Boston – 1st one between the Celts and Hawks this year, and you’ve got Tommy Heinson with Mike Gorman calling the end of the game. Second one is Garnett and Pierce at the press conference.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Video, sports at 3:52 AM GMT+4

No Comments »

An early sack on Matt Cassel led to a classic Freudian slip on behalf of Ron Jaworski: As Kevin Faulk seemingly missed a block in the back field during the play, Ron went on to explain that the ‘black’ had missed his blocking assignment.

After Sammy Morris went in for the games first touchdown the TV cameras panned to the crowd and showed two male fans excitedly screaming at each other, as one of them went up for the high-five his friend had just begun to look away and left him hanging, the fan begrudgingly had to retreat from the high-five and put his hand down in shame on national TV.

On Welker’s 44 yard punt return in the 3rd quarter the end-zone camera zoomed in on Welker’s face as he awaited the snap. He looked like a man possessed; he was talking to himself and twitching his head around. I couldn’t make out the words but the intense sight of Welker before the snap led me to believe that we would see a nice return should he have the chance. Perhaps that’s what he was muttering to himself, “Just give me a chance and I’ll f’n burn you!”

Moss’s touchdown where he took a ‘Gillette Jump’ into the awaiting arms of super fan Syd Davy, who was dressed up like a Viking, was certainly highlight worthy and will be aired about 1,000 times on ESPN today alone. Some recognition has to go to the fan to the left of Davy: as Moss was pulled into the crowd and patted on the back a fan within reach was faced with a large dilemma as he was double fisting two cups of beer. You could see it playing out in is mind on TV as he looked down at his beers with a ‘what to do’ expression, he quickly overcame the obstacle as he shoved one cup in his mouth and held it with his teeth so he could join in patting Moss on the back.

On another note, the Patriot Gestapo has apparently identified who sold Davy the end-zone ticket and with any luck will be apprehending the subject swiftly so we can all sleep better at night:

“In a related story, Patriots personnel is reviewing the tape to identify the fan who sold his tickets to Davy. Suffice to say, he or she has already been identified and their ticket privileges may be severely altered in the future.” (http://chi.scout.com/a.z?s=25&p=2&c=803279)

To his credit Tony Kornheiser admitted that he was wrong at the time when he said the Patriots move to acquire Moss last year was a mistake, a rare instance of integrity from an ESPN ‘analyst’. Apparently Tony was hoping that Ron ‘Burgundy’ Jaworski would join his coming out party, when Tony asked Ron for an update on his stance that the Patriots should have acquired a veteran quarterback after Brady went down Ron went on to say how good a move it was sticking with Cassel and how over-hyped the move of bringing in veteran was. Ron apparently didn’t understand Tony and like a sheep spouted out whatever he believed went along with what Tony had said.

I am convinced had Tony said: ‘Now Ron, in hindsight don’t you think it was a mistake Belichick didn’t give the reigns back to Drew Bledsoe in 2001 after Tom Brady led them into the playoffs?’ – Ron would have gone into a 2 minute tirade about how the Patriots made a huge mistake in sticking with Brady back in ’01.

Posted by nick as sports at 10:36 AM GMT+4

2 Comments »

What if the Knicks had never hired Isiah Thomas?

“This could have been its own bizarro “Where Amazing Happens” commercial called “Where Isiah Happens.”

Where Phoenix dumps the Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway contracts on someone and remakes its team into a contender happens.

Where Chicago dumps Eddy Curry for two lottery picks and copious amounts of cap space happens.

Where Toronto finds some dummy to take Jalen Rose’s contract and aid its rebuilding process happens.

Where San Antonio dumps Malik Rose’s contract for a center who helps them win the title happens.

Where the 2008 Blazers become the most likable young team in the league because they found a taker for Zach Randolph happens.

Where a Truck Party happens.

Where a humiliating $11 million sexual harassment settlement happens.

Where an NBA frontcourt that includes two C-cups happens.

Where a 60-year tradition of professional basketball goes down the tubes happens.

Where Isiah Happens.”

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 4:45 PM GMT+4

No Comments »

John Shea for the San Fransico Chronicle…(this is the gruesome end)

Stewart never was afraid to speak his mind on Clemens, stemming from their one-sided duels on the mound. Clearly, Stewart resented Clemens for receiving so many accolades while repeatedly losing to his nemesis. Stewart won 20 games four straight years (1987 to 1990) but never got a Cy Young sniff. In those years, Stewart was 7-0 in games when matched with Clemens. Overall, he was 7-1 in the regular season and 2-0 in the 1990 American League Championship Series. Clemens’ record against Stewart was 1-8, his only win coming in their first showdown, in 1984 when Stewart pitched for Texas.From there, Clemens’ most notable meltdown came in Game 4 of the ‘90 ALCS.

With his Red Sox about to be swept and on the verge of another loss to Stewart, Clemens went berserk in the second inning, charged plate umpire Terry Cooney and got ejected. Clemens let down his team at a vital moment rather than accepting defeat, and Stewart now sees Clemens caught in a similar dilemma, making life harder than necessary on himself and acting as his own worst enemy by taking his case to Congress. “The best thing Roger could’ve done is shut up and let it go away, and it would’ve gone away,” Stewart said. “People want to believe everything Roger projects himself to be, and this would’ve blown over. Now if they find out he did HGH and steroids, he’ll never go to the Hall of Fame and he’ll be proven one big liar who tried to pull a scam on everybody.”

