The Boston tea partier

I don't agree with Tim Thomas' politics, but his politics are his own to have, and I'm free to disagree with them. It's a big country.

But regardless of whatever rightward leanings he may have, he should have gone to the White House, because when the president invites you, you should go, although Thomas isn't the first to skip the trip.

(Until I found the story linked at the start of this post, I also hadn't realized that Theo Epstein didn't go to the Bush White House, which is also wrong. Although the article doesn't say it was for political reasons, Epstein did campaign for John Kerry in 2004, so it's not a huge stretch to think so.)

And Thomas' excuse was pretty weak. I'd be curious to know if he was concerned that "the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People" before Jan. 20, 2009.

But I'll be honest, since after all, that's in this here blog's name. I don't like what Thomas did, and I think less of him for it, but if the Bruins are in a tough spot, and the opponents get a scoring chance, I'm going to want to hear Jack Edwards yell (as only he can) ... "SAVE BY THOMAS!"

Who could possibly help Clifton Herring?

Sports Illustrated recently had a fascinating story by Thomas Lake on Clifton Herring, the man who has gone down in history as The Idiot Coach Who Cut Michael Jordan.

Except, according to the article, that's not exactly how it went down.

The decision to leave Jordan on jayvee as a sophomore was not an oversight. Herring and his assistants knew Jordan would ride the bench on varsity, so they put him on jayvee, and it worked out perfectly. When he got to varsity, he was ready to lead the team. Pop gave Mike his time but made him earn everything else. They would play Around the World after practice, and Pop was nearly unbeatable. Jordan hated to lose, of course, so he kept improving until the day he finally won.

As it turns out, Herring was a pretty darn good coach, but the story tells how the last few decades haven't been kind to him due to mental illness substance abuse.

It also tells something I've known for a long time -- that Michael Jordan can be a real jerk. From the night Jordan's number was retired (sorry about the long excerpt):

"There wasn't one coach that I didn't listen and try to learn from," Jordan said. "They all knew more about the game than I knew, and probably still know about the game, more about the game now, than even I know at this point. But I respect them for taking the time to teach me the game of basketball. Goes all the way back to Clifton Herring, who was the first guy to ever cut me."
That was Pop's big introduction, to nearly 20,000 fans at the United Center and two million more watching on TNT. The first guy to ever cut me. The new arena had been designed to amplify the roar of the crowd. Now there was a rumble, a swelling chorus of voices. The fans were booing Pop Herring for an imaginary crime.
Jordan continued.
"But I think what people never knew, and I never had the opportunity to express, and my mother knew, and my brothers and sister knew, the next year, he picked me up every day at six o'clock and took me to the gym to help me work on my abilities. Thank you, Coach Herring."
The fans reconsidered. They began to cheer. Jordan could have stopped there, but he kept going. He raised his voice and his right hand, seeming to point toward the coach. "He knew he made a mistake! He just tried to correct it."

In one of life's sad ironies, Herring was arrested right around the time the article appeared in the magazine. In his update for the print edition, Lake wrote:

Herring, 59, was kind to many people before he became sick almost 30 years ago. Were you one of them? Did you ever consider helping him? Now would be the time.

Yeah, Michael ... it would be.

Or are you still mad?

Why I need the 49ers (or the Ravens) to win

I really don't have much use for any combination of the Patriots, Ravens, 49ers or Giants, so whoever wins next week's conference championship games doesn't make much difference to me.

However, on the assumption that the Patriots win (which is obviously not a sure thing by any means), the 49ers absolutely, positively have to win.

Why?

I live outside of Boston, where they're already ready to hand the Vince Lombardi Trophy over to the Patriots. If it's a Giants-Patriots Super Bowl, there will be nothing in the papers, on TV or the radio for two solid weeks other than getting "revenge" for Super Bowl XLII, and it won't take long before the Patriots getting revenge for the Giants costing them their undefeated season turns into "us" getting revenge for the Giants costing "us" "our" perfect season.

Trust me on this one.

Does God care about sports? Has anyone asked?

As we prepare for The Most Important Football Game Ever (at least outside the SEC) tonight, there has been some thought that perhaps the Broncos have a 12th man the likes of which Texas A&M could never summon up.

