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november 13, 2007, 12:48 pm
seattle’s lightweight blowout
how good are the first-place seattle seahawks? it’s hard to tell this season, and last night’s 24-0 pasting of the san francisco 49ers didn’t help several commentators sort it out.
seattle’s leonard weaver lifts the 49ers’ jeff ulbrich in the air while blocking for quarterback matt hasselbeck in the seahawks’ 24-0 rout. (ap photo)
seattle post-intelligencer columnist ted miller points out that the putrid nfc west, which is a combined 5-17 against the rest of the nfl, is hardly a proving ground. “the nfc west — it’s the cure for what ails you,” mr. miller writes. “a two-game losing streak to start october? the st. louis rams come to town and the seahawks roll 33-6. an overtime defeat at cleveland last weekend, the seahawks’ third loss in four games, which dropped them to 4-4? enter the 49ers, who went belly-up, 24-0, in a qwest field affair that surely thrilled a national audience on espn’s ‘monday night football.’ ”
seattle is 3-1 in division games and has outscored its divisional opponents by a combined total of 68 points. it’s 2-3 with a point differential of -18 against everyone else. no wonder msnbc’s mike celizic writes, “you know that old line about the one-eyed man being king in the kingdom of the blind? make that guy badly nearsighted and give him a cataract, put him in the nfc west, and he’d be the seattle seahawks. and he wouldn’t be king. he’d be emperor.”
but seattle times columnist steve kelley saw promise in the seahawks’ pass-first approach, spearheaded by quarterback matt hasselbeck, on pace for his first 4,000-yard season. “hasselbeck is having the best season of his nine-year career,” mr. kelley writes. “use him. abuse him. green-light him like rickey henderson on the base paths, like ray allen or tracy mcgrady in the halfcourt. throwing is the strength they have to play to. the pass is their pass to the postseason. what do the hawks have to lose? certainly not the nfc west.”
* * *
the latest 49ers defeat spell success for the new england patriots, that undefeated juggernaut that holds san francisco’s first-round pick in next spring’s draft. the pats will need some help to grab hold of the no. 1 overall pick, including sustained losses from the 2-7 49ers and at least a couple of wins from 0-9 miami. miami herald columnist armando salguero is hoping for the same thing: “let them win only once if that is the extent of their abilities. let them win ugly. let them win lucky. let them come out of a not-too-distant sunday talking about how the opponent played so poorly even a college team could have won. whatever the case, the dolphins had better win at least once this season. because winless, as in 0-16, is simply not acceptable.”
while we’re on the topic of the dolphins and their quest to avoid becoming the worst team in nfl history, here are a couple more entries in the worst-of-sports category:
“i always thought the worst job in sports had something to do with cleaning a racehorse’s stall or administering drug tests,” gwen knapp writes in the san francisco chronicle. “as it turns out, preparing for the beijing olympics could involve something far more distasteful. according to a report in the state-run china daily on monday, the government is assembling a database on all of the foreign reporters covering next year’s summer games.”
ms. knapp decided to lend a hand to her profilers: “if they go into depth, they’ll learn that i once flushed my rental-car keys down a toilet while on assignment. or how i spilled coke all over my laptop on the first night of covering barry bonds’ home run chase, then explained to the editors that my hand spasmed as i listened to a tape of bud selig’s remarks.”
meanwhile, lorne chan of the san antonio express-news wonders if the notre dame-duke football game on saturday might be “the worst nationally televised game in sports history.” both teams are 1-9 and not as good as that record suggests. “so tune in saturday as notre dame tries to become remembered, even if it is for the worst season in school history,” mr. chan writes. “if this college football season has proven anything, it can be a great joy to watch the mighty fall. watch like a champion, because there certainly won’t be any on the field.”
* * *
speaking of notre dame, there’s an irony in coach charlie weis’s disastrous season. because the school’s administrators impatiently fired his predecessor, then impatiently offered him a 10-year extension on the basis of flimsy evidence, they’ll be forced to patiently wait for him to right the ship. they can look for hope to the examples of three schools who have all stuck with coaches through hard times and are now excelling. “weis continues to land highly regarded recruiting classes, and as kansas, missouri, and mississippi state have shown this season, patience can be a virtue — even at the highest levels of college football,” russell levine writes on football outsiders.
* * *
toronto star columnist dave feschuk profiles raptors rookie jamario moon, at 27 the nba’s second-oldest rookie and by far the oldest not to have first plied his trade in europe. mr. moon has learned to listen, and to play defense, and that’s as good an explanation as any for his ascent from the minor pro u.s. leagues to a significant role with toronto.
“it’s been an autumn of novelties for jamario moon, the raptors rookie born in alabama and made in basketball’s minor leagues,” mr. feschuk writes. “he has experienced his first nba start and his first nba dunk. and yesterday, in the midst of yet another chat with reporters, he encountered first nba heckler.”
* * *
since winning his fourth consecutive u.s. open title in september, roger federer has lost three of 13 matches and looks quite vulnerable. his latest loss, to chile’s fernando gonzález, jeopardizes the world no. 1’s quest for the tennis masters cup. more unbelievably, he could even lose the world’s top ranking at next year’s australian open, after nearly four straight years on top.
“suddenly the aura of invincibility, which in recent years only spain’s rafa nadal has challenged with any regularity, has dimmed a little,” steve bierley writes in the guardian. “patently federer’s refulgent light has not been switched off but it is flickering more than has been usual.”
* * *
the hartford courant’s jeff jacobs pays tribute to the soft-spoken former star of a former hometown team who was forgotten by too many until he was inducted last night into the hockey hall of fame.
“sixteen years removed from a trade that went a long way in destroying major league sports in our town, ron francis, 44, remains the greatest team athlete in hartford history,” mr. jacobs writes. “only wayne gretzky had more nhl assists than francis. only gretzky, messier and gordie howe had more points. he is third in games played. he hit 500 goals. he went on to win two stanley cups in pittsburgh. he won three lady byngs for sportsmanship. he won a selke as best defensive forward. everything about his career screams greatness and nothing about ronnie screams at all.”
* * *
mike nolan coached san francisco last night despite the death sunday, at age 75, of his father, former 49ers coach dick nolan. before the game, ray ratto paid tribute to the tom landry protégé too often overshadowed by his niners successor, bill walsh.