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 2:05 AM GMT+4

No Comments »

The time that passes is a frustratingly slow grind. No big plans or recipes, nor are there the usual assortments of imported drink, all replaced by laundry folding, floor cleaning and anything else I can direct my nervous energy towards until 6 o’clock finally rolls around. I don’t want to hear about the game or even think about it. My neighbor shares that he was able to wager on a -6 Pats/+18 Giants teaser…that makes it worse because then I start to think about how it’s come to this last day, and the perceived risk of that wager is so low…the WEEI crew has turned Patriots fan-dome into a neo-evangelical experience, with a victory today only the surest of sure things that there ever was or ever will be. You are damned for all eternity if the cocky swagger doesn’t appeal to you (unless you’re a player or a coach on the team of course), with doubt being the sin of eternity, never to be washed off, and never forgiven.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 5:23 PM GMT+4

2 Comments »

Things are going our way here in New England, and I’m very grateful for that.

4 games out west, 4 wins…spring can’t come fast enough.

I still like Petrobrazil (PBR), Oracle (ORCL), Gold ETF (IAU), Canada Nat’l Resources (CNQ), Resmed (RMD), Google (GOOG)

Keeping my eye on Transocean (RIG), Malaysia, Russia, Brazil, McDonalds (MCD)…

Good luck in 2008!

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 12:19 AM GMT+4

1 Comment »

Hoping not to jinx anything, I’m now looking forward to what it will take for BC to earn a shot in the national title game. Clearly, they have to win out, which means winning games in Death Valley (Clemson) and Maryland. The Clemson game is going to be the most ominous, as we’ve beaten them twice in a row. An ACC title game would be vs. either Virginia or Virginia Tech.

The comeback win last Thursday taught me a great life lesson. When you’re recording one game on the DVR and watching another, make sure to schedule the box to record the program that comes on after the game as well. Throughout the night I was watching the recording of that game during commercials in the World Series, but since I had failed to record the program that came on after the BC-VT game, I was only able to watch up until halfway through the 4th quarter. Running to the computer after finding this out, I honestly figured they’d lost, but had hoped that they hadn’t been shutout. It turns out I missed the greatest comeback in the team’s history.

Heading into this week, I’m wondering how many years it will take before the Big 10, Pac 10 and Big East finally start having conference championship games. If SEC, ACC and Big 12 teams have to do it, then the other three conferences shouldn’t be getting over. That said, if Arizona St. makes it through these last four games undefeated, how can Ohio St. be considered more worthy of a slot in the title game? Hypothetically, if Kansas-BC-OhioSt-ArizonaSt all win out, the title game could be BC vs. Ohio St, which appears on its face to be very very very unfair. Likewise, if one of those four teams loses a game and LSU wins out, how can anyone pretend that making it out of the SEC with one loss is somehow less impressive than making it out of the Big 10 undefeated, never having to play a conference championship game?

I’m anticipating that if BC holds onto the #2 ranking and earns a shot at the title, there will be a #3 team that most of the college football world considers more worthy, and it will suck having to listen to it for a full month prior to New Years. The NCAA has to be hoping that there are only two undefeated teams at the end (sorry Hawaii, even though Boise St. beat Okahoma in a BCS bowl game to go undefeated last year, and in 2004 Utah decimated just about every team it played, “your kind” are second-class citizens.) I think it will most likely work out to something like 2004, when USC and Oklahoma played in the title game, while Auburn went undefeated and had to take a back seat. I think it’s wrong to exclude ANY SEC team that goes undefeated in the title game.

Anyways, I’m looking forward to Arizona St-Oregon in a couple hours, and the Seminoles are in Chestnut Hill tonight. The Celtics played defense last night. Peyton is in for a long, painful Sunday.   Read the rest of this entry �

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 4:41 PM GMT+4

2 Comments »

Pam’s House Blend: “Rudy flip-flops on marriage amendment — and still fails to win over Values Voters“  Straw Poll Results:
Name … Percentage
1. Mitt Romney … 27.62%
2. Mike Huckabee …27.10%
3. Ron Paul … 14.98%
4. Fred Thompson …9.77%
5. Sam Brownback …5.14%
6. Duncan Hunter …2.42%
7. Tom Tancredo … 2.30%
8. Rudy Giuliani …1.85%
9. John McCain … 1.40 %

Al: “Manny Ramirez gets put on the top six stories on Yahoo for saying it doesn’t matter if the Red Sox lose game 5…mountains of words all over the frivilous vast expanse of sporting media, and Dubya slides on this episode right here”. Video pulled from Blue Girl, Red State

Manila Rice from The Largest Minority covered Maher Arar’s appearance at a House hearing (via satelite, since it’s still not safe for him to actually step foot in America): Calls Mount for Bush to Apologize to Torture Victim

The Liberal Doomsayer sends Dennis Hassert off proper

James at NBAObsessed: Gilbert Arenas to test Free Agency

Posted by Al Swearengen as Justice, politics, sports at 2:33 AM GMT+4

No Comments »

College Football – MLB Divisional Round

Those rare extended periods of seemingly historical events lining up one after the other, where the second you think it can’t get any better than it already is, something else happens…like Stanford converting a 4th and 20, then scoring to go up on 2nd ranked USC by a point with less than a minute to go. Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, Texas and Rutgers all lose last week. The ACC claimed one of those victims, with Maryland taking out Rutgers, but the most brutal ass-kicking of them all was South Florida over West Virginia. That game is one I saw, along with Auburn beating Florida (even the most passive football fan should never miss this annual matchup!), and the euphoria has carried over from 7 days ago, as 6TH RANKED Boston College took it to Bowling Green today, winning 55-24.

