Ultimate Frisbee...Yes, It's a Sport

There are some who say Ultimate Frisbee, sometimes known as just "Ultimate", is not a sport. Clearly, they've never played with my church group. Every Wednesday night during the summer, we play Ultimate until either the lights go out or we're to tired to continue playing. For those who have never played Ultimate, it's pretty much football, without as much contact.



There are two end zones, and the teams start off in their own zones. One team throws the frisbee to the other, like football's kickoff, then the receiving team passes the frisbee team member to team member until they get into the opposing teams' end zone. If they drop the pass, it's the opposing team's frisbee. The opposing team can also intercept the pass.



Playing at night is brutal, since the lights at the local park are sometimes not on, meaning you can't see anything, like the photo below:



We use a light-up frisbee, but that still doesn't solve the problem of being able to see people. There are many college teams playing Ultimate, though many of the best teams are in the West and Midwest. Colorado, Stanford, and Oregon were in the top 5 this past season while little Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, a small agricultural town south of Minneapolis, was the national champion.

Ultimate is a really good game for cardiovascular exercise, since you're often on the run, especially on turnovers. And considering the game is so informal, anybody can play. Everybody comes off the field sweating a ton. And that's the essence of sport. A group of people getting together enjoying a recreational activity, getting exercise and enjoying "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."



For more information on Ultimate, visit upa.org. All the pictures in this post were of our church group playing Ultimate.

Housekeeping Roundup

Photo courtesy of ChristianityToday.com

Today's post is a roundup of stories I'm working on or need to wrap up...

1) I updated my NetworkedBlogs application on Facebook Wednesday night, so my posts will also appear on my Facebook page. My Twitter account should be linked soon as well.

2) I just started reading Michael Lewis' book, The Blind Side. I just finished chapter 3 and am looking forward to posting a review soon. My previous book review, Buster Olney's The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, can be read here. Other books I have on my list are Lewis' other noteworthy book, Moneyball, and Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights.

3) I promised I'd wrap up the Ortiz steroid story in that post. Truth is, I don't know if he did or didn't take the 'roids. His stats suggest he took them, but his character, and previous public statements say no. He is 34, so his power numbers will drop, which they have. His batting average the past two years (last year's .264 was not stellar, this year, it's currently at .220). I do think the list of players' names does need to be released at this point, so we don't have this same scenario play out with each newly leaked name.

4) As I post content more frequently, I'm looking to really expand the reach of FTRS. So, if you have any sports fan friends/family, send them a link to FTRS. Thanks!

Coming up on Monday...Michael Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles late yesterday. How does that affect the Eagles and the NFL?

A Week of Beaning

Image courtesy of Masslive.com. Kevin Youkilis, left, of the Boston Red Sox is about to throw Detroit Tigers pitcher Rick Porcello to the ground after getting beaned by a pitch Tuesday night.

Last week, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder was hit, or "beaned", by Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Guillermo Mota. Fielder didn't take exception at the time of the hit, but tried to enter the Dodgers locker room after the game and let off a profanity-laced tirade (video below along with a follow-up interview with LA sports anchor Jim Hill):





Both videos courtesy of KCAL 9 / KCBS 2 via YouTube.

What Fielder did was stupid on multiple levels. No one tries to enter the opposing teams' locker room to pick a fight. That would be the baseball equivalent to a schoolyard bully saying, "Meet me at 3:00 on the playground." Nothing good can come of it. In the second video, Fielder totally dodges Hill's questioning and makes it sound like it was no big deal and nothing happened. He also used canned answers that didn't seem very relevant to the interview. This doesn't help Fielder's image and if he does another interview like this, he'll need a better PR agent. As I wrote in a post last year, retaliatory and brushback pitches are part of baseball. Last year, a manager admitted he orders pitchers to hit opposing batters as a form of retaliation.

Fast forward to Tuesday night, Fenway Park. After a game on Monday that had lots of players getting beaned, the Boston Red Sox Kevin Youkilis finally had enough after another beaning.

I generally like Youkilis, he's a well rounded baseball player with lots of talent. For whatever reason, he is the batter that opposing pitchers usually choose to hit in regards to retaliatory pitches (he has more hit by pitches than any other Red Sox batter this year.) On one hand, had Porcello not tried to hit Victor Martinez, the batter before Youkilis, the brawl may have been avoided. On the other hand, I do not condone charging the mound, much less throwing your helmet. Youkilis will surely be suspended multiple games, which does not help the Red Sox in their current state of affairs.

What's most disturbing is hearing the fans at Fenway cheer on the brawl. I don't go to baseball games to see a brawl. For that, there's wrestling, boxing, and hockey. Beaning is becoming a problem in baseball, especially if managers are ordering hits. While the "eye for an eye" principle is understandable, it doesn't justify drilling someone with a 90+ mph fastball.

UPDATE (8/13/09): MLB.com claimed a copyright violation to the YouTube video of Youkilis charging the mound I linked to. The best place to view the footage at this point is here. Also, MLB announced that both Youk and Porcello received 5-game suspensions for the brawl.

East Coast Bias in Sports Media

Image courtesy of Photobucket.

Last week on The Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio, Scott, shown above on the right, was reading through lots of viewer email regarding the well-known "east coast bias" at ESPN, and to a lesser extent, LA bias. Many fans in recent years have complained about sports media's near-exclusion of smaller market teams in the Midwest and West Coast. For example, during the baseball season, you may not see Seattle Mariners or Kansas City Royals highlights during the 11:00 Eastern SportsCenter, but you'll certainly see Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees highlights. ESPN's chief NFL analyst Chris Mortensen is currently traveling around the country to select training camps, none of which are west of Dallas.


Photo courtesy of Flickr.

To address this issue, and expand their broadcasting presence, ESPN just opened a studio at L.A. Live, shown above, across from the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. This move hasn't quelled people's dissatisfaction with ESPN's coverage. Now, various sports fans claim there's an L.A. bias at ESPN. This is the West Coast version of the same complaint ESPN has faced for years, because of where they broadcast from. ESPN broadcasts from Bristol, Conn., near the New York and Boston markets, and the aforementioned LA studio.

The number one rule in TV is ratings. New York is the number one TV market, LA is number two, Boston is number five. By covering these teams, ESPN is likely to get the highest possible ratings, which in turn means more revenue flowing into ESPN. When the Yankees and Red Sox play each other, they easily are the top draw in all of baseball, which means higher ratings. Likewise, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Cowboys draw top ratings in their respective sports. Part of this is because of the franchise history. The Lakers and Boston Celtics have won more NBA titles than any other team and have a historic rivalry. The Cowboys once had the mantle of "America's Team." The Yankees have won 26 titles and have the famous rivalry with Boston. People are drawn to the success and history of these franchises. The rule of ratings also applies to the order of highlights, known as "the rundown". The top story for any given SportsCenter will always feature a big sports star or a big-market team, unless something totally out of the ordinary happens (i.e. a Kansas City pitcher throws a perfect game).

Another factor to consider is that, generally, people in the U.S. have moved from east to west. If you go to an Angels-Yankees game in Anaheim, there will be many people wearing Yankee pinstripes. If you go to a Diamondbacks-Cubs game in Arizona, half the crowd will be wearing Cubbie blue (on one trip, I even saw a fan fly a giant Cubs flag inside the Diamondbacks' stadium.)