But for all this talk, there's one thing I haven't seen ... any comments from Him.

You know ... Him.

I understand He's a bit busy these days with His creation and all, but He has lots of representatives down here. Surely there's someone who should be able to hook up a reporter for a quick Q&A with Him. After all, it doesn't have to be a long interview if He doesn't have a lot of time. It could just be one question:

"Do You have anything to do with who wins sporting events?"

Now, if a reporter manages to score this interview, and there is time for something a bit more substantial there are a few more questions I'd suggest:

(If yes to the first question) "Lots of athletes love You, but they can't all win. How do You decide?"

(If no) "Then why do so many people think You do? Is there anything You'd like to tell them?"

 "How do You explain someone being a great player in spite of the absence of 'God-given talent,' or 'You-given talent,' as it were?"

"Did you ever wish Evander Holyfield would just shut his pie hole?"

"Is the BCS a venial or mortal sin?"

No cheaters in the Hall, period

First of all, congratulations to Barry Larkin. (And in case anyone is wondering, Brad Radke got two votes, so consider me doubly shocked.)

On the other end of the spectrum, Juan Gonzalez's place on the ballot is no more, and Mark McGwire lost more support, all due to steroids, of course. (Although Rafael Palmeiro's support went up. Apparently lying to Congress about steroids ... possibly ... carries more of a stigma now than it did when Palmeiro did it.) And the worrying is already starting for next year ... Clemens! Sosa! Bonds! Whatever shall we do?

Personally, I'll be most upset if Curt Schilling gets in.

It's understandable that the people who ignored rampant steroid use in baseball for years would want to make sure the Hall of Fame is kept free of cheaters, and I completely support that effort.

So let's start by throwing Whitey Ford out.

Yes, that's right. After all, he cut baseballs and put all sorts of gunk on the ball. How many clean hitters couldn't build their own Hall resumes trying to hit Ford's funky pitches?

And needless to say, Gaylord Perry has to go. After all, he literally wrote the book on cheating.

John McGraw was an old-school cheat. Farewell.

And Don Sutton? The guy who threatened a lawsuit to keep from getting suspended? Take your plaque back; Cooperstown no longer has any use for it.

There can be a special committee to determine all the players who cheated, and a big ceremony during the summer will celebrate their removal from the Hall of Fame and its rebirth as a clean institution.

Anything less, and people more cynical than me might think that the self-proclaimed moral guardians of the game only seem to care about one particular kind of cheating.

Bidding Posada a sort-of-fond farewell

I've never been a huge Jorge Posada fan.

Sure, he could hit, but I've always thought he was a terrible catcher and should have been a first baseman or designated hitter about five years ago. (As a side note, why do the Yankees seem so hesitant about letting Jesus Montero catch? Unless he is physically incapable of catching baseballs, it would be hard for him to be worse than Posada, who caught for 15 years.)

And he pulled that little stunt back in May, pulling himself out of the lineup against the Red Sox in a hissy fit over being moved to the ninth spot in the lineup. If the Yankees had released him right then and there, I wouldn't have had a problem with it.

That being said, if the reports of his impending retirement are true, I'm glad that's how it ended. As infuriating as I sometimes found him, it would have been too weird seeing him play for someone else.

Was McElroy right? Who cares?

Perhaps you heard that rookie quarterback Greg McElroy had a few things to say about his New York Jets teammates the other day.

"Speaking to an Alabama radio station three days after the Jets capped off an 8-8 season with three straight losses, McElroy said, 'It's the first time I've ever been around extremely selfish individuals. I think that's maybe the nature of the NFL. But there were people within our locker room that didn't care whether we won or lost as long as they had good games individually. And that's the disappointing thing.'"

As you might imagine, those comments didn't meet with universal approval.

"'I feel like he was wrong in presenting it in the time and place that he did," Namath said Thursday on 1050 ESPN's 'The Michael Kay Show.' 'On the other hand, he's a sincere guy, and when he's questioned, he gives answers. I don't think being a first-year player and one that's not even active, I don't think it was his place to voice an opinion in that locker room or during the season to his teammates. He was a low guy on the totem pole, so to speak."

And yes, the "Namath" is indeed Joe Namath, in case you were wondering.