USC (2) has now officially lost to unranked Stanford, LSU (1) is down by three in the third quarter to a pissed off Florida team, and Wisconsin (5) already lost to Illinois. Simply put, Boston College is going to at least move up ahead of Wisconsin. Next week vs. Notre Dame, and after that it’s a bloodbath with away games at Virginia Tech, Clemson (in Death Valley, where they won in 2005), Maryland, at home against Florida St. and Miami. Right now, I’m worried most about Virginia Tech and Florida State, with Maryland as the trap game. If they were to make it through that run undefeated, then win the ACC championship game, there wouldn’t be any way the polls could rob them of a shot at the big game. No doubt, they will get robbed in the end, but I’m purposely denying myself a taste of that gruesome reality.

Al on 9/27: “As for the team coming out of the national league, I’m having a hard time figuring out how teams are going to hit against the Diamondback pitchers. If Webb is hitting on all cylinders, he can pitch forever, and their bullpen is better than anyone else’s, especially in the late innings with Lyon, Cruz and Valverde.“

The Phillies weren’t that good of a team, but Chicago had a roster that looked to be built for October. In game one there was a meltdown of sorts, with their most dominant reliever Carlos Marmol giving it up in the 7th, first with a solo homerun, and then two more hits plus a walk for another run. That ended up being the difference, along with Ted Lilly not earning his money in game 2. The Diamondbacks are the most dangerous team besides the Red Sox. I think that’s going to be the world series matchup, and if I had to take one pitching staff or other other, it’d be hard not to take Arizona’s.

The pitching staff for Colorado came out of nowhere, so it seemed. I’m not entirely sold on the concept just yet. Likewise the brilliant future of Joba Chamberlain. It would have been easy to include one of him all covered in buzz-plague from last night, but it’s not the rookie’s fault the Yankees are down 0-2. Once again there are playoff games at stake, and once again Alex Rodriguez can be struck out with three pitches he’d have been able to handle back in September. Luckily, I’m a Red Sox fan.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 2:26 AM GMT+4

21 Comments »

Anyone who has followed this race down the stretch, you know what I’m talking about.  They’re up 2-0 on the Dodgers late in tonight’s game, and if they win, they’d still be a game out of the wild card spot with both Philly and San Diego ahead of them, though it would be 10 wins in a row!  The Mets are fading in this last week, and could lose the division to Philly, as their one game lead isn’t looking solid at this point.  If I had to pick one of those four teams in a seven game series, I’d go with San Diego, but at this point, my heart’s with Colorado. 

As for the team coming out of the national league, I’m having a hard time figuring out how teams are going to hit against the Diamondback pitchers.  If Webb is hitting on all cylinders, he can pitch forever, and their bullpen is better than anyone else’s, especially in the late innings with Lyon, Cruz and Valverde.  I won’t get into predictions from the American League just yet.  Manny and Youk are back now, Gagne managed not to blow a 6 run lead tonight (actually struck out two in a row to end an inning with runners at the corners), Okajima is still a question mark, Dice-K seems worn out, Lugo & Drew are hitting right now…in the American League, with the four teams that are in, I’d take Josh Beckett in a game seven start over anyone.  I’m not sure Boston’s bullpen is even better than the Yankees’ now.  Joba Chamberlain is for real, and in spite of our success vs. Rivera in recent years, it’s still a bad feeling knowing your team has to score a run off of him to tie up a game.  He’s one of the only guys I’d ever pinch hit a righty in place of a lefty. 

The magic number is 2, and it looks like the Sox are going up against the Angels.  Like I said, the NL is wide open, and I’m pulling for Colorado to make it in. 

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 12:37 AM GMT+4

7 Comments »

I agree with the guy. Even when it happens in professional sports, it sucks. I’ve been tempted some nights to get on the blog and tear Eric Gagne to pieces, but then I calm down and get over it. When atheletes make problems with their mouth or lack of discipline, I feel like it’s open season, but to screw up in a game is human. Not only that, but we fans are really full of shit if we think that somehow it hurts us more than it does the guy who screwed up and lost the game. At the college level I especially respect a guy who will stand up for his players like this guy just did. The vast majority of college atheletes don’t make a living off of sports once they’ve graduated, and they don’t make a penny while they’re going to school. That scholarship is something they earn tenfold when you consider the amount of revenue a successful program brings in to the school.

Coming from the Boston area, I’m used to a combative sporting press, especially on the radio, but even back there, they won’t get on a Boston College player’s case like often happens in the midwest at that level (and sometimes high school as well). I think some of these fans are nuts, but the fact that they’re nuts means there’s a market for the type of writing this coach is upset about. Not much going on in Oklahoma…can’t forget that. The articles on OU and OSU that come out after a game, are like Page 6 in the NY Post for them. Or, to equate it with something I look forward to reading, Barron’s weekly, on a Saturday night…damn, the sheer notion of that being an exciting way to spend a Saturday night, if the 23 year old me had known about this, I’d definitely be short a few thousand more brain cells. Check out this video:

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, Video, sports at 10:11 PM GMT+4

No Comments »

Watching the pile-on this weekend, I finally understand how it must feel to be a Republican right now. The only comment I have on all of this is…who the hell signed Emmitt Smith up for Sunday Countdown? Did they notice that he’s barely able to speak at a 4th grade level? I assume there’s a producer scratching their head somewhere at ESPN, getting the “he knocked the interview out of the park, honestly”, mantra cued up. Next to Keyshawn Johnson, the Emmitt Smith contract looks worse than the one they gave Rush Limbaugh a couple years ago. But anyways – here’s the third adaptation of that crazy Britney video I’ve found ‘post-worthy’ in less than a week:

Posted by Al Swearengen as Comedy, Video, sports at 5:49 PM GMT+4

2 Comments »

(Yardbarker) So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is not a shark attack. A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space.