Also, in my own personal experience, the East Coast cities are better sports fans than their West Coast counterparts. I went to a Baltimore Orioles-Boston Red Sox game in June in Baltimore. The Orioles haven't had a winning season in years, and yet, the stadium was packed with O's fans cheering on their team (and giving us Sox fans a hard time.) When I went to Fenway in 2005, it was even more intense with 40,000 people singing "Dirty Water" and "Sweet Caroline" and chanting "Yankees Suck!", even though they were playing the Angels that day. Everybody arrived early in both Baltimore and Boston, whereas here in Los Angeles, the joke goes "they arrive in the 5th and leave in the 7th." LA fans do tend to arrive late and leave early, mostly because the traffic can be horrendous. During the season, East Coast cities really invest in their sports teams in terms of fan awareness of the team's current state. In LA, many fans are "bandwagon fans", they jump on at playoff time, then go about their business after the season. In short, it seems like there isn't an offseason for East Coast teams and their fans.

Big Papi Fallout

Photo courtesy of ESPN.

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that both Manny Ramirez, currently with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and David Ortiz, currently with the Boston Red Sox, tested positive for steroids in a 2003 test, when both players were members of the Red Sox. To put it mildly, the news has caused shockwaves throughout New England and the baseball world at large.

This story has so many angles. First, it's not a surprise that Manny Ramirez's name showed up on the list. He served a 50-game suspension earlier this season for failing a steroid test. His name was already tarnished in the eyes of many baseball fans. His Hall of Fame career will have the taint of steroid use that may have lasted his whole career from his start in Cleveland in the 1990's to Boston to LA.

The main angle, and the one that's the shocker, is David Ortiz. Ortiz is one of the most outspoken players in regards to banning steroid use in baseball. Prior to spring training this year, Ortiz said:


"You test positive, you gonna be out. Serious and period. I would suggest that everybody get tests, not random, everybody. You go team-by-team, you test everybody 3-4 times a year, and that's about it...bang 'em for a whole year. I know that if I test positive by using any kind of, um, substance, I know that I'm going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans, and everybody. And I don't want to be facing that situation."

To see the video of these comments, click here.


Photo courtesy of Soxblog.mlblogs.com.

For someone to be so outspoken on steroids, then to be on a list of players that tested positive, something doesn't seem right. David Ortiz, known to Red Sox fans as "Big Papi", is known to be a fun, outgoing member of the Sox clubhouse and a standout member of the community. The two things that don't fit are the steroid use and his stat line from 2000-2009. If he were to be subject to his own recommendation for steroid users, he'd be banned from the game for a year.

There's other conflicting information floating around. Nomar Garciaparra, a former Red Sox player currently playing with the Oakland Athletics, said Thursday that players that wanted testing would ask that they be counted as "positive" in order that a drug testing program would be put in place. Shortly after these comments, many baseball sources denied this. Another thing that hasn't been sorted out is that if players were on the list, the player's association was to contact the player and give them the bad news. Ortiz claims he found out through the NY Times article released today.

The third angle, and perhaps the most mysterious, is how the information came out. The initial news story, broken by the NY Times' Michael Schmidt and David Waldstein, has the headline, "Ortiz and Ramirez Are Said to Be on 2003 Doping List". The main sources for the report are lawyers involved with litigation regarding the list. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the actual list of players is under a court seal. Problem is, divulging information that is under federal court seal is a crime.

There's a host of journalism questions here. First, why did the lawyers willingly break the law by leaking names to the Times? Surely, they would have known the ramifications beforehand. Second, should the Times have taken the sources' information, knowing the law would be broken? Third, will the Times be facing legal issues for publishing the details? On a related note, I find it interesting that the NY Times, through its ownership of the Boston Globe newspaper, has a minorty ownership stake in the Red Sox.

For more on this story, you can read the NY Times article here. For ESPN's take on the story, including a great video with investigative reporter T.J. Quinn, go here. For Curt Schilling's opinion, click here.

I'll be adding my own personal thoughts as a Red Sox fan in the coming days. There's lots of debate going on and it'll require a second post to gather my thoughts together and write them up. It's been a sad day to be a resident of Red Sox Nation.

A Reminder of a Giant Mistake

Picture courtesy of StlToday.com/Associated Press.

Randy Johnson won his 300th career game Thursday as the San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals 5-1. I've always liked Randy, especially after his performance in the 2001 World Series, but seeing him in a Giants uniform reminds me of all the junk after the Series. Randy is a reminder of what happens when team ownership gets stingy...at a bad time.

Randy came up through the Montreal Expos (now Washington Nationals) farm system, then was traded to the Seattle Mariners where he made a reputation for being a nasty pitcher to face. He was traded again, this time to Houston, then signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks prior to the 1999 season. He won the Series MVP in 2001, multiple NL Cy Young Awards, and was at his most dominant in this period. After the D-Backs' disastrous 2004 season, Randy was traded to the New York Yankees, where his two seasons were deemed a flop. He returned to Arizona for the 2007 season, and helped stabilize the rotation. When he became a free agent after the '08 season, the Diamondbacks ownership had decided on not bringing many players back. They let second baseman/defensive whiz Orlando Hudson go to the Dodgers, outfielder/power hitter Adam Dunn go to the Nationals, and after a lot of back and forth, Randy signed with San Francisco.

When Randy first signed with Arizona in 1999, the owner was Jerry Colangelo, who was bent on assembling a championship roster as fast as possible. After the world championship in 2001, the D-Backs were loaded with aging players and lots of deferred money on contracts. These contracts helped lead to the ousting of Colangelo as majority owner in 2004. He was replaced by Ken Kendrick, who has since made a reputation of being one of the worst owners in regards to penny-pinching.

The fans in Arizona still like Randy, even though he left for a division rival, but a growing number of fans are getting irritated by the management. The D-Backs went from the NLCS in 2007 to a current 4th place standing in their division (looking up at both San Fran and the LA Dodgers). While some of the decline involves injuries to key players, the losses of Hudson, Dunn, and Johnson are just too big to overcome. It was unlikely for all three to come back, especially given the economic climate, but for none to return was a terrible mistake. Now, as Randy Johnson has won his 300th game, it only serves as a reminder that if it weren't for a stingy ownership, Arizona fans could have seen him achieve the accomplishment in a Diamondbacks uniform.


On a separate note, if you'd like to see the news broadcasts from the class I took this past semester, just go to CougarNews.com. Among other things, I did the sports anchoring for the March 18th and May 6th shows. It was a challenging but very rewarding class.

Curt Schilling and Asperger's

Photo courtesy of the Red Sox Times.

I was perusing Curt Schilling's 38 Pitches blog a few weeks back when I saw the following post:

At the most recent event for a program called YouthCare my wife and I spoke publicly about our son’s battle with Asperger’s Syndrome, for the first time. Here is the text of my wife’s speech the other night.

I have given many speeches over the years. This is one is by far the hardest. It is one thing to speak from the heart about your own experiences and another to speak from the heart about one of your children.