But what I didn't see in those comments, or in anything else I've read about them, is whether McElroy was right on the substance of what he said. (There is the possibility that someone has, and I missed it.) Instead, it's whether a rookie third-stringer who didn't play should be able to say those things.

So I've come to realize that I need a new maxim. Maybe not a full maxim, perhaps a sub-maxim to an existing one, namely the Jeremy Mayfield Rule, which is when people make an argument about an athlete not being deserving of something, even if it's determined by a completely objective measure such as points.

Let's call it "The Mientkiewicz Corollary."

"If you're not an important player, what you do or say doesn't matter and you can never be right, even if you are."

As you may remember, Doug Mientkiewicz was the first baseman acquired by the Boston Red Sox as part of the Nomar Garciaparra trade in 2004. He wasn't much more than a journeyman with a good glove, but he's the guy who caught the ball that officially ended The Curse.

.

Eventually, the Red Sox decided they wanted the ball, so they planted some stories with some friendly writers, and Mientkiewicz became the bad guy for doing what players had done for years.

In one of the greatest bits of spin I've ever seen, the argument became over whether he should give the ball "back" to the Red Sox, even though Major League Baseball supplied the balls, the game was in St. Louis and Mientkiewicz had possession of it. To my non-lawyer mind, the Red Sox had, at best, the fourth claim to the ball based on Mientkiewicz being a Red Sox employee.

But I guarantee you, if Kevin Millar or David Ortiz had been playing first, or if it had been a fly ball to Johnny Damon or a popup to Jason Varitek (or a strikeout, obviously), it never would have become an issue. 

Greg McElroy, meet Doug Mientkiewicz

It's all personal at Penn State

I'm going to guess that LaVar Arrington and Brandon Short are not stupid human beings, at least not so stupid that they don't understand something bad happened at their beloved Penn State University.

So how do you explain this reaction to hiring Bill O'Brien as the school's new football coach?

“I will put my Butkus [Award] in storage. I will put my Alamo Bowl MVP trophy in storage,” Arrington told the Penn State Rivals.com website, BlueWhite Illustrated. “Jerseys, anything Penn State, in storage. Wherever Tom Bradley goes, that’s the school I will start to put memorabilia up in my home. I’m done. I’m done with Penn State. If they’re done with us, I’m done with them."

 "Penn State is a family and it is real and if they choose to get rid of Bradley and not hire a Penn State coach, then they’ve turned their backs on our entire family,” Short said.

And how do you explain some Penn State students, who I'm also going to assume aren't stupid, rioting after Joe Paterno was fired?



The answer is that it's all about them.

Let's go back to Arrington and Short for a minute.

“By these people making the decisions the way that they are making them, basically coinciding with everything that’s being written about our university, if they get rid of Tom Bradley, that means they, in essence, have accepted the fact that we are all guilty,” Arrington said.

"Penn State is a family and it is real and if they choose to get rid of Bradley and not hire a Penn State coach, then they’ve turned their backs on our entire family,” Short said.

By hiring an "outsider," Arrington and Short feel betrayed. Any "insider" they could have hired would be connected to Paterno -- the man they likely credit with making them who they are -- so by not hiring someone already connected with the program, Paterno's program, it diminishes Paterno ... and therefore diminishes them.

As for the students, it's actually another former player, D.J. Dozier, who sums it up with his complaints about the O'Brien hiring.

'Dozier said, 'It’s politics, it’s fall out, it’s everything that has nothing to do with a program and continuing to build a solid program.'"

Even though there's a Penn State alum who has been in the news a lot lately for reasons other than football, the college is defined almost entirely by its football team. If you see a kid wearing a Penn State sweatshirt, you think about the football team. If you ask a kid where he or she goes to school and Penn State is the answer, it registers with you because you know about the football team.

The football team in general, and Joe Paterno in particular, made Penn State relevant. And therefore, it made Penn State students relevant ... even if they had no aptitude for or interest in football.

So if anything makes Penn State football less relevant, it makes the college less relevant ... which makes them less relevant.

Now, that's probably what was not going through their minds when they rioted, but that's why they did it.