Aparantly he lifted the bit from comedian Ian Edwards, but unlike when Carlos Mencia steals another comedian’s material, Arenas stealing your jokes equals free advertising. Mencia stealing your jokes equals rape. Worse than that, he’s pissing on the industry, ala what Barry Bonds is doing to baseball. Erasing the notion that the game or the stage is sacred, or at least worth more than any one person who capitalizes on there being this venue for their talent in the first place. No one has likened Bonds to Mencia that I know of, but they’re the same type of person as I see it. And when comparing the two situations, I suppose Joe Rogan would be comedy’s version of Curt Schilling.

Joe Rogan and Carlos Mencia Fight (MUST SEE)

Read the rest of this entry �

Posted by Al Swearengen as Comedy, Video, sports at 7:31 PM GMT+4

14 Comments »

The years of devotion eventually pay off, although AFTER I move 100 miles away from the Fleet Center and can’t afford to go anyway. One game I managed to convince my father to attend with me during the Antoine-Pierce-O’Brien years was against Minnesota. We lost and Garnett was primarily the reason – rebounding on both ends and managing to will his team up a notch higher than its talent would put it otherwise.  Back then he was running with Joe Smith, Troy Hudson, Wally…but they could beat us more often than not whether in Minnesota or at home.

Now he’s playing alongside Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Nothing could convince me that it was a done deal until today, and even then I was anticipating some sort of letdown. I suspect this is the real deal, and somehow from the Draft Lottery to today, Danny Ainge has pulled off something the ping pong balls were determined to deny us. Of course, Bill Simmons puts a perfect column together on this deal, so I’ll leave it at that and direct you to his words. (McHale adds another notch to his Celtics legacy)

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 10:50 PM GMT+4

2 Comments »

The Celts got smacked around once more by the ping-pong curse, and so the #5 pick on Thursday night is what we’ve ended up with after posting the 2nd worst record. As depressing as it was to watch the western conference scoop up two more top picks, the upside to all this is, at least it’s not 2006! This #5 pick in particular is worth something. The Boston Globe has a piece on Al Thornton and also a slide show with all of the possibilities for the Celts in this draft (there’s an obvious error on the first page).

One option was to trade the pick, Theo Ratliff and Gerald Green to Phoenix in exchange for Shawn Marion, and out of the 15 or so they have for you to vote on at the end, it’s the one I chose. When the results show up I’m once again ashamed to be a member of ‘Celtic Nation’, as out of 9000+ votes, “Trade Paul Pierce” ends up in third place with over 12%. I’ve been calling people idiots for years now when they say this, and have realized that Pierce needs to learn how to fly in order to please the hoopleheads.

There was a time when I’d have a definite opinion about who we should pick, and a month ago I was all about getting Al Thornton, the senior out of Florida St. Then a couple of weeks ago I decided we needed the best defender available, which would most likely be Corey Brewer out of Florida. At this point my only conviction is that Ainge cannot not draft the Chinese guy. In this draft class there is one way in particular to ensure a stomach ulcer , and taking him at #5 would be just that. For the love of God (or Joseph Smith if it helps you see the light) Danny…turn this pick into a player who can earn 20+ minutes a night the second he walks onto the floor.

And then FIRE DOC RIVERS ALREADY, with the plan being to lure either Rick Carlysle or Jim O’Brien back to Boston. The team then learns how to earn minutes on the defensive end, get stops in the 4th quarter and get past the first round of the playoffs. I think it can all happen as long as there’s no Chinese guy at #5, and…well, at least if Danny doesn’t screw up the first part, it’ll only be a matter of time before Doc proves once again that he’s not cut out for this. (Bill Simmons on the draft)

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 5:43 AM GMT+4

4 Comments »

(SF Chronicle) The Giants issued a statement from owner Peter Magowan on Sunday saying, “When our partnership group took over the Giants in 1993, all of San Francisco was treated to a wonderful 103-win year. Nobody who was a part of that will forget Rod’s 48 saves. When we reached our dream of the playoffs in 1997, it was only fitting that Rod was on the mound for the final out that clinched the National League West.”

The next season, having gone to the Cubs as a free agent, he saved a career-high 51 games, including Chicago’s 5-3 victory over the Giants in a one-game play-in for the National League wild card. Beck’s velocity declined over the years, especially after he underwent “Tommy John” elbow surgery in 2002. By the time he signed with the Padres in 2003, he barely hit 83 mph with his fastball. However, when closer Trevor Hoffman went down with a shoulder injury, Beck converted 20 consecutive save opportunities.

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 5:53 AM GMT+4

3 Comments »

Last night he was sprinting to his right after a gaper, and with the wide angle about a half a second off of the bat, it looked like he’d never be able to get there. The play ends up looking like so many putouts made by the Red Sox center fielder this season, only here he ends up stretched out completely parallel to the earth below, exerting every bit of energy he possibly could to meet that ball at the spot where its journey ended. The diving catch I’m describing from the 5th inning of last night’s game is one of the most beautiful plays I’ve ever seen. He simply cannot catch up to that ball in time…even in the replays it looks like an uncatchable ball. What makes it even more enjoyable though, is seeing Alex Cora within the frame of the field level shot of the catch, raising his right arm to signal an out before Crisp has even gone into his dive.