When our third child was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome almost two years ago all I can say is that my heart was aching. A child that I had raised to that point like his siblings, I couldn’t understand how he could be so different. I was in the doctors office when I heard the words ” On the spectrum of Autism” Aspergers.

For one brief second the puzzles pieces made sense and there was relief. What followed was such a sense of loss, pain and guilt it’s hard to describe.

I remember for days thinking to myself “just write down” what I was feeling. The emotions were so strong that I became numb. I struggled so hard as a parent to reach Grant and I was now sure that I would never know how to communicate with him.

The school year was just beginning and I went in for his IUP meeting. I was so overwhelmed I cried the entire time. I didn’t know how to handle Grant and I was looking for anyone to tell me “Hey, no need to worry, we can help”.

I starting sitting up nights, scouring the internet, downloading anything I could find on Aspbergers. Digesting in small bits as it was all so overwhelming.

Some people read everything they can get their hands on, all I wanted was the comic book version. Which by the way I have never found.

That fall of 2004 we went on to win the World Series and I just tried to keep distracted. I really wanted help but honestly I just wasn’t ready for it. I tried to watch Grant and see what I could do . I listened to the teachers and administrators give me tips and techniques to help Grant at school.

It wasn’t till after Christmas that year when I decided to take the schools advice and reach out for help. I was ready to accept this different life and the new adventures it would bring to us. I spoke to other parents who were always eager to share problem solving that worked for them.

One name that kept coming up in conversations was this wonderful camp called Youth Care.

We tried summer camp before his diagnosis and every day I would have a full report from my daughter on what Grant had done to make the councilors mad. I was mortified and humiliated that he just couldn’t follow there rules. I knew that I couldn’t go through another summer like that. So I made the call to YOUTH CARE. Grant and I went to the interview meeting.

I have to tell you that I was so nervous that he would act normal and they wouldn’t accept him. Needless to say it took 30 seconds for them to agreed he was a fit. As he walked in he touched every single object in the room, never looked her in the eye, and couldn’t answer any questions due to being so distracted in a new room with so many new shiny things to look at, and touch! Hooray we were in.

I really had no idea what YOUTH CARE had to offer as I had heard that kids and parents learn so many coping and life skills and this camp was second to none for kids like Grant.

I felt relief and empowered that I was making the first good decision for him.

The day of camp orientation arrived. I listened as he met his councilors and watched as he interacted with the other kids in his group. They explained to him the great things that he would be doing that summer and he was excited. He counted down the “Sleeps” until camp would start.

The first day arrived. He was up early and checking to make sure he had everything he needed. I pulled into the line and watched as each kid was greeted by his councilor.

When our turn came Grant jumped out of the car almost forgetting to give me a kiss, which he never forgets. The camp councilors were so warm and affectionate in greeting each child that morning, this was truly going to be a place Grant would be accepted, and welcomed.

He walked away and I started home. I drove out of the campground and without warning tears were flowing down my face. For the first time since this journey began I was crying tears of joy. Grant was safe and most of all wanted. He would be surrounded by people who would watch out for him, understand him and be patient with him.

As a mother that is all I wanted. I learned strategies that would help both Grant and our family. I was open to suggestions and eager to try the new things that we learned would work so well for Grant. Grant had a wonderful summer. A super summer camp experience.

Curt and I are so grateful that Youth Care exists and for all the wonderful people that work so hard to help our children. What we hope to do by sharing our family story is to help even more families who do not have funds to this amazing opportunity to have that chance.

Take it from two parents who are walking this journey with our son. If you have the means to give a child and his family a chance it is the biggest return on your investment that you will ever make.

Thank you and God Bless

Shonda and I are truly grateful to Scott McLeod the camp director and want anyone affected by this to reach out to the camp and any of the other services provided to see if there is help for you or your children. This is a daily battle that will never end. Much like most everything else I look at this in only one way.

Life often times gives us ‘choices’ when it really doesn’t. Our son has Aspergers, there is nothing we can do about that other than turn over every leaf, in trying to make sure we as parents provide every possible outlet and resource to him, and to us as parents, to make the world a place Grant can thrive and succeed in. Our son is brilliantly smart (as many children with Aspergers are) and way ahead of many of his peers in certain academic areas, but there are social issues and to many people those have far more potential to be harmful than anything else in a young childs life.

This is the opposite of a ‘why us’ or ‘poor us’ story, this is the first chapter of a story that will see us take on a charitable cause, and ask each and every one of you for help (whether that is time or money, I don’t care, both are needed) as we move down this path in our lives.

This city has never shied from helping Shonda and I in every charitable endeavor we’ve taken on and we are forever grateful to all of you for everything you’ve done.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me through this blog if you are looking for help, or offering it.

Thanks

Curt and Shonda Schilling


As someone with Asperger's Syndrome, it's great to see the emotions conveyed as eloquently as Curt & Shonda have written them. I feel for their son Grant as he goes through school and the social issues that accompany it, but the support of parents is invaluable. For the blog and its links to multiple charitable organizations, just click on the 38 Pitches link on the right-hand column or click here.

New AZ Columnist & Video

In an effort to continue to provide a wide network of sports opinion, I have added Arizona Republic columnist Dan Bickley to the list, which includes the likes of Bill Plaschke, Mitch Albom, Michael Wilbon, and Terry Pluto, among others. Also, I have inserted below a YouTube video of the Cardinals/Eagles NFC Championship Game highlights...in case you missed it. The clip includes the beautiful flea flicker from Kurt Warner to Larry Fitzgerald (one of the best passes I've seen) and the 4th quarter drive that determined the game. All the commentary is provided by the local sports radio station (Arizona's 620 KTAR in Phoenix).

Cardinals Win!

Photo courtesy of Darryl Webb/East Valley Tribune.

The Arizona Cardinals, an NFL franchise that hasn't won a championship since 1947 (when they were the Chicago Cardinals) is one step closer to a Super Bowl title. Of the 12 teams that entered the playoffs, the Cardinals were one of the most unlikely and the most overlooked. Hardly anyone expected them to beat Atlanta, who had a potent offense and a fairly good defense. No one expected them to beat Carolina, who had one of the best defenses in the league. Few expected them to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, who were going to their 5th NFC Championship Game this decade. And yet, the Cardinals are going to Super Bowl XLIII (43) in Tampa to face the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the toughest teams to beat in football.

In a year where many NFL teams fit the role of Cinderella (Arizona, Atlanta, Baltimore, Miami, and Tennessee all went to the playoffs after losing seasons in 2007), it seems fitting that a NFL franchise known for seasons of failure is the one still dancing. Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said immediately after the game that he was most thankful to his wife, kids, and faith, who had supported him from the beginning. Safety Adrian Wilson had tears of joy streaming down his face after the game. Wilson had offers from other teams (some perennial playoff contenders), but he chose to stay in Arizona where he has played his entire 8-year career through 7 losing seasons. Wilson is the epitome of most of the Arizona Cardinals team - players drafted by the team that haven't seen any form of playoffs in years. Some players like Wilson and receiver Larry Fitzgerald (shown below) have had individual accomplishments, but no playoffs or Super Bowl.


Photo courtesy of the East Valley Tribune.