But the players don't deserve any money...remember that

When I first saw this ad last year, I literally laughed, not because it was funny, but because the message behind the propaganda couldn't have been more clear unless the ad actually said, "SEE! STOP ASKING US WHY PLAYERS AREN'T GETTING PAID!'


If you think that ad is justification for not allowing the people responsible for bringing in the ungodly sums college sports raises every year, I give you this report from ESPN. Some of the highlights:

-- After having to buy tickets Arkansas reported a measly $5,525 profit from the 2011 Sugar Bowl, while Ohio State made $288,876.

-- Meanwhile, the bowl's chief execituve, Paul Hoolahan, made $593,718.

But the players get scholarships and bowl game "swag bags" (at least in football, I have no idea what basketball players get, much less those awful "non-revenue" sports), so it's all good.

How many of your spouses analyze figure skating scores, huh?

We're big Johnny Weir fans in this house. Between his skating and his not really giving a crap about what people think of him, he's too entertaining for words.

Plus, if Johnny Weir didn't exist to skate to Lady Gaga, or Lady Gaga didn't exist to give Johnny Weir music to skate to, we'd have to invent one or the other.



We were hoping to see the now newly married Weir perform that routine during the exhibition at the Vancouver Olympics two years ago, but no luck. As my wife and I watched, we were convinced he got hosed by the judges, but she went out and did a statistical analysis of it. (I'll spare you the chart with the scores.)

"According to the scores:

In the short program, only Lysacek, Plushenko, Takahashi and Oda had more points in executed elements.  Weir’s only error was to go off on the wrong edge on his triple flip, which lost him 1.2 points.

In the long program, only Lysacek, Plushenko, and Oda had more points in executed elements.  And Oda was only slightly better (.02 points), and ultimately lost 3 points for losing his skate and falling down.   Weir’s only two errors were going off the wrong edge on his triple flip again, which lost him 1.2 points, and flubbing one spin, which cost him .54 points.

However, here is where things get interesting.

In the short program:

·         His choreography score was tied with Oda for last among the top 7 skaters. 

·         His transitions score was third from last among the top 7 skaters.  Only Plushenko and Oda were worse.

·         His interpretation score was second from last among the top 7 skaters.   Only Oda was worse.

·         His performance/execution and skating skills scores were last among the top 7 skaters. 

As a result, his artistic elements score was the second to last score among the top 7 skaters.  Only Oda was worse.

In the long program:

·         His choreography score was second from last among the top 7 skaters.  Only Oda was worse.

·         His transitions, interpretation and skating skills score were last among the top 7 skaters.

·         His performance/execution score was tied with Oda for last among the top 7 skaters. 

As a result, again, his artistic elements score was the second to last score among the top 7 skaters.  Only Oda was worse, and Oda ended up ultimately in 7^th place.

So if you looked at this competition on paper, without seeing the performances, you would conclude that Johnny Weir was an athletic skater with no artistic skills.  In nine out of 10 total categories in artistic elements, his score was worse than Plushenko’s – Plushenko, a skater who is constantly criticized for having no artistic skills.

Yet the criticism of Weir is always exactly the opposite.

Bottom line:  they couldn’t get him on technical elements, so they nailed him on artistic stuff, and denied him the bronze medal he should have won."

This is why I have the best wife.

Philadelphia fans live up (as in down) to their reputation

Philadelphia is, without a doubt, one of my absolute favorite places, but let's be honest, its sports fans have a wee bit of a bad reputation. Just ask Michael Irvin.

Or Santa.



But maybe things have been changing in the City of Brotherly Boos; at least Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated seemed to think it was a possibility.

Alas, it seems as if some Flyers fans were hankering for the "good old days" after the Winter Classic game against the Rangers Jan. 2.

"Neal Auricchio, 30, has worn the uniforms of the Marine Corps and the Woodbridge Police Department, but it appeared to be his Rangers hockey jersey that made him a target of the attack earlier this week."

"Auricchio, a former Marine, earned a Purple Heart in Iraq, and even went back for a second tour after he was shot in the leg."

Outstanding work guys, really.

Tim Howard plays it cool

"Act like you've been there before."

It's the argument against doing a flashy dance after scoring a touchdown, a reason why people liked Barry Sanders handing the ball to the referee.