“his eight years in san francisco were times of considerable upheaval, both in town and nationally, and a lesser man would have been overcome by it, either by ignoring it, fighting it or embracing it too warmly,” mr. ratto writes. “nolan skated through those traps, and even though he spent the first three seasons of his tenure with the 49ers having game days only a few blocks from the corner of haight and ashbury, he maintained his equilibrium while allowing his players to find theirs. he dressed as though he should have been a martinet, but he coached as someone who knew how to dance with who brought him.”
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read more: charlie weis, russell levine, duke, lorne chan, armando salguero, dave feschuk, jamario moon, dick nolan, ron francis, jeff jacobs, roger federer, steve kelley, ted miller, olympics, matt hasselbeck, mike celizic, notre dame, dolphins, ray ratto, 49ers, seahawks, gwen knapp, steve bierley, patriots
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november 12, 2007, 11:22 am
ohio state’s loss reshuffles college football
(the following is a guest fix by the online journal’s jim chairusmi. carl bialik and jason fry will be back tomorrow.)
another week brings another shakeup at the top of college football’s bcs standings. while fans in columbus wept, fans in baton rouge, eugene and lawrence rejoiced.
illinois defensive back marcus thomas made an interception in the fourth quarter to help seal the illini’s upset of no. 1 ohio state. (ap photo)
top-ranked ohio state likely slipped out of the national-title picture after losing 28-21 to illinois. entering the season with lowered expectations, the buckeyes nearly transformed a story that seemed like outlandish fiction into believable reality. “this was a college football version of one of those nigerian bank scams that keep finding their way into your e-mail box on the internet,” bob hunter writes in the columbus dispatch. “a lot of people, including the osu players themselves, probably woke up this morning and found no $4 bazillion in their accounts.”
the buckeyes head to ann arbor this saturday to play archrival michigan at the big house. for the first time since 1959, both teams head into the “big game” coming off a loss; michigan lost saturday to wisconsin. nonetheless, the victor will clinch the big 10 title and a trip to the rose bowl.
the buckeyes’ loss propelled lsu — victors by 58-10 over outmatched louisiana tech - into the top spot in the bcs rankings, which determine the matchups in the biggest bowl games, including the so-called national-championship game. although the tigers have two regular-season games remaining, against ole miss and arkansas, their biggest hurdle to new orleans and the bcs title game will be the dec. 1 sec championship game in atlanta against either tennessee or georgia. bob tompkins of the shreveport times thinks lsu is the best team in the land: “yes, it’s tempting to think of other teams as possibilities, and it’s tempting to harp on lsu’s weaknesses, but, for now, nobody else out there is any better. and the best part, or worst part, of saying something so brassy is that it could all change next week. that’s life in college football.”
idle oregon and star quarterback dennis dixon moved to no. 2 and head to arizona to play the wildcats on thursday night. “given the ducks’ ranking, their heisman candidate quarterback, the time of the season and the espn national television, let’s call it the biggest game at arizona stadium since ucla was here in 1998 battling for league supremacy,” anthony gimino writes in the tucson citizen.
kansas remains the only undefeated team in any of the six bcs conferences but remains on the outside looking in at a possible title-game berth. “whatever happens in the final bcs standings, it’s not the end,” kansas city star columnist jason whitlock writes. “getting left out of the title game wouldn’t be a death sentence or even a crime. kansas played a weak nonconference schedule. … this season should be the beginning of big things.”
* * *
while the undefeated new england patriots took the week off, the defending champion indianapolis colts, perhaps still feeling a hangover from their loss to the pats last week, played their worst game of the season. they fell behind the san diego chargers 23-0, then mounted a belated rally that fell short when adam vinatieri missed a 29-yard field goal with 91 seconds left.
indianapolis star columnist bob kravitz says the colts, losers by 23-21, showed courage in defeat. “if you’re a colts fan, how do you wake up this morning and feel anything but pride in the way your team performed sunday night?” mr. kravitz asks. “the can’t-miss kicker missed. it happens.”
the dallas cowboys ride out of new york with a stranglehold on the nfc east, after thumping the giants, 31-20. dallas morning news columnist jean-jacques taylor thinks these cowboys have an elite look. “this team is hardened by bill parcells’ attention to detail and discipline and freed to maximize their talent by wade phillips’ personality and defensive scheme,” mr. taylor writes.
after the game, giants coach tom coughlin said big blue (wearing red) was its own worst enemy. new york times columnist george vecsey says there’s hope, despite the giants’ inferiority to the cowboys, who swept the season series. “the giants will win some more between now and the end of december by putting the ball in the hands of their best people. they are not likely to fall apart the way the team did last season,” mr. vecsey writes.
the green bay packers share the cowboys’ nfc lead at 8-1 after a resounding 34-0 win over the minnesota vikings. the packers’ best all-around performance of the season sent a message, the wisconsin state journal’s tom oates writes: “nothing says ‘for real’ like dominating an opponent that you play twice a year, that knows you implicitly, that historically plays you tougher than any other team.”
back in the afc, the cleveland browns blew a 15-point second-quarter lead to the pittsburgh steelers and lost, 31-28. the cleveland plain dealer’s bud shaw writes, “sunday was just a reminder how new the browns are to big games.” mr. shaw continues, “as losses to pittsburgh go — and the collection is encyclopedic if nothing else — the most promising aspect to this one was that it didn’t expose a fatal flaw like so many others did, just growing pains.”
the oakland raiders fell to 2-7, after giving up two 4th-quarter touchdowns to the chicago bears in a 17-6 defeat. the cries for coach lane kiffin to play no. 1 overall pick quarterback jamarcus russell have been growing louder with each loss by the silver and black. but san francisco chronicle columnist gwen knapp writes that mr. kiffin’s benching of running back lamont jordan in favor of justin fargas is even more puzzling: “when lane kiffin decided on a shakeup, this is the one he chose — moving the $500,000 backup running back ahead of the two guys (jordan and dominic rhodes) making a combined $10 million.”
it has been a tough season for the philadelphia eagles. but a thrilling, come-from-behind 33-25 victory over the washington redskins ensured there were plenty of man-hugs on the philly sideline. “a lot of love there, a lot of love,” quarterback donovan mcnabb said of the fourth-quarter embrace from his coach andy reid. the philadelphia inquirer’s phil sheridan writes that the win provided a sense of relief. “the pressure on mcnabb and reid has built to ear-popping intensity over the past couple years,” mr. sheridan writes. “their relationship, which already has lasted longer than many marriages, is both strained and strengthened by the pounding they’ve taken.”