The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl (man, it just seems so cool and bizarre at the same time to write that phrase) as the underdog of underdogs. They'll face the Pittsburgh Steelers, a franchise steeped in tradition (only the Dallas Cowboys have won more Super Bowls). When I would go to Arizona in the summers growing up, the local media would pessimistically cover the Cardinals training camps. Though I detest bandwagoners, the Cardinals' season has been quite the roller-coaster ride to watch. When the playoffs started, I had picked Philadelphia and Baltimore to go all the way, but my dad was one of the few who said the Cardinals would go to the Super Bowl. That was his best call all year and after the Arizona/Carolina game, I had switched it to Cards/Baltimore. Many of the Arizona players mentioned having faith in the postgame press conferences, and now, their faith has been rewarded. "Shock the world" has become a rallying cry for the Cardinals. The phrase was heard on Phoenix radio station KTAR at the game'sw conclusion and the same phrase was on uber-fan Jack Corson's banner (shown in top photo) hanging over one of the upper concourses in the stadium yesterday. Here's to hoping they continue to shock the world, because that's why we watch the game. Sports figures like racing horse Seabiscuit, the Boston Red Sox in 2004, the New England Patriots in 2001, and the New York Giants last year were all heavy underdogs that tasted the sweetness of victory.

Cinderellas Keep Dancing

Photo of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner courtesy of CNN/Sports Illustrated.

The Arizona Cardinals and the San Diego Chargers stunned their opponents this past Wild-Card Weekend. The Atlanta Falcons were heavily favored over the Cardinals while the Indianapolis Colts were favored over the Chargers. Both the Cardinals and Chargers had home-field advantage and it definitely helped as their opposing teams had communication problems and false-start penalties. Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins were deflated by the Baltimore Ravens. That's four teams (Cardinals, Falcons, Dolphins, and Ravens) that weren't in playoff contention last season. The Philadelphia Eagles, who were almost eliminated from the playoffs weeks ago, have rallied and are on a roll.


Photo of Philadelphia running back courtesy of Brian Westbrook courtesy of the New York Times.

So this week's playoff games are (playoff seed in parentheses):

NFC Conference
(6) Baltimore Ravens at (1) Tennessee Titans
(4) San Diego Chargers at (2) Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC Conference
(6) Philadelphia Eagles at (1) New York Giants
(4) Arizona Cardinals at (2) Carolina Panthers

I think the Ravens and Steelers will win out in the AFC while the Eagles and Panthers will win in the NFC. It's going to be a great playoff weekend. The phrase "every given Sunday" has been especially true this season.

A Class Act

Just a quick article link for today. University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is the subject of a Pat Forde article posted here. Tebow, a devout Christian, is involved with prison ministries, comes from a missionary family, and is arguably one of the most decorated college football players in history. And he hasn't even graduated from UF yet.

Many fans of the game don't like him (mostly because of UF's recent national title wins and their general dominance during Tebow's time at UF), but you can't fault a young person for making an effort to change people's lives for the better at such an early age.

Cinderella Teams in Playoffs

Image courtesy of NFL.com / Getty Images.

This season has been a topsy-turvy one in the NFL. Several teams that were in shambles last season are now poised to make the playoffs. Two of those teams are the Baltimore Ravens and the Miami Dolphins, both shown above. The Dolphins were 1-15 last season, a then-NFL record for losses. They switched their front office management, their coach, and some players, and are currently 10-5 and on the cusp of a playoff berth if they beat the New York Jets next Sunday (at NY). The Ravens were 5-11 last season, then switched their coach, drafted a new starting quarterback, and are going to playoffs if they beat Jacksonville next week (at home). Even more intriguing is that Baltimore's head coach and the quarterback, Joe Flacco of Delaware, are both rookies at this level.


Image courtesy of emqb.com / Newscom.

The Atlanta Falcons were predicted to have a terrible season this year with a new coach with no previous NFL head coach experience and a rookie quarterback, but they are a win away from playoffs (they need to beat St. Louis on Sunday). The Falcons quarterback, Matt Ryan, shown above, is a Rookie of the Year candidate (along with Baltimore's Flacco). Meanwhile, the Arizona Cardinals are going to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years and their first division title in 33 years (1975). However, the Cardinals, led by quarterback Kurt Warner, were demolished by the New England Patriots yesterday 47-7 in snowy Foxboro. The Patriots are going to need help if they want to go to playoffs (they need to beat Buffalo next week and hope Miami or Baltimore loses). Considering the Patriots are without star quarterback Tom Brady, linebacker Tedy Bruschi, safety Rodney Harrison, linebacker Adalius Thomas, and running back Laurence Maroney, they are on a remarkable run to a potential playoff berth, led by backup QB Matt Cassel.


Image courtesy of the BBC.

The Dallas Cowboys are on the verge of getting knocked out of playoffs if they lose to division rival Philadelphia on Sunday. If the Cowboys lose, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take the final spot. So, the playoffs currently look like this:

NFC Playoffs
6) Dallas Cowboys or Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 3) Chicago Bears or Minnesota Vikings
5) Atlanta Falcons or Dallas Cowboys at 4) Arizona Cardinals
First round byes: 1) NY GIants and 2) Carolina Panthers

AFC Playoffs
6) Baltimore Ravens or New England Patriots at 3) Miami Dolphins or New England Patriots
5) Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos or San Diego Chargers
First round byes: 1) Tennessee Titans and 2) Pittsburgh Steelers

Slimy Agents?

Image courtesy of the BBC.

A controversy reached boiling point this week when the agents for Los Angeles Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal, shown above, were presented with a contract offer by the Atlanta Braves for Furcal, but he resigned with the Dodgers a day later at terms nearly identical to the Braves' offer. The Braves front office is furious about it and making their displeasure known in the press. They have advised Arn Tellem and Paul Kinzer, the agents involved, to remove the Braves from their clients' wish list of teams, effectively ending any business dealings between Tellem, Kinzer, and the Braves.


Image courtesy of daylife.com/The Associated Press/Lenny Ignelzi.

Supposedly, the Braves agreed to a contract offer with Furcal via Kinzer, shown above, and Tellem for a three-year deal and an option for a fourth. The Braves were told Furcal would sleep on it, but Kinzer reportedly took the offer to the Dodgers and negotiated a similar deal. The Braves contend that they had a deal and that once Furcal would sleep on it, he'd sign with Atlanta (he played there from 2000-2005.) The agents argue that a deal was never in place and that what they did was above board. If Atlanta follows through on their threat to not sign any players from Tellem and Kinzer's agency, there could be potential problems regarding baseball's collective bargaining agreement (or CBA).


Image courtesy of New York Magazine/Getty Images.

Kinzer and Tellem aren't the first agents to anger baseball teams. Scott Boras, shown above, is the biggest agent in baseball and has a colorful reputation in the sport. Some have called him a variety of names including "The Prince of Darkness" and he is known for getting his players top dollar, even if they aren't worth the amount. For example, when Johnny Damon went from the Boston Red Sox to their archrival New York Yankees a few years ago, he received a contract in the $50 million range, which most observers at the time said Damon was being overvalued. In other words, it's believed by most baseball observers that whoever offers the most money to a Boras client automatically wins the bidding. And while Boras has gotten teams into bidding wars, he's never done anything quite like what Kinzer and Tellem have done to Atlanta. The fact that Boras gets his players top dollar is good for him, that's what he's hired to do. What Kinzer and Tellem did only reinforces the stereotype that agents can be schmucks (if you haven't seen the animated film Bolt, the stereotypical agent makes multiple appearances, each time getting worse) only interested in money, book deals, etc. that the get a cut in.

