its obvious failings become either a public embarrassment or the subject of government scrutiny, no changes will occur.

Remember, baseball didn’t have a drug problem until players started getting busted with more cocaine than Tony Montana. Baseball didn’t have a steroid problem until performance-enhancing drugs became a subject line in a State of the Union Address, and it didn’t warrant testing or real concern until baseball leadership was called before a pandering Senate committee.

Baseball needs instant replay. Any excuse for maintaining the status quo is just laughable.

Replay calls cannot destroy the continuity of a game that has built in pauses and routine halts of play for commercials, coaching, conferences and pitching changes. Delays won’t take long, because the game lacks the tangle of bodies that make similar decisions in football time consuming. Reversed calls will not take away the human element, upstage umpires or infect the system so greatly that officials will go to the television screen to check every ball and strike.

One of baseball’s greatest virtues is its embrace of history and resistance to change. Replay, however, is one adjustment that must be made, but won’t until real leadership invades the commissioner’s office.

A final note from the Chicago meetings:

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak admitted the team’s new hitting coach will have to address the media about his alleged used of performance-enhancing drugs. When this will happen and how honest Mark McGwire will be is still to be determined. McGwire has never been open about his personal life, and both Mac and the team were taken by surprise when the information about his hire was leaked. The Cardinals scrambled to control the message while McGwire remained hidden from public view.

Judging by his Senate testimony, it’s hard to believe that he’ll suddenly open up about his past and fulfill his promise to become a leader in the fight to keep performance-enhancing drugs away from teenagers. It is more likely he’ll dance around the issue with vague references to the possibility of perhaps doing something wrong and even issue an even more encrypted apology. And why not? The Cardinals obviously don’t care about mixed messages, and nobody has been a stauncher supporter of the former first baseman than manager Tony LaRussa, who treats any inquiry of McGwire’s potential guilt as an insult of the highest category.

Eventually, McGwire will take his seat in front of the Cardinals’ banner with either LaRussa or another team official at his side for a short meeting with the press before being whisked from the room with many questions left unanswered. It is unlikely this will happen anytime soon, and that would be a major mistake.

Delaying the inevitable will do nothing to answer questions and will only create greater speculation regarding McGwire’s past and how it will affect his new students. By waiting until the beginning of spring training, the controversy that is sure to follow will override anything happening on the field.

The Cardinals have only one real choice, but don’t expect them to take it.

Reasons For UH Hoops Optimism

For a while, every so often, scattered throughout the first half of the Warriors game versus the closest thing the university has to a cross-island rival, UH ran the fast break with the speed and precision that head coach Bob Nash has been pleading for since he first moved into the first chair two years ago. It was, during those moments, an exciting glimpse into what may become of a program in need of some positive news.

Now, before we start ordering rings in celebration of a conference championship, one does have to recognize the effort was against a Division II opponent, and that the team went from dominant to confused and clumsy in a matter of minutes. The result was a squandered 20-point first-half cushion that sank to two points in the second half as BYU-Hawaii discovered its calm and shooting touch. And take nothing away from the North Shore school that made Laie famous.

The Seasiders made the journey over the Pali, Likelike or H-3 highways, no one bothered to ask, with their best player and national player of the year Lucas Alves out of action until perhaps the post-holiday season. The Seasiders struggled in the first half with a combination of bad passing, sloppy defense, poor ball control and way too many one-handed shots that hit iron and little else. The last of which caused BYU-Hawaii coach Ken Wagner to produce a wry smile that combined disbelief and already spent aggravation during post-game comments. Such bad first-half habits get easier to stomach when adjustments are successfully implemented at halftime. To their credit, and to suggest their lofty D-II status is based on reality and not imagination, the Seasiders reversed the ugly first 20 minutes and made a statement of respectability, from which they will benefit once the PacWest season begins.

The Seasiders have a few players worthy of attention, and a great home-court atmosphere that makes it one of the best places in the state - some say the best - to watch college basketball. Virgil Buensuceso, last year’s Cousy Award finalist (nation’s best point guard), Rory Patterson and PacWest freshman of the year Tsung-Hsien Chang, kicked in 17, 15 and 12 points, respectively.

While just an exhibition, both teams came in looking for a test and with something to prove. The Seasiders wanted to show they could not just compete, but win, against a D-1 opponent without the services of Alves. For the Rainbow Warriors, the game was about finding cohesion within a patchwork lineup, and eliminating the mistakes that allowed UH-Hilo to play too close for comfort the week before.

The ‘Bows were successful in one category, but blew it in the other. UH turned the ball over 19 times against Hilo and increased that number by 10 against BYU-Hawaii. While early unfamiliarity and carelessness were responsible for most of those giveaways, gawdawful officiating also played a hand.

This space typically refrains from wasting valuable print space on blaming those in stripes for athletic failure, but the crew’s sometimes bizarre foul-calling took both teams out of their rhythm and prevented both sides from playing a consistent style of basketball as no one knew what would be called and what would be ignored. After the game, center/forward Paul Campbell talked about being used to playing in front of hostile officials. And this was at home during an exhibition. The Seasiders weren’t any happier after getting whistled 30 times, much to the dis-belief of players, coaches and the vocally uninhibited BYU-Hawaii fans.

The biggest success for the ‘Bows on this night was not the success of their fast break in the first half, but their ability to work the post for easy scores in the second. UH’s big men, especially Campbell and Petras Balocka, took advantage of spacing and screens to run cuts to the basket that resulted in layups and dunks enabled by good interior passing.

While most attention this year will be focused on All-WAC second teamer Roderick Flemings, senior center Bill Amis and perhaps newcomers Dwain Williams and Jeremy Lay, much of the success for UH this season will ride on Balocka’s wide shoulders.

Balocka is a strong post player who can rotate to the wings for midrange jumpers and an occasional three. He needs to forget about beating guys off the dribble and, most importantly by far, control his temper. Balocka is not a walking technical foul, but he is easily frustrated, and is quick to react negatively and complain to officials instead of getting back on defense when calls don’t go in his favor. Nash said the key is pulling him off the floor at those times so the 6-foot-8-inch, 250-plus pound Lithuanian can gather his senses. If Nash can rein him in, Balocka and the team will be a lot better.

Handing Out Baseball Hardware

The season is a goner. Let’s see who walks away with the hardware.

AL MVP

Final Five: Miguel Cabrera, Joe Mauer, Kendry Morales, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Youkilis

Winner: Mauer Teixeira had a monster year leading the league in RBI and tying in home runs. He was a vacuum at first base, third in slugging (.565), No. 6 in runs scored (103) and 10th in walks. But he had help. The Yankees topped the Twins in every offensive category except triples and dominated the pitching comparison. While the Yankees cruised to a division title, Mauer had to carry the load while his team made a late-season run to another division title. Mauer led the league in hitting (.365), slugging and OPS. He hit 28 home runs, was second in on-base percentage and struck out just 63 times. Teixeira will get the votes, but Mauer is more deserving.

 

NL MVP

Final five: Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard, Derek Lee, Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez

Winner: Pujols This contest is so one-sided that Pujols should finish first and second. The Cardinals’ first baseman not only added to his Hall of Fame credentials, but inched his way closer up the best-of-all-time list. Pujols led the National League in home runs, runs, on-base percentage, slugging and OPS. His 135 RBI was six behind the co-leaders, he was second in doubles, third in walks and struck out a paltry 64 times. The question is not will Pujols win the MVP, but when will he surpass Stan Musial as the all-time greatest Cardinal?

AL Cy Young

Final Five: Zack Greinke, Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, C.C. Sabathia, Justin Verlander

Winner: Greinke No one did more with less than Greinke. The right-hander finished first in ERA, WHIP, second in batting average against, and his 16 wins accounted for 24 percent of the Royals’victories. He was the only one of Kansas City’s five regular starters to finish on the positive side of the .500 mark. Take out his 2.16 era and KC’s other four starters gave up an average of 5.9 runs per nine innings. He couldn’t even count on run support. Greinke had nine no-decisions during the season while giving up a total of 16 runs. The Royals’ hitters were awful. In the 14-team American League, the Royals finished 13th in runs, home runs, RBI and on-base percentage.

NL Cy Young

Final five: Chris Carpenter, Josh Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Javier Vázquez. Adam Wainwright,

Winner: Carpenter The Cardinals’right-hander got a lot of competition for Lincecum and Wainwright, but the 34-year-old pulls ahead with his 80.9 winning percentage and a league-low 2.24 era. While not an overpowering pitcher, Carpenter had a 3.78-1 strikeout to walk ratio, which combined for a National League second best 1.01 WHIP. Even in games when he was not the pitcher of record, Carpenter posted a 1.60 era in his seven no-decisions.

AL Rookie of the Year

Final Five: Elvis Andrus, Andrew Bailey, Gordon Beckham, Jeff Niemann, Rick Porcello

Winner: Niemann It may say more about a club than the athlete when a rookie leads the team in wins (13) and ERA (3.94). But Niemann carried the load and performed when no other Tampa player seemed capable. He was solid throughout with 13 quality starts, a respectable .266 batting average against mark while losing consecutive starts on only one occasion.

NL Rookie of the Year

Final Five: J.A. Happ, Chris Coghlan, Casey McGehee, Garrett Jones, Randy Wells

Winner: Happ Philadelphia’s Happ stands out in an impressive rookie class by leading his World Series-participating team with a 2.93 ERA while tying for the team lead in victories. He won 75 percent of his starts, which is also tops among starters. Happ struck out 119 batters in 166 innings and was even better on the road then home with a baseball-best 1.99 era.

AL Manager of the Year Minnesota’s Ron

Gardenhire continues to win with an impoverished payroll. True, he competes in baseball’s worst division, but his team is a perennial competitor in the Central, and he deserves a lot of credit.

NL Manager of the Year

Jim Tracy got the job in the 47th game of the season with the Rockies 10 games below .500. From that point Colorado won 63.7 percent of their games. Enough said.

How Patsy Helped Shoji Win 1,000

Dave Shoji stood on the Teraflex court surface draped in lei, cocooned in Silly String and smiling broadly, the beneficiary of hundreds of talented athletes and an often-misunderstood and much-maligned piece of legislation.

Shoji’s ascent to 1,000 victories is more than an indicator of individual success and coaching talent, both of which he has in abundance. It is further proof of the success The Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, originally the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Most commonly known as Title IX, the legislation is part of an overall civil rights bill that outlaws sexual discrimination in any educational program at schools receiving federal funds. While not always popular and often blamed for the demise of some non-revenue men’s sports, the law created opportunities for the athletes whose skill Shoji turned into champions and for the millions who were finally given the fair chance to compete. The success, as Shoji had pointed out after the game, has been staggering. A 2005 study conducted by the Women’s Sports Foundation found that since 1975, participation by female high school athletes increased 875 percent, while collegiate numbers rose 435 percent. The number of female high school participants increases to 940 percent when stretched to the legislation adoption in 1972.

 

But while women’s basketball packs arenas in the East and others make for more entertaining contests than those played by their male counterparts - tennis and volleyball specifically - the law that called for equal opportunity has yet to be fully realized.

According to the WSF, compliance is still a long way off. Citing a gender-equity study conducted by the NCAA, the organization’s Web site reports that male collegiate athletes receive $135 million more in athletic scholarships than do female athletes.

Marilyn Moniz-Kaho’ohanohano, the associate athletics director and senior women’s administrator at UH, said the university is in compliance with scholarship and participation requirements, but that in the area of benefits and treatments, work still needs to be done. She also mentioned that the race for equality is burdened by a challenged and unfair financial situation.

“The next hurdle is finances, because the gap between the funding for men’s sports and women’s sports is continuing to widen rather than to close,” says the former Wahine volleyball player. “The female student athletes, I would say in general, are receiving only about 30 percent of the sports budget ... I think we are going backward.”

Moniz-Kaho’ohanohano is not alone pointing out the differences in funding between men and women. A 2002 report by the National Women’s Law Center for the Commission on Oppor-tuni-ties in Athletics said that while women make up 41 percent of Div. 1 athletes, they receive only 32 percent of the recruiting dollars and 36 percent of the operating dollars.

The biggest criticism of Title IX is the presumption that it succeeds at the expense of men’s programs, and that the requirements don’t match the inherit interest in athletics between the sexes.

While it is true that colleges have cut non-revenue men’s sports in recent years, the blame sits not at the feet of gender equity but in the inability of universities to balance their budgets. According to the NCAA, from 2004 to 2006 the median total expenses for Football Bowl Subdivision athletic programs increased 23 percent, while generated revenues increased by just 2 percent since 2005. That number jumps to 22 percent when the numbers from 2004 are added.

As far as the argument that men are more interested in sports and therefore require more scholarships, Moniz-Kaho’ohanohano says that’s an old and tired argument.

“That’s exactly why you have the law to create opportunities so you can create interest ... Of course, 30 years ago women weren’t as interested because there weren’t any opportunities. The law has helped change society’s view of the value of athletics.”

Seeing the near-capacity crowd stand in appreciation of the university’s most successful coach and the state’s second-favorite athletic team on that historic evening, the importance of equal opportunity was obvious.

Change is often difficult, but always necessary.

Giving Limbaugh The Bum’s Rush

How does one comment on an issue that is so obviously overblown with self-importance, ridiculous hyperbole and bogus claims of economic bravado without giving credence to those who continue to pump life into the meaningless story?

That’s the dilemma when considering whether or not to jump into the conversation about Rush Limbaugh’s supposed and proposed deal to become part owner of the St. Louis Rams. Sadly, for those who benefit from riling up the masses much in the same way their target does daily on the radio, Limbaugh is now out of the picture as his one-time partner has caved to pressure and dumped his popular but polarizing co-conspirator.

Colts owner Bob Irsay, who famously stole his team out of Baltimore during a cowardly midnight escape, commissioner Roger Goodell, Players Association honcho DeMaurice Smith, the “liberal media” and, of course, Al Sharpton, who never misses an opportunity to attach himself to any story that will keep him in the spotlight, clamored to voice their displeasure at Limbaugh’s possible involvement - even though his role with the team would be minimal.

Even elected officials couldn’t help themselves. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D) Houston, took a minute - three in fact, even more than she spent discussing the economy - from her testimony to skewer Limbaugh and encourage the NFL to deny his entrance.

The de facto leader of the Republican Party was to be a minority owner, perhaps one of many. Now that’s not going to happen even though, according to Limbaugh, his former partner, St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts, told the right wing’s point man that his involvement had been cleared by league officials.

NFL franchises are expensive, and even the richest shopper cannot bear the cost alone. That’s where minority owners come in. These unknown investors provide the additional financing that make deals possible. The Steelers, for example, have at least 10 minority owners, who, except for Hall of Famer John Stallworth, are unrecognizable to the general public, their politics completely unknown. The Dolphins have even turned minority ownership into a PR move by inviting Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estafan, Jimmy Buffett and Venus and Serena Williams to purchase a reserved seat in the owners box.

The NFL’s disinterest in Limbaugh has little to do with his politics or past comments, and it has absolutely nothing to do with morality or ethical behavior. The league has proven time and again that bad and even criminal behavior is no reason for permanent dismissal. In the mind of the NFL, Limbaugh is more dangerous that Michael Vick, Jerramy Stevens, Matt Jones or Adam Jones because Limbaugh possesses what the league fears most: an opinion and a forum.

The NFL can’t control Limbaugh and the league must always be in control. It was a lesson the broadcaster learned following his famed and inflated comments about Donovan McNabb, even though he gave ESPN exactly what it wanted: a talented broadcaster who is not afraid to push buttons or be controversial.

So obvious is the need for control that Sharpton wisely, in his letter to the NFL, criticized his opponent not for his history of racial insensitivity but for his criticisms of the league.

Now, let’s make this clear. I am not defending the conservative windbag. Limbaugh, like many of his brethren, has made money off fear, which is reprehensible. Over the years he has been racially and sexually insensitive. But the NFL is not a league of saints, and applying a different standard to a single individual is an awfully slippery slope from which to make a stand. And had Limbaugh decided to fight the NFL, the league would be hard pressed to legally justify denying ownership to a qualified bidder for no better reason than outlandish and outrageous comments.

And don’t for one minute think that the players would not, as suggested, consider St. Louis as a place of employment should Limbaugh be involved. Modern athletes risk too much financially to stick their necks out and will only speak up, or act on the most benign topics.

If there was one saving grace from the entire tale, it is that at least the jokes - and bizarre predictions - were quite amusing. Limbaugh would allow only Fox News to cover the Rams. He would eliminate the salary cap because profit sharing is socialism even though his mid-market team would languish without it. Limbaugh would move to have the union decertified as unions are bad for business and use his immense power to force Minnesota to alter its color scheme because purple is the color of Tinkie Winkie, who is gay and is therefore a threat to traditional marriage.

Ducks’ Reversal A Bad Precedent

Some seven weeks ago, Oregon coach Chip Kelly made a decision that negatively affected his team, and was rightfully hailed for his courage and decisiveness.

LeGarrette Blount was definite in his statements leading up to the Boise State game. He wanted pay-back. “We owe that team an ass-whuppin’,” he told Sports Illustrated.

Following another loss on Sept. 3, Blount showed his displeasure by sucker-punching Boise State defensive end Byron Hout after Hout no doubt congratulated Blount on his prediction. In a complete rage, Blount had to be forcibly removed from the field by coaches, players, sideline personnel and police after trying to enter the stands to rearrange some Boise supporters.

For his actions, Blount was removed from the team but allowed to keep his scholarship. On the day of the suspension, ESPN’s Joe Shad reported that Kelly said after seeing the video that it was immediately clear that he had no choice but to suspend Blount for the year. The fight marked the second time Blount had run afoul of team rules. Both of which resulted in indefinite suspensions. School president Richard Lariviere called Blount’s behavior “reprehensible.”

Now, things aren’t so clear.

Running a reverse on his earlier claim that reinstatement for the senior tail-back was not an option, Kelly has opened some running room for Blount that could result in the player suiting up for the Ducks sometime this season. Kelly said he has set up a “rigid set of conditions” that would provide Blount the opportunity for consideration of reinstatement should all the demands be met. Earlier, Kelly had said reinstatement was not an option.

“After speaking with a number of nationally renowned professionals in the field, which included Dr. Harry Edwards and Tony Dungy, I came to the conclusion that leaving the door open for LeGarrette’s potential return as an active player was the best solution,” said Kelly in a statement.

Edwards is a well-respected sociologist and civil rights activist who pushed for a boycott of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City by black athletes and who worked as a consultant for the 49ers and Golden State Warriors. He also was an assistant to former Major League Baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, working to promote minority hiring in management and front-office positions. Dungy was an outstanding coach, but his credibility as a “nationally renowned professional” in any field outside his limited area of expertise is highly suspect. What’s needed is the opinion of psychologists.

Kelly has not divulged the criteria for the player’s reinstatement. Blount has sent a letter to the campus newspaper apologizing for his actions, and has spoken with Hout and Boise State coach Chris Peterson. On Blount’s Rolodex of late - in addition to Edwards and Dungy - is former Raiders and Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, and former NBA player Kermit Washington, who is perhaps most famous for knocking unsuspecting Rudy Tomjanovich unconscious during an on-court mele in 1977. Each one has allegedly come away impressed.

It should come as no surprise that those most fully in Blount’s corner are former athletes and coaches. This group is an athletic version of the Hollywood heavyweights pushing to have director and convicted rapist Roman Polanski released from captivity in Switzerland after 30 years of escaping punishment while living a life of pleasure and admiration in Europe.

To suggest that Blount’s actions were in any way as horrific as the crime for which Polanski was convicted would be incorrect and grossly unfair. However, the athlete’s transgressions go beyond the accurate but ineffective jab tossed at Hout’s jaw.

The solitary punch can be excused as a sudden crime of passion, but it was his post-punch actions that were really disturbing and deserve scrutiny. Blount snapped. He lost control and was an unintended elbow away from being taken to the ground in handcuffs and a fog of pepper spray. Blount even gave a stiff, two-handed push to the face mask of teammate Garret Embry, whose only fault was trying to keep Blount from making the matter worse.

The question now is, what changed for the coach to alter his position? Kelly isn’t really talking except to say Blount is a good man who erred and is making amends.

Fair enough. But Blount was punished not for the person he is or the man he may become, but for the offense he committed.

For that, time must be served.

Any turning back from Kelly’s initial decision shows weakness and gives righteous fire to opponents convinced that athletic talent continues to outweigh social responsibility.

A Blown Chance On National TV

For years Hawaii has been fighting to establish a reputation as not only one of the conference’s dominate teams, but as a program of note and a worthy top 25 entrant. With the exception of 2007, it’s been a goal unaccomplished.

That uphill battle took a major step back last week on the road against Louisiana Tech.

While it is rare that early season match-ups live up to their hype of “must-win” games, this one did. Tech’s supposedly potent running attack was nonexistent in its first three games and the team limped into WAC play 1-2. Hawaii, though on opposite sides of the won-loss ledger, was a team looking for an identity.

On the field, Tech showed itself as perhaps a worthy opponent for conference bully Boise State. The Warriors just added more questions and angry, but fair, criticism.

On a Wednesday afternoon with no other collegiate competition and a national TV audience to impress, Hawaii fell flat. In fact, the Warriors were embarrassed - not by the supreme talent of their competition, but by their own inability to run, pass, block or tackle. Especially tackle.

 

Beaten in every aspect of the game, the team blew its chance to showcase an exciting style of football capable of drawing talented athletes and television viewers. In one short afternoon, Hawaii damaged its recruiting, its reputation and even its ability to draw fans. Parking should not be a problem for Saturday’s game against Fresno.

After an initial drive in which quarterback Greg Alexander, the nation’s second-leading passer, completed his first six throws, the offense stalled and, in a repeat of its loss in Las Vegas, settled for three points. The scenario would repeat itself at the end of the second half when the nation’s second-worst red zone offense had to settle for a two-yard chip shot after the offensive line couldn’t get the slightest push against Tech’s D-line to create even the smallest amount of running room. The idea of using their big quarterback as a battering ram, while good in theory, would have been useless with a line that could generate no forward thrust.

Hawaii came into the game with no illusions of dominating the line of scrimmage against the Bulldogs’ massive front line security team. But they made their opponents even better by failing to execute one of the game’s most basic and important skills: tackling. The Warriors were atrocious. Time and again Louisiana’s tailbacks were met by UH defenders only to come up empty handed as their targets slipped, spun or dragged their way to freedom and extra yards even though examples of proper technique were everywhere. Nearly every time a Warrior got the ball he was met by a defender who realized that hitting, wrapping and driving through an opponent is a more effective approach then lunging or a poorly placed shoulder.

Coach Greg McMackin went into halftime saying the defense needed a good talking to. ESPN’s Mark May suggested that a few projectors could become sacrificial side effects. But whatever was said - to either side - didn’t work. Just as the players were dominated by their counterparts, so too were the UH coaches. Hawaii had no answer for any adjustment the Bulldogs made, and repeatedly failed to cover plays no matter how often they were run. At times, the visiting team couldn’t even get its players on the field in a proper manner.

The broadcast opened with news about the tsunami that struck American Samoa and its impact on the team. Carrying around the burden of missing loved ones and destroyed home-towns is bound to take the fight out of even the toughest Warrior. But to those they were trying to impress, it’s a story that will soon be forgotten. Recruits, voters and schedule-makers don’t have to bury the dead.

Hawaii’s loss did little to affect their title hopes. Their chances of dethroning the Broncos were slim even before the loss, and minus an undefeated season, their post-season reward will be another home game. The season now becomes a salvage job with the biggest target not being impressionable high schoolers or AP voters, but disinterested fans who may find other things to do on a Saturday night and more entertaining ways to spend their already limited discretionary income.

What Nets Sale Means For LeBron

So just how good is LeBron’s Russian?

The former Bron Bron has been coy about his plans after 2010, when he can enter the lucrative world of free agency. Future financial concerns won’t be a problem whether he stays in Cleveland or goes elsewhere, but the juicy gossip for more than a year has James joining his friend and Nets minority owner Jay Z at the team’s new crib in Brooklyn.

Now all that may be up in the air. Or is it?

Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov has come to a basic agreement to purchase 80 percent of the team and pay 45 percent of construction costs for the new arena just a Troika step from the Russian enclave of Brighton Beach.

Commissioner David Stern has already given his blessing, so barring a sudden scandal or drop in the Russian metals market, the team is his. But with the possible ouster of Jay Z from Nets ownership would the sudden loss of street cred have an effect on James’ decision to rescue the borough from the funk it’s been in since the Dodgers started going back to Cali strictly for the weather in 1957?

 

Nyet!

Prokhorov is Eastern Bloc hip-hop to the bone. This guy is Crystal by the case with caviar as a condiment for use at Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘N Waffles. The man lost 51 percent of his cash in the financial mess yet remains the biggest hustler on the Siberian market. The 6-foot, 6-inch former high school baller is a regular on the European bling scene and doesn’t travel anywhere without a tricked-out jet and a posse of high-heel talent. The man was even gansta enough to be questioned about his possible involvement in the business of supplying some socially aggressive women and hand-held gardening tools for his well-healed and promiscuous friends at an upscale French resort. And why not? Russians, like Brooklynites, love to party like it’s 1897, 1903 and 1895 - the respective birthdates of Brooklyn-born Moe, Curly and Shemp Howard.

In 989, Vladimir I chose Greek Orthodoxy as the official state religion over Islam in part because he figured his people would-n’t want to live under a religious system that bans the pleasure of gin and juice.

While the sale has even received the endorsement of Dallas Maverick publicity hound Mark Cuban, not everybody is in the big Ruskie’s camp. A member of the Russian legislature is calling the purchase unpatriotic. Another says his stated claim of using the club to help improve the game in Russia is unlikely, pointing out that Roman Abramovich’s purchase of the Chelsea Football Club did nothing to improve soccer in the fatherland.

Residents of the former Soviet Union have always put a premium on athletic achievement as a way to promote national superiority. Having the nation’s richest person invest in a league outside of it’s frigid boundaries - and even worse in the U.S. - is tantamount to becoming a Kievan Rus version of John Walker, the former U.S. Navy submariner who spent 17 years selling secrets to the KGB.

So what does this mean for LeBron?

Nothing, unless one believes that a czar’s ransom of rubles, Big Apple exposure and being the international face of the NBA from Lisbon to Dezhnevo is enough to turn a person’s head.

Prokhorov didn’t build his reputation with cautious moves and by hoarding cash. The upwardly mobile resident of Moscow, the Riviera, St. Tropez and the French ski resort of Courchevel are not likely to worry about luxury taxes getting in the way of expanding his market. Such modest fees are acceptable when the goal is to win in the U.S., reinvent the game in his native land and turn the Nets into an international moneymaker.

A Revealing Look At The Real MJ

Byron Russell heard the challenge and didn’t back down.

“I’ll play his a** right now,” said the the former Jazz guard. Michael Jordan had just called him out in front of the world and if MJ has some baggy half-pants to pull up, free time and a few extra frequent flier miles, Russell will be there to settle the decade-old score. And maybe do some pushing off of his own.

The commentary following the NBA Hall of Fame induction speeches came rushing in like Charles Barkley on a buffet table. As did the Internet searches seeking out the identity of Jordan’s date for the evening. For the record, it was Cuban model Yvette Prieto. It’s nice to see that Michael, though older and quite a few pounds heavier, can still score. Perhaps that’s something Russell should consider.

Jordan upset many more than just those he spoke about or alluded to during his overly long comments. He was disrespectful, rude and arrogant, said the critics. I was excited. I hadn’t been so happy to hit YouTube since the Jessica Simpson slo-mo threat went into heavy rotation. So I watched it. Then I watched it again. A third time proved necessary. What was I missing? Am I just thick? Was I missing the subtleties of quality one-upsmanship or had the several attempts to find an unedited version of the ceremony clouded my judgment?

 

Nope. Jordan’s speech may have been clumsy and even a little unsettling at times, but mostly he was just trying to be funny and, in his own way, thank those who helped him achieve greatness.

Sometimes he was successful, other times he missed the mark. It was one time when it can be safely said Michael Jordan is no John Stockton. But his address, whether good or bad, provided a revealing look at the person behind the carefully crafted image that we’ve been force-fed for 25 years.

Michael Jordan is a competitor driven by the need to succeed with the willingness to run over anyone standing between him and competitive perfection. The best example of this came during his semi-comical, semi-critical commentary about Jeff Van Gundy, who once, said Jordan conned players by befriending them, then attacking them on the court. However it was meant by the leg-snipping former Knicks’ coach, Van Gundy’s comments offered a fair assessment of Jordan’s personality. MJ can be gracious and vindictive. His charisma drew hordes of admirers while his insatiable need for success could be difficult to deal with, even for team-mates. Recalling a conversation with former Bulls assistant Tex Winter, Jordan said, “There is no I in team, but there is an I in win.” Everyone knew Jordan was the “I.” The “you” was all those who motivated him through action real and imagined. This was the answer to his question, “What is it about me that you guys don’t know?”

Jordan took on the faceless, defenseless and unattributed members of the media who lined up to criticize his every move. MJ claimed he was motivated by those who said, “A scoring champion can’t win a title,” even though George Mikan made a regular habit of it five decades ago and Joe Fulks did the same in the league’s first year.

Further adventures into the motivational mind of Michael Jordan revealed his need to outperform his high school teammate Leroy Smith, who was chosen over Jordan to join the varsity team at his high school. Jordan kept the long-told fabrication alive about being cut from his high school team when, in truth, Smith was picked over Jordan because he was taller. Jordan continued to dominate the jayvees.

His college coach riled his competitive nature by not putting him on the Sports Illustrated cover as a freshman with the Tarheels’other four starters. So did his college roommate, Buzz Peterson, the state’s player of the year. Jordan said Peterson became a “dot on my board” because, “He ain’t never played against me yet.”