* * *
in sports news off the gridiron:
miguel cotto retained his wba welterweight championship with a unanimous decision over shane mosley on saturday night at madison square garden. could a fight with oscar de la hoya be next? “oscar de la hoya the president (of golden boy promotions) says he isn’t sold on miguel cotto as an attraction,” newsday’s wallace matthews writes. “but oscar de la hoya the fighter seems to love cotto as an opponent.”
world tennis no. 1 justine henin capped off a turbulent year by beating maria sharapova 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in three hours, 24 minutes at the season-ending sony ericsson championships on sunday. before the final match, ronald atkin wrote in the independent, “henin’s decision to reunite with her family after seven years of frosty separation was certainly a factor in the more settled and supremely confident manner in which she has gone on to recapture the world no 1 position in what she asserts, with a wide smile, is her best-ever year.”
jimmie johnson took the checkered flag in the checker auto parts 500. it was his fourth straight victory and, barring a catastrophic mishap next weekend at homestead-miami speedway, he probably will repeat as nextel cup champion. mr. johnson has won 10 races this season and heads into next week’s season finale with an 86-point lead over jeff gordon, his teammate and the last man to repeat as champion. mr. gordon pulled off the feat in 1997 and ‘98. mr. johnson “has charged into the series lead by refusing to play it safe,” jim peltz writes in the los angeles times.
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read more: gwen knapp, eagles, donovan mcnabb, andy reid, lane kiffin, bears, packers, tom oates, bud shaw, raiders, phil sheridan, miguel cotto, jimmie johnson, nextel cup, jeff gordon, jim peltz, ronald atkin, maria sharapova, shane mosley, oscar de la hoya, wallace matthews, justine henin, george vecsey, jean-jacques taylor, ohio state, illinois, bob hunter, michigan, bcs, redskins, peyton manning, vikings, chargers, bob kravitz, lsu, bob tompkins, jason whitlock, adam vinatieri, cowboys, new york giants, kansas, anthony gimino, oregon, dennis dixon, arizona, colts
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november 9, 2007, 12:44 pm
shula stirs up patriots controversy*
don shula coached the only nfl team with a perfect record, the 17-0 1972 miami dolphins. as far as he’s concerned, if the new england patriots win 10 straight games to finish 19-0, their feat should come with an asterisk attached. that’s their just dessert, he argues, for being caught cheating with a spy camera directed at opposing sidelines. the pats were punished with fines and lost draft picks, but no penalties that can directly derail their grim march toward perfection this season.
don shula, shown coaching the dolphins to an undefeated season in 1972, questions the pats’ 2007 feats. (ap photo)
“the spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished,” mr. shula told gary myers of the new york daily news.
cue controversy, filling the vacuum of the pats’ bye week and undimmed by mr. shula’s inevitable attempt to backtrack from his comments.
“the greatness of these unbeaten new england patriots, and all that they’ve accomplished or might this season, plays out under a cloud that hasn’t dissipated just because the nfl wished it away,” greg cote writes in the miami herald.
but others respond that mr. shula isn’t speaking with great moral authority. when the dolphins signed him, he was under contract with the colts, and the tampering cost miami a first-round pick. his 1972 dolphins “also happened to draw what most experts consider one of the nfl’s softest schedules ever,” associated press columnist jim litke writes. “their opponents had a winning percentage below .400. but nobody suggested an asterisk was in order then, and if the patriots go through a deeper league and all the way to a super bowl without losing, shula would do well to remember something that [miami running back larry] csonka once said: ‘perfection ends a lot of arguments.’ ”
handing out asterisks is tricky business, bob kravitz writes in the indianapolis star: “do we put an asterisk next to the steel curtain’s four super bowls because we have reason to believe several players were using performance-enhancing substances? how about an asterisk next to the university of colorado’s national football title in 1990, when they used a fifth down to beat missouri?”
all these controversies have been a boon to aster risk, the third-generation president and ceo of asterisk inc., a fictitious company headed by a made-up leader and dreamed up by the boston globe’s jim mccabe: ” ‘actually, there’s one simmering debate going on among dolphin fans,’ said risk. ‘their team could become the first in nfl history to go 0-16, but being proactive they have demanded an asterisk just in case.’ why? ‘to note that only 15 of those losses came on us soil.’ ”
* * *
in the washington redskins record book, there’s anthony allen, who gained 255 receiving yards in a single game 20 years ago last month, more than any other redskin in history. because he did it as a replacement player, the striking players who considered him a “scab” would prefer to see his record followed by an asterisk. yet mr. allen was part of a group of fill-ins that excelled against seemingly superior competition (other teams had stars cross the picket lines, but no redskins did).
“allen, who now coaches football at garfield high school in seattle, his alma mater, has learned over the years that not a whole lot of folks remember he even played on the team,” dave mckenna writes in the washington city paper. “he used to own a highlight tape of the 1987 season that helped him convert nonbelievers. no longer. ‘i messed up and recorded general hospital over it a few years ago,’ allen says, laughing. ‘but i remember that day really well. really well.’ ”
* * *
two 0-4 nba teams that had made the second round of the playoffs in may played their best ball of the season last night against archrivals. nevertheless, one team emerged as one of only two 0-5 teams in the league.
the chicago bulls beat the pistons, 97-93, by displaying some hustle reminiscent of last season. “if they play this way most of the time and not like the team that flatlined through its first four games, they’re going to be more than ok,” rick morrissey writes in the chicago tribune. “they’re going to be the bulls, a 50-plus-victory team that will make noise in the playoffs.”
the golden state warriors can’t feel as confident after allowing the dallas mavericks to enjoy a measure of revenge, 120-115, for golden state’s first-round upset of dallas in last year’s playoffs.
“they have developed a genuine, enduring, mutual dislike based on the fateful 12 days in the spring, and the two years before it,” ray ratto writes in the san francisco chronicle. “the mavericks weren’t shell-shocked or compliant, as they were in april and may, but neither were they dominant, or even in control. beyond the court, there wasn’t the same playoff atmosphere, but there was a decided tension in the building, and not merely because the crowd has taken to reflexively booing nowitzki whenever he and the ball become conjoined. this is the new hot ticket in the bay area, the best rivalry until such time as the raiders decide to rejoin the afc west.”