Which Way Phoenix?

Image courtesy The Arizona Republic/Getty Images.

This summer, Phoenix let its coach at the time, Mike D'Antoni, leave to coach the New York Knicks after D'Antoni and Suns GM Steve Kerr disagreed over the direction of the team. Kerr wanted more defense from the club, but D'Antoni ushered in the Suns' trademark "run-n-gun" style. D'Antoni built a system known as "7 Seconds or Less", an offense designed to take a shot at the basket within 7 seconds. This season, with new coach Terry Porter, shown above, and an emphasis on defense, the Suns aren't the same team and aren't nearly as fun to watch. This isn't to say I don't like to watch them, but rather defense-minded clubs are less fun to watch than offensive powers like Boston and, to an extent, the Lakers.


Image courtesy of the East Valley Tribune.

Recently, the Suns traded Raja Bell, a good defender and three-point shooter shown above, along with Boris Diaw to Charlotte for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley. Will this move make the team better? Perhaps, but this season is a transition year for the Suns and it's making a lot of fans in Planet Orange (the Suns' equivalent to Red Sox Nation) upset. With all the talent the Suns have (Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Shaq, and now Richardson), one wonders why they're only 15-10.

On a side note, I added a few links to the blog page recently. First up, I replaced Sean McAdam with Tony Massarotti (aka Mazz) of the Boston Globe. McAdam has since moved from Providence to the Boston Herald, but the Herald's website isn't the greatest to track columnists. Tony's a great baseball writer, a winner of multiple sports journalism awards and offers insight, especially with the Boston Red Sox. His columns are listed here. Next up is Ken Rosenthal, senior baseball writer for FOX Sports. Rosenthal is like Mazz, but on a wider, national scale. Ken's columns are here. Two other columnists were added as well: Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune and Art Thiel of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Both have received awards for their columns, especially Thiel, and are respected within their respective cities. Thiel's columns are here while Morrissey's are here. In addition to these, links to columns in Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Washington D.C. are available on the main blog page.

Hot Stove Getting Warmer

Even in the current economy, you can always count on baseball teams to spend like crazed Christmas shoppers this time of year. Despite the fact that baseball is in its offseason, this is when the free agency period and player movement begin. Some of the major trades and deals so far:


Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated/CNN.

Slugger Matt Holliday, pictured above, was traded to Oakland from Colorado for relief pitcher Huston Street, outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, and pitcher Greg Smith. While Holliday is now the main hitter in the A's offense, I don't think he'll be the 35-homer guy that he was with the Rockies. Due to the thin air in Colorado, the balls go higher and farther, whereas Oakland is right next to San Francisco Bay, where the dense marine air takes the flight out of balls. Conversely, the pitchers sent to the Rockies have to hope that they don't get lit up every night. In other words, this deal was a good one for the clubs, but a bad one for the players' individual careers.


Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated/CNN.

Pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who previously played for the Cleveland Indians and the Milwaukee Brewers, signed with the New York Yankees for seven years, $161 million. Sabathia is a good starting pitcher, but he's not $161 million good. His yearly salary will be $23 million, the second highest on the team, even more than sure Hall-of-Famer and Yankee icon Derek Jeter ($21 million). Sabathia has a playoff ERA over 5.00 but a 21-8 record against AL East teams excluding the Yankees (Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay). Also, C.C. had reservations about playing in New York and, to paraphrase ESPN.com columnist Buster Olney, only greatness will be expected of him from the New York fans. Even if he fails though, he has an opt-out clause in his contract after the 2011 season.


Image courtesy of the CBC.

The Yankees also signed Toronto pitcher A.J. Burnett to a five-year $82.5 million deal. That's $16.5 million a year for a pitcher who's career average is 3.81, not great but not terrible. He has an injury history, but he was dominant against the Red Sox last year, going 5-0. Getting Burnett from a division rival was a bonus for the Yankees, but he's a high risk-high payoff player.

Drama in Dallas

Image courtesy of CBS 11 - Dallas.

This past week, ESPN's Ed Werder reported Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens was upset with Cowboys tight end Jason Witten and speculated that Witten and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo make plays together without Owens' knowledge (Witten and Romo are roommates).

This charge is absurd for several reasons. First, the offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, is the primary person who draws up plays. Supposedly, Garrett, shown below, has an "open door" policy, meaning players can provide input to the playcalling. Second, I highly doubt Romo and Witten devote all of their attention to football when they're rooming.


Image courtesy of The Dallas Morning News.

But more importantly, this incident now confirms beyond doubt (as if there was any), that Terrell Owens creates these situations on his own, whether it's in San Francisco, Philadelphia, or Dallas. ESPN.com's Matt Mosley posted an interesting graphic regarding the pass distribution between Owens and Witten here. Owens scores more touchdowns and gets more looks, but Witten, shown below, has a higher pass completion percentage (74% to 52.4%).


Image courtesy of Knowyourdallascowboys.com/Getty Images.

Owens, shown below, said the following to the press on Friday, "What do I have to be jealous of? Look at me, I'm handsome as hell. Anything that goes on, I am going to be the scapegoat. I'm trying to figure out how I make the headlines and I don't even say anything." While the drama may be a media build-up thing, Owens said a lot about his personality and ego whe he said, "Look at me, I'm handsome as hell." Owens seems to be the type of person who needs constant positive reinforcement, constant praise and attention, no matter what the cost.


Image courtesy of The Dallas Observer.

The Cowboys defeated the New York Giants last night 20-8 in a big game for the Boys. Interesting to note, that during the game, the fans in attendance booed Owens, but cheered Witten. If they want to make the playoffs, they have to beat both Baltimore Ravens (Saturday in Dallas), and Philadelphia Eagles (Dec. 28 in Philly). A tall order for sure, but if they can beat the Giants, they can beat the Ravens and Eagles. The drama may have subsided for now, victories do that, but with a locker room reportedly on the verge of being split, there's little room for error in Big D.

Fantasy Football Update & Family Links

My fantasy football team is 4-3. Tomlinson and Roethlisberger (my former starting QB) have been banged up all season and Boldin has been out for several games. Jennings and Fitzgerald are the top two receivers in fantasy this season. That being said, I'm doing pretty well.Here is my updated starting roster:

QB Donovan McNabb (Philly)
RB LaDainian Tomlinson (San Diego)
RB Marshawn Lynch (Buffalo)
WR Greg Jennings (Green Bay)
WR Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona)
WR Anquan Boldin (Arizona)
TE Chris Cooley (Washington)
D Arizona Cardinals
K Nate Kaeding (San Diego)
LB Jonathan Vilma (New Orleans)
DL Charles Grant (New Orleans)
DB Cortland Finnegan (Tennessee)

Dad's team is getting better, despite Joseph Addai having a clunker of a season. Robert's team was doing great until he made some really stupid moves (got rid of Vincent Jackson, benched Philip Rivers for Gus Frerotte). Rob and I play this week in a battle of 4-3 teams...and bragging rights.