That angle in particular should make this one an automatic #1 top play on Sportscenter today – since there wasn’t any golf on television to knock it down to #2 – and Boston retains the best record in baseball for another day. As strong up the middle as any team in baseball, with Crisp giving Grady Sizemore a run for his money out in the field, it’s certainly a good time to be a Red Sox pitcher. Ten years ago the Sox never would have acquired a player with the attributes that Crisp possesses, and these plays he is able to make would have gone for extra bases, resulting in at least 3 extra games in the loss column by this point in the season. There’s no video that I know of available for embedding along with this post – MLB being the idiot fortress that it is – so you’ll either have to take my word for it or CLICK HERE – and select “Crisp’s diving catch”.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 3:35 PM GMT+4

No Comments »

There was a time in my life when something like this would never get by me. Three straight nights of the game starting after 10PM, and all day long I’m thinking the 4th in Oakland is a night game. Schilling pitches a complete game, missing a no-hitter by one batter, and I missed it. *&$%!!!

(Story) Maybe the next time a Boston pitcher takes a no-hit bid into the ninth inning, he’ll listen to catcher Jason Varitek. Curt Schilling came within one out of his first career no-hitter Thursday, losing his bid when Shannon Stewart lined a clean single to right field after Schilling shook off his catcher. Schilling finished with a one-hitter as the Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 1-0. “We get two outs, and I was sure, and I had a plan, and I shook Tek off,” Schilling said. “And I get a big `What if?’ for the rest of my life.”

Without fail, when a Sox pitcher is giving up hits (I’m thinking about Dice-K here), he’s missing location. When the pitch meets Varitek’s glove, and it’s the pitch he called for, it always seems to go right.

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 9:17 PM GMT+4

No Comments »

(BostonGlobe) Asante Samuel: “I’m not coming to camp. I’m not showing up until the 10th week [of the season]. I feel unappreciated. The way they’re treating me is just wrong.” ~~ He added the ‘week 10′ thing, which is original. Will we have 3 first round picks for next year? I’d rather have Samuel locked up for 2-3 years, but as I explained earlier:

(Asante Samuel – 1/9/07) “There are plenty of them going here or there each offseason, but the “shut-down” cornerbacks in this league are few and far between. What results of course is maximum 7 year contracts with signing bonus cash entering the player’s bank account in 5 million dollar chunks or more on the first day of training camp. Asante Samuel has his eyes on just that heading into the divisional round of the playoffs. With 11 interceptions under his belt so far, the chances of a holdout…are probably higher than Samuel receiving that kind of a contract from Bill Belichick.“

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 5:28 PM GMT+4

5 Comments »

Bruce Bowen ages a year in this series vs. Lebron, and the team that can figure it out consistently on defense and hit open shots will prevail. I was enlightened by something I read earlier today:

(CavsBlog) Reason to Believe #1: Cleveland is 2-0 against the Spurs this year. The Cavs played San Antonio twice this season. The first was the second game of the season way back in November (box score) and the second was the day after New Years’ (box score).

Posted by Al Swearengen as Video, sports at 4:31 PM GMT+4

2 Comments »

Bad feelings in the captain’s chair last night, all about this recognition of something I’d denied a few times already this year, this biased mind clinging onto hope for a higher peak yet undiscovered, though realistic the entire time about how much extra juice could actually be injected into the bloodstream from the addition of Chris Webber, the Pistons have lost something along the way, and while I wasn’t made to be more optimistic by anything I saw this season, there wasn’t much of a doubt that they’d handle whatever came at them in the East and struggle in the finals. The best that most teams in this league can hope for is a realistic outlook like that.

The fear hadn’t crept in to stay until last night. It was hard to watch Chauncey Billups single-handedly blow the game in the final two minutes. My yearly playoff dream team has had Chauncey at the point for 3 years running, but if last night’s game was a sign of things to come, the ride may be coming to an end. Analysis will point out the disgraceful numbers produced by Webber and a bad night from Rasheed, but like I said before, expecting Webber to make your team better is a mistake, and with Sheed’s production throughout the playoffs, I’m not laying game four on his shoulders. This one belongs to my guy Billups, and worse than anything, his poor decision-making spanned a couple timeouts, plenty of time to get your head back to where it needs to be.

That didn’t happen. He iced the game for Cleveland with a stupid pull up 3 pointer in transition. So maybe he figures out what made him lose 50 points on his basketball IQ in game 4, and it turns out to be a fluke. I hope that’s the case. Because if Detroit has a 3:1 or 4:1 chance of beating San Antonio in the finals, then I’d put Cleveland at 6:1. I’m rooting for the Pistons, but above everything else, I’m rooting for the chance to see San Antonio sweat at some point in their series. And yes, that means I have indeed written off Utah. Deron Williams cannot do it alone. Kirilenko and Okur need to donate their game 4 checks to charity. Doom and gloom…

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 12:50 PM GMT+4

1 Comment »

“Here’s a 6-foot-6, 300-pound guy, as intimidating as can be, and yet every time you approached him he always welcomed you with big old smile. In between the lines, he had his game-face on, but outside the lines, in the community or in the weight room, he was always smiling and having good time.” – LSU athletics spokesman Michael Bonnette

“Marquise will be remembered as a thoughtful and caring young man who established himself as one of the year-round daily fixtures of our team. I send my deepest condolences to the Hill family.” - Bill Belichick

“We are absolutely heartbroken to learn of Marquise’s death. Our immediate thoughts go to Marquise’s mother, Sherry, and the rest of his family. He was only 24 years old and his death is hard to comprehend. Marquise was a very respectful young man who worked hard to improve and was always eager to contribute to the team, both on the field and in the community. On behalf of the entire Patriots organization, we extend our most heartfelt sympathies to Marquise’s family and friends who mourn his loss.” – Robert Kraft

Hill’s agent, Albert Elias, said the player spent much of his time since Hurricane Katrina helping rebuild the homes of family members including his mother, Sherry, and the mother of his 2-year-old son.