Dean Smith, Phil Jackson, Jerry Reinsdorf, Doug Collins and John Starks of double-nickel fame, all became humorous victims in Jordan’s treadmill of confessed motivational figures. One thank you, however, fell unnervingly flat.

Jordan discussed the famed 1985 All-Star Game where it was rumored that some veteran players, led by Isiah Thomas, tried to limit his touches. Though he thanked Thomas, Magic Johnson and George Gervin for inspiring him, his recollection of the day was a mixture of tribute and suggestive historical correction.

“They say it was a so-called freeze-out in my rookie season. I would have never guessed, but you guys gave me the motivation to say, ‘You know what, evidently I haven’t proved enough to these guys,’” he said.

The one place where the criticism of Jordan is warranted was in the inclusion of his longtime public adversary, former Chicago general manager Jerry Krause. “He’s not here. I don’t know who invited him. I didn’t,” said Jordan.

He tried to explain their difference by saying they were both very competitive and that often strong wills clash. But like his All-Star explanation, his need for control left what he seemed to think of as a fond look back appear strangely vindictive. “He (Krause) said organizations win championships, but I didn’t see organizations playing with flu in Utah. I didn’t seem them playing with a bad ankle. Granted, organizations put together teams, but at the end of the day the team has to go out and play ... Don’t put the organization ahead of the players because the players still have to perform.”

Anyone looking for kindly fond farewell from Jordan had little understanding of the real person. Had he been more polished in his address, his final public performance might have been received with no trace of scandal. But then we would have missed perhaps our last chance to really get to know the man behind the mask.

Play Calling Change A Big Deal

He sure made it sound reasonable enough. A need had arisen and a change was made for the lone purpose of team improvement. No one got canned, paychecks and most of the responsibilities will remain unchanged, and a young, talented coach gets the chance to further showcase his abilities.

That was the crux of the argument presented by Greg McMackin last week during his weekly Call the Coach program on 1420 AM. Mac said Ron Lee will always be his offensive coordinator, and that weekly game-planning would remain unchanged. Lee will finalize the offensive plan following input from the entire staff.

For all of Mac’s good humor and assurances, the move remains unsettling. It is a rare coach who voluntarily surrenders his duties, even if such a move is in the best interest of the team. Most changes in responsibility are preceded by poor performance, and the idea of an offensive coordinator not calling plays can’t help but force the wheels of conspiracy into motion. That the move came during the season is even more concerning.

Had such a change occurred to a BCS conference member the national dialogue would have been deafening. Fortunately for the Warriors, the only second guessing will come from local sources, as the national media has ignored the announcement.

Like every program, UH has faced its share of fan- and media-based coaching concerns. Criticizing coaches is a cottage industry, but along with each gaff have come louder and more frequent complaints concerning the aptitude of certain coaches - none more so than Lee, who’s had the unenviable task of following the Pied Piper of the run and shoot, June Jones, who produced his own list of questionable calls during his time in Manoa.

In fact, the only coach - current or former - who has stayed above the fray of criticism is former line coach Mike Cavanaugh, who lived up to his reputation as a great developer of young talent. Since his departure after the 2004 season, UH has gone through four offensive line coaches, with none approaching Cav’s level of success.

So what is the message to an already nervous fan base? No matter the amount of praise McMackin offers to his first in offensive command, it’s going to take more than kind speech to overcome the belief that Lee wasn’t demoted or that the move wasn’t made out of desperation.

Nick Rolovich may be a star in the making, but being thrust into the role of play caller is a huge leap for a position coach with just three years of experience, one of which was at the City College of San Francisco. The importance of the change cannot be downplayed. Play calling is critical.

One has to look no further for evidence than to the defense, where ensuring the right assignments is important enough to be handled by the head coach himself. A successful Rolo will also increase the pressure on McMackin’s old friend. A blossoming offense will, in the public eye, make Lee more expendable.

The first half against Central Arkansas left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, and adjustments, like the ones made at half-time that produced the win, are needed in the face of three straight road games and the usual tough tests versus Fresno State, Nevada and Boise State before closing with Navy and Wisconsin. It remains to be seen where the team stands in comparison to its WAC counterparts. The Warriors could as easily finish on the upper tier of the conference as fail to qualify for the Hawaii Bowl - which would be an embarrassment and put even more pressure on a coach who may have to make even more changes to keep himself out of the firing line.

A Tough Time For Michigan Men

An anxious and sometimes respectful crowd packed into the auditorium at Bloomfield High School Sept. 1 to hear U.S. Rep. Gary Peters talk about an issue so divisive and passion-filled that 1,000 people had to be turned away. No doubt University of Michigan athletic director Bill Martin wished the dialogue involving his suddenly embattled football coach was as peaceful as those who gathered to hear the suburban Detroit Democrat talk about health-care reform. This is getting serious.

For most of the program’s 130-year history, Michigan has managed to remain free of NCAA interest while becoming college football’s winningest program. Such success has led to a level of arrogance on the part of Wolverine fans and widespread jealousy among supporters from their in-state semi-rival. After the worst season in school history and recent allegations about NCAA rules infractions, the once unified and impenetrable “Michigan Mafia” has splintered into pro- and anti-Rich Rodriguez factions, with each side lashing out against the other in hopes of having their voices heard above the din. As of this moment, no one has accused Martin of harboring a socialist, but it’s still early and Rodriguez’s “all in” comment referring to team chemistry is oddly French and suspiciously anti-democratic.

So venomous are the supporters that Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg, who broke the story along with Michigan beat writer Mark Snyder, has become the focal point of anger, and is being accused of creating a witch hunt and conning innocent freshmen into making uneducated comments as part of a sinister plan to take down the mighty Wolverines. Rodriguez detractors haven’t been as vocal, preferring a more subtle, typically Michigan approach. These people haven’t been happy with the hire since it was announced. For all his success at West Virginia, Rodriguez wasn’t a Michigan Man. He didn’t play or serve an apprenticeship in Ann Arbor; therefore, his credentials were suspect. These were the people who wanted LSU coach Les Miles - an admitted Michigan Man who played and coached under Bo Schembechler - and could have had him if only those involved could keep a secret.

But not all is grim in the Big Mitten. Thousands have found great pleasure in the Wolverines’ travails. Michigan State fans have long chaffed at the success and arrogance of their southern rivals, who once famously and quite correctly labeled the Spartans their “little brothers.” Those donning green and white have always hated that the Wolverines’ annual battle with Ohio State was more important than their semi-annual trip to East Lansing. Now, after decades of second-class citizenship and bolstered by the team’s resurgence under coach Mark Dantonio, Sparty is feeling his oats and is taking potshots at the hated Wolverines whenever possible. Which, of course, just sends the Michigan faithful to the message boards to defend their team’s honor.

Michigan is a mess. And I’m not talking about the state or the economic state of the state which is, well, a mess. In addition to possible NCAA infractions, Rodriguez also finds himself being sued over his involvement in a failed real-estate venture with a banned former Clemson booster. His lawyer says Rodriguez did not defraud anyone and is, in fact, a victim of a Ponzi scheme.

A 2006 NCAA survey reported that major college athletes spent an average of 44.8 hours a week on their sport compared to fewer than 40 hours on academics, while nearly two-thirds said they consider themselves more athletes than students. So it’s not just Michigan Men who spend too much time away from their studies. It’s just that Michigan got caught - allegedly.

No coach in the history of the program has failed so mightily, and that’s the real sin. Had Rodriguez gone 9-3 instead of the opposite, the state could go back to arguing about minor inconveniences - like healthcare, government bailouts, a failing auto industry and when to begin purchasing Red Wings playoff tickets.

Win Good For Wie And The LPGA

With all that has swirled around Michelle Wie for the past few years - bad play, the even worse behavior and the constant criticism of someone who was supposed to revolutionize the sport - one had to wonder what would happen first, a return to near dominance or the acceptance and embracing of her peers. The smart money was on the rediscovery of her game. No matter the personal and professional pitfalls she suffered, her talent was never questioned. Her personality faults, that’s another story.

Wie struggled mightily at times and even those who labeled her a bust or worse, a figment of media-hyped imagination, had to admit it wasn’t too long ago - three years, in fact - that she was threatening to take over the tour. In 2006 she grabbed three top-five finishes in the year’s four majors. A year earlier she scored a T-3 finish at the Women’s British Open and was runner up at the LPGA Championship. As for her errors in attitude, the criticism was real and warranted. Money, adulation and pressure had turned a precocious young teen into an arrogant older teen.

So it came as no surprise when Wie was pictured with her father looking over her shoulder during a practice round for the Solheim Cup. It seemed just another harbinger of bad things to come. Little could we have expected a turnabout of massive proportions.

This was the Michelle Wie we haven’t seen in nearly half a decade - making shots and having fun while playing well with others. It is probably too simple to suggest the turnaround was due solely to her ever-present parents being informed that their presence was not allowed at team functions. But Wie appeared suddenly free. Free from sponsors, parents and expectations, she played with a joy she lost in the push to out-Tiger Tiger and to become not just a golf phenom, but a cultural one. She high-fived her team-mates, offered hugs, accepted them and was just one of the girls. She even found acceptance from her most-vocal LPGA critic, teammate Morgan Pressel who, like most on tour, appreciated the fact that Wie gave up trying to be an image maker and instead took her chances in Q-school. She also made a smart move by hiring former PGA putting stud Dave Stockton to hone her short game.

The Solheim Cup victory was not just great for Wie, but great for the LPGA. The tour needs the help. Even with a plethora of young and attractive talent from all points east and west, the LPGA has lost sponsors, tournaments, ticket buyers and TV viewers because of a bad economy and poor judgment by former commissioner Carolyn Bivens. Bivens is gone, but the problems remain and the tour can’t look to outsiders to fix its problems.

That’s where Wie comes in. TV ratings for the final day of competition were the highest in Solheim Cup history and trailed only the U.S. Womens Open in viewership. Wie still moves the needle. The 19-year-old scores an 84 readers rating on Askmen.com. Not bad considering she bested Maria Sharapova (68 by readers, 86 by the editors) and Danica Patrick (a ridiculous 43 by readers and 70 by the editors) in reader appreciation. Sadly, Wie boasts no editorial score nor was any explanation of scoring offered. But if the attitude shift continues so will the success, and no reason will be needed to justify her name on any list - let alone one dedicated to inspiring female athletes.

A Year Of What-ifs In Golf Majors

Call 2009 the year of the what-should-have-been in golf. Four majors and four major disappointments. From The Masters to the PGA Championship, we were teased, delighted, encouraged but finally disappointed as every great story line fell short while those who give economic power to the sport’s engines sputtered along.

At Augusta, Kenny Perry entered Sunday in a tie with Argentinian Angel Cabrera. With Tiger out of the running and Phil Mickelson seven strokes back, all attention was on the affable 48-year-old tour favorite, who was searching for his first major. With three wins and eight top 10 finishes in 2008 plus a win in February at the FBR Open, Perry was suddenly the one to beat. A win would have supplanted Jack Nicklaus as the oldest player to win the Masters. It didn’t happen. On the back nine Cabrera seemed to hit the ball in every direction but straight yet somehow held off Perry and a hard-charging Mickelson. Cabrera won in extra holes, but all the talk was about the nice guy who finished second.

 

With Mickelson’s wife battling cancer and David Duval’s disappearance from the leader board a decade ago, no one could have imagined either making a run at the U.S. Open title. But they did. Viewers stuck to their TVs, fans packed the gallery and everyone with a media pass was ready to craft an inspirational tale when 2009 took over. With an eagle at 13, Phil was ready to take the top spot until he bogeyed 15 and 17 to once again miss victory. Duval entered five strokes behind leader Ricky Barnes, but just fell short even after birdies on 14, 15 and 16. Barnes blew up with a final round 76, allowing Lucas Glover to back into a title with a 3 over par 73.

At 59, Tom Watson was an amusing first round leader after shooting 65 at the 138th Open Championship. The Hall of Famer and eight-time major winner was the perfect subject for strolls down memory lane intent to hold our attention until the real players took over. But the unexpected happened. Tom kept playing great golf. He finished day two tied with Steve Marino and led outright after Saturday. For 71 holes Watson was the coolest man on the course. Walking with his hands folded behind his back, he looked nothing like a man ready to burst one of the game’s great records. Needing only a par to best Julius Boros’ age-defying record by 11 years, Watson nervously short stroked his final putt to hand the title to Steward Cink and turn a great story into a bland tale.

We all knew the numbers. Coming into the final round of the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods was a perfect 14 for 14 when entering the final round with the lead in a major. Tiger’s two stroke lead over Y.E. Yang and Padraig Harrington seemed safe - especially after Harrington suffered a second consecutive weekly blowup with an eight on the par 3 eighth. Yang, who didn’t begin playing golf until the age of 19, would surely fold under the pressure. He almost did. Yang bogied 16 and 17 before ending with a final birdie to wrap up the title by three strokes, becoming the biggest historical footnote in Asian golf since Tze-Chung Chen lost the 1985 U.S. Open after double hitting his chip shot.

Of the four, Tiger’s loss is most surprising and Watson’s most disappointing. But from the ashes of disappointment can emerge the flower of knowledge.

With Tiger’s defeat now, perhaps, casual fans and commentators can finally admit that perfection does not exist. Not even for the most dominant athlete of our time. Tiger has become a victim of his own success and has created a level of expectation that not even he can possibly live up to, each win the result of his immense talent and every loss the direct effect of his poor play. It is true that had Tiger made a few more putts, he would have won. It is equally true that had Yang made a few more putts, he would have buried Tiger. To say Tiger is never beaten, that he only beats himself with poor play, insults not only his competitors but Woods himself.

Golf is a game of mistakes. The winners are those who take advantage of the physical and mental errors. Woods has taken advantage of those miscues better than anyone, but he’s not unflappable, nor the only one with talent on tour. Only nine golfers finished under par at the PGA, and Yang shot 13 under on his final 49 holes.

If they replayed this major another 100 times, Tiger would win 90. But for four days, the 110th-ranked golfer was the world’s best.

Pitino Sin Personal Not Professional

Returning from three weeks of vacation is much like crawling out of bed after a long, hard weekend at Ozzfest. You’re beat, it’s tough to get going, you probably don’t smell so good and your language skills need an upgrade. But being virtually cut off from all English communication is just part of the fun when in Japan. That and covering some 600 miles on a GSX1300R Hayabusa while dreaming of pegging the needle at 290 kph, or 180 mph. Earlier models used to boast a 220 mph speedometer, but the numbers were dialed for life-saving purposes.

Known for years as the world’s fastest production motorcycle, the current model boasts 194 hp and a performance boost achievable by removing a computer chip. To quote Ferris Bueller, “If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.” Not that its price tag compares to a 1961 Ferrari GT California. A year ago a Brit paid $10,976,000 for the object of desire for Cameron Frye’s father. A Busa will only set you back $13,000 and it’s a hell of a lot more fun in the corners and a lot cheaper to insure.

On to other news.

In his comments about the ongoing extortion case involving himself and a supposed one-night stand, Louisville coach Rick Pitino said he wouldn’t surrender his position and would remain as coach for “as long as they will have me.” School president James Ramsey has taken some heat for not laying a heavy hand on the well-traveled and popular coach, saying he stands behind Pitino and has so far limited his comments to general words of encouragement.

Which should surprise no one, since the criminal investigation into Pitino’s playmate continues.

There is no doubt that Pitino committed a major personal and matrimonial miscalculation when he engaged in a post-meal hookup with Karen Cunagin Sypher at a Louisville restaurant six years ago. That a year later she married the team’s equipment manager just adds to the juicy details that will no doubt be revisited at every road game this season.

According to his contract, the university can fire Pitino with cause if he lies to his bosses or commits acts of moral depravity. He also can get canned for damaging the school’s good name.

Proving the last charge would be quite difficult since major university athletics can be a den of dishonesty and self-involvement seen nowhere outside of the halls of Congress. Pitino could offer his own salary as evidence of the school’s lack of institutional purity.

In 2007, Pitino signed a contract extension upping his salary from $1.65 million to $2.25 million, in addition to loyalty bonuses of $3.6 million in 2010 and 2013.

Pitino’s actions may make him a deviant, but it does-n’t mean he’s violated the terms of his contract. His sin was personal, not professional. Ethics clauses rarely ban post-meal hookups with classy dames willing to turn the buffet line into a cozy sofa in the champagne room.

But that doesn’t mean he won’t take some heat even from Cardinals faithful.

Pitino is a Catholic coach in a Catholic town. Over the years he has publicly promoted his family and faith, and has been embraced for both. Getting caught up in a sex scandal that may include money paid for an abortion - a big no-no with the church - may not play too well in a religiously bound community even if he is, in fact, the victim. But he’ll be fine so long as he keeps winning. Getting busted for adultery may be embarrassing, but when it comes to platforms for damnation, it pales in comparison to the sin of defeat, or wearing a finely tailored suit that conjures up images not of John Wooden but of a wealthier Tony Manero.

1984: It Was Very Good Year

When MidWeek first appeared July 18, 1984, your humble servant of bombastic prose was not even a glint in an editor’s eye. Which is good because such imagery is rather disturbing.

The 84th year of the century found yours truly slinging frozen, hormone-laden beef patties for laughable wages while attempting to escape the grasp of hair metal through an individual campaign of standard depravity and trying to determine the backfire needed to lift a 454 off an engine stand after altering the timing. Playing chicken with spark plug wires was also a favorite pastime, as was testing the breaking point of a ‘72 Chevy pickup.

The 16th year before the new millennium was also memorable for things that didn’t teeter on the illegal or blow past standards of immoral behavior. It was also a heck of a year in sports.

The calendar turned with the Raiders pasting the Redskins 38-9 in the Super Bowl. The previous season was a year of redemption for Jim Plunkett, the former Heisman winner and No. 1 draft pick, who had fallen from hopeful Pro Bowler to journeyman. Plunkett came off the bench and rallied the Raiders to a 5-1 finish and a wildcard birth after a 6-4 start. Marcus Allen, in his second of three 1,000-yard rushing seasons, led the offense while the No. 4 ranked defense in points allowed featured a who’s who of dysfunctional athletic talent, including Lyle Alzado, Matt Millen and the very sticky Lester Hayes.

Three months later, the Georgetown Hoyas were in their third-straight finals and looking for victory No. 1. In their way was the ABA of the NCAA - the Phi Slamma Jamma squad of Houston - including two players who would later be voted to the NBA’s All-Time Top 50, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde “The Glide” Drexler. Patrick Ewing got the better of Hakeem that night, but The Dream took honors in the NBA.

The year also was important for revision-ist historians of the NBA draft. Nineteen eighty-four became the litmus test for future bad selections when Portland took the fragile Sam Bowie ahead of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton. Some retrospect is needed. The Trail Blazers already had Drexler at Jordan’s position and wasn’t about to take a second shooting guard in as many years.

Detroit became the center of Major League attention in 1984 when the Tigers finished April with 19 wins in their first 20 games on their way to a 35-5 start, 104 wins, a 15-game cushion over Toronto and a 7-1 run through the playoffs. The Tigers never lost hold of first place, becoming the first team since the 1927 Yankees to accomplish the feat. Unlike the Yankees, however, no one on the Detroit roster scored 100 runs, drove in 100 or won 20 games. In fact, they were the only team to do so and win a World Series.

On Oct. 7, Walter Payton became the NFL’s all time leading rusher, surpassing Jim Brown’s then-historical best mark of 12,312 yards. Earlier that year Brown suggested coming out of retirement at the age of 48 should Franco Harris surpass his mark. The former Brown didn’t like Harris’habit of running out of bounds to avoid contact. Payton’s motto of “Never Die Easy” matched Brown’s punishing style of play, and the Lacrosse Hall of Famer accepted the new mark.

BYU took advantage of a weak schedule and a Holiday Bowl victory over an injury-riddled 6-5 Michigan team on a last-minute drive to claim its only national title. The Cougars played just one ranked team, No. 3 Pittsburgh that finished 3-7-1. Needless to say, the big conferences weren’t happy. BYU was the last team to win a title after starting the season outside of the Top 25 pre-season polls.

Doug Flutie won the Heisman Trophy after his Hail Mary pass to Gerald Phelan toppled Miami and made the diminutive Flutie a national hero.

Carl Lewis, in his first Olympics, became the new king of track and field when he equaled Jesse Owens’ 1936 performance mark with four gold medals. In the same games, Mary Lou Retton became America’s latest sweetheart after scoring perfect 10s in floor and vault to edge out Romanian Ecaterina Szabó by .05 points to take the all-around gold. The overly perky gal with the toothy grin went on to win four other medals at the games that followed the U.S.‘s boycott of the 1980 games in Moscow.

Not to be forgotten, the Philadelphia Stars beat the Arizona Wranglers 23-3 for the USFL title. The team would fold after the next season and the entire league two years later, $163 million in debt, forcing Hershel Walker, Steve Young and Jim Kelly to take huge pay cuts to play in the NFL.

Locally, 51 years after the end of prohibition saw the opening of what is now Les Murakami Stadium. Hugh Yoshida led Leilehua to a Prep Bowl victory over Saint Louis. The UH Circle of Honor inducted NCAA boxing champion Seiji Naya, sprinter and track and field coach Moses Ome, former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Theodore Nobriga and Harry “Clown” Kahuanui, a football and basketball stand-out.

We’ve come a long way, baby.

The Least, Most Deserving All-Stars

Call it a labor of love or a silly idea that resulted in the loss of some 20-plus hours on a project that the Elias Sports Bureau could hammer out over a lunch of chicken wings, beer and failed attempts to score with an annoyed waitress.

No matter. All-Star games and the discussion over who rightly or wrongly gets to participate is an annual rite of complaint for fans in any sport. And nowhere is that right exercised more often than in the sport where every number is key to the past while giving clues to the future.

At the end of each sixth month, baseball fans and media argue about who got in and who was unceremoniously kicked to the curb. So in honor of everyone who packed on crappy stats only to be rewarded with an invite to the Mid-Summer Classic, we honor the worst of the best, MLB players with the sorriest stats going into the All-Star Game. Since 1954, that is. The good folks at baseball-reference.com don’t do mid-season splits before that. Thank God.

Here we go. Starters only and no designated hitters. Only one player per position. No compassion for strike-shortened seasons nor criticism of chemical corner-cutters or any factoring whatsoever for the double All-Star games played between ‘59 and ‘63. And watch out for the Hall of Famers.

AL Not-so-All Stars

C - Sandy Alomar 1991: 0 HRs, 4 RBI, 7 Runs, .241 BA

1B - Harmon Killebrew 1968: 13 HRs, 34 RBI, .204 BA

2B - Willie Randolph 1981: 2 HRs, 11 RBI, .235 BA

SS - Luis Aparicio 1971: 3 HRs, 26 RBI, .206 BA 3B - George Kell 1957:

5 HRs, 22 RBI, 17 Runs, .281 BA

OF - Reggie Jackson 1981. 6 HRs, 24 RBI, .199 BA

OF - Ted Williams 1959: 5 HRs, 18 RBI, .217 BA OF - Carl Yastrzemski

1972: 1 HR, 26 RBI, .281 BA

Starting pitcher - Whitey Ford 1954: 7-6, 3.36 era, 1.323 whp NL Lack-of-Honor Roll C - Jerry Grote 1967: 3

HRs, 10 RBI, .201 BA

1B - Pete Rose 1982: 1 HRs, 31 RBI, .287 BA

2B - Davey Lopes 1981: 3 HRs, 7 RBI, .169 BA SS - Ozzie Smith 1983:

0 HRs, 23 RBI, .205 BA 3B - Ken Caminiti 1997: 6 HRs, 35 RBI, .247 BA OF - Willie Mays 1972:

4 HRs, 15 RBI, .233 BA OF - Darryl Strawberry

1985: 8 HRs, 19 RBI, .229 BA

OF - Lenny Dystra 1995: 0 HRs, 15 RBI, .262 BA

Starting Pitcher - Bob Purkey 1961: 7-7, 4.20 era, 1.311 whp

Focusing on the negative can be, well, too negative. In compiling the list it becomes clear that the voters, whether players or fans, have done their job well - most of the time. So in honor of those whose exploits have been noteworthy, a salute to the best of the best. No surprise, steroid era hitters dominate.

Best AL

C - Ivan Rodriguez 2000: 26 HRs, 80 RBI, .366 BA, 230 TB

1B - Frank Thomas 1994: 32 HRs, 78 RBI, .383 BA, 241 TB

2B - Bret Boone 2001: 22 HRs, 84 RBI, .324 BA, 198 TB

SS - Alex Rodriguez 1998: 27 HRs, 70 RBI, .310 BA, 24 SB, 219 TB

3B - Alex Rodriguez 2007: 30 HRs, 86 RBI, .316 BA, 212 TB

OF - Mickey Mantle 1956: 27 HRs, 67 RBI, 70 Runs, .369 BA, 206 TB

OF - Juan Gonzalez 1998: 26 HRs, 101 RBI, .293 BA, 207 TB

OF - Manny Ramirez 1999: 25 HRs, 96 RBI, .333 BA, 194 TB

Starting Pitcher - Luis Tiant 1968: 14-5, 1.24 era, 0.865 whp Best NL C - Mike Piazza 1996: 24

HRs, 63 RBI, .363 BA, 187 TB

1B - Derrek Lee 2005: 27 HRs, 72 RBI, .378 BA, 231 TB

2B - Jeff Kent 2000: 23 HRs, 85 RBI, .355 BA, 218 TB

SS - Ernie Banks 1955: 26 HRs, 72 RBI, .344 BA

3B - Tony Perez 1970: 29

HRs, 90 RBI, .356 BA, 223 TB

OF - Luis Gonzalez 2001: 35 HRs, 86 RBI, .355 BA, 246 TB

OF - Larry Walker 1997: 25 HRs, 68 RBI, .384 BA, 19 SB, 229 TB OF - Albert Pujols 2003:

27 HRs, 86 RBI, .368 BA, 240 TB

Starting Pitcher - Sandy Koufax 1966: 15-4, 1.60 era, 0.962 whp, 15 complete games

Coaches Courting Talented Tweens

No doubt it was a pleasant surprise for 15-year-old Kamalei Correa when he learned that Greg McMackin had a scholarship waiting should the high-schooler-to-be decide to play football at the University of Hawaii come 2013.

This promise comes a year after UH made the same offer to 13-year-old Reeves Koehler, who dazzled coaches at various camps even though the 6-foot-3-inch, 298-pound adolescent had yet to play a game of organized football because he had always been too big to play Pop Warner. The Correa announcement was obviously good news for his family, which has expressed humble appreciation for the offer, and fans who can take comfort in knowing the current coaching regime is pressing hard to acquire future talent.

But while the reviews are good and everyone is saying all the right things, one does have to wonder whether making such offers is proper for McMackin or any college coach.

McMackin could be forgiven for becoming enamored with such young athletes. Koehler bench-pressed 225 pounds 12 times, ran a 5.5 40 and posted a broad jump of 7 feet, 6 inches.

Correa, his future Saint Louis teammate, rings the bell at 6-foot-1 and 232 pounds, and is the younger - and still growing - brother of former UH defensive end La’anui Correa and current Warrior defensive lineman Hoku Correa.

Coaches who let local talent escape soon find themselves unemployed.

McMackin, like all coaches, is pressed by the unrealistic expectations of alumni and fans who demand quick and plentiful victories, and university leaders who lack the courage to remind boosters that wins aren’t the final evaluator of athletic success.

The Warrior head man is hardly alone when it comes to getting an early jump on recruiting. In fact, he’s kind of late to the party. In 2006, USC basketball coach Tim Floyd secured a commitment from middle-schooler Dwayne Polee Jr. Floyd mined the eighth grade the following year by offering a deal to Ryan Boatright.

In 2008, it was Kentucky’s turn. Former Wildcats basketball coach Billy Gillispie offered Michael Avery a full ride even though he had yet to choose a high school. Avery won’t be able to play for the Wildcats until 2012, and it’s anyone’s guess who he’ll play for since Gillispie was canned in March.

NCAA rules forbid coaches from initiating contact prior to June 15 of the student’s sophomore year. That, of course, does not prevent coaches from talking to players and parents should someone else make the first move. Often it’s a middle man working on behalf of the coach or a family member who makes the introductions. Howard Avery, Michael’s father, introduced himself to Gillespie at a tournament and later called to chat about his son’s future. So the question is not whether these guys are violating NCAA rules, but if they are walking an ethical tight rope that leans toward the side of inappropriate behavior while placing added pressure on young athletes.

For all the headlines and hopes these early offers garner, there is nothing that binds the university or the athlete to the deal. Most coaches, on average, won’t be around when these athletes graduate high school, and that heaps added pressure upon the player and the new staff. Such a precarious arrangement became publicly ugly a year ago when Boise native Daniel Smith brought a suit against UH for allegedly breaking a scholarship agreement. Smith claimed he was offered a deal by former defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold, and that he was told not to entertain offers from other schools, only to have his later calls ignored by the staff and then the offer outright rejected following June Jones’ departure for Dallas.

Another problem with such promises is it can ruin reputations and make future recruiting difficult. Published reports have McMackin promising to honor the pledge he made to the Correa family, but the coach is going to be put in a very bad position should the young recruit get injured, fail to reach his potential, or a greater need arises elsewhere.

Such early adulation also does nothing to temper the spotlight of fame or the feelings of entitlement that far too many athletes boast. As it is, too many high profile athletes treat their signing day as if they happened upon a Mideast peace solution instead of what it is - the official announcement of the annual semi-informed evaluation crap shoot.

Recruiting by itself is a fairly dubious business of false promises, back-door criticism and self-grandiose affirmation. It doesn’t get any better with the inclusion of tweens.