I updated the "Friends & Family Links" section to include the new Clark/Del Pesco Family Blog and The Pickard Post family blog. And if you haven't visited the Ham Family Blog in the past month or so, I highly recommend it.

Upcoming posts on FTRS include the Favre/Lions controversy, the World Series (should have been Phillies vs. Sox), more sports columnist links, and the beginning of the NBA season.

Can Certain Sports Build Leadership?

Picture courtesy of the USA Today.

An interesting trend in the current presidential race is the theme of basketball. Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has been playing basketball since high school and has used his love for the game several times during the campaign. Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin played on a high school team and also participated in hunting and fishing. Both won state championships on their respective teams.

While Obama's specific position is unknown (some have said he was a center, some photos indicate forward), Palin's position of point guard is noteworthy. The point guard, sometimes nicknamed "the floor general," directs the entire offense. He or she can be the shortest person on the team (most NBA point guards are in the 6"2' range, short for the NBA). When the team transitions from defense to offense and runs up the court, the point guard will almost always have the ball and then make the appropriate pass. Maybe they pass to the center for a slam dunk (known as an alley-oop) or to the shooting guard for a three-point shot or, if everyone else is covered, they can take the shot themselves. Exemplary point guards today include the Dallas Mavericks' Jason Kidd, New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul, and FTRS favorite, the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash.

Football is another sport with a definitive leader, the quarterback. Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, and Tom Brady are the unquestioned leaders of their respective teams. The QB indicates the play, gives each player his specific route to run, and then executes a play. If the team needs to change the play, the quarterback calls the audible and changes it himself. If the QB can't make his throws or hand it off to the running back, the offense cannot score, which doesn't help the defense. No other individual person has that much of an effect on the team, besides the coach. This explains the intense scrutiny quarterbacks are under, because of the ramifications of poor performance.

Obviously, basketball has had a profound effect on Obama and Palin, but would they have gained leadership experience playing baseball, where there is no defined on-field leader position? What about a sport that requires individual performance, like swimming?

Closing Olympics & Fantasy Football

Picture courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

Started school this week, but I wanted to wrap up some thoughts I had regarding the Beijing Olympics. Overall, the Beijing Games were very successful, but one could get the sense that there was a sheen to it all. The Chinese government did not ease restrictions to international media and arrested protesters despite having protest zones, which made the Games' slogan, "One World, One Dream", untrue. We all desire peace and we are one world, that is true, but my "dream" is different than someone in China or Iran. It was sad to see the media restrictions and even worse worldwide PR (what else will journalists write about if you restrict their access?) Not to mention the controversy over the Chinese gymnasts' age...

That being said, the athletic competition was first-rate. From Phelps' domination to Dara Torres' silver medals to Usain Bolt's world record sprints, athletic prowess was on display. The facilities looked great (especially the Water Cube with the ever-changing color schemes on its exterior), though the Bird's Nest name was a bit overused by the time the Games were over. Mary Carillo's travelogues did exactly as they were designed to do: to show people in America various aspects of China. Stereotypically, our culture thinks of China as red, Communist, kung fu, and pandas. Carillo highlighted some other things (she did a particularly good one on Chinese writing with the guy who designed the Beijing Games logo).


Picture courtesy of CNN/SportsIllustrated.

Last Saturday, a yearly ritual continued in our house: the Fantasy Football draft. For the first time, we're doing individual defensive players and I drafted first pick overall. For those unfamiliar with fantasy football, the essential point of the game is that you draft real-life players and their stats in real-life dictate how your team does. So if LaDainian Tomlinson, running back for San Diego shown above, has 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns, that's about 19 points for my team, a pretty good day. So here's my starting roster:

QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh
RB LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego
RB Jonathan Stewart, Carolina
WR Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona
WR Anquan Boldin, Arizona
WR Greg Jennings, Green Bay
TE Chris Cooley, Washington
LB Ernie Sims, Detroit
DB Champ Bailey, Denver
DL Trent Cole, Philly
DEF Indianapolis Colts
K Nate Kaeding, San Diego

Dad's team is also very good this year. Any team with Brees at QB, Houshmandzadeh at WR, Joseph Addai at RB, and Jared Allen at DL should rightly scare the pants off opponents. As for Robert's squad, it's mostly Cowboys but I can't fault him for that.

Since school has started, I do not know how consistent the blog posting will be. I am intending to put fantasy updates on here, along with the usual headlines, but we'll see. To whet your appetites for quality sportswriting in these down periods, I added three more columnists to the links page. Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal-Bulletin, Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press, and Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post. McAdam is a very good baseball writer. Albom, better known as the writer of "Tuesdays With Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" started as a sports columnist for the Free Press and still writes for them. Wilbon hosts of the ESPN debate show "Pardon the Interruption" and is a nationally recognized columnist. I intend to feature more columnists from different cities (Chicago, New York, Atlanta) and different regions (still looking for good columnists in the Southeast and more out West).

Domination

Picture courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.

As I'm sure you've heard, Michael Phelps has completed his quest for 8 Olympic gold medals after participating in the 4x100 medley Saturday night and a way-too-close-for-comfort duel Friday night. 7 of his 8 gold medal swims were world records and the eighth was an Olympic record. If that isn't dominance, I don't know what is.

Michael Phelps has joined Tiger Woods as athletes who single-handedly defined a sport. While team sports can have standout players, everything they do as a success is defined by teamwork. In other words, players like Randy Johnson and Peyton Manning have had hall-of-fame careers, but their success at times is determined by other people. What if Peyton's defense blows a lead or Randy's teammates can't score any runs the day he pitches? Michael Phelps and Tiger, for the most part, don't have this problem. It's mostly an individual effort for them.

Tiger Woods has won 14 major championships in his career, along with 65 PGA Tour wins. He has made golf a sport worth watching and made it more accessible to the general pubic. Phelps has done that with swimming. Across the country, people have turned on their TV's all week to see Michael's latest race. In the workplace, Phelps' name has been the only one explicitly mentioned. Seeing Michael's mom all tense before the race, knowing all of America was feeling the same thing. Woods surely has had an effect in terms of kids wanting to play golf and surely more kids will swim because of Michael Phelps' influence.

Is Phelps the greatest Olympian of all-time? I cannot say for certain because I never saw Jim Thorpe or Jesse Owens compete and Carl Lewis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee were in the very twilight of their careers when the 1996 Atlanta Olympics occurred, the first Olympics I saw (and barely remember). However, there is no doubt that Phelps is the greatest Olympian of my generation, just as Tiger is the best golfer of my generation. Both will be remembered for their dominance in their respective sports and perhaps, inspire a new generation to follow in their footsteps.

Military Olympians & New Links

Just a few quick notes for today...

For a good weekend read, I'd recommend this blog tracking all the US Olympians who are also members of our Armed Forces. The blog's main site, MilitaryTimes.com, highlighted one of the quietest stories of the Games has been Glenn Eller of the Army winning the gold medal in the double trap shooting finals.