* * *
scandals are engulfing tennis. to the pile of gambling and match-fixing allegations, and martina hingis’s positive cocaine test, add the bizarre story that germany’s tommy haas may have been poisoned ahead of a davis cup match against russia.
new york daily news columnist filip bondy notes that there are many question marks around mr. haas’s allegations — including that his own country’s tennis federation isn’t appealing the semifinal loss to russia. nonetheless, mr. bondy is moved to ask american captain patrick mcenroe whether he’ll be poisoning any of the russian players at the finals in portland later this month. (”it’s not in my playbook,” mr. mcenroe dryly replies.)
the guardian’s steve bierley laments the sordid stories, though he notes that not everyone is appalled. “suddenly the genteel ‘anyone for tennis?’ strawberries-and-cream-on-the-vicarage-lawn world of tennis — itself a marketing myth created by wimbledon to disguise the corporate troughing — has been scattered to the four winds, even if the pr and marketing men and women are currently rubbing their hands and marvelling at the sport’s newly discovered sex, drugs and rock and roll image,” mr. bierley writes. “forget the tirades of john mcenroe and ilie nastase, or the teens and pre-teens chasing bjorn borg’s short shorts and golden tresses — this is the real thing. haas poisoned? you betcha.”
* * *
early in the first quarter half of tonight’s temple-tennessee game, it’s a good bet that the teams will have surpassed the final score the last time the owls visited the volunteers. in december 1973, temple coach don casey decided to protest his opponent’s use of a zone defense.
“as temple futilely tried to get tennessee out of a zone defense, nothing happened,” mike jensen writes in the philadelphia inquirer. “the owls held the ball, passing it around for more than 111/2 minutes of the first half. tennessee retaliated by stalling for the first three minutes of the second half. then the owls regained possession, trailing by three points — 8-5 — and stalled for 14 more minutes.” final score: tennessee 11, temple 6.
“casey recalled this week that his assistant coach, jim maloney, suggested on the spur of the moment pulling temple’s offense out just to get tennessee’s bigger team into a man-to-man defense,” mr. jensen recounts. ” ‘he looks at me and says, “let’s go. let’s see what they do.” ‘ but casey said the situation changed into a contest of determination the owls didn’t know how to get out of.”
– tip of the fix cap to reader john falck.
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read more: tommy haas, filip bondy, ray ratto, rick morrissey, mavericks, patrick mcenroe, steve bierley, don casey, mike jensen, tennessee, temple, pistons, replacement players, don shula, dolphins, bulls, warriors, bob kravitz, gary myers, greg cote, dave mckenna, anthony allen, redskins, jim mccabe, patriots
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november 8, 2007, 11:51 am
dimmed hockey star gets ambivalent farewell
eric lindros, who began as hockey’s great hope and wound up a symbol of promise unfulfilled, is expected to announce his retirement tonight.
mr. lindros, 34, arrived in 1992 as the ultimate power forward, an intimidating combination of speed and size. his accomplishments weren’t small: he won the hart trophy for the 1994-95 season, in which he led the philadelphia flyers to the stanley cup finals; earned a gold medal playing for canada in the 2002 olympics; and his 372 goals and 493 assists make him a borderline hall of famer.
eric lindros (ap photo)
but he was expected to be much more. injuries helped ensure otherwise: mr. lindros suffered concussion after concussion beginning in 1998, including a night in the hospital after he was leveled by the new jersey devils’ scott stevens in game 7 of the 2000 eastern conference finals (see it here), and the specter of head injuries followed him from the flyers to the new york rangers, toronto maple leafs and dallas stars. his retirement is expected to be announced at a gala dinner honoring an orthopaedic surgeon who treated him often, which should be ironic but instead just feels sad.
mr. lindros also sought to shape his career in a way that was almost unknown in hockey before him: he refused to suit up for the quebec nordiques when they made him the top pick in the 1991 entry draft, eventually engineering a trade to the flyers, and before that refused to play for sault ste. marie in the 1989 ohl draft.
“the case could be made that he was the first truly modern hockey star, or at least the first hockey star to inspire the queasy feeling that so often plagues the modern sports fan: ambivalence,” writes stephen brunt in the toronto globe and mail, adding: “what lindros fought for — the chance to play junior hockey close to home rather than having to move hundreds of kilometres away, the chance to begin his professional career somewhere other than quebec city — might have been seen in other circumstances as a move toward larger emancipation. but the fans read it, perhaps correctly, as being all about him, all about what he wanted. lindros seemed to them like the spoiled progeny of stage parents, who would hold his breath until he got his way.”
in the philadelphia daily news, ed moran writes that “what will be talked about is missed opportunity, especially in philadelphia, where he came in as the player who was supposed to return the flyers to greatness but left amid a storm of bitter controversy, a long list of concussions, injuries, regret and an opinion that his career had been sidetracked by interference from his mother and father.”
mr. moran discusses mr. lindros with former flyers gm bob clarke, who regrets giving the young star’s parents so much say about his career. as for that career, mr. clarke says that “in new york and toronto and dallas, people didn’t even know he was playing. he should be a player that when he retired the game will miss. but eric is just going to drift off and nobody will miss him. it’s sad.”
on slam! sports stephen knight — a.k.a. dr. hockey — acknowledges mr. lindros’s shortcomings, wondering if he timed his retirement announcement to steal the spotlight from hockey’s hall of fame weekend. but that said, he makes the case that mr. lindros deserves a spot in the hall of fame — eventually.
“think of the dominating hitting of, say, jordin tootoo or sean avery, combined with the scoring touch of jonathan cheechoo or joe sakic and you get an idea of how lindros affected the game,” he writes. “the term ‘power forward’ was not really an everyday term until lindros smashed his way into the league.”
and in the philadelphia inquirer, bob ford mourns another philadelphia savior who came up short.
“he was ‘the next one,’ the guy destined to follow the greatness of wayne gretzky and maybe go him one better,” he writes. “large skates to fill, certainly, but few who saw the talent possessed by the 6-foot-4 center with the chiseled jaw doubted that he just might.”
mr. ford then compares mr. lindros’s titleless tenure to the way “it turned out for allen iverson, the no. 1 pick in the 1996 nba draft, pat burrell, the no. 1 pick in the 1998 major league baseball draft, and — unless there is a rapid change of fortunes — the way it is turning out for donovan mcnabb, the no. 2 pick in the 1999 nfl draft. … for all his talent, lindros ended his 13-year, injury-plagued career without a single win in a stanley cup finals game. he got there only once, with the flyers in 1997, and that sweeping loss was the beginning of the end of many things.”