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 11:57 AM GMT+4

No Comments »

After tonight, I’m sure it’s in there somewhere…

As NBA commissioner, David Stern has made sure that the kids understand how vital it is to have a pair of his player’s sneakers. He’s promoted the game for years now as if every single fan out there is a kid who wants to be like Mike. Diluting the value of a franchise’s players, while risking serious injury, he has made it a point to ensure that a tired batch of meal tickets get embarrassed annually in some international tournament that nobody in this country even gives a shit about anyway. And then to compensate for the fact that his product consists of a couple hundred young millionaires, many of whom grew up on some very mean streets, he has introduced “mandatory minimums” and kept them in place year after year, in spite of the arbitrary way they have helped to ruin entire seasons.

The Phoenix Suns, their fans and also fans like me, who deserved better this year, can all attest to this. I was sitting in a hotel room in Venice, CA in 1997, when Stern’s brainchild turned an assault of a point guard by a power forward into the worst miscarriage of justice his leadership had yet to produce. PJ Brown chucked a much smaller Charlie Ward into the stands behind one of the baselines, and somehow the Knicks ended up being the team with 4 players suspended. Rules and discipline had nothing to do with the decisions that were handed down, but rather the general mindset of this man and how the natural physicality and raw emotion of this great sport of basketball offends him so much, that whenever anything bad happens, all you can hear is “Shakedown!” as prison warden Stern puts the organization on high alert, with guards swapping out rubber bullets for the real deal should any of the inmates happen to step one foot over one of those painted lines on the floor.

That’s who he is and that is what his influence has created here. So 10 years later another power forward decides to take out his aggression on a point guard, and again the natural instinct of a couple of players to stand up for their teammate caused them to take a single step onto the court from the bench area. Neither Diaw nor Stoudamire got close enough to the action to even spit on anyone involved, and both moved back onto the sidelines. There was absolutely no malicious intent on the part of a single player on that court, besides of course the one that initiated the violence in the first place. Nonetheless, mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines are not something that can be overruled by a lower court, and in a situation where David Stern must choose between the game of basketball or a Napoleon-moment for himself, he always chooses wrong.

Indeed, the arbitrary authoritarianism Stern embodies is the essence of how the NBA treats both its players and its fans these days. They are big young guys full of adrenaline, and we are all young, impressionable and bound to learn our most valuable life lessons from a sport we watch on TV. The players are necessary to have a sport in the first place, but in Stern’s mind if you don’t keep them on a short leash, one of these nights they’ll end up somehow causing an entire arena to collapse. What will America think of the sport then? 25,000 fans died because the commissioner wasn’t willing to institute gag orders and mandatory minimums…’they’d tear me apart in the papers’! So the fines are handed out for anyone that even thinks something negative towards the league or its proud ruler, and the lines on the floor of this bloc are there for a reason.

Same goes for draft picks! Unlike every other professional sport on the planet, the NBA doesn’t grant the worst teams with the opportunity to draft the best players coming out of college that year. The draft order is decided by a lottery. This year that lottery managed to give the three teams with the worst records the 4th, 5th and 6th picks respectively. Somehow this nonsense adds value to the sport in Stern’s mind, as do the mandatory minimums and filling up the USA teams with stars who need the off season to rest. And so, the fans of a city like Boston, Milwaukee or Memphis end up lingering in the ether a year or two longer, or perhaps forever if the FUCKING PING-PONG BALLS DECIDE that’s the way it should be. Like there isn’t enough injustice in this world already.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 11:59 PM GMT+4

4 Comments »

I couldn’t help but think of the film Dirty Dancing, when news of his ‘confession’ hit the wire. It’s the scene right after Baby providing the alibi for Swayze, admitting that she’d been sleeping with him when the wallets were stolen, only to find out that they fired him anyway. “So I did it for NOTHING?” She cries out at the injustice, and the hefty price she paid for doing the right thing. Does anyone think Giambi wasn’t feeling those very same emotions yesterday and the day before? The Yankees were using his confession to void the stupid contract they signed him to, and the vultures were already nibbling at his flesh.

First impressions of someone like him or Bonds copping to the fact that they used steroids and HGH, for me are like learning that OJ was writing a book about how he killed his wife and Ron Goldman. Though Giambi isn’t as much of a villain in all this as he’s made out to be by the sporting press. After reading a couple articles on him yesterday, it seemed to me that the press had once again lost itself somewhere up its own ass. Case in point: Giambi’s ‘apology’ is full of holes.

There’s a giant disconnect here when it comes to the impact all of this has had on the game of baseball…basically none that I can see (perhaps being part of Red Sox Nation keeps me blind to the outside universe), but for the players it has absolutely had an impact. For the most part they’re a group of lying cocksuckers, for whom the millions of dollars they’ve made over the years doesn’t provide enough comfort to make it possible for them to simply tell the truth. Mark McGuire is perhaps the worst of them all, with the hero-status he achieved in breaking Marris’s record, and that neck of his resembling an unnatural phenomenon rarely found outside of professional wrestling.

He, like Rafael Palmerio, lied to Congress and to all of us. The lust for a lasting positive persona in the world, a reality only to them and the collections of idiots still out there who can’t put two and two together, is apparantly the vice that drives their ongoing delusional behavior. But to be fair, if I were in their shoes, with Pete Rose still kicking around in the world, it wouldn’t be something to look forward to once the truth was finally out there. Painful and shameful and hasta la vista Cooperstown…there is still something to be said about the actual reach of all this, and the fact that no one player deserves to carry the load for everyone. By every account I’ve seen, the use of drugs was widespread within every clubhouse in baseball.