On another note, I adjusted some of the links here on the main blog page. Instead of having media outlets like the Arizona Republic and the Boston Globe featured, I'm going to start linking to the columnists that are what make those papers such good reads. The first batch features award-winning journalists Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, and Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cowlishaw and Plaschke are regularly featured on ESPN's Around the Horn. Shaughnessy gives a lot of insight to the Boston Red Sox and other Boston sports area, though the Sox are his specialty. Pluto, in addition to writing regular columns on the Cleveland area teams, also writes on subjects of faith for the Dealer and has quickly become a favorite of mine even though I hold no affinity for Cleveland sports teams. He is also occasionally featured on Hugh Hewitt's nationally syndicated talk radio show.

I've also added the mainstream media links like FOX Sports and the Sporting News, but may end up replacing them with a sports news gadget available from Blogger.

Swedish Foolishness in Beijing

Picture courtesy of The Telegraph (UK).

Earlier today, Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian won the bronze medal in the 84 kg competition in Beijing. In appreciation of winning the bronze, he threw it on the floor of the gym, walked out, and announced he was quitting the sport. He later said, "I don't care about this medal. I wanted gold." During his semifinal bout with eventual gold medalist Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, he had to be restrained by his teammates when the judges determined Minguzzi the winner. After the medals ceremony, he announced "This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure.”

Abrahamian's lust for a gold medal consumed him. Most people would be okay with a silver or bronze and while they'd prefer the gold, they usually take it with grace and return four years later for another try at the gold. But not this Swede. He wanted the gold so bad that he convinced himself he had won it,even before the competition was over. He thought the gold medal was rightfully his. A preacher named C.J. Mahaney once spoke a sermon about conflicts and cravings, essentially saying that conflicts result when we crave something and we don't get what we want. Abrahamian is a perfect example of this craving.

As of this writing, the United States team leads all other countries with 15 bronze medals at these Games. Think they're going to give up their medals? While we all want the athletes to win gold medals, the silver and bronze are also worth having. After all, by having one of the three medals, you're considered one of the top three athletes in the sport. But Abrahamian isn't the only athlete with this behavior.

If we hold Abrahamian in disdain, shouldn't we hold major league managers like Lou Piniella and Ozzie Guillen who quarrel with umpires and throw tantrums in the same contempt? What about players who commit flagrant fouls on the opposing team in basketball and football? One can speculate as to how these players' pride swells up. Perhaps they grew up in an insulated environment (i.e. baseball games with no kept score) or were told from childhood they were destined for greatness (as some speculate the Chinese have done with their athletes). The world may, and rightfully so, hold utter disregard for Abrahamian, but he isn't the only one that considers everything but the gold, "a failure".

Do Young People Care About the Olympics?

I've been asking around (co-workers, friends at church, etc.) who has been watching the Olympics and the answer isn't good. Most have said they don't care about the events or don't know when it's on. One of my co-workers even asked why I only root for the American athletes!

However, according to NBC and Nielsen's early numbers, the Beijing Games have more people in the 18-34 demo watching (22% increase over Athens, 14% over Sydney.) In addition, the Games' median viewing age has been going up from 38.7 in 1992 (Barcelona) to 47.1 in Athens.

One could speculate that the median age increase is due to aging Baby Boomers, but the fundamental question remains the same: Isn't patriotism and rooting for your countrymen universal? Do we not want to see our fellow Americans triumph like the men's swimming team did in the 4x100 relay Sunday night? Do we not want to root for Michael Phelps' attempt for eight gold medals? Most of these athletes (namely everyone besides the basketball players) have day jobs that don't involve their sport or are student athletes (like Phelps', a student at University of Michigan).

Weekend Olympic Roundup

From left to right: Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak. Picture courtesy of the Daily Mail.

Over the weekend, the Olympics got off to a terrific start amid political tensions Friday night in a fantastic opening ceremony. Of the past two Olympics (2004 Summer in Athens and the 2006 Winter in Torino, Italy), the Beijing opener blew both of them away. From the fireworks to the lighting of the cauldron to the impressive choreography of the performers, but it was Yao Ming and little Lin Hao, a survivor of the earthquake that hit China in May, that stole the show.



When Yao plays basketball during the NBA season, he plays in a very strict manner. I have hardly seen the guy smile or laugh on or off the basketball court, much less show any exuberance. Friday night, guiding Hao around the stadium and later holding him in his arms, he showed a compassion and tenderness I've never seen from him.

Swimming phenom Michael Phelps won his first gold of the Games in the 400 IM. There were some great volleyball matches (womens' indoor: USA vs. Japan; mens' beach: USA's Gibb/Rosenthal vs. their Dutch nemesis Boersma/Ronnes during a steady downpour) with both USA teams winning. Both American basketball teams soundly defeated their opening opponents. The volleyball news was particularly good as the American volleyball teams were reeling from the death of Tod Bachman and the injury to his wife, Barbara. Both were stabbed by a Chinese man Saturday who committed suicide by jumping off the Drum Tower before police could arrest him. Further investigation is ongoing, but it's looking like an "isolated" incident.

But the greatest moment of the weekend was the Men's Swimming 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay late Sunday night. It was a three-way battle between the Australians, French, and the Americans. The French anchor swimmer, Alain Bernard, boasted that the French would "smash" the Americans. Phelps started off and kept pace with the leading Aussies, Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones kept the Americans in the hunt, looking like the silver medalists. Then it came down to the final 50 meters with the two anchors, USA's Jason Lezak and France's Alain Bernard, and Lezak just turned on the motor (Lezak would later say he got a "supercharge") and beat Bernard by .08 of a second, shattering a world record in the process. It was easily the most thrilling swimming match anyone has ever seen. A link to watch the video is here.



A couple of observations as to the broadcasting of the Games:

1) Does NBC need to have flashy graphics all the time? Specifically, the peacock logo which at times looks as if it has a super bright spotlight on it that fades on and off. It's been incredibly distracting, especially during the Opening Ceremonies.

2) After watching the swimming coverage, I now cringe when NBC poolside analyst Andrea Kremer opens her mouth. It's not so much in how she asks questions, it's in what she asks. In last night's coverage, she repeatedly asked stupid questions akin to, "You just won a gold medal, how do you feel?" On her Wikipedia page, it says she has "been critical of efforts to minimize side line reporting during games." Gee, I wonder why. But that's a story for another post.

3) What is it with commentators calling games before they finish? NBC commentator Rowdy Gaines practically called the relay for the French last night with 100 meters left!

4) What is with the IOC and NBC's crackdown of Olympic footage on YouTube? The video player on NBC's main Olympics website is very selective of what systems it supports, essentially excluding a portion of the population that may not have the most up-to-date computing systems. I understand the crackdown is for copyright purposes, but isn't there a way to allow all users to see footage of the Games if they missed their broadcast?

The Olympics Begin

Photo courtesy of Top News in India.

Just a quick note for today. The Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics begin tonight. As the Games progress, I will attempt to cover as much as possible, with particular emphasis on basketball, swimming, track and field, and maybe even some beach volleyball. As the results are known ahead of time due to the time difference between here and Beijing, so I'll play it by ear or I will put up spoiler warnings when necessary. Will the USA reclaim gold in basketball? Will Michael Phelps claim the record 8 gold medals he seeks?

These Olympic Games are also the most politicized Olympics I have seen. While I will mostly focus on the sports side of things, I may take a post or two to blog on the politics of the Games (i.e. China and Darfur, Chinese censorship, etc.). These will no doubt be a most interesting Olympics.