The Finau Brothers Go (Very) Deep

What does a 370-yard tee shot look like? I have no idea. And I was there, a mere five feet from where it was launched on the practice tee at Turtle Bay. Not that a visual reference was entirely needed. Just the sound of Callaway impacting Titleist was enough to know something violent just happened and the end result was going to be impressive.

While the press release claims that Tony and Gipper Finau “have been called some of the best American golfers under the age of 25” - a highly speculative evaluation at best - there is no question about their skill off the tee or the obvious athleticism both possess. Born 19 and 18 years ago respectively to a former BYU-Hawaii volleyball player and an Olympic boxer for Tonga, the pair put on a hitting display rarely seen on the North Shore outside of a Kahuku/Farrington football game.

 

In town to announce their three-year deal to represent Turtle Bay Resort, the two worked their way through the short irons until sufficiently loose enough to let the drivers out of the bag. What resulted was a display of power that left former UH football coach June Jones shaking his head in disbelief while vocally expressing his surprise as the balls kept flying higher and farther. And this was just a few days after the two Salt Lake natives drove the par-4s at Hokulia while playing in Jones’foundation tournament.

The brothers pushed their opening shots to the 330-yard mark. From there, the distances got even longer - 340, 350, all dutifully recorded with a laser range finder. Then Tony ripped one, saying with a mixture of braggadocio and humility, “That has to be 360.” To his disappointment, and to the amusement of Gipper, it was merely 355 yards. Back and forth they went, poking fun at each other

Then Gipper did it - 370 yards, all carry from a club with just 6.5 degrees of loft. Turning to his brother, he dropped the club, flexed and flashed the bright smile that is a Finau family trait.

Even with the support of Jones and his friends (including Rush Limbaugh), who donated $20,000 to pay for the brothers’ Q-school costs, and two-time major winner and golf commentator Johnny Miller, who told the pair they already possess a professional game, there is no yellow brick road to PGA success. Long is the list of talented teens who collapsed under the weight of expectation and inexperience. But the Finaus feel they have an advantage.

“We have each other,” says Tony. “Growing up, we’ve always been able to play at a high level, and having each other to compete against is a bonus.”

Just as helpful will be their athletic talent. Jones says they could transition to his area of expertise with little problem. Tony, at 6 feet 4 inches tall, “could play quarterback for me right now.” Gipper, 6-foot-1, would be a slotback in the Ryan Grice-Mullen mold. According to father Gary, Gipper ran a 10.7-second 100 meters and has a 42-inch vertical leap.

In the end, simple distance won’t be enough. Those who have seen them play, or who have played with them, say Tony and Gipper have a complete game that just needs time and tweaking. They also appear to have the mental side of the game figured out.

Both exhibit a natural combination joyful enthusiasm and professional determination. They became professionals at the same time to take advantage of greater marketing opportunities and have already tasted success. Tony finished eighth in “The Ultimate Game” in Las Vegas, pocketing $100,000. He also made the cut in the 2007 Milwaukee Open. Three years ago, Gipper became the youngest person to make the cut in a Nationwide Tour event and was the medalist in the Monday qualifier after shooting 63.

In the end, Tony and Gipper’s success will rest on their ability to play their best against talented professionals with years of experience in the world’s biggest pressure cooker. But hitting it long is a great way to start. Though it will be hard for Gipper to match his personal best on the PGA tour.

On a flat course, downwind in the high altitude of Utah, Gipper says he ripped a drive 565 yards - leaving a putt for double-eagle!

Impressive, regardless of the conditions.

The Top Organization In U.S. Sports

While the Detroit Red Wings failed in their quest to tame the hype machine that is Sydney Crosby, and to take home a second straight Stanley Cup, the Wings can take solace in the fact that it is the best-run and most successful franchise in North American professional sports.

We’re not about to fold European soccer or subcontinent cricket into the mix. Let them have their own argument. And this isn’t an all-time argument - that honor belongs to the Yankees and their 26 World Series titles. The Montreal Canadiens come close with 24 Cups.

But among the groups currently taking the field, court or ice, no team has been more successful or less problematic than the Wings since they returned to the Stanley Cup Finals after their 30-year drought ended 14 years ago.

Since 1995, the Wings have reached the finals six times while winning four. Their finals victory total is one more than the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl wins and is tied with the Yankees (titles in 1996, ‘98, ‘99 and 2000) and the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA Finals wins in 2000, ‘01, ‘02 and ‘09). The Lakers tied the Wings in finals appearances and have done more in less time than their best-of competitor, needing only nine years compared with the Wings’ 13. The lockout cost the NHL one year.

A second stat favoring the Wings is that the team boasts the highest winning percentage among its fellow league leaders over the stated time frame. Granted, styles of play, league rules, free agency, injuries, uptight athletes and a hundred other points of interest factor into the success and failure of an organization. But when it’s all said and done, Detroit tops the list by winning at a .668 clip. New England is second at .651, with the Lakers third at .650. The Yankees have won 59.6 percent of their games. Even if ties are factored in, which are unique to the NHL and were for that reason left out of the equation, the Wings still managed to win 60.9 percent of all the games played. An interesting side note to this comparison is that only the Wings and Yankees have failed to log a losing season during the period.

One of the best testaments to the franchise’s organizational skills is that the team has been able to remain successful after the league adopted a salary cap following the work stoppage. Prior to 2005, the NHL was the only league not to have a cap, luxury tax or some type of profit-sharing program to help bolster the league’s weaker teams. The Wings took full advantage of their financial might. Just as the Yankees had done for decades, the Wings bought talent by the pound, culminating in 2002 when they traded for and signed three soon-to-be Hall of Famers in Dominik Hasek, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille. The new collective bargaining agreement caused a fire sale around the league as teams were forced to dump talent to save money. Detroit didn’t miss a beat, winning one title and coming within a single game of winning a second.

Their reputation for wooing talent was further enhanced when Marian Hossa, a four-time all-star with Pittsburgh, spurned the Pens long-term offer to take the Wings’ one-year deal. Think back when Johnny Damon left Boston to sign with New York and you get an idea of how big that was.

The biggest factor in the Wings’ success is that they boast professional sports’ best front office executive. Ken Holland has been masterful in mining the deeper rounds of the draft for talent. Two-time Selke Trophy winner Pavel Datsyuk was a sixth-round pick, Henrik Zetterberg came in the seventh, and goalie annoyer Tomas Holmstrom didn’t get picked until the 10th round. Two out of these three may end up in the Hall of Fame. This type of late-round success has enabled Detroit to bring along young talent at a reasonable pace and not rush them simply because of their draft status.

Holland’s leadership has also made the Wings one of sports’ few drama-free organizations. He’s greatly benefited from the efforts of former captain and current vice president Steve Yzerman, who set a professional level of decorum that each player is expected to follow.

Unlike the Yankees or Lakers, who get as much air time on Entertainment Tonight as they do on SportsCenter, the athletes in the red sweaters get attention for victories and not much else. This has much to do with the fact that the NHL just doesn’t draw the fan or media interest of other sports, and because the NHL boasts far fewer players head cases than their competitors.

Sean Avery notwithstanding.

All Atwitter On The LPGA Tour

On May 29, LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens donned her most impressive polyester power pantsuit to join other sports honchos in handing out crystal tornadoes at the second annual SportsBusiness Journal awards ceremony in Manhattan.

While such participation is not in itself surprising, one must question whether said commissioner warranted taking part in any event honoring successful business achievement. It’s much like inviting Herman Frazier to a host a seminar on athletic management and hiring procedures.

Bivens was not responsible for the guest list, nor was she involved in the brave, obvious and uninspired choice of naming a big-named franchise in a huge media market - the Boston Celtics - as the Professional Sports Team of the Year. The good folks at SBJ also went out on a limb naming Coke as best sponsor, ESPN best sports media and IMG best at client enrichment.

But I digress. I come not to praise the selections, but to bury the presenter.

If the good folks at the business journal - which in fact is a valuable yet expensive source of information - wanted to tap into the experience of a leader fearless enough to upset longtime sponsors thereby forcing their corporate contributions to the cash-strapped PGA, no better choice could have been made then selecting a woman willing to accept the resignations of the tour’s most senior officers less than a year after she took office - some of whom she herself had hired.

Bivens’latest brainstorm, or blood-clot-induced stroke, is to encourage players to Twitter while on the course. According to Bloomberg News Service, Bivens said, “I’d love it if players Twittered during the middle of a round. The new media is very important to the growth of golf and we view it as a positive, and a tool to be used.”

The woman who announced her presence with authority at the 2006 Fields Open by trying to gain possession of all media photos taken and stories written at the event - which, naturally, blew up in her face when members of the press boycotted the event, thereby greatly reducing the publicity the LPGA had counted on - would also encourage her athletes to update their Facebook page while going all in at Texas Hold ‘Em or sending out gifts to would-be family members in Mafia wars.

Bivens went on to say, “For Morgan Pressel and Christina Kim’s following - her fans are 12-, 13-, 14-year-old girls and boys - they’re not waiting for the golf broadcast on Saturday and Sunday. They want to know what’s going on in the middle of the round. If we’re going to get out of the collared shirts and khaki pants and make golf chic, hip, happening, Christina Kim is exactly the kind of player to reach out and make golf a lot more relevant.”

Listen carefully and you can make out the laughter emanating from just about any place where Bivens’ White Rabbit-inspired delusions of rainbow bright marketing fail to find acceptance in the normally staid and successful golf community.

The USGA has maintained a full cavity-search policy when it comes to cell phones on the course, and outlaws the use of any device that may assist the golfer “in making a stroke or in his play; or for the purpose of gauging or measuring distance or conditions that might affect his play.”

Minute details like these are of little bother to the presenter in the Digital Sports Media category.

Such bizarre announcements have become commonplace for the commissioner of the world’s largest female sports league. This is just the latest since she tried to institute an English-only requirement for a business that has lost three tourneys and some $7 million in prize money in the last year. And just as she handled the language controversy, Bivens backtracked on Twittergate by suggesting she never suggested it.

Bivens posted her rebuttal on the LPGA’s barely usable website, saying, “Comments that I made in a conversation with a writer last week regarding the importance of social media and tweeting have been taken out of context. We have not discussed tweeting or the use of hand-held devices during tournament rounds with the USGA, or even within the LPGA, nor do we intend to. Our players will not be tweeting during the rounds of LPGA events.”

Well, that explains it. One day - sooner rather than later - the organization’s membership will figure out that the best way to make the game more “hip, chic, happening” would be to get rid of the woman who has not yet figured out how to market a sport with greater athletes and more eye candy than any time in its history.

Then again, maybe not.

The Price Of Howard’s Orlando Love

Dwight Howard wants the world to know how much he loves Orlando, DisneyWorld, Sea World, Universal Studios, Tiger Woods, Del Frisco’s Prime Steak & Lobster and, of course, the paying patrons of the Amway Arena. He wants to let the fans know how important they are to him and that, given their permission, he’ll remain in the city of congested traffic for as long as they’ll have him.

Now before everyone within shouting distance of the 407 area code starts renaming their sons after the 6-foot-11-inch center with Sly Stallone shoulders and a Cheshire Cat smile, it would be wise to acknowledge that the man has promised nothing. He, in fact, put the responsibility of his future decision in the hands of others. According to Howard, he’ll remain a fixture in the community so long as the fans pack the arena and are not too critical, that ownership surrounds him with a bevy of talent to ensure continued success and, most important, so long as he doesn’t slip into a lower tax bracket.

Saying to the Orlando Sentinel, “You want to feel loved. That’s the biggest thing. I show my love to the community. I show my love to this city by stepping on the floor every night and playing as hard as I can. That’s all we want back.”

Howard wants to be loved, and athletic admiration is shown one way - with cash!

Ron Artest was not thinking about putting food on the table when he turned down the Pacers’ contract offer three years ago. Nor was Howard when he said, “My responsibility is to my family first, then the organization and then my city.” What both men meant was that they deserve a certain level of recognition, and respect in professional sports is measured in dollars and cents.

The 23-year-old has four years left on his $85 million mutual-admiration deal with the Magic, so he’s not likely to go anywhere soon. Unless the bottom falls out of the Central Florida basketball market, Howard will not be traded, nor is he likely to ask for time off to become an A&R man for an unknown vocal ensemble. But he hasn’t been shy about what he expects from his employers. Howard wants victories and rings - lots of them - and he’s not shy about making his opinions heard.

“As a franchise, we all have to take on a championship mentality,” Howard told the Sentinel. “That’s the thing I’ve been telling (general manager) Otis (Smith) and (team president) Bob (Vander Weide) that we have to have a championship mentality every day.”

Dwight Howard is far too mentally maintained to start burning through teams, and he’s proven his love of community way too many times to discount his fan crush comments as simple PR ramblings. But the draw of bigger paychecks and brighter lights is always a seductive temptress. No longer is it enough for an athlete to compete and head home. Athletes want to act, dance and design clothing, all while releasing some of the worst hip-hop albums of all time.

The Sentinel article said Howard understands how the team and city were devastated when Shaq took his traveling road show to L.A. But is it beyond comprehension to consider that the guy who borrowed the Big Aristotle’s superhero moniker could-n’t find even more inspiration from the man who, like Howard now, once cut a rather trim figure in a Magics uniform? Or perhaps the king of the Cuyahoga?

“Everybody can say that LeBron should stay in Cleveland,” Howard said. “That’s where he’s from. But you have to think about what’s best for you and your family.”

Don’t be surprised.

A Curious Way To Promote Hockey

Ever since Marian Hossa spurned the Pittsburgh Penguins’long-term contract offer to play for the Detroit Red Wings - the team that had defeated the Pens in the 2008 Stanley Cup finals - Pittsburgh fans and the NHL have been hoping the Penguins would get a second shot at Detroit in the finals.

That the all-star right-winger left for chump change and a one-year deal only added to the animosity felt toward the team that has won four Cups in 11 years. It’s pure PR gold for a sport in desperate need of attention.

In an effort to increase awareness and to satisfy NBC, the league moved up the starting date of its showcase event. By itself, the move was a good one. The NFL can keep fans, networks and advertisers waiting - in fact, the Super Bowl benefits from the two-week delay. The NHL enjoys no such luxury. A week off following the conference championships would have resulted in even greater disinterest. And for a league just starting to regain the momentum lost by its ill-timed, yet ultimately necessary work stoppage four years ago, any delay in the schedule would be detrimental.

But this is Gary Bettman’s NHL, which means no good idea goes unpunished.

 

The commisioner made the right decision moving the event from its originally planned June 5 opening, yet erred greatly by scheduling back-to-back games to begin the series, then following those with three games in four days - and four in six. Exhaustion and a lack of preparation does not make for good hockey. Anything less than the best is just going to hurt viewership and delay advancement of a product worth watching.

At this point in the season, both teams have played in excess of 100 games, and legs begin to tire as the world’s longest post-season tournament drags to a finish.

Hockey is about two things: speed and power - which can turn into slogging and weakness as the minutes pile up. Such a disintegration of play cannot be allowed to happen in a series that boasts not just great athletes, but the best new rivalry since the Wings and Avalanche traded goals and fists in the previous decade. The matchup has gotten to a point where not even Detroit’s famed eight-legged mascot is safe from controversy.

During the 2008 finals, seafood stores in Pittsburgh had a simple message for visiting Wings’ fans: No octopus for you! Suspicious retailers actually began asking for identification to prevent any suspected Michiganders from purchasing their favorite in-game projectiles.

More important than the availability of seafood is the health of the Red Wings. The league cannot schedule games for the benefit of one team, but leaving in the standard day of rest between contests with an additional day for travel would help to ensure the best possible product is on display.

Sidney Crosby is the face of the league and Evgeni Malkin his dynamic partner in Steel City crime, but the league needs a healthy Detroit squad. This series is about more than a championship. It’s about sales.

The Wings were able to finish off Chicago without six-time Norris Trophy (best defenseman) winner Nicklas Lindstrom, Hart Trophy (MVP) finalist Pavel Datsyuk and four valuable role players, but the Pens won’t be so easy.

For the first time since Mario Lemieux, the NHL has a player, in fact several, who can broaden the league’s appeal while helping to restore a fan base that was scattered by the strike. And a Russian could lead the way.

The Washington Capitals’ Alexander Ovechkin is a freak of talent and a thorn in the side of Crosby. He’s also one of the biggest stars in a predominately African-American city. Outside of Detroit, black Americans have not traditionally embraced the sport, and it’s a market the league would love to exploit both financially and athletically. If Ovechkin, who has ingrained himself with the citizenry with this charitable work, can be that bridge, the NHL may no longer have to negotiate air time from a position of weakness. But it all begins with this series.

NFL Well Off Letting Vick Sit

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says he will not make a decision on Michael Vick’s future until all his legal issues are resolved. That will occur July 20 when Vick completes the house-arrest portion of his 23-month sentence for running a dog-fighting business out of his Virginia home.

Goodell’s comments make sense. Even though the former Atlanta QB is a convicted felon, the league has to make sure it doesn’t violate NFL or union rules in handling the situation. Just as the Falcons must wait until his reinstatement to finally and officially wash their hands of their soon-to-be former quarterback, the league also must suffer through the delay. Unlike the Falcons whose decision has already been made, however, Goodell can use these next two months to discuss options while attempting to sift through the rhetoric in an attempt to determine whether Vick’s new-found change of heart is sincere or a carefully crafted reversal to help him achieve his goal of once again playing in the NFL.

First of all, Vick deserves the chance to restart his football career. He’ll get that chance, just not for my team. (Here I’m speaking metaphorically as if I was in control and not that I have any insight into what the Lions would do.) Talent overcomes nearly all social shortcomings, and the debate has long been underway on which teams may take a flier on Vick - so long as a team is short on conscious, and almost every one is, then he’s worth the risk.

Regardless of past on-field failures, Vick remains an amazing athlete who can be used in a variety of areas, including the NFL’s current offensive flavor of the 1930s, the single wing ... er, the wildcat.

He’ll come at a bargain price and even though as a drop back passer he won’t make anyone forget Johnny Unitas, he’s still better than half of the quarterbacks in the league.

While it is true that Vick has paid for his crimes and that by American standards he remains free to pursue any career of his choosing, the opinion of the courts matters little to the NFL. Outside of violating U.S. labor laws, the league can do just about anything it wants. Including making him sit out an additional year. While his debt to the federal government is nearly complete - minus the three years of probation that still remain as part of his sentence - Vick still must serve a punishment to the league that provided him with the financial wherewithal to fund such a gruesome business.

If Goodell should chose this route it would be perhaps the toughest suspension the league has ever handed out.

And for good reason.

Vick’s transgressions went much deeper than just purchasing dogs for combat. According to testimony, he actively took part in the beating and killing of the animals. Had he not been caught, Vick would still be abusing, fighting and killing dogs to this day. His was not a crime of passion or one sudden lapse in judgment, but a pattern of behavior that went on for years.

The keys to reinstatement has been placed at genuine remorse, lessons learned and the promise to help convince urban youths to adopt better pet care techniques. No matter how genuine or how hard Vick works to rehabilitate himself, there is no way he can satisfy these requirements before the start of NFL training camp.

Thus, any move by Goodell to reinstate Vick before the 2010 season will just come across as a weak move.

Whatever the criteria, it has to be a hell of a lot more than a simple “my bad” and a few PSAs to re-enter the world of wealth and admiration.

The Humane Society has said it is willing to work with Vick to help educate the public about the evils of dog fighting. Good for them. But before anyone begins knitting Vick a puppy love sweater in celebration of his new-found compassion and honesty, it should be remembered that Vick only admitted to involvement once the evidence became overwhelmingly against him.

Over time, Vick may very well impress everyone with his about-face, but it’s going to take time and more than just just kind words. If the NFL allows his participation this season it will do nothing more than circumvent the rehabilitation process. And that will help no one - especially not Michael Vick.

Bad Boys, Big Baby, Coward Cuban

With the NBA getting all of the attention this week - no doubt to the consternation of the NHL, which could only counter with its most popular team and arguably two greatest players going into a seven-game series - three stories were bound for the usual 24-hour news overkill.

The Death of Chuck Daly

One could argue Chick Daly’s Hall of Fame qualifications by pointing out that he wasn’t as much a coach as a prison guard who marched out convicts to physically assault the competition. The Detroit Pistons under Daly were tough, no question. You didn’t drive the lane without getting hit, and a hard foul caused a retaliated response. But such was life in the NBA during the1980s.

For all their banging, bruising and belligerent behavior, the Bad Boys were one of the most intelligent teams of the era. The Pistons weren’t fancy and never tried to be something they weren’t. They knew their strengths and weaknesses, and played accordingly.

Perhaps more important, they recognized their opponents’ weaknesses and figured out how to exploit them. But for all Daly’s teams did on the court, including the original 1992 Olympic Dream Team, his greatest accomplishment was somehow maintaining a balance among the strangest group of personalities outside of the new-century Trail Blazers ever to grace a NBA team. Outside of Joe Dumars, for whom the NBA named its Man of the Year Award, this was a three-ring circus.

Bill Laimbeer was a player only a teammate could like, Isiah Thomas a three-card monte hustler with a cover boy smile, and was it just a coincidence that Dennis Rodman went from hard-working defender to a basket case once Daly moved on?

The testimonies after his passing took on a familiar ring. So did the watery eyes among those who participated. He was a coach, a mentor and a guy for whom other people wanted to play, yet he still managed to leave people shaking their heads when they wondered how such a nice guy could coach such a bunch of jerks.

Big Baby’s Tempered Response

No one is suggesting that Celtic forward Glen Davis went after Nicholas Provetti as if the 12-year-old had just stolen his Double Stuf Oreos, but the fact is that Davis shoved the young Magic fan as he raced along the sideline to join teammates for a post-game celebration.

Provetti’s father, who demanded an apology and tried to compare Davis’ path of destruction to that of Genghis Khan’s march through central Asia, got carried away with his accusations. Anyone purchasing a court-side seat has to recognize a certain amount of risk comes with such access. And even though no one was hurt, Davis is a strong 289-pound athlete who pushed a child, and common decency requires an appropriate apology - and perhaps an autographed basketball. His “If I had hurt anyone please forgive me” line was agent-written BS. He may have been sincere, but no matter how honest the sentiment, a prepared statement always rings hollow.

Cuban Goes Too Far

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been a polarizing figure ever since he first strode to his court-side seats and began abusing players, officials and coaches. But when he walked past Kenyon Martin’s mother and yelled at her that her son was a “thug,” he went from amusing annoyance to an egoobsessed coward.

Cuban, who likes to think his team benefits from his fanatical response to any perceived slight to his traditionally underperforming squad, showed even more courage when he apologized to Martin and his mother in a very personal way - on his blog. Martin said he would confront Cuban about the incident, but it was quickly announced the owner would miss the game so he could receive his CLIO Award.

Stranger than Cuban’s cowardliness was the response by the NBA. There was no response. Over the years, Cuban has been one of the league’s best contributors to the NBA wayward mouth fund. It seems strange the league has decided to stay quiet now that the target was a player’s mother and not a game official.

It’s Great To Be Back At Pali

It happened about 16 months ago. After finishing a round at the Pali Golf Course with three of Honolulu’s finest, I vowed to never play the course again. Fifteen dollars was just too much to spend on a course with hard, barren greens, empty bunkers and fairways littered with leaves and gutted from runoff.

It wasn’t a happy decision. The Pali was never grand, but it was fun, playable and, most importantly, cheap. More challenging and easier to get on than Ala Wai, Pali was often the location of midweek rounds with the usual cast of friends. Scattered among the weeds, trees and magnificent views were shots great and otherwise, and always under the watchful eyes and smart tongues of the finest trash-talkers the game has ever produced. After years of embarrassing neglect, it became too much - especially after hitting the fair-way on No. 9 just to lose the ball under a blanket of leaves that not only hid Titleists but choked the grass beneath.

The sad part of this tale is that it never should have happened. Unlike most city and county-provided recreational activities, Pali and the other municipal courses have the ability to generate income. This fact was forgotten - or ignored - in the quest to shave money off the budget. The result of the cuts were fewer rounds played and less money generated.

Less money meant even worse conditions and the further loss of players, which included a fair number of visitors playing at a higher rate. This downward funding spiral continued until the course became the embarrassment that it was when this personal pledge was made.

Although those in charge don’t like to talk about golf courses being revenue sources, preferring to clump them together with parks and other free county amenities, municipal courses must be treated like a business. Customers arrive with certain expectations, and if they are not met, those holding the cash will find other uses for their income.

Finally, after years of neglect, things are looking up. On June 23, 2008, the unthinkable happened. The City Council approved funding for a $460,000 project to replace the greens. Out went the old weed-infested Bermuda and in its place a Seashore paspalum that is not only a surface more appropriate for the conditions, but one that’s unfriendly to other forms of grass. In addition to new putting surfaces, work also has been done on tee boxes, fairways and much of the gnarled plant life that grabbed club heads, hid balls and made some holes virtually unplayable. The changes are dramatic.

The greens, finally green, may be in the best condition ever. The worst putting surface on the course is No. 1, and it has nothing to do with neglect. A hydraulic leak on a mower resulted in some small bare spots that resemble incorrectly cared for divots. Beyond that it was a surprising round of 18 upon my return.

The valley on the left of the par-3 fourth hole has been cleaned out, which means an easy second shot should you pull-hook your first. The par-5 fifth, which used to feature a hundred yards of hard, barren dirt along its embankment, now provides grass to walk on. The long par-4 sixth has been resodded in the gully that was either baked brown or muddy from runoff. No. 9, the very hole that caused all the hard feelings, is clean and playable. And No. 14, the par-4 that looked like it was squeezed in to prevent Pali from becoming the world’s only 17-hole golf course, has been cleared of underbrush and now provides an adequate landing area. The removal of long grasses, stumps, trees and weeds does more than improve the view. Removing the impediments allows for better air flow, which helps with drying and the prevention of diseases.

Work on the Pali is not complete. The greens are still young and remain bumpy. Vertical mowing, top dressing with silica sand, which has just begun, and maturity will smooth out the surface and increase the speed. The fairways, while improved, still play very tight, but it doesn’t take long to adjust. The tee boxes are better after being treated with fertilizer made from recycled sludge from the city’s waste-water plant, but remain and uneven. The next phase of the operation is to rebuild the tees.

The biggest challenge yet facing Pali is maintaining the financial commitment. The course is grossly under-staffed, and the current hiring freeze means help is a ways off. Staff members are tasked with multiple jobs, but for the first time in years leadership is in place and the course is no longer the rudderless ship it had been.

Even in the worst of times the course attracted a steady flow of customers, but the post-rebuild numbers speak for the renewed interest. From March 16, when the full course was reopened, until April 26, when this review round was played, 12,406 people have teed it up on the course. This was an increase from 8,832 over the same time frame in 2008, and 6,702 for 2007.

The Good, Unexpected And Raiders

After months of research, interviews, prodding, testing, questioning, reading tea leaves, watching miles of game film and pretending not to care what Mel Kiper thinks, the most over-hyped two-day spectacle in professional sport self-indulgence fizzled to an end, leaving just the post-draft commentary about the good, the unexpected and the Oakland Raiders. Plus some late-round bargains.

The Good:

The Cincinnati Bengals did little to rehabilitate its reputation as a repository home for wayward youth with the selection of Alabama Jell-O body and combine escapee Andre Smith. But they did get a lot better drafting the ultimate wide body and USC wrecking ball Rey Maualuga. Maualuga slides in as an immediate starter next to 10-year vet Dhani Jones where his job will be to close the sieve that was the Bengals 21st ranked run defense. The jury remains sequestered regarding Smith’s fitness to play on the quarterback’s blind side, but he should have no problem playing on the right and opening up running lanes that became quite rare a year ago. Michael Johnson, a 6-foot, 7-inch physical freak who ran a 4.75 40 at the combine, is a borderline first-round selection who could help the league’s second-worst pass rush.

 

With needs at nearly every position, it would seem that Lions brass had the easiest job in the league. Not that such opportunities have helped them in the past. The success of the draft hinges on the Lions’ $41.7 million quarterback. Matt Stafford has supporters and detractors, but the front office loved him and the owner wanted him, so that’s that. The team didn’t get the lineman it desperately needed, but it did shore up the blocking and give Stafford another hot target in tight end Brandon Pettigrew. Louis Delmon is a missile on defense and will help a pathetic secondary. Detroit may have been better served going for Maualuga with the Delmon pick, but they’ll fill a hole if Pittsburgh cannot find a trade for Motown native Larry Foote. Derrick Williams will add depth to the receiving corps.

The Unexpected:

While not the most bizarre thing to happen in the draft, Tampa’s selection of Josh Freeman was a reach they didn’t have to make. Freeman is a monster with a huge arm and accuracy problems. Completing 52 percent of his passes and tossing eight TDs to six picks in the closing half of his final season has to mean availability several spots later even in a draft featuring a weak quarterback class.

The size versus speed questions dogged Solomon Elimimian and Adam Leonard for their entire senior seasons and guaranteed their relegation into the second tier of possible Sunday selections. Even with these concerns, performance has to count for something and few have ever done better over their UH careers. Jordon Dizon’s production was enough for at least one team to ignore his measurables. Solly and Leonard deserved just such consideration.

The Oakland Raiders:

Far be it for anyone to actually pray for the demise of another human being, but Raiders fans have to be looking forward to the time when Al Davis is no longer in charge of this once well-run organization. The pick of Darrius Heyward-Bey had Davis’ fingerprints all over it. Under the delusion that Ken Stabler can still fit into a Raider uniform, the former AFL commissioner grabbed the wide out under the notion that straight line speed is still effective in the NFL.

By picking him so high, he also assured Heyward-Bey a place on the all-time bust list should he not live up to his unwarranted draft position. The madness didn’t end there. Perhaps getting his Buckeye state schools confused and thinking he had selected the services of corner back Malcolm Jenkins from Ohio State, Davis took lightly regarded Michael Mitchell from Ohio with the 47th pick. Scouts Inc. gave him a grade of 20. The next lowest scored in the second round was a 67.