With that in mind, I honestly admire Giambi for coming clean and at least not treating us like we’re idiots. For one player who used the stuff to win an MVP, a home run record or the ability to pitch effectively with a 50 year old body (ahem…Roger), to finally man up and say it, may constitute a reason to hope for the best as this debacle continues to unfold. Because soon enough, Bonds will be one away from tying and then breaking Aaron’s record, and I’m not going to lie and say it won’t matter to me that he cheated. It will. I’ll be pissed off that the guy was able to walk out of the bank holding bags of stolen cash, stroll right past the police and just keep on going. We’re all suckers the day he passes Aaron, and judging by the state of our culture in the year 2007, Giambi will end up being a sucker, while those mentioned previously will ride their silence and false statements into the Hall of Fame.

That sucks! Giambi should be applauded for admitting that he used. I don’t care that he’s a Yankee. I admire his courage. He didn’t do the right thing for a while, but he did do the right thing the other day, and that’s worth something. It should be worth something to all of us. He didn’t have to say it, but he did anyway.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 2:17 PM GMT+4

1 Comment »

After Ted Johnson and Roman Phifer retired, the middle linebacker spot alongside Teddy Bruschi was a noticeable weakness in the Pats defense, on the run in particular. Monty Beisel and Chad Brown were both flops, and while Mike Vrabel’s transition to the middle helped a great deal, his talent as an edge rusher being removed from the equation had an adverse affect on the bottom line. During this period, Tully Banta-Cain was able to get a lot more reps and did indeed emerge as a starting NFL linebacker, though only for a little while, as he is now a 49er. The first piece that appeared to fit perfectly within the scheme was Junior Seau.

His ability to angle and time his attack was what allowed him such success in spite of his age, and in witnessing his ability to improve with every game, it was clear that Seau naturally embodied the the mix of toughness and intelligence needed to excel in Belichick’s defensive scheme. It seemed obvious to me that he had plenty left in the tank, and so today’s news confirming his return to New England for another year was more comforting than surprising. We have our 1st and 2nd down inside linebacker to play beside Bruschi once again, and with Rosevelt Colvin, Mike Vrabel and Adelius Thomas all healthy and in the mix, it’s looking to be a long year for opposing offenses…quarterbacks especially! Though what I’m mostly impressed by when it comes to Junior’s game, is his insatiable lust for disruption.

This influx of disruption is why I’m equally as excited about Seau coming back as I am about all ‘The New Patriots‘, and can hardly wait to see him right up on the line that first time, reading the snap count, blowing through the offensive line and smashing his first running back in the mouth for a loss. This play in particular probably equaled a killed drive per game last season. Combine that with the level of energy Seau brings on the field and on the sideline…it’s the kind of thing that makes my head gush serotonin. Which it is right now, just from thinking about it! (Source)

Key point to walk away with: Randy Moss will get most of the press coverage in terms of players brought in for the super bowl run this year, but the re-signing of Junior Seau may in fact prove to be more crucial to our success than the trade for Moss OR the signing of Thomas. At the end of the season we’ll see if I’m right.

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 5:32 PM GMT+4

5 Comments »

I’m getting excited about Oscar vs. Floyd! As with most sporting events of this magnitude that I end up looking forward to for a long time, I’ve made a point to ignore all press/hype/predictions/etc…with boxing especially, the whole ‘there’s bad blood between the two camps’ narrative doesn’t interest me anymore. I fully understand the business necessity of doing it like that, to get the hoopleheads interested, hopefully a bunch of them that don’t even like boxing. The epitome of this, as far as my lifetime is concerned, was Holmes-Cooney, when the Rappaport brothers did and said everything they could to draw out every possible wallet owned by a racist they could. It worked. Though reality took over shortly after the bell rung, with Holmes at the top of his game, doing his thing…years later he remarked on the whole thing in depth, though my all time favorite quote wasn’t about how his one fight with a white challenger yada yada, but this: “Once that bell rings, all that bullshit goes out the window. It’s just you and me, you can’t call the cops.”

I’m getting carried away here, as this was supposed to be a quick hit in the midst of a school break and my brain definitely preferred writing about boxing as opposed to the software testing paper I’ve got to get back to work on…the real reason I wanted to set-up by mentioning Oscar and Floyd, was because it’s on HBO. Here are some of my other favorite fights from that channel. Let me know which one you think is the best one. I’m partial to this first one, but my namesake’s role in all of it probably has something to do with it: Read the rest of this entry �

Posted by Al Swearengen as Video, sports at 10:26 PM GMT+4

7 Comments »

How unlikely is this? Up 3-1 on the Mavs…

Not very (it would seem), but when Larry Bird went on a mid-season “attitude purge”, he undoubtedly gave Don Nelson and his Warriors a new lease on life. Take it for what it’s worth, which in this specific case of an 8 seed versus a mighty 1, it’s not worth what the numbers alone would have you believe. The fact is, after calling out the team in front of the press with a little over a month left in the season, these guys responded in a big way. Baron Davis (good knee), Jason Richardson, Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson – has a nicer ring to it than Davis, JRich, Mike Dunleavey and Troy Murphy! Not only in terms of the added scoring and defense, but with this lineup they’ve been able to go small and still run up and down the floor consistently. Pietrus and Barnes are dropping an average of 3-4 from the arc every night combined, and the youngin’ (Monta Ellis) is one of those once in a decade second round picks that some teams (Spurs) end up winning with and others (Sonics, Wizards) squander, while even others (Celtics, Celtics, Celtics) just never get a hold of period.