The Great Favre Debacle...Ends

Picture courtesy of CNN/SportsIllustrated.

Last night, the Green Bay Packers traded Brett Favre to the New York Jets, ending his 16-year tenure with the Pack. When Brett Favre was reinstated by the commissioner's office on Sunday, he reported to the Packers training camp in Green Bay, but was sent home to Mississippi early Wednesday then traded to NY (for a conditional pick in next year's draft) at about 11:15 pm.

This will be a very interesting challenge for Favre. He clearly loves the game, but New York is notorious in sports circles for the unrelenting media coverage and pressure to perform at an elite level. Plus, his stated desire to play for a playoff-caliber team wasn't met in this transaction. The AFC is much, much more competitive because more teams are playoff contenders than the NFC (home of the Packers). However, the Jets schedule is pretty easy with the exception of a few games, particularly games against New England and San Diego back-to-back early in the season when Favre could still be getting used to a new offense. He'll have to learn a whole new system of plays within a month's time.


Picture courtesy of WNBC 4 TV in New York.

This season will prove a test for Brett's passion for football. Will his love for the game hold up under media pressure, intense competition, and the possibility of not making the playoffs? Will his body hold up (he is 38 after all, ancient for a quarterback)? Either way, Favre just made the Jets a whole lot more interesting and he'll be a story to watch all season.

For more coverage on Brett Favre, SportsIllustrated's Peter King, arguably the best football columnist in the country, has been writing about this story for weeks. I highly recommend his columns and he has had some great insight into this story. His latest is here.

Deliberate Hits - Part 2

Image courtesy of TheBaseballZealot.com.

Continuing yesterday's story of the brawl between the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals earlier this week, suspension for the players involved were announced today. Royals catcher Miguel Olivo, who started the brawl by charging the mound after he was hit by a pitch from D.J. Carrasco, was given a 5-game suspension. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen (featured above) was given a two-game suspension for pushing the umpire during the scuffle and for comments made during postgame interviews (for more on those comments, see Part 1). The Royals manager will serve a one-game suspension while Zack Greinke, a Royals pitcher who drilled Sox hitter Nick Swisher with a pitch, will serve 5 games. Greinke hit Swisher in the 7th inning while the fight occurred in the 5th. In regards to the suspensions, all are appropriate amounts. Olivo should have realized that the moment he charged the mound, the benches would clear (which they did). Likewise, Greinke shouldn't of hit Swisher in the 7th after both teams were warned.

In baseball, when a pitcher hits a batter, the other team will usually return the favor (the "eye for an eye" idea). In this case, though, after a major fight happened, there is no support for Greinke to hit Swisher. What if he charged the mound? When suspensions occur as they have here, appeals usually follow. Naturally, Olivo and Greinke are appealing their suspensions (5 games each). Olivo was reported as saying, "We are appealing it because I think that is too much for me. Their pitcher [wasn't] suspended at all, nothing. I'm disappointed because I'm hurt. I got [my] left hand hurt and my right hand. I know I'm going to get suspended, but not like for five days, maybe three or two games. I agree with that, but five games I think is a lot." Greinke wasn't surprised Carrasco received no penalty because "[T]eams weren't warned. He didn't really try to fight Olivo really or anyone." Though Ozzie Guillen is known for a fiery temper and arguing with umpires, he told reporters, "I let my club down for two days." No kidding, Ozzie. But at least he took responsibility for his actions, unlike Olivo and Greinke, especially Olivo.

EDIT (11:31 am): I added two sites to the blog links, Deadspin and The Big Lead. These are the two sports blogs most often linked to online. I highly recommend The Big Lead.

Deliberate Hits - Part 1

Just a quick post for today with more on this topic tomorrow...

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told reporters on Sunday that he tells his pitchers to deliberately hit batters at times. While brushback pitches and retaliatory actions are common in baseball, a manager admitting that he orders certain actions like these is unheard of. It can potentially spark on-field brawls (like Chicago's game Sunday), the league can find and suspend players, etc.

The sportsmanship of the game is in question when a manager calls for an intentional hit on a batter and the action that usually follows (brawling) takes away from the game.

What do you think? Does brawling take away from the game? Do brushback pitches and hit batsmen?

60 Minutes Interviews Bill James

Last night, 60 Minutes did a piece on Boston Red Sox statistician Bill James, the man who invented "sabermetrics". James created the stats known as "slugging percentage", "on-base percentage", and "k/bb ratio (strikeout to walk ratio)". Sabermetrics has redefined baseball stats (even fantasy baseball players consider slugging percentage and k/bb ratio) and these stats helped shape the philosophy of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, known as "Moneyball". The following clips are from the 60 Minutes interview:

More Trade Deadline Thoughts

Picture courtesy of Sports Illustrated.

Yesterday's trade deadline brought up an interesting point amongst the sports community. Would you rather have "a clubhouse distraction who performs at an elite level" or "a good clubhouse presence who performs at an occasional All-Star level"? ESPN's SportsNation polling service asked this question and of the 78,900 people polled, 64% voted for the latter. SportsNation also asked how the Red Sox will do and there isn't a definitive answer. Of the 56,878 polled, 37% say the Sox will just make the playoffs, 31% say they'll miss the playoffs, and 14% say the Sox will win the World Series. The poll is an accurate depiction of Red Sox Nation's reaction to the Manny Ramirez trade in a sense that, no one knows what will happen for the Sox. The Dodgers are getting a marquee hitter, but they now have a crowded outfield and not a whole lot of protection in the lineup for Manny. In addition, Dodger Stadium is less hitter-friendly than Fenway Park is, so his home run total can and likely will go down. The Dodgers will likely win the NL West, but lose in the playoffs' first round due to their overall lineup weakness (Prior to tonight's game, their record is .500).

As for the Teixeira trade to the Angels, SportsNation asked 40,864 people how the Angels' season will play out. 44% say they'll win the World Series, 32% say they'll lose in the American League Championship Series (ALCS). Interestingly, they asked if Mark Teixeira will play for the Angels in 2009, with 61% saying yes.



Picture courtesy of the Northwest Herald.

Other trades made before the deadline included pitcher Rich Harden going from the Oakland Athletics to the Chicago Cubs, pitcher C.C. Sabathia going from the Cleveland Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers, pitcher Joe Blanton going from the Oakland Athletics to the Philadelphia Phillies, and outfielder Xavier Nady and pitcher Damaso Marte going from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the New York Yankees. Of these deals, the Cubs and Brewers made the best ones. Nady and Marte have made contributions for the Yanks, but Harden and Sabathia contributed immediately and instantly made their new teams better (much like Manny has done with the Dodgers).

I think the season will shape up like this:

American League:
West Champ: Angels
Central Champ: Chicago White Sox
East Champ: Tampa Bay Rays (the Cinderella story of the season)
Wild Card: Red Sox (barely; if not the Sox, the Yanks)
ALCS: Tampa Bay vs. Angels

National League:
West Champ: Dodgers
Central Champ: Cubs (by far the best team in the NL)
East Champ: Phillies
Wild Card: Brewers
NLCS: Cubs vs. Phillies

World Series: Cubs vs. Angels
World Champion: Angels