Good Late Picks:

At one time, Rhett Bomar was supposed to the next great Sooner QB. Taking money for a job he never worked resulted in his banishment to Sam Houston State. All will be forgiven of the Giant’s fifth-round pickup if he can make good on his early Norman success.

James Casey is a question mark as an NFL tight end, but anyone who played seven positions in college is easily worth a fifth-round pick even if he was the second player Houston took at that position. Casey is a former minor league pitcher who caught 111 passes as a true sophomore in his last season on campus.

Tom Brandstater was a big-armed battler at Fresno State with a chance to become a career backup. Which is all the Denver Broncos can expect out of a sixth-round pick.

Superman Wore Number 35

Felix “Doc” Blanchard may not have been the last Heisman Trophy winner to forgo the yet-to-mature NFL for a calling in another career field - that would be fellow Army cadet Pete Dawkins in 1958 - but Mr. Inside was the bridge between two very different eras for both the college and the National Football League.

Football in the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s, that of the amateur variety, matched baseball and boxing as a mainstay of popular entertainment. Along with Ruth, Gehrig, Dempsey and Louis, the Galloping Ghost, the Four Horseman and Old No. 98 were subjects of clever prose for talented writers who saw their jobs as more than chroniclers of history, but as conduits of legend.

The NFL, which began operations in 1920, was an afterthought for most players and even more fans, and would remain so for another three decades. It was into this void that Felix “Doc” Blanchard entered the national consciousness as the most dominant player on the country’s greatest team. In the process he also helped redefine a position that would anchor the game for the next 40 years while signaling the end of one era and the beginning of another.

 

Blanchard, who died of pneumonia April 19 at the age of 84, was more than the bruising compliment to his Heisman Trophy-winning backfield mate, Glenn Davis. In opposition to his famed moniker, Blanchard was a punishing inside runner who possessed the speed and agility to turn the corner for big gains. Broad of shoulder and thick thighed, the 6-foot, 2-inch 210-pounder was a mismatch for nearly every defender he came across. And even an official or two. During the Cadets’59-0 win over Notre Dame in 1944, Blanchard, while playing defense, ran through the head linesman rewarding the inadvertent tackling dummy with a separated elbow and a wrenched knee.

Of his former charge, Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik said, “Imagine a big bruising fullback who runs 100 yards in 10 seconds flat, who kicks off into the end zone, who punts 50 yards, who can also sweep the flank as well as rip the middle, who catches laterals or forward passes with sure-fingered skill, and who makes his own interference. That’s Mr. Blanchard.”

Blaik wasn’t the only one enthralled with the fullback. During the famed drubbing of Notre Dame mentioned earlier, Irish coach Ed McKeever said, “I’ve just seen Superman in the flesh. He wears number 35 and goes by the name of Blanchard.”

In addition to winning the Heisman in 1945, Blanchard became the first football player to win the James E. Sullivan Award. The announcement of his prize by the Downtown Athletic Club came via telegram. It came with postage due.

In addition to his game-changing style of play, Blanchard also set a precedent as the first Heisman winner to command a huge rookie salary. In 1946 the Pittsburgh Steelers offered six figures for the Cadet’s services. Unlike most of the bonus babies who were to benefit from such financial arrangements, however, Blanchard was not able to cash in on his college success. He asked to delay his military commitment so he could play a season in Pittsburgh, but the War Department denied the request. This was before the military determined a servicemember’s athletic success could be used as a recruiting tool.

Blanchard graduated, a once common achievement, in 1947 and moved on to a long military career in the Air Force, serving as a fighter pilot in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. In 1959 he was honored for his skill piloting a burning aircraft to the ground instead of parachuting out and risk the plane crashing into a village.

That same year Blanchard was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1991 he donated his Heisman, Sullivan and Maxwell awards to his high school, Saint Stanislaus College prep school, in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The awards were in a box in his garage.

A year ago, ESPN debated the greatest college football players in history. The man who led his team to a 27-0 record in his career, while also competing with the Academy’s track and field team and winning titles in the shot put, came in at No. 13. Not bad for someone deemed too heavy and lacking the necessary eye sight to enter the Navy’s V-12 program in 1943.

UH Men’s V-ball Set For Success

In his 17 years at the University of Hawaii, Mike Wilton took the fledgling volleyball program started by his colleague, Dave Shoji, and built it into a college power with an unofficial national championship.

Some will tell you having the long-sought-after title ripped from his hands was the beginning of the end for Wilton. Professionally heart-broken, he further turned toward religion and found peace. The two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association Coach of the Year with 628 career wins is headed back to his spiritual home in Utah to assist the BYU women’s team and to continue his work with the LDS church. After three consecutive losing campaigns, the only sub-.500 seasons in his 30-year coaching career, it was time for him to move on.

Likewise with the program in decline, the university needed a clean break to begin the rebuilding process. With Wilton in the final year of his deal, UH got the tidy separation it needed. No lawyers, no posturing, no lengthy negotiations. Just as it should be.

 

Unlike the most recent hires and fires, which were dogged with delays and indecision, UH now has the chance to conduct a professional employment search that will aid the program’s growth and not force it into a period of stagnation or degradation. The trick, as with any hiring process, is finding an employee who has more to offer than a slick presentation and whitewashed resume.

According to those close to the process, there won’t be any shortage of top-quality candidates itching to rebuild a program that led the nation in attendance for 14 consecutive seasons. These same folks say a return to the upper echelon of collegiate volleyball is expected to be a short trip and not an enduring voyage of frustrating discovery.

One reason to be optimistic is that unlike many of the university’s other sports, location, facilities and available talent are not detriments. The allowed four and a half scholarships mean almost no free rides and, with the proper recruiting, an equal division of talent. Dorm life at UH is not the best, but the Stan Sheriff Center is a nice venue and returning crowds will be a big sell.

Whereas men’s basketball must rely on a roster of imports, volleyball has always been able to count on area talent. Local fans love local players. Combine this with a higher winning percentage and UH could not only find itself back atop the national rankings, but once again become a revenue generator for the school.

Another simple reason to expect a climb up the charts is the fact that men’s volleyball is a niche sport ripe for takeover. It’s fencing and ice hockey with fewer broken teeth, silly outfits or the wildly inappropriate fanatical commentary offered at the expense of family members during each contest between Sparty and their hated Wolverine rivals. Also, one doesn’t have to look any further than the AVCArankings to see that men’s college volleyball is the weak, asthmatic kid on the playground. Even with UH wrapping up one of its worst seasons in history, the team can still boast a No. 14 national ranking. Talk about upward mobility. Outside of the top seven teams that include all the names one expects to hear when water cooler discussion turns to national title hopes, the rest of the top 15 - the sport lacks enough teams to have a top 25 - can do no better than a combined 116-108 record. Take out No. 12 Lewis and their 20 wins and things look even more positive for future Warrior domination.

Even though UH has seen its attendance wane for six consecutive seasons, all is not bleak. Men’s volleyball has been a recent money-maker for the university and could once again raise the noise level at Stan Sheriff Center with the return of its customary level of fans. A few wins, some size along the front line and one-priced open seating could just do the trick.

Kicking Around The Bolla Debacle

If you’re a University of Hawaii Wahine basketball fan with a penchant for sordid tales and legal maneuvers, curl up, get comfortable, put on a Snuggie and get ready for several more months of must-see TV.

Everything suggests that former Wahine basketball coach Jim Bolla is determined to make the university pay for his transgressions, and if his lack of character and coaching skills have not done enough to sink a once successful program, a continued long, drawn-out legal battle may surely do it.

Bolla was brought in to reinvigorate a program that had waned during the final seasons of Vince Goo’s legendary stay. After falling to 8-20 in Goo’s final campaign, it was hoped that Bolla would add to his .714 career-winning percentage and return the Wahine to their rightful place as consistent post-season competitors. To say he’s been anything but a complete failure would be inaccurate.

Bolla did make improvements, winning 29 games in his first two seasons, but he quickly lost control claiming victories in 15, 12 and finally eight games to round out his disappointing tenure at UH. Now, the program he’s left broken in his wake faces the difficult task of conducting a complete renovation that requires not only victories, but fan support and satisfying parents their daughters will not be put in dangerous or humiliating positions.

 

Whether or not any of the accusations hurled at the coach - many times quite openly by former players - have any basis in fact, perception becomes reality and the stench will not easily be removed. Plus, one would have to be naive to think other coaches wouldn’t use the Wahine’s difficulties to their own advantage, further adding to the challenge of the new coach, whoever that may be.

Much like the cases involving June Jones and former president Evan Dobelle, UH finds itself in a difficult position in determining the most prudent way to handle a challenging legal and economic problem. From a financial standpoint, it would make sense to simply pay Bolla off and close an ugly chapter in the university’s history.

A lengthy legal fight to prove a “for cause” firing would be costly for a university already struggling to make ends meet amid an economy in peril.

The problem with such an arrangement, however, is that public disclosure about the facts of the case would be forbidden as part of any settlement.

And that’s not right. Taxpayers have a right to know if a government employee, regardless of position, may have committed a crime or was in violation of ethical standards to which he agreed to adhere.

And make no mistake about it: Kicking an athlete, if he had, in fact, done so, qualifies as assault.

But while it would be wonderful if Bolla took responsibility for the controversy surrounding his former team, he shouldn’t be the only one facing public scrutiny.

For a second time in just a few years, UH administration has failed in its oversight of the athletic department.

Though allowing a successful and popular football coach to leave town because of the indecisiveness of an athletic director hardly compares to what may have happened with the Wahine basketball program, it does point to a consistent pattern of disconnect between athletics and the administration.

Once all the legal leg work is done, UH president David McClain and chancellor Virginia Hinshaw must take responsibility for yet another embarrassing episode for their administration and provide a plan to ensure no repetition of mistakes.

The biggest step in erasing the recent memory of Wahine basketball is finding a coach with a history of winning and, more important, no history of bad behavior.

Based on her work as interim head coach during Bolla’s medical absence two years ago and during his administrative leave this year, Pat Charity seems to be a logical candidate for the position, if she chooses to apply.

The selection committee, however, will have to channel Watergate inquisitors asking Charity how much she knew about the alleged abuse, how long she let it go on and why she didn’t report it.

Even with satisfactory answers to such questions, it’s hard to imagine her not being stained by the association.

Too bad.

Sheff Finds A Job, Nash’s Targets

Gary Sheffield’s agent said the former Tiger, Yankee, Brave, Dodger, Marlin, Padre and Brewer had many suitors. And his quick signing with the Mets seems to have proved the point. Not that Sheffield was a hot commodity, but teams are always in the hunt for power even if they don’t really have a position available. The Mets have Ryan Church in right, Daniel Murphy in left and Carlos Delgado at first, which means Sheffield will struggle for playing time and getting around on a fastball.

Though Sheff quickly rejoined the ranks of the employed, Detroit was wise to cut ties with its costly and injury-prone slugger - his claims of confusion regarding the dumping of someone one shot shy of 500 home runs notwithstanding. Topping half a grand in home runs is no longer the feat it once was and offers very little marketing value for a player boasting a short tenure with the team.

 

The recent addition of outfielder Josh Anderson from the Braves means Detroit has no spot in the lineup for Sheffield, who has already voiced his displeasure with coming off the bench. Moving Sheffield means the Tigers can switch Carlos Guillen and his defensive liabilities to DH while providing the extra trips to the plate for Marcus Thames and his 12.64 at-bats-to-home-run ratio. Plus, the team could no longer wait for the returned health of a 40-year-old who hasn’t played a full season in three years.

The downside of the move is that the Tigers take a massive financial hit. The Mets are only being tasked with the league minimum, while Detroit must pick up the remainder of the $14 million tab. Had the Tigers been able to trade the nine-time All-Star for even an oven-mitt of a player, the payroll hit wouldn’t have been so severe. But lacking suitors willing to eat the overblown contract, the team had little choice.

In other news: * UH athletic director Jim Donovan made the right, if not very quick, decision to extend Bob Nash’s contract to the 2010-2011 season. The former offensive lineman also was correct in adding clear benchmarks for further employment. Citing Nash’s late hire and the need to help, and not hinder, recruiting, Donovan made his expectations clear, and now Nash must prove worthy of the support. The goodwill brought from his standing as a Rainbow legend will not last forever.

Donovan’s standards - 18 wins or a post-season berth to kick in a second extension for the 2011-12 season - coincide with the success of Nash’s predecessor and establish a realistic mark of success. During Riley Wallace’s 20 years on campus, the team averaged 16.7 wins and went to nine post-season tournaments. In his final 10, wins increased to 17.9, with five NIT and two NCAA invites. Two conference titles per decade and winning 59 percent of his games should be expected. * It’s been a number of years since Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson and David Hanson aka the Hanson brothers have crossed themselves before taking the ice in the name of Charlestown community pride and blood-thirsty mayhem. While it may be too late for Steve, Jack and Jeff - their Slap Shot alter egos - to take the ice for any meaningful competition, the pride and pain associated with the Hanson brothers has still not yet skated off into B-movie oblivion.

Christian Hanson, son of David, has joined the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 6-foot-4-inch, 228-pound center signed as an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame, where he scored 16 goals and 15 assists in 37 games this past season. Whether Christian high-sticks the opponent’s bench, trips goalies, clips officials or simply decides to show patriotic fervor while “trying to listen to the f****n’ song!!” remains to be seen. Following in the footsteps of his father, who garnered 65 penalty minutes in 35 games during his two short stints in the NHL, would be an admirable showing. Better, at least, than the one currently on display at the Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh.

David Hanson, who played Jack, runs the center while serving as a youth coach for 11- and 12-year-olds and, with complete disregard for his own legacy, outlaws the use of aluminum foil.

Hopefully, Christian chooses better.

It’s A Classic, But Needs Tweaking

In years to come, when Bud Selig looks into his chest of baseball memories to relive the glory days of his inconsistent reign, he’ll no doubt gaze with reflective pride on the international tournament he envisioned and championed into existence. Other mementos of the past, such as any mention of his role as enabler in the largest illegal drug scandal in the game’s history, have been tossed aside, along with the polyester leisure suits that made him the center of attention on the lighted dance floors of the 1970s.

The World Baseball Classic provided yet more proof that, though the names may be unrecognizable or unpronounceable, the skill is universal, even if it comes from areas far removed from the New Jersey meadow where the rules and dimensions of the modern game were born.

U.S. fans, used to big swings and even bigger misses, were treated, if they cared, to styles of play seemingly lost in the chase for immediate gratification. Anyone wondering what the game looked like before the advent of instant offense need only tune into any contest by the final pair to be transported back to a time when bat control, smart base running and crisp defense were mandatory and well-practiced keys to victory.

 

But no matter the merit of the Asian, Caribbean or European style of play, the WBC will not fulfill Selig’s prediction as a true World Cup-type event until changes are made.

The biggest hurdle to clear before the games restart in 2013 is coaxing greater support from Major League owners. Selig, during an in-booth television interview, said the owners will have to put aside individual need for the greater good of the sport.

This is going to be a tough sell even for a commissioner who is basically a displaced owner. Owners and executives are rightfully concerned that an injury to a key player could deter a title shot and affect their bottom line.

This fear of lost revenue will change when the merchandising and television dollars start rolling in - which they will, as long as the series can be kept afloat.

According to bizofbaseball.com, domestic TV ratings for round one jumped 40 percent over 2006, with viewer-ship up almost 90 percent.

But more important than U.S. ratings is how the game does overseas. ESPN reported that the five first-round games were the highest-rated non-soccer events ever broadcast on ESPN Deportes. In Asia, where Major League Baseball is trying to make a big impact, the March 13 game between Japan and Korea pulled in a 37.8 rating in Japan with even bigger numbers in Korea. The Classic also helps the exposure of foreign players, so look for teams to tap into the under-used Korean talent pool.

For all the outstanding competition and international grudge matches the Classic brings out, watching teams play each other four or five times just gets old. Reseeding teams in the second round would prevent boring repetition and make for additional compelling matchups. Who wouldn’t want to see Cuba take on the U.S. and give Castro even more column fodder? The former revolutionary leader’s oped piece in the Escambray was a bit rambling, but he had a point about the disparity of having three of the four top-ranked teams by the International Baseball Federation in one division.

As important as the international element is to the Classic, a huge part of its future depends on U.S. success and the participation of American athletes.

Even with the majority of talent and viewers coming from places other than the United States, as goes the U.S. so goes

the Classic. America still produces the best baseball talent, and fans in all countries want to see the best compete. Just as fans in the Netherlands celebrated like it was Nieuwjaar after their club defeated the mighty Dominicans, so do fans elsewhere want to take down an even more dominant U.S. team. But for this to be the case, changes have to be made to make it more attractive to players.

Baseball is an everyday game, and stretching a nine-game tour-nament over three weeks does-n’t give players the necessary time to prepare for both the Classic and their upcoming Major League season. Fixing this is a two-step process. Slicing a week off the schedule will eliminate the unnecessary down time players hate, and beginning training earlier will ensure proper health and team coordination. The later will be toughest to implement.

Counting spring training, the Major League season lasts nine months, which leaves very little off time to heal wounds or eliminate the stress of a marathon season. Getting 28 player to make such a commitment will be difficult. Therefore, use fewer players. This is not Little League. Not everyone needs to play. Pick a starting nine, plus pitchers, who are going to play each game and keep the rest in reserve with their clubs in spring training. Should an injury arise, fly in a replacement.

One final suggestion: Lower ticket prices. While the price tags may not have been out of order when compared to quality seating in Boston or New York, triple-digit prices are a bit much to watch Panama take on China. While the final numbers were good in Los Angeles, mainly because of its large Korean population, TV viewers were greeted far too often with too many open seats to indicate they were tuning into an event worth watching.

And if seeing Derek Jeter cheer on Kevin Youkilis or David Wright celebrating with Shane Victorino doesn’t send you running to create your own Master-card-inspired proclamation of financial support, nothing will.

Putting Sports Heroes In Charge

In his first few months in office, Barack Obama has stirred supporters, stoked the wrath of opponents and, like every other man to have ever taken the job, has handed out appointments to election supporters. When the president named Pittsburgh Steeler owner Dan Rooney as ambassador to Ireland, it no doubt provided even more fodder for followers of the famed feminazi instigator to take their shots. But while we debate what qualifies Rooney to represent the European Union’s second-richest country, we can ponder a few other names Obama may consider for administration posts.

Ricky Williams - Ambassador to Jamaica. OK, I readily admit this is a cheap one. Sending sports’ biggest pot-head to the land most identifiable with this tasty, sticky and pungent weed may seem like pure caricature, but it has some real merit. The U.S. presidency is the toughest job on the planet, and who better to take the pressure off the top job and infuse the Oval Office with a little Rasta man vibration than a holistically trained running back.

Martin Brodeur - AutoCzar. No doubt that naming a Canadian to head the most American of industries will have people clamoring to condemn the nomination as just yet another example of badly timed outsourcing. But the U.S. auto makers are in desperate need of a win, and no one has done that better than Brodeur. The New Jersey net minder is a frequent visitor to Detroit, and is just a short drive or train ride from the D.C. powerbase from which he’ll have to lobby on behalf of his charges. Auto workers need someone who is hard-working and has taken a few hits of his own. During his soon-to-be Hall of Fame career, Brodeur has smothered some 29,000 shots, or about the same as the Ford Edsel.

Larry Brown - Secretary of Transportation. After 13 stops in his 32-year coaching career, no one is better at wrapping the glasses and limiting packing damage than Brown. The nation’s infrastructure, of which much was created during the administration of Obama’s kindred spirit of free spending, has been left to rot and is in dire need of repair. Obama can certainly find someone more politically connected, but not even the most-experienced Beltway backroom dealer is better to direct the reconstruction of said byways than the man who has spent more time on more highways while leaving more teams.

LeBron James - Secretary of Defense. James is not the first name that comes to mind when talk turns to NBA stoppers, but in appearance, poise and performance he embodies everything our military is about. James is pure GQ in his clothing options, and carries himself with a level of professionalism that most athletes never understand - not to mention that the dude is downright terrifying. And isn’t that the exact message a country should send to its enemy? LeBron is unmatched in his combination of strength, speed, ferocity and willingness to be part of a team. He’s a virtual recruiting poster.

Alex Rodriguez - Drug Enforcement Agency. Another easy shot. A-Rod has international connections in the world of illicit drugs and colleagues with a wealth of experience. Hiring Jose Canseco as his assistant would be smart and would keep him off reality TV. And since a high level of secrecy is necessary to infiltrate cartels, he could also bring in Bud Selig to brag about enforcement after denying any such problem exists.

Tiger Woods - Treasury Department. With his demand for secrecy it is indeterminable whether Tiger is an aggressive investor or prefers to limit his dollars while following the calm sensibility of Jim Cramer. What we do know is that the former Cardinal is a one-man growth industry. Earl’s boy has, near singlehandedly, turned PGA purses into a bull market with payments of $280 million, up from the $80 million investment a mere 13 years ago.

Kurt Warner - Secretary for Aging. Warner would be a great advocate and role model for the gray-haired set. Like many elders, Warner has been repeatedly cast off as someone past his prime and of little value, only to show remarkable knowledge and ability when given a chance. Who better to let a nation infatuated with youth to understand that, though there may be snow on the roof, it doesn’t mean there isn’t one last-minute Super Bowl drive on the fire?

Greg Maddox - CIA Director. Maddox sure doesn’t fit the G-man prototype of the wide-bodied, cold-staring public servant. With a less-than-threatening physical makeup, and soft, puffy eyes that make it look like he just removed his tape-supported spectacles, he appears more apt to check in late books at the local public repository than head one of the world’s most-talked-about and secret history-altering agencies. But like the men he’d direct, Maddox is a master of secrecy, misdirection and the unexpected. With almost no speed and a delivery that looked better suited to backyard barbecues than big league ball parks, he’s bobbed, weaved and beguiled his way into certain Hall of Fame inclusion.

A Few Fixes For Nash, UH Hoops

It seems like a cruel twist of fate that at a time when economic uncertainty could cost the school an athletic squad, the University of Hawaii’s men’s basketball team is facing its most serious challenge since Riley Wallace rescued the program from the abyss 22 years ago.

Still, it’s a much better situation than the one facing the Wahine cagers.

When Bob Nash took over for his longtime boss, it was hoped the Rainbow legend would help the program take the next step into becoming a consistent March Madness participant. To say the least, that has not happened. Since taking over, Nash has led this team to 24 wins versus 36 losses. Worse yet, in those two season the Rainbows have ended their campaigns with losing streaks of seven and five games respectively. This year’s end-of-schedule skid was the second time this season UH has lost as many consecutive games. UH, far from a basketball powerhouse, has not seen such a level of futility since Frank Arnold’s last season and Wallace’s first when the team managed just 11 wins in those two seasons. Not surprisingly, fans are getting restless. That is, those who bother to show up or to comment. This season’s average attendance of 5,120 was the lowest since the 1988-1989 season when the 17-13 Bows brought an average 4,045 to the games.

 

Nash is currently in the second year of his initial three-year contract, and water-cooler conversation centers around whether the former Detroit Piston should be canned, extended or be left alone until the end of next season while hoping for improvement.

Of the choices, the worst would be to let the coach hang in the wind. Even with assurances from the athletic department, unless his current deal is extended any show of support will be meaningless, and that will be critical in recruiting.

Another option, firing Nash, doesn’t make much sense either. With the budget deficit the school finds itself in, having to pay a buyout along with a new coach would be nearly impossible. Plus, any coach, so long as they don’t do anything illegal or immoral, deserves more than two years to implement their ideas. Heck, Fred VonAppen got three and he didn’t get his first season sabotaged by an athletic director suffering from contract phobia.

The university’s only real option is to extend Nash’s contract with the clear understanding of what is expected. By giving him an extra year now it would provide Nash with at least three full recruiting classes to make up for the first season’s sales job that forced him to take players he may not have been interested in had he gotten the job in a timely manner.

Any success for the 2009-2010 Bows is going to depend on the off-season work by the players already on the roster. And even if they improve athletically, their biggest challenge is mental. As a team they lack confidence, are often so afraid of making a mistake they panic and make bad decisions late in the shot clock or at the end of games.

Roderick Flemings needs to develop a consistent outside shot. Petras Balocka can score inside and out, but he must stop trying to draw fouls on every play. Adhar Mayen needs to forgo threes in favor of a mid-range jumpers. Kareem Nitoto has to stop forcing shots and passes, Paul Campbell picks up too many fouls, and Bill Amis needs to get stronger.

For the program to go forward, fans and administrators need to determine what is an acceptable level of success. Coaching men’s basketball at UH is the toughest job on lower campus as each must deal with general fan disinterest and a total lack of local talent to go along with the usual challenges of distance, anonymity, facilities and a crumbling academic infrastructure.

Since Red Rocha took over the program in 1963, let’s call it UH’s modern era, UH has won 585 and lost 611. Under Wallace, who seemed to be equally loved and hated, the Rainbows won 55 percent of their games and averaged 16.7 wins per season. Wallace also won two regular season WAC titles, sent three teams to the NCAA and six to the NIT in his 20 years.

Fans and administration should expect as much from Nash.

Millionaire Problem Children

For one, it was a week of redemption. For the other, yet another bridge burned.

Stephon Marbury and Terrell Owens are skilled players who are cursed with more ego than talent and who have brought more attention to themselves for their actions off the court and field than on. For the time being, Marbury has found a home with a structured team that doesn’t really need his help. Owens, however, will be in search for the last team willing to put up with his nonsense.

The Marbury experiment in Boston has gotten off to the start everyone had hoped: quiet and uneventful. In three games (as of this writing) the Celtics’new point guard has eight points and nine assists in 40 minutes. More importantly, he’s yet to alienate his teammates, coaches and owners, with no hint of misbehavior. For most players and teams, that would be the expected minimum of decent behavior, but it’s been some time since the man with the $21 sneaker went very long without becoming a distraction. It remains to be seen how long he can hold out before venturing down that well-beaten path.

Owens’ time in Dallas was the soap opera everyone should have seen coming. The three-year docudrama starring the former 49er and Eagle was highlighted by tremendous skill, dropped balls, bizarre behavior, muscular superiority, locker-room bickering and one alleged suicide attempt. Even though Owens cried famously in support of the man tasked with getting him the football, and then later blamed said quarterback and tight end Jason Witten for conspiring to keep the ball away from him, it became clear that Owens and Tony Romo couldn’t co-exist, and no one, not even Jerry Jones - who, like all owners, favors performance over professionalism - is going to choose an aging receiver over a Pro Bowl quarterback. When Dallas imported Roy Williams from Detroit, it was only a matter of time before Owens left the Cowboys in search of sucker No. 4. He’ll find that team soon enough.

Though Owens is likely to have a bigger impact on his team, of the two, Marbury is the safer hire. Yes, he’s self-involved and is yet to find fault in any of his actions, but unlike Owens, who has literally torpedoed three teams, Marbury doesn’t seem to warrant immediate psychological assistance. So far the Coney Island native has deferred to Boston’s Big Three and has taken his minutes as they have come. But Marbury needs close watching because history, as they say, repeats itself.

In 2003, Rasheed Wallace was a technical foul-prone Pacific Northwest problem child who entered a very tight Detroit Pistons locker room and helped lead them to a championship. The suddenly well-behaved post man silenced all doubters, and the Pistons seemed to do the impossible. Ateam of strong leaders was able to rein in a temperamental star and convince him of his evil ways. But the good times didn’t last, and slowly but surely Sheed went back to his Jailblazers’ways and began sabotaging his team with bad behavior and disinterest. The Celtics could be next.

Every team thinks it has the structure to rehabilitate troubled athletes, but the successful ones rarely enjoy much long-term success. One of the reasons the Celtics work so well together is they are not afraid to share the spotlight or to get in one another’s grill. Marbury couldn’t handle playing second plantain in Minnesota when Kevin Garnett was still too young to take on a strong leadership role.

What’s going to happen now that Garnett has shown the ability to make teammates cry? His new coach summed up the challenges ahead perfectly, saying that Marbury’s problems were in New York and everywhere else -the last two words being most important.

Whoever takes a gamble on the former Cowboy is going to face a challenge. Owens is a No. 1 option who, if he desired, could still earn a Pro Bowl spot. Physical receivers are a premium in the NFL, and any team on the edge of the playoffs or more will be tempted to breakdance with Beelzebub. It may even work out for a year, but hoping for anything more is just foolish. If the Cowboys, who took the fun out of dysfunctional, can only handle three seasons, how’s a team lacking bloodlust for victory in ownership going to do any better?

Marbury and Owens are gambles. Vegas was built on such excitement. It’s the lure of sudden richness with only the house coming out ahead. Boston got a seat at the table. Will Minnesota or Oakland?

Why Hockey Needs Bad Boys

The uniform was different, but the feeling inside Joe Louis Arena was vintage 1990s.

Well, almost. Eleven years has a way of calming hostilities, even those toward uber villain Claude Lemieux, who a decade ago was as welcomed in the Brown Bomber’s playhouse as octopi on the ice in Denver.

The images are still clear: Lemieux’s check that sent Kris Draper hard into the boards and then to the hospital with a broken jaw, cheek and concussion

- which, even though it came from behind, upon further review looks more accidental then purposeful. And, most famously, the March 26, 1997, retaliation by Darren McCarty 301 days later that sent the Avalanche’s instigator to the ice for protection, which included a scrap between goalies Mike Vernon and Patrick Roy, and a second show of strength four seconds into the second period when Adam Foote and Brandon Shanahan tied up. It was hockey at its best.