I’d been a hard-core Mavericks hater for as long as I can remember, and there is a key memory that sort of laminated the sentiment a couple years back. Five of us were meeting up at a place across the street from the Fleet Center for food before Antoine Walker’s big return in a Mavs uniform. As heart breaking as was for a backdrop, I get there late to find one of our crew wearing a Nowitski jersey. Read the rest of this entry �

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 10:34 PM GMT+4

12 Comments »

Adalius Thomas, Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker and Randy Moss are the veterans Belichick has brought in for the 2007-08 Super Bowl run, and for a moment today I wasn’t too sure it could be THAT easy to lock up the last name on that list…a 4th round pick for Randy Moss is about the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Remember for a moment that the Pats got a 1st round pick for Deion Branch, so the market for Moss was at least on par with Branch, right? Wrong…because you have to factor in the state of Al Davis’ mind, which at this point doesn’t seem to be the kind of thing a Raiders fan likes hearing about, let alone having it running through their own minds every game that following year and the next. Because it’s not like Randy Moss just got bad all of a sudden, and even though the situation in Oakland is as bad as it gets, the man who used to be lumped in alongside Terrell Owens cannot be considered as such. Randy wiped his ass on the goal post in Green Bay, whereas Owens called out the franchise player (he had plenty of reasons for being pissed at McNabb, but…) and carried on like he had his own reality TV show for a while, leading to his being kicked off of the island.

I know I’m understating the history here, but it is my policy to never talk bad about a hometown athlete unless they talk bad about me first. Aside from the insults I had to endure from Drew Bledsoe, that type of thing hardly ever happens. Dominick Barbara, my attorney, went through all the documents, and as it turns out I didn’t start bashing Drew publicly until he was ruining good teams in Buffalo, so I currently occupy the high ground and always will. He insists that I still owe Trot Nixon an apology, but that one is pending an apology I am still waiting for from Dan Duquette, who has been ducking deadissue’s staff for years now.

Back to the matter at hand though – there are too few hours in the day to waltz down memory lane, especially in the condition it’s in – there’s something about the playoff run from this past year that troubled me, and it was always about how they came out with these formations of 5 wide, 4 + Faulk, instead of lining up and pounding it up the middle. In the game versus the Colts, I thought they favored the pass when they didn’t really have to in the second half. This was my complaint even back when they were running Antwain Smith 20+ times a game and Charlie Weis was calling plays, but I have to assume that they know more about it than I do. It’s just what they want to do, and as long as that’s the case, coming into this year they’ll have the weapons to go with the plays. Aside from Moss and Stallworth, this guy Wes Welker is a gamer, and a hell of a return man. I’ll delve into defense later on…one thing I will point out though, is that they franchised Asante Samuel, meaning he’s going to hold out this training camp.
Bill Simmons on the Patriots

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 12:54 AM GMT+4

6 Comments »

He was driving 77 in a 45, with a piece under his seat, one which his friend riding shotgun failed to claim, so who knows if some work was put in with it before the owner broke into Telfair’s whip and stashed it without him knowing…like some territory was occupied by this fierce soldier named Lester James, aka Ball Peen, with iron stashed in six spots near where the lookouts can get a grip on the key to their rise up from there to the stash, then the money, and who knows…but Ball Peen caught one in the shoulder this day about six months back, and who knows what takes down all the top earners in the end besides time ticking lost in a daydream they thought was real life.

Youngin’ looking around for a hot minute, and ends up with two he’s got to make it back home with, so it’s up the back of the school and into the woods until po-po’s done and it’s safe to try getting the two 9s home without any hassle, which he does, but the crew that took over don’t need anyone, so he’s got nothing to do and no money to spend…see, this is Telfair’s story right here, and to know him for a minute is to know what kind of danger he’s in every single day of his life. Waking up and going to the bathroom in the morning could mean his life ending via hollow-point.

That’s the street-cred back story, but the ten grand he forwarded me to write that and a few pages more is (already spent on booze and scratch tickets) not going to be enough if he’s ever going to live down this last episode where he’s pulled over and doesn’t get in the cop’s face, no profanity…nothing. Once word of this gets out, Telfair won’t be able to live it down. No straight-up thug goes all quiet like that unless they’re not what they say they are. So I figured that while on the clock, I’d burn a copy of ‘Straight Outta Compton’ and send it along, with a note to spend a lot of time on track #3…and if there’s any time left, improve his jump shot. (Source)

Posted by Al Swearengen as Al Swearengen, sports at 3:36 AM GMT+4

4 Comments »

I think what it all came down to was one in-depth expose too few for Ladainian Tomlinson this past week. He’s got the Walter Peyton hill in his back yard and had the entire NFL color squad from coast to coast (minus the Boston area) shouting out the kind of thoughtful endorsements that would prompt even Deion Sanders to turn the volume down on his television prior to gameday. But of course it’s not about the quality of the first expose or whether the ego remains chubby by the last one. Shawn Merriman’s shriveled testes could absolutely agree with the notion that in the end, the San Diego Chargers simply could not garner enough praise leading up to this game, and for my money the blame for their losing falls squarely on the shoulders of Boomer Esiason. One commentator had the audacity to suggest that the Chargers wouldn’t win this one going away, and once word that everyone in the entire sporting press wasn’t backing them made its way into the huddle prior to kickoff, in my mind their collective psyche was rattled.        Read the rest of this entry �

Posted by Al Swearengen as sports at 1:02 AM GMT+4

10 Comments »