* * *
maybe college football’s case of upset-itis is catching.
grayson flittner and gardner-webb wrecked billy gillispie’s second game as kentucky coach, shocking the no. 20 wildcats, 84-68. it was the first time kentucky had lost to a mid-major since falling to western kentucky six years ago. oh, and it was mr. gillispie’s birthday.
in the lexington herald-leader, john clay calls what happens to the wildcats a perfect storm, blaming tubby smith for leaving the cupboard bare, the “ridiculously early” timing of the game, and the usual difficulties faced by a new coach with a new team.
“let’s not forget that such performances, while extremely rare here, do happen,” he writes. “there was another coach on the same bench who was all set to go to new york for the semifinals of an early-season tournament, only to see his third team be shocked 85-67 by pittsburgh in rupp in the second game of the season. that coach was rick pitino. if i remember correctly, he turned out ok.”
on espn, andy katz checks in with gardner-webb coach rick scruggs, and explores how the former pikeville college coach saw that the runnin’ bulldogs could take down a titan.
“gardner-webb’s win was no accident,” he writes. “scruggs said he watched kentucky play its two exhibition games against (ironically) pikeville college and seattle, as well as watching the ‘cats in person tuesday night against central arkansas in the first round of this event. scruggs said he saw in all three cases that opposing teams didn’t attack kentucky. he said he saw those three teams avoiding the wildcats’ pressure. so, he took the opposite approach and wanted to go right after the ‘cats.”
* * *
are you ready for the winter season of “as a-rod turns?” with baseball’s gms gathered at the winter meetings, everybody wants to know who’s meeting with superagent scott boras, and whether teams are in or out of the hunt. one scenario that’s kept keyboards clacking in gotham is a-rod leaving the new york yankees for the mets.
on espn, jeff pearlman notes that the yankees have been in this situation before: in 1981, george steinbrenner let reggie jackson depart after the yanks lost the world series. reggie wound up hitting 39 home runs for the california angels (now generally considered the frontrunners in the a-rod hunt) and the yanks endured a 79-83 season that saw them burn through three managers.
“with [steinbrenner’s] sons officially running the show, and a-rod running off to los angeles or san francisco or maybe even the crosstown mets, the ghost of yankees past may well haunt a stadium in its final throes,” mr. pearlman warns. “no, it’s not the curse of the bambino. it’s the curse of dave collins. and it bats .253.”
the new york sun’s tim marchman, meanwhile, says met fans “should be terrified” at the prospect of a-rod in blue and orange for a number of reasons. which isn’t the same as thinking it won’t happen. quite the contrary, in fact.
“over the past 20 years, the mets have always reliably followed on failure with stupidity,” he writes, adding that given all their various bad ideas in seasons past, “the mets will at least attempt to meet this year’s epic collapse with some equally epic display of idiocy. doing something — even if that something makes no sense — is as much a team tradition as kiner’s korner and the heartbreaking playoff loss.”
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read more: dr. hockey, ed moran, stephen brunt, bob ford, john clay, tim marchman, jeff pearlman, andy katz, philadelphia has issues, steinbrenners, yankees, flyers, alex rodriguez, mets, gardner-webb, reggie jackson, billy gillispie, kentucky, scott boras
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november 7, 2007, 12:12 pm
warriors, bulls look for answers
welcome to the daily fix, blog-style. please pardon our dust for the next week or so as we get everything figured out in our new home. we welcome your comments below.
last year was a cinderella story for the golden state warriors. (well, most of one, anyway.) but so far this year, it’s all rags: last night the warriors fell to the cleveland cavaliers, who rode lebron james’s 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists — and some get-in-your-face leadership — to a 108-104 win.
the warriors are now 0-4; in the san francisco chronicle, scott ostler says coach don nelson had been talking to himself, urging himself to be more patient and wait for a game in which the warriors were close enough that something he said might make a difference.
the cavs’ lebron james scores against the warriors. (ap photo)
besides worrying about mr. nelson (”by midseason he’ll be roaming the castle, calling for lady macbeth”), mr. ostler notes that last night the famously seat-of-the-pants coach finally got a chance to play mad scientist.
“the warriors played with some of last spring’s slash and swagger, led by six early in the fourth quarter,” mr. ostler writes, calling the game “disappointing for nelson and his team, but a vast improvement on the first three games. a ray of hope.”
and don’t miss mr. ostler’s wry discussion of the red-and-gold wristbands the cavs’ star passed out to his teammates. (the punchline: “well, i guess i’m a bible reader.”)
the chicago bulls are also 0-4, with their latest loss coming at the hands of cuttino mobley (33 points), corey maggette (18 points, 10 rebounds) and the rest of the los angeles clippers, 97-91.
in the chicago sun-times, greg couch reviews the usual arc of a bulls season, and what’s different this year.
“we aren’t usually paying attention to the bulls this early,” he writes. “they’re hiding behind the bears, who are running to the super bowl, and then the ncaa tournament, especially if the illini are going to the final four. we land on the bulls in early april. and how cute! this young group overcame troubles, and is going to the playoffs! but the bears didn’t survive halloween this year. and the [kobe] bryant trade talks put the focus on the bulls. and here they are. they stink early. again. it’s the same story, the same stuff. but that’s not acceptable this year. the idea is that the arrow is pointing up with the bulls, that they’re growing. just have patience. but you read the same fairy tale to your kids every night — every … single … night — and eventually you get a little tired of cinderella leaving the darn slipper behind.”
out east, the new york knicks beat the denver nuggets, 119-112, in the teams’ first meeting since they brawled last december in the final minutes of a 123-100 nuggets blowout win that saw coaches isiah thomas and george karl trade accusations after the game.
in the denver post, benjamin hochman’s game story captures the fervor amusingly: “the madison square garden crowd, feverishly brimming for the nuggets-knicks rematch, erupted during the national anthem’s high notes. by a flutist.”
happily (or disappointingly, if your tastes are more bloodthirsty), there was peace in the garden this time.
“on this visit by the nuggets, nobody threw a punch,” jay greenberg writes in the new york post. “then again, for most of three quarters, practically nobody got a hand up, either. both teams kept their pledge to be on their best behavior by playing their worst defense. denver shot 56 percent in scoring 66 points in the first half, new york 55 percent in scoring 60. this time, could they both get mad at each other for both running up the score?”