The 43-year-old former master of the sucker punch played his first game for San Jose Jan. 20 and has been rewarded with 19 penalty minutes in 15 games, but it wasn’t until he skated against Detroit did his comeback become noteworthy. For better or for worse, after four Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy, 785 points and 1,756 penalty minutes, Lemieux will be remembered most for the fights he instigated and for the rivalry he helped start. After five-and-a-half years away and seemingly a lifetime since the NHL has seen confrontation in all its former gory glory, the NHL could use a few agitators and retaliators.

 

In all truth, the league doesn’t need players such as Lemieux or McCarty, who before his groin injury had scored one goal and 25 penalty minutes, all for fighting majors. The league is blessed with international talent that has raised the skill level to unseen proportions. Commissioner Gary Bettman wanted his league to be celebrated for its athleticism and not fisticuffs, and from that aspect it’s been a success.

But the lack of fighting and story-ready characters has caused the league to lose some of its identity and attractiveness at a time when even the NFL is making cuts. The realities of the economy and a salary cap won’t allow teams to employ punch-first-andask-questions-later players such as “Tiger” Williams, whose 3,966 penalty minutes has made him a penalty box legend. The league will never completely go back to the days of paid enforcers, nor should it. Even hockey needs to evolve. But the league does need something or someone to stir the pot and create matchups that make the regular season something more than an 80-game preview to the post-season. It wasn’t going to be Steve Avery and his camera-mugging comments and, as much as the league is trying, it’s not going to be Sydney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.

Ovechkin is the game’s best player, Crosby its most-famous and best-marketed. The NHL and its broadcast partners are pushing these two as a latter-day version of Howe vs. Richard, but neither really fits the role. Ovechkin has the jaw-dropping talent, but Crosby is more inclined to hit and hide than menacingly stalk an opponent for a true face-to-face tussle against a force majeure. Then again, saving one’s aggression for a smaller target is standard operating procedure for Broad Street bullies in every city. And for 20 seasons, no one exhibited that belief more than the man named the No. 1 Most Hated Man in the NHL by ESPN in 2006.

Claude Lemieux was a jerk with the marvelous ability to get under the skin of his opponents. Detroit fans should have recognized a similar skill in its own well-loved 6-foot-11-inch, 260-pound Bad Boy. If they did, they’d never admit it. Such is the nature of pests. They are loved in their hometown, despised on the road and needed in today’s NHL - a fact that hasn’t escaped the now calmer vet.

“It’s good for hockey,” said Lemieux in the Detroit Free Press. “I think hockey was at its best as far as TV ratings and the interest of the hockey fans (then). They couldn’t wait to watch those games, and I think we need more rivalries of that kind to develop to promote our game.”

There was a time when Toronto vs. Montreal, Edmonton/Calgary, Islander and Rangers and, yes, Red Wings/Avs meant something more than an evening out and playoff position. It was nearly life and death. The NHL needs to get that back, and Lemieux and McCarty are too old to lead the way.

Though they’ll help any chance they get.

Athletes: Boycott Dubai Events

At the end of the 1960s, Dubai was an unknown speck on the Persian Gulf with a population of 58,000 and big dreams. Led by the seemingly unrealistic vision of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed al Maktoum, the constitutional monarch used an influx of cash borrowed from Kuwait and the discovery of oil on its doorstep to turn the tiny emirate into a playground for the rich and famous, and provide windfall profits for business and family members.

Flush with an ever-growing pile of cash, Dubai rushed to build ports, private islands, shopping malls and even an 80-story spinning skyscraper, offering drive-in elevators and front-door parking that has 1,100 individuals ready to pony up $3 million to $30 million for the privilege of looking down on the other 1.2 million residents.

The downside to this explosive growth has been, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the creation of state-sponsored poverty and abuse that has forced its mainly migrant work force to live in abject poverty, barely separated from those flying in to shop, purchase sex or to make millions on its premier tennis courts and exclusive golf courses.

The tiny kingdom is trying to establish itself as a premier international sports city. Dubai currently plays host to world-class tennis, golf, sailing, horse racing, rugby, cricket, marathon and soccer, and is using sport as a way to sell its fairy tale community to wealthy visitors and investors, who have little concern for what goes on outside of their protected enclaves of luxury and exclusion.

With such disconnect, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone when the government refused a visa for Shahar Peer, an Israeli tennis player, to compete in the $2 million Barclay’s Dubai Tennis Championships. The government of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, who doubles as the prime minister of United Arab Emirates, said the refusal to allow the woman to compete was a simple matter of security and not based on any anti-Semitic sentiments.

Like most Arab nations, UAE does not have relations with Israel and hasn’t exactly flung open the doors to those hailing from the east coast of the Mediterranean.

Officials said they were concerned that anti-Israeli demonstrators would create a dangerous situation for the athletes. Israel’s recent military action in Gaza has led to widespread anger in Arab and Muslim communities, and Dubai seems to be unable, or unwilling, to handle such dissidence, even though monarchies are rarely hindered by rules demanding governmental restraint.

Afshin Molavi, in the January 2007 issue of National Geographic, quotes Sheikh Mohammed in discussions about the religious and political peace of the city: “I don’t know who’s a Sunni and who’s a Shia, and I don’t care. If you work hard, if you don’t bother your neighbor, then there is a place for you in Dubai.”

As long as you’re not Jewish. Dubai has softened its stance in the face of tough-as-butter comments from Women’s Tennis Association CEO Larry Scott and, more importantly, after the Tennis Channel decided not to air the tournament and the Wall Street Journal European edition removed its sponsorship of the event. The nation of saints has given “special permission” for Andy Ram, a male Israeli doubles player, to take part in the mens tournament, and Scott says he has been assured that the UAE would provide a “special permit” for any athlete wishing to compete in tournaments they qualify for.

Regardless of the decisions of corporations and governing bodies, this is a protest that needs to come from athletes. And it goes far beyond this one tournament.

All sporting events in Dubai must be boycotted until the emi-rate offers more than lip service. No athlete, in good conscience, can claim concern while cashing in on policies based on discrimination and the labors of immigrant workers who, according to HRW, earn just 8 percent of the monthly per capita income in the UAE.

Reuters reported that Serena Williams said, “In the day and age like this everyone bleeds red blood and everyone to me (should have) an equal opportunity.” She’s right. But her comments would have meant a lot more coming during a press conference explaining why she removed herself from the tournament instead of at a quick presser between paydays.

“Behind the glittering skyscrapers lies a late-night world of fleabag hotels and prostitutes, Indian and Russian mobsters, money launderers and smugglers of everything from guns and diamonds to human beings,” some at very young ages, says National Geographic.

Astand by athletes against such practices will do nothing to hamper Dubai’s unprecedented growth or change labor policy, but refusing to participate until its segregationist policies are eliminated is one way to ensure that Peer, and others, will not be victims of state-sponsored discrimination.

A-Rod Not As Clean As He Seemed

That collective groan heard from rocky coast to desert sand is the exasperated breath of forlorn commentators and holders of the national consciousness as they struggle to find any remaining elements of lost faith and childhood admiration for those who donned the uniform of athletic battle to wage war against the invading horde.

At least until the next “clean guy” proves to be otherwise.

For years, while Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and the like were being grilled over the collective coals of disgust and political opportunism, Alex Rodriguez had been portrayed as the saving grace of unaltered competition. Blessed from birth with every skill the game demands, the quarter-of-a-billion-dollar man was tagged to one day rescue the record books from the stain of tainted athletic ego and return its innocence to a time when achievement was accompanied by hard work, thick steaks and piles of amphetamines.

But before we dissect every atbat or wonder further about which Yankee will be next, can we at least ask how no one came to suspect a person so self-obsessed with image may just be the personality type to come to the determination that a few extra ribbies would mean even greater acceptance? To begin a program of shock and awe at this point is downright bizarre. Or, as A-Rod kept saying to Peter Gammons in his 30-minute-plus interview, “naive.”

OK. So Rodriguez is, or was, dirty. Strike up the band, attach the standard face of disgust and tell us how he is single-handed-ly ruining the game. If you’re a member of the media, don’t forget to mention Hank Aaron’s saintly race to 715. If a fan, defend your outrage, and don’t forget your $6 hot dog and your $10 beer on the way to your $100 seat. Settle in, get cozy and drift off with the peaceful bliss that comes from realizing that no one gives a damn.

If the use of performance-enhancing drugs was so outrageous and unforgivable, the turnstiles wouldn’t be spinning at unprecedented rates and the funds would-n’t be available to support the ridiculous salaries that put all of our undies in a bunch. Fans want victories and entertainment, and they don’t really care how they are obtained. So long as it’s the home team skirting the rules and decent behavior, nearly all sins are forgivable. This disconnect between fan and on-field conduct is also the reason that Bud Selig has been able to play the ignorant victim to the abuses that have gone on before his very eyes.

Selig is a tool. He has no foresight beyond kowtowing to his fellow owners, and treats each problem with a mixture of false personal injury and non-committed actions. He said A-Rod’s steroid use brought “shame to the game” but refused to display anything more solid than a jellyfish’s backbone in regards to any punishment. But give Bud credit for one thing: He recognized long ago what we in the media have not - that the fans are happy in their ignorance, and upsetting the economic base is just bad business. He’s not alone.

Even now, 27 years after he left the reins of power with the Players Association, Marvin Miller has come to the defense of the players and the union that helped sacrifice health for wealth. Miller feels that the investigation has been unfair and anti-union even though it is the union that is responsible for the samples not being destroyed in the first place. The former spur to management and hero to the rank and file remarked further about how he chastised union leadership for agreeing to testing because, “you’re going to see players going to jail.”

In fairness to A-Rod supporters and those who thought he was beyond such foibles, the man has been a unique talent. Rodriguez crawled from the womb an All Star. And unlike many of his performance-enhancing brethren, we have never seen his skills deteriorate from the ache of injury or middle age just to suddenly find a late-career resurgence to go along with renewed talk of post-career enshrinement. The Seattle Mariners’ scouting report on Rodriguez in 1993 described the young slugger as having an all-star skill set. Outside of his annual post-season failures, nothing he’s done in his 15-year major league career has proved those reports in error. Much like Mark McGwire, who burst upon the scene with 49 home runs as a rookie, it wasn’t hard to believe the ARod hype as he marched along toward the Hall of Fame and the game’s most hallowed record.

For his faults, Rodriguez will be forgiven. Factor away any chemical advantage and he still ranks as one of the greatest to have ever played. He may have to sit out a few voting cycles, but he’ll get in. Eventually baseball writers will realize that since fans, owners, agents and the players themselves don’t care, why should they?

Maybe A-Rod’s coming-out party is a good thing. Being able to look at sports through the innocence of ignorance was fun for the first 150 years, but it’s time to grow up.

No Hall Of Fame For Cardinal QB

The warm-up to the Super Bowl is typically endowed with pronouncements of greatness and the exploitation of memory in an effort to create public adoration and legend from the merely ordinary. Much like “The Catch,” which forever solidified Dwight Clark’s place among the pantheon of Sunday superhero worship, the drive to immortalize circa 2009 went out of its way to convince us that a journeyman quarterback with three great years out of 11 was the rebirth of Y. A. Tittle.

Kurt Warner is not a Hall-of-Famer, just as Clark’s catch was simply a wide-open pass tossed high for the benefit of the 6-foot-4-inch receiver, who dwarfed the tailing defensive back and who enjoyed an empty five yards of end zone in front of him.

 

It’s not that Warner is a bad dude. On the contrary, he’s one of the few people in the NFL worth giving a damn about. Throughout his career, the winner of the 2008 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award has put his fame and money to great, not just good, use. He stuffs Christmas stockings for foster children with his family, his First Things First program provides free trips to Disney World for children with life-threatening illnesses, and his efforts to help victims of Midwest flooding should make FEMA employees everywhere cower in shame. Warner is a Hall of Fame person, not a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Because of injuries and being docked hours in favor of supposedly younger and better quarterbacks, Warner has played a full schedule only three times during his 11-year career. He was magnificent during those seasons, but beyond that, he’s Jim Plunkett - a guy who was great early and late and who rode a Super Bowl victory to fame and a lifetime invitation to the Raiders’ annual rubber chicken roundup.

Since his 2001 Super Bowl season, Warner has been a virtual castoff, hanging on as a backup waiting for his competitors through their annual bouts of poor play. The two-time MVP was out of St. Louis by 2003, and became the designated clipboard holder for both New York and Arizona. And had it not been for Matt Lianart’s inability to run an NFL offense, Warner may have already retired.

One of the biggest flaws in Warner’s resume is the success of those who replaced him. It’s hard to make a convincing argument about an individual’s greatness when his backups accomplish nearly as much, if not more, than their predecessor.

Warner is an accurate passer - second all-time in completion percentage and fourth in QB rating- with a quick release that perfectly fit the offenses in which he played. And that’s another problem. Warner is the product of the systems he’s played in, and the beneficiary of the talent that surrounded him, which has been outstanding: Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Az-Zahir Hakim in St. Louis and Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston in Arizona.

In the five games Warner missed in 2000, Trent Green had a higher quarterback rating and a better interception percentage than Warner. After beginning the ‘03 season a perfect 0-6, Warner lost his job to Marc Bulger, who went 6-1 with a 101.5 rating to go along with 14 touchdowns, six interceptions and an invitation to the Pro Bowl. In contrast, Warner finished with a 67.4 rating with three touchdowns and 11 pics.

Warner does get justifiable credit for getting two teams to the Super Bowl after years of Lione-like success. But outside of those three Super Bowl years, Warner’s record is 21-32.

During a Jan. 6 ESPN feature about his charity work, Warner said, “Five, 10 years from now people won’t remember the name Kurt Warner. They won’t remember that I won this Super Bowl or won that award, but the people we’ve touched will never forget us and that’s the legacy we want to leave, and that’s why we get connected and try to give back as much as we can.”

No doubt he purposely downplayed his achievements, but he’s correct on the impact on things bigger than football. Warner is 39th in completed passes, 59th in attempts, 38th in passing yards and 40th in touchdowns. He touched more lives as an individual than do most teams, and that should be his legacy, not the Hall of Fame.

Pearl Open Is Looking Bigger

Media golf days are wonderful things. Gifted with 18 holes and lunch on courses most of us could only enter if we scaled the fence, it is a fun half day of variously bad play, friendly ribbing and the constant search for free lessons.

Sometimes it gets even more special such as when you get the rare opportunity of watching your ball land further along that the professional’s lessened attempt.

That was by far the best part of playing at the Pearl Country Club a week ago in anticipation of the 31st annual Hawaii Pearl Open.

Sure, PCC assistant pro Regan Lee hit from the tips and I off the white tees - and, yes, he wasn’t really taking it seriously on this the second hole - like pro-ams, these media invites are not about embarrassing the attendees with full displays of actual skill.

But further along the fairway is closer to the pin. I am taking it.

Unfortunately it was the last time such a fluke would happen. The rest of the day his ball tore through the air with that particular unholy, air slicing sound as if each molecule of oxygen and helium were speeding to get out of the way of the fast-moving dimpled satellite.

The Hawaii Pearl Open may be the most unique tournament that you have never heard of.

Though lacking the word-of-mouth recognition of the Manoa Cup, Mid-Pac Open or even the Jenny K., the Open has found its niche as a top draw for Hawaii’s best talent and top pros and future stars from the Mainland, Japan, Canada and elsewhere. Offering a strange and entertaining mix of young and old, English speaking and not, the tournament can offer rarely seen pairing that can match up 13-year-old Japanese amateur Masamichi Ito with 65-year-old PGA and Champions Tour veteran Dave Eichelberger.

The HPO was created by Soichiro Honda, founder of the Honda Motor company, to provide Hawaii golfers the opportunity to face top flight competition and to be bridge between east and west.

His tournament has succeeded.

The roster of past participants is a who’s who of local and international golf. Tadd Fujikawa won as an amateur two years ago. PGA Hall of Famer David Ishii has taken it six times including three in a row from 1989-1991.

PGA and Japan tour veteran Akiyoshi Ohmachi hoisted the trophy in 1986. And in 2002 a 12-year-old Michelle Wie teed it up for the first time. She wasn’t the last female to do so - Stepanie Kono and Cyd Okina were soon to follow along with many others from across the Pacific pond.

The event also has been marked by tantalizing play and tight finishes.

Lance Suzuki was pushed to the limit on both of his wins. In 1993 it took a birdie on the first playoff hole to secure victory and two years later he needed two birdies on the final three holes to defeat defending champ Kevin Hiyashi.

In 2001 Japan pro Hidemichi Tanaka and Hilo’s Greg Meyer (a three-time winner) battled it out on the last day until Tanaka eagled 17 to take a one-shot lead.

Jeff Cook used three straight birdies on the final three holes to defeat Jerry Mullin, Kevin Hayashi and Tomohiro Maruyama by a single stroke in 1999.

Then, of course, was the introduction of 16-year-old Ryo Ishikawa.

One year ago, the club’s 198 acres were crammed with media and fans interested in seeing and talking to the “bashful prince.” The golfer made headlines a year earlier becoming the youngest person to win on the Japan Tour and since has been under the intense focus of the Japanese media while unwillingly taking on the role of teen idol.

PCC’s president Tsugio Ogata says many of the Japanese competitors consider the HPO a lucky tournament.

Ishikawa is no doubt one of them. The now-60th ranked golfer on World Golf Rankings made good use of karma by following his 10th place finish at the HPO with a win and six top 10 finishes to end the year No. 5 on the Japan Tour’s money list.

He wasn’t the only one to find post Pearl success.

Last year’s winner, Azuma Yano, finished second on the money list and qualified for the U.S. Open. Ishikawa, won’t be back for 2009, he’s already accepted invites to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and that little tournament at Augusta in April.

But Tadd will be there, and if you couldn’t stomach the crowds at the Sony, this is a way to get an up close look at Hawaii’s most popular golfer.

And to do so for free.

The Hawaii Pearl Open’s future as a spectator’s destination may very well depend on the state’s ability to hold on to its tour stops. The future of professional golf in Hawaii is tenuous.

What had been a seven-stop tour for the PGA, LPGA and Champions Tour has already been whittled down by two with the loss of the LPGA Fields Open at Ko Olina and the Champions Tour stop at Turtle Bay.

What made these stops profitable for players and attractive to sponsors was the back-to-back pay days. Each tournament benefited from the other. The loss of the Fields Open puts added pressure on the SBS Open at Turtle Bay, whose canceling of it’s own tournament could jeopardize the Champions Tour stop at Hualalai.

And though Sony appears to be solidly behind its annual event at Waialae, the loss of the Mercedes - which is a very real possibility - would make it even harder to draw the tour’s top talent to the event that already has no chance landing Tiger, Phil, Sergio et al.

What’s bad for them could be great for the Hawaii Pearl Open.

Tadd Is Just What Golf Needs Now

Tadd Fujikawa’s performance in the 2009 Sony Open did more than just sell tickets to the annual event and remind spectators of his special talent on and around the greens.

It also served notice that 2006 wasn’t a fluke and that this 5-foot-1-inch stack of energy and personality has more to offer hosts and sponsors than just a heart-warming story of overcoming early post-birth challenges.

After carding a 62 on Saturday to finish the third round with a brief tie on top of the leader board, it was highly unlikely Tadd would finish his Sunday round in a similar position. He would have needed a final round 63 just to tie the guy with a Masters surname, Zach Johnson.

But that didn’t matter. Nor did the nice little $29,237.14 pay day, which obviously helps.

No, what mattered most was that Tadd proved his worth over four days, three of which he shot lower consecutive scores to turn a seven-stroke disadvantage after the first round into an opportunity to become the youngest winner on the PGA tour since Johnny McDermott at the 1911 U.S. Open.

Stand up and take notice. Tadd Fujikawa has arrived. Whether he can maintain it over several years is up to fickle whims of the game’s unforgiving deities.

In addition to the improvements in his game, Tadd’s confidence - perhaps more important to a golfer than his/her swing - has grown just as much. In his interview with Rich Lerner on the Golf Channel, Tadd was nothing like the wide-eyed amateur who was just happy for any opportunity. In its place was a confident professional who was not in the least bit surprised by his Saturday round, telling Lerner that, yes, he expects to be in contention. It was a noticeable turning point in his development, just as in the manner in which he handled the questions about his father’s drug addiction. He was confident, prepared and unrattled by the airing of family difficulties on national television.

Tadd’s new level of maturity also was noticeable in the way he carried himself around the course. The physical appearance of confidence is nothing that anyone can describe accurately. If faith in oneself was a homicide suspect, police sketch artists would have a miserable time coming up with an accurate representation to distribute among the squad, but we all recognize it even if we don’t really know what it looks like.

Tadd has it. That and changes to his swing are what propelled him into contention.

As Tadd develops and as his body changes with age, more adaptation to his game will follow naturally. But whatever changes he makes in the future, the one thing he must never let go of is the joy and openness with which he plays the game. It’s become the 18-year-old’s trademark.

For all of golf’s popularity and the myriad of stars who have crossed over the hurdles of formerly solid endorsement barriers and easy living-room recognition, the game is in desperate need of personalities who do more than connect with fans through fist pumps or goofy smiles. Not since Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez has the tour had someone who really seems interested in those outside of the ropes. The continued growth of the sport needs someone who actually takes the time to interact with fans and to bring them further into the game.

While most pros go about their jobs with the surliness of an inhis-prime Nick Faldo or with the grim determination to wring every last ounce of joy from the sport they play, Tadd is not afraid to shake hands with fans, sign autographs on his way to the tee box or to even provide a hug for a friend awaiting in the crush of fans that followed him around the Waialae course. This, as much as his play, will be a big factor in any success. Tadd probably even able to play with a grimace on his face, and his goodwill with fans and sponsors will be priceless commodities when the invitations are sent out or when manufacturers go looking for likable athletes who don’t have a habit of making as ass out of themselves.

Look at it like this: Tadd could be a sober John Daly.

The World According To Amis

With an incoming roster boasting just two with playing time from a year ago, UH basketball coach Bob Nash was looking for his 6-foot-9-inch postman to carry some of the load while his new charges got accustomed to a new team, school, state, system and heightened degree of competition.

Outside of battles with strep (twice brought on by bad tonsils that will have to be removed come March), a knee injury, brand new teammates and a nightly move of positions, Bill Amis has done rather well, leading the team in blocks and rebounds. He’s second in minutes played and third in scoring and free-throw shooting. Minus Hiram Thompson’s perfect 1.000 in only eight chances and Amis is No. 2 - not that he’s happy with his own performance or the team’s 9-7 start at the time of this writing.

“At times we’ve played well, but we are definitely not where we want to be,” says Amis. “We wanted to win every home game and win the Rainbow Classic, and now we’re frustrated.”

Amis has literally grown into his role as a starter - he grew nine inches in high school - and as the team’s unofficial official captain. No election among teammates was held, and his coach never made a public pronouncement, but the job is his, and it’s a responsibility he’s slowly becoming used to.

“It’s a new role for me,” he says. “It’s been a learning experience for all of us. I’m just trying to do the best I can. I’m trying to be more vocal, but I also try to lead by example.”

Getting in the face of a team-mate is not something the quiet power forward is likely to do. He’s just not made that way. Maybe it’s because he was never a star and didn’t even get a single D-1 offer out of high school, or maybe he lacks the overly emotional chromosome that his teammate Petras Balocka has in abundance. But outward appearances aside, there is a spark of animation that does show itself if you take the time to look.

Nash swears Amis possesses a dry, subtle humor that has made him extremely popular among teammates - not to mention the unwitting accomplice in the Rainbows’ version of techno twins Slad and Vider. More on that later.

Aread through Amis’bio in the current media guide finds a man of depth and variety. Much like his outward personality, the subtle jibes at teammates, education and the pursuit of universal truth is hidden throughout, and fun to witness once uncovered.

At the time the standard questionnaire was filled out, Amis was a philosophy major who bounced between techno and classical music as his pregame inspiration, would love to spend a day in a teammates shoes, and included a coach and academic adviser among his all-time dinner guests. This is the world according to Amis.

The Oklahoma City native has changed his academic focus from the pursuit of logic to the more athletically friendly major of communications. He’s still carrying 15 credits, but following the circular path of Asian enlightenment and dealing with the confinement of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave takes more than a few hours of study and contemplation. Which, when combined with practice, meetings and weight lifting sessions, leaves little opportunity for the comparison of relativism and realism.

“It just takes a lot of time with basketball and everything else,” he says. “The whole degree is pretty hard, and I got tired of trying to prove that I’m sitting in this chair. I know I’m sitting in this chair.”

Amis explains that his answers to the mundane questions were more for personal enjoyment than actual revelation. Rap and not classical or techno is what you’ll find blaring from his pregame iPod, but each style does have its place. Classic rock from the Doors and the Eagles is what he’s most comfortable with, as is the Forrest Gump soundtrack.

“I just bought that one with my Christmas money,” he says with a smile.

While hip-hop may get him motivated to play, and classic rock

 

Resolutions For Favre, Wie, Etc.

No one embraces the cliché more than the scrambled, post-holiday columnist. So here we go with New Year’s resolutions No. 674-683 for Hawaii and beyond.

The promise for 2010 is originality or at least a confusing litany of outrageous irregular verbs and stunted wordplay.

Brett Favre

Resolve to finally put on the high polyester pants of retirement. For the last few years, Favre has gone into the post season with the veiled false promise to end his Hall of Fame run, and each year he has returned to save the NFL from the embarrassment of respectable quarterback play.

Well, no more. After suffering the indignation of being shown the door in Green Bay and after rescuing the Jets from the playoffs, Favre is done. His initial run of completed passes and an 8-3 record concluded with two touchdowns, nine interceptions and the alienation of his team-mates. Now he’s saying he’ll take a few weeks to decide. The Jets should do it for him.

 

Detroit Lions

Resolve not to do business as usual. With the recent promotions of Martin Mayhew to GM and Tom Lewand to president - two of owner William Clay Ford’s under-performing inner circle for more than a decade - that is unlikely to happen. With just one playoff win in 50 years and with fans in revolt, Ford needed to set explosive charges to the superstructure, clear the pile of rubble and start anew. As of now he’s done nothing but prove himself to be completely out of touch, safe in his ivory tower of privilege, blissfully unaware that he is the league’s most inept owner. Don’t expect an actual move to decency for another decade.

Rainbow Basketball

Resolve to limit turnovers. With no consistent point guard, this promise for a better 2009 will be akin to the annual weight loss promise. Kareem Nitoto has not grown into the role of controlling the offense, and while Hiram Thompson is not much of an on-ball defender, he knows not to dribble into a double team of large post players. Thompson’s health is a concern, as he’s missed five games due to injury and started only four. The Rainbows are improving their outside shooting and are developing good chemistry in the post, but the turnovers are wasting the offensive effort and the fine work on the boards.

Michelle Wie

Resolve to not go too fast. After years of stubbornly trying to blaze an unproven and, ultimately, wasteful path, Wie has finally “earned” her entrance into the ranks of professional golf and has silenced some of her critics. Now she needs to forget her 3.14-inthe-sky dreams of PGA domination and play a manageable schedule that will help develop her game and finally create a dossier of victories from which she can draw upon for future challenges.

Call me crazy but it worked for Jack, Arnie, Tiger and Annika.

NHL

Resolve not to shoot itself in the foot. The 2009 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field between original-six members Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings was a great event for attendees and players, and was mostly ignored by the television public. Playing in front of 40,000 fans is a fun gimmick that could help sell the sport, but putting it on New Year’s Day against a full schedule of college football bowl games is just a wasted opportunity.

Both NBC and the NHL were happy with the 12 percent ratings increase over 2008, but even with that bump, the number still topped out at an unimpressive 2.9.

Las Vegas Resolve to build bigger, taller and longer buildings for Robbie Maddison to jump. If you haven’t seen the Australian dare-devil’s leap onto the Arc de Triomphe at the Paris Las Vegas, go to YouTube right now! The motocross rider who last year broke Evil Knievel’s long-distance mark by soaring 322 feet, 7.5 inches jumped his Honda from the Vegas Strip straight up 94 feet to land softly on the copy of the famed Parisian landmark. His 40-some-foot drop off the tower to the ramp below was even more crazy.

NCAA

Resolve to implement a college football playoff system. This isn’t about to happen anytime soon, but with an undefeated Utah banned from any real shot at a true national title, BSC haters everywhere got more fuel for their ire. Not that the major conferences give a damn. Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff believes the BCS violates anti-trust laws and is investigating. No doubt he has Neil Abercrombie on speed dial.

Victoria Prince

Resolve to make better decisions. If the tabs have it correct, the former Wahine volleyball player is into her Beverly Hills landlord for six months rent.

This isn’t nearly as bad as allegedly hooking up with Britney Spears’ baby daddy and Nationwide’s day-dreaming french fry technician, Kevin Federline.

Bosox Groan As Yanks Go Shopping

That low-pitched rumbling sound you hear coming from the direction of the rising sun is the collective groans of Boston Red Sox fans as the New York Yankees have once again trumped the Sox on the free-agent market, further ensuring the Bombers’ place in the history of evil empires along with the Tamerlane, Mao Tse-tung and the cast of The O.C.

With the acquisitions of A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia, the market’s most-sought after David Wells impersonator, the Yankees have made a bold move to take over baseball’s top spot - a position Boston has grown accustomed to even with Tampa’s single season playoff assault. Add to this the Sox pulling out of the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes and Boston fans will soon have to be talked off the ledge - especially if the Yankees’$243 million spending spree continues.

The New York Daily News reported the Yankees offered Manny Ramirez a three-year, $22 million deal which, if successful, would give Sox fans even more reason to petition the league in an effort to charge New York with unfair business practices. An offer to Teixeira - a real possibility as Yankees boss Hank Steinbrenner makes his father, the original Big Stein, seem conservative in his expectations - would cause even the most-stable Sox ticket-holder to cough up their lobster roll on their $160 Green Monster seats.