Maybe that's why Tim Howard acted the way he did after scoring for Everton against Bolton today. Or maybe it's because he didn't want to show up his fellow goalie. Maybe it was utter shock at what he had just done ... and by that I mean scoring a goal, not being an American other than Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan actually putting a ball in the net (although that's only slightly less shocking).

But whatever the reason, Howard seemed awful nonchalant after scoring, especially since it's probably a place he hasn't been in a long time ... or ever.



That's all well and good, but c'mon ... he's a goalie. What would have been wrong with cutting loose a little bit?

San Diego Chargers: super-geniuses

So Norv and A.J. are coming back. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

I believe. I really do. I'm going to put on my powder-blue Junior Seau jersey, grab some Chargers pom-poms and march down the street.

“Bottom line, I believe these two men give us the best chance to get back to the playoffs, "(Chargers Chairman of the Board & President Dean) Spanos said. “A.J. Smith is the best man to improve our roster, and Norv Turner is the best man to lead that roster on the field. Together, we have stability and experience that’s hard to find in the NFL. They’ve both been in this league a long time. I don’t think there is anything they haven’t seen or experienced. They’ve led us through some difficult situations."

And the numbers don't lie:

"During Smith’s nine-year tenure as general manager (2003-11), the Chargers have won 88 games and five AFC West titles. Only three teams (New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh) have won more games or division titles during that time."

"Since Turner took over as head coach, he has earned an impressive 52-34 overall record (including 3-3 in the postseason), the highest overall winning percentage in franchise history (.605)." 

Preach it, brother! I have the faith of 1,000 men! Surely Smith will never again pass on stars to draft guys who have accounted for nothing or limit his free-agent signings to guys who everyone (except seemingly him) knows won't make it through the season because he never does!

And Norv, no doubt, has after several years finally discovered the magic elixir to install proper discipline in his team so they don't lose games left and right due to their own mistakes! I believe!

Clearly, that's the case, right? Otherwise, bringing both guys back just seems ... kind of dumb.

NBC Sports Network isn't going to be ESPN ... and shouldn't try (at least not now)

The NBC Sports Network (the artist formerly known as Versus) starts today, and Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing provides this from the Philadelphia Inquirer in his take on the launch.

"Programming this first year will lean heavily on the Olympics, 38 regular-season Major League Soccer games, 13 IndyCar Series races, 14 hours a day of Tour de France coverage for most of July, 90 regular-season NHL games along with 50 NHL playoff games, 20 hours of horse-racing coverage around the Triple Crown, and 40 college football, basketball, and hockey games."

Writes Yoder:

"That lineup should worry NBC execs because it's not exactly the NFL and the NBA.  However, there's enough of a live sports portfolio to at least get off the ground.  The Olympics (and all of the trials that go along with it) will be a huge boost in this first year with the 2012 summer games in London.  NBC is also putting a lot of stock in MLS numbers growing in the same way NHL numbers have risen in their time on Versus/NBC.  Soccer is a growing television power, but MLS has not received the same impressive ratings that international soccer and the EPL have experienced."

On the other hand:

"You can bet the folks in Bristol will also be watching the NBC Sports Network debut closely.  For sports fans generally, this is a good day because competition breeds quality.  NBC stepping up to challenge ESPN will push both networks to be better.  Whichever way the competition breaks, it'll be fascinating to see just how much of a challenge NBC Sports Network can provide ESPN in 2012 and beyond."

The folks at ESPN probably will be paying attention, but it would be a mistake for NBC Sports Network to think it can go head-to-head with The Worldwide Leader right away because it doesn't have the programming heft. However, there is room for an alternative, and NBC is in position to be just that.

One effective thing they've already done is the "NBC Sports: A Storied History" show, which I watched last night. While it's a complete infomercial, it is a good reminder that NBC Sports has shown a lot of great sports programming over the years and carries with it the implication that the network will do the same on its new sports network.

At a minimum, whatever NBC Sports Network does, they'll have to do it well, and even then, it is going to be an uphill battle to let people know there's another sports channel out there. For example, the "Cold War on Ice: Summit Series '72" documentary today looks really interesting.


Too bad it's on opposite the Rose Bowl.

Maybe they'll show it again?