* * *
the steady drip-drip-drip of baseball steroid revelations continued yesterday, with the san francisco chronicle reporting that jose guillen, ismael valdez and matt williams bought steroids and/or hgh from the same palm beach, fla., clinic that reportedly prescribed hgh to cleveland indians pitcher paul byrd. (mr. williams told the chronicle a doctor advised him to try hgh to heal a 2002 ankle injury.)
the news about mr. williams was particularly cruel for san franciscans, who have taken no end of grief from baseball fans elsewhere for defending barry bonds against numerous allegations. as tim kawakami writes in the san jose mercury news, “williams was the giants’ sunny yin to barry bonds’ surly yang in the mid-1990s transition period. when brian sabean traded williams because both salaries wouldn’t fit on the payroll, much of the resulting fan fury was directed at bonds. why keep the angry bonds and trade williams, who campaigned cheerily for the new downtown stadium? then, many years later, the bonds/balco revelations began eeking out, one by one, and bonds hunkered down amid the storm. williams was retired by then, a broadcaster for arizona, a pal of everyone, symbol to many of happier baseball times. but now williams is tied to hgh, a florida clinic, and a defrocked dentist. williams isn’t the opposite of bonds. he is, in many ways, the same. everybody who played in that era is basically the same.”
sounds harsh, but mr. kawakami writes that given such revelations, “there is no other conclusion worth making, even for the true believers: baseball was dirty from top to bottom in the 1990s and early 2000s, period, end of innocence. nice guys, bad guys, nobodies, superstars, pitchers, executives, everybody. everybody either was using performance-enhancers or thought about using or knew people who were using and stayed silent about it. everybody!”
* * *
twice a week, betsy hasselbeck helps run workshops for the new england patriots’ players and wives about faith, marriage and family. as joseph p. kahn writes in the boston globe, the discussions center around the bible, but they also draw on ms. hasselbeck’s experience as an nfl wife and mother.
that experience is extensive: ms. hasselbeck was one of 12 kids, including seven brothers who played high-school football, six at qb. her husband, don, played for the pats. their son matt is the seattle seahawks’ qb. another son, tim, signed with the arizona cardinals last month.
during the off-season, mr. khan writes, the elder mr. hasselbeck would practice by catching 500 balls a day in the backyard.
“practice sessions were family affairs,” he writes. “the footballs were fired from a machine operated by betsy. hut, hut, zing! the couple’s three young sons got the ball back to mom after each pass. you stand over there, matthew, then flip the ball to tim, who laterals to nathanael, who. . . there was one ironclad rule: if dad dropped any of the last 100 balls, he had to start again at 400. suffice to say, late meals at the hasselbeck house were not uncommon. ‘after 96 or 97 throws, the pressure would get intense,’ recalls betsy hasselbeck with a smile. ‘maybe that’s why our boys have always been good under pressure. they’ve been immersed in the world of football all their lives.’ pause. ‘so have i.’ ”
* * *
phyllis shipman is 64 and vying for a spot on the women’s archery team for the 2008 olympics. but hers hasn’t been a life spent dedicated to her sport. quite the contrary, in fact.
yes, ms. shipman was an all-american in 1964 and 1965 at upenn — as kate murphy writes in the new york times, “it seemed the easiest and least sweaty way to satisfy the physical education requirement.” but she then put bow and arrow aside.
“she moved to hawaii for peace corps training but dropped out to pursue a career in education on the islands,” ms. murphy writes. “she got married and had two children. ‘i was your typical soccer mom,’ she said. thirty years later, in 1997, while accompanying her husband on a business trip, she wandered into a maui sporting goods store and admired the bows and arrows.”
* * *
detroit tiger fans aren’t happy about the loss of fireballing reliever joel zumaya, who says he injured his shoulder moving boxes ahead of the california wildfires. and they’ve probably heard the rumors — vehemently denied by mr. zumaya — that his wildfire tale is hot air and he was actually injured doing something foolish.
this dugout by brandon stroud won’t heal mr. zumaya’s shoulder, or put the rumors to rest, but it should make tiger fans laugh. and where this story’s concerned, they could use a smile.
– tip of the fix cap to reader john falck.
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read more: san francisco giants, nuggets, knicks, clippers, matt hasselbeck, olympics, brawls, peds, joel zumaya, tigers, bulls, cavaliers, tim kawakami, jay greenberg, greg couch, scott ostler, joseph p. kahn, kate murphy, warriors, don nelson, the dugout, patriots
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november 6, 2007, 12:23 pm
steelers rout ravens as roethlisberger rolls
welcome to the daily fix, blog-style. please pardon our dust for the next week or so as we get everything figured out in our new home. we welcome your comments below.
ben roethlisberger and the pittsburgh steelers are back in 2005 form. last year their title defense ran aground with an 8-8 record that included two losses, by a combined score of 58-7, to division rival baltimore. last night, the steelers dominated the ravens, 38-7, after taking an astronomical 35-0 first-half lead on five roethlisberger touchdown tosses in pouring rain.
“it was the steelers vs. the baltimore ravens, two teams that truly do not like each other, and that usually means the ultimate in smashmouth football,” bob smizik writes in the pittsburgh post-gazette. “instead, it was the ultimate in one-sided football. in an outcome expected by no one, the steelers dominated from the start, winning not only the battle of skill but, even more convincingly, winning the battle of wills and of toughness.” monday, mr. smizik declares, “will go down as the day the ray lewis-led ravens ceased to be a factor in the afc north division.”
despite the wet conditions, ben roethlisberger threw for five touchdowns in the first half. (ap photo)
the victory was more evidence mr. roethlisberger has put last year’s injury-plagued, career-worst season behind him. the quarterback vowed to mount a comeback this season, along with his cancer-stricken college coach, terry hoeppner. when mr. hoeppner died in june, mr. roethlisberger dedicated his season to his former mentor. “roethlisberger does not believe he will ever relate to another coach the way he did to hoeppner,” lee jenkins wrote in sports illustrated last week. “who else would trust him so implicitly? who else would support him so thoroughly? who else would have given him a scholarship based on one game?”
but the steelers’ new offensive coordinator, bruce arians, is giving the qb freer reins over the offense, and while their relationship will never be like that between the college coach and his star quarterback, it’s been fruitful this season. mr. roethlisberger has led the team to five blowout wins (along with a close win and two narrow losses), making the steelers the toughest hurdle remaining for the new england patriots as the pats grind toward a 16-0 record.