But even with the Yankees’signings and with the Tampa Bay Rays as defending divisional champs, Boston remains the best team in the A.L. East. The fact they can remain so without coughing up $150 million or more for a talented 26-year-old first baseman whose price has been artificially inflated in a limited market says even more about their chances to regain the throne.

New York has helped itself with its new acquisitions, but still lags behind Boston in starting pitching, therefore leaving the Bosox a serious threat to win their third World Series title in six years.

With Mike Mussina’s retirement, the Yanks’rotation suddenly became woefully short on experience, making it imperative they go shopping. Joba Chamberlain is unproven as a starter, as is projected No. 5 Phil Hughes, who posted a 6.62 ERA in eight starts a year ago. Chien-Ming Wang is a solid second-day pitcher who won 19 games in back-to-back years before dipping to eight in 15 starts and a career high 4.07 ERA, after missing the middle part of the season with a foot injury, which Baby Stein blamed on the NL’s refusal to institute the DH rule. Sabathia is a legit power pitcher who has averaged just 47 walks, 210 strikeouts and a 3.03 ERA in his last three seasons. Burnett, on the other hand, is an injury-prone 31-year-old right-hander on the downside of his career. Since coming to the AL in 2006, Burnett has averaged 12.6 wins and a 3.95 ERA.

Boston retains the division’s best pitching staff. Matsuzaka and Beckett are in their prime. Jon Lester is 24 and coming off a 16-win season while producing the lowest ERAin his three-year career. The bullpen is stellar with Okajima and Papelbon.

Boston’s main concern is hitting. MVP Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis (No. 3 in the voting) are solid sticks, but Boston has not added any protection for David Ortiz since Manny was traded to Los Angeles. J.D. Drew’s health remains an issue, as does Big Papi’s, and outside of Jason Bay (combined 31 home runs, 101 RBI in Pittsburgh and Boston) no one else has a proven ability to consistently drive in a high number of base runners. Still, they spread the wealth very well and it should be enough for another post-season appointment.

The Yankees’ spending spree will not only cause angst in Boston, but among all small-market supporters further disgusted by the Yankees’ unchecked financial manipulation. In the face of such unified hatred, a Red Sox victory means celebrations far beyond 4 Yawkey Way and the joy of watching Baby Stein completely lose it.

Raiola: Making Matters Worse

With the Detroit Lions rushing toward the greatest season of futility in NFL history, team officials would have welcomed any publicity to take attention away from their dismal showing.

Well, almost any publicity. At the conclusion of the Lions’ Dec. 7 game against the Minnesota Vikings, which ran the team’s unwinning streak to an impressive 13 games, center Dominic Raiola reacted to an unruly fan or fans, who evidently got so abusive and personal he gave the sideline instigator a single-fingered show of defiance.

Needless to say, the reaction hasn’t set well with a fan base that boasts a large number actually hoping for a winless season. The feeling is that after years of front-office ineptitude and disassociated ownership, only the embarrassment of historic failure is capable of turning things around.

And unfortunately, Raiola got caught up in the tidal wave of disgust.

 

Raiola was wrong in his reaction. One of the golden rules of athletics is that players cannot interact negatively toward fans, if for no other reason than maintaining a proper relationship with the customer. But anyone who has been on the sidelines of a sporting event knows that fans can get downright nasty, if not boorish, insensitive and rude, at times cross the line where not even family is safe from painful criticism. According to Raiola, this is exactly what happened.

“You get booed a lot in the NFL. We get booed every week,” said Raiola to reporters from Mlive.com. “Fans pay a lot of money, and times are really hard right now, and we understand that they want to see a winner. When they get personal (with) myself and my family ... I’m just not going to put up with that. I’m a human being, I’m just not going to deal with that.”

The former Crusader’s biggest failure was not in offering up a one-fingered review of the criticism, but in his refusal to back away from the uproar through careful post-game comments and to apologize in the face of mounting controversy. Even if the contrition had been no more genuine than Rod Blagojevich’s sincerity, it would have quelled the fire for a team that already has too many.

Raiola’s defiance was further pushed into the realm of ridiculousness and unnecessary brag-gadocio when he challenged fans to fisticuffs, saying, “I don’t take one thing back ... I wish I could give my address out to some fans. But, you know, I can’t. Nobody plays with fists. Everybody wants to play with metal.”

Besides increasing his chances to be referenced on a 50 Cent single, the comment just further irked fans who flooded call-in shows accepting the center’s challenge to a manly showdown.

Raiola is obviously frustrated. A career stuck in the most dys-functional franchise in professional sports will test even the most-even-tempered athlete. But he has to recognize that while he has suffered through nearly a decade of incompetence, the fans have been carrying the burden for five decades.

Raiola, one of the few Lions worth a damn, and perhaps the only one who hasn’t mailed it in on a team full of underachievers and Tampa Bay rejects, is the one guy most apt to explode in the face unforgivable comments. This is not his first fine and likely won’t be his last.

Raiola is an aggressive player who, as shown by his pregame barking session with Brian Urlacher, is not inclined to spend much time getting friendly with the competition. He’s got that streak of nasty his job demands, and he is fueled by passion and repeated seasons of records so bad that simple mediocrity would be a noteworthy goal.

Speaking to reporters in the days that followed, Raiola talked about being frustrated with losing and “tired of being a doormat.”

Who could blame him? The Lions are awful and no one should feel confident that this will ever change. If Raiola’s actions, as some have speculated, are an attempt to be traded to a better organization, one could hardly chastise him for wanting a chance for success.

But while Raiola has been raked over the coals, one unpopular post-finger comment makes sense. If the product is so bad, why do fans bother wasting their money on something that brings so much displeasure?

“You know, if you’re not happy, why are you coming to the game? I understand that they haven’t seen a winner in eight years, so don’t come. Don’t come until we turn it around,” said the 295-pounder.

Makes sense.

Irish Stick With A Real Weis Guy

For Notre Dame’s nation of loyal fans, the struggles of Charlie Weis have been a two-year odyssey of frustration and disbelief.

For everyone else, the demise of college football’s most polarizing program and its self-proclaimed greatest offensive mind has provided nothing but sheer entertainment.

But while the Irish faithful rub their rosary beads in the hopes that the next football messiah will soon come riding in beneath the blue-gray October sky, they need to stow their snowballs and grudgingly admit the school made the correct decision in retaining the embattled coach.

Notre Dame’s options are limited. When the school made Ty Willingham the program’s first fire - and more importantly when it offered Weis the decade-long extension after only five games into his Notre Dame career - the school became just another football whore guided by a disconnected pimp more committed to his own ego than taking responsibility for the mess he helped create.

But I digress.

 

Currently, there are no coaches available who fit the school’s new level of unrealistic expectation. After the embarrassment of George O’Leary and the mediocrity of Bob Davie, Gerry Faust and Willingham, just any old hire will not do. Notre Dame needs a star and right now, for better or for worse, the biggest celebrity is the one who has recorded the school’s lowest two-season win total since 1962-63.

By most recent reports, the buyout on Weis’ contract was of little concern to the school financed by a $7 billion endowment and its own television deal, which has not paid its expected dividends to NBC as the Irish’s poor play has meant lower ratings and refunds to advertisers.

Money had little to do with Weis’ continued tenure in South Bend, and going on a third coaching search in seven years does-n’t exactly hint at the job security top coaches look for. Had a hotshot been available and interested, Weis may have already been given the OK to seek other employment.

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly has been a popular candidate for a number of schools in recent years, but has in effect thumbed his nose at Notre Dame by declaring his allegiance to his current employer.

Kirk Ferentz, always a favorite to leave Iowa for greener pastures in both college and the NFL, will have to win a lot more than 55 percent of his games to calm the ire of Irish faithful.

Skip Holtz? Sure, he coached under his slurring father at Notre Dame and has turned East Carolina from a joke to a conference contender, but living in his father’s shadow would be tough, as would convincing Irish fans their best hope lies in the hands of a coach who averaged seven wins a season in Conference USA.

Mike Leach has shown a willingness to talk about new employment but already makes $1.7 million per, and has an AD who is committed to adding to Leach’s wallet before the bowl season ends.

Boise State’s Chris Peterson, who pulled a reverse Charlie Weis, succeeding after parting with his former successful superior, would be a great hire if they could get him. Peterson has won 35 of 38 games, but he’s a quality-of-life guy who may not be convinced that the honor of coaching the Irish trumps the pressures of academic requirement and national expectation.

Had it been anyone else but Charlie Weis, the three-game improvement for a team dominated by freshman and sophomore talent would have been palpable - especially when any complaints regarding talent could be blamed on his predecessor. But when a new coach comes in blind drunk from the corn squeezings of his own ego and self-professed intellect, any stumble on the road to immortality will be met with an equal level of disdain.

Perhaps no coach ever has been greeted with greater adoration than Charlie Weis. After being spurned by Urban Meyer, Weis and his four Super Bowl rings were greeted upon the Notre Dame campus like Odysseus returning to Ithaca while pronouncing, “The whole world talks of my stratagems, and my fame has reached the heavens.”

Weis was supposed to follow in the hallowed footsteps of Leahy, Parseghian and, dare we dream, the great Norwegian himself, Knute Rockne. Instead, his .571 winning percentage has put him in line with Davie (.583), Faust (.535), and dare we say, Willingham (.583).

The Irish are loaded with youth, but that doesn’t excuse Weis for not making progress. In fact, the team has regressed. Critics and fans were split on whether the school’s 4-1 start was a prelude for a return to greatness or a mirage built on sub-par competition. After losing to Pittsburgh in overtime, being blanked by Boston College, barely scraping by Navy and coming up short to a god-awful Syracuse team, the only remaining argument was about how badly they would lose to Southern Cal. Pete Carroll showed kindness, holding the line to 35 points.

Not even the Commander in Chief’s Trophy has been safe under Weis. The academies, which for years had been fodder for easy Notre Dame victories, have suddenly become contenders for the crown, with victories over college football’s most holy organization by both Navy and Air Force.

Notre Dame will be better next year. For all the hype, Weis is a talented coach, and the Irish will get their fair share of talented recruits. But if we can take one lesson from these last two years, it is that college coaching is not just a job for those who can’t cut it in the NFL. It is an entirely different type of employment that calls for skills unique to the job.

 

Bradford next in line for multiple Heismans

It’s finally over! We’ll give you a break and finish with the top five.

1. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, QB, So., 11-1. No. 4 AP. (Last Week: 1)

Last week: 30-44, 370 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 1 Rushing TD; QB rating: 168.8 in a 61-41 win at No. 11 Oklahoma State.

Season: 268-393 passing, 4,080 yards, 46 TDs, 6 INTs, 5 rushing touchdowns. QB rating: 191.

Bradford road the roller coaster of competition all season to end up where he began - atop the Heisman Trophy list. By winning the award as a sophomore, he’s become the second player in as many years with a chance to catch Archie Griffin as the only men to be twice named the game’s best player. Because of his style of play, he’s got an even better chance than Tebow had because his predecessor’s role was purposely limited this year. Bradford won’t have that problem in 2009 if he decides to return, which if he’s smart he’ll do. Bradford is as polished as any quarterback in the country, but an additional season would be a huge benefit physically and economically. Out of the two, the second will likely be the bigger factor.

 

2. Graham Harrell. Texas Tech, Sr., 11-1. No. 8 AP. (Last Week:

²⁾Last Week: 41-50, 309 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; QB rating 143.1 in a 35-28 win over Baylor.

Season: 306-568, 4,747 yards, 41 TDs, 7 INTs, 6 rushing touchdowns. QB rating: 163.

Harrell came into the season as a “system quarterback” from a second-tier program with little chance to win college football’s oldest award. As it was, he came within one game of winning the statue and a place in the national title game.

In his senior season, Harrell proved himself to be a smart field leader with an accurate arm who played under control and mastered his offense. However, draft wonks remain unimpressed with his future as an NFL quarterback, calling him a career backup. A second-day selection shouldn’t be surprising as Harrell will have to prove that unlike his “system” predecessors, ie, Andre Ware and nearly every BYU QB, he’s more than just a byproduct of an efficient scheme. At 6 foot 3 and 206 pounds, he’s a bit undersized for an NFL quarterback.

3. Colt McCoy, Texas, QB, Jr., 11-1. No. 3 AP. (Last Week: 3)

Last week: 23-28, 311 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 11 rushes, 49 yards, 2 TDs; QB Rating 199 in a 49-9 win over Texas A&M.

Season: 291-375 passing, 3,445

yards, 32 TDs, 7 INTs, 117 rushes, 527 yards, 10 TDs; QB rating: 179.2.

Rumor has it that McCoy’s decision to turn professional after the season could hinge on whether Detroit is looking at taking a quarterback with the first pick in the draft. Any truth to the story seems unlikely as he’s already commented about returning for his senior season and because the draft is easily manipulated to scare away unwanted suitors. Beyond winning a national title or Heisman Trophy, there is no other reason to risk further injury in college. Neither award will boost his draft-day status, and he’s likely to enter a more crowded field as

Bradford and Tebow are most likely to return for another season. McCoy won’t tumble as far as another Colt did a year ago, but the lesson is there. Timing is everything.

4. Chase Daniel, Missouri, QB, Sr., 9-3. No. 19 AP. (Last Week: 4)

Last week: 25-41, 288

yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, 9 rushes, 103 yards; QB Rating 142.4 in a 40-37 loss to Kansas.

Season: 331-441 passing, 3,880 yards, 34 TDs, 13 INT; 50 rushes, 239 yards, QB rating: 168.5.

Missouri had its eyes on the mythical national title and its senior signal caller on the individual award. Neither will happen, but Daniel can look for a bit of conference payback by ruining Oklahoma’s shot at a national title game with a win in the Big 12 championship. His future, however, isn’t as clear. Daniel has good mobility, but not enough for teams to forget about his small size (6 feet) and less than ideal arm strength. Second-day employment offers and backup opportunities are most likely in his future.

5. Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Jr., 11-1. No. 2 AP. (Last Week: 5)

Last week: 12-21 passing, 185 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, 16 rushes, 80 yards, 1 rushing touchdown; QB rating: 178.3 in a 45-15 win at Florida State.

Season: 160-246 passing, 2,299 yards, 25 TDs, 2 INTs, 137 rushes, 507 yards, 12 TDs; QB rating: 175.5.

Just missing out on a national title shot is likely to convince Tebow to return for a final season in Tallahassee. Confusion about how his abilities will translate to the NFL game should be an even better reason for playing out his eligibility. Tebow is an enigma. He’s a unique athlete who seems to have no ceiling yet appears to lack some basic professional skill sets. His physique and arm strength are plusses but too often he seems to get by on athletic ability more than practiced technique. He’ll also have to prove himself as a pocket passer as he lacks NFL scrambler speed.

Thanksgiving, Lions: A Bad Taste

While it may not be a popular idea with the folks in the 313, the 734 or in any other of the 10 remaining telephone prefixes that make up the calling zones of The Big Mitten, the NFL has to take a serious look at pulling its holiday classic out of the Motor City.

The Lions, and therefore the game, have become embarrassments.

After six decades of playing host to some of the greatest - and worst - games in NFL history, such an inglorious end would be a tragic blow to an area that has seen more than its fair share of grim news in recent years. But the NFL isn’t in the business of playing social worker to economically depressed regions. Its loyalty is to the dollar and to maintaining a carefully manufactured image. Both of which could suffer should the Lions continue to put on their annual display of ineptitude.

The Lions have been playing on Thanksgiving Day since 1934, with the city’s involvement going back to the original Turkey Day game in 1920 when the Detroit Heralds lost to the Dayton Triangles 28-0.

And though the biggest contest to that time was the professional debut of Red Grange in 1925, whose star power went a long way toward making the NFL a legitimate enterprise, it wasn’t until ‘34 that the game became the national showcase that we have come to know.

Lions’ owner George A. Richards, a radio executive who moved the team from Portsmouth to Detroit, along with NBC set up a 94-station network to broadcast the game between the 10-1 Lions and the undefeated and defending champion Chicago Bears to a nation-

al audience, and the tradition was born. The next year Detroit defeated the Bears on their way to the NFL championship. It proved to be one of the few forward-looking decisions the team would ever make.

Two decades later, the Lions were on top, winning eight of 10 holiday games and three NFL championships. Any thought of playing the game anywhere else was laughable as the team won on Thanksgiving four more times in the next five years to usher in the 1960s. After 30 years, Thanksgiving belonged to the team in Honolulu Blue and silver.

The game again made sense during the Barry Sanders years. Because of the team’s general mediocrity, most NFL fans couldn’t get a glimpse of the era’s most exciting player.

And the team responded, winning seven times during Sanders’ 10-year career, even though the Lions won just 78 regular season games in that same span. But in the decade since he was chased away from the game after a career of team futility, the Lions have done nothing to merit being highlighted on the biggest food-eating day of the year.

Since 1998, Detroit has lost seven times, including five in a row counting this year’s 47-10 debacle at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, in which the Lions didn’t even resemble a professional football team.

Linebackers lunged at ball carriers, cornerbacks exhibited the tackling skills of kickers and the offensive line proved to be nothing more than speed bumps on the way to the quarterback.

So bad were things that Titans center Kevin Mawae burst out laughing during the post-game interview while explaining how he knew the game would come down to line play.

Tennessee ran for 292 yards with both LenDale White and Chris Johnson scoring twice while running for 100 yards each. Detroit, on the contrary, gained just 23 yards on the ground while surrendering more points than in any of its 68 previous contests.

Though it is not up to a former Pro Bowl tight end turned broadcaster to offer apologies to what remained of the television audience, Shannon Sharpe was correct in saying the game was an embarrassment.

Lions’ kicker Jason Hanson confirmed this opinion, saying the team just proved what everyone outside the organization was saying:

The Lions stink.

That’s a paraphrase. And although head coach Ron Marinelli (10-34) doesn’t expect to be fired, continuing his mantra that he still has great belief in himself, he’s clearly the only one with such confidence.

With the Big Three auto companies in a massive tailspin along with the economy of the metro Detroit area - and therefore the entire state of Michigan, and therefore the entire nation - hanging in the balance, Lions fans do not deserve another slap to the collective jaw that would be brought if one of their favorite holiday traditions leaves town like so many manufacturing jobs.

But without a solid commitment by the Lions to rescue the game from the abyss that has become Lions football, the NFL should pull the plug on the team’s Thanksgiving Day game.

Give them three years to improve, or else.

Sorry, Detroit.

Bradford moves back into the top spot

With only one week to go,the seesaw battle continues. 1.Sam Bradford,Oklahoma,QB, So., 10-1. No. 3 AP. (Last Week: 2)

Last week: 14-19, 304 yards, 4 TDs, no INTs; QB rating: 277.6 in a 65-21 win over Texas Tech.

Season: 238-349 passing, 3,406 yards, 42 TDs, 6 INTs, 4 rushing touchdowns. QB rating: 193.8.

Oklahoma came into the game surrendering 33.5 game in its last five - with none possessing the offensive explosion of the Red Raiders - and totally whipped Texas Tech.Bradford was nearly perfect throwing for an average 21.7 yards per completion while driving his team through the Tech defense like it was practice. But he hasn’t won anything. The Sooners have the toughest test among the top three and any stumble could cost Bradford in the final week. 2. Graham Harrell. Texas Tech, Sr., 10-1. No. 7 AP. (Last Week: 1)

Last Week: 33-55, 361 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT; QB rating 129.5 in a 65-21 loss at Oklahoma.

Season: 365-518, 4,438 yards, 39 TDs,6 INTs,QB rating: 165; 6 rushing touchdowns.

 

Harrell put up his typical big numbers against the Sooners, but all went for naught and most came after the game was decided. The senior looked haggard all day, and his team didn’t get its 14th point until 6:44 left in the third quarter. His Heisman chances are not finished, but he’ll need a monster performance against Baylor and some help from No. 11 Oklahoma State, which hosts Oklahoma next week. 3. Colt McCoy, Texas, QB, Jr., 10-1. No. 4 AP. (Last Week: 3)

Last week: Did not play.

Season: 268-347 passing, 3,134 yards, 30 TDs, 7 INT, QB rating: 177.6; 117 rushes, 527 yards, 8 TDs.

Having the week off didn’t boost McCoy’s Heisman chances, but did wonders to increase his shot at the mythical national championship.A win against A&M puts the Longhorns in the Big 12 title game against Missouri, which then opens the door to the title game in Miami so long as Oklahoma doesn’t leapfrog the Longhorns.McCoy will get a New York invite, but will have to wait until 2010 for the trophy. 4. Chase Daniel, Missouri, QB, Sr., 9-2. No. 12 AP. (Last Week: 4)

Last week: Did not play.

Season: 306-400 passing, 3,592 yards, 30 TDs, 11 INT; 41 rushes, 136 yards, QB rating: 171.2.

With McCoy, Herrell and Bradford’s weekly performances, it is likely that Daniel will not even get invited to the festivities. In fact, if four are sent, Tim Tebow could sneak into that final spot - especially if he votes for himself. 5. Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Jr., 10-1. No. 2 AP. (Last Week: 5)

Last week: 9-11 passing,201 yards,

3 TDs, 0 INT, 2 rushes, 34 yards, QB rating: 325.3 in a 70-19 win over Citadel.

Season: 148-225 passing, 2,114 yards, 22 TDs, 2 INTs, QB rating: 175.2; 121 rushes,427 yards,11 TDs.

Tebow has taken the Gators from their week-four loss to Mississippi and a No. 12 spot in the polls to the edge of the BCS championship game. However, not even a quarterback rating into the third century is enough to make a move when it is against Citadel. 6. Daryll Clark, Penn State, QB, Jr., 11-1. No. 6 AP. (Last Week: 8)

Last week: 16-26 passing, 341 yards,4 TDs,no INT,1 rushing TD, QB rating: 222.5 in a 49-18 win over Michigan State.

Season: 171-285 passing, 2,319 yards,17 TDs,4 INT,72 rushes, 265 yards, 9 TDs, QB rating: 145.2.

Penn State’s loss to Ohio State three weeks ago derailed the Nittany Lions’ plans for national title and Clark’s shot at top five consideration.But then came Michigan State. Penn State beat up the then-9-2 Spartans, and Clark had the individual performance that seemed just out of his grasp through much of the season. 7.Brian Johnson,Utah,QB, Senior, 12-0, No. 8 AP. (Last Week: Unranked)

Season: 241-353, 2,636 yards, 24 TDs, 9 INTs, QB rating: 148.3.

Johnson won’t likely get a single vote for the award,but the Utes have been this season’s most-ignored underdog story.Evidently, non-BCS schools playing past New Year’s is no longer a surprise. He deserves recognition. 8.Kellen Moore,Boise State,QB, Freshman, 11-0, No. 9 AP. (Last Week: Unranked)

Season: 242-347, 3,051 yards, 23 TDs, 9 INTs, QB rating: 160.3.

It’s hard enough for a redshirt freshman to take over an offense, let alone one of the country’s most diabolical.Yet Moore has his team in a position to play in its second BCS game in three seasons. If voters can forget their mid-major ignorance, he could be a major Heisman player in 2011. 9. Max Hall, BYU, QB, Jr. 10-2. No. 20 AP. (Last Week: 6)

Last week: 21-41 passing, 205 yards,0 TDs,5 INTs,QB rating: 68.8; in a 48-24 loss at Utah.

Season: 300-431 passing, 3,629 yards, 34 TDs, 13 INTs, QB rating: 160.3.

The Cougars, and Hall, had a chance to claim conference supremecy against unbeaten Utah and laid an egg.Hall had his worse game of the season,which led further credence to the theory that BYU is simply a mediocre team that beat up on bad competition. 10.Javon Ringer,Michigan State, RB, Sr., 9-3. No. 22 AP. (Last Week: 7)

Last week: 17 rushes, 42 yards, 1 TD, 4 catches, 27 yards in a 49-18 loss at Penn State.

Season: 370 rushes, 1,590 yards, 21 TDs; 25 receptions, 160 yards; 11 kickoff returns, 224 yards.

Ringer wasn’t supposed to have a big day against the Nittany Lion defense - and didn’t.

No Place For Melrose In Tampa

While a short coaching stay was predicted on these pages at the season’s opening for Lightening coach Barry Melrose, the coach known more for his mullet than his coaching resume deserved a longer tenure than 16 games to try to resurrect a franchise that just four years ago won the Stanley Cup.

Then again, his players deserved more than their coach blaming them for his demise.

In the coach’s mind he was just too tough, and because of this his players purposely undermined his efforts and went to management, telling them Melrose had to go.

Is it possible he was the victim of prima donna athletes preferring a less-strenuous style of play? Perhaps. Melrose loves to talk about what a tough guy he is and how he demands hitting, passion and other such macho coaching cliches while trying to convince anyone who will listen of his unique qualities as a head coach.

Melrose wouldn’t be the first coach to be pushed out by his players, but pointing fingers without considering any culpability on his own part for a team that is last in the NHL in goals scored and points is simply hypocritical if not flat-out delusional.

Speaking to Ron McLean on Hockey Night in Canada, Melrose portrayed himself as the plain-talking innocent bystander who claimed to have let GM Brian Lawton off the hook, saying he’s not a guy who talks a lot and just told his former boss, “Don’t worry about it (explaining the reasons and) dropped my phone off and went to the dressing room and got my stuff.” McLean continued to lob softballs from the blue line while Melrose discussed the conspiracy.

“Obviously, a lot of guys didn’t want to be held accountable on this team and obviously they went to Lenny and Oren (team owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules) and said they don’t like this style of coaching and would you get rid of him. I don’t think there’s any secret about that,” claimed Melrose.

McLean, showing the unbiased coverage that has made Hockey Night the game’s unabashed purveyor of truth and intelligent discourse, grilled Melrose, saying, “It looks like somebody from the team, and this is a team that won the Stanley Cup, was very close to the previous head coach, and ... it looks like somebody went to either Len or Oren or to Brian and said, ‘You know what? This can’t happen. This is not working. Do you feel like you were stabbed?’”

McLean continued his fair and balanced coverage by snorting in agreement when Melrose said, “I don’t think the players wanted to play for me. You don’t have to be Kreskin to figure that out.”

More challenging for the self-proclaimed world’s foremost mentalist would be explaining why Melrose found it necessary to publicly bash his players after losing the first two games of the season, or why he left the locker room in a huff, forcing his team to practice on its own.

Melrose may want people to think that he’s a blood-and-guts coaching Neanderthal bent on bringing some toughness back to the NHL. But Melrose last coached in the 1990s, and not two decades prior when Scottie Bowman, the NHL’s all-time winningest coach, was so disagreeable to play for that the saying went that his players hated him for 364 days and that on day 365 they hoisted the cup.

As Melrose and McLean were passing the blame on everyone but the coach, one of their targets, Lawton, suggested to a Tampa television station that in Melrose’s decade-plus time as a commentator, the game has passed him by.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that the game has changed over the last 14-15 years,” said Lawton, who then offered the political explanation that his former employee refused to employ, saying that the responsibility for the poor play fell on everyone’s shoulders, including his own.

As Lawton suggested, the team’s failures are not the fault of Melrose alone. The Lightening have to take responsibility for bringing aboard a coach who won all of 43 games in his last two years in Los Angeles. The Lightening’s inexperienced ownership made the mistake of copying the NBA in hiring a coach who was more celebrity than chalkboard artist. It’s a mistake they would be smart to learn from.

Former Coyotes’assistant Rick Tocchet is the coach for the time being. Made famous because of his involvement in a gambling ring that resulted in the longtime NHL veteran receiving two years’ probation and suspension from the league, Tocchet brings a wealth of on-ice experience, if not a lengthy coaching resume. Whether this translates to better performance from Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal or talented 18-year-old Steven Stamkos, who didn’t get the minutes ownership had wanted, remains to be seen.

Tocchet still may be too poisonous to continue in such a leading role, but after a 22-year NHL career, he should at least be able to relate to his players - which is something Melrose refused to do.

Harrell is holding on to the top spot

The big three still dominate, but No. 1 is pulling ahead of the pack.

1. Graham Harrell. Texas Tech, Sr., 10-0. No. 2 AP. (Last Week:
¹⁾

Last Week: Did not play.

Season: 332-463, 4,077 yards, 36 TDs, 5 INTs, QB rating: 169.2; 6 rushing touchdowns.

With one game left on the regular season schedule and with lowly Baylor coming to town, Harrell is one game away from being the first “system” quarterback to win the Heisman since Ty Detmer in 1990. A year ago he didn’t even dent the top nine. Now, with an undefeated team, he’s standing on top of the mountain.

2. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, QB, So., 9-1. No. 5 AP. (Last Week:²⁾

Last week: Did not play.

 

Season: 224-330 passing, 3,406 yards, 38 TDs, 6 INTs, 4 rushing touchdowns. QB rating: 188.9.

The Sooner QB has No. 11 Oklahoma State in the season finale, and he’ll need a monster performance to leap frog Harrell for the lead. Quality of competition is on Oklahoma’s side, but Harrell has a comfortable lead and room for error.

3. Colt McCoy, Texas, QB, Jr., 10-1. No. 4 AP. (Last Week: 3)

Last week: 24-34 passing, 255 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs; QB rating: 153; 16 rushes, 78 yards, 1 rushing TD in a 35-7 win at Kansas.

Season: 268-347 passing, 3,134 yards, 30 TDs, 7 INT, QB rating: 177.6; 117 rushes, 527 yards, 8 TDs.

McCoy and Bradford are 2 and 2A in the big race of 2008. No matter the finish, the voting will be close. McCoy, like Harrell, has the opportunity to pile up stats against poor competition and once it goes to a vote, it’s anyone’s to lose.

4. Chase Daniel, Missouri, QB, Sr., 9-2. No. 12 AP. (Last Week: 4)

Last week: 32-40 passing, 328 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INTs, QB rating: 160.4; in a 52-20 win at Iowa State.

Season: 306-400 passing, 3,592 yards, 30 TDs, 11 INT; 41 rushes, 136 yards, QB rating: 171.2.

A 30-point victory and an 80 percent completion percentage is impressive; whuppin’ a team that hasn’t won in conference is not. Ending the season against Texas A&M is just another unfortunate turn in a what-could-have-been season for Daniel.

5. Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Jr., 9-1. No. 3 AP. (Last Week: 5)

Last week: 13-20 passing, 173 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, 14 rushes, 39 yards, 1 TDs, QB rating: 170.7 in a 56-6 win over South Carolina.

Season: 139-214 passing, 1,913 yards, 19 TDs, 2 INTs, QB rating: 167.5; 119 rushes, 393 yards, 11 TDs.

With three games left on the schedule including mighty Citadel, Tebow has the longest path on the way to a New York invite. He won’t make the top three, but he’ll have the chance to add to his resume for the 2009 NFL draft.

6. Max Hall, BYU, QB, Jr. 10-1. No. 16 AP. (Last Week: 6)

Last week: 28-37 passing, 354 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INTs, QB rating: 168.5; in a 38-24 win at Air Force.

Season: 279-390 passing, 3,424 yards, 34 TDs, 8 INTs, QB rating: 167.5.

Hall has a chance to both impress voters and ruin a rival’s BCS chances with a victory over Utah Saturday. A win also keeps BYU’s conference championship hopes alive. The Cougars are tied with TCU who handed BYU its only loss. That’s a lot of motivation.

7. Javon Ringer, Michigan State, RB, Sr., 9-2. No. 17 AP. (Last Week:⁷⁾

Last week: Did not play.

Season: 353 rushes, 1,548 yards, 20 TDs; 21 receptions, 133 yards; 11 kickoff returns, 224 yards.

Penn State has the conference’s best rushing defense and doesn’t want the championship to slip away. Ringer will not find much room to run, but it’s been a heck of a season for the senior.

8. David Johnson, Tulsa QB, Sr., 8-2. unranked. (Last Week: 9)

Last Week: 18-29 passing, 271 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, QB rating: 179.2 in a 70-30 loss at Houston.

Season: 190-287 passing, 3,254 yards, 37 TDs, 11 INTs, QB rating: 196.3.

Tulsa got hammered, but this one can’t be blamed on the quarterback. He just got outplayed by Case Keenum who threw for 402 yards and six touchdowns. Johnson’s career is over, but Keenum is a name to watch for 2009.

9. Daryll Clark, Penn State,QB, Jr., 10-1. No. 7 AP. (Last Week: 8)

Last week: 20-36 passing, 240 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, QB rating: 124.3 in a 34-7 win over Indiana.

Season: 155-259 passing, 1,978 yards, 13 TDs, 4 INT, 68 rushes, 261 yards, 8 TDs, QB rating: 137.5

Penn State keeps winning, but Clark has just been along for the ride. A BCS game is the most he can hope for. 10. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech,WR, Soph., 10-0,No. 2 AP. (Last Week: unranked) Season: 78 catches, 1,010 yards, 18 TDs. Dez Bryant has better overall numbers, but Crabtree’s 18 catches in the last two games is spectacular.

Sexism Trumps Inexperience

It may be a stretch to suggest that Pete Townsend was thinking of the NBA while penning his tale of a revolution that ends up changing absolutely nothing, but league owners sure did channel the guitarist’s look at continued folly.

Each new season brings with it new coaches who have either worn out their welcome with a previous employer or were darn good players, who, though lacking any on-the-job training, seemed so smart on the court or when calling the game from the sideline. With these often-used guidelines it would follow that the best coaching candidate would be an accomplished player who has gone on to coaching success - a Lenny Wilkens type.

Such men are hard to find. Four-time all stars who become coach of the year and win three titles in six full seasons aren’t just sitting around waiting for a phone call. That is, so long as the coach wasn’t too prickly as a player and whose players do not take time off for maternity leave. For Bill Laimbeer the message is clear. It is better to have no experience than to have coached a women’s team no matter the amount of success. And that we still don’t like you.

Since taking over the Detroit Shock at the end of the 2002 season, Laimbeer has done nothing but win. His team took home the championship in his first full year on the job and has added two more titles for a franchise that has become the model of success for the still-struggling WNBA.

As both coach and general manager, he’s drafted well and hasn’t been afraid to make big trades to shore up his team’s weaknesses - such as sending talented rookie Tasha Humphrey, Shay Murphy and a second-round pick to Washington for Taj McWilliams-Franklin. The trade filled the void created when Cheryl Ford was lost for the season with a knee injury she reaggrevated during the so-called brawl with the L.A. Sparks. The then-stuggling Shock went 6-1 after the trade to retake the lead of the Eastern Conference.

He’s also developed a team that plays in his own unique image.

The Shock play Laimbeer ball. They are tough, defensive minded and smart. The biggest secret to the success of the Bad Boys Pistons’ teams was not their physicality, but in their understanding of the game. Those teams won with intellect and hard work. Making players fearful to drive the lane was an added bonus. And just as he had with the Pistons, Laimbeer has benefited from being surrounded like-minded players.

Deanna Nolan is as tough as her home town. The Flint Michigan native often has to be reined in by her coaches when her emotions get the best of her. If you haven’t seen her, think of a female Isiah Thomas but with much more visual appeal. Kara Braxton, a 25-year old, 6-foot, 6-inch center/forward, may not have joined the team with a Laimbeer-ish temperament, but she voiced her belief in the system prior to the 2006 WNBA finals saying “I mean, they were the Bad Boys of the NBA, and they brung it over, and now we’re the Bad Girls of the WNBA.”

In defense of the league, Laimbeer did make more enemies than friends in his playing career, and like Kareem, who has never been seriously considered for anything more than just a rudimentary role, this has closed the door on many would-be possibilities. And while it may seem ridiculous to hold grudges for so many years, the NBA has a long memory. No further evidence is needed than Sparks coach and former Laker defensive stopper Michael Cooper, who traded some barely hidden barbs with his former nemesis in June.

Of the Sparks, Laimbeer said they play “... that hyper-show-time garbage and we’re more blue-collared, hard nose, physical ...” A style of play that Cooper called “... dirty ball. Thug ball.”

Needless to say that Laimbeer won’t be walking the sidelines anytime soon in L.A., Boston or Indiana but when compared the litany of unknowns, hardly knowns, retreads and former stars with no experience looking to get back in the action, the silence of Laimbeer’s phone is deafening.

Coaching virgin Mark Jackson was the supposed Knicks coach in waiting until he fumbled his interview with president Donnie Walsh who publically endorsed Jackson saying his lack of experience was not a major factor. The former Knicks guard also interviewed with Chicago and Phoenix. Had Jackson gotten the job he would have joined Bulls new floor leader Vinny Del Negro as rookie coaches.

Even before these moves, the NBA has not shied away from players with little or no coaching experience feeling these guys will be able to relate to todays prima donna athletes since they were recently ones themselves.

Isiah Thomas went from killing the CBA to coaching the Pacers and was followed by another untested coach, Larry Bird. Magic Johnson was just a mess in his short time coaching the Lakers. Reggie Theus was able to turn his experience as the head coach of an undisciplined New Mexico State team into a job in Sacramento. Before Doc Rivers was a world champion coach with Boston he was given the reins to a young Orlando team even though he had never coached, and Avery Johnson had all of five months’ experience before being handed the reins in Dallas. And, of course, closer to home and much more confusing, Michael Curry was named head coach of the Pistons after just one year on the bench.

Laimbeer has always said he’s a Detroit guy, and it is where he wanted to stay. But now with an off-season home in Florida and his children grown and on their own, his ties to the only city where he can truly feel loved, is slipping. He let his contract expire this year and gave some serious thought to calling it quits even though after seeing him on the sidelines it is hard to think of Laimbeer settling down to a sedentary lifestyle. He recently came to a verbal agreement to stay with the Shock.

Yes, there are tremendous differences between the WNBA and its older counterpart. The men play a much longer season and unlike in his current job, in the NBA it’s the lunatics who run the asylum. But Laimbeer has experience and success. He’s gotten several rosters of players to believe in his system and while the men are much tougher nuts, it’s hard to imagine a team - outside of the old Portland JailBlazers - having as many personalities as those that inhabited the Silverdome when he won his two NBA titles.

Harrell’s on top, as long as Tech wins

1. Graham Harrell. Texas Tech, Sr., 10-0. No. 2 AP. (Last Week: 3)

Last Week: 40-50, 456 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs, QB rating: 196.2; 56-20 win over Oklahoma State.

Season: 332-463, 4,077 yards, 36 TDs, 5 INTs, QB rating: 169.2; 6 rushing touchdowns.

Weeks ago the Heisman was McCoy’s to lose as long as Texas kept winning. Now it’s Herrell’s turn. The senior took apart No. 11 OK State becoming the third consecutive ranked team to fall to the Red Raiders. In that stretch, the senior completed 75.8 percent of his passes for 1,316 yards with 13 TDs and 0 INTs.

2. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, QB, So., 9-1. No. 5 AP. (Last Week:¹⁾

Last week: 22-33 passing, 320 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT, 1 rushing touchdown. QB rating: 188.1; in a 66-28 win at Texas A&M. Season: 224-330 passing, 3,406 yards, 38 TDs, 6 INTs, 4 rushing touchdowns. QB rating: 188.9.

 

Bradford will have a chance to regain the top spot with a victory over Tech this week. The Sooner offense has been steam-rolling opponents since its loss to Texas, averaging 57.75 points per game, but the Tech defense is second in the conference, giving up 22.2 and leads in INTs (16). This one is going to be fun.

3. Colt McCoy, Texas, QB, Jr., 9-1. No. 4 AP. (Last Week: 2)

Last week: 26-37 passing, 300 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs; QB rating: 172.2; in a 45-21 win over Baylor.

Season: 244-313 passing, 2,879 yards, 28 TDs, 7 INT, QB rating: 180.3; 101 rushes, 449 yards, 7 TDs.

Opponent and INTs cost McCoy some Heisman real estate. So did Harrell’s continued excellence. The junior, who already said he is coming back for his senior season, will be able to pad his stats in the coming weeks with Baylor and A&M left on the schedule, but he’s going to need a statement game and some help from Bradford and Harrell to finish No. 1. 4. Chase Daniel, Missouri, QB, Sr., 8-2. No. 12 AP. (Last Week: 4)

Last week: 24-36 passing, 271 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, QB rating: 137.1; in a 41-24 win over Kansas State.

Season: 274-360 passing, 3,264 yards, 28 TDs, 10 INT; 40 rushes, 137 yards, QB rating: 172.4

Week 10 for Daniel wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty against a K State team with only one conference victory. His ability to maintain his position is due more to the weakening competition than to individual success. Iowa State (0 conference wins) and Kansas (3-3) will provide stats and little competition. 5. Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Jr., 8-1. No. 3 AP. (Last Week: 6)

Last week: 12-17 passing, 171 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, 11 rushes, 88 yards, 2 TDs, QB rating: 213.3 in a 42-14 win at Vanderbilt.

Season: 126-194 passing, 1,740 yards, 17 TDs, 2 INTs, QB rating: 167.1; 105 rushes, 354 yards, 10 TDs.

At year ago Tebow won the award after passing for 3,286 yards, rushing for 895 and passing and running for 55 touch-downs. He won’t match those numbers and won’t win the Heisman, but he is slowly moving up in the pack, and the Gators are the team no one wants to play. Not even No. 1 ‘Bama.

6. Max Hall, BYU, QB, Jr. 9-1. No. 16 AP. (Last Week: 5)

Last week: 25-30 passing, 317 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, QB rating: 205.1; in a 41-12 win over San Diego State.

Season: 251-353 passing, 3,070 yards, 32 TDs, 7 INTs, QB rating: 170.1.

The stats are there but its hard to look impressive piling up numbers against bad competition. An 83 percent completion percentage, 300 yards passing and a rating into the second century is tasty but not very fulfilling considering the opponent. 7. Javon Ringer, Michigan State, RB, Sr., 9-2. No. 18 AP. (Last Week: 8)

Last week: 32 rushes, 121 yards, 2 TDs in a 21-7 win over Purdue.

Season: 353 rushes, 1,548 yards, 20 TDs; 21 receptions, 133 yards; 11 kickoff returns, 224 yards.

Ringer continues to carry his team toward a BCS date and has slowly increased his lead on the nation’s rushing list. Penn State looked bad against Iowa but is at home and will be a tough test for a State team that is 0-1 against ranked opponents.

8. Daryll Clark, Penn State, QB, Jr., 9-1. No. 7 AP. (Last Week: 7)

Last week: 9-23 passing, 86 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT, QB rating: 61.8 in a 24-23 loss at Iowa.

Season: 135-223 passing, 1,738 yards, 11 TDs, 3 INT, 60 rushes, 235 yards, 8 TDs, QB rating: 139.6.

Clark’s performance did more than halt any outside chance of getting a New York invite, it ended the Nittany Lions’ shot at a national title. The Spartans will try to keep him off the field by feeding the ball to Ringer which will mean fewer chances to impress for Clark. 9. David Johnson, Tulsa QB, Sr., 8-1. No. 25 AP. (Last Week: 9)

Last Week: Did not play. Season: 172-258 passing, 2,983 yards, 33 TDs, 10 INTs, QB rating: 198.2

Tulsa sneaked into the top 25 with losses by Maryland, Georgia Tech, Cal and West Virginia. No real challenges remain and an 12-1 season is likely. 10. Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State, WR, Soph., 8-2, No. 11 AP. (unranked)

Season: 64 catches, 1,140 yards, 15 TDs; 15 punt returns for 288 yards, 2 TDs.

With Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin reaping headlines, Bryant has been a one-man wrecking crew for the Cowboys. He leads the nation in yards per game, is second in receiving yards and third in touchdowns.

Obama’s Tax Plan Hits Athletes

The election may be over, but the political scrutiny goes on.

Not, as typical, in the halls of Congress, Florida courtrooms or survivalist cabins deeply hidden in the Appalachian foothills, but in a California hotel where baseball’s general managers and its pro-labor alter egos gather to figure out how to further separate fan from dollar.

For GMs, the issue is clear enough - raise ticket prices.

For player agents, things are trickier.

For them, the election of Barack Obama to the White House does not indicate an advancement in race relations, an end to corporate greed or the implementation of an affordable health-care system for all Americans.

Nope, the agents’ biggest concern is how the president-elect’s proposed tax plan will impact their clients who could face a tax increase that could cost the millionaires thousands of dollars.

Damn socialist!

Under the Obama plan, the upper-tier tax bracket would increase from 35 to 39.6 percent, meaning an athlete pulling in $10 mil per could see his bill increase by more than $400,000. Such a bump would no doubt be OK for Alex Rodriguez, who takes home $172,839.50 per game. Under an Obama tax code, ARod would have to kick in an additional $1,288,000 to the national treasury or nearly enough money to fund the New York Yankees for an entire day.

As reported on ESPN.com, several agents said plans on how to deal with any new tax structure would have to be “kicked around.”

And while Drew Rosenhaus - who obviously doesn’t represent a large number of PGA members - said many of his clients were euphoric about the election results, that most didn’t care about tax increases if it helped the country, and that he told those who asked to not let the proposed tax plan influence their vote, that patriotism is more important, not all representatives will operate so honorably. Any change in the tax rate will have a direct effect on negotiations and will likely drive up prices, as agents will ask for larger amounts or longer contracts to offset the income lost to taxes. And it’s exactly what they should do.

An agent has one job - to get as much as possible for as long as possible for their client. This is even more true in the NFL, where contracts are not guaranteed. It’s capitalism at its best in all its grime and glory. Economic fairness and fan access is the other guy’s problem.

Drew and his are going to get theirs, and if anyone is going to alter the system that currently forces small market teams to compete in an unfair market, it’s going to have to come from the owners. And that is not likely to happen. It’s easier to whine about the system than to actually fix it.

In the years since Jerry Reinsdorf signed Albert Bell to history’s then-richest contract just weeks after complaining how such deals were ruining the game, the owners have done nothing to stabilize the league’s financial structure, which in the near future may cause thinning of the ranks through bankruptcy.

The owners have continued to run their clubs like fantasy teams, using business models they would never accept in their civilian corporations.

So until they are able to get off the athletic crack pipe, the salary explosion will continue to benefit players and agents, to the detriment of fans.

Rosenhaus, a registered Republican, said he voted for Obama.

No doubt the campaign’s motto struck a chord:

Yes, we can renegotiate. Yes, we can hold out for more.

Yes, we can afford it.

Yes, we can spread the cost to fans.

Wham bam, Sooners’ Sam is the man again

1.Sam Bradford,Oklahoma,QB, So., 8-1. No. 6 AP. (Last Week: 2)

Last week: 19-27 passing, 311 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, QB rating: 220.8; in a 62-28 win against Nebraska. Season: 202-297 passing, 3,086 yards, 34 TD, 6 INT, QB rating: 189.

After a week out of the top slot, Bradford returns after McCoy’s nasty run-in with Texas Tech. McCoy had a tougher test overall, but Bradford was just blistering against a Nebraska team that gives up fewer passing yards than does Tech. In two weeks, Bradford will get his own crack at Harrell.

2. Colt McCoy, Texas, QB, Jr., 8-1. No. 5 AP. (Last Week: 1)

Last week: 20-34 passing, 294 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; QB rating: 145; 13 rushes, 16 yards in a 39-33 loss to Texas Tech.

Season: 218-276 passing, 2,579 yards, 23 TD, 5 INT, QB rating: 181.4; 93 rushes, 428 yards, 7 TDs.

Four great performances in as many weeks against top 12 opponents may have been too much to ask. The junior slipped off the mantle but will take the top spot again should Bradford struggle even just a little. He has a favorable schedule heading out and that should help him as Bradford faces two top 10 teams to close out the regular season.

3. Graham Harrell. Texas Tech, Sr., 9-0. No. 2 AP. (Last Week: 4)

Last Week: 36-53, 474 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, QB rating: 155; 39-33 win over Texas.

Season: 292-413, 3,621 yards, 30 TDs, 5 INTs, QB rating: 165.9; 6 rushing touchdowns.

The victory says as much about Tech as it does Herrell, with both moving from questioned contender to legitimate trophy threats. The senior outplayed his opponent throughout, but the big statement came during the game-winning drive with the Longhorns holding the momentum and Harrell coldly moving down the field for the win as time expired.

4. Chase Daniel, Missouri, QB, Sr., 7-2. No. 13 AP. (Last Week: 3)

Last week: 30-38 passing, 318 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT, QB rating: 164.8; in a 31-28 win at Baylor.

Season: 250-324 passing, 2,993 yards, 26 TD, 8 INT; 36 rushes, 159 yards, QB rating 176.3: Although he retains his top-four spot, Daniels has continued his slow slide away from contention. Completing 78.9 of his passes was a plus, but tossing two picks and squeaking out a close victory over a Baylor team that came into the game 1-3 in conference play was costly.

5. Max Hall, BYU, QB, Jr. 8-1. No. 17 AP. (Last Week: 6)

Last week: 28-35 passing, 389 yards, 5 TD, 1 INT, QB rating: 214.8; in a 45-42 win at Colorado State.

Season: 226-323 passing, 2,753 yards, 29 TD, 7 INT, QB rating: 166.9.

BYU was nearly Tech-esque. Down by four with 1:36 left, Hall drove the Cougars 76 yards capped by a 23-yard touchdown pass to Dennis Pitta with 22 seconds remaining. His play was brilliant, but the competition was not. Same old story.

6. Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Jr.,

7-1. No. 4 AP. (Last Week: 7)

Last week: 10-13 passing, 154 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, QB rating: 227.2; 12 rushes, 39 yards, 3 TDs in a 49-10 win at Georgia.

Season: 114-177 passing, 1,569 yards, 14 TD, 2 INT, QB rating: 162.7; 94 rushes, 266 yards, 8 TDs.

Tebow still does not dominate the competition like he did a year ago, but the Gators keep winning, and Tebow continues on his assault for a second Heisman Trophy. He’s a long way behind the Big Two, but the remaining schedule favors Florida and a national title would help his chances greatly.

7. Daryll Clark, Penn State, QB, Jr., 9-0. No. 3 AP. (Last Week: 9)

Last week: Did not play.

Season: 126-200 passing, 1,652 yards, 11 TD, 2 INT, QB rating: 148.5; 55 rushes, 229 yards, 8 TDs.

With three weeks to go and only one ranked opponent, Penn State remains in an enviable position. Clark’s trophy chances not so much. Still a national title will go a long way in soothing the hurt.

8. Javon Ringer, Michigan State, RB, Sr., 8-2. No. 18 AP. (Last Week:⁵⁾Last week: 21 rushes, 54 yards, 2 TD; 3 receptions, 10 yards in a 25-24 win over Wisconsin.

Season: 321 rushes, 1,427 yards, 18 TD; 20 receptions, 130 yards; 11 kickoff returns, 224 yards.

Ringer came into the game the nation’s leading runner and remains so even as his Heisman chances tumble. His performance was hampered by illness, but voters won’t know or care.

9. David Johnson, Tulsa, QB, Sr., 8-1. Unranked. (Last Week: 10)

Last Week: 17-31 passing, 322 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int., QB rating: 146.3; in a 30-23 loss at Arkansas.

Season 172-258 passing, 2,983 yards, 33 TD, 10 INT, QB rating: 198.2

Arkansas won, but Johnson was adequate and Tulsa remains atop the division. Team success is really all he can hope for.

10.Donald Brown,Connecticut, RB, Jr. 6-3. Unranked. (Last Week:

⁸⁾Last week: 19 rushes, 82 yards, 1 TD in a 35-13 loss to West Virginia.

Season: 254 rushes, 1,406 yards, 15 TDs; 19 receptions, 113 yards. Connecticut continues its downward slide and Brown is going down with the ship. He has three more chances to impress voters for next year.

You Gotta Love 49ers’ Singletar

For at least in the short term, Mike Singletary is my favorite person in football. Not just in the NFL, but in college, Canada, Samoa, Japan and anywhere else an oblong leather ball is tossed and toted across a grassy field or its synthetic copy. I say short term because as the San Francisco 49ers’ interim coach, his future as the leader of the disappointing Bay Area panners is in doubt. But for the time being, I’m going to enjoy the ride.

At the post-game press conference following the Niners’ loss to Seattle, Singletary gave voice to all fans and topic-starved commentators tired of prima donna athletes more concerned with personal achievement than team success. On this day, he put away his ocassion Cosby sweaters and regressed back into the saucer-eyed Hall of Famer who once boasted about wanting to hit someone so hard that bubbles were forced from the victim’s nose.

 

The difference this time was that the target wasn’t an NFC tailback or unfortunate tight end doomed to mid-field pass routes, but his entire team in general and tight end Vernon Davis in particular. Saying, “I told him he would do a better job for us right now taking a shower and coming back watching the game then going out on the field,” Singletary gave a performance likened less to his excitable former coach and more to the World War II tank commander who infamously slapped two shell-shocked soldiers in European field hospitals. At least Singletary had more in common with the actor who played the Gen. George S. Patton in the Oscar-winning film.

For those few moments, Singletary was George C. Scott’s Patton. Would it be so out of character at his next presser if the coach addressed the media before a massive American flag wearing sharply creased riding pants, a highly polished helmet boasting four stars, an international collection of military honors including the Pope Pius XII Medallion and ivory - not pearl - handled revolvers because Singletary is no “pimp from a New Orleans whorehouse.”

Here’s still hoping it happens just so we can hear the coach paraphrase the film’s opening monologue saying, ” ... no bastard ever won a game by dying for his team. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his team.”

Whether Singletary went to the podium with thoughts of the hot-tempered commander of the Third Army following the D-day invasion is not clear, but he could have hardly done a better impersonation.

Singletary’s “I would rather play with 10 people and just get penalized ... than play with 11 when I know that right now that person is not sold out to be a part of this team. It is more about them than it is about the team. Cannot play with them, cannot win with them, cannot coach with them. Can’t do it!” bore the same message as Patton’s “An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleep, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap.”

Of course, Singletary’s assessment lacked the whimsical commentary of his forebear concerning those who espouse uniqueness as knowing less “about real battle than they do about fornicating.”

Much like the work Patton had to do to clean up the mess that was the U.S. II Corps in North Africa, Singletary takes over a team that was expected to be a divisional factor but has failed because of sloppiness and poor execution. San Francisco has collected the second most penalties in the NFC and leads the division in interceptions thrown and times being sacked while trailing only the Lions in rushing touchdowns. On defense, the 49ers have given up a second-worst 28.8 per game and are 11th in yards allowed.

Singletary has his work cut out for him. But one thing that became evident, he’s not about to coddle his troops, and expects nothing but extreme effort.

“Our formula is this,” said the coach. “We go out and hit people in the mouth. That’s No. 1. No. 2, we are not a charity. We cannot give them the game. No. 3 is that we execute from the very start of the game to the very end of the game.”

Or as the man called Georgie in deference to his father, who had the same name, said, “We’re going to hold him by the nose and kick him in the ass. We’re going to kick him all the time and we are going to go through him like crap through a goose.”

Singletary closed with his anger tempered and his pants on - something he failed to do during halftime. But he made his point in clear George S. style, and just needed to end it the same way.

“All right now you sons of bitches, you know how I feel.”

After all, all real Americans love the sting of battle and can’t stomach a loser.

Neither can Singletary.

Another year, another Colt for Heisman

Hook ‘em, horns!

1. Colt McCoy, Texas, QB, Jr., 8-0. No. 1 AP. Last week: No 2.

Last week: 38-45 passing, 391 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INTs; QB rating: 167.7; 10 rushes, 41 yards 1 TD in a 28-24 win over Oklahoma State.

Season: 198-242 passing, 2,285 yards, 21 TDs, 4 INT, QB rating: 186.5; 80 rushes, 412 yards, 7 TDs.

McCoy is No. 1 and not just because the competition has faltered. McCoy was so nearly perfect in the first half against Oklahoma State - completing 18 consecutive passes - that his second two quarters looked rather mild in comparison. He still completed 84 percent of his passes,making it the fifth time this season he has completed at least 80 percent of his throws. A win over Texas Tech would be his fourth straight win over a ranked opponent.

2.Sam Bradford,Oklahoma,QB, So., 7-1. No. 4 AP. Last week: No. 1.

Last week: 13-32 passing, 255 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QB rating: 138.5; in a 58-35 win at Kansas State.Season: 183-270 passing,2,775 yards, 29 TDs, 5 INTs, QB rating: 185.9.

For the last two weeks, Bradford was one bad performance away from losing the top spot. Throwing for just 33 yards on 1-for-9 passing in the second half was more than enough for last week’s No. 1 to drop. The Sooners won thanks to five K-State turnovers and 273 yards rushing. Nebraska won’t give in so easy Saturday. The Cornhuskers are second in the Big 12 in pass defense.

3. Chase Daniel, Missouri, QB, Sr., 6-2. No. 14 AP. Last week: No. 3.

Last week: 31-37 passing,302 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INTs, QB rating: 191.5; in a 58-0 win over Colorado.

Season: 220-286 passing, 2,675 yards, 23 TDs, 6 INT; 31 rushes, 146 yards, QB rating: 177.9.

The original No. 1’s position tumbled with his team,but he’s putting pressure on Bradford for second. Daniel’s topped the 80 percent completion mark for the fourth time this season against a Colorado team that leads the conference in pass defense.Daniel could again threaten the No. 1 spot in the coming weeks as the Tigers’ opponents have a combined 14-18 record including 4-12 in conference.

4. Graham Harrell. Texas Tech, Sr., 8-0. No. 6 AP. Last week: No. 4.

Last Week: 34-42, 386 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs, QB rating: 197.4; 1 rushing touchdown in a 63-21 win at Kansas.

Season: 256-360, 2,761 yards, 28 TDs, 5 INTs, QB rating: 167.4; 6 rushing touchdowns.

Harrell simply blistered then-No. 19 Kansas and solidified his standing among the Heisman elite, but things are about to get nasty. Tech has No. 1 Texas at home, followed by top 10s Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. He could move into the top two with good performances against the trio.

5. Javon Ringer, Michigan State, RB, Sr., 7-2. No. 22 AP. Last week: No. 6.

Last week: 37 rushes, 194 yards, 2 TDs; 2 receptions, 25 yards in a 35-21 win at Michigan.

Season: 300 rushes, 1,373 yards, 16 TDs; 17 receptions, 120 yards; 11 kickoff returns, 224 yards.

The Wolverines haven’t won many games, but they had been decent against the run. No longer. Ringer shredded the Michigan defense on plays long and short.The senior showed speed, power and cutback ability and the Wolverines had no answer.

6. Max Hall, BYU, QB, Jr. 7-1. No. 17 AP. Last week: No. 5.

Last week: 24-31 passing, 245 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, QB rating: 186.4 in a 42-35 win against UNLV.

Season: 198-288 passing, 2,364 yards, 24 TDs, 6 INTs, QB rating:

161. Hall had another nice afternoon against another bad team. UNLV is giving up 33.9 points per game, and their pass D is second worst in the conference.Like Harrell,competition could kill his chances, but for entirely different reasons.

7. Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Jr., 6-1. No. 5 AP. Last week: No. 9.

Last week: 11-15 passing, 180 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, QB rating: 204.8; 9 rushes, 48 yards, 2 TDs in a 63-5 win against Kentucky.

Season: 104-164 passing, 1,415 yards, 12 TDs, 2 INTs, QB rating: 157.6; 82 rushes, 227 yards, 5 TDs.

The defending champ continues to underwhelm in simple statistics, but the Gators continue their rise up the charts. Florida travels to Georgia and the Bulldogs are second in the SEC against the run, but 11th versus the pass.