“roethlisberger is a fully accomplished nfl quarterback now,” mike celizic writes on msnbc.com. “he started monday night by rifling completions through a driving rain storm, and when the rain let up, he didn’t. he had five touchdown passes in the first half, and only new england’s tom brady has matched that. he’s also mobile, something that is vital against the patriots’ pass rush. it’s always been peyton manning’s downfall on the bad days he’s had against new england — the inability to get away from the pass rush. but roethlisberger can roam wide of the pocket, and he can take it down and run with it if he has to. the game will be in new england, which will make it even more daunting for the steelers. but, if there’s any team you’d want to stop the patriots’ assault on perfection, who better than pittsburgh?”
* * *
in the afc, there are the steelers, the pats, the indianapolis colts and the 6-2 tennessee titans. then there are seven teams with records ranging from 4-5 to 5-3. two playoff spots likely will go to teams in that mediocre group, which includes just two teams — the houston texans and jacksonville jaguars — who have managed to outscore their opponents.
in the middle of this group is the 4-4 kansas city chiefs. “the chiefs lost to green bay on sunday — and they mostly did not play well — but the afc west is like hotel california,” joe posnanski writes in the kansas city star. “the chiefs keep checking out of first place, but they can never leave. they are 4-4 and still on top of the division. the broncos look beyond awful. the raiders are the raiders. the norv turner chargers just gave up an nfl record 296 yards to adrian peterson. somebody’s got to win this division.”
and now, with larry johnson injured, enigmatic 34-year-old running back priest holmes — the former chiefs star who has rushed the ball seven times for 17 yards in the last two years — may determine the team’s fate.
“holmes has, over the last few months, offered numerous explanations for his startling and amazing comeback after two years away from football,” mr. posnanski writes. “he says he wants to inspire people. he says he wants to challenge himself. he says he wants to help the team win a super bowl. he says he has too much left to retire. and of course, there are many outside opinions about what drives holmes — money, attention, an unwillingness to give up the game.”
on sunday, a new potential explanation emerged, concerning mr. holmes’s biological father, whom he never met, and a medal he only learned of this past weekend.
* * *
every time paula radcliffe has finished a marathon, she’s won. the british champion’s failure to complete the 2004 olympics race in athens is the only blemish on her otherwise perfect career record. ms. radcliffe won her seventh 26.2-mile race on sunday in new york city, just nine and a half months after giving birth to her daughter, isla. ms. radcliffe managed to hold off runner-up gete wami of ethiopia.
“rivals since they were juniors, it looked at times throughout their journey through the city’s five boroughs as if they were joined by elastic as radcliffe’s pace quickened and slowed in alternate miles,” tom knight writes in the daily telegraph. “… rounding columbus circle at the point where the course re-entered central park for the final time, radcliffe seized the initiative, opening up a lead that continued to grow as the briton lifted her knees and pumped her arms in her own version of a sprint for the line. at the line, the gap between them was 23 seconds. it was the furthest they had been apart all day.”
the guardian’s michael phillips explains how ms. radcliffe and her husband gary have adapted to parenthood and allowed the champion runner of the household to remain on top of her game. “on the first night they arrived in new york, when isla woke up at 2am, gary went and slept in her room so radcliffe could have a peaceful night with such a big occasion ahead,” mr. phillips writes. he adds that ms. radcliffe “is so enamoured with motherhood she is already planning ways of ensuring that her daughter isla will be with her at next summer’s olympic games in beijing” — her next focus, a chance for redemption after the athens failure.
in the men’s race, morocco’s abderrahim goumri had his own personal obstacle to victory — the completion, less than a month before race day, of ramadan. mr. goumri told lynn zinser of the new york times that fasting may have left him too weak to keep pace when winner martin lel of kenya pulled away in central park, just as he had in beating mr. goumri in london in april. mr. lel, meanwhile, won his second new york marathon in two tries.
sunday’s champions raced in the shadow of saturday’s marathon tragedy. ryan shay, running in the u.s. olympics trial collapsed and died five and a half miles into the race. “in the close-knit community of distance running — particularly among world-class marathoners — shay’s death was met by profound sadness and disbelief,” jo-ann barnas writes in the detroit free press. “most runners began learning of the tragedy shortly after crossing the finish line.”
* * *
scott boras is the man behind the biggest remaining offseason baseball story: the bidding for his client, alex rodriguez. the new yorker’s ben mcgrath profiled mr. boras, who is so sure of himself that he has drafted a detailed proposal for a nine-game world series. mr. mcgrath also describes the boras style of negotiation: “boras is not, according to people familiar with his bargaining style, a yeller but, rather, a calm and even cartoonish condescender; in conversation, he comes across as someone who has never doubted his own dinner selection — although he would be happy to inform you of all the ways that you should doubt yours.”
those sitting across the table from him should stand firm in their dinner choice and read this column by john brattain of the hardball times, outlining how to counter the boras arguments on a-rod.
– tip of the fix cap to reader don hartline.
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read more: jo-ann barnas, lynn zinser, ryan shay, martin lel, michael phillips, tom knight, john brattain, alex rodriguez, scott boras, ben mcgrath, abderrahim goumri, new york city marathon, lee jenkins, bob smizik, ravens, steelers, mike celizic, chiefs, gete wami, paula radcliffe, priest holmes, joe posnanski, ben roethlisberger
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november 5, 2007, 11:25 am
pats prevail in epic clash with colts
welcome to the daily fix, blog-style. please pardon our dust for the next week or so as we get everything figured out in our new home. we welcome your comments below.
well, that was quite a super bowl yesterday evening.
what’s that? really? well, it should have been.
the clash between the 8-0 new england patriots and the 7-0 indianapolis colts would have been freighted with enough significance as it is — tom brady vs. peyton manning, the nfl’s modern-day dynasty against the reigning champs — without new england coach bill belichick’s determination to wreak vengeance on any and all opponents this year. this was probably the most-hyped regular-season game in nfl history, and it delivered: they should have just gone ahead and applied that aged nfl films look to the live feed.
since being caught videotaping opponents’ signals, the pats have been decried for violating football mores by relentlessly running up the score. but this wasn’t a night for such accusations — the pats had their hands full just scratching out a win. down 20-10 with 9:42 remaining, the pats rode two brady tds — the last a 13-yard kevin faulk catch-and-run with with 3:15 left — for a comeback victory. new england had to overcome a franchise-record 146 yards in penalties, the deafening rca dome and the colts to do so, but they did.
afterwards, mr. belichick threw his usual cold water on the overheated press corps, calling the last 60 minutes “a football game against the colts. that’s all it was.”
“right,” scoffs dan shaughnessy in the boston globe. “and the pieta is a nice little ceramic statue. and mozart’s 40th symphony is a catchy little ditty. and ‘hamlet’ is just a play in which a young prince tries to avenge his father’s death and winds up dead himself. coach hoodie doesn’t get to downplay this one.”
in the indianapolis star, bob kravitz writes that pats-colts didn’t prove much.
“it proved the patriots, who eviscerated all their opponents in the first half of the season, were a couple of plays better than the colts on this particular sunday,” he writes. “it proved the colts, who had beaten new england three times in a row and looked to have this game won early in the fourth quarter, were a couple of plays worse than the patriots on this particular sunday. and it proved again this is a two-team league, and everybody else is playing for third.”
on si.com, peter king writes that the pats won this game in the offseason, when they added randy moss, wes welker and dante stallworth: “of the 13 biggest offensive plays for new england — the plays that would decide the outcome in the wildly noisy rca dome — 12 of them were handled by the three new patriots receivers.”
in usa today, michael hiestand praises the work of cbs: “game analyst phil simms stuck to dissecting what was being shown in replays, not grand theories about football. and play-by-play announcer jim nantz earnestly focused almost entirely on the game itself — and not on abstractions like whether we were all witnessing greatness. granted, it was a game that sold itself. but it was refreshing to hear about peyton manning and tom brady simply as quarterbacks, not otherworldly epic superstars.”
so is there anything left for the pats but trying to join the 1972 miami dolphins as an undefeated team and waiting for another lombardi trophy?
well, yeah — a sequel to last night’s game, to determine which of these two afc juggernauts goes to the super bowl.
“these teams are about as close as two nfl clubs can be,” michael felger writes in the boston herald. ” they’re the best in the nfl, by far, and it’s hard to imagine either being seriously challenged the rest of the way. that’s not to say they won’t lose a game or two. it’s only to say the gap is a big one. in other words: to be continued. see you in foxboro for the afc championship game on jan. 21, 2008.”
* * *
fans of the detroit lions have been through a lot, so you’ll have to forgive them for not immediately believing this year’s team has left the franchise’s bad old days behind. (hey, if your team had gone 24-72 in the last six seasons, you’d be hesitant too.)
hesitate no longer, lions faithful: yesterday detroit trounced the denver broncos, 44-7, to move to 6-2. the feel-good highlight: defensive tackle shaun rogers, who’s six-four, 340 pounds, intercepting a pass and storming 66 yards for a td, stiff-arming 207-pound denver running back selvin young along the way.
in the detroit free press, michael rosenberg gets giddy with it.
“these are heady times here at matt millen for president headquarters,” he writes. “the nfl regular season is half over and the lions have won three-quarters of their games. it is morning in america and we don’t even need to set the alarm. we’re hopping out of bed. some people would say that half a season doesn’t mean much. those people are entitled to their opinions. we’re not going to judge them or their desire to raise your taxes and pillage your communities. here at millen in ‘08, we just figure that since millen has done … uh, is doing such a wonderful job as president of the lions, why not hand him the whole country?”
* * *
in minneapolis, rookie running back adrian peterson rushed for an nfl-record 296 yards in the vikings’ 35-17 win over the san diego chargers, reaching the 1,000-yard mark with half a season yet to come. (it was a day to run: the chargers’ antonio cromartie set an nfl record of his own by returning a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown.)
in the minneapolis star tribune, jim souhan marvels that mr. peterson actually got a late start: at halftime he only had 43 rushing yards.
“peterson already has the two best rushing games in team history (296 sunday and 224 against the bears), the most rushing touchdowns and rushing yards for a vikings rookie in a season and the most runs of 50 yards or more (four) in one season in team history,” mr. souhan writes, adding that “the superlatives are sticking. peterson has set a record (think of a big leaguer hitting five homers in one game) and has surpassed the best performances of the likes of jim brown, walter payton, eric dickerson and o.j. simpson. after the game, peterson answered questions wearing a sleek suit befitting a ceo. ‘i like to be sharp now and then,’ peterson said, smiling. sharp? on sunday, he was mostly a blur.”
* * *
boston college’s dream of a national title was washed away saturday as the eagles fell to florida state, 27-17. matt ryan’s dream of a heisman trophy? three interceptions, a false start and two calls for throwing the pass while over the line of scrimmage dented that one pretty good, too.
“it was fun while it lasted,” steve conroy writes in the boston herald. “now the eagles have to turn their attention to their own conference — and quickly. … bc finds itself in a rather uncomfortable scrum for its original objective, back when it slipped on the pads last summer, of playing for an orange bowl berth by getting to the acc championship game in jacksonville, fla.”
* * *
in 1963 navy beat notre dame behind a quarterback named roger staubach. and then? mayday time: the fighting irish carried the day 43 straight times.
until saturday, when the midshipmen prevailed, 46-44, in triple overtime.
“the military service academy’s players were smaller and slower, nary a blue-chipper among them in a roiling sea of anointed gold helmets and grand tradition,” writes john saraceno in usa today. “on paper, notre dame — even the can’t-get-out-of-their-own-way 2007 version — should beat navy every year from now until they stop building billion-dollar warships. on real grass, it sometimes doesn’t happen that way.”
mr. saraceno writes that “navy-notre dame is what the sport best represents, a meaningful exchange of spirit and respect. … some things cannot be quantified. one cannot measure what beats underneath the jersey of a middie.”
– tip of the fix cap to readers michelle alessandri and joe hale.
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read more: bob kravitz, peter king, dan shaughnessy, matt ryan, notre dame, michael hiestand, michael felger, john saraceno, steve conroy, jim souhan, michael rosenberg, navy, boston college, peyton manning, bill belichick, tom brady, patriots, colts, lions, broncos, chargers, vikings, adrian peterson, matt millen, uncategorized
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carl bialik and jason fry write the daily fix every weekday morning for the online journal. the daily fix offers links to the best of the day's sports columns from around the web -- whether it's the latest trade talk in major-league baseball or the newest furor about an athlete's life off the field.
carl writes numbers guy, which appears alternate fridays in the print journal and each day online. jason is an editor at the online journal. he also writes real time, which appears mondays.
carl is a fan of the mets (and the a's, when the mets aren't in it), the new york giants, the knicks, the new york rangers, yale and syracuse. jace's teams are the mets, the new orleans saints and the tampa bay buccaneers. he's also willing to give the brooklyn nets a shot.
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