8. Donald Brown, Connecticut, RB, Jr. 6-2. Unranked. (Last Week: 7)

Last week: 29 rushes, 150 yards, 2 TDs; 4 receptions, 58 yards in a 40-16 win against Cincinnati.

Season: 235 rushes, 1,324 yards, 14 TDs; 18 receptions, 112 yards.

Cincinnati has give up just 720 yards rushing this season, but has fared much worse against good competition as the 197 they surrendered to Oklahoma shows. Brown still leads the nation in rushing yards per game, but the opponents are killing his chances.

9. Daryll Clark, Penn State, QB, Jr., 9-0. No. 3 AP. Last week: No. 8.

Last week: 12-20 passing, 121 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, QB rating: 110.8; 8 rushes, 39 yards, in a 13-6 win at Ohio State.

Season: 126-200 passing, 1,652 yards, 11 TDs, 2 INT, QB rating: 148.5; 55 rushes, 229 yards, 8 TDs.

Only victories are keeping Clark ahead of Johnson at this point. The Nittany Lions’offense is MVP good, but against the Buckeyes’Clark was a busher. Penn State plays at Iowa, and the Hawkeyes are giving up just 11.5 points per game.

10.David Johnson,Tulsa QB,Sr., 8-0. No. 19 AP. Last week: No. 10.

Last Week: 17-27 passing, 264 yards,1 TD,1 Int.,QB rating: 149.9; 2 rushing TDs in a 49-14 win against UCF.

Season 155-227 passing, 2,661 yards, 32 TDs, 9 INTs, QB rating: 212.8.

If Johnson keeps putting up the stats, it’s going to be harder to justify his low position. He was solid but not spectacular last week and needs to dominate Conference USA teams to make a real mark.

 

Handing Out Hockey Hardware

While it may be a bit too early to hand out the NHLhardware and ponder whether Nicklas Lindstrom will win his seventh Norris Trophy - he will; if Alexander Ovechkin will make it back-to-back Hart Trophy victories - yep; or if interest will rise along with on-ice pugilisim - hell yes!; we can still recognize the players and teams with impressive mantlepieces.

The Rocky Balboa Award:

Georges Laraque, Montreal.

Given to a one-dimensional goon who cashes in. At 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing in at 255 pounds, the Montreal native may not be the biggest enforcer on the ice - that honor belongs to the Bruins’6-foot-9-inch Zdeno Chara - but there ain’t no better scrap-per in the league. After spending two seasons as Sidney Crosby’s bodyguard, Laraque has cashed in with a three-year-deal that will net the winger $4.5 million. Not a bad payday for a player who has averaged eight minutes a game and whose skills were so impressive he did not even suit up for the last five games of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Tony Romo Award: The Detroit Red Wings.

Given to the team that has it all (wealth, history) and gets even richer (Jessica Simpson), missing games because of a broken pinkie notwithstanding. Coming off another Presidents’Trophy - its fourth in six years - and 11th cup, the New York Yankees of the National Hockey League lands the biggest free agent on the market - forward Marian Hossa - in a very un-New York way. Hossa took a considerable pay cut to put on the red sweater, which has to make Penguins’ fans even more irate. Declining multi-year offers from Pittsburgh, Montreal, the Rangers, Minnesota and Edmonton, Hossa signed a one-year deal worth $7.45 million for a shot at winning the cup.

The Clint Eastwood Award:

Martin Brodeur, New Jersey.

Given to the player who, though aged, remains at the top of his game. The 36-year-old goal-tender is competing for his fifth Venzina Trophy - he’s won four of the last five - and after 14 seasons remains the game’s most durable netminder, leading all goalies in minutes played over the last three seasons. During those same three years, he has finished first in wins, goals against average and save percentage. Two seasons ago he set the single season record for victories with 48, and next month he will become the all-time leader in career wins. As of this writing, he trailed Patrick Roy by eight.

The Simon and Garfunkel Award: Colorado.

Given to the team still looking for Joe DiMaggio. Since Patrick Roy retired following the 2003 season, and in the six months since Roy was suspended by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for instigating a fight between his son Jonathan and two members of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens hockey team, the Avalanche is still trying to find a suitable successor. Over the last three seasons, Colorado has swapped Jose Theodore and Peter Budaj between starter and backup roles with little success evidenced by their combined 2.83 goals against average. The importation of Andrew Raycroft and his two-year total save percentage of .890 is not going to help.

The Randall Tex Cobb Award:

Pittsburgh.

Given to the team that gets punched in the mouth and does-n’t flinch. It would be easy for the Penguins to disappear into a pint of Chunky Monkey after losing their loves to other suiters, but Pittsburgh hasn’t let the defection of Hossa and Ryan Malone hamper its plans to be a consistent cup contender. No sooner did Hossa leave than the team used the extra money to lock up youngsters Marc-Andre Fleury, Hart Trophy final-ist Evgeni Malkin and hard-hitting defenseman Brooks Orpik. The addition of Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko adds all-around ability if not high-scoring opportunities.

The Doug Collins Award: Barry Melrose, Tampa.

Given to the coach most likely to return to TV. At one time Melrose was the young, mullet-domed coach of an L.A. Kings team that lost to the Canadians in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. Two seasons later he was out of a job and he began his long association with ESPN. Melrose takes over a Lightning team that finished 15th in the Eastern Conference and a roster that was completely gutted by the new ownership. Tampa retains Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal and signed free agent Ryan Malone, so the team should be able to light the lamp. Then again Collins had Jordan, Pippen, Grant and Cartwright and still got canned in favor of his assistant.

 

Heisman race tightens up at the top

1) Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, QB, So., 6-1. No. 4 AP. Last week: No. 1.

Last week: 36-53 passing, 468 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT, QB rating: 114.3; in a 45-31 win against Kansas. Season: 170-238 passing, 2,520 yards,26 TDs,5 INTs,QB rating: 133.4.

Bradford lost his favorite target, wide receiver Manuel Johnson, in the first quarter and still managed a school-record passing performance against a porous (No. 9 vs the pass in Big 12) yet opportunistic (No. 2 in INTs) defense. How long he can hold off McCoy remains to be seen.

2) Colt McCoy, Texas, QB, Jr., 7-0. No. 1 AP. Last Week: No. 3.

Last week: 29-32 passing, 337 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs; QB rating: 131.4; 2 rushing touchdowns in a 56-31 win over Missouri.

Season: 160-197 passing, 1,894 yards, 19 TDs, 3 INT, QB rating: 132.5; 70 rushes, 371 yards, 6 TDs.

Texas didn’t need a near-perfect performance by McCoy to defeat a tumbling Missouri team, but his 90.6 completion percentage and 17 straight connections put huge pressure on Bradford and Heisman voters looking to cast their ballots beyond the Texas border.

3) Chase Daniel,Missouri, QB, Sr., 5-2. No. 16 AP. Last week: No. 2.

Last week: 31-41 passing, 318 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INTs, QB rating: 103.5; in a 56-31 loss at Texas.

Season: 189-249 passing, 2,373 yards, 18 TDs, 5 INT; 26 rushes, 112 yards, QB rating: 120.8

Even with two straight losses, Daniel will be headed for New York come January. However, he’s not getting any closer to winning the heavy bronze sculpture. The schedule works out for the Tigers with Kansas (19) the only ranked team remaining.

4) Graham Harrell. Texas Tech, Sr., 7-0. No. 8 AP. Last week: No. 4.

Last Week: 44-56, 450 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs, QB rating: 103.1; 2 rushing touchdown in a 43-25 win at Texas A&M.

Season: 222-318, 2,761 yards, 23 TDs,5 INTs,QB rating: 114.; 5 rushing touchdowns.

Herrell remains solidly just outside of bronze contention even though his rating took a hit with the two picks. With four of their final five games against ranked teams - including upcoming losses to Texas and Oklahoma - he won’t go any higher.

5) Max Hall, BYU, QB, Jr. 6-1. No. 18 AP. Last week: No. 5.

Last week: 22-42 passing, 274 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, QB rating: 53.1.; 1 rushing touchdown in a 32-7 loss at TCU.

Season: 174-257 passing, 2,119 yards, 20 TDs, 6 INTs, QB rating: 109.1.

The crushing loss not only cost BYU a BCS invitation, it also ensured that Hall will be shut out of the NYC festivities.A top 10 finish for both is still possible, but no longer is anyone paying attention.

6) Javon Ringer, Michigan State, RB, Sr., 6-2. Unranked. Last week: No. 6.

Last week: 16 rushes, 67 yards, 0 TDs; 6 receptions, 19 yards in a 45-7 loss to Ohio State.

Season: 263 rushes, 1,179 yards, 14 TDs; 15 receptions, 95 yards; 11 kickoff returns, 224 yards.

A day after the school launched a website touting his Heisman credentials, Ringer is held to his lowest rushing total of the season. Still, in a down year for running backs, the senior finds himself atop the rushing list for total yards.

7) Donald Brown, Connecticut, RB, Jr. 5-2.

Unranked. Last week: No. 7.

Last week: 27 rushes, 107 yards in a 12-10 loss at Rutgers.

Season: 206 rushes, 1,174 yards, 12 TDs; 14 receptions, 54 yards.

Running for an average gain of 3.9 yards against the conference’s second-worst run defense does-n’t help a second-tier candidate jump into the top five. A big finish is needed to keep him from drifting downward. Still No. 1 in per game rushing average.

8) Daryll Clark, Penn State, QB, Jr., 8-0. No. 3 AP. Last week: No. 8.

Last week: 18-31 passing, 171 yards, 1 TDs, 0 INTs, QB rating: 84.2; 9 rushes, 45 yards, 2 TDs in a 46-17 win against Michigan.

Season: 114-180 passing, 1,531 yards, 11 TDs, 2 INT, QB rating: 106.; 47 rushes, 190 yards, 8 TDs.

That Penn State can pummel Michigan with an ordinary performance by its QB is perhaps a bigger indictment against the Wolverines than it is a plus for the Nittany Lions.

9) Tim Tebow, Florida, QB, Jr., 5-1. No. 5 AP. Last week: No. 10.

Last week: No game.

Season: 93-149 passing, 1,235 yards, 10 TDs, 1 INTs, QB rating: 108.2; 73 rushes, 179 yards, 3 TDs.

The week off may have come at a perfect time. Florida plays Kentucky (11.9 points per game allowed and 14 picks) before road games against Georgia and Vandy.

10) David Johnson,Tulsa QB,Sr., 7-0.No.22 AP.Last week: unranked.

Last Week: 21-27 passing, 434 yards,5 TDs,1 Int.,QB rating: 142.9. 77-35 win against UTEP.

Season 138-200 passing, 2,397 yards, 31 TDs, 8 INTs, QB rating: 132.4.

Pummeling UTEPs defense is not the biggest chore there is, but Johnson still deserves praise for his performance.

*Earlier weeks can be found at foxsports.com community webpage under the title, “411 from the 808.”

TO’s Exit From Dallas Is Nearing

The Dallas Cowboys’ trade to acquire Roy Williams from Detroit gives Dallas the best receiving combo in the NFL. Period.

It also affords Tony Romo greater opportunities to view the game from a vertical position as defenses will be even less likely to cheat up in an effort to lay a hit on Romo or the Dallas backfield.

It may also signal the end of Terrell Owens’ time in Dallas.

No matter how much Jerry Jones talks about keeping Owens informed about the trade, and Owens claiming he’s “ecstatic” about getting the chance to play with the former Pro Bowler, history and common sense suggest, if not guarantee, that things won’t be so rosy much longer down Irving way.

That Owens was supposedly the first Cowboy to pipe Williams aboard means nothing.

Owens is an egomaniac who, let us not forget, only three weeks ago complained about not getting enough touches - after the team directed 25 percent of its offense his way.

Now he’ll have to share pass routes with a guy who two seasons ago caught 82 balls for 1,310 yards on a bad Lions team. Nothing in his 13-year NFL career suggests that Owens will be satisfied with a reduced role or that his association with Dallas will end in anything but an ugly divorce.

The split will not happen immediately. Owens will play the good-guy role just as he did when he manned up to cry in front of reporters while defending Romo, his side trip to Mexico and whether or not Jessica Simpson’s pink jersey had a negative impact on the QB’s performance in the Boys’ 21-17 playoff loss to the New York Giants.

The implosion will take time if for no other reason than Jones is in the habit of ignoring boorish behavior in his never-ending quest to win a Super Bowl. That he signed Owens at all shows that Jones cares little about character - as did his recruitment of Adam Jones, the cornerback famed for his ability to return punts and kickoffs and his manly abuse of women.

Any such concern that the Cowboys owner has evolved over the years quickly evaporated when he failed to take action against the artist formerly known as Pacman after his altercation with his own bodyguard. The scuffle, which led to a league suspension of up to four games, evidently did not violate any team rules.

No, it takes some real effort to be forced out of Dallas. Owens could play his way out in no time, but even though he has likely dropped more passes than any top-flight receiver in history, and is increasingly having trouble getting off the line against talented DBs, he remains one of the best at his position, especially in yards after carry. TO will not waste his time with forgivable sins like drug abuse and legal problems, but will not miss an opportunity to point the finger of blame at others while demanding special treatment.

And just he did in San Fran and Philly, he will fracture relationships with teammates and, most critically, with Romo and at least one coach.

That’s when things will get serious. Romo’s played the placation game well, but he won’t put up with it forever, nor will Wade Phillip’s heir apparent, Jason Garrett.

Even if Owens manages to hold it together or the team continues to look the other way, time - the universal equalizer - is not on his side. Owens is 34 and on the downside of his prime while Williams is 26 and should only get better.

The Texas native, who made no bones about wanting to be a Cowboy even while still in Detroit, now finds himself among favored surroundings, which should benefit him greatly.

He also has a five-year deal worth $45 million.

Owens, on the other hand, will have one year remaining on his deal following the end of what could be a tantrum-laden season, especially if Brad Johnson is forced into significant playing time following Romo’s broken pinky.

Another fact that may prevent Owens from retiring as a Cowboy is that Jerry Jones has been coveting Williams for some time. Love affairs are hard to get over. Jones is convinced that the former Texas Longhorn is a No. 1 threat and Pro Bowl-type talent whose ability was thwarted by playing in for the lowly Lions.

He’s probably right. Detroit has not exactly excelled at developing talent in the last 50 years.

Williams will get every opportunity to thrive in Dallas which means fewer chances and more anxiety for Owens and therefore more problems for Dallas.

Ego demands that teams feature one star and put compliant role players in the receiving corps, and Owens will retire before he has to take on the No. 2 role.

 

The Best Of Baseball ‘08

Time to hand out the hardware in another awards list as worthless as the rest, including our’s at the All-Star Break.

AL Cy Young

At the Break: Cliff Lee, Cleveland. Final: Even with KRod’s mind-blowing, yet typical of the times 62 saves, and with apologies to Roy Halladay (20-11, 9 complete games, 2.78 ERA) this was a one-man race from the beginning. Lee won 22 of 25 decisions for a wicked .880 winning percentage on a team that seemed to misfire all year. He finished first in wins and ERA(2.54), second innings pitched (223.1), WHIP (1.11) and complete games (4) and walked only 34. NL Cy Young At the Break: Tim Lincecum,

San Francisco. Final: Lincecum was the best player on a bad team. The 24-year-old won 25 percent of his team’s games, finished third in the NL in innings pitched (227), first in strikeouts (265) and in BAA (.221) and second in ERA (2.62). Lincecum also proved to be a roadblock to losing streaks. His 18 wins were proceeded by 38 loses. By contrast, the Diamondbacks lost 22 games leading up to Brandon Webb’s, Lincecum’s biggest competitor, 22 victories.

AL Manager of the Year

At the Break: Joe Maddon, Tampa. Final: Maddon’s philosophy of few rules and great accountability has struck a cord with the league’s fifth-youngest team (27.6 years). Improving from last (66 wins) to first (97) is impressive enough. To do it as the entire league waited for them to fold while holding off baseball’s newest evil empire, the Boston Red Sox, attests to their toughness.

NL Manager of the Year

At the Break: Fredi Gonzalez, Florida. Final: Having L.A. at the top of the National League West is enough to garner Joe Torre a few votes, but for all the hype, the 2008 Dodgers won only two more games than the 2007 version. Almost by default the award goes to Gonzalez. The Marlins had plenty of offense finishing second in the National League in home runs and fourth in runs, but its pitching staff was a mess. The Marlins were 10th in the league in saves, 11th in ERA and the pitchers who started games (11) won a total of 56 games. Maybe the award should go to pitching coach Mark Wiley after the team reduces its ERA by half a run from 2007.

AL MVP

At the Break: Ian Kinsler, Texas. Final: Kevin Youkilis doesn’t exactly cut a perfect athletic figure in his Red Sox uniform, but through sheer will and enthusiasm he made up for David Ortiz’s down year and helped to hold things together after the Manny-be-Manny act left for Los Angeles. The ever-improving first baseman had a career year with 29 home runs, 115 RBI (fourth in the AL), a .312 batting average (sixth), 91 runs, a .569 slugging percentage (third) and an .958 OPS (fourth).

NL MVP

At the Break: Lance Berkman, Houston. Final: Ryan Howard’s .251 average and 199 Ks hurt. The Mets four-way MVP log jam (Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Delgado) makes it nearly impossible for any one to win just as Ryan Braun will have to fend off his bigger-named teammate. Although the Cards finished 11.5 games behind the Cubs, without Luis Pujols St. Louis would have instead been fighting Pittsburgh for the league cellar. Pujols led the NL in total bases, slugging and OPS. He’s second in average and walks, third in hits, fourth in home runs and RBI. He even stole 15 bases while striking out only 54 times.

AL Rookie of the Year

At the Break: Evan Longoria, Tampa. Final: The race is much more crowded then at first glance. Jose Arredondo has 10 wins and a 1.62 ERA but was a setup man for KRod and is unknown. Armando Galarraga was the best on a bad Tiger’s staff going 13-7 with a 3.73 ERA and Mike Aviles toiled in K.C. where his .325 average has gone unnoticed. That leaves the big three of Alexei Ramirez, Evan Longoria and Jacoby Ellsbury. Ramirez leads in average (.290), Longoria leads in the sexy numbers - home runs (27) and RBI (85) and Ellsbury in stolen bases (50) and runs (98). Winning matters so Longoria gets a slim victory over Ellsbury. Also, the Tampa third-bagger is baseball’s newest star.

NL Rookie of the Year

At the Break: Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta. Final: Jurrjens petered out after the All Star break finishing 5-8 on the season, while Joey Votto and Geovany Soto have battled it out to a virtual tie for first year honors.

Votto leads Soto by three runs and one home run but lags in RBI by two. Votto (first base) did outhit Soto (catcher) by 14 points, but does that out weight the difference in position importance? No. Even before Geovany became recognized for his hitting, he was lavished with praise by his manager, teammates and commentators for his skills behind the plate and his ability to work with the Cubs always flaky pitching staff.

Toth Tales From The UH Sidelines

Former UH athletic trainer Melody Toth’s Let’s Go Bows! is the third recent publication taking a look back at the history of UH sports, and it may be the best. It has more depth of subject matter than Ian Sample’s Once A Warrior and stays away from the ridiculous hyperbole that dragged down J. David Miller’s Hawaii Warrior Football: A Story of Faith, Hope and Redemption.

The book’s strongest point comes from the look back at the humble beginnings of Wahine athletics and the spectacular growth of a sports program that was nearly nonexistent three decades ago when Toth first arrived on campus.

Highlighted by the four-time national champion Wahine volleyball teams that thrilled audiences at cramped and sweaty Klum Gym, and whose skill turned the Stan Sheriff Center into women’s volleyball’s most tightly packed arena, Toth reintroduces the great Wahine athletes who have moved on. Tita Ahuna, Tee Williams, Deitre Collins, Robyn AhMow, Angelica Ljungquist, Suzanne Eagye, Lisa Strand, Joyce Kaapuni and even the twin Pulaski sisters, Kris and Kori.

In addition to the fondly remembered and somewhat forgotten athletes, the book wisely takes the time to recall the names of those who laid the foundation for the programs and who have kept it running. This is something the other chroniclers of Hawaii sports have missed.

Dr. Donnis Thompson, the first AD for women’s athletics and the driving force behind women’s equality at UH, is fondly remembered as are Drs. Ralph Hale and Allen Richardson, two acclaimed physicians who not only served their medical duties but who also used their intelligence and connections for the benefit of women’s athletics.

Toth also needs to be credited for shining some light on perhaps the most unrecognized, yet critical individual in the athletic department, Margie Okimoto. Okimoto actually got her own short chapter, and after serving six athletic directors and being on staff longer than any other current employee, she deserves it. Her simplistic job title of secretary fails to describe the job she has done in her 40 years on campus.

While Let’s Go Bows! is certainly recommended reading for what is included, it gets black marks for the information that is missing.

After three decades being an integral part of both men’s and women’s programs, perhaps no person is better able to take the reader through the beauty and blemishes of the program and to provide insight into the athletes who were some of the most colorful characters to ever spend time on campus. We get hints, but are left in want for much more as the book provides little information to give the reader any real understanding of the athlete’s personalities.

Reading about Dave Shoji - he of the stress-induced bulging vein - adopting a Steve Erkle look to relieve the attention of his volleyball team whets the appetite for more. The reader will enjoy finding out that Dana Degan could portray a rather effective temptress, especially when the target was aged assistant softball coach John Nakamura; that 7-foot center Chris Botez enjoyed, at least on one occasion, hiding in a television box to pop out and frighten unknowing passersby, that young men tend to get a bit gassy following long flights and large meals, and that talented and that athletic women can unknowingly at times find themselves in less-than-ideal accommodations where the phones shut off at 10 p.m., rooms come fully equipped with vinyl mattress covers and are available at hourly rates.

Toth spends far too much time in decades-old play-by-play instead of identifying the instigator of the Spaghetti Factory proposal to former cross country runner Deanna Patacsil. This lack of detail is also found during the retelling of the Warriors’ manhandling of the No. 4-ranked Michigan State Spartans in 2005. The game was characterized by outstanding shooting from the Warriors and severe cramping that caused four Spartans to be pulled from the game.

The only player Toth identified was “Brown” - no first name given - and refers to another as “... their big guy.”

Such errors of omission are made worse in the days of instant information where an Internet search quickly reveals the downed players as Paul Davis, Drew Neitzel, Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown.

Let’s Go Bows! is an adequate but unfulfilling look at Toth’s long career at the university. Closer attention during the editing process could have eliminated some of the errors that detract from the final product, but the book remains a worthy read if for no other reason than the joy of nostalgia.

The Worst GM Ever Is Finally Gone

It’s surprising what can appear out of the doom and gloom on a dark and rainy morning. Making your way slowly through the mire that is pelting your wind-shield, straining to see behind the barely functional wipers that should have been replaced a month ago, one can hardly expect a sudden burst of brilliance to cut through the despair.

But it happened.

No sooner did I power up the work station Mac than the words that most Detroit fans prayed to one day read came leaping from the electronic pages: Matt Millen fired by the Lions!

Put up the streamers and uncork the celebratory sacrificial grapes. The most incompetent era of professional sports management has come to an end. Hallelujah, hallelujah. No more Millen Man Marches in protest, no more dodging Ford Field security for hoisting “Fire Millen” signs, no more images hung in effigy and no more reason for fans in Minnesota and Chicago to mock their incompetent interdi-vision rivals with signs of support for the Lions’ former president and CEO.

After seven seasons and a league worst 31-84 record, and facing a hostile fan base ready to fire bomb the stadium bearing the family name, the owner of the franchise that has seen only one playoff victory since the country sported buzz cuts and young gals donned their prettiest poodle skirts for a night at the hop has finally sent off the worst executive in the history of professional sports. But don’t worry about Matt, he’s got a nice Honolulu Blue-and-silver parachute that will continue to pay him at least a portion of his $5 million-per-year-contract that runs through 2010, meaning the maintenance on his 1775 vintage Pennsylvania home will continue without fail.

The Millen era was not just bad, it was historic in its failure and misdirection: 58 coaches, a Cleveland Spideresque .270 winning percentage, an 8-60 road record, last in scoring defense (25.3) and third worst in scoring offense (18.3), and draft strategies that can only be called bizarre. Three consecutive seasons picking wide receivers in the first round and a fourth two years later often results in such labels.

But for all the rug-cutting now under way throughout the Mitten State, a big question looms on the horizon for one of the league’s oldest franchises - who’s the next to be fired or hired? Millen has to take much of the heat for the team’s recent failures, but the problems go much deeper than the four-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker. The team needs a complete reorganization from top to bottom.

While firing an owner is not possible, the next best move for the franchise would be the retirement of its 83-year-old owner, leaving his son, Bill Jr. - who got the ax to fall with his public comments about Millen - as the leader of the once middling franchise. It’s no real open secret that Junior was exasperated with the team’s showing and that he’s champing at the bit to take over control. Plus, he couldn’t do any worse.

From there the team’s next priority is to hire a Bill Parcells-type executive with no allegiances to current employees and little patience for failure. Whoever this person is will have to gut the scouting department where employees have been able to consistently misread talent for two decades and, of course, find a head coach who is going to do more than stock the roster with over-the-hill and under-performing players from his previous place of employment.

Currently, the biggest name circulating around the rumor mill has the team making a hard push to sign former Steelers’ head coach Bill Cowher to whatever job he desires. Cowher has proved his status as an elite coach who won even as his roster underwent constant turnover, and would make a good executive in charge of evaluating and stockpiling talent. But for any higher position, one that is responsible for the day-to-day operations of a multibillion-dollar business, the Lions must look for more than an impressive coaching resume. A phone call to Patriots’vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli would be a good start if they decide not to offer the job to former Titans’GM Floyd Reese who has already expressed interest in the job.

Counting The Warriors’ Woes

OK. Take a deep breath and relax. The sky is not falling nor are the Russkies threatening to invade rural Colorado. No one needs to be fired or other coaches rehired. Dogs and cats have not begun living together, and no one really wants to see lipstick on a pig. It’s time for calm and a little truth. It’s really no one’s fault. The Warriors are just not very good.

After years of success, expectations for the UH football team have gotten rather high. With a stacked defense returning and the excitement of the program’s greatest season still fresh in everyone’s mind, popular opinion held that the Warrior D would hold the fort until the offense caught up. Fans counted on it and coaches and the media fed the speculation that led to hope of a Hawaii Bowl berth, which even in the best scenario was a long shot.

The first shot across the bow of what has become a disappointing season was the failure of senior quarterback Tyler Graunke to live up to his responsibilities. Make no bones about it, his teammates were not happy that he was selfish enough to get suspended from the team on two different occasions, thereby turning his back on those who were counting on him to lead the rebuilt offense. Perhaps more stunning than the quarterback’s indiscretions is the complete lack of depth at the position. Outside of Graunke, the position has been a disaster and, if his injury proves to be anything but a minor ailment, things are only going to get worse - fast.

The real story of the 2008 season is not the lack of brilliant play-calling or proper instruction, but the team’s inability to remain healthy. The Warriors are beat up, and casualties kill both depth and cohesion.

The running game, which along with the team’s tested quarterback was supposed to be solid, but has had limited effect. Both Leon Wright-Jackson and Daniel Libre have been knocked from the lineup while J.C. transfer Jake Huen was sidelined with a herniated disc. Kealoha Pilares, last season’s leading rusher who was moved to the slot in the preseason, has been forced back to his original position, further thinning the depth of the inexperienced receiving corps.

The offensive line was supposed to be better with the return of Keith AhSoon, John Estes and Keone Steinhoff, but injuries have caused major reshuffling in the one area where consistency is most crucial. AhSoon went from guard to tackle to the sideline. Laupepa Letuli suffered a tear in his shoulder which forced sophomore Brysen Ginlack into a starting role. And Aaron Kia, a 300-pound junior from Mililani, has been dealing with tendinitis in his knee.

Because of the offense’s inability to maintain drives or to hold on to the football, the defense has gotten little rest, being forced to play on the wrong side of the 50 far too many times. This problem has only been exacerbated by losses along the line.

Defensive tackle Fale Laeli hurt his ankle in the game against Weber State after being hobbled by tendinitis that followed an off-season knee surgery - all of which caused him to miss much of camp and limited his effectiveness against Florida. Rocky Savaiigaea was to be a key contributor for a unit that was to go seven or eight deep, but instead has been able to do nothing more than watch the game while balancing on crutches. Not to be left out, the linebacking corps, by far the team’s best unit, suffered a major blow with the loss of big-hitting “Buck” linebacker Blaze Soares. At this rate, the Warriors are a few twisted ankles from being Idaho State.

Unrealistic fan expectation is as old as the game itself. Fans of the 1902 Michigan Wolverines became unsettled when the squad failed to defend their Rose Bowl title even though no such game was played. A century and one year later, members of the Ohio State faithful hit the message boards hard over concerns that their head coach’s ability to call an offense after failing to repeat as mythical national champs. Greg McMackin and his assistants are no safer from bizarre expectations than anyone else.

After a grand total of three games, including one on the road against national title contender Florida, cleverly monikered online observers of the Warrior football team are recommending a return to Kaiser High School for offensive coordinator Ron Lee and an injection of some June Jones bravado for Coach Mac.

Neither will help. Healthy bodies and an honest opportunity to recruit are the only things that are going to return the program to the expected level of success. Let us not forget that two years prior to the Sugar Bowl, the team finished 5-7, which concluded three consecutive seasons of declining victories.

UH may never again reach a BCS game, but contending for the WAC title each season is an accomplishable goal.

So just relax. Take your meds. Breathe deeply. Enter the lotus position, vrksasna, savasana, biting dog, peeing cat, crouching lion, hidden tiger. It’s the nature of the beast.

Victory totals rise and fall, and you don’t replace a Heisman finalist quarterback and four very good receivers without some rebuilding pains.

Chill.

Q-School Is Wie’s